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No SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2016
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JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
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Battleground State
Carol i rth the
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STATE
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Battleground Arnold Palmer, a Wake Forest Legend State Tribute page inside Sports
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Who are we? You may be surprised.
FLOODING
Eastern NC cleans up and braces for Matthew By Laura Ashley Lamm North State Journal FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Residents in Cumberland County are cleaning up after a week heavy rains and flooding led to evacuations and school closings. “While we have not yet had any requests for state assistance, we stand ready to provide whatever support is needed to respond to this latest emergency,” said Gov. Pat McCrory. McCrory and State Emergency Management officials say they are watchig the situation closely as Cumberland and Sampson counties watch for dam failures and rising water. Fayetteville and Cumberland County officials say “several hundred” people will need to be evacuated if a dam in the area is breached. If this does happen, water is expected to rise over Highway 301 and Interstate 95. More than 20 streets have been affected by flooding in Fayetteville. Currently, Rhodes Pond Dam in Godwin is breached on one side and water is overtopping the dam. State officials are warning of a complete dam failure. In Hoke County, officials have already reported a dam failure on a small lake known as Over Lake. Cumberland County and Fort Bragg closed schools on Friday. Hoke County operated on a two-hour delay. On Thursday, Fayetteville Mayor Nat Robertson signed an emergency declaration for heavy flooding.
Our people by the numbers
Ath eis Ot t-A h gn
Nine percent are Hispanic or Latino, which is a 50 percent increase in that population in the state since 2000. Eleven percent of N.C. households speak a language other than English.
ale 51. m
-6 en 18 5 62.2% we t Be
Race/ethnicity
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<1%
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Asi an 2.8 %
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In 2015, North Carolina became the ninth .6% largest state in the nation. There are n1 a c Caucasi a total of 10,042,802 people living i an 7 9.1% er nic 1.2 in North Carolina, a 5 percent a p Am % s i e H increase since 2010 and more v ti than 50 percent increase Protes since 1980. The dichotomy s 20% tan giou % i of rural and urban, l t6 3 e 6% nr er o conservative and liberal, n c i t young and old, gives os Under the Old North State 5% 18 51 22 6 its distinctive flavor, r s 7% . n e a r v earning a worldwide A e ct et V reputation for being No on the leading edge of the South, yet deeply Ma rooted in tradition. 3%
d reser v ty an e 8% e Du itary 91.7 d m e % iv -mil n
See CHARLOTTE, page A2
that picked President Barack Obama in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012, N.C. has gone from blue to red to purple and is widely considered to be ground zero in the 2016 presidential election. As North Carolinians consider their role in what is being billed as the election of a lifetime, the North State Journal is launching a project that elevates the statewide conversation on the issues that most directly impact our communities. In our five-part series, we will examine the state economy, education, health care, and the civil and judicial climate of North Carolina. This week we begin with a picture of just who we are as a state.
48.7% le
CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte police department issued 95 arrest warrants Friday in connection with the city’s recent riots. Protests over the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott turned to property damage, looting and violence in Charlotte last week, leading to a state of emergency and city-wide curfew. Police say 82 people have already been apprehended and authorities are asking for the public’s help identifying others. “These arrests are largely due to the countless hours of video surveillance and tireless work from investigators to bring these suspects to justice,” the CMPD statement said. The arrests are the latest in the Charlotte saga that has triggered criticism of Mayor Jennifer Roberts’ handling of the investigation and violence in the Queen City. On Wednesday, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) demanded the mayor release complete police videos of the shooting, accusing her of secrecy and attempting to deflect responsibility for the chaos. “Let me be clear — Mayor Jennifer Roberts has a moral obligation to the citizens of Charlotte to release all police videos related to the Keith Scott incident immediately,” said Berger. “First she botched her city’s response to last week’s riots — from initially brushing off Gov. Pat McCrory’s multiple offers of state resources, like the National Guard, to ignoring repeated calls from her community and the press for transparency and answers.”
% ican 22.1 mer A an Jewish 1% ric Af % c9 oli h t Ca
By Donna King North State Journal
North Carolina recently replaced Georgia as the nation’s ninth largest economy and is ranked as the 10th fastest-growing economy in the nation. Those rankings, along with consistently being among the top places in the country to live and start a business, have led to an influx of newbies to the Old North State that has changed the social dynamics, politics and even food of the state. The importance of North Carolina in the 2016 elections is not lost on either party, with a dozen interest groups from outside the state pouring an estimated $4 million into the governor’s race and at least one nominee from the presidential race here every week. A state
.3% rs 1 be m
Charlotte police issue 95 arrest warrants
H
istorically and predominantly a rural, Christian state, N.C. this year topped 10 million residents, doubling the state’s population since 1980. The boom is driven mostly by rapidly growing pockets of urbanism where universities and high-tech industry have drawn crowds of young, active people and Northerners seeking the Carolina pace of life, beautiful landscapes and business-friendly environment.
Fe
riot aftermath
Religion Just more than three-quarters of the state population reports to be Christian, compared to 70 percent nationwide. Twenty percent of North Carolinians are atheist, agnostic or nonreligious. Approximately onethird of millennials say they do not associate with any faith.
Age
Military
Gender
N.C.’s population skews slightly older, with 22 percent of people under 18, compared to 25 percent nationwide. Twelve percent of Americans are over age 65, while 15 percent of North Carolinians are. There are 100,000 more millennials in N.C. than baby boomers, but nearly 200,000 people over 80.
N.C. has the third largest military population of any state, with 2 percent participation. Approximately 1.3 percent are active duty or reserves, compared to 0.5 percent of the total U.S. population. N.C. is home to seven installations that represent 10 percent of the economy, 540,000 jobs, and $48 billion in gross state product.
Half of one percent of North Carolinians are transgender. Approximately 2.7 percent of N.C. residents consider themselves to be lesbian, gay or bisexual. All of these figures are in line with national statistics.
Our money
16.4%
of North Carolinians are at or below the federal poverty level. The national average is 13.5%.
$46,693
$153,600 Median home value
Median income
*the national average is $53,482
*the national average is $175,700
See flooding, page A2
Our voting trends 5
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20177 52016
INSIDE
1976
1980
1984
Democrat
1988
Republican
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
N.C. presidential elections
Join us for a walk in the woods at DuPont State N.C. General Assembly NC last 40 years of presidential elections Recreational Forest
infoGraphics by Cece Pascual / Sources: U.S. Census bureau, pew research center,270towin.com, NC rural center, NC Department of Commerce
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1976 Democrat Jimmy Carter the good life, C1
1980 Republican Ronald Reagan 1984 Republican Ronald Reagan 1988 Republican George H.W. Bush 1992Republican George H.W. Bush
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VOLUME 1 ISSUE 32
Carol i rth
In Murphy to Manteo | How our home state became 2016’s national battleground, Page 4