Bill Preserving Monuments Gains Momentum

 

 

A controversial bill to preserve North Carolina's historical monuments has been given tentative approval after overcoming objections from those in the legislature who say it protects Confederate memorials.

 

The bill regarding "objects of remembrance" passed a House vote along party lines Monday. Democrats tried placing amendments on the bill giving more authority to local governments to remove such objects, but when they failed it raised a long debate over timing of the legislation amid national controversy regarding Confederate symbols.

 

Public Hearing On Environmental Bill Proposals

 

North Carolinians will get a chance to weigh in on new rules included in a sprawling regulatory reform bill in the General Assembly that has drawn criticism from environmental activists.

 

The House Committee on Environment will hold a public hearing today on the Regulatory Reform Act of 2015, which passed the House in April when it was less than a page dealing with the transportation of gravel.

 

The Senate quickly piled on amendments, transforming the bill into a 58-page omnibus package altering regulations on ATVs, discarded electronics and wetland protections, among other reforms. The Senate passed the bill earlier this month, three days after the changes were announced.

NC Senate Takes First Steps On New Deal To Push Back Primary

North Carolina Senate Republicans have taken the first formal steps in a deal to push the state's presidential primary into March, yielding to the demands of the Republican National Committee.

A Senate committee approved a bill Monday that would set the primary date for both parties for March 15. General Assembly leaders announced the deal this weekend, after the RNC did not back down on threats to cut the state's voting delegation by 80 percent if it held its primary in February.

Guilford Elections Board Responds To Lawsuit

The Guilford County Board of Elections filed its reply Monday in the federal lawsuit over the Guilford County redistricting, saying that they shouldn't take a position on the constitutionality of the new law.

The board was the subject of the lawsuit since they are responsible for the first use of the new law. The elections board will implement the new redistricting law in the fall elections.

NC Reaches Deal With Family Of Inmate Who Died In Custody

The N.C. Department of Public Safety says its Division of Adult Correction has reached a $2.5 million settlement with the estate of a man with mental illness who died of thirst after being held in solitary confinement for 35 days.

A statement issued Monday announced the agreement with the estate of Michael Anthony Kerr.

Records show the 54-year-old inmate was twice cited for violations by prison staff for flooding his cell weeks before his death. Kerr was found unresponsive in the back of a prison van after being driven three hours from the Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville to a mental hospital at Raleigh's Central Prison.

ACC To Have Team Medical Observers For Each Game

Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford says the league will have team medical observers in the booth during games this fall to improve player safety.

Speaking Monday during the ACC Kickoff preseason media day, Swofford says the observer will be somebody involved with players "on an ongoing and day-to-day basis," making them able to spot problems that might go unnoticed on the sideline.

 

 

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