Alternet, Brandon Gage,
September 2, 2023
I was pleased when I read this piece in Alternet that highlights a regular contributor to my weekly effort here, NC Newsline‘s Rob Schofield.
On Thursday, August 24th, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (D) announced that he would veto two pieces of legislation crafted by State Senate Republicans that, respectively, "make it harder for people, especially young people, college students away from home and people of color to vote and for their votes to count" and "would give legislative Republicans more power to influence how elections are run."
Senate Bill 747 "has nothing to do with election security and everything to do with Republicans keeping and gaining power,” said Cooper. "It requires valid votes to be tossed out unnecessarily, schemes to restrict early voting and absentee ballots, encourages voter intimidation and attempts to give Republican legislators the authority to decide contested election results."
NC Newsline Editor Rob Schofield also blasted the narrative that has accompanied SBs 747 and 749, writing, "As has been detailed in numerous places in recent weeks, Senate Bill 747 is a proposal that will unnecessarily make voting harder for a goodly share of the population and further burden already stressed and burdened election officials — all while granting license to a small army of election law Barney Fifes to wander in annoying and intimidating fashion through polling places."
Defenders of reproductive freedom resent, resist efforts to co-opt language from the Black experience
NC Newsline, Kelcie Moseley-Morris, September 2, 2023
The first time Tina Marshall heard anti-abortion protesters call themselves “abolitionists,’” she said she burst out laughing.
Marshall, a Black woman who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, was counter protesting at an abortion clinic when a mostly white group — save one Black woman — surrounded her and told her they were abolitionists.
“I rolled my eyes and said, ‘Can’t you people ever think of anything original? Do you guys have to steal everything?’” Marshall said.
Anti-abortion demonstrators have told her she hates her own people. She’s seen the mostly white men and women put their fists in the air and say, “Black Lives Matter.”
“They’ve been doing this for years, and nobody cared, and it’s only because of Roe now that everybody’s antennas are up,” she said of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the federal right to abortion. “Even before that, I’ve been out here over two years, and nobody cared about all the jeering and heckling of Black women.”
North Carolina lawmakers legalized mobile sports gambling this year. They're considering new casinos and legalization of the long-ostracized video poker industry
WRAL, August 30, 2023
Donors tied to gambling and marijuana businesses gave North Carolina lawmakers more than $500,000 during the first six months of the year as the General Assembly weighed proposals to expand each industry, according to a new analysis by a campaign finance watchdog.
Most of that money came from out of state, according to Bob Hall, a former executive director for Democracy North Carolina who analyzes North Carolina campaign donations. Many of the donations came from donors who have been sanctioned in the past for questionable operations or from people who hadn’t donated to a North Carolina state legislator’s campaign before last year.
“Suddenly, they’re writing checks for $2,000 or $5,000 to a legislator,” Hall said in his report. “It looks like a lobbyist or somebody told them that this is a pay-to-play state — ‘You need to put in the money if you want your bill passed this year or next.’”
The $530,650 Hall cataloged in his report is in addition to $885,000 in video poker industry donations that Hall laid out in May as part of a complaint he filed with the State Board of Elections. Those donations came between 2019 and 2022, with nearly $100,000 of Hall’s total arriving after last November’s legislative elections, suggesting donors’ interest beyond helping certain lawmakers win elections.
NC Newsline, Lisa Sorg, August 21, 2023
People who are pregnant and young children can have their blood tested for lead — for free — at the Durham County Health Department. The program starts today; no insurance is required. Children must be between 6 months and 6 years old.
Lead is a neurotoxin. Children with very high levels of lead in their blood can sustain irreversible brain damage, leading to learning and behavioral problems.
Testing will be available until further notice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. at the Durham County Department of Public Health, 414 E. Main St., Durham. Testing is available by walk-in only; no appointments are required or accepted. Parents may also contact their child’s primary care provider to receive testing.
According to the county, testing will involve a blood sample drawn from the vein, with results returned within three weeks. Results and follow-up guidance will be shared directly with the child’s primary care provider and/or with their parent/guardian, or directly with pregnant women receiving testing. Additional steps following initial blood lead testing, if necessary, will be provided in accordance with the state Department of Health and Human Services protocol.
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention recommends children with blood levels of more than 3.5 parts per billion should receive additional services. These include finding and removing lead from the child’s environment, feeding the child a diet high in iron and calcium, connecting the child to early educational services, and scheduling follow-up blood testing. Early identification of lead in the blood is key to reducing the long-term effects of lead exposure, according to the CDC.
WRAL, September 1, 2023
WRAL Photographer Vinnie Boccanfuso got quite the surprise after work Thursday. Vinnie's wife, Heather, was hopping in her car after work when she thought she heard a noise.
After driving the 35 minutes home, she heard the noise again. Sure enough, when the couple started looking around to see where the sound was coming from, they got their answer. Tucked in tight, in the belly of the car, was a tiny pile of orange fur.
"So I got under the car trying to locate this kitten," Vinnie said. "I thought it was like, in the bumper. But it wasn’t, It was under the under belly of the car, scared to death, holding onto to the frame above the rear passenger tire."
After an hour of trying to get her out, Vinnie was able to pull out the scared kitten. "Now we have a new cat," he said. "And my other cat is not very thrilled about it."
The duo decided to name their new fur baby Maple, like maple syrup.
Thanks for reading and contributing to this North Carolina Blue project. Long time readers might guess what you will see next week in this closing space. Wishing all a good week.