North Carolina Open Thread: Deadly force disparity, Tillis treason, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Cawthorn

UNC Board of Governors will not intervene Nikole Hannah-Jones’s candidacy for tenure has been resubmitted to the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, Policy Watch confirmed Wednesday.

The UNC-Chapel Hill Provost’s office asked the school’s Committee on Appointments, Promotion and Tenure to resubmit Hannah-Jones’s name, two sources with direct knowledge of the process. Policy Watch has agreed not to identify these sources so that they can discuss a confidential personnel matter.

The recommendation does not force the board to take a vote on Hannah-Jones’s tenure, but does effectively put the decision back in their hands. It’s not clear what the timeline will be on this new development, but three members of the board said they expect the matter to come to a full vote of the board by the end of June.

Berger denise involvement in Hannah-Jones Tenure decision

5/29/2021 BlueNC

Berger acknowledged discussing Hannah-Jones' hire with UNC System leadership after the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees declined to take up her tenure approval, which is often a rubber stamp vote after a recommendation from faculty and university leadership. Berger said Hannah-Jones' name “may have come up” as part of other discussions he had with UNC President Peter Hans and UNC Board of Governors Chairman Randy Ramsey. “But I wouldn't say that I said anything to the effect of, ‘You ought to do this. You ought to do that,’” Berger said. “[It was] just, 'What's the status?’” 

Berger also said he didn’t press trustees or UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz on Hannah-Jones’ hire. “Have I called (Board of Trustees Chairman) Richard Stevens and said, 'Richard, you need to do this or that'? No, I have not done that,” Berger said. “I've not talked to Guskiewicz. I've not talked to Stevens." Stevens and Guskiewicz, along with all other Board of Trustees members, declined interview requests through the university’s media relations office. Individual trustees also didn't return direct phone and email messages left for them this week, both before and after attorneys for Hannah-Jones announced they were “evaluating all available legal recourse …. including possibly initiating a federal action against UNC.”

NC GOP tax cut plan seeks to phase out the corporate income tax

5/26/2021Lynn Bonner NCPW

North Carolina would be one of a handful of states without a corporate income tax.  

Senate Republicans introduced a package of tax cuts for individuals and businesses that would result in less money — billions of dollars less — flowing to North Carolina coffers.  

The state’s corporate income tax would be phased out over five years, starting in 2024. Currently at 2.5%, North Carolina’s corporate income tax is the lowest in the nation among states that collect it. By 2028, North Carolina would join a handful of states without one.  

The proposal also would lower the personal income tax rate from 5.25% to 4.99% beginning next year, while increasing the standard deduction. A married couple filing a joint return could claim a standard deduction of $25,500, up from $21,500. The standard deduction for a person filing as a head of household would increase from $16,125 to $19,125, and the deduction for a single filer would rise from $10,750 to $12,750.  

PW exclusive: PFAS levels spiking in monitoring wells in New Hanover County

Wells are for emergency use only, but concentration of contaminants up 260% in one sample, compared with last year

Levels of toxic perfluorinated compounds, also known as PFAS, have surged in several groundwater monitoring wells in New Hanover County recent data show, prompting state regulators to investigate potential sources.

All of the wells are for emergency use only, said Vaughn Hagerty, spokesman for the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, and are not providing water for public consumption at this time. The utility also has taken the Seaspray and Sea Pines wells out of service.

The Peedee Aquifer is the source of the well water.

As part of routine monitoring, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority tested water from the groundwater monitoring wells in April. The utility presented the findings at its May board meeting and notified the NC Department of Environmental Quality about the increases. CFPUA regularly reports sampling data on its website.

Fireworks banned in 26 NC counties this Memorial Day weekend

May 29, 2021 Maggie Brown, WRAL

Twenty-six counties in North Carolina are under a burn ban Memorial Day weekend due to dry conditions.

Any open flame with the exception of a gas grill is illegal, officials said. The burn ban also prohibits fireworks and campfires.

Anyone who violates the burn ban can get hit with a $100 fine along with $183 in court costs.

Dozens of fires were confirmed across eastern North Carolina on Friday. Seventeen fires were put out in the Fayetteville District, and 8 fires were extinguished in the Rocky Mount district.

Forest Service explains what widespread burn ban means for your Memorial Day grilling plans

Officials with the NC Forest Service said wind gusts combined with temperatures in the 90s make wildfires more likely. More than 80% of the state is now in a moderate drought or experiencing abnormally dry conditions.

COVID-19 vaccinations across NC remain slow, steady

May 29, 2021 Adam Owens, WRAL

RALEIGH, N.C. — The rate of COVID-19 vaccinations has slowed down across North Carolina and the country. In early April, more than 680,000 shots were administered in a week. Now, the state is administering a third of that each week.

"We would love for anybody who is not vaccinated to get vaccinated, but we recognize that may not be where they are or fitting for them," said Ryan Jury, Wake County's vaccine branch director.

The state and country's vaccine rate has plateaued at around 50%, data shows. To reach herd immunity from coronavirus, around 70% of people need to be vaccinated, experts say.

(Charts and data within this story)

Biden’s keeping a list of Republicans — and NC’s Cawthorn is on it. Here’s why.

MAY 27, 2021 BRIAN MURPHY Charlotte Observer

President Joe Biden called out congressional Republicans, including a freshman representative from North Carolina, for voting against his COVID-19 relief package and then touting some of its provisions to their constituents.

During a speech on the economy in Ohio on Thursday, Biden pulled out a list of 13 Republicans. He did not name them in his speech.

But a photographer captured a picture of the list, which included Rep. Madison Cawthorn, a freshman representative from Western North Carolina.

Rep. Cawthorn speaks to Haywood GOP, tosses plenty of red meat

5/30/2021 Kyle Perrotti, The Mountaineer

Midway through Madison Cawthorn’s speech at the Haywood County GOP headquarters in Waynesville, the office’s phone rang. “This is Nancy Pelosi calling saying how much she hates me,” Cawthorn quipped, much to the delight of the crowd.

Such was the theme of much of his speech, as the freshman congressman attacked many of his political rivals, including a few Republicans, while also discussing his claims regarding the “stolen” election, his dinner with Donald Trump and what he was told regarding the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.

“I don’t hold back or mince words on Nancy Pelosi or the news or anything,” he told the crowd. “I’ll attack Republicans, I’ll attack everybody, just fair and square. You sent me up there to be a fighter, but you also sent me up there to get things done.”

Cawthorn visited Haywood while out in the district for a few weeks home from the nation’s capital. In Waynesville Tuesday night, as Cawthorn’s 6 p.m. arrival grew near, people flooded in to the point that the event became a standing-room only affair.

Thanks for reading and contributing, I hope you have a peaceful Memorial Day weekend.