Wake County
Dispatches from the North Carolina court system: The cash bail-jail paradox
Jordan needed an unsecured bond, or he wasn’t getting out of jail. The 24-year-old Black man had been arrested on Oct. 8, charged with possessing drug paraphernalia, trespassing, resisting a public officer, and failing to show up for a court hearing, allegations that kept him in jail on a bond he couldn’t afford. The couple thousand dollars it would cost to get that bond threatened his livelihood, a job at a pizza shop. Jordan was caught in a paradox familiar to people locked up pretrial in a money bail system: unable to work because he was in jail, but unable to get out of jail because he can’t work.
Wake County Board of Commissioners chairman Sig Hutchinson on the county’s creative and determined work to tackle opioid abuse
Learn more about Wake County’s share of the National Opioid Settlement.
A community ravaged by opioids looks to heal with settlement funds
On Tuesday morning, Wake County held its first community meeting on how it will spend its share of a historic $26 billion National Opioid Settlement – more than $35 million over the next 18 years. But before the crowd of nearly 200 talked about solutions, Megan Peevey took them on a guided tour of the dark corners of opioid addiction most North Carolinians are lucky to never to see for themselves.
Monday numbers: A closer look at the scourge of opioid abuse, and your chance to shape where recovery resources go
It has been a year since a coalition of state attorneys general first announced the National Opioid Settlement. That historic $26 billion agreement with three major pharmaceutical distributors (Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen) and manufacturer Johnson & Johnson is intended to help communities dramatically harmed by the opioid epidemic.
Wake County to hold public meeting on plans for $35 million opioid settlement funds
Last year, nearly 200 people in Wake County died as a result of drug overdoses. More than 1,000 found themselves in hospital emergency rooms. Though COVID-19 and political chaos may have taken the spotlight in the last few years, the national opioid epidemic hasn’t gone anywhere. Next week, Wake County is holding its first community […]
Garner becomes latest NC town to adopt LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance
The Garner Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt Wake County’s LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance, joining dozens of communities around the state in broadening protections from discrimination. According to a resolution and inter-local agreement, Wake County will enforce the ordinance within the town The ordinance, which does not apply to religious organizations prohibits discrimination on […]
Wake County leaders unite to celebrate new non-discrimination ordinances
On Tuesday the Campbell University School of Law hosted elected officials from across Wake County as they celebrated new LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinances in Raleigh, Knightdale and Morrisville. Leaders from those communities signed a joint ceremonial document in support of protections from discrimination in employment and public accommodation in places like restaurants and hotels. As Policy […]
Raleigh joins Wake County in new non-discrimination protections
The Raleigh City Council unanimously voted to join in a new, LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination ordinance Tuesday, the day after the ordinance was passed by Wake County. The move makes North Carolina’s capital city the 15th local government in the state to pass such an ordinance since a ban on local non-discrimination ordinances expired late last year. […]
New faces at the legislature: Q&A with State Sen. Sarah Crawford
Editor’s note: Policy Watch sent a questionnaire to all new state lawmakers about their plans for their first legislative session. Their unedited responses will be published as the questionnaires come in. First, up State Sen. Sarah Crawford, a Democrat representing Franklin and parts of Wake counties. Name: Sarah Crawford District: Senate District 18 Occupation: CEO, Tammy […]
The push to reopen schools has taken a mean-spirited turn on Twitter
The school reopening push in Wake County has turned mean-spirited. On Twitter, an anonymous person operating under the username ChitterChatterWake has begun to attack teachers, the N.C. Association of Educators (NCAE) and others who are resisting efforts to reopen schools to in-person instruction before the coronavirus is under control. A tweet posted Thursday directs educators […]
NCDOT apologizes to Durham leaders for failing to inform them about proposed Dominion pipeline along American Tobacco Trail
Yet a mid-level Durham employee knew about the proposal in 2018 but never informed city leaders. The state Department of Transportation apologized to Triangle government officials today for failing to inform them of a proposal to build a natural gas pipeline along part of the American Tobacco Trail, one of the premier recreational destinations in the region.
Dominion backs off plan to build natural gas pipeline along part of American Tobacco Trail
Dominion Energy no longer plans to build a controversial natural gas pipeline along six miles of the American Tobacco Trail, Policy Watch has confirmed. Half the 13-mile underground pipeline would have run in an easement owned by the NC Department of Transportation, and along the ATT from Scott King Road, near Herndon Park in Durham, and […]