Our History: Katrina’s anniversary

Posted on by David Jacobs

The storm that divided Louisiana’s timeline into “pre-Katrina” and “post Katrina” came ashore in the state 19 years ago today. 

Katrina made its initial landfall on August 25, 2005 along the southeast Florida coast as a Category 1 hurricane. After moving west across south Florida and into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it intensified rapidly and attained Category 5 status as it moved northwest. 

Katrina weakened to a Category 3 before making landfall along the northern Gulf Coast, first in southeast Louisiana and then along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. With New Orleans in the storm’s path, forecasters feared the predicted 28-foot storm surge would overtop the city’s levees. 

“We are facing a storm that most of us have long feared,” said Mayor Ray Nagin, who ordered a mandatory evacuation. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime event.”

Later investigations found that some of the levees failed even at water levels well below what they were supposedly built to withstand. About 80 percent of the city flooded, with some neighborhoods getting as much as 10 feet of water. 

The National Hurricane Center estimated that the storm caused 1,833 deaths. That number was revised down to 1,392 following a review the center released in 2023, making it the third-deadliest hurricane in U.S. history behind the estimated 8,000 dead in the 1900 Galveston hurricane, and the more than 2,500 dead in the 1928 Lake Okeechobee, Fla., storm.

Katrina’s inflation-adjusted damages total $190 billion, according to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Of the $120.5 billion in federal spending, about $75 billion went to emergency relief, not rebuilding. Philanthropic giving was about $6.5 billion, while private insurance claims covered less than $30 billion of the losses.

In 2021, the grim anniversary of Katrina was marked by Hurricane Ida, which landed as a Category 4 at Port Fourchon. Officials attributed 55 deaths in the United States directly to Ida, while also deeming the storm indirectly responsible for 28 deaths along the Gulf coast, including 26 in Louisiana and two in Alabama. 

Editor’s note: Information for this piece came from The Data Center, Fox News, NOLA.com and the National Hurricane Center.  

News You Can Use (08.29.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

—Governing: Infrastructure bill kickstarts states’ road projects

—Governing: Hundreds of mayors agree to set the pace for electric vehicle adoption

—Campaigns & Elections: All (the best) fundraising is local

—The Advocate: Landry continues health leadership overhaul with deputy surgeon general appointment

—The Advocate: Despite Gov. Jeff Landry’s request, LSU football won’t change pregame anthem routine

—Illuminator: Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry bans teaching of critical race theory in schools

—Law & Crime: Families slam Louisiana effort to force ‘Protestant version’ of Ten Commandments into all public school classrooms

—WDSU: Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy blasts New Orleans over unspent funds

—Shreveport Times: Robert Kennedy Jr. to remain on Louisiana presidential ballot

—The Advocate: St. George demands tax revenue from East Baton Rouge city-parish, plans legal action

—St. Mary Now: South Louisiana Community College to again participate in Metallica Scholars Initiative

—Newsweek: ICE denies claims of ‘disappeared’ migrants at Louisiana detention centers

—Telecompetitor: Louisiana broadband director details route to nation’s first BEAD awards

Field Notes (08.29.24)

Posted on by David Jacobs

— LASERS REPORTS RETURNS: The Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (better known as LASERS) reported a 14 percent investment return for the fiscal year that ended June 30. The system’s total market value of investment assets stands at just over $15 billion. “The plan benefited from favorable equity markets, as well as our allocation to global multi-sector/opportunistic investments, which comprises the majority of our fixed income portfolio,” LASERS Chief Investment Officer Bobby Beale said. Of the 36 public pension funds whose most recent fiscal-year returns have been tracked by Pensions & Investments as of Aug. 27, LASERS has the second-highest return; the median was 9.9 percent, the publication reported. 

— LEGES FEAR ‘ONE LAKE’ PROJECT: In a joint statement to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, lawmakers in Louisiana and Mississippi raise concerns about the potential downstream impacts of the Pearl River Flood Management Project, commonly known as the “One Lake” project. “Before this project can proceed, it is essential to ensure it will not reduce the water flow downriver, interfere with our coastal restoration efforts, or cause additional flooding in areas downstream of the proposed project,” the letter states. The Louisiana signees are Sens. Beth Mizell, Patrick McMath, Bob Owen and Bill Wheat and Reps. Stephanie Berault, Jay Galle, Brian Glorioso, John Wyble, Kim Carver, Peter Egan and Mark Wright. A draft environmental impact statement the Corps issued in June indicated the agency wouldn’t support the full One Lake project, but would support other flood control measures that could include a smaller lake. 

— GOP ALL IN ON CD6: Are the Democrats about to double their membership in the Louisiana congressional delegation? Not so fast, says state GOP Chair Derek Babcock, who describes electing Elbert Guillory and holding the redrawn version of Congressman Garret Graves’ district as the party’s top priority. The new district is about 55 percent Black, he said, which favors Democrats. But that 55 percent has a turnout rate of about 62 percent, whereas close to 73 percent of the non-Black residents have voted in at least one of the past four major elections, he said. When you look at who actually turns out, he continued, the spread is less than 4 percentage points. “If we can flip 2 percent, that’s 4 points, and we win,” Babcock said, adding that he expects more excitement in the November election for Donald Trump than for Kamala Harris. 

— CORRECTION: Last week’s story about Louisiana Democrats doubling their footprint in the U.S. House and Congressional Black Caucus included the incorrect date for the original House election of former Congressman Bill Jefferson. Here’s how the third paragraph should have read: “Sen. Ed) Price has been an elected official for more than 40 years, kicking off his service roughly a decade before William Jefferson was elected in 1990 as the first Black congressman since Reconstruction. During that stretch of time, Louisiana had eight seats in the House. Price and other politicos could only watch in the following years as seats disappeared alongside population, until the 2010 Census left the congressional delegation with just six members.”

— 5 YEARS FOR BLANCO CENTER: Via Executive Director Dr. Stephen Barnes: “When the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center opened its doors on August 1, 2019, I was the only staff member on our team and our offices consisted of two rooms in Abdalla Hall just off UL Lafayette’s main campus. Now, five years later, our team has grown to 25 full time staff members (as of this month, with more growth still to come this fall) and we are fully moved into our multi-purpose office space on the third floor of Dupré Library on main campus. Along the way, we have made incredible progress in growing our pipeline of work across several priority policy areas, including recently taking on the Statewide Lead role for Whole Health Louisiana, which you can read about below. As the Blanco Center’s portfolio of work continues to grow, the mission of the Blanco Center is the same as it was five years ago: to advance evidence-based policy to make Louisiana a better place to live and work.”

LaPolitics Q&A: Wildlife & Fisheries Chair Brandon DeCuir

Posted on by David Jacobs

LaPolitics: Was the recent change for redfish limits a difficult decision for the commission? 

Brandon DeCuir, chair of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission: Changing creel and size limits is always a difficult decision. Over the last 10-15 years we have seen increasing numbers of fisherman and environmental factors, such as coastal erosion, which have outpaced the ability of the resource to renew and replenish successfully. The redfish assessment, while concerning enough to take action, allowed the commission to take proactive measures, as opposed to a more drastic response, to ensure recovery with long-term preservation.

Are more redfish changes on the horizon?

