“The best description I’ve heard of it is a firehose concentrated right here in Southeastern North Carolina and particularly in Brunswick County.”
Gov. Roy Cooper, on the devastating rain in eastern North Carolina. (Wilmington StarNews, 9/18/24)
Storm Tour
Renee Spencer, Wilmington StarNews, 9/18/24
After seeing historic flooding on Monday, recovery and resiliency were the messages Gov. Roy Cooper brought to the Cape Fear region Wednesday.
The area was hit by an unnamed storm — known as Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight — which brought more than 20 inches of rain to Brunswick and southern New Hanover counties, which flooded homes and businesses, washed out roads, and damaged infrastructure.
On Wednesday, Cooper toured the area by helicopter and met with state, county and municipal officials. Following the tour, Cooper recalled what he saw in a news conference.
“The best description I’ve heard of it is a firehose concentrated right here in Southeastern North Carolina and particularly in Brunswick County,” Cooper said.
Cooper has declared a state of emergency for Brunswick, New Hanover, and Columbus counties, and he said federal, state and local officials were working together to aid in the response.
“When you have predictions for five to eight inches (of rain) and you end up with 20-plus in some areas, that can cause real significant problems,” he said. Cooper noted that at this time, more than 60 roads in the state — many of those in Brunswick — remain closed. Some of those damaged include sections of highly traveled thoroughfares, including U.S. 17, N.C. 211, N.C. 133, and N.C. 87.
The N.C. Department of Transportation, State Highway Patrol, and local officials are responding to road closures.
Cooper noted that one storm-related death had been reported in Brunswick County, and the incident resulted when a motorist drove around a barricade on N.C. 211 and the vehicle disappeared into the water.
“We will reiterate that it is so important not to drive through flooded areas and to stop at all barricades, stop for law enforcement officers,” Cooper said. “We just don’t know for sure what’s under that water.”
State officials praised first responders for their efforts to keep residents safe.
Many are calling the storm a “one in a 1,000-year event.”
“But I think Southeastern North Carolina is recognizing that’s no longer true,” Cooper added, noting that climate change is resulting in more violent storms.
As a result, he said investing in more resilient recovery is essential to ensure the state is ready for the next storm. Cooper said evidence of the investments made during Hurricane Florence, which hit southeastern North Carolina six years ago, were evident during their tour. He referenced a bridge in Brunswick County that is currently under construction and being built much higher than the current one, which was breached during Monday’s storm.
As the news conference was happening, EMS strike teams from Brunswick County were working to evacuate 85 residents from Southport Health and Rehabilitation Center on North Fodale Avenue. Southport Police Chief Todd Coring said the facility took on water during Monday’s storm, and 12 residents were evacuated from the facility at that time, but damage and mold resulting from the storm forced the remaining residents to be evacuated Wednesday.
Coring said the residents were being loaded into three mass casualty buses and eight ambulances for transport to other facilities located across the state.
North Carolina Secretary of Transportation Joey Hopkins and North Carolina Emergency Management Director Will Ray also addressed recovery efforts. Hopkins said the plan was to get roads and highways “open as soon and as safe as possible.”
Ray said it is too early to estimate the damage and economic loss from Monday’s unnamed storm. He said local crews will begin collecting damage assessments later this week and early next week. [Source]
North Carolinians would fare better economically under a second Trump administration than they have under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Wednesday during a rally at Raleigh’s Union Station.
Vance acknowledged that he is a former critic of former President Donald Trump and said it would be impossible for the running mates to be in 100% lockstep agreement on every issue. But Harris, he said, has abandoned the agenda she ran on during her 2020 presidential campaign.
“She has flip-flopped on literally every single proposal that she ran on in 2020 and now she says she doesn’t believe,” Vance said. Harris, he continued, could walk into the room and put on a red “Make America Great Again” hat, because she is “running on a Trump agenda.”
“I actually stand in front of the American people and explain why [“I’ve changed my mind on certain issues],” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind in this country, but when you change your mind, you ought to explain to the American people why.”
An oft-cited criticism of the Harris campaign has been her lack of scheduled interviews. Vance stated that he believes she’s only sat down for two interviews since the start of her campaign.
“If you want to be the American people’s president, you ought to not be afraid of the friendly American media,” Vance said. Subsequently, he fielded questions from the media for 25 minutes.
During an Asheboro campaign stop in August, Vance criticized the Biden administration for failing to secure the United States-Mexico border over the last three and a half years. Vance received a question regarding his comments about the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, a town which he represents as a United States Senator.
Vance responded that while the media often states the 15,000 Haitian immigrants are legally documented, the Biden-Harris administration used two separate programs — mass parole and temporary protective status — to “wave a wand” and choose not to deport these immigrants.
“Who in this room, who in this country, consented to allowing millions of aliens to come into this country?” Vance asked. “None of us did.” The “shamelessness” of the current president, he added, prevents border patrol agents from doing their job while simultaneously declaring those who complain about the influx as racists.
“Very often, the people who suffer the most from Kamala Harris’s open borders are people of Latino descent or they’re Black Americans whose family has been in this country for nine or 10 generations,” Vance said.
In his final pitch to voters, Vance shared details from Trump’s phone call to him following a second assassination attempt on his life last Sunday.
“What you really want is not a person you agree with all the time,” Vance said. “What you really want is a person who is level-headed and calm in the midst of a crisis, and that is Donald J. Trump.”
Vance recognized Lieutenant Governor candidate Hal Weatherman, North Carolina Republican Party chair Jason Simmons and House Speaker Tim Moore, who were all in attendance. He also acknowledged Congressional candidates Addison McDowell, Brad Knott and Pat Harrigan.
Dredging Halt
Dan Kane, The News & Observer, 9/18/24
A dredging company launched with $15 million in state money must cease its work in the Oregon and Hatteras inlets after digging deeper and wider than permits allowed hundreds of times, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday.
EJE Dredging Service is led by an influential North Carolina Republican who is under scrutiny by a federal grand jury.
The Corps suspended permits that it had issued to Dare County to dredge channels in the two inlets after finding that 98% of EJE Dredging Service’s loads of dredged materials over a nine-month period were removed either partially or completely outside designated channels. Data pulled from sensors on EJE’s shallow-draft hopper dredge showed it had dredged as far as 445 feet beyond a 100-foot wide channel in the Oregon Inlet.
“I have been with the Corps for 22 years and I have never seen anything like this,” said Tommy Fennel, the regulatory chief for the Wilmington district, which covers North Carolina.
The Corps expects to meet with Dare County within the next two weeks to go over the noncompliance and make sure they have a plan that is enforceable, said Col. Brad Morgan, the Corps district commander. If that doesn’t happen, the Corps could revoke the permits.
“We want to continue to work with Dare County,” Morgan said. “Their ability to conduct dredging in support of Dare County and in support of these channels is a huge asset and a huge resource for the state. We just need to get them coloring within the lines and within the box that we have authorized for those channels.”
Dare County Manager Bobby Outten said he couldn’t comment until he’s seen the Corps’ information.
EJE Dredging was formed by Judson Whitehurst, a Greenville business owner, three months after state lawmakers provided the $15 million to Dare County for dredging. The following year, company documents showed Jordan Hennessy, a former legislative aide who helped convince lawmakers to provide funding for the dredging, working on behalf of EJE Dredging. He’s been the CEO for at least two years.
Hennessy has been named in two subpoenas linked to a federal criminal investigation for his work on another project funded by state lawmakers in 2020.
Subpoenas issued over the past three months show a grand jury seeks information about Hennessy and one of his businesses as it investigates a domestic violence prevention program funded with $3.5 million also appropriated by state lawmakers. [Source]
Stein Support
Paul Specht, WRAL News, 9/18/24
Democratic North Carolina gubernatorial nominee Josh Stein is touting praise from across the aisle. Stein’s campaign announced Wednesday that he’s received the endorsement of Republican former State Sen. Richard Stevens and other Republican leaders. He plans to unveil a longer list of Republican endorsees during a press conference on Thursday morning in Raleigh.
A spokesperson for the Robinson campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stevens, a former county manager for Wake County, served five terms in the state legislature before resigning in 2012. Republican leaders picked Stevens to be budget chairman after they gained a majority of the General Assembly in 2011.
