Oh, hi—didn’t see you there. Shall we discuss the headlines of the day?
1. There were primaries yesterday. Bernie Sanders is still in the race, and still winning states, which is sort of remarkable if you think about it, given that nobody thinks he has any chance to win the nomination. Sanders took home West Virginia yesterday—the nineteenth primary or caucus he has won to date. Trump won West Virginia and Nebraska, which is less remarkable, since there is nobody else left in the race. (Sanders won in Nebraska also, back in March.)
2. All you can HB 2. Democrats have filed a bill rewriting the anti-discrimination laws. The “Equality for All” Act, which you may peruse here, “will protect LGBT and other North Carolinians from discrimination in all walks of life,” Democratic House leaders said in a release. (One of the bill’s sponsors is newly appointed Rep. Chris Sgro, who’s also executive director of Equality NC.)
Also, the UNC Board of Governors met for three hours yesterday to try to puzzle out how to handle all the various HB 2-related lawsuits. Per Chapelboro:
The biggest economic downfall from the litigation could be the pulling of federal dollars from public schools in North Carolina, including the University System. Spellings said she and the board know those funds are “essential” to the 17-campus system’s operation.
“The board and I are completely committed and very clear that we can’t operate this place without federal funding,” Spellings said.
…Spellings did say there had been an open channel of dialogue between the system and the DOJ before the lawsuits were announced Monday. [Board chair Lou] Bissette added there has been continued conversation with the state General Assembly in the days since letters were sent from the DOJ to the University System, Governor Pat McCrory and the state Department of Public Safety notifying the agencies they were out of compliance with federal law.
Bissette described the conversations with lawmakers as “constructive” and “frequent.”
“The [lawmakers] we’ve talked to are very supportive of the University System,” Bissette said. “And many of them share some of the same frustrations that we do.”
Gov. Pat McCrory, who is maybe legit starting to lose his mind, told FOX yesterday morning that all this HB 2 stuff is just one big ol’ conspiracy against him. Here’s a highlight:
“It’s like big brother is all of a sudden descended upon our state in a very coordinated political way but actually, what the attorney general — what the national media is missing, this is no longer a mandate on North Carolina. They are making bathroom rules for every employer in the United States of America with over 15 employees and telling them that they must allow gender identity to be the new choice of what restroom or shower people use at a place of work.”
A bad argument, argued poorly. That’s our governor.
3. Raleigh Santa pleads guilty to child porn charges. We regret to inform you that an old man whose job was to dress up like Santa and have little kids sit on his lap had motives that exceeded the spreading of Christmas cheer. From WNCN:
Leander Dewey Jones, 64, of Raleigh appeared in federal court Monday where he pleaded guilty to charges [of manufacturing child pornography]
Jones, who was employed as a Santa Claus and magician, was discovered producing child porn of two relatives, documents show.
On May 29, 2015, Jones brought his computer in for repair. While examining the computer for viruses and malware, the computer technician located a folder containing child porn.
The technician alerted the store owner. The owner then called Raleigh Police, who issued a search warrant of the computer and found about 4,000 images of child porn on Jones’ computer as well as on external hard drives.
Authorities also found about 1,000 images of child porn on CD’s and other discs.
Foul Santa faces up to thirty years in prison. He’ll be sentenced August 1.
4. House Republicans want to cut off funds to N.C. cities not complying with last year’s “sanctuary cities” law. From the N&O:
Since the sanctuary city bill passed last fall, local governments have been banned from preventing their law enforcement officers from asking about a suspect’s immigration status. They also can’t stop law enforcement from sharing immigration information with federal authorities.
But according to a news release Tuesday from Senate leader Phil Berger’s office, “several law enforcement officials have contacted lawmakers to raise concern that some local governments are not complying with the law.”
Filed Tuesday, Senate Bill 868 would set up a process for the state attorney general to investigate complaints about sanctuary city practices. Local governments found to be in violation would lose state funding for school construction and street projects.
Republican state senator Buck Newton, who is also running for attorney general, issued a statement supporting the bill.
5. Krzyzewski expected to coach “at least five more years.” Despite Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s recent health issues—including a hospitalization in February and a post-season knee-replacement surgery—Duke athletic director Kevin White expects him to coach for another half-decade. So reports the N&O, in a story with a bizarre headline that praises the Duke coach for being “tech-savvy” because he used a Bitmoji one time:
Krzyzewski, 69, has five years left on his contract, which would take him through the 2020-21 season. [Duke athletic director Kevin] White fully expects Krzyzewski to still be on the sidelines at that point – and maybe even longer.
“Mike has a five-year contract in place and his intention is to honor that contract at a minimum,” White said. “Given his unparalleled passion for leadership and the sport of basketball it would not surprise me at all if Mike coaches beyond his current contact. To be sure, and I’ve said this many times, we have the greatest coach at any level and in any sport representing Duke University. So I’d stand behind any of that. And he’s in great shape.”
Enjoy your day.