Once changes are made, it usually takes three to five years to have sufficient data to reassess. The department is active in monitoring the stock. Several of our sportsmen have been asked by department biologists to take measurements and collect data to aid in determining if adjustments are needed. We encourage our sportsmen to allow these samplings, as they will provide much needed data to ensure our management is effective. 

The northeast part of the state will see a revived black bear season in December. What are expectations for how many bears will be taken?

We have seen a species that was once on the verge of extinction sufficiently rebound to where a limited season can now be held. The season will be limited to 10 tags through a lottery system. Each harvest will require reporting. In addition, reporting requirements have been imposed on what can be harvested by size and sex. Based on the numbers of bears seen in the area where the limited season will open, our sportsmen should find success in harvesting bears. 

What are you hearing in terms of recipes and how the game will be used?

Interestingly, I have not run across recipes or cooking preparations for bear. I believe it has been so long since this was possible, many of the wonderful chefs and cooks in Louisiana will be relying on recipes from their great-great-grandparents. However, no one can out-cook us, so we will definitely be at the forefront of making this wonderful addition to the table fare. 

Do you hunt and fish more or less since being appointed to the commission?

Unfortunately, I cannot pin the lack of opportunity to hunt and fish on the commission. Seems my time has been compromised with a son committed to travel baseball, who reminds me every day about our next trip. 

Editor’s note: This Q&A has been edited for style and length. 

No matter who wins, Gonzales will elect its first Black mayor

Posted on by David Jacobs

Johnny Berthelot has been involved in Gonzales city politics since before Gonzales was a city. 

He was elected to the Board of Aldermen in 1976, the year before the town officially became a city. He first ran for mayor in 1984 and served as chief executive for 24 years. 

After stepping down as mayor, he ran for the Legislature and served two terms in the House as a Republican. He decided in 2019 not to run for the third term, saying he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren.

Instead, he returned to his political roots and won a seat on the City Council. In that race, he qualified as an independent, which for him wasn’t a big change. 

“I got along well with Republicans and Democrats when I served in the House,” Berthelot said. “I was a Republican, but I crossed the aisle.”

But dropping the “R” from his name on the ballot also nods to the changing demographics of the city. Gonzales is now home to a solid Black majority, and it’s about to elect its first Black mayor; all four of the candidates are Black Democrats. 

It’s no secret that Ascension Parish has been one of the state’s fastest-growing parishes. Well-regarded schools and a thriving petrochemical sector are the most often-cited factors driving that growth. 

Gonzales, the parish’s most populous municipality, certainly has participated in that growth, but its recent additions are almost all minorities. Comparing Census results from 2010 and 2020, the total population grew from 9,781 to 12,231, but the white segment was basically stagnant, adding only 12 people in 10 years. 

Meanwhile, the Hispanic or Latino population nearly doubled to 1,578, while the Black/African-American community grew by almost 1,500 residents. By percentage, Gonzales is roughly 47 percent Black, 36 percent white and 13 percent Hispanic/Latino, according to the 2020 Census. 

Without getting into the socioeconomic reasons, it’s probably not all that surprising that the city’s Black population has grown while white residents flock to the parish’s burgeoning subdivisions. And given the way race and political identity tend to overlap in Louisiana, changing the racial mix inevitably changes the city’s politics. 

But Sen. Ed Price, a Black Democrat from Gonzales, said he was still “a little shocked” not to see any white candidates qualify for mayor. The seat came open when four-term incumbent Barney Arceneaux, a white Democrat, stepped away to become executive director of the Louisiana Municipal Association. 

“I think it has a huge significance,” Price said about the prospect for the city’s first Black mayor. “I think that the city has come a long way.” 

The mayoral candidates are Terance Irvin, a former council member who challenged Arceneaux for mayor in 2016; current council members Tim Riley and Harold Stewart; and Kemlyn Bailey Lomas, who serves on the Planning and Zoning Commission. 

None of the candidates responded to an inquiry from LaPolitics. The top issues in the campaign are likely to be traffic, drainage and public safety. 

Berthelot will retire from politics after finishing out his current term on the council, and he said he’s trying to stay as far away from the mayoral competition as possible. 

Price isn’t backing anyone either, at least not yet. He has relationships with all four: Riley and Irvin are relatives, Lomas is his neighbor, and Stewart used to be his barber. 

But while he’s not picking a winner, Price does say that whoever is able to extend beyond their base and pick up significant support from white Republicans will likely have the upper hand. 

Conventional Wisdom

Posted on by Jeremy Alford

After two of the most expensive and complicated party conventions on record, is the current model still a benefit to voters and citizens?

When New Orleans consultant James Carville sat for an interview with LaPolitics last week during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he said he often wondered how much longer these grand political spectacles would last.

Several square miles of downtown Chicago were locked down for Democrats, and the same treatment was afforded to Republicans in Milwaukee this summer, creating logistical nightmares for commuters and significantly less foot traffic for mom-and-pop businesses.

“These things have become a form of security theater,” said Carville. “There’s a lot of rigmarole, more rigmarole than anything else.” 

Then there’s the money involved. Twenty years ago, the U.S. Justice Department began awarding host cities $50 million grants to cover security needs.

Ahead of this year’s conventions, however, the tally was increased to $75 million per host city, at the request of officials in Chicago, Milwaukee and Houston, where the 2028 Republican National Convention will be held, according to Jeff Fleming, who directs communications for the city of Milwaukee.

Combined, that means taxpayers on the federal level footed a security bill of $150 million this year.

“That covered our costs,” Fleming said. “There were other activities not eligible for grant funding, but those were modest and absorbed within existing city budgets.”

While tourism officials in Milwaukee are still working on an economic impact estimate, they are hopeful they met their pre-convention target of $200 million, said Claire Koenig​​​​ with Visit Milwaukee, the city’s tourism bureau.

Isaac Reichman​​​​, director of corporate communications for Choose Chicago, the Windy City’s tourism arm, said officials are working with the DNC Host Committee on an economic impact analysis, but it will not be completed until later this year.

“We can say that previous political conventions have had an economic impact of $150 million to $200 million on the host city,” said Reichman.

Fortunately for both cities, their taxpayers aren’t on the hook. The RNC Host Committee raised north of $85 million for the Milwaukee convention, well above its initial $70 million goal. Chicago’s DNC Host Committee raised a record $94 million, making this year’s convention the most expensive on record for Dems.

Of course, the irony is Democrats spent an unprecedented amount of cash to hold a convention where delegates didn’t even carry out their core duty, which was nominating a presidential candidate. Instead, Vice President Kamala Harris was added to the top of the ballot using a pre-convention Zoom meeting of delegates.

Republicans, meanwhile, championed economic development while cheering on former President Donald Trump. Some businesses in downtown Milwaukee, by comparison, haven’t done much cheering in the wake of a week of incredibly slow commerce. A popular restaurant, Lupis and Iris, even shut its doors during the convention’s peak because conventioneers were nowhere to be found.

Derek Babcock, the chair of the Louisiana GOP and a delegate to this year’s RNC, admitted modern conventions are “more of a formality” these days. A convention just offers an opportunity to discuss the party’s values and vision.

“It’s really a stage show,” he said. 

As for security, the safety needs are what they are, added Babcock. But it’s probably time to ask whether taxpayers should foot a $150 million bill, especially with the parties conducting their own fundraising, he said.

“At the end of the day, it’s a private party,” Babcock said. 

Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis, a Louisiana delegate to this year’s DNC, said the value of a convention goes well beyond the few hours of primetime television that most people see. Convention-goers have a chance to meet, learn from and strategize with their party colleagues in other states.

Lewis argued paying for convention security is an appropriate federal expense, noting the wide array of federal officials on hand, including members of Congress and current and former presidents. 

“What happens if the United Center had a terrorist attack?” Lewis asked. “We would say, ‘Where was the federal response?’”

While Republicans have already selected Houston for their next convention in 2028, Democrats are still searching for a host city. Officials in Chicago, for their part, are making a hard push to host again in four years.

Insider for August 29, 2024

Posted on by NC Insider

YOU DON’T SAY

“We know that we are on the brink of collapse.”

Michele Morrow, the GOP nominee for state superintendent of public instruction, on the state of American society. (The News & Observer, 8/28/24)

Climate Voters
Gareth McGrath, USA Today Network, 8/28/24

When Gov. Roy Cooper spoke at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) last week before introducing Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee, the N.C. governor mentioned Harris’ successful fight with the big banks after last decade’s property crash and her plans − if elected − to improve the nation’s health care system and schools. But what he didn’t talk about was climate change, which has been a focal point of Cooper’s two terms in office in the Tar Heel State and a primary focus of the Biden administration as it looks to energize and refocus the American economy.

Political scientists say there’s a simple reason for that: Voters see other issues as more important in their daily lives.

Even as homes wash away on the Outer Banks thanks to accelerated erosion and rising seas fueled by warming oceans and tropical weather systems like Debby dump buckets worth of rain on areas in a short space of time, more immediate concerns continue to dominate most of the political conversation.

“People can certainly feel it and certainly see it, so it’s there,” said Dr. Peter Francia, director of the Center for Survey Research at East Carolina University, of the impacts from our changing weather patterns. “But it just doesn’t carry the same weight with voters as other issues.”

Dr. Chris Cooper, director of the Public Policy Institute at Western Carolina University, said the environment is important to voters, and neither voters or politicians are ignoring it. “But when it’s something as big and complicated as the environment or problems caused by climate change, assuming you believe in that, how do you attribute blame? It’s a hard issue to wrap your arms around.”

Francia said his center’s latest poll found only 3% of North Carolina voters viewed climate change/environment as their top issue heading into November. That compares to 42% of voters identifying inflation and the overall cost of living as the most important issue, while 17% of respondents said the general economy is the largest issue. The state’s abortion law, which was recently tightened, was listed as the most important by 13% of voters.

Cooper said that this year, as in most elections, it’s the traditional issues that North Carolinians say will influence their votes.

For Democrats energized since Harris became the party’s nominee, protecting reproductive rights is seen a as clear winner. For Republicans, controlling the border and perceived increases in crime are seen as strong vote getters.

Less than two weeks ago, the Outer Banks again was the center of unwanted attention when an oceanfront home in Rodanthe fell into the Atlantic. It became the seventh home in the small village on Hatteras Island to be washed away by the encroaching surf since 2020. But even there on the frontlines of climate change, the environment isn’t really the main issue driving voter interest.

“Yes, with some of my constituents, especially those in my coastal counties, it’s a concern,” said Republican state Sen. Bobby Hanig, who represents much of northeastern North Carolina in Raleigh. “But really I don’t hear a lot about it from folks in other places.” [Source] 

Parkland Grants
Adam Wagner, The News & Observer, 8/28/24

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland was visiting the future site of Smoky Hollow Park on Tuesday when someone told her there was a stream running under the asphalt lot she was standing on.

Converting the area near the intersections of Peace Street and Capital Boulevard to a park and restoring the section of Pigeon House Branch that runs through it is one of three parks projects the U.S. Department of the Interior has funded in Wake County in recent weeks.

“It’s a natural wetland, so nature doesn’t forget what it should be and we should help in every way that we can to return nature to the way it wants to be and the way it was meant to be,” Haaland said shortly after. Earlier this month, Interior announced that Raleigh would receive nearly $8.68 million to build Smoky Hollow Park and restore the stream running through it.

The same round of Outdoor Recreation Legacy Program funding also included $8.5 million for the Town of Garner to fund the first phase of Yeargan Park, which will include four multipurpose fields and a path to Garner’s downtown area, among other upgrades.

Haaland and Interior staff visited the sites of both projects as part of a two-day trip to North Carolina. They also visited several restoration projects on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which has received $253 million in Great American Outdoors Act funding to address deferred maintenance projects.

Cabinet secretaries have been frequent visitors to North Carolina in recent months, touting federal investments as the 2024 election draws closer.

Haaland’s tour ended Tuesday at Raleigh’s Norman and Betty Camp Education Center at Walnut Creek Wetland Park. Raleigh received $845,000 from Interior in March to provide bicycle and pedestrian connections between Walnut Creek Wetland Park and the Biltmore Hills and Rochester Heights neighborhoods.

The Walnut Creek project merges environmental justice and conservation concerns, Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday.

Cooper, a Democrat, said the park project bolsters a pair of his executive orders. In Executive Order 305, Cooper directed state agencies to conserve a million acres, restore a million acres and plant a million urban trees by 2040. And in Executive Order 292, Cooper directed every cabinet agency to consider environmental justice when making permitting decisions and awarding funds.

“What we want to do is combine our conservation efforts with environmental justice as was done with this area right here and to make sure that we are making opportunities for everyone, that everyone can enjoy the conservation and enjoy the outdoors and to participate,” Cooper said. [Source]

Ballot Order
Kyle Ingram, The News & Observer, 8/28/24

The first name North Carolina voters will see on their ballot this year is Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat running for the office of President of the United States. The order is selected by random chance. North Carolina law requires the State Board of Elections to randomly assign ballot order by the last name of the candidates.

Board staff conducted this assignment using a two-step process on Dec. 15, 2023 — nearly three months before the primary election. First, staff selected a ball from a bingo machine that had one ball corresponding to every letter in the alphabet. The letter selected was “D,” meaning that candidates whose last name began with “D” would be placed first on the ballot. Second, staff flipped a coin to determine whether the remaining candidates would appear in alphabetical order or reverse alphabetical order. The coin landed on “heads,” meaning the rest of the candidates would appear in regular alphabetical order. This entire process was streamed live.

Since the randomization occurred before the primary election, board staff could not have even known which candidates would be placed on the ballot in the first place — much less their specific ballot order.

Under the random order that was selected, President Joe Biden actually would have appeared last on the ballot if he had remained the Democratic nominee. But, because Harris’ name comes first in alphabetical order when starting with “D,” she will appear first on the ballot in 2024. Trump will appear second-to-last on the ballot since several third-party candidates come before him, alphabetically. In 2016 and 2020, Donald Trump was first on the state’s ballot after board staff conducted similar randomization processes. [Source]

Religious Campaigning
T. Keung Hui, The News & Observer, 8/28/24

Wake County’s Republican-backed school board candidates are campaigning for conservative voters with Michele Morrow, the GOP nominee for state superintendent of public instruction. The GOP-backed school board candidates joined Morrow and other Republican elected officials and candidates to talk about education at this week’s Western Wake Republican Club meeting in Cary.

The candidates mixed a message of religion and politics, arguing that Christian voters need to support conservative candidates “to save America.”

“We know that we are on the brink of collapse,” Morrow said. “And I have to tell you, I believe the biggest threat to our constitutional republic right now is the indoctrination happening in the public school system around this country.”

Morrow is a homeschool parent, conservative activist, registered nurse and former Christian missionary who upset incumbent Catherine Truitt in the March Republican primary for state superintendent. She is running against Democrat Mo Green, the former superintendent of Guilford County Schools, and former executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a group that funds progressive causes.

Morrow repeated many of the charges she’s made on the campaign trail, including claiming that public schools are telling white students “they must apologize for the color of their skin.”

“This race isn’t about politics, it’s about our children,” Mo Green said in a statement Wednesday. “Morrow can’t be trusted to take care of our public schools, even fellow Republicans know it. This moment requires all of us, regardless of political party affiliation, to stand up in support of public education.” But state Rep. John Torbett and Dave Boliek, the GOP nominee for State Auditor, both praised Morrow at Monday’s Western Wake GOP meeting.

Boliek said Morrow is right in calling diversity, equity and inclusion programs “a waste of money” and “administrative bloat.” [Source] 

Water Permits
Adam Wagner, The News & Observer, 8/28/24

North Carolina environmental groups are asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take water permitting regulation away from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, arguing legislative budget cuts and tweaks to boards and commissions have rendered the state agency unable to protect water quality.

The EPA typically delegates to state agencies the power to write National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. These permits are used to regulate pollution that is discharged directly into waterways by industrial plants, wastewater treatment plants and similar sources.

In a 65-page petition filed Wednesday, the Southern Environmental Law Center asked the EPA to take that authority back from North Carolina.

The complaint comes as years-long efforts to regulate contaminants like 1,4-dioxane and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have stalled at commissions that are either entirely or largely controlled by legislative Republicans.

“North Carolina families depend on DEQ to control harmful pollution released into the State’s rivers, creeks and streams. By unlawfully stripping the agency of its ability to control this pollution, the legislature’s actions not only violate the Clean Water Act and the (memorandum of agreement) — they threaten hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians who fish, swim, play in and get their drinking water from North Carolina waters,” the petition states.

Republicans hold a supermajority in the General Assembly, meaning they are able to override vetos of Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, by voting along party lines.

The petition cites four actions that environmental groups argue have hindered DEQ’s efforts to regulate water quality.

Those include: Legislature-controlled commissions stymieing DEQ’s efforts to regulate contaminants like PFAS and 1,4-dioxane. The General Assembly controls all appointments to the Rules Review Commission, and in 2023 shifted two Environmental Management Commission appointments to Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler in order to take the majority away from Cooper.

A 2011 law that took final say over contested permits from the state environmental agency and gave it to the Office of Administrative Hearings, a move the petition argues is in violation of the EPA’s agreement with North Carolina. The Office of Administrative Hearings is now controlled by Donald van der Vaart, a McCrory-era DEQ secretary who is widely seen as anti-regulation.

Legislative involvement with the specific conditions of certain permits, a move the petition says usurps DEQ’s role as the delegated permit writer.

Ongoing funding issues that have left DEQ’s salaries uncompetitive with the private market and even some other state agencies, sapping the agency of the ability to write permits that are as protective as they could be and resulting in permitting backlogs that leave outdated permits in place.

The petition notes that 833 employees at the N.C. Department of Transportation receive higher salaries than the director of the N.C. Division of Water Resources. The SELC is representing groups including Cape Fear River Watch, Environmental Justice Community Action Network, Haw River Assembly and MountainTrue. [Source]
Child Welfare Lawsuits
Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi, The News & Observer, 8/28/24

North Carolina puts thousands of children in harm’s way by failing to fix the state’s broken child welfare system, says a federal class action complaint filed on behalf of nine foster children. For more than a decade, the state Department of Health and Human Services ignored warnings that its failure to lead and supervise county departments of social services ”places foster children across the state at substantial risk of harm,” says the lawsuit, which was filed Aug. 27.

Gov. Roy Cooper, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kody Kinsley and others, including Mecklenburg County, are listed as defendants. The Cooper administration has already been sued for foster-care failures.

A separate lawsuit accuses the state of unnecessarily warehousing foster children in locked psychiatric facilities. North Carolina has a county-administered social service system, meaning that counties largely control child welfare services. The state provides guidance and is supposed to conduct monthly reviews.

It can also put a county under a corrective action plan or do a takeover. The lawsuit also names Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services, Gaston County and its Department of Social Services as defendants.

Those organizations “have failed to provide timely and appropriate treatment, to place children in safe and appropriate foster homes, to thoroughly investigate allegations of maltreatment in care, and to recruit necessary and appropriate foster homes.”

In 2012, there were 6,920 non-relative foster homes in North Carolina and in 2022, there were only 5,183, the lawsuit states. But the number of foster children increased from approximately 8,400 in 2012 to 10,200 in 2022, it says.

As foster care capacity decreases, foster children find themselves “in jails, emergency rooms, DSS offices, homeless shelters, hotels, and other inappropriate and unsafe settings,” the lawsuit says. The children’s stories are used as the basis for the proposed class action complaint, which seeks action for a class of at least 11,000 children either in the custody of DHHS or who have been involved with it, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit also lists as a sub-class “thousands of children with disabilities who are or will become a ward of DHHS.”

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys with A Better Childhood Inc., a non-profit legal organization based in New York, and attorneys with Nelson Mullins, a Raleigh law firm.

“We have been looking at the North Carolina system for a number of years, and we have known that there have been problems in the North Carolina system, serious problems,” said Marcia Lowry, executive director of A Better Childhood and an attorney in the case. “Each time we have backed off because we had some folks that the state would respond, however, the problem continues, and if anything, it is getting worse,” she said, citing high caseloads, high staff vacancies and inappropriate placements for kids, including putting them up in DSS offices and hotels.

The state agency is responsible for looking at whether counties are following federal law but it hasn’t acted, she said. Cooper spokesman Jordan Monaghan said in an email that “our administration has a strong record of action to protect the people of North Carolina, especially the vulnerable children and families involved in the foster care system.

The legislature’s chronic underfunding of social services, health care, and education slows progress on this work even as critical needs grow.” Asked about the lawsuit, Summer Tonizzo, a DHHS spokesperson, told The N&O that the agency ”cannot” comment on pending litigation. DHHS has acknowledged failures with child protective services. “Too many children are struggling to access the mental health care and support they need to thrive — stuck in cycles of conflict at school, in emergency rooms without access to necessary care and sleeping in child welfare offices,” Kinsley was quoted saying in a January news release. [Source]
  

Duke Rates
David Mildenberg, Business NC, 8/28/24

Starting January 1, Duke Energy Carolinas residential customers using about 1,000 kilowatts per month in its central North Carolina region will pay about 3.6% less, saving about $62 per year.

The rate reduction ordered by the N.C. Utilities Commission mostly reflects the annual adjustment tied to costs of fuel used to produce electricity at the company’s power plants. The Charlotte-based utility said fuel prices declined by nearly 9%, a savings that is passed on directly to customers. But rates also are affected by all other costs, including modernizing Duke’s system, energy efficiency plans and efforts to reduce energy use. State regulators previously approved a 2.9% annual increase in Duke’s base rates. The declining fuel costs eclipse that increase.

Overall, commercial customers will see an average decrease in their bills of about 7.4% as of Jan. 1, while industrial customers will have an average decrease of less than 1%, Duke said in a release today. The utility has made agreements with industrial customers aimed at smoothing out the impact of volatile fuel costs.

Duke said a 1,000-kilowatt-per-month N.C. customer will pay about $137 a month in 2025, or about $40 less than the national average. That’s nearly $500 a year savings is partly credited to Duke’s nuclear power operation, which makes up about half of total energy generation.

The rate changes follow an Aug. 20 order by the N.C. Utilities Commission.

Duke Energy Carolinas provides electricity to 2.9 million customers in the Carolinas. It includes Charlotte, Durham and the Triad, and it’s part of a multistate company with 8.4 million electric utility customers. Duke Energy’s natural gas business also serves 1.7 million customers in five states.

Rates for Duke Energy Progress, which serves Asheville, Raleigh and eastern North Carolina, haven’t been set yet by the Utilities Commission. [Source]

Downtown Raleigh
Richard Stradling, The News & Observer, 8/28/24

Recent years have been challenging for downtown Raleigh. The COVID-19 pandemic and the lingering work-from-home trend have reduced the number of daily office workers and weeknight visitors. Meanwhile, unrest after the death of George Floyd in 2020 left several businesses looted or burned, and more recent spikes in crime have eroded the sense of safety.

Now the city and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance booster group have developed a five-year economic strategy to reposition the center city for a rebound that builds on recent successes, particularly in housing.

The downtown population has doubled over the last decade, according to the alliance, and more than 1,600 apartments and condos are under construction with another 8,072 planned or proposed. The economic strategy, released Wednesday afternoon at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts, includes dozens of ideas and proposals.

They focus on four key areas: improving the retail environment with a focus on Fayetteville Street; strengthening the office market; supporting minority and women-owned businesses; and undertaking a series of “catalytic projects,” such as redesigning City Plaza or working with local universities to create a “design hub” downtown.

“I’m thrilled to see these bold ideas that increase vitality in our downtown and stake Raleigh’s place as a world-class destination,” Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said in a written statement. “Now comes the important and harder work of bringing this blueprint to life and building the downtown that we all envision.”

The 82-page report was developed over the last year, using input from residents, business leaders and city officials, says Bill King, president and CEO of the downtown alliance. “This strategy is more than a set of recommendations,” King wrote. “It is a vision for downtown Raleigh’s future, focusing on creating a vibrant, inclusive, and resilient urban center that adapts to our community’s evolving needs.”

The report acknowledges the effect of hybrid work on reducing foot traffic downtown. Other challenges include competition from other downtowns and places such as North Hills, that offer “pedestrian friendly, new urbanist environments with curated tenants and a public realm managed by a single owner.”

The strategies outlined in the report range from targeted and straightforward to vague and aspirational. They include renovation grants and streamlined permitting for new retailers; a better environment for pedestrians and cyclists across and along busy Dawson and McDowell streets; and creating a new “Peace Street gateway” to Halifax Mall, on the north end of the State Government Complex, by tearing down the 15-story Archdale building and replacing it with a “signature, must-see public art piece.”

Some of the plan involves connecting downtown to places and institutions outside the core. It includes creating a “bold connection” to Dorothea Dix Park, the 308-acre former state hospital campus separated from downtown by Western Boulevard.

Another idea is to create closer ties between downtown and N.C. State University and its Centennial Campus, through joint marketing or other efforts to attract new businesses and workers. The report ends with more long-term goals, including a downtown professional sports arena or stadium; a central county library; more affordable housing, and potentially moving Central Prison, which sits between downtown and N.C. State’s two campuses. [Source]
 

Walz Event
Laura Leslie, WRAL News, 8/28/24

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will make his first stop in North Carolina as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. But it will not be a public event. WRAL News has learned Walz will be the headliner at an invitation-only fundraiser for the Harris campaign in midtown Raleigh late Thursday afternoon. Walz will be joined by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. According to an invitation obtained by WRAL News, the event is being hosted by several major Democratic donors. The Harris-Walz campaign did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation. Harris’ last campaign appearance in the state was Aug. 16. [Source]   

School Board Switch
T. Keung Hui, The News & Observer, 8/28/24 

A school board candidate endorsed by the Wake County Republican Party is dropping out of the race and backing the Democratic supported incumbent. 

Robert Morales Vergara announced Wednesday he’s withdrawing from the race for the District 4 Wake County school board seat that represents Southeast Raleigh. Morales Vergara said he’s endorsing incumbent board member Toshiba Rice because they “share a commitment to improving education.”

The school board is officially non-partisan, but it has a 7-2 Democratic majority. Rice was endorsed by the Wake County Democratic Party. Morales Vergara was endorsed by the Wake County Republican Party. In his announcement, Morales Vergara said his decision came “after much reflection and a deep disappointment with the leadership of the Wake GOP.”

“I am deeply disappointed in the direction the Wake GOP leadership has taken,” Morales Vergara said in a news release. “Their recent decisions and actions do not reflect what I believe is best for our people, families, and community.”

The Wake County GOP did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday from The News & Observer. Morales Vergara’s name will still appear on the ballot because he missed the deadline to withdraw. Sean Callan and Mike Williams are opposing Rice for the District 4 seat. Morales Vergara had campaigned as recently as Monday at the Western Wake Republican Club meeting with the other GOP-backed school board candidates and GOP state superintendent nominee Michele Morrow.

Morales Vergara, 27, is a fiscal analyst for the City of Raleigh, He had unsuccessfully run in the March GOP primary for the U.S. House District 2 seat. Morales Vergara announced Wednesday that he’s also endorsing U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, the Democratic incumbent. Ross will compete in District 2 against Republican Alan Swain and Green Party candidate Michael Dublin. “Deborah Ross has consistently demonstrated her dedication to our community, and I am confident that she will continue to serve our district with integrity and commitment,” Morales Vergara said. [Source]

Homeschooling Numbers
Ben Humphries, Education NC, 8/27/24

Many decisions are left up to school boards when it comes to homeschooling. The state doesn’t dictate whether public schools must allow homeschooled students to enroll part-time, for example. House Bill 800, introduced in the General Assembly in 2023, would have required all school districts to allow part-time enrollment – also sometimes referred to as dual enrollment – of homeschooled students, but it died in committee. Instead of being governed by state law, school district policies on part-time enrollment, extracurricular participation, student placement, and the awarding of credit are contained within their local school board’s policy manuals.

While school boards have the power to adopt any policy they wish as long as it aligns with state and federal regulations, most use prefab clauses. It is common to see, for example, the extracurricular participation policy of one district verbatim in another district’s manual.

This is probably because 114 of the 115 districts (all except for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools) are aided by the North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA) when writing policies. NCSBA keeps a reference manual called Policies to Lead the Schools (PLS) which Christine Scheef, legal counsel and director of policy for NCSBA, said is updated at least twice a year.

“A lot of local boards use that as a base for their manual,” she said. “So that is why you will sometimes see language that seems identical.” Scheef added that school boards could also be sharing wording directly with no connection to PLS.

Districts can access PLS by paying a one-time fee of $3,500, and NCSBA provides other services such as updates, advice on crafting language, and evaluations of policy language for additional charges. NCSBA also provides web hosting services, which many districts use to host their policy manuals.

Homeschooled students are largely allowed to participate in interscholastic athletics throughout North Carolina. A few districts, such as Wake County Public School System, make no mention of extracurriculars but also don’t explicitly prohibit participation.

Policies are mostly divided between participation in sports and participation in JROTC, the latter of which is more commonly permitted. Only a handful of districts explicitly prohibit participation in sports by homeschooled students, including Duplin County Schools, Bladen County Schools, and Rockingham County Schools. Pender County Schools prohibits participation in sports for middle school homeschooled students.

One district, Wilkes County Schools, explicitly mentions that homeschooled students can enroll in driver’s education.

Likewise, most school districts allow part-time enrollment – usually called dual enrollment in policy manuals – of homeschooled students. Homeschooling parents often praise the ability to send their child to school for part of the day while still conducting most of their education at home.

Many districts have an explicit clause allowing dual enrollment, while others have no explicit clause allowing dual enrollment for homeschooled students but imply their permission through language in their extracurriculars clause. Very few districts explicitly disallow dual enrollment, with Randolph County Schools and New Hanover County Schools disallowing it only for elementary school students, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools disallowing it across the board. Read more at Education NC.  

Development Moratorium
Peter Castagno, Port City Daily, 8/28/24

An area nonprofit is urging Brunswick County officials to enact a moratorium on new development, arguing that a series of recent wastewater leaks caused by Tropical Storm Debby demonstrate that growth has outpaced residents’ infrastructure needs.

Brunswick County Conservation Partnership founder Christie Marek provided a list of recent wastewater leaks to the planning board at its Aug. 12 meeting. She called for a development moratorium to ensure infrastructure can meet demand, address the negative impacts of growth, and provide time for bacteria testing.

“We are not against growth and all developers,” Marek said at the meeting. “We are against irresponsible development that poses a health and safety risk to our community. Right now our county is under a state of emergency.”

Marek’s list of wastewater leaks included more than 900,000 gallons released just in August this year.

Under a 2014 state law, untreated wastewater overflows above 1,000 gallons require public notice. The county reported a cumulative 141,450 gallons of sanitary sewer overflows in its 2022-2023 report, 345,500 gallons in 2021-2022, and 374,500 gallons in 2020-2021.

Brunswick H2GO executive director Bob Walker told Port City Daily he did not believe recent sewer overflows were caused by overdevelopment. “Unfortunately, that’s just the area we’re in,” he said. “We get 12 inches of rain and everything is underwater.”

Walker said he couldn’t speak for Brunswick County utilities — which provides services in a separate region — but estimates H2GO has five to seven years before its system reaches 90% capacity. He argued the quality of utilities’ preventative maintenance programs is a bigger factor determining sewer overflows than capacity.

Navassa Mayor Eulis Willis told PCD he advocates the county carry out a technical assessment to determine if the sewer overflows warrant a development moratorium. [Source]  

UNCSA Abuse
Virginia Bridges, The News & Observer, 8/28/24

On Feb. 16, 2021, Elizabeth Wilson typed a simple question on Facebook that launched a landmark lawsuit against this state’s most elite performing arts campus. For years, Wilson struggled with her experiences at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she moved to study modern dance at age 14 in 1985.

Wilson posted on a School of the Arts 1980s alumni page to get a sense if people were finally ready to talk openly about years of abuse. “Curious about how involved NCSA’s founder, John Ehle, was throughout the years. Would he have known about the rampant abuse?” wrote Wilson, now in her 50s. A post in a Facebook group of former NC School of the Arts alumni and staff started an online conversation and connections between those claiming to have suffered abuse from faculty and staff.

Wilson’s post sparked a reckoning for the school, and for alumni themselves, many of whom had until then failed to understand that they were survivors of abuse. The conversation bloomed into some 60 alumni publicly describing harassment, exploitation and abuse. It was settled for $12.5 million this year, with UNCSA leaders acknowledging the former students’ suffering.
 “This has without a doubt been a dark time for UNCSA as we came to terms with accounts of sexual abuse, and we honor the courage it took for these alumni to share their experiences,” Chancellor Brian Cole wrote in May.

Seeking justice despite the years that had passed, a handful of alumni reached out to California attorney Gloria Allred, famed for her defense of sexual abuse victims. They set up Zoom calls around June 2021 with her office. Unknown to the former students then, a recent change to North Carolina law opened a unique two-year window for them to take their accusations public.

The law, known as the SAFE Child Act, allowed individuals of any age who were abused as minors to file lawsuits against abusers and institutions that failed to protect them. Allred’s firm reached out to Greensboro-based Lanier Law Group, which agreed to serve as North Carolina counsel, with attorneys Lisa Lanier and Bobby Jenkins leading the lawsuit filed, at first, by seven alumni in September 2021. Fifty-eight plaintiffs signed on before the window snapped shut at the end of 2021. Dozens more volunteered to serve as witnesses.

The many-times updated lawsuit against UNC School of the Arts accused about 40 faculty and staff of abusing or assaulting students — or failing to protect them — between 1969 and 2012. [Source]  

Shooting Anniversary
Anthony Wilson, WTVD News, 8/28/24

One year ago, shots fired inside a lab building on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus shocked that community and made worldwide headlines. Wednesday the university honored the memory of associate professor Dr. Zijie Yan when chimes inside the bell tower played Hark The Sound at 1:15 p.m.

Yan earned multiple degrees at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China before coming to the United States, where he earned his Ph.D. in 2011 at Rensselaer Polytechnic University in New York.
In a Facebook post shared with the university’s Material Sciences and Engineering Community, Department Head Professor Pawel Keblinski wrote in part: “He is remembered fondly by many of us that met him in the classroom, lab, or in the hallway of MRC. Among other things, he distinguished himself with publishing 17 journal articles in the course of his Ph.D. study.”

Yan headed the Yan Research Group at UNC, with a stated major goal of transcending the “boundary between photonics and materials science by developing new techniques to study light-matter interactions at the nanometer scale.” [Source]  

Campus Wi-Fi
Matthew Sockol, WNCN News, 8/27/24

A new Wi-Fi network is coming to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill which the school calls the most significant upgrade in over 20 years. According to the school, UNC has a 2.4GHz band, released in 1993, and a 5GHz band, released in 1999. UNC will now have Wi-Fi 6E, which allows devices to connect to a 6GHz band.

The school says too many devices use Wi-Fi than the original bands were designed to handle, which causes conversations to overlap and interfere with each other, degrading performance. Over 2,000 devices can be simultaneously connected in one large lecture hall. The 6GHz band will add channels to reduce overlap and interference.

Although only Wi-Fi 6 capable devices will be able to join the 6GHz band, the school says the 2.4 and 5GHz bands will become less congested due to newer devices moving to the new band.
 According to UNC, the new Wi-Fi more than doubles the previously available channels, which allows the school to scale wireless in a way it has not been able to do before. The new Wi-Fi is expected to benefit densely populated areas, such as residence halls, apartments, and academic buildings.

Only a small percentage of the current device population on campus is 6E capable, according to UNC. The 6E access points are being increased at no cost to customers. It will be around six years before the entire campus makes the switch to 6E-capable access points. [Source]  

Strawberry Crop
Paul Garber, WFDD Radio, 8/28/24 

An emerging threat to North Carolina’s strawberries is likely to affect next year’s crop. Neopestalotiopsis, also known as Neo-P, has been around for about five years but scientists are still learning about it, says Mark Hoffmann, a strawberry extension specialist with North Carolina State University. He says the biggest problem with the disease is that there’s no pesticide that’s been able to control it. “Our priority at the moment is really to help growers and really try to find something that we can use to control it better in nurseries, as well as in production fields,” he says. There will be an impact on next year’s crop, Hoffmann says, but it’s too early to tell how big it will be. Neo-P rots the leaves, crown and fruit. Hoffmann says there’s no risk to consumers because the disease kills the strawberry plant. [Source]
Refurbished Airfield
The Jacksonville Daily News, 8/28/24

A recent $28 million overhaul of a WWII Army Air Corps airfield at Camp Davis will enable the base to provide another world-class training capability for Marine Corps aviators, Camp Lejeune officials announced Wednesday. Located just north of Holly Ridge in the Greater Sandy Run Training Area, the resurfaced Davis South runway will serve as a multipurpose outlying landing field (OLF) that can support every airframe in the Marine Corps arsenal, including the KC-130 Hercules transport aircraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the MV-22 Osprey, and other rotary wing assets.

It can even accommodate joint service aviation variants as large as the Air Force’s heavy-lift C-17 aircraft.

“The completion of Davis South represents a significant milestone for Camp Lejeune as one of this nation’s preeminent power projection platforms along the East Coast,” said Colonel Ralph J. Rizzo Jr., commander, of Marine Corps Installations East – Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

Originally a U.S. Army installation constructed in 1941, Camp Davis was primarily used as an anti-aircraft artillery training center during World War II. [Source]  

College Administration
Jessie Pounds, Greensboro News & Record, 8/28/24

The Princeton Review called High Point University the “best-run” college in a ranking based on surveys of students at 390 colleges and universities in the United States. The rating is drawn from college students’ responses to the statement: “My school runs smoothly.” Students gave their responses on a five-point scale that ranged between “strongly agree” and “strongly disagree.”

HPU previously ranked 11th in 2024 and 16th in 2023 in that category, according to the university. HPU students also praised the school’s dorms (sixth on the ranking) and career services (ninth).

“We are grateful for the high marks given to us by our students, and we celebrate the dedicated team it takes to operate this thriving institution,” HPU President Nido Qubein said in a news release. Earlier this month, Qubein announced $31 million in bonuses, at a rate of $3,848 per year, per full-time employee for the next five years, as a “thank you” to faculty and staff. [Source]  

Affordability Ranking
Lizmary Evans, The Fayetteville Observer, 8/28/24

A new analysis ranks North Carolina as home to two of the most affordable colleges and universities in the country, including one in Fayetteville.

The tuition analysis from The College Investor, a personal finance and investing website, compared out-of-state tuition for a single academic year across hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities, according to the report. Fayetteville State University and Western Carolina University are recognized for their affordability, with annual out-of-state tuition costs of $6,262 and $8,532, respectively, the report said.

“Fayetteville State University is a NC Promise Institution which places our undergraduate tuition at $500 a semester for in-state students and $2,500 a semester for out-of-state students,” said Devon Smith, spokesperson for FSU. “While FSU was one of the most affordable options in the nation previously, our affordability is amplified with the generous support by the state legislature through NC Promise.”

NC Promise is a program established by the North Carolina General Assembly to make higher education more affordable for in-state and out-of-state students. Launched in 2018, the program aims to significantly reduce undergraduate tuition costs at select North Carolina universities, with state legislature approving a $51 million college affordability initiative the same year, according to a news release. [Source]  

Surgical Hospital
Sharryse Piggott, WUNC Radio, 8/28/24

North Carolina Surgical Hospital took five years to build. The $425 million facility was funded by bonds and reserves. The old surgical hospital, North Carolina Memorial, opened in 1952 and was outdated.

Caprice Greenberg, who chairs UNC-Chapel Hill’s surgical department, said one of the biggest challenges they’ve faced is the demand for care as the state hospital outgrew its ability to meet the needs of the population. “It’s been really heartbreaking for people here, and really hard for patients across North Carolina when they need to get transferred in, or they need to come here for care, and we can’t provide that care,” she said. “This new hospital is going to make sure that we have the operating rooms and the ICUs available when people need us.”

The new 375,000-square-foot facility has 26 large operation rooms that are 50% bigger than the old one. Four of the operating rooms are designated as “hybrid spaces,” which integrate imaging technology into surgical procedures to enhance precision and efficiency, according to a press release. Meanwhile, Greenberg said North Carolina Surgical Hospital is expected to bring over 100 new jobs to Chapel Hill. [Source]  

Lowe’s DEI
Nick de la Canal, WFAE Radio, 8/28/24

Mooresville-based home improvement retailer Lowe’s is pulling back on some of its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. An internal memo shared with several media organizations including NBC News and Reuters shows the retailer no longer plans to participate in surveys for the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group. The company will also stop participating in or sponsoring community events such as parades, festivals, or fairs. The retailer was a sponsor of this year’s Charlotte Pride parade and festival. Lowe’s says it is also combining company resource groups for minority employees into a single organization. [Source]  

Red Drum Tracking
Trista Talton, Coastal Review, 8/28/24

Red drum are widely known among coastal recreational anglers as one of the more fun fish to hook, particularly for those who love a good fight. But for a fish that’s one of the more popular recreational catches in North Carolina — it’s the official state saltwater fish — much remains unknown about the red drum, where they spawn, their migration patterns, the distances they travel and where they go.

A two-year pilot satellite tagging study launched this month aims to unlock some of those mysteries. The North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries in partnership with the North Carolina Marine & Estuary Foundation, will tag 20 mature red drum, or those stretching more than 32 inches long, collected next month during the division’s annual longline red drum survey in the Pamlico Sound.

“This is an exciting new science for North Carolina that we will hopefully use to answer key questions and more,” said Cara Kowalchyk, red drum project lead biologist with the division. “This first year is a pilot study to learn what we can, but we just want to keep expanding. We want to keep being innovative. We want to provide positive engagement and focus on a species that is economically and socially important.” [Source]
 
NC Insider Legislative Report
LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING
HOUSE CALENDARMonday, Sept. 9, 2024House Convenes at 12 P.M.SENATE CALENDARMonday, Sept. 9, 2024Senate Convenes at 12 P.M.HOUSE & SENATE: Reconvening allowed under provisions of SB 916, if no sine die adjournment previously adopted.Monday, Sept. 9 to Wednesday, Sept. 11Wednesday, Oct. 9Tuesday, Nov. 19 to Friday Nov. 22Wednesday, Dec. 11 to Friday Dec. 13
 
Legislative Studies and Meetings
LB: LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. LOB: LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BUILDING
Thursday, August 29
10 a.m. | North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force, Unintentional Death Prevention Committee, Virtual meeting.
1 p.m. | Agriculture and Forestry Awareness Study Commission, Ed Emory Auditorium, Kenansville.
1 p.m. | North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force, Intentional Death Prevention Committee, Virtual meeting.
 
