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I’m a UNC student, and I’m angry and scared
It’s difficult to put into words the rage I felt upon learning that UNC will not inform students if one of our classmates tests positive for COVID-19 this fall. Flouting federal guidelines about social distancing and who counts as a close contact, UNC-Chapel Hill announced at the end of last month that three feet between students is enough distance — despite the CDC clearly denoting the minimum safe distance as six feet.
UNC student starts petition to cancel in-person classes
Now-retracted ICE policy on foreign students helps spur student advocacy For weeks, faculty, staff, and students in the University of North Carolina System have been petitioning for a transition to remote-only instruction. On June 12, graduate workers and professional students at UNC published a response to UNC’s Roadmap for Fall 2020. Last week, more than […]
Monday numbers: A closer look at the effort to resume capital punishment
Daniel Lewis Lee, 47, was scheduled to be executed today at the Federal Correctional Institute in Terre Haute, Ind., in what would have been the first federal execution in almost two decades. Lee was convicted in three counts of murder in aid of racketeering, a federal crime.
Death records secrecy bill is killed … twice
New bill containing uncontroversial provisions remains in limbo “In my eight years in the General Assembly, the reason this bill is before you may be the most bizarre thing that I’ve ever dealt with.” — Rep. Josh Dobson (R-Avery, McDowell, Mitchell). Dobson was referring to Senate Bill 380, a bill the House passed unanimously on […]
NC House committee approves repeal of controversial death investigation records legislation
Bill would also remove “sunset” on law that allows wearing of face masks The North Carolina House Committee on Rules and Operations voted today to remove controversial language in Senate Bill 168 involving death investigations records. The otherwise uncontroversial bill, which adds some technical modifications to laws pertaining to the Department of Health and Human […]
As NC reopens, child care facilities struggle to bounce back from pandemic closures
While the North Carolina General Assembly tries again and again to reopen gyms and bars, there is another type of business that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and is struggling to rebound: child care centers. Thirty-three percent of all child care facilities remain closed, according to a presentation NC Early Education Coalition policy director Michele Rivest gave to the House Health Committee on June 24.
Gov. Cooper signs bill increasing judicial discretion for low-level drug crimes
On Friday, Governor Roy Cooper signed House Bill 511, also known as “the First Step Act,” into law. The new law increases judicial discretion when it comes to sentencing for certain drug crimes by allowing judges to bypass mandatory minimums when sentencing drug offenders whom prosecutors can currently charge as drug traffickers, but who in […]
Governor Cooper signs Second Chance Act into law
Yesterday afternoon, Governor Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 562 into law. SB 562, or the “Second Chance Act,” allows people with nonviolent criminal records to have misdemeanors and certain low-level felonies expunged if they have fully served their sentence and paid their fines, and if the crime was committed when the person was between 16 […]
Bill that provides additional funding for broadband infrastructure passes the House unanimously
Bill comes on the heels of new federal effort targeting underserved rural communities The North Carolina House of Representatives passed the COVID/Supplementary GREAT Grant Period bill unanimously last night. The bill provides an additional $30 million in funding to the North Carolina Department of Information Technology to “provide a special supplementary grant process” for broadband […]
Raleigh City Council approves Police Advisory Board appointments, one day after approving the FY ’21 budget
On Monday, the Raleigh City Council voted unanimously to approve the budget for the 2021 fiscal year. Despite major losses in revenue, according to Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, resulting in a budget 2.5% smaller than last year’s, the budget increased funding for the police by 1.8%. RPD had requested an additional $2.8 million to support seven […]
Democrats in U.S. House and Senate reveal new legislation for police reform
Over 100 Congressional Democrats came together today to co-sponsor the “Justice in Policing Act of 2020.” This legislation would ban police use of chokeholds, bar “no-knock” warrants, and set up a national database of police misconduct, among many other reforms. The legislation was sponsored in the House by Representative Karen Bass (D-CA), Chairwoman of the […]
Wake County activist arrested hours after testifying at virtual Raleigh city council meeting
A Wake County activist and participant in recent Raleigh protests against police misconduct was arrested early this morning on charges of failing to return a rental car and damage to the vehicle, hours after speaking at a Raleigh City Council meeting set up specifically to listen to community concerns. Conrad James, the president of a […]