Good morning. Here’s what happened this weekend.1. The aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Hurricane Matthew ripped through coastal NC on Saturday, and flooded some areas of the Triangle. At least nine people have been killed in North Carolina. From the N&O: Matthew was blamed for at least nine deaths after as much as 16 inches of […]
Paul Blest
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Wake County Commissioner To Wake GOP Official: Show Me Proof Voter Fraud Exists
A Wake County GOP official sent a frantic email to supporters looking for poll observers to “prepare for the onslaught of illegal activity” (i.e., voter fraud) in November. Today, a Wake County Commissioner called his bluff by asking him to show proof of voter fraud. Yesterday, Wake County Democratic Party chairman Brian Fitzsimmons posted a […]
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The Morning Roundup: Hurricane Matthew Barrels Toward Florida
Good morning folks.1. Hurricane Matthew is really, really bad. After killing more than three hundred people in Haiti, Matthew started hitting Florida early this morning, although the eye of the storm is still on the outside of the coast. From CNN: Matthew — a Category 3 storm with winds of 120 mph at the center […]
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The Morning Roundup: Cary, Rethink This
Good morning. 1. Rachel Dolezal to participate in Cary’s Martin Luther King Dreamfest celebration. Disgraced former NAACP official Rachel Dolezal, who is white, is speaking on a panel during the town’s Martin Luther King Day celebration. From the Cary News: Cohen said he believes the keynote speaker will encourage a conversation about the healing of […]
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Raleigh City Council Kicks the Can on Airbnb Rules … Again
Another city council meeting, another delay on regulations for short-term lodging—i.e., Airbnb and VRBO—was the story on Tuesday night in Raleigh. Around two dozen people wearing yellow shirts that read “Share Raleigh” showed up in opposition to the new rules, which would have been the first in place since the council voted to stop enforcement […]
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After Records Request, Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison Explains Himself
Last week, we made a public records request aimed at shedding some light on the relationship between the Wake County Sheriff’s Office and Wake County Public Schools on the issue of bathroom access for transgender students. We got the results of those records yesterday, as well as a letter from Sheriff Donnie Harrison detailing his […]
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Wake County’s Mass Transit System Is a Mess. Can a $2.3 Billion Referendum Save It?
I find myself in what must look like the saddest sprint of all timebreathing heavy, sneakers clunking against an unforgiving sidewalk, sweating my ass off. Had I known this was how my Monday was going to start, I would’ve worn some lighter clothes. Nevertheless, I am going to catch this goddamn bus. It’s late August, […]
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Did House Speaker Tim Moore Even Read the Body-Cam Bill He Passed?
On Saturday, HB 972the bipartisan body-camera law that has come under heavy scrutiny since Charlotte police shot and killed Keith Lamont Scottwent into effect. It should be reassuring to everyone, then, that a top Republican leader in the General Assembly doesn’t seem to know how the law actually works. In a September 28 appearance on […]
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Wake County School Board Chairman Says Sheriff Donnie Harrison Is Playing Politics with Transgender Students’ Lives
Until he started sounding off about bathroom access for transgender students, Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison maintained a solid relationship with the county school system. But after a series of news reports in which Harrison did everything from comparing a transgender student to a child with head lice to identifying the school that drew his […]
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The Morning Roundup: Spacecraft, Hurricanes, and Tim Kaine
Good morning, it’s Friday.1. ESA’s Rosetta hits comet, signal lost forever.From NPR: The historic spacecraft has transformed scientists’ understanding of comets over the past two years, as it orbited the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet and sent a stream of images and data back to Earth. Now it has lost contact with Earth forever. The historic spacecraft launched […]