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Data Firm Involved In Trump Campaign Had North Carolina Clients
A data mining firm that worked for Donald Trump's 2016 campaign was hired previously by North Carolina Republicans. That's gotten the attention of Democrats questioning what state GOP clients knew about information the company collected.
Campaign finance data show Cambridge Analytica was paid by U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis' 2014 campaign, as well as Rep. Patrick McHenry's campaign and the state Republican Party that same year.
Published reports allege Cambridge improperly obtained information from 50 million Facebook users to try to influence elections. Cambridge and Trump's campaign deny wrongdoing.
Tillis said in a statement that Cambridge provided "limited services" and it would be "deeply disturbing" if a vendor didn't provide lawful services.
Craft Brewers Sue Over NC Law Requiring Losing Sales Control
Two growing craft breweries are suing after failing to get North Carolina legislators to overturn a decades-old law on beer sales.
Lawyers for Olde Mecklenburg Brewery and Noda Brewing Co. were in court Tuesday to challenge the law, which forces them to hand over to private companies the distribution of their own beer once they sell 25,000 barrels.
The Charlotte breweries say the state's beer distribution law is unconstitutional. They argue they're forced to give up control to politically influential middlemen where their products are sold for virtually as long as they stay in business.
North Carolina House School Safety Committee Holds First Meeting
North Carolina legislators are sitting down to get information about student safety in the aftermath of the Florida school shooting before recommending later this spring what changes their colleagues should support.
The House Select Committee on School Safety holds its first meeting Wednesday. There they will hear from the state Division of Emergency Management, State Bureau of Investigation and leaders of the state's task force on safe schools.
Republican House Speaker Tim Moore organized the committee, which while bipartisan in membership has a GOP majority.
Greensboro OK's $20M For Publix Distribution Center Incentives
Greensboro City Council has approved $20 million in incentives to lure a Publix distribution center, which would bring about 1,000 jobs to the region.
The News and Record reports the council gave a unanimous thumbs up to its largest-ever economic incentive program.
The Florida-based grocery chain would receive almost $18 million in incentives, while another $3 million would be earmarked for water and sewer lines if the company picks the east Greensboro site.
The 1.8 million square foot distribution center would be one of the largest in the Triad.
It's expected the jobs would begin materializing in 2023.
North Carolina College Student Charged With Shooting Threat
Authorities have arrested a North Carolina college student from King who they say wrote about committing a school shooting and told a doctor he couldn't wait to buy a gun to do it.
According to the Charlotte Observer, a search warrant from UNC Charlotte police said 20-year-old student Matthew Saavedra told a doctor in King that "he could not wait to buy a gun and shoot the university (UNCC) up." The doctor, who also said Saavedra discussed an "explicit detailed plan . . . about killing and harming our students and staff," called police.
Saavedra, who was voluntarily committed to a Winston-Salem hospital, is charged with making a false report concerning mass violence on educational property. He's out on bond and it's not known if he has an attorney.