Gov. McCrory Signs Immigration Legislation Targeting Ids
Gov. Pat McCrory has signed legislation that targets "sanctuary cities" and immigrant identification, rejecting calls from advocates to veto the measure that they say harms immigrants and businesses that rely on immigrant labor.
McCrory used the Guilford County Sheriff's Office as a backdrop to sign the measure Wednesday. He was flanked by Sheriff BJ Barnes and other local law enforcement and political leaders.
The governor said law enforcement must have the flexibility and tools to investigate crimes, and sanctuary city policies deprive officers of those tools.
Earlier this year, the City of Greensboro agreed to accept IDs issued by the non-profit FaithAction International House. That effort ended as the bill - also known as the Protect North Carolina Workers Act - moved through the legislature.
This month, the City Council voted to oppose the measure. The move was largely symbolic and didn't have an impact on the bill.
McCrory left the 20-minute ceremony without talking with reporters.
McCrory Targets 67 Percent Goal For Workforce Preparedness
Gov. McCrory says North Carolina needs to strive toward increasing the number of adults with more than just a high school diploma to enter the workforce.
McCrory told a workforce and education summit in Greensboro on Wednesday that he's setting a goal by 2025 to have 67 percent of working adults with education and training beyond high school. The governor's office says only 54 percent of North Carolina's workforce now reach that threshold.
He says the state is on the right track through retooled career help for the unemployed and a new law for placing community college career coaches in high schools to help student determine future fields.
McCrory says many proposed higher education construction projects for the bond referendum on statewide ballots in March emphasize science, engineering, and math.
State Takes Steps Toward Building African-American Memorial
The North Carolina Historical Commission has voted to plan a memorial on the State Capitol grounds to commemorate the contributions of African-Americans to the state.
Gov. McCrory said in a news release Wednesday that the first step will be to find a suitable space on the grounds.
The commission voted Oct. 22 to support the memorial. Officials say money for the project likely will come from a mix of budget appropriations and private money.
A planning committee led by Historical Commission chairwoman Millie Barbee will work on site selection and identifying possible designers for the memorial. Other members will come from the Historical Commission and the African-American Heritage Commission.
Its first meeting is set for January 2016.
Researchers Will Study Youth Football Players
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers will join colleagues from longtime collaborator Virginia Tech and two other universities in the largest and most comprehensive biomedical study of youth football players conducted to date.
According to a Wake Forest press release, the five-year project is being funded by a $3.3 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the federal National Institutes of Health.
Researchers will use sensors installed in helmets and mouth guards to track on-field head impacts and rotations experienced during both practices and games by 9- and 10-year-old players on six youth league teams.
The participating players also will undergo off-field neurocognitive examinations, coordinated by University of Nebraska researchers.
The researchers will monitor the individual players until they reach age 14.
One professor says there are more than three million youth football players across the country.
Self-Proclaimed Satanist Found Dead In Jail Cell In NC
Authorities say a self-proclaimed Satanist awaiting trial on charges of killing one man and helping bury another has died.
The North Carolina Department of Public Safety said in a statement that 36-year-old Pazuzu Algarad was found unresponsive in his cell at the Central Prison in Raleigh before dawn Wednesday. The statement called the death an apparent suicide.
Algarad was awaiting trial on charges of killing one of two men whose skeletal remains were found last year in the backyard of a now-demolished Clemmons home that he shared with his girlfriend.
Algarad was charged with killing Joshua Fredrick Wetzler in July 2009. News media outlets report that his girlfriend was charged with killing a second man later in 2009 and Algarad helped her bury the body.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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