Good Tuesday morning, folks. We hope you enjoyed a fun, relaxing three-day weekend with loved ones.
It’s time to play a little “catch-up” with the state’s news, shall we?
1. Greensboro police decide against providing security at Cleveland’s RNC Convention in July.
From ABC News:
The Greensboro Police Department in North Carolina has rescinded its offer to send 50 police officers to Cleveland in July to help secure the Republican National Convention, citing a lack of workers’ compensation insurance provided by the city for visiting officers, as well as staffing challenges and a failure of logistics and planning for the large-scale event.
Lt. Brian James, Greensboro deputy chief of police, told ABC News that police administrators in other jurisdictions have also expressed a lack of confidence in Cleveland and its preparedness for the upcoming event. He said some departments are declining to send officers while others are still “on the fence.”
“Police work is dangerous by nature. But of course in any situation, we try to plan and prepare as best we can,” James said. “Of course, we will be officers working out of jurisdiction, so we are totally reliant on the Cleveland Police Department for direction. We didn’t have enough information at this time to send our officers there, so we decided we are not going to send them.”
Jeez, what are they so worried about, any way?
2. Republican Congressman Robert Pittenger is your hero. Really. Don’t believe it? Let him tell you all about it, in his opinon piece that ran Sunday in some North Carolina papers:
President Obama is attempting to bully North Carolina into complying with his radical agenda. Last week, I took legislative action to block him.
On Wednesday, I introduced an amendment which specifically prohibits the Obama Administration from withholding certain federal money awarded to North Carolina. My amendment passed 227-192, with full support from North Carolina’s Republican Congressional delegation.
Why was this amendment necessary? Obama and members of his administration have repeatedly threatened to withhold federal funding from North Carolina as punishment for not aligning with Obama’s political views.
He’s talking about this amendment:
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night approved an amendment to a spending bill that would seek to bar several federal departments from withholding funds from the state of North Carolina if it fails to abide by the Obama administration policy that transgender people be allowed access to bathrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identities.
Republican Rep. Robert Pittenger offered the amendment, which passed on a voice vote. Democrats requested a formal roll call vote, likely to be held later in the evening. In a brief speech on the House floor, he accused the administration of “bullying tactics.”
Sure. Never mind that…
The White House said Thursday that it doesn’t plan to withhold federal funding from North Carolina while the state and the Justice Department fight a legal battle over an anti-LGBT law.
So, what’s up with all the showboating? It’s re-election time (he hopes) of course! Pittenger is in a three-way June 7 primary race for his 9th District seat. His opponents are Charlotte pastor Mark Harris, and former Union County Commissioner Todd Johnson. The winner takes on Democrat Christian Cano in November.
The back-and-forth between Harris and Pittenger is getting nasty, as The Charlotte Observer notes. Harris seems to be getting under Pittenger’s skin with his attack ads, such as this one:
