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State NAACP Wants Full Investigation Into Mall Shooting Death
The North Carolina NAACP is calling for a full investigation into the shooting death of a man outside a restaurant in Winston-Salem.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports NAACP officials want police to determine whether the shooting was racially motivated.
32-year-old Julius Sampson, who is black, was killed outside BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse Tuesday afternoon. The alleged shooter, Robert Anthony Granato, is white.
There are reports that racial epithets were used by both men during an argument leading up to the shooting.
But Police Chief Catrina Thompson said that an investigation has not yet uncovered any evidence that the crime was motivated by race.
The Reverend Anthony T. Spearman, the president of the state NAACP, says Granato's Instagram account includes images of him with guns that are “dangerous and something very disturbing.”
Folwell Stopping Fight For Now With Hospitals Over Pricing
North Carolina's state treasurer is ending, for now, an effort to bring on board dozens of additional hospitals to accept a new payment model for medical services incurred by state employees, teachers, and retirees.
Treasurer Dale Folwell said Thursday that the 725,000 participants in the state employee insurance health plan will still receive in-network hospital coverage through the current provider network offered through Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
But they'll also have similar preferred benefits with providers who agreed to the new pricing model Folwell pushed for the past year. He says that model would lead to lower and more transparent plan expenses.
A second deadline passed this week with only five hospitals agreeing to the new model. Time was running out to act with fall open enrollment approaching.
As Impasse Continues, Speaker To Keep Working On Override
The Republican North Carolina House speaker says he won't stop trying to cobble together enough votes to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's budget veto, even after the chamber's Democrats told him again that he won't get the support to do it.
Rep. Tim Moore told reporters on Thursday that he'll keep working to persuade more Democrats to approve the budget over Cooper's objections. Moore and other Republicans have been promoting initiatives in the two-year spending plan by traveling to members' districts.
A budget was supposed to be enacted by the time the current fiscal year began July 1.
Changes To Reading Program Senate Leader Backs Gets Final OK
North Carolina lawmakers have given final approval to provisions aimed at improving a public school literacy program that's yet to meet expectations.
The House approved a compromise measure Thursday, the day after a favorable Senate vote.
The bill adjusts the 2013 "Read to Achieve" program, which is championed by Republican Senate leader Phil Berger and is aimed at ensuring that students are reading-proficient by third grade.
The measure directs teachers to create tailored individual reading plans for at-risk children. It also seeks more training for teachers and gives them incentives to work in summer reading camps.
Veteran Affairs Head Discusses Mental Health Aid In NC Visit
The secretary of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs says the government is making changes to improve mental health services, which he called "the last great medical frontier."
The Fayetteville Observer reports Secretary Robert Wilkie spoke earlier this week about veterans' mental health during the North Carolina Business Trade Show in Fayetteville. He pointed to the new mental health center being built at the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center as evidence of the VA's commitment to veterans.
Wilkie also says the VA's same-day mental health services are now available to veterans who received "other than honorable" discharges.
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