This is a weekly feature of North Carolina Blue. The platform gives readers interested in North Carolina politics a place to share their knowledge, insight and inspiration as we take back our state from some of the most extreme Republicans in the nation. Please stop by each week. You can also join the discussion in four other weekly State Open Threads. If you are interested in starting your own state blog, weekly to occasionally, I will list your work below.
Colorado: Mondays, 7:00 PM Mountain Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern Missouri: Wednesday Evenings Kansas: Monday Evenings
I hope you find the following links interesting and relevant.
New North Carolina state Senate districts remain in place as judge refuses to block their use
A judge refused Friday to prevent the use of two North Carolina Senate districts drawn by Republican legislators starting with the 2024 elections and to order them replaced with boundaries that lawsuit plaintiffs argue would more likely ensure Black voters elect preferred candidates in one of them.
U.S. District Judge James Dever denied a preliminary injunction requested by two Black residents who sued over the Senate districts in November, alleging racial bias. They contend GOP legislative leaders likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by fashioning the two districts so that Black voters in northeastern counties were split between the two.
The plaintiffs proposed remedial districts, one of which would have a Black voting age population of nearly 50% or slightly above it, depending on the counting method. The Black voting age populations in each of the districts enacted by the General Assembly approach 30%.
Jill Biden attends private event in Raleigh as Democrats hopes to reclaim North Carolina
First Lady Jill Biden made her way to North Carolina and the Triangle just one week after President Biden visited Raleigh. Mrs. Biden visited Forsyth Technical Community College Friday in Winston-Salem to talk about the Biden administration's Investing in America agenda.
Later on in the day, she traveled to Raleigh for a private fundraising event at a home near Wake Forest Road. ABC11 learned that some people paid as much as $48,000 for a ticket to meet the first lady.
Biden took down safety barriers posted around the house to meet people up close and personal. "That's the kind of person she is. She's real - she wants to connect," Ann Robertson said.
North Carolina is considered by some to be a battleground state for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Republicans have maintained a stronghold for the last 12 years and Democrats are pouring efforts into flipping the state blue.
NC lawmaker parrots lobbyist talking points in opposing consumer protection rule
One quarter of American consumers have been hit with an overdraft or non-sufficient fund fee in the past year.
That’s millions of households that have shelled out billions of dollars to pad the pockets of America’s largest banking institutions, like JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.
And House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) is a big fan.
When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled a new proposal last week to limit overdraft fees to as low as $3—a move expected to save American families at least $3.5 billion a year—McHenry and Financial Institutions Subcommittee Chair Andy Barr (R-Ky.) were quick to criticize the initiative.
Their hostility was well compensated. In their criticism, McHenry and Barr made no mention that they have together taken over $1 million from just the 10 largest banks still charging overdraft fees, as an Accountable.US analysis found.
Century-old oasis of history survives amid rapid North Raleigh growth
Especially in a city growing and developing as quickly as Raleigh, it's rare to find someone who still lives in the same home they grew up in – particularly when that home was built nearly a century ago.
Jack Norwood, 95, still lives on the stretch of land owned by his family in the early 1900s. Surrounded by major North Raleigh development, his large, antique farm is like a time capsule hidden amid the hustle and bustle of shopping centers with a Walmart Super Center, Red Lobster, Kanki and a Sonic Drive-in.
But when asked how long he's lived in Raleigh, he'll answer: "I don't assume myself in Raleigh now."
Norwood lives in the part of Raleigh once known as Millbrook Village. For many decades, Millbrook Village had its own post office, ice cream shop, churches and schools. It was established in the 1800s as a small farming community that grew around important mills and the train tracks. Around six miles north of downtown Raleigh, it was once considered a neighboring community – until it was eventually annexed and became part of North Raleigh.
Thanks Obama—Chuck Edwards: “Failures of Obamacare” led to Mission’s decline in care
Congressman Chuck Edwards said he is “acutely aware of the problems” that patients have had at Asheville’s Mission Health since the hospital system was purchased by HCA Healthcare, but said he sees no need for his office or the federal government to offer a solution.
In an interview with Asheville Watchdog on Friday, the Republican congressman blamed the documented decline in patient care since HCA purchased the non-profit Mission Health system in 2019 for $1.5 billion on “the failures of Obamacare.”
The Affordable Care Act, colloquially called Obamacare, became law in 2010 under then-President Barack Obama over strong Republican objections with the goal of enabling millions of low-income Americans to obtain medical care. Edwards said the law “imposed enormous regulations on hospitals” and forced many into financial distress, including Mission in Asheville and its affiliated Transylvania Hospital in Brevard.
Thanks for stopping by, wishing all a good week.