A three-judge panel on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina has unanimously ordered the North Carolina legislature to redraw legislative maps by March, hold a special primary in late August or early September, and hold a special general election in early November. The Middle District found the districts unconstitutional in […]
Paul Blest
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Read the McCrory Administration’s HB 2 Emails
In October, we sued the McCrory administration for public records we’ve requested this year. Last week, the McCrory administration complied with three of our outstanding requests: the Governor and his chief of staff’s HB 2 and Charlotte Ordinance emails through March 25, the administration’s emails concerning the Myths vs. Facts press release that was blasted […]
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The Morning Roundup: Leftovers Edition
Good morning, hope you had a good holiday.1. Governors’ race update. The North Carolina State Board of Elections held another emergency Sunday meeting. From the N&O: The State Board of Elections held an emergency meeting by phone on Sunday afternoon to consider a request for an expedited appeal of ballot tabulation concerns that the Durham […]
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Read the Explanation of HB 2 Governor McCrory Needed Two Days After He Signed It
We sued the McCrory administration in October for public records we’ve requested that have gone ignored and unanswered. A few days ago, the administration started sending us part of the requests related to that lawsuit, including the governor’s emails about HB 2. One of those emails shows that Governor McCrory was still being advised on […]
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Wake County Commissioners Clash Over Timing of Affordable Housing Vote
An affordable housing vote in Wake County was pushed back a couple of weeks, and the commissioner leading the charge is not happy. On Monday, the Wake County Commission took up a vote approving rules of procedure and appointing twenty-nine people (selected by staff) to a steering committee on affordable housing, an important early step […]
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Raleigh Officials Seek to Bridge the Divide Between the Cops and the Community
“We are not here tonight to validate or invalidate anyone’s feelings or truth,” Mayor Nancy McFarlane told a crowd of one hundred-plus people at the Anne Gordon Center for Active Adults in north Ralaeigh last Wednesday night. “Remember that tonight is a first step. Your participation tonight is the beginning of a long-term commitment to […]
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Governor McCrory Formally Asks for a Recount
Governor Pat McCrory has filed a request with the State Board of Elections asking for a recount, the same day the board met in Raleigh to provide guidance to counties on the rash of Republican-backed election protests and told the counties to keep counting votes despite those ongoing protests. A written order is coming later […]
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Duke University Hires Anti-Union Law Firm in Effort to Squash Graduate Student Union Plan
After the National Labor Relations Board decision in August to recognize graduate students as legitimate employees, Duke graduate students announced their intention to form a union. “As graduate student workers, we know that our job conditions directly determine the learning conditions of our students and the quality of our research,” a group of students wrote […]
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The Morning Roundup: Go Home, Pat
Good morning. Here’s what you missed over the weekend.1. Roy Cooper’s lead grows, McCrory delays the inevitable. After losing protests to Republican-controlled county boards of election around the state, the McCrory campaign, on Friday, took its plea to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which in turned held an emergency teleconference late Sunday afternoon. […]
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Organize or Die: The Left Needs Its Own Tea Party
On Friday afternoon, Bernie Sanders blasted out an email to his millions-strong campaign list with a simple headline: “It looks like you like Keith.” In the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s defeat Tuesday night, Representative Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat who was the first Muslim-American elected to Congress and who cochairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, threw […]