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Cooper Appeals Confirmation Law Ruling
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is appealing a court ruling that in part left intact a Republican-passed law subjecting his Cabinet secretaries to state Senate confirmation.
Cooper's private attorneys filed his notice this week with the state Court of Appeals. The lawyers also asked the three-judge panel that ruled against Cooper on the law last week to prevent confirmation hearings by the Senate during the appeals.
Override Of Cooper's Judicial Elections Veto 1 Vote Away
It looks like all judicial elections in North Carolina will be officially partisan again, with the Republican-controlled General Assembly poised to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of a bill addressing trial court races.
The Senate scheduled Thursday an override vote on the measure that in 2018 would put on ballots the party affiliations of candidates running for Superior Court and District Court. Candidates would be chosen in partisan primaries. The House already voted Wednesday to cancel Cooper's veto.
Court Reviews Practice Of Prayers At Meetings
A federal appeals court is wrestling with whether it matters if a prayer opening a government meeting is led by local clergy or an elected official.
The full 15-judge bench of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Wednesday in a case challenging a North Carolina county commission's practice of opening meetings with Christian prayers.
Allyson Ho is an attorney for Rowan County. She told the judges that the only difference between this case and the legislative prayer practice previously upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court is that the commissioners are the ones reciting them.
Chris Brook is an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. Brook says the Rowan County practice goes beyond what the Supreme Court has deemed constitutional.
House Considers Concealed Handguns At Schools Holding Church
The ability to carry a concealed handgun on public school property while attending church services there is being considered in the North Carolina House.
House floor debate and voting was expected Thursday on legislation allowing someone with a concealed weapons permit to be armed while at a public school where space is used for religious worship.
The bill says a person could be armed on the property only when the school wasn't holding classes, extracurricular activities or school-sponsored events.
The bill cleared a House judiciary committee Wednesday.
Firefighters Make Progress On North Carolina Wildfire
Firefighters are making progress in a blaze in the mountains of western North Carolina.
Forestry officials said in a news release that the fire near Nebo in McDowell County is about 30 percent contained.
No injuries have been reported. Officials say no buildings are currently threatened.
Nearly 170 firefighters are working on the fire.
Investigators say it appears a lightning strike March 16 started the blaze.
Charlotte Schools Switch Book For Elementary Students
School officials in Charlotte have dropped plans to have some elementary school students read a book about a boy who likes to dress like a girl.
Charles Jeter with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools sent a message to Republican lawmakers in Raleigh telling them the district would drop plans to have students read "Jacob's New Dress."
Some lawmakers had complained about plans to use the book in four elementary schools as part of an anti-bullying program.
Jeter says the students will instead read "Red: A Crayon's Story," a book about a red crayon that thinks of himself as blue.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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