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Federal Judge To Halt Latest North Carolina Voter ID Mandate
A federal judge plans to block the latest attempt by North Carolina Republicans at the General Assembly to require a photo identification to vote.
A federal court in Winston-Salem announced that this week Judge Loretta Biggs will formally halt the directive that is supposed to begin with the March primary until a lawsuit challenging it is settled.
GOP leaders have been trying this decade to advance voter ID, saying over 30 states require it and it builds confidence in elections. Data show voter impersonation is rare, and the state NAACP says the mandate remains tainted by racial bias. The judge's order could be appealed.
Suit On Ex-Offender Voting Filed In Close-Divided North Carolina
North Carolina's law preventing convicted felons from voting until completing their full sentence is being challenged at a time when election officials and prosecutors are working to enforce the restriction more consistently.
Three groups that help ex-prisoners reintegrate into society and six defendants unable to vote because of lingering punishments have sued. They say the restrictions violate the state constitution.
North Carolina is among fewer than 20 states where people are barred from re-registering to vote until they complete probation or other close supervision. The State Board of Elections and criminal justice officials say they're working to better ensure felony offenders don't vote unintentionally.
New Law Raises Minimum Age To Buy Tobacco Products
A new law sets the nationwide minimum age to buy tobacco products at 21.
The law applies to cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes and vaping devices that heat a liquid containing nicotine. Selling them to people under 21 is now illegal across the country.
The change took effect immediately after President Trump signed a spending bill last week that included the age increase.
About a third of states already had restricted tobacco sales to those 21 and older. North Carolina's minimum age had been 18. The state is the nation's largest tobacco producer.
Police, Victims Warn Against Firing Guns On New Year's Eve
Police are cautioning people not to fire guns into the air to bring in the new year.
People being struck by stray bullets is not common but does occur. A University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student was wounded and required surgery when she was struck by a bullet a year ago while celebrating New Year's Eve in downtown Raleigh. Youngsters in Ohio and Georgia were also wounded a year ago by random gunfire.
Police and ballistics experts warn that heedlessly firing guns into the air to celebrate the holidays can have serious consequences.
Hospital Delivers Baby After Mother Suffers Heart Attack
A Triad hospital says it has delivered a baby after the mother suffered a rare kind of heart attack.
A news release from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center says 29-year-old Brittany Little, who was eight months pregnant, suffered a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, a type of heart attack that occurs when the lining of the artery starts to tear and unravel. She was treated in Hickory but suffered cardiac arrest and was transferred to the Winston-Salem hospital.
On Nov. 8, Little gave birth to a healthy baby girl without any cardiac events for either the mother or the child. They have returned home and doctors say they are doing well.
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