Welcome. 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.
Trump-endorsed North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, who has a history of making inflammatory statements while also deriding people who purportedly lack a sense of personal responsibility, has a troubled history when it comes to filing his income taxes.
An investigation by ABC News has found that Robinson "failed to file income taxes for five years" starting in the late 1990s, and that "after filing for bankruptcy in 2003, the Internal Revenue Service filed a motion for the Bankruptcy Court to compel Robinson to file taxes for the years 1998-2002."
Although Robinson has in the past acknowledged some of his financial struggles during this time period, an examination of financial records by ABC found that they "paint a more dire and detailed picture of his financial and business history than has previously been disclosed," as they also show that he "had previously filed for bankruptcy on two other occasions in 1998 and 1999."
Teacher pay in North Carolina is not keeping up with other states around the country, as shown by a recent report that ranks teacher pay by state.
According to the National Education Association (NEA) report, the average starting teacher salary in North Carolina is $37,676, which ranks 46th in the nation. The average teacher's salary is $54,8644, which ranks 36th in the nation.
“I think that this report and the data we saw on the report just continues a pattern that we’ve seen over the last 10-15 years of defunding and misinformation when it comes to public education,” State Rep. Lindsey Prather said Thursday, May 18.
A recent state report shows North Carolina public educators are leaving classrooms at a rising rate.
“I wish I could say I was shocked, but I’m really not,” Asheville City NCAE President Timothy Lloyd said. “There’s a lot of pressure within school staff. They feel really squeezed.”
On average, North Carolina public schools saw an attrition rate of 11.45%. However, multiple local districts experienced higher numbers last school year. Swain County Schools was at 15.5%, Buncombe County Schools at 16.1%, McDowell County Schools with 16.6%, and Jackson County Schools sat at 18.3%.
On top of that, the school district with the highest attrition rate in the entire state was Asheville City Schools, which topped the list with an attrition rate of 30.7%.
The State Board of Election decided unanimously that North Carolina is complying with the Help America Vote Act’s requirement to remove duplicate voter records from the statewide registration database.
Still, some board members said Thursday that elections officials could do more to clear the rolls of duplicate registrations. Board members began to discuss ways to add drivers license numbers to existing voter registration records to more easily identify duplicates.
“Cleaning up the rolls is extraordinarily important,” said Board Chairman Alan Hirsch.
Carol Snow of the NC Audit Force filed a complaint with the elections board claiming thatinadequate maintenance of the computerized registered voter list put the state out of compliance with the 2002 federal voting law. Snow presented examples of what appeared to be duplicate voter registrations where names were misspelled or first and middle names were transposed.
Kelly Daughtry, Brad Knott and their politically connected families are spending millions of dollars to woo voters in North Carolina's 13th Congressional District, where a runoff in the GOP primary will be held on May 14.
Sandra Dement just wants candidates to explain how they’ll fix the nation’s biggest problems. Her top issue? The economy.
“Gas is up. Groceries are up. Any kind of goods, any kinds of services, everything has gone up,” Dement, a 60-year-old Louisburg resident, said as she ate lunch at the Hometown Cafe in Franklinton. “And for me, I’m on disability. I’m on a limited budget … so I’ve got to make it work once a month.”
North Carolina voters view the economy and health care as the top issues heading into the 2024 general election season, according to a WRAL News poll released last month.
The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina released its 2023 annual report on March 28, emphasizing the state's continued economic growth, international investment and the tourism industry's success in the state.
For the second consecutive year, CNBC declared North Carolina as America’s Top State for Business in 2023 — one of the report's main highlights. CNBC also ranked North Carolina as having the leading workforce in the country
David Rhoades, the communications director for the state Department of Commerce, said North Carolina has many assets that make it a good state to run a business in — which he said includes the state’s transportation infrastructure, competitive taxes and the good pool of trained workers due to its strong education system.
“We had a very successful 2022, and we've continued that trend on to 2023 and have had some really good project announcements,” Maggie Bizzell, the senior communications manager for the EDPNC, said. “We've had some increase in foreign companies coming to North Carolina.”
300 water systems in NC, including mobile home parks, exceed new PFAS standards
UNC-Chapel Hill Trustees could begin to defund DEI efforts
After years of work, North Carolina clears backlog of untested rape kits
Charter Schools Review Board approves second one-year opening delay for two planned charters
Troubled waters for Mark Robinson (commentary)
Hating on our babies: North Carolina’s shortsighted, cheapskate childcare policies (commentary)
Thank you for reading and commenting, wishing all a good week ahead.