Upon his departure from the legislature, Republican Senate leader Phil Berger praised Stevens as “a dedicated public servant whose budgetary expertise, tireless work ethic and ability to work across the aisle made him a successful and effective legislator.”
Stein’s announcement comes a week after a WRAL News Poll found growing support for Stein among conservatives. Twenty percent of conservative voters supported Stein in the latest WRAL poll, up from 14% in a March WRAL poll. Of the respondents who said they plan to vote for former president Donald Trump in the presidential election, 11% said they’ll vote for Stein in the gubernatorial race.
The poll showed Stein with a 14-percentage-point lead over Robinson among all respondents. [Source]
Abuse Lawsuits
Gary D. Robertson, The Associated Press, 9/18/24
Challenges to a portion of a state law that gave adult victims of child sexual abuse two additional years to seek civil damages dominated oral arguments in lawsuits heard Wednesday by North Carolina’s highest court.
The state Supreme Court in one day considered five cases involving individuals who have sued based on changes approved by the General Assembly through the 2019 SAFE Child Act and signed by Gov. Roy Cooper.
Before the law, victims of sexual abuse before age 18 effectively had until turning 21 to file such civil claims against perpetrators. Now such victims have until they’re age 28.
Front and center in most of the cases heard Wednesday was another section of the law that gave other victims whose period to sue ended the ability to file lawsuits seeking damages for child sex abuse. They were allowed to file lawsuits from January 2020 through December 2021.
Supporters of the two-year provision have said it allowed victims to ensure their abusers and institutions that allowed abuse to happen pay for the damage, and that abusers are called out publicly.
In Wednesday’s opening case, a lawyer for the Gaston County Board of Education argued the lookback period violates the North Carolina Constitution by stripping away fundamental rights protected from retroactive alterations by the legislature. The board wants the provision declared unconstitutional and the lawsuit dismissed.
The school board is a defendant in a 2020 lawsuit filed by three former Gaston County student-athletes who also sued a high school coach convicted of crimes against team members. In this case, a divided state Court of Appeals panel last year upheld the two-year window as constitutional.
At least 250 child sex abuse lawsuits were filed in North Carolina under the two-year window, with many of them going back to allegations from 40 or 50 years ago, according to a board legal brief.
Attorneys for the ex-students and the state — which intervened in the lawsuit and is defending the two-year window — said nothing in the state constitution prevented the General Assembly from offering victims this chance to sue for damages.
“It is inconceivable to me that the good people of North Carolina, in adopting any version of their constitution, would have ever intended to prevent the General Assembly from implementing a public policy that recognizes the profound harm that children who are sexually abused have suffered and decided to give them a limited period of time to bring a claim and seek justice,” Bobby Jenkins, the former students’ attorney, told the court.
The Gaston County coach, Gary Scott Goins, was convicted of 17 sex-related crimes in 2014 and sentenced to at least 34 years in prison. Goins was previously dismissed as a defendant in this current lawsuit, according to a court opinion.
School board lawyer Robert King told the justices that children must be protected, and the General Assembly has helped with other provisions in the 2019 law.
But upholding the window would make it impossible for some institutions to mount vigorous defenses given the passage of time and long-destroyed records, King said, and open the door for the revival of other types of civil claims. Felony child abuse charges have no statute of limitations and can come with long sentences.
“If a person is going to be dissuaded from abusing children, if that is possible, it is by threat of spending the rest of their lives in prison,” King said. “It is not by reviving a 50-year-old civil claim that is typically going to be against the bad actor’s former employer.”
The court gave no indication when it would rule. At least three of the six justices hearing the case — not Associate Justice Allison Riggs, who recused herself, as she wrote the Court of Appeals opinion while on the lower court — questioned King’s arguments.
Since 2002, 30 states and the District of Columbia revived previously expired child sex abuse claims with limited or permanent expansions of claim periods, according to CHILD USA, a think tank advocating for the civil rights of children and prevention of sex abuse.
The Supreme Court also heard arguments Wednesday in a case involving a man who sued alleging a Catholic layperson sexually abused him during the early 1980s. The lawsuit seeks damages from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte and the Glenmary Home Missioners, a group of priests and laypersons who serve primarily in rural areas.
A trial judge dismissed claims against the Catholic groups, saying the language in the law permitting a two-year claim window for “any civil action for child sexual abuse” only included claims against the perpetrator of the sexual abuse — not institutions. But the Court of Appeals reversed that decision. [Source]
Voter IDs
Will Doran, WRAL News, 9/18/24
After state and national Republican leaders sued North Carolina to stop the state from accepting virtual ID cards used at UNC-Chapel Hill from being considered a legal form of voter photo identification, the Democratic National Committee is now seeking to intervene in the lawsuit and have it thrown out.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign supported the move, Harris’ lead spokesperson in North Carolina Dory MacMillan told WRAL in an exclusive announcement of the new legal effort.
“This MAGA Republican lawsuit is nothing more than a political effort to keep eligible young voters from being able to cast their ballots,” MacMillan said. “But we will not let them win. With our fundamental freedoms on the line, team Harris-Walz will continue fighting to ensure every eligible voter has a chance to cast their ballot in this election.”
A court hearing over the ID issue is scheduled for Thursday in Wake County Superior Court.
Republicans are seeking to stop UNC’s mobile “One Card” ID from being used as a form of voter ID. College students don’t vote at nearly the same level as older adults, but when they do they tend to disproportionately favor Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, the Harris campaign has spent substantial resources trying to ramp up engagement efforts on college campuses in North Carolina and other swing states ahead of the Nov. 5 election. But Republicans haven’t fought efforts to approve other college student IDs as voter IDs — just the UNC digital identification card.
The GOP lawsuit says only physical ID cards, not electronic ones, should be allowed under the new voter ID law that’s being used this year for the first time in a major election. They’ve said that if there are questions about the validity of someone’s ID, poll workers should be allowed to make a photocopy of it — but it’s unclear how that would be possible to do using an app. Democrats have dismissed the concerns, pointing out that UNC officials already made changes to their ID app, requested by state officials, to ensure that it would legally qualify for use as voter IDs.
The vote to approve the UNC IDs came down along party lines earlier this summer at the State Board of Elections; the board’s Democratic majority outvoted the Republican dissenters 3-2.
“This lawsuit is an eleventh-hour bid to confuse and potentially disenfranchise up to 40,000 individuals who attend or work at North Carolina’s flagship state university, just weeks before they head to the polls for early voting,” the Democratic National Committee claims in its new legal filing.
The lawsuit seeking to ban the UNC IDs is one of several that the state and national Republican groups have filed in recent weeks over voting rules in North Carolina. One of the other lawsuits seeks to kick nearly 250,000 North Carolina voters off the list of registered voters — a proposal state elections officials say would be illegal to do this close to an election. Another lawsuit alleges problems with voting machines, and yet another alleges that the state hasn’t done enough to block non-citizens from voting, all claims that state elections officials deny as false. [Source]
Voucher Opposition
Morgan Starling, The Jacksonville Daily News, 9/18/24
Gov. Roy Cooper is urging residents, specifically those in rural counties like Onslow, Craven, and Lenoir, to contact their legislators in opposition to a program that Cooper says could take around $625 million away from public schools in just the first year.
The General Assembly returned to session last week, passing a supplemental spending bill that approves hundreds of millions more taxpayer dollars for private school vouchers through the Opportunity Scholarship Program.
“This is devastating for education across the board, and we have evidence from other states to prove it,” Cooper told The Daily News. “Studies show that private school vouchers do not improve student performance. Instead, they rob public schools of badly needed funding. Of course, in North Carolina, we wouldn’t know, because they have provided no accountability for these hundreds of millions of dollars that they’re sending to the private schools.”
Expanding private school vouchers would especially impact rural North Carolina counties, where access to private education is limited, and public schools serve as the backbone of communities, according to Cooper’s office. 28 of North Carolina’s 100 counties have no, or just one, private school participating in the voucher program.
Onslow County itself could lose around $1.7 million in public education funding in just the first year of the expanded voucher program, with 12 private schools eligible to participate.
Craven County could lose around $1.5 million with only nine schools participating, Lenoir could lose more than $553,000 with just five schools participating, and Jones could lose more than $102,000 despite having zero schools participating.
Additionally, other surrounding counties that will be impacted include Pamlico, which could lose nearly $148,000 despite having only two schools participating, Carteret, which could lose over $522,000 with seven schools participating, and Duplin, which could lose more than $394,000 despite having only two private schools participating, and more than 94% of their student population currently in public schools.
“Rural counties will be hurt the most,” Cooper said. “Most of the private schools getting this taxpayer money are in urban areas, and when you start doing this, you have to look at the fact that over the last few years, the legislature has not stepped up and properly funded public education.”
North Carolina ranks near the bottom of all states in K-12 funding, spending nearly $5,000 less per student than the national average, Cooper said. The state is also falling behind nationally in teacher pay, dropping in the most recent rankings to 38th. Cooper said there’s even one study that shows North Carolina ranks second to last in the country in how much of its gross state product is invested in public education.
According to Cooper’s office, when Ohio, Florida, and Arizona expanded their voucher programs, the majority of students who received them were existing private school students from wealthier families. Recent reporting from ProPublica also found that Arizona has a $1.4 billion budget shortfall as a result of their universal voucher program.
Cooper told The Daily News he does plan to veto the legislation, and although the Republican-dominated Senate will likely overturn it, he’s encouraging residents to call their elected representatives and encourage them not to. Cooper said there have been rural legislators in other states who have been successful at stopping or slowing down these private school voucher programs, and he believes that those in North Carolina should reassess when they realize their counties are getting the short end of the stick.
Sen. Michael Lazzara, R-Onslow, however, is in favor of the Opportunity Scholarship Program, saying parents deserve the right to choose where their child is educated.
“Each child is allocated a certain amount of money for their education, that money belongs to them,” Lazzara said. “The parents that pay taxes for those children, that is their money. They have a right to use that money in a way they feel best to educate their children. There’s a significant demand for these scholarships.”
Lazzara said the demand is not something the General Assembly anticipated, which is why they added the additional funds to take care of the applicants on the waiting list. There are over 96,000 families that applied for opportunity scholarships this year, Lazzara said, and out of those, about 68,000 were new applications, while the remaining 28,000 were renewals.
“That tells you there is a need for people to have choice in where they want their children educated,” Lazzara said. [Source]
Democratic Fundraiser
Mary Ramsey, The Charlotte Observer, 9/18/24
Gov. Roy Cooper will help raise money for the Democratic nominee in the Charlotte area’s most closely watched state legislature race this election cycle. The Democratic governor will be the “special guest” at a Raleigh campaign reception Tuesday for Nicole Sidman, who is running to unseat Republican state Rep. Tricia Cotham, according to an email to supporters from Sidman’s campaign.
Tickets start at $150 and top out at $6,400 for hosts for “hosts,” according to the email. The fundraiser’s limit is also the legal limit for individuals making campaign donations in North Carolina state elections.
Hosts listed include outgoing Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, Wake County Register of Deeds Tammy Brunner and Scott Falmlen, former executive director of the North Carolina and Florida Democratic parties and co-founder of an NC-based public relations and political consulting firm.
Sidman and Cotham are facing off to represent the newly redrawn House District 105, which includes parts of southern and eastern Mecklenburg County.
Cotham made national news for switching parties last year and giving Republicans a veto-proof majority in the General Assembly, allowing the GOP to pass a bill restricting abortion access and a sweeping expansion of North Carolina’s school voucher program.
Since then, Democrats have put a focus on unseating her. Sidman, a congregational life director at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, won a three-person primary to face Cotham in March with 57.3% of the vote. Sidman raised more than four times as much as Cotham from Feb. 18 to June 30, the most recent campaign finance data available.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee also named Sidman a “spotlight candidate” in March, allowing them to assist with campaign, finance and communications plans and Sidman to fundraise directly from the DLCC’s “spotlight” webpage.
The recently redrawn House District 105 favors Republicans slightly, according to the website Dave’s Redistricting, which uses a composite of election results from 2016 to 2022. [Source]
Walz Rally
Will Hofmann and Sarah Honosky, Asheville Citizen Times, 9/18/24
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz made his Asheville debut during a rainy rally in the mountain city, calling the crowd “the best rally crowd” the vice presidential nominee’s campaign has seen as the Tar Heel state remains a pivotal battleground in the 2024 election.
Often with raucous cheers from the crowd, Walz spoke for around 40 minutes, focusing on topics of gun violence, reproductive healthcare and Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic candidacy, while going on the attack against his Republican opponents and taking shots at North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson.
Walz’s biggest cheers came from his comments on reproductive rights. Referring to state Republicans moving to restrict access to abortion, Walz told them to “mind their own damn business.”
Walz also addressed gun violence. Both he and Harris are self-proclaimed gun owners, yet Harris has worked on legislation that calls on states to pass red flag laws. Red flag laws allow family members or law enforcement to seek a court order to temporarily remove access from a gun if they believe a gun owner may harm themselves or others.
“We support the second amendment, but you don’t get to hide behind that when our first responsibility is to the safety of our children,” Walz said, later pointing out that many of the children killed in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School would’ve been seniors in high school this year.
Walz also spoke about the North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate, commenting that if you searched the entire population of America “you would not find a worse candidate than Mark Robinson.”
Trump visited Asheville on Aug. 14, at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in downtown Asheville, garnering a rally size of around 2,055. Salvage Station has a reported outdoor capacity of around 3,000.
The slate of speakers introducing the Democratic vice-presidential nominee seemed, like Walz himself, to be reaching out beyond the blue island of Buncombe County, extending a hand to those undecided or across the aisle.
“We’re going to make calls, we’re going to knock on doors, we’re going to register people to vote, we’re going to make a plan to get people to the polls,” said Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, the first of several speakers who took to the stage ahead of Walz at the Sept. 17 rally.
Among the evening’s speakers was former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a longtime Republican, who said the party, one he was part of for nearly five decades, “is not a party that I recognize anymore.”
He was there to ask for people to support the Harris-Walz ticket, and said the two have “reached across the aisle and are working to gain the support of Republicans, moderates and independents who cannot support Donald Trump and his MAGA-ally Mark Robinson and their extreme agenda.”
He pointed to growing “Republicans for Harris” coalitions, and the backing of prominent Republicans like former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger and numerous former Trump administrative officials. As the speech wound down, the audience began chanting, “thank you,” to which Orr responded, “thank you … and you can count me in.”
N.C. state Rep. Lindsey Prather said, in her opening lines, “like all of you, I am ready to flip North Carolina.”
N.C. state Rep. Caleb Rudow, also running for U.S. House of Representatives against incumbent Republican Chuck Edwards, released a statement on Walz’s visit that pointed to this messaging: “When he invited disenfranchised Republic voters to join us, he did something important: he reminded us that no one should feel stuck on a team that isn’t delivering for them.” [Source 1] [Source 2]
DMV Closure
Richard Stradling, The News & Observer, 9/18/24
The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles is closing another driver’s license office because it doesn’t have enough employees to run it. The DMV announced Wednesday that it will close the Lillington office in Harnett County on Monday, Sept. 23, until further notice.
It’s the third driver’s license office the agency has closed in recent weeks because of inadequate staffing. DMV offices in Laurinburg and Raeford, southwest of Fayetteville, were closed Aug. 19. The agency was able to reopen the Laurinburg office on Sept. 11, but Raeford remains closed.
In each case, the DMV did not have enough driver’s license examiners to staff them. The agency has closed offices in the past because of a lack of staff, but only for a day or two, according to spokesman Marty Homan. These are the first extended closures due to a lack of workers.
Lillington normally has two driver’s license examiners. One is retiring on Friday, Homan said, while the other is being moved to the larger Erwin office, where someone is on leave.
Homan said the DMV has 25 new examiners lined up to take the required five-week training class starting in September and another 25 starting the class in November. It hopes some of those new trainees will enable it to reopen the shuttered offices by the end of the year.
The Lillington office had been accepting people on a walk-in basis only, so no one will lose their appointment. The DMV is encouraging Harnett County residents to use offices in Erwin, Sanford, Smithfield and Fayetteville.
The DMV has been plagued by staffing shortages statewide for years. As recently as 2022, about a quarter of all driver’s license examiner positions were vacant, contributing to long lines and wait times. Higher pay and one-time sign-on and retention bonuses have helped reduce the vacancy rate to about 12%. But DMV officials say to fully staff the driver’s license offices, they need authorization and money to hire more examiners. [Source]
Homeless Education
Chantal Brown, Education NC, 9/17/24
The McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children and Youth Act is a law that mandates each child of a homeless individual or homeless youth receive a free, appropriate public education. The act is also known as the Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law in 2015 in North Carolina.
According to the Public Schools of Robeson County, 390 students were unhoused during the 2023-24 school year. Over 37,000 students did not have permanent housing across the state, according to a press release from the district, up from the previous year.
Robeson’s McKinney-Vento program and its community partnerships were recently praised in a clean audit from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI). The audit results said that the Robeson County McKinney-Vento Program has shown “commendable efforts in addressing various indicators related to the identification, enrollment, retention, and support of homeless children and youth. This includes establishing effective procedures for identifying homeless students, ensuring immediate enrollment, and supporting their retention in school,” the district said in a press release.
Shaneitha Nance is the district’s McKinney-Vento liaison.
“Ms. Nance is diligent in her work with the district’s homeless education program and she ensures that the identification and enrollment of a student experiencing homelessness is in alignment with the law and that all students receive the appropriate resources needed for their academic success,” Lisa Phillips, state director for the education of homeless children and youth at DPI, said in a press release.
Nance said that the audit results were thanks to the collaboration between school social workers and community partners helping with their program. She said that she reaches community partners by word of mouth and has made connections by serving on several committees and boards across the county. [Source]
Mecklenburg Tax
Woody Cain, WFAE Radio, 9/18/24
Mecklenburg County Commissioners voted 6-3 on Tuesday night to ask the North Carolina General Assembly for authority to put a one-cent sales tax on the ballot in Nov. 2025 to fund the Red Line commuter rail to northern Mecklenburg and Mooresville, as well as other road and transportation projects like the Silver Line light rail. County Manager Dena Diorio told commissioners the vote is not the end of the process.
“If the legislation is ultimately approved, then the county commission again gets to vote on whether or not to actually put that on the ballot. So this is really the first part of the process, not the last part of the process. Even if we put it on the ballot and it’s approved by the voters, then you have to adopt a resolution to actually levy the tax. So Mecklenburg County is in total control,” she said.
All local municipalities have supported the plan except Matthews, which is against it because it would replace rail with bus rapid transit there. [Source]
Commissioners Dispute
Mary Ramsey, The Charlotte Observer, 9/18/24
A pair of Mecklenburg County commissioners on Tuesday took turns comparing each other to former President Donald Trump during a debate over transportation funding. The board voted 6-3 to pass a resolution asking the N.C. General Assembly for a referendum to increase the county’s sales tax to pay for roads and public transit.
Much of the night’s discussion focused on concerns about the spending breakdown in draft legislation. But when District 2 Commissioner Vilma Leake spoke, she used her time to accuse Board Chairman George Dunlap of trying to silence her. “I’m sick and tired of it, George. And this is all you’ve done during these two years … You’re no good,” she said. “… You’ve done nothing but try to embarrass me.”
Leake accused Dunlap of “orchestrating” a primary challenge against her in March — when she defeated Charles Osborne with 63% of the vote.
Dunlap donated $250 to Osborne’s campaign. He told The Charlotte Observer in February he is a longtime friend of Osborne’s father and has known Osborne since he was a child.
Leake, who has made previous comments accusing fellow commissioners of being inconsiderate about her age, said during her remarks Tuesday she could sue Dunlap for age discrimination. “That’s all you’ve shown me, is your behind to kiss,” she said. When Leake stopped talking, Dunlap asked, “You done?” Leake responded, “I hope you’re done.”
“Donald Trump if I ever heard it,” Dunlap said next in reference to the former Republican president and current nominee, who frequently makes negative comments about his political opponents. Leake then said, “You’re Trump. A Black Trump.”
It’s not the first time either commissioner has drawn attention for their public comments. Dunlap faced criticism earlier this summer from some on the board when he opposed adding a proclamation in support of Pride Month to the board’s agenda over a procedural issue. He said Commissioner Pat Cotham submitted the proclamation too late, a claim she denied.
Commissioners passed a resolution unanimously weeks later. [Source]
Wilmington Security
Molly Wilhelm, Wilmington StarNews, 9/18/24
On Saturday, Donald Trump is expected to host a rally in Wilmington — less than a week after the former president faced a second assassination attempt.
Trump’s Wilmington rally is scheduled to take place on Saturday. The event will be held near the grounds of the Wilmington International Airport at the Aero Center. The former president planned to host a rally at the same venue in April, which he ultimately missed as a result of severe weather. At the time, he told the crowd via phone that he would reschedule.
While specifics could not be disclosed for safety reasons, Lt. Jerry Brewer confirmed that the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating with federal agencies to provide security for the rally.
Brandon Shope, communications specialist with the Wilmington Police Department, did not confirm whether the agency would be assisting with security for the event and declined to comment on the former president’s security detail, as the U.S. Secret Service is the primary agency handling security.
There has been no indication that the recent assassination attempt in Florida will dramatically alter Trump’s campaign schedule. Prior to the Wilmington rally, the former president is expected to make stops in Flint, Michigan; Uniondale, New York; and Washington, D.C. [Source]
Save the Date
Please plan to be our guest as NC Insider / State Affairs Pro welcomes subscribers to Caffe Luna once more for delicious food and drink, great company and an interesting political conversation. Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, from 5:30-7 p.m. Caffe Luna, 136 E. Hargett St., Raleigh. Registration details to follow.
Neighborhood Preservation
Chantal Allam, The News & Observer, 9/18/24
On a cloudy morning this July, a sheriff’s deputy pulled up to Edith Neal’s 1959 ranch home, carrying a summons to her doorstep in east Raleigh’s Woodcrest subdivision. She’d officially been served. Raleigh builder Steve Sypher is suing Neal, 61, over her property’s restrictive covenant. In fact, he’s suing most of the neighborhood.
Sypher wants to build 12 four-story townhouses across about nine-tenths of an acre at 524 and 528 Barksdale Drive — next door to Neal. The city recently gave the green light. But Sypher faces another hurdle: removing the subdivision’s decades-old covenant, tied to his properties as well as his neighbors’, that restricts the land’s use.
On May 28, 1958, George Building Company, which developed the Woodcrest neighborhood, recorded in Book 1319 on page 253 of the Wake County Registry: Only detached, single-family, two-and-a-half-story homes allowed.
To proceed, Sypher is now suing anyone whose property is subject to Woodcrest’s covenant, roughly 58 households spread across four streets.
Neal is one of 87 defendants (some properties have multiple owners) named in the complaint filed by Steve Sypher Designs in Wake County Superior Court on July 1 and amended on Sept. 6. This largely blue-collar neighborhood includes a mix of young professionals, public servants and retirees, including a 95-year-old former police officer who is an original owner.
In the lawsuit, he argues that the covenant is no longer binding “due to the passage of time” and the North Carolina Marketable Title Act, which helps clear old claims and defects from property titles, reducing the risks for disputes over property ownership. After meeting with a group of residents last year, Sypher calls it “a real and existing controversy.” He wants the declaration removed so that it no longer restricts development. He’s asking a judge to decide.
“I’m really not trying to be the bad person in this situation,” Sypher said in a phone call on Tuesday. “I didn’t create the zoning. My concept is not outrageous or over the top.”
But neighbors are fighting back, including Neal. “It’s mind boggling. I can’t believe somebody would do this to our quiet neighborhood,” said the manufacturing plant worker.
Starting in 2021, Raleigh began loosening zoning rules to incentivize developers to build what it calls “missing middle” housing — like duplexes, townhouses and accessory dwelling units — in single-family neighborhoods. Proponents say the policy boosts supply and is a more efficient use of land. They say it also creates more affordable housing options for young families, singles and seniors. But it’s also sparked backlash and lawsuits.
Critics argue it’s illegal and doesn’t adhere to the rezoning process. They say it destroys the character and aesthetic of established neighborhoods and strains existing infrastructure, such as roads, schools and public services.
It also doesn’t always guarantee affordable housing, they say. In March 2023, a group of Hayes Barton residents sued the city and a developer, arguing it didn’t follow proper procedures when it approved plans to raze a 1925 home to build 17 luxury townhomes — at $2 million a piece — in one of the city’s most historic and sought-after neighborhoods. The proposed project is stalled while the case is resolved. [Source]
Brunswick Meals
Shea Carver, Port City Daily, 9/18/24
A worldwide organization focused on feeding people during crises will be set up on Pleasure Island on Wednesday and Thursday, as it assesses where help is needed in Brunswick County. World Central Kitchen is providing free meals to the community over the next two days, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Help Center, located at the corner of Raleigh and Third streets in Carolina Beach.
Michelle “Mama” Rock of T’Geaux Boys food truck will be serving étouffée and red beans and rice, according to WCK’s Sandie Orsa. Food from WCK distribution sites are open to everyone — residents, first responders, construction and line workers.
The organization deploys in areas facing natural disasters or in war-torn countries to ensure no one faces hunger during stressful situations. After the 2010 Haitian earthquake, the nonprofit was founded by celebrity chef José Andrés, whose restaurant group operates 31 eateries worldwide. To date, the nonprofit has served people in need, to the tune of 400 million meals worldwide as it approaches its 15th year anniversary.
WCK teams operate in multiple places worldwide currently. They recently wrapped up in Bangladesh, due to flooding, and are finishing up a line fire in California. Teams are also in Poland and the Czech Republic, responding to flooding, as well as continuing their efforts in Ukraine and Gaza. [Source]
Justice Honored
DJ Simmons, WFDD Radio, 9/18/24
Justice Henry Frye and his wife Shirley Frye were given a key to the city of Greensboro Tuesday to recognize the work they’ve done across the state and locally.
The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University drumline kicked off a celebration of the couple’s legacy. Around 100 people gathered at Center City Park for the occasion. The Fryes have called Greensboro home for the past 70 years. Henry served as the first Black chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Shirley led the integration of the city’s two YWCAs in the 1970s.
Henry said everyone has the potential to leave a positive impact. “I believe that everybody can do something and that you should choose to do whatever that good something is. You may get it done, but if not, you tried,” he said.
A statue of the Fryes was also unveiled in the park earlier this year. [Source]
Conviction Dismissal
Sarah Johnson, Statesville Record & Landmark, 9/18/24
In a majority vote, the N.C. Appeals Court found that 75-year-old Blaine Dale Hague did not receive a fair trial in 2022. Two of the three judges voted to overturn the conviction and ordered a new trial, according to an order filed on Aug. 20. Three days after the decision was announced, the N.C. Attorney General’s Office filed a motion to stay the decision, according to court documents.
On Aug. 27, the N.C. Supreme Court granted the request to temporarily halt the order of the N.C. Appeals Court, according to court documents.
The deadline for the Attorney General’s office to appeal the N.C. Appeals Court decision is Sept. 24, N.C. Department of Justice Press Secretary Nazneen Ahmed said in an email on Tuesday. Ahmed said she could not provide additional information about the court process since the case is pending.
Hague, of Union Grove, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 46-year-old Baron Thomas Cass. An Iredell County jury found Hague guilty on Dec. 9, 2022. According to court documents, Cass was shot by Hague during a confrontation. Hague maintains the shooting was self-defense. [Source]
Death Investigation
Cassidy Johncox, WBTV News, 9/18/24
The family of a Black man found dead under a tree in northeast North Carolina is calling for transparency and a thorough investigation.
Javion Magee, a 21-year-old from Aurora, Illinois, was found dead on the morning of Sept. 11 in Henderson, North Carolina. The Vance County Sheriff’s Office reported on Sept. 13 that Magee was found “near the base of a tree in a seated position with a rope wrapped around his neck” off of Vanco Mill Road near US-1. The other end of the rope was “attached to a tree,” the police report read. Magee’s body was taken to the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh, officials said.
The family was told by police that Magee died by suicide, according to family members. During a press conference held on Wednesday, Sept. 18, attorneys for the family said it’s too early in the investigation to officially declare Magee’s cause of death.
While the family isn’t ruling out suicide, their attorneys said a deeper investigation is required before reaching such a conclusion.
Multiple attorneys representing the family were present during Wednesday’s press conference. Among them were Lee Merritt and Harry Daniels, known civil rights attorneys. Leading up to the press conference, the attorneys said Magee’s death “bears disturbing similarity” to the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, 14, who was lynched while visiting Mississippi. Till was also from Illinois.
Magee’s family and their attorneys did not explicitly call Magee’s death a hate crime or a lynching. They did say, however, that it can’t be ruled out.
The three attorneys representing the family — which includes North Carolina lawyer Jason Keith — said their job in this case is to apply pressure on law enforcement to ensure they conduct a thorough investigation into Magee’s death. Attorneys also said they were there to push for “continued transparency” with law enforcement.
Magee was captured on camera purchasing rope from a Walmart store in North Carolina near where he stopped.
The state attorney general’s office is investigating the case. [Source]
Flight Attendant Strike
Chase Jordan, The Charlotte Observer, 9/18/24
Flight attendants associated with American Airlines overwhelmingly approved a strike authorization vote and are threatening to go on strike if their demands are not met for more pay and other benefits, according to union representatives.
The Association of Flight Attendants-Communications Workers of America is negotiating for employees at American Eagle’s PSA Airlines, the union said Tuesday. Almost all of the members voted to authorize a strike after months of proposals from PSA management during contract negotiations.
PSA Airlines is a subsidiary of American Airlines operating 500 daily flights to nearly 100 destinations. American and PSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday. AFA-CWA represents more than 1,300 PSA flight attendants.
Close to 650 flight attendants are based at Charlotte Douglas International Airport for American Eagle, and the airport is a hub for American.
Negotiations will continue next week with oversight from the National Mediation Board, a federal agency that works to find resolutions for labor-management disputes in the rail and airline industries. [Source]
Special Use Permits
Eliot Duke, State Port Pilot, 9/18/24
Oak Island Town Council approved a motion on Sept. 10 to eliminate the special use permit (SUP) option for developers and property owners. In a 4-1 decision following a public hearing during the board’s regular monthly meeting, the council voted to no longer use the SUP in planning and zoning considerations, removing a tool many residents feel is a way to skirt the town’s unified development ordinance. SUPs either are approved or denied through a quasi-judicial hearing that legally binds council to make the decision based on certain factors that can be viewed as broad, such as requiring a new home to conform with surrounding homes in the area. SUPs have enabled new houses to exceed 4,000 square feet and council could do little to stop their construction, despite public outcry.
“In over seven years serving our town, there has rarely been such a pervasive concern and request, such a persistent one … such a passionate one,” Councilman John Bach said of the SUP. “That tells me something as a public servant.”
Bach said he would vote to eliminate the SUP.
Councilman Mark Martin opposed the motion after unsuccessfully attempting to table the issue due to concerns over a lack of a financial impact statement. Martin said too much focus is being placed on a possible future instead of the present where Oak Island already has a blend of many different size houses, as well as current protections in the UDO that limit what property owners can build on any particular lot.
“I am trying to figure out when Oak Island no longer became family-friendly or small or attractive,” Martin said. “Today, Oak Island is attractive, small and family-friendly. We have everything here. That’s the beauty of the diversity of being able to build what the property owner sees as their vision.” [Source]
New Superintendent
Will Michaels, WUNC Radio, 9/18/24
The Alamance-Burlington School System has sworn in Aaron Fleming as its new superintendent. Fleming has served as the superintendent of Harnett County Schools for the past seven years, and was previously an education policy advisor to state House Speaker Tim Moore.
“There are three guiding principles that will shape my leadership: authenticity, clarity and consistency,” Fleming said, after being sworn in Wednesday.
