VOLUME 2 ISSUE 55
|
WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2018
Inside Tom Dundon takes over Hurricanes, Sports
PHOTO COURTESY OF NCDOT
Division 7 crews depart from Orange County, N.C. to clean roads after winter weather.
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
Wintery weather due in central N.C. Wednesday Central N.C. The National Weather Service issued a Winter Weather Advisory from 11 pm Tuesday through 7pm Wednesday for parts of central and eastern N.C. A low-pressure system and arctic cold front were expected to meet over the state dropping temperatures to the low 30s and leaving 3 to 5 inches of snow through Wednesday evening. The N.C. Department of Transportation worked Monday and Tuesday ahead of the weather to cover state roads with a salt and water mixture called brine. Still, drivers are advised to stay off the roads during the icy weather. Visit drivenc. gov and readync.org for the latest information.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
Officers treated at Charlotte hospital after shooting Charlotte Four York County, S.C. police officers are being treated at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte after a shooting early Tuesday morning. Officials say the officers were responding to a domestic violence report when suspect, 47-year-old Christian Thomas McCall, shot one officer and took off. Deputies were searching for him with K-9 units when McCall allegedly shot three more officers and was shot himself and transported to the hospital. The conditions of McCall and the officers have not been released.
Trump in “excellent health” Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump had a normal score on a cognitive exam and is in excellent health, although he could benefit from a lower-fat diet and more exercise, the White House physician said on Tuesday. “In summary, the president’s overall health is excellent,” Dr. Ronny Jackson told reporters. “He continues to enjoy the significant longterm cardiac and overall health benefits that come from a lifetime of abstinence from tobacco and alcohol.” The doctor reported that Trump had performed well on a cognitive assessment, which the president had requested. “The president is mentally very sharp, very intact. ... He is fit for duty,” Jackson said.
PHOTO ICOURTESY OF THOR PORRE
Mitragyna Speciosa, or Kratom, tree is shown.
As kratom use surges, some states enact bans Kratom is one of the 3 K’s (kava, kratom and khat) identified by the National Institutes of Health as herbals that can induce liver injuries By Christine Vestal Stateline
ers. Some addiction experts also argue the plant could be used as an alternative to methadone, buprenorphine and Vivitrol in medication-assisted therapy for opioid addiction. Used for centuries to fight fatigue, pain and anxiety in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea and Thailand, kratom was rarely taken in the United States until recently. Now, with growing concerns about the dangers of prescription painkillers, an estimated 3 to 5 million people are using kratom and reporting positive results, based on information from retailers. But worries that the unregulated plant product could be abused for its mild euphoric qualities and users could become addicted are spurring federal officials to issue public health warnings — and a handful of states and cities to impose bans. North Carolina is among several states to have considered a study or ban on the plant product, including Florida, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New Jersey
CARRBORO — On a sunny November afternoon, a steady stream of customers walks through the doors of a Carrboro cafe called Oasis for a cup of an increasingly popular herbal beverage. The menu offers coffee, black tea, beer, wine and pastries, but nearly everyone opts for a $5 mug of kratom (pronounced KRAY-dum). A powder ground from the leaves of an indigenous Southeast Asian tree related to the coffee plant, kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) offers pain relief and mood enhancement, similar to prescription painkillers. Advocates say the substance could help reduce the nation’s reliance on highly addictive and often deadly prescription painkill- See KRATOM, page A2
Washington scrambles for a fix as shutdown looms Immigration deal standoff threatens federal jobs and services By Donna King North State Journal RALEIGH — The federal government will shutdown Friday night if lawmakers on Capitol Hill do not pass a spending bill or another continuing resolution. A trillion dollars in spending needs to be approved to avoid the shutdown; money officially ran out Dec. 8, but was extended with continuing resolutions, most recently to Jan. 19. With that deadline looming and political tension high, the Republican majority is working to get a deal pulled together quickly, while the Democrat minority tries to balance getting what they want for undocumented immigrants with a strategy to use a shutdown against President Donald Trump and Republicans in 2020 midterms. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said he is confident that there will not be a government shutdown, as lawmakers scramble to negotiate spending legislation to keep it operating. The last time the government was shut down was in 2013 and previously in 1996. Federal government shutdowns can stop many federