Weekend reads: Guskiewicz departs UNC, filing season in full swing, and Black, Latino voters sue
Dec 10, 2023 | 9:14 am ET
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(Aerial over the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by Ryan Herron/Getty Images)
UNC Chancellor announced as next president of Michigan State University
By Joe Killian
Michigan State University announced UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz will become its next president during a Friday morning meeting of that university’s board of trustees. The board unanimously approved Guskiewicz’s hire with a starting date of March 4.
His last day at UNC-Chapel Hill will be January 12.
Trustees at Michigan State praised Guskiewicz’s leadership at UNC-Chapel Hill and said they have high hopes for him as their university’s 22nd president. [Read more…]
Bonus read: Trust, rumors and tough decisions as UNC-Chapel Hill chancellor weighs MSU presidency
‘Shame! Shame! Shame!’ Opponents of LNG plant outraged after Person County approval
By Lisa Sorg
County commissioners vote 5-0 in favor, after several months of secret meetings with utility
It took nearly two hours for dozens of opponents of a proposed liquified natural gas plant in Person County to explain how the project – aspects of which have been crafted in secret – would harm them, the environment and the planet.
The county commissioners took less than 20 seconds to approve it.[Read more...]
Contaminated groundwater at Weaver Fertilizer property “likely” moving off the site
By Lisa Sorg
Nearly two years after a catastrophic fire at the Weaver Fertilizer plant in Winston-Salem, contaminated groundwater at the site has “likely migrated offsite to the west and north,” state records show, and “more groundwater investigation is necessary.”
The groundwater beneath the property at 4440 N. Cherry St., contains high levels of at least 15 contaminants, including arsenic, ammonia, xylene and nitrate.
Groundwater at a second property on Brownsboro Road, where the company stored chemicals used in making fertilizer, is also heavily contaminated. [Read more...]
Black and Latino voters sue over new North Carolina congressional districts
By Lynn Bonner
A group of Black and Latino voters in North Carolina say in a lawsuit that four of the state’s new congressional districts are racial gerrymanders. They are asking a panel of federal judges to declare it unconstitutional.
The lawsuit filed Monday focuses on Districts 1, 6, 12, and 14. These districts are unconstitutional because they intentionally weaken minority voting power, the lawsuit says. [Read more…]
Voting rights groups find new photo ID law caused trouble for voters and county officials
By Lynn Bonner
Judith Nash’s shaky handwriting on a voter ID exception form she filled out in Guilford County on Election Day is a sign of lost muscle control that comes with Huntington’s disease.
A few days after she and her husband voted, Nash received an email from the Guilford elections office saying, essentially, they thought she was lying on the form, and questioning why she was well enough to vote but not able to get an ID. [Read more…]
Prominent candidates for Governor, Congress, Council of State join the fray
By Staff
Major news on the filing front Tuesday is that Republican U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC-10) is not running for reelection.
McHenry announced he will retire after 10 terms that included three weeks earlier this year as temporary House Speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy was kicked out of the job.
“There is a season for everything and — for me — this season has come to an end.”
That leaves an open seat likely to elect a Republican. [Read more…]
From COVID to climate change, Republicans question CDC’s role in keeping public safe
Former NC HHS Secretary Mandy Cohen stresses data, partnerships, resources in new chapter with CDC
It’s been more than two and a half years since Alabama dropped its mask mandate as part of its COVID-19 safety guidance. But last week, U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer (R – Alabama) was fixated on whether the Centers for Disease Control would reimpose such a requirement.
“It’s good that we’re in a different place and we’re able to turn a chapter forward,” answered Dr. Mandy Cohen, the CDC’s new director. “We have a lot of different tools to protect our children now, vaccines, and treatment. Masks continue to be one tool amongst many that we can use.”
“So, you would continue to require masking for two-year-old kids?” interrupted Palmer. [Read more.…]
Vigil challenges governor, North Carolinians to reimagine criminal justice system
By Kelan Lyons
Toia Potts’s son was so young when he visited her in jail that he couldn’t understand why he could see and hear his mother through the glass in the visitation room, but wasn’t allowed to touch her.
Potts did not struggle with drugs or alcohol, but she enrolled in a substance abuse rehabilitative program because those who successfully completed it were allowed to invite their family members to a pizza party. [Read more...]
As the 2024 campaign gets underway in NC, a shadow looms (commentary)
Threat of autocracy makes the upcoming election year among the most important in US history
American history has been marked by more than a few momentous elections that dramatically altered national and world history.
One shudders to think, for instance, what might have happened to the nation had Abraham Lincoln not somehow prevailed over three opponents in 1860 and George McLellan in 1864, or if Franklin Roosevelt had somehow lost to an isolationist adversary in 1940. [Read more...]
State Board of Education appeals panel recommends closing all-boys charter school
A State Board of Education appeals panel will recommend against allowing School of the Arts for Boys Academy (SABA) to continue to operate in Chatham County.
The state’s Charter Schools Review Board ordered the school to close Dec. 30, citing its low enrollment. SABA leaders appealed the review board’s decision to the state board. [Read more…]
Raleigh, NC