N.C. Government Meetings and Hearings
BOLD ITEMS ARE NEW LISTINGS
Tuesday, Sept. 31:30 p.m. | The Accountability 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.
Friday, Sept. 610 a.m. | The Finance and Audit 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, Sept. 108:30 a.m. | The Fund 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, Sept. 1710 a.m. | The North Carolina Partnership for Children Board of Directors meets. 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, Sept. 11Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.
Thursday, Sept. 12Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.
Thursday, Oct. 17Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.
Wednesday, Nov. 13Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.
Thursday, Nov. 14Meeting of the Board of Governors, TBA.
 N.C. Utilities Commission Hearing Schedule
DOBBS BUILDING, 430 NORTH SALISBURY STREET, RALEIGH
Monday, Sept. 161 p.m. | Public and Expert Witness Hearing – Application Pursuant to G.S. 62-133.2 and Commission Rule R8-55 relating to Fuel and Fuel-related Charge Adjustments for Electric Utilities | E-2 Sub 13411 p.m. | Public and Expert Witness Hearing – Application pursuant to G.S. 62-133.9 and Commission Rule R8-69 for Approval of Demand-Side Management and Energy Efficiency Cost Recovery Rider | E-2 Sub 13421 p.m. | Public and Expert Witness Hearing – Application Pursuant to G.S. 62-133.8 and Commission Rule R8-67 for Approval of CEPS Compliance Report and CEPS Cost Recovery Rider | E-2 Sub 13431 p.m. | Public and Expert Witness Hearing – Application pursuant to G.S. 62-110.8 and Commission Rule R8-71 for Approval of CPRE Compliance Report and CPRE Cost Recovery Rider | E-2 Sub 13441 p.m. | Public and Expert Witness Hearing – Application pursuant to G.S. 62-133.2 and Commission Rule R8-70 relating to Joint Agency Asset Cost Recovery Rider | E-2 Sub 1345

Tuesday, Sept. 1710 a.m. | Expert 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
Thursday, Aug. 2910 a.m. | Gov. Roy Cooper to arrive at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base to meet with base leadership and Air Force personnel followed by a tour of the base.
Friday, Sept. 6No time given | The 2024 N.C. Mountain State Fair opens at the WNC Agricultural Center in Fletcher. Runs through the 15th, and more information is available at https://www.wncagcenter.org/p/mountainstatefair
Friday, Sept. 272024 Lumbee Powwow, Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center, 638 Terry Sanford Drive, Maxton.

Tom Horne: Schools chief, husband … paralegal? 

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Horne is planning to sit as a paralegal to assist his wife, attorney Carmen Chenal Horne, in the latest legal fight over dual language learning. Horne’s lawsuit seeking to see dual language declared illegal in line with a state law requiring “all children in Arizona public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English” failed due to lack of standing. His wife, Chenal Horne, then filed a second suit on behalf of a parent against the Creighton Elementary School District, again seeking to see the learning model struck down. In emails between counsel and the court ironing out the date and time for a conference, Chenal Horne asked if Horne could sit at the counsel table as a paralegal. The court agreed, so long as there was enough room. Horne confirmed he would assist his wife in the case and said he would provide insight on arguments presented to the court. “I’ve lived through this,” Horne said. “I’m very familiar with it.” The parties are due for a hearing on Sept. 9 in front of Judge Frank Moskowitz, a Brewer appointee.

High court rules Legislative Council open primary analysis accurate

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Legislative Council’s analysis of the open primary ballot measure was cleared by the Arizona Supreme Court for the state publicity pamphlet, reversing a lower court’s finding that the summary was misleading. Make Elections Fair sued the legislative council after the approved analysis led with the provision allowing for ranked choice voting as opposed to the key change to the primary. Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian, a Ducey appointee, agreed and found the council’s summary “selectively emphasizes the Initiative’s voter ranking  provisions” and “inaccurately suggests that its enactment would mandate the use of voter ranking to determine the winning candidate in all future elections.” Julian wrote, “Such a strategy is ‘tinged with partisan coloring’ and violates the requirement of neutrality.” On appeal, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously found the analysis “substantially complies” with state law requiring analysis to be impartial, clear and concise. “The analysis, including the first numbered paragraph, accurately describes the Initiative,” Chief Justice Ann Timmer wrote. “The analysis describes the changes in separately numbered, short paragraphs, which permits an interested voter to understand the proposed amendments. It is not for the courts to decide what aspects of the Initiative are most important and deserving of description in the analysis’ initial paragraphs.” The court ordered the SoS to print the analysis as submitted. “We, of course, disagree with the Court’s ruling but are not surprised that again they have acted contrary to our wishes and the lower court’s ruling,” Chuck Coughlin, treasurer for Make Elections Fair PAC, said in a statement. “The analysis provided by Legislative Council which we objected to is both prejudicial, arbitrary and capricious. Any analysis should begin by explaining what the initiative does and then explain what the initiative may do.” Make Elections Fair faces one more legal challenge to its signatures before securing its place on the ballot. In an order on August 21, the Supreme Court remanded a signature challenge back to the Superior Court and ordered the admission and review of evidence allegedly showing duplicate signatures.

Hotel housing continued in Scottsdale over vice mayor’s objections

Posted on by Yellow Sheet Report Staff

Scottsdale City Council members continued a program that has drawn criticism from some Republicans at the Capitol during the city’s last council meeting, approving a resolution that continues the city’s hotel bridge housing program. Gress and B. Parker raised concerns last year with hotel housing programs that Scottsdale and Mesa have used, leading to a House Appro subcommittee hearing that Gress led in Scottsdale to examine the city’s program. While council members extended the program through May 31, 2025, they also reduced the number of rooms available for participants from 10 to five hotel rooms with $190,000 from the Dept. of Housing in grant funds that must be spent by Sept. 30. “The only thing I’m really sorry about is that we’re only going to have five rooms instead of 10, and I’m hoping we can reverse that in the next grant phase,” said Scottsdale Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield. The council voted 5-1 with the one nay vote coming from Vice Mayor Barry Graham, who asked city staff several questions about the effectiveness and operation of the program. After about five minutes of Graham’s questioning, Mayor David Ortega interjected and the two argued for about 10 minutes about whether Graham was out of order. According to the city, the bridge housing program has an 86% success rate, with 132 exiting the program into a safe living situation since it started. The only people eligible for the program are seniors and single parents with minor children whose last residential address was in Scottsdale. Councilman Tom Durham confirmed with city staff that no individuals from “The Zone” in Phoenix participated in the program. “It’s not just a ‘housing first’ program as Rep. Gress claimed,” Durham said. Gress didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from our reporter Wednesday. Gress ran a bill in the 2024 session that would have prohibited state and local money from being used for mixed hoteling while further regulating homeless services with a proposed homeless shelter and services fund. The bill, H2782 (homeless shelter fund; performance audit), didn’t receive a hearing in the Senate. Shamp attempted to revive the bill with a strike-everything amendment to S1238 (performance audit; homeless shelter fund), but that measure also didn’t get a floor hearing in the House.

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