9:01
Brief
The Pulse
Weekend reads: Veto rally sets up a legislative showdown, the latest battles in education, and a new face enters the 2024 race for NC governor
North Carolina General Assembly (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
In this issue:
1. Crowd cheers Gov. Roy Cooper as he vetoes abortion ban
A crowd cheered Gov. Roy Cooper as he vetoed a Republican-authored abortion ban in an unusual rally that capped off a week of attempts to pressure a small group of GOP legislators into letting the veto stand. Some bills are signed in public ceremonies, but bill vetoes don’t usually draw enthusiastic audiences. For Senate Bill [Read more…]
2. Bonus Content: Photo gallery: Veto rally draws big crowds as NC’s governor vows to fight Republican-backed abortion restrictions
3. Black state senators: An abortion ban will worsen Black maternal mortality rates in NC
Black women face high rates of pregnancy-related death and will likely feel the brunt of an abortion ban in North Carolina. Yet, none of the Black women elected to the state legislature, all of whom are Democrats, had any input into the Republican-authored bill banning most abortions after 12 weeks. “We were not invited to the table… [Read more…]
Five simple reasons Gov. Cooper’s promised abortion bill veto must be sustained (Commentary)
It’s been fifty years now since North Carolina women secured the basic right – if not always the practical ability – to control their own bodies when it comes to deciding whether to carry a pregnancy to term.If Republican legislators in the North Carolina General Assembly get their way, however, that fundamental human right will be dramatically eviscerated in just a matter of days. [Read more…]
Bonus commentary: UNC experts: Abortion ban proposal is not what sponsors say it is
4. Higher ed experts: “Harm can come to our students” in changing accreditation process
A bill that would compel UNC System universities and community colleges to change accreditors flew under the radar in the recent flurry of higher education legislation at the General Assembly. But as Senate Bill 680 clears legislative hurdles on the way to becoming law, the public should pay attention to the “in the weeds” issue [Read more…]
5. In Raleigh, GOP supermajorities advance big and controversial changes in public education
Two of the more controversial K-12 education bills to make it through the state House and Senate before the General Assembly’s May 4 crossover deadline have relatively innocuous names. “Choose Your School, Choose Your Future” (Senate Bill 406) and the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” (House Bill 574) both appear to promote concepts that, at [Read more…]
6. At the NC Senate, even gun limits favored in Fox News poll fail to gain traction
When Senator Danny Britt (R-Robeson) rose to explain Senate Bill 650 last Monday night on the Senate floor in hopes of securing the bill’s approval, Senator Natasha Marcus (D-Mecklenburg) was quick to offer a bit of tongue-in-cheek praise. “The ‘Gun Violence Prevention Act,’ I love the title, Senator Britt,” said Marcus. “I love it so much that I used the title myself as you now know, when I filed a bill, same name, ‘Gun Violence Prevention Act,’ back in March. [Read more…]
7. Asheville prosecutors want journalists’ lawyer to stop talking to the press
The Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office has asked a judge to reprimand an attorney representing two journalists convicted last month of trespassing while reporting late Christmas night 2021 on police activity in Asheville’s Aston Park. The attorney’s offense, according to Assistant District Attorney Robert A. McRight: talking to the press. A rule set by the…[Read more…]
8. Lawyer fees draw scrutiny as Camp Lejeune claims stack up
veterans and their families to pursue damage claims against the government for toxic exposure
at the military base. Now, advocates and lawmakers worry high lawyer fees could shortchange
those injured. Photo: https://www.marines.mil/
David and Adair Keller started their married life together in 1977 at Camp Lejeune, a military training base on the Atlantic Coast in Jacksonville, North Carolina. David was a Marine Corps field artillery officer then, and they lived together on the base for about six months. But that sojourn had an outsize impact on their [Read more…]
9. Some states hope to move climate-threatened species, but others say no way
This story is Part Two of a two-part series about a federal proposal to relocate endangered species outside their historic ranges. See Part One: Federal wildlife managers and ecologists weigh the risks of action — and inaction — to rescue species from climate change. North Carolina might need to move a snail. A tiny mollusk…[Read more…]
Bonus read: Climate change is destroying habitats. But relocating species could be tricky. (Part one of this two-part series)
10. U.S. House GOP wants spending cuts — and also $10B in home-state earmarks
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans have requested more than $10 billion in earmarks to be included in next year’s appropriations bills, despite demanding massive spending cuts as a contingent for raising the nation’s debt ceiling. All but a handful of House Republicans barely pushed through a bill that would temporarily raise the U.S. borrowing limit, [Read more…]
11. Former Congressman Mark Walker to seek GOP nomination for governor
Former Congressman Mark Walker will join the race for the GOP nomination for governor later this month, according to sources close to the campaign. Walker telegraphed his intentions publicly for the first time Tuesday after months of teasing a possible run, with a statement from Tim Murtaugh, vice president of communication for National Public Affairs, [Read more…]
12. In defeat for pork industry, U.S. Supreme Court okays California animal cruelty law
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in a case challenging a California law approved by that state’s voters in 2018 that could have a significant impact on pork producing states like North Carolina. As was explained in this column last Spring, the case revolved around a law that requires all pork sold in the nation’s [Read more…]
13. Listen to our recent week’s podcast episodes:
- Common Cause of NC’s Bob Phillips
- State Rep. Julie von Haefen
- Education policy expert Kris Nordstrom of the NC Justice Center
Stream and subscribe
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