After one special session to fix their own screw-up (gerrymandering) and another to screw up everything else (House Bill 2), the state’s lawmakers will reconvene for their short session Monday. The short session is, in theory, a way for legislators to pass local bills and adjust the previous year’s budget. As we’ve seen in past […]
Paul Blest
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EPA Drops Language Opposed By Specialty Parts Manufacturers, N.C. Lawmakers From Anti-Pollution Proposal
After an outcry from North Carolina’s congressional delegation and a group representing after-market car parts manufactuers, the Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it would drop language targeting “defeat devices,” commonly used by amateur race car drivers to modify engines, in a proposal to promote fuel efficiency. When the proposal was first announced, both of […]
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Breaking: Federal Court Rules In Favor of Transgender Virginia Teen, Setting Precedent For North Carolina
In a case that has huge implications for the fate of HB 2 in North Carolina, a federal appeals court has ruled that a Virginia school’s bathroom policy, which barred a transgender teen from using the bathroom of his affirmed gender identity, is discriminatory. The decision reversed U.S. District Court Judge Robert Doumar’s previous ruling […]
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Why Hasn’t Raleigh Formally Opposed HB 2?
On March 28, five days after HB 2 was signed into law, Raleigh mayor Nancy McFarlane issued a statement that was remarkably anodyne for something released nearly a week after the law’s passage. Three weeks later, it’s infuriating. “Raleigh is a welcoming, diverse city that draws its strength from many areas. We have always been […]
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The Morning Roundup: With All Due Respect to the Hollywood
Morning. This weekend was beautiful, so here’s a video of our governor embarrassing himself and this state on national television. 1. Pat McCrory went on Meet the Press and boy, was it painful. This video is…just watch it. Meet the Press host Chuck Todd rightly compared McCrory’s extremely dumb argument to arguments against the Civil […]
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“What You Are Fighting For Is Long Overdue”: Scenes From the Fight for 15 Rally in Durham
As part of a global day of protest for higher wages, workers from several industries across North Carolina convened in Durham last night for a Fight for 15 rally at the McDonald’s on Morgan Street. During the morning rush, around seventy or eighty workers, according to strike worker Abdul-Jalil Rasheed-Burnette, an employee at a Durham […]
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Players’ Retreat Offering Special LGBT Sandwich, All Proceeds Go To Equality NC
A venerable Raleigh restaurant is using a simple sandwich to fight back against HB 2. Players’ Retreat alongside Hillsborough Street is offering a special “LGBT sandwich”—a BLT with guacamole on local multi-grain bread—for $10, with all proceeds donated to Equality NC. “We decided we wanted to support the fight for equality for everyone,” says owner […]
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The Morning Roundup: Workers of the World, Unite!
Good morning. If you’re like me and grew up watching Michael Jordan play basketball, last night was probably pretty weird for you. Anyway:1. Fast food workers are striking today in Durham. As part of a global day of protest against poor wages and working conditions for the second year in a row, fast food employees […]
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Center for American Progress: HB 2 Could Cost North Carolina Over $500 Million
A new study released by the Center for American Progress says that HB 2 could cost North Carolina over a half-a-billion dollars in “private sector economic activity,” and already has cost the state $86.3 million between canceled expansions and events throughout the state. Great. The report, authored by three members of CAP’s LGBT Research and […]
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Wake County DA Clears Officer in Akiel Denkins Shooting Death
Earlier today, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, based on findings from a report by the State Bureau of Investigation, cleared Officer D.C. Twiddy of any wrongdoing in the February 29 shooting death of Akiel Denkins. Freeman wrote in the report that “based on all the evidence available, it is the conclusion of the District […]