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Cooper Issues Paid Parental Leave Order
Gov. Roy Cooper says his directive that state agencies provide paid leave for workers following a birth means parents will no longer have to choose between their career or their child.
Cooper signed an executive order on Thursday that offers paid parental leave to state employees in his Cabinet-level departments starting Sept. 1. That's eight weeks of full paid leave to those who give birth and four weeks to their spouses or partners.
Cooper says carrying out the order will cost $3.5 million annually, with his agencies absorbing the expenses from current funds.
North Carolina Elected Officials Sign Off On New Road Debt
North Carolina's top statewide elected leaders have signed off on the first round of borrowing through a new program designed to keep local and regional road-building projects rolling along.
Council of State members agreed Thursday to approve the issuance of $300 million in bonds through the "Build NC" initiative that the General Assembly approved last year. The bonds will be repaid through dedicated transportation revenues like gasoline taxes and vehicle sales taxes.
End Of TV, Computer Ban At Landfills Advances At Legislature
North Carolina landfills could accept computers and televisions again in legislation advancing at the General Assembly.
The ban's removal is contained in the annual "regulatory reform" bill run by Republicans and approved Thursday by a Senate committee.
The computer equipment and television prohibition began in 2011 in a law directing computer and TV manufacturers to create free consumer drop-off programs and carry out recycling and disposal plans. Lawmakers and environmentalists were worried about the sheer numbers of such equipment and the chemicals inside.
The GOP bill sponsors say these consumer goods are building up at charities, and lined landfills can collect any chemicals.
North Carolina Man Released After Serving More Than 40 Years
A North Carolina man who served more than 40 years in prison for a shopkeeper's slaying in a failed robbery attempt is heading home.
Attorney Theresa Newman of the Duke Wrongful Convictions Clinic says 81-year-old Charles Ray Finch was released Thursday from Greene Correctional Institution and was picked up by relatives and an attorney.
A federal judge in Raleigh ordered Finch's release earlier Thursday. Last year, an appeals court ruled that evidence casts doubt on Finch's murder conviction.
Judge Says Winston-Salem Church Foreclosure Sale Can Proceed As Planned
A judge says the foreclosure sale of a Winston-Salem church can proceed as planned after denying a motion that would have forestalled the sale.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports the sale of the Greater Cleveland Avenue Christian Church is scheduled for Friday. The church is one of Winston-Salem's oldest African American churches, founded in 1893.
Federal bankruptcy Judge Catharine Aron announced the decision on Thursday after denying a church motion on Wednesday to modify its reorganization plan to help keep it in its building.
North Carolina African American Heritage Commission Gets New Director
North Carolina's African American Heritage Commission has a new director with her own history with the agency.
The state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said in a news release this week that Angela Thorpe is the commission's new director. Thorpe has been the acting director since September 2018 and previously was the commission's associate director.
Thorpe was the first African American historic interpreter at the James K. Polk State Historic Site in Pineville. The agency says that while there, she used inclusive programming to attract diverse audiences.
In 2016, she was awarded a diversity and inclusion fellowship by the American Alliance of Museums.
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