NC State Capitol (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
In this issue:
1. One-word change in Farm Act could increase greenhouse gas emissions from hog farms
This photo, taken by the Neuse Riverkeeper and Tar-Pamlico Riverkeeper on Aug. 23, shows the digester at White Oak Farms illegally operating three months after the original disaster. (Courtesy photo)
A one-word change in the Farm Act could allow hog farmers to capture methane from their waste lagoons, but choose not to use the gas for energy. Instead, the farmer could merely send the potent greenhouse gas through a flare and into the air. Current law allows for methane to be collected from the farms [Read more…]
2. New EPA data shows NC released 59 million pounds of toxic chemicals, ranks 17th in US
An aerial view of the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant in northern Bladen County. (Photo: Chemours)
More than 59 million pounds of toxic chemicals were released into the environment in North Carolina in 2021, according to new EPA data, the largest amount since 2015. Averaged across the state, that amount is equivalent to 1,046 pounds per square mile. The 2021 “Toxics Release Inventory” tracks discharges and emissions of nearly 800 harmful [Read more….]
Bonus environmental read: New Wolfspeed factory in Siler City would emit 203 tons of air pollutants per year
3. Chapel Hill High School’s Kimberly S. Jones is North Carolina’s 2023 Teacher of the Year
Kimberly S. Jones, an English teacher at Chapel Hill High School who champions equitable access to advanced courses, was named the 2023 North Carolina Teacher of the Year on Friday.
Jones, who grew up in tiny, rural town of Erwin in Harnett County, thanked her mother, Gwendolyn Jones, who instilled in her a love for learning on the “front porch, turned preschool of our double-wide mobile home.” [Read more…]
4. NC Rep. Tricia Cotham, then and now
Rep. Tricia Cotham announces she is switching parties to become a Republican at NC GOP headquarters. (Photo screen grab of video streamed on ABC11.COM/WTVD)
About two weeks before her Democratic primary last spring, Rep. Tricia Cotham declared her unequivocal support for abortion rights. “Now, more than ever we need leaders who will be unwavering and unapologetic in their support of abortion rights,” she wrote on Twitter on May 3, 2022. At a news conference last week where Cotham announced [Read more…]
5. Beyond medical marijuana, a bipartisan group of NC legislators wants to study psychedelics
Legislators want to study how psychedelics can help treat veterans, first responders and terminal patients suffering from PTSD who do not respond to traditional treatments. Photo: Getty Images.
North Carolina’s Compassionate Care Act, a bill that would legalize medical marijuana for certain patients, faces an uncertain future in the state House this session. But State Rep. John Autry has turned his attention to another set of drugs. The Mecklenburg County Democrat is working to advance research on psychedelics.
Hallucinogens like “magic mushrooms” conjure up a certain image in some circles, but Autry said it’s time to get past the stigma [Read more…]
6. In two rulings, NC Supreme Court finds no racial discrimination in jury selection
The North Carolina Supreme Court last week issued two rulings involving alleged racial discrimination in jury selection. The opinions come after a Democratic-majority state Supreme Court issued landmark rulings on striking Black people from serving on a jury because of their race, known as a Batson violation. In 2020 the justices gave lower courts guidance [Read more…]
7. ACLU sues over new state law it says puts peaceful protestors in danger of prosecution
NC General Assembly (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
The ACLU of North Carolina filed a federal lawsuit against a new state law that is supposed to curb rioting, saying provisions give police discretion to arrest nonviolent protesters. The law violates both the U.S. and state constitutions and includes provisions that a federal court previously found to be unconstitutional, the ACLU said in a [Read more…]
8. “We are losing members of the faculty and staff,” say UNC System employees
Members of the Governor’s Commission on the Governance of Public Universities in North Carolina met Tuesday at Durham Technical Community College.
From left to right: Cressie Thigpen, Ann Goodnight and Tom Ross.
The question of faculty and staff voices in university governance took center stage as the Governor’s Commission on the Governance of Public Universities in North Carolina held its final public listening session in Durham on Tuesday. The session, which was held at Durham Technical Community College, drew current and former faculty members and staff from [Read more…]
9. Commission weighing pay and licensure must point out advantages of teacher diversity
Education leaders remaking North Carolina’s teacher pay and licensure systems must be explicit in pointing out the need to recruit, retain and support educators of color as it goes about its work, says a task force created by Gov. Roy Cooper to increase teacher diversity. The Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision for Education (DRIVE) [Read more…]
10. NC CRED: The harms inflicted by Confederate monuments — and why they should be toppled
The North Carolina Confederate Monument was dismantled at the State Capitol in June 2020. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
Every October, Ronda Taylor-Bullock’s hometown would come alive on Goldston’s Old Fashion Day. Vendors would line the streets of the small rural community, selling wares and performing music. But there was one booth that wasn’t for her, a Black child. It made her feel unsafe, even though no adults had explicitly told her to stay away. [Read more…]
11. Schofield: tate House oversteps boundaries with “big brother” reporting bill (commentary)
House Bill 361 targets the activities of a private, non-profit law firm known as Disability Rights North Carolina (DRNC). (Photo: Clayton Henkel)
The North Carolina General Assembly is an enormously important and powerful institution. Its 170 members are elected to represent and act on behalf of the state’s 10 million-plus residents in numerous ways – enacting and enforcing the state’s civil and criminal laws, raising and appropriating revenue, and appointing all manner of state and local public [Read more…]
The post Weekend reads: NC’s new Teacher of the Year, UNC losing faculty and staff, and one word makes a big difference for NC’s environment appeared first on NC Newsline.