Pardon Our Dust
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Your weekly North Carolina political news report.
Economy
WECT-NEWS: NC unemployment rate rose in December to worst in 7 months
North Carolina’s unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent in December, itshighest level in seven months and well above the national average of 4.1percent.
WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL: North Carolina revenues not far off midpointtarget
North Carolina government revenues halfway through the fiscal year arebasically in line with what lawmakers projected was needed to implement thestate budget passed last summer.
Education
NEWS & OBSERVER: Public school supporters say NC school choiceprograms need more accountability
As school choice supporters celebrate their success in North Carolina,supporters of traditional public schools say state leaders should demandmore information about how taxpayer money is being used in charter schoolsand private schools.
Energy & Environment
ASHEBORO COURIER-TRIBUNE: NC approves Atlantic Coast Pipeline permitthrough 8 counties
A key state permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline was approved by stateregulators Friday, clearing a major hurdle for the interstate natural gasproject to move ahead in North Carolina.
WILMINGTON STAR NEWS: Questions raised about UNCW’s GenX tests
Researchers at the University of North Carolina Wilmington are recheckingtheir work to quantify levels of GenX in the Cape Fear River and drinkingwater after releasing results that appear, at least in part, to drasticallycontradict those from the state and Cape Fear Public Utility Authority.
NEWS & OBSERVER: NC agency lacks equipment to find water pollution.Could it just borrow some?
When Senate leader Phil Berger blasted the House’s GenX funding bill thismonth, he said it “authorizes the purchase of expensive equipment that thestate can already access for free.”
In the Courts
DURHAM HERALD SUN: Court: Lawmakers grabbed NC governor’s power onelections
North Carolina’s highest court stepped in Friday to limit theRepublican-dominated legislature’s efforts to minimize Democratic Gov. RoyCooper’s ability to pursue his goals, declaring unconstitutional a lawdevising a state elections board that hinted at deadlock.
WXII-NEWS: Federal judge hears arguments over NC Judicial primary
North Carolina Democrats go to federal court asking for a temporaryinjunction to stop law cancelling this year’s judicial primaries.
NEWS & OBSERVER: North Carolina GOP again asks Supreme Court tointervene
North Carolina Republican legislative leaders are asking the U.S. SupremeCourt again this month to halt a lower-court redistricting order that wentagainst them, this time on changes to state House and Senate districts.
Justice & Public Safety
WRAL-NEWS: Inadequate staffing, ‘meaner’ inmates make NC prisons moredangerous, officials say
North Carolina’s prison system is taking an array of steps to increasesafety and security following the deaths of five corrections workers lastyear, Secretary of Public Safety Erik Hooks and his staff told lawmakersThursday.
Transportation
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: The state’s I-77 toll advisory group meets insecret. Did it violate state law?
A N.C. Department of Transportation advisory group created to study theInterstate 77 toll lane project met for the first time Wednesday, but thepublic and media were not allowed to attend.