NC General Assembly (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
By Ahmed Jallow 
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Raleigh on Tuesday to highlight their administration’s efforts to expand access to affordable healthcare, as Democrats aim to contrast their approach with that of Republicans on the issue.
This month, Democrats are celebrating the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, along with the 21 million individuals who enrolled in coverage under its plan this year — marking the highest enrollment since the law’s enactment in 2010. [Read more...]
 
By Joe Killian
A new breed of MAGA candidates is dominating the GOP, but NC’s belligerent Lt. Governor may have limited appeal in a general election.
When Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson won the Republican nomination for governor this month, it set up more than just a battle to November with the Democratic nominee, Attorney General Josh Stein. In many ways, say longtime North Carolina political observers, it set the stage for the inevitable state GOP clash between traditional, socially and fiscally conservative Republicans and former President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement of bombast, vitriol and conspiracy theory.
“This is not a completely new thing,” said Pope “Mac” McCorkle, veteran Democratic political consultant and professor of Public Policy at Duke University. “There are precedents for it.” [Read more…]
 
By Kris Nordstrom
A new report from the Fordham Institute, a pro-charter school think tank, inadvertently makes the case that North Carolina should stop approving new charter schools.
The report, “Do Authorizer Evaluations Predict the Success of New Charter Schools?”, looks at the performance of North Carolina charter school authorizations between 2013 and 2019 to determine whether ratings and votes from the Charter School Advisory Board were predictive of charter school academic performance. But rather than making a convincing case for modifying North Carolina’s charter approval process, the data make a stronger case for reinstating the cap on new charter approval. [Read more...]
 
By Kelan Lyons
Recent court filings show case analyst omitted key findings that influenced parole decisions
In 2019, Joy Smith, a part-time case analyst with the North Carolina Parole Commission, passed along allegations to her colleagues that Brett Abrams had locked his brother in a camper and set it on fire in 1982, killing the young boy.
“It appears Abrams was jealous of him,” Smith wrote of the man eligible for parole for another crime.
Excluded from Smith’s case summary was that local law enforcement had deemed the boy’s death an accident in 1984. [Read more…]

Democrat Don Davis votes with the GOP as he seeks reelection in a toss-up congressional district

By Lynn Bonner 
As he ran through a list of accomplishments and challenges at a meeting with constituents last month, Congressman Don Davis drew applause when he mentioned that the 1st Congressional District made history by electing him as the first Black U.S. Air Force Academy graduate to serve in Congress.
Davis is likely in for a dogfight as he tries for a second term. Republicans in the state legislature configured the 1st District to slightly favor a Republican candidate. It is the only toss-up among the state’s 14 congressional districts. [Read more…]

North Carolina gets its first glimpse at the money changing hands with legalized sports gambling

By Clayton Henkel
Nearly $24 million was wagered in the first 12 hours that it was legal to place an online sports bet
When online sports gambling went live in North Carolina the day before that ACC Tournament commenced, no one doubted it would be popular. But members of the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission, which has oversight of sports gaming, got their first look at hard numbers at its meeting Wednesday morning.
On March 11, North Carolinians wagered a whopping $23.9 million in the first 12-hour period that it was legal to place an online sports bet. [Read more...]

Incessant gambling ads: a vexing sign of moral decline in North Carolina (commentary) 

By Rob Schofield
Americans obsess and argue a lot about morality these days. This is especially the case over on the political and religious right, where decrying societal change in the realm of sexuality and gender and seeking the imposition of new laws to restrict personal bodily autonomy have long been top priorities.
It’s been decades since a conservative Virginia preacher named Jerry Falwell rose to national prominence through the establishment of a group known as the Moral Majority, but successor organizations championing the same basic agenda remain numerous and prolific. [Read more.…]
 
By Lisa Sorg 
Under draft permit, DEQ only requiring Duplin County company to monitor, not limit toxic compounds
This story has been updated with a statement from Lear, which responded after deadline.
Lear Corporation, a global textile manufacturer with a factory in Duplin County, has knowingly discharged high levels of toxic PFAS into the Northeast Cape Fear River for the past five years, yet state regulators have not required the company to rein in those releases. [Read more...]
Bonus environmental reads:
* Superfund decision for Tarheel Army Missile Plant relied on incomplete data
* U.S. losing valuable wetlands at alarming rate, threatening flood control, wildlife habitat and clean water
by Clayton Henkel, NC Newsline
March 31, 2024
by Clayton Henkel, NC Newsline
March 31, 2024
By Ahmed Jallow 
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Raleigh on Tuesday to highlight their administration’s efforts to expand access to affordable healthcare, as Democrats aim to contrast their approach with that of Republicans on the issue.
This month, Democrats are celebrating the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, along with the 21 million individuals who enrolled in coverage under its plan this year — marking the highest enrollment since the law’s enactment in 2010. [Read more...]
 
By Joe Killian
A new breed of MAGA candidates is dominating the GOP, but NC’s belligerent Lt. Governor may have limited appeal in a general election.
When Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson won the Republican nomination for governor this month, it set up more than just a battle to November with the Democratic nominee, Attorney General Josh Stein. In many ways, say longtime North Carolina political observers, it set the stage for the inevitable state GOP clash between traditional, socially and fiscally conservative Republicans and former President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement of bombast, vitriol and conspiracy theory.
“This is not a completely new thing,” said Pope “Mac” McCorkle, veteran Democratic political consultant and professor of Public Policy at Duke University. “There are precedents for it.” [Read more…]
 
By Kris Nordstrom
A new report from the Fordham Institute, a pro-charter school think tank, inadvertently makes the case that North Carolina should stop approving new charter schools.
The report, “Do Authorizer Evaluations Predict the Success of New Charter Schools?”, looks at the performance of North Carolina charter school authorizations between 2013 and 2019 to determine whether ratings and votes from the Charter School Advisory Board were predictive of charter school academic performance. But rather than making a convincing case for modifying North Carolina’s charter approval process, the data make a stronger case for reinstating the cap on new charter approval. [Read more...]
 
By Kelan Lyons
Recent court filings show case analyst omitted key findings that influenced parole decisions
In 2019, Joy Smith, a part-time case analyst with the North Carolina Parole Commission, passed along allegations to her colleagues that Brett Abrams had locked his brother in a camper and set it on fire in 1982, killing the young boy.
“It appears Abrams was jealous of him,” Smith wrote of the man eligible for parole for another crime.
Excluded from Smith’s case summary was that local law enforcement had deemed the boy’s death an accident in 1984. [Read more…] Democrat Don Davis votes with the GOP as he seeks reelection in a toss-up congressional district