Alamance-Burlington schools fell into a financial crisis last year when administrators spent $26 million to clean up mold at nearly all of its school buildings. The move divided the school board and Alamance County Commissioners over the district’s spending, and led to the departure of two administrators, including the former superintendent. Fleming said he would keep working to stabilize the district’s finances.
Fleming did not rule out more cuts to school programs, but said he would attempt to avoid cutting jobs. “Within the next year or two, I really want to be able to start bringing back some positions that we did cut: assistant principal positions, media coordinator positions, additional student support like counselors, mental health support,” he said.
Fleming signed a four-year contract with an annual salary of $233,000. [Source]
MrBeast Lawsuit
The Associated Press, 9/18/24
MrBeast is accused of creating “unsafe” employment conditions, including sexual harassment, and misrepresenting contestants’ odds at winning his new Amazon reality show’s $5 million grand prize in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by five unnamed participants. The filing alleges that the multimillion-dollar company behind YouTube’s most popular channel failed to provide minimum wages, overtime pay, uninterrupted meal breaks and rest time for competitors — whose “work on the show was the entertainment product” sold by MrBeast.
A spokesperson for MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, told The Associated Press in an email that he had no comment on the new lawsuit.
Donaldson’s “Beast Games” was touted as the “biggest reality competition.” It was supposed to put the North Carolina content creator in front of audiences beyond the YouTube platform where his record 316 million subscribers routinely watch his whimsical challenges that often carry lavish gifts of direct cash.
But its initial Las Vegas shoot began facing criticism before it even wrapped. Donaldson’s companies cast 2,000 people in an initial tryout this July where half could advance to the actual show’s filming in Toronto.
Contestants only learned upon their arrival that the Las Vegas pool surpassed 1,000 competitors, according to the lawsuit, which significantly reducing their chances of victory. The five anonymous competitors said that “limited sustenance” and “insufficient medical staffing” endangered their health. The filing alleges that production staff created a “toxic” work environment for women who faced “sexual harassment” throughout the contest.
MrBeast’s team also faces new accusations they “knowingly misclassified” the contestants’ employment status to the Nevada Film Commission in order to receive a state tax credit for more than $2 million. Last month, amid several public relations crises, Donaldson ordered a full assessment of his YouTube empire’s internal culture and outlined plans to require company-wide sensitivity training. [Source]
Burke Business Park
Miya Banks, The Morganton News Herald, 9/16/24
The Burke County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 on Tuesday night to rezone about 780 acres of land for a business park totaling about 1,300 acres. The rezoning to an industrial conditional district makes way for a large business development off Interstate 40. Burke County got more than $35 million from the state in 2023 for Burke County Development Inc. to buy the property to develop it into the Great Meadows megasite.
Chairman Jeff Brittain and commissioners Johnnie Carswell, Scott Mulwee and Randy Burns voted in favor of the rezoning. Commissioner Phil Smith voted against the rezoning.
“I have struggled with this. My wife can tell you I’ve laid awake at night not knowing what to do,” Smith said. Smith said many reasons were given for why the rezoning should be approved, but “I’m like old King Agrippa, ‘almost thou persuadest me,’ Acts chapter 26.” Smith said he is not persuaded that this is what Burke County taxpayers want. Smith was met with applause from the audience. [Source]
Carteret Resignation
Brad Rich, The Carteret County News-Times, 9/17/24
Carteret County Assistant Manager and Planning Director Gene Foxworth has resigned and will work his last day on Oct. 3. County Manager Tommy Burns made the announcement during his monthly comments at the end of the board of commissioners meeting Monday night in the board room on Courthouse Square.
The manager said Foxworth, who has been successful in getting many grants for the county and has guided countless planning and zoning efforts, has a new opportunity that will be very good for him and will keep him in the county he loves. He also thanked Foxworth for exceptional service. “I enjoyed working with you,” he said. “We have had a good run.” [Source]
Railbirds say they’ve heard concerns that Hobbs’ office might be blocking emails from RockAuto customers concerned the company will stop doing business in Arizona due to a legal battle with the Department of Revenue over sales taxes. The online auto parts retailer is currently appealing a lawsuit to the state Supreme Court after ADOR asked it to pay more than $11 million in sales taxes that the agency alleged the company should have paid from 2013 to 2019. RockAuto asked its Arizona customers to email the governor’s office and encourage her to drop the issue because the decision to pursue the company was made under Ducey’s administration. RockAuto’s CEO Jim Taylor said the company’s email was included on over 5,500 messages sent to Hobbs’ office since asking customers to reach out on Aug. 29. However, one railbird said a staff member at ADOR told RockAuto that the influx of customer emails has burned bridges and will not convince the Hobbs administration to back down from the case. The railbird said customers have reached out to RockAuto indicating that emails have bounced back or received auto-replies from members of the governor’s staff who were copied. RockAuto encouraged customers to reach out to Hobbs, but to also copy her chief of staff, Chad Campbell, deputy chief of staff, Will Gaona, and four other staff members. Neither Hobbs’ office nor ADOR responded to requests for comment.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office refused to represent Stephen Richer in “friendly litigation” with Fontes over the ballot eligibility of voters impacted by a motor vehicle division coding error, a railbird said. Richer said it took some time for the county attorney’s office to assign outside counsel. Both the county attorney’s office and Richer declined to comment on whether there was a conflict of interest preventing the county attorney from taking the case or why the county attorney’s office ultimately deferred the case to outside counsel. “We asked them to assign us outside counsel. They eventually assigned us outside counsel,” Richer said in a text. The recorder’s office asked for the county attorney to find alternative counsel on Wednesday, Sept. 11, but the recorder’s office did not secure counsel until 2 p.m. Monday. The recorder, represented by Snell and Wilmer, filed its special action with the court at 1 p.m. Tuesday. “Long night for Stephen and Snell,” Richer said. The railbird noted the county attorney’s delay in finding substitute counsel was “unusual.” Fontes’ case is being handled by outside counsel, too, but due to a potential conflict of interest as the AG’s office, represents both the Secretary of State and the Arizona Department of Transportation. Attorney Craig Morgan is set to argue for Fontes.
After a primary upset in which incumbent Bennett was ousted by his challenger, he said his primary signifies a “Civil War going on within the Republican Party,” but noted that he hopes to continue his career in politics. Reflecting on the 2024 legislative session, Bennett said he was targeted for being a Republican that chose to vote on the merits of a bill. “We counted up the Republican sponsored bills in the Senate, there were over 550 and I voted wrong, in their opinion, on five or six of them, it wasn’t many,” Bennett said. “If I think we’re violating the Constitution, or if I think we’re doing something that hasn’t been well thought through, I’m going to vote on the merits — or lack thereof — of a bill.” He said it is important that Republicans can criticize those within their own party “because everyone can make a mistake and get a little bit off-kilter, and making sure that we do things that are constitutional has to apply to ourselves as well as the other party.” The LD1 primary — and the ad attacks that were run against him — signified an inability to look for small compromises, he said. “They’ll take five or six votes, twist them or exaggerate them into complete lies, and spend half a million dollars lying about you,” Bennett said. “If I have to tear someone else down to sit in this chair, I’m not interested.” For now, Bennett said his future plans include spending time with his grandchildren and wife. “I don’t think my public service career is over, but I have nothing planned, as far as specifically running for office,” Bennett said. “My good friend Andy Tobin ran the Department of Administration for five or six years for (Doug) Ducey. I wouldn’t mind that. I like the lady that’s over there now, but she can’t get through Jake Hoffman’s committee. If I went for it, that would be an interesting hearing, though.”
The legislature agrees with Fontes that fully registered voters who may not have provided proof of citizenship should initially be given full ballots – not federal only ballots – in the 2024 election. The legislative leaders clarified they “agree unreservedly” that the affected voters should have to provide proof of citizenship in order to avoid registering as federal-only voters, but they should be made to do so after the 2024 election. Petersen and Toma filed a motion to intervene in support of Fontes in the special action over voter ballot eligibility and urged the state high court to ultimately allow the 98,000 or so voters who saw their registration status thrown in limbo by the MVD glitch granted full ballots in the 2024 election. ce, writes that voters were “affirmatively induced by elections officials to believe that they had properly and fully registered to vote, and in many cases have routinely obtained and cast full ballots without incident year after year, in election after election.” He continued, “Ambushing these voters with the revelation—just weeks before the election and possibly after some of them had already requested an early ballot—that they are not, in fact, eligible to vote in Arizona elections after all is dissonant with any recognizable conception of that term.” Basile noted any curing period would coincide with early voting and “spawn multiple possible permutations of curing timelines and balloting options,” leading to voter confusion and administrative burden. “Any reasonable notice and cure period inevitably would overlap with the statutory early voting window, hence engendering the logistically formidable problem of determining which affected voters can obtain which ballot style and when,” Basile wrote. He noted, too, Richer’s proposal would tread on due process, given the government’s ultimate fault in the error. In sum, the legislature noted a check on the impacted voters’ DPOC should be implemented “immediately after the Nov. 5 election. “But any remedy that alters the registration status of these individuals prior to the election is neither mandated by Arizona statutes nor comports with precepts of fairness, consistency, and due process,” Basile wrote. The legislature’s motion to intervene comes without opposition from Richer. Fontes’ response brief, as well as any amicus briefs were due by 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Republicans on JLAC voted 4-6 against a special audit into the Dept. of Education’s federal funding allocations and school improvement funding Wednesday morning, denying a request from Hobbs and legislative Democrats to further examine ADE. Horne presented to JLAC members and said his department was not able to spend the $24 million in federal grant funds meant for struggling schools because the previous ADE Superintendent, Kathy Hoffman, a Democrat, missed the deadline to allocate those funds. An additional $5 million was allocated, but Horne said schools didn’t spend the money despite reminders from his office telling districts to spend it. Democrats asked Horne why his office didn’t request a waiver from the federal government sooner after staff realized the federal funds wouldn’t be available, and Horne said the waiver was made available after the federal government notified 15 states, including Arizona, that they could recoup the funds. “Normally within reasonable time, it goes to the treasury and then you can’t get at it,” Horne said. “They found they had the money. They sent notices to the 15 states and we responded within less than three business days with our application.” The waiver request has not been approved yet, but Horne said he will get the funds to schools as soon as he can once the money is transferred to the state. Democrats on the committee are not satisfied with Horne’s explanation. There was some disagreements between Horne and Democrats on the committee over the timeline of when ADE could allocate federal funding, and Horne said Democrats were confusing Title I funding, which the $24 million allocation expired on July 1, 2022, with school improvement funds, which he said his department hasn’t had any issues allocating. “It’s not that hard,” Horne told Gutieriez after she said an audit was needed because of the confusion around the allocation of funds. In a news release after the hearing, Gutierrez said Horne confused the issue and passed blame onto ADE employees. “The idea that we’re just letting the department come up, explain themselves, and then let them tell us that they fixed it. That is ridiculous. Why even have JLAC,” Mendez said. “I’ve seen you guys (Republicans) pull out special audits and other audits for asinine reasons. Gress said ADE already undergoes regular audits along with every other executive agency, and the issue would be examined by auditors then. “This is nothing more than political theater,” Kern said. “It’s not about the children. It’s about who controls the ADE and had this been the prior administration, then it wouldn’t even be an issue.”
DECATUR — Once again, all eyes are on Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
On Tuesday, the engineer-turned-election czar held a whirlwind day of meet-the-press talks, featuring CBS Evening News, a television crew from Sweden and the regular homegrown press corps that continuously chronicle his every move.
The daylong event also was a chance for state officials to talk about how elections work, how ballots are cast and how votes are tabulated. They also addressed ongoing election-related conspiracy theories and efforts to increase public trust in the election process.
Raffensperger, who appeared Tuesday night in the HBO documentary “Stopping the Steal,” also made an appearance at a DeKalb County election site to see how voting machines performed during a test-run.
Raffensperger, 69, unwittingly became a central figure in the 2020 election after Donald Trump placed a phone call to him shortly after the polls closed to get him to “find” 11,799 votes –– the number Trump needed to win Georgia and return to the White House.
Raffensperger, a Republican who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, rebuffed the president’s request. President Joe Biden narrowly won Georgia with 49.47% of the vote, over Trump’s 49.24% — a margin of 0.23%, or 11,799 votes.
Raffensperger now faces a new set of challenges — namely, a State Election Board that is making last-minute rule changes and additions that critics claim could enable local election offices to delay certifying votes if they suspect fraud or irregularities.
The board, which has drawn national attention, is slated to meet Friday to consider more new rules.
Here’s what Raffensperger had to say on some key issues facing Georgia as it heads into the Nov. 5 general election. Comments have been edited for length and clarity.
What Georgia voters should know going into the election
“We want everyone to understand that those ballot machines are going to work for you. Those scanners, those vote counters, they’re accurate. So the only thing that you can really complain about is you didn’t work hard enough to knock on enough doors, make enough calls or send enough money. At the end of the day, we’re in a free, fair and accurate election.”
“We’ve been working hard with law enforcement folks, federal sources, and other resources. We’ve had support statewide. But also we understand you prepare. When we’ve done these security table tops, we’ve actually done some role-playing and kind of gaming it out — ‘What would you do about this?’ — so we can prepare our election officials for this, too. That’s why we have lanyards, they can press a button [for help]. That’s why we have a texting tool — see something, say something. We want to make sure that it is a safe environment.”
Voter turnout prediction
“We’ve told the counties to expect [voter turnout] to be north of 5 million. We had 5 million [voters] in the middle of the pandemic in 2020. In 2022, people went back to the historical way [of voting] — 60% were early voting, 30% were voting on Election Day. And there’s no reason to think that 2024 will be any different.
Certifying election results
Every county shall get certified by the Monday after the election. So whatever they want to do, if they want to come in on Friday or Saturday or Sunday [to get the certification done] … but by the end of day Monday they shall, by state law, be certified.
Enforcing the law if counties refuse to comply
There’ll be other people that will probably be jumping on that, particularly the candidates, to protect their interest. At the end of the day, we expect people to do what is right.
On whether the State Election Board has overstepped its authority
Already it’s less than 90 days before the election and they’re making these last-minute changes, with more to come on Friday. I think that really just flies in the face of good sound election practice. Everything we’ve worked on [to ensure] free, fair and fast elections, and some of the things they’re doing is flying in the face of what we’ve been working with the General Assembly on since 2019.
We have confidence that at the end of the day, whatever rules are passed will have to meet state law. The State Election Board does not have any authority to exceed what is in the state law or the state constitution. And so we’re very mindful of that. If they’re actually stepping over that line, it’s just not going to be the scrutiny of the court. We’re being sued by people on the left side and the right side right now. That doesn’t happen too often. I get sued depending on what cycle it is. At the end of the day, we won all those cases because we were following the law and following the constitution.
How he views his job right now
My job is to do my job, and our job is to have the counties do their job. The best way to let them do their job is to know what the rules are so they can train, retrain and train again, and go through it every day that they can possibly do that. Many counties are working with poll workers to get them trained as much as they can. Lines need to be short. We want to make sure that we actually get those results to you quickly.
What keeps him up at night
The list is long. First, we want to make sure it’s a physically safe environment. So we prepare poll workers.They have a texting tool [that allows them to] ‘see something, say something.’ We also want the process to move through quickly for [voter] check-in. Then we want to make sure that through the back office — cyber and then artificial intelligence — is that a deep fake? Did they really say that? No, they didn’t. Meanwhile, [the misinformation has] traveled all around the state 10 times. So there’s all these different things, but that’s why we just continue to put our head down and do our job.
His message to voters ahead of Election Day
Make a plan. How do you want to vote? If you want to vote absentee, you should already have your absentee ballot request in. Make sure you’re getting it in soon, because the postal service has a lot of issues. The Postmaster General said he’s working on this. I respect that, but I don’t know if he can turn that ship around that quickly. So [if] you receive your ballot, get it back quickly. If you’re driving by the county election offices on your way to work or on your way home, drop it off. They have drop off boxes. All 159 counties [have] one [drop-off box] for [every] 100,000 voters. If you’re going to vote early, you’ve got 17 days. You’ve got a lot of choices. We have two Saturdays [to vote early]. Make your plan then go vote.
Lawmakers on Wednesday signaled they will propose alterations to the state’s child fatality data reporting.
“I’d like to come back in the next month with a recommendation,” Rep. Dale DeVon, R-Granger, chair of the Interim Study Committee on Child Services, said. “We’ve heard enough to say that we can come together to try to create some modifications and changes.”
Braelynn Yerington, founder of the advocacy group Champions for Children, urged the committee to make recommendations addressing what she said were three reporting deficiencies. She contended the state’s data is lagging, lacks near-fatality data and does not include “screen-outs” from hotlines.
Yerington argued the state can’t react quickly enough to trends when data reporting is too far behind. State officials with the Department of Child Services and the Department of Health presented child fatality data through calendar year 2022 to the committee Wednesday.
The Department of Child Services investigated 308 child deaths in 2022, and the department determined 61 of those fatalities were caused by caregiver abuse and neglect. Yerington said five of the 17 abuse-related fatalities had open Department of Child Services involvement.
“In all of those situations, the child was not removed from the home,” Yerington said. “I wish we would have had that [data] earlier.”
Yerington said the Department of Child Services’ annual child fatality report should include near-fatality data with the same detail as its fatality data. She also wants to see data for screened-out calls related to victims of abuse and neglect included in the state’s reporting.
Yerington said her daughter suffered abuse before being adopted, and her daughter’s hotline calls were screened out.
“If we had a better system in place, she may not have been subjected to all that she was,” Yerington said.
Yerington gave lawmakers on the committee a handout with information regarding Arizona’s child fatality reporting. She said Arizona provides near-daily reporting updates on its child fatalities.
The committee did not indicate whether it would address Yerington’s specific concerns through corresponding recommendations.
According to the Department of Child Services, a majority — about two-thirds — of the 61 children who it found died because of abuse or neglect in 2022 were aged 3 or younger, mirroring a national trend. Most of the perpetrators were biological parents, with men responsible for more abuse fatalities and women accounting for more neglect fatalities, officials said. Of the 61 deaths, 31 were determined by a coroner to be an accident, and 17 were dubbed homicides.
From 2007 to 2022, 4,422 Indiana children have died from injuries, the No. 1 cause of death among children in the state, according to the Indiana Department of Health, which conducts child fatality reviews. The reviews are a prevention process and are not meant to provide real-time assessments, the department said.
“We need to be proactive instead of reactive to protect our children,” Rep. Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis, said in a statement. “If we want to reduce the number of child deaths in our state, we must invest in combating risk factors that heighten the risk of abuse, such as low-familiar income, mental health and substance abuse. Our state has continually failed to do so, and the cost is our children’s lives.”
Hoosiers can report suspected child abuse or neglect by calling the 1-800-800-5556 hotline.
Gov. Eric Holcomb named Porter County Circuit Court Judge Mary DeBoer as his sixth appointment to the Indiana Court of Appeals, with one more choice coming up.
Holcomb announced his pick of DeBoer on Wednesday to replace retired Judge Patricia Riley on the 15-member court.
DeBoer, 57, has been a county judge since 2020 after serving as a magistrate judge for courts in Porter and Starke counties and a deputy prosecutor in those counties.
DeBoer acknowledged the appeals court turnover that will result since Holcomb appointed nearly half of the court’s judges during his eight years in office.
The seventh appointment is expected to come this fall to replace Judge Terry Crone, who will retire Nov. 5.
“The seven of us bring fresh eyes and a burst of energy to the floor, which dovetails well with the institutional knowledge and experience of our more seasoned judges,” DeBoer said. “This combination allows us to do good work and accomplish great things.”
DeBoer choked up briefly during the announcement event with Holcomb as she thanked her family and recalled her stepson Daane DeBoer, a Marine who was killed during a 2010 deployment to Afghanistan.
“As I walked into each of my interviews, I felt him there with me, and I heard him say, ‘You got this, Mary,’” she said.
Holcomb pointed to DeBoer’s work with three problem-solving courts in Porter County: the Juvenile and Family Drug Court, the Truancy Court and the Transformation Court, which focuses on mental health issues.
Holcomb credited DeBoer’s “passion for the struggles that our youth are facing and how they get off that track and onto a better pathway.”
DeBoer said she hoped to continue working on school truancy issues as a Court of Appeals judge.
“It’s so important to get them back into school and to have them not out being delinquent and using illicit substances,” she said. “I think that’s important to just give people options, and you don’t get as many options if you’re not going to school and getting your diplomas.”
DeBoer grew up in Michigan and moved to Indiana in 1990 when she began studying at Valparaiso University’s law school.
Holcomb appointed DeBoer as a Porter County judge in late 2019 to fill a vacancy, and she won election as a Republican candidate to a full six-year term in 2020 with 56% of the vote.
DeBoer’s appointment and the upcoming vacancy mean Republican governors will have named 11 of the 15 appeals court judges and all five state Supreme Court justices.
The appeals court hasn’t yet set a date for her swearing-in and robing ceremony.
Asked about her judicial philosophy, DeBoer said, “I’m definitely read it [the law], look at the text, don’t read anything into it. We’ve got enough to do without trying to create law. That’s not our role.”
Judges Scheele and Steele, who were the other appeals court finalists with DeBoer, are among seven people being considered by the judicial commission for the court’s upcoming vacancy by meeting the Sept. 12 application deadline, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathryn Dolan told State Affairs.
The commission is expected to meet in October to interview the applicants and select three finalists for Holcomb’s consideration to replace Crone, Dolan said.
Update: This story has been updated with information on applicants to the upcoming Court of Appeals vacancy.
Tom Davies is a Statehouse reporter for State Affairs Pro Indiana. Reach him at[email protected] or on X at @TomDaviesIND.
The Build Kansas Advisory Committee approved seven more projects Wednesday despite concerns from some lawmakers.
The newly approved projects bring the total of approvals to 65. Of the previous 58, 12 received federal funding while eight saw their grant applications rejected, and the remaining 38 are awaiting a decision, Kansas Infrastructure Hub Executive Director Matthew Volz said.
“The current administration wants to hang on to these award announcements because they want to have good news coming out of Washington, D.C.,” Volz told the committee. He expects more awards to be announced in October ahead of the November general election.
The Kansas Infrastructure Hub manages the Build Kansas Fund, which aims to help the state take advantage of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Kansas fund expires June 30, 2027, or sooner if all available funds are awarded by that date.
The $23 million in awards for the 12 successful applicants have garnered a little less than $32 million in federal funds, Volz said, a 137% return on the state’s $23 million investment so far.
A few lawmakers expressed concerns about the types of projects that have passed through their committee so far.
Rep. Troy Waymaster, R-Bunker, said he hoped the fund would help small communities improve their infrastructure. But instead, money has gone to projects such as studies and bike paths, which the committee chair said are “not true infrastructure needs.”
“The kind of money that we’re spending for studies is unbelievable,” Sen. Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, said.
But Rep. Shannon Francis, R-Liberal, said funding for railroad projects — such as one the committee approved Wednesday in his district — are important because preliminary engineering work is “incredibly expensive.”
Studies “are always the barrier” for communities to complete a big project, said Sen. Usha Reddi, D-Manhattan.
“Just because we don’t find it important doesn’t mean it’s not important to that particular community,” she said.
Railroad Crossing Elimination Grants
City of Spring Hill, working with Fort Scott: Requesting $107,500; committing $107,500; additional contribution $215,000; applying for $1.7 million in federal funds
City of Liberal: Requesting $305,000; committing about $105,000; applying for $1.6 million in federal funds
Dodge City: Requesting $154,000; committing $100,000, additional contribution $100,000; applying for $1.4 million in federal funds
Safe Streets and Roads for All Grants
City of Spring Hill: Requesting about $434,000; committing a little less than $23,000; applying for $1.8 million in federal funds
City of Ogden: Requesting $22,500; committing $7,500; applying for $120,000 in federal funds
Osage County: Exempt from matching requirements; requesting about $525,000; applying for $2.1 million in federal funds
Reconnecting Communities Pilot Grants
City of Osawatomie: Requesting $85,500; committing $4,500; applying for $360,000 in federal funds
