Our take
Everyday the government makes decisions that affect our lives; from the water we drink, the food our kids eat and how much money we bring home. Being informed is one of the first steps in building our power and creating change in our communities.
NC Policy Watch: A federal appeals court judge’s remarkable speech is the latest surprise in NC’s hog nuisance lawsuits
Last Friday, attorneys for a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, went before the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and asked three judges to overturn a $3.25 million jury award in a lawsuit filed by neighbors of a large North Carolina hog farm.The attorneys were met with surprise as a federal…
Rural Hospitals in Greater Jeopardy in Non-Medicaid Expansion States
According to the Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill, over one hundred rural hospitals have closed across the United States since 2010. In a recent report by iVantage Health Analytics, almost 600 rural hospitals are at risk of closing. In these studies, both closures and at-risk hospitals are in the 14 states that have not passed…
UNC-Chapel Hill faculty petition to end moratorium on renaming university buildings
On Monday, a group of prominent UNC-Chapel Hill professors delivered a petition to the new UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, petitioning to end the moratorium. UNC professors are asking the UNC Board of Trustees to allow the university to rename buildings and historical places on campus — particularly those tied to a racist or white supremacist history.…
Emotions run high at a public hearing over Duke Energy rate hike request
Last Friday marked the first of several public hearings in Alamance County over the potential Duke Energy rate hike request. Numerous residents spoke out against the rate increase — emphasizing the financial hardships that Duke Energy’s rate increase would cause. If the rate hike request is allowed, ratepayers’ bills would go up by 6.8 percent…
The Sanford Herald: Teacher By Day / EMT By Night: Politicians put health of schools at risk
From The Sanford Herald: Like countless N.C. educators, I’m forced to work a second job to make ends meet. Unlike most of my colleagues, my second job isn’t retail, it’s saving lives. Every Friday after I finish grading coursework, I head to my weekend job as an EMT/firefighter in Harnett County and pull 12-hour shifts.…
Winston-Salem Journal: Duke Energy is seeking rate hike costing the average residential customer $97 per year. Here’s how you can weigh in
Duke Energy is asking the N.C. Utilities Commission to raise electricity rates on its customers by an average of $8 / month for residents or almost $100 / year to pay for coal ash clean-up. The N.C. The Utilities Commission will hold public hearings in Alamance County on Wednesday and Charlotte on Thursday to take…
Transylvania Times: Shortchanging Public Education
From Transylvania Times: Two recent reports state North Carolina is not spending enough money on public education. Late last year, independent consultant WestEd released a nearly 300-page report entitled “Sound Basic Education for All: An Action Plan for North Carolina.” In that report, the consultants call for an additional $8 billion to be spent over…
Daily Reflector: State putting the squeeze on teachers
From The Daily Reflector: It’s certainly not unusual for teachers to stay in their classrooms long after school ends to grade papers and plan for upcoming lessons. It’s part of the job I expected when I became a teacher. But something I didn’t expect was having to work a second job to make ends meet…
King’s words ring true today
In the days leading up to Martin Luther King Day – the Raleigh News & Observer republished this editorial which was one of the newspaper’s most shared pieces in 2018 and again in 2019. It’s a reminder that the civil rights icon was not as appreciated during his lifetime as he should have been or as he is today.…
WRAL: ‘Silent Sam’ deal cost UNC-CH a $1.5M grant from major foundation donor
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is one of the largest charitable foundations in the world and they are in the final stages of withdrawing their grant after finding out the UNC Board of Governors agreed to a settlement giving the Sons of Confederate Veterans the monument and $2.5 million to maintain it. The Andrew W.…