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New Early Voting Precinct Added In Watauga County
Watauga County's elections board has agreed to a plan to add a new precinct for early voting. The unanimous decision to boost the number of precincts to seven came after two days of wrangling over locations.
The new precinct will be in the Foscoe community west of Boone.
The Watauga Democrat reports that the board considered two plans. One would add two new locations but drop the precincts at fire departments in Deep Gap and Meat Camp. They had the lowest number of early-voting returns in the county.
Republican board members objected, arguing that the elimination of those precincts sends a bad message to rural voters who would have to go to Boone to cast their ballots.
The approved plan keeps the county's six existing early-voting sites and adds the Foscoe location.
Cooper Appoints Replacement For Late Judge
Governor Roy Cooper has tapped High Point attorney Marc Tyrey to fill the unexpired term of Judge Tom Jarrell who died in August.
20 years ago Jarrell and Tyrey served together as young prosecutors in Guilford County's High Point courthouse. It was from that position that Jarrell became a district court judge.
Now Tyrey will be taking his place. He says he hopes to bring Jarrell's work ethic to the job.
Jarrell's death from a heroin and fentanyl overdose last summer shocked the legal community.
Tyrey will fill his unexpired term which runs through 2022.
Accrediting Agency Takes Salem Academy And College Off Probation
An accreditation agency has officially taken Salem Academy and College off probation.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges put the Winston-Salem school on probation in June of 2018. At the time, Salem was finishing a third straight fiscal year running a deficit, and enrollment was on a downward trajectory.
The college remained accredited but was told it needed to fulfill four standards proving financial stability.
Salem announced in a press release on Tuesday it was now fully compliant with all standards, with the most recent financial report showing a fiscal surplus.
Salem College president Sandra Doran says that in addition to efforts resulting in positive financial gains and increased enrollment, Salem presented the commission with a plan for maintaining fiscal stability
District Apologizes For Assignment Comparing Value Of Slaves
A North Carolina school district has apologized for an assignment that asked middle school students to compare the value of slaves and white people.
The mother of a student at Kannapolis Middle School posted a picture of the assignment on Facebook. It was reportedly related to a lesson on the Three-Fifths Compromise. In 1787, the compromise was introduced to classify a slave as three-fifths of a person when apportioning taxes and states' representation in Congress.
The assignment asked questions such as "How many slaves would be needed to equal at least four white people?"
The principal and superintendent reached out to the parent to apologize, Ellen Boyd of Kannapolis City Schools said.
She did not say how the teacher was disciplined because it was a "personnel matter."
Yuletide Returns To North Carolina Capitol With Tree Lighting
North Carolina's Christmas tree will soon be decked out in yuletide brilliance on the grounds of the old Capitol.
Gov. Roy Cooper and other government and elected officials are expected at the annual tree-lighting ceremony Thursday evening. The tree sits on the south side of Capitol Square.
There will be luminaries, holiday music, and refreshments at the free event, and the 1840 Capitol building and the Executive Mansion will be open to the public afterward to review their holiday decor. The two locales also will be open to the public on Friday and into the weekend.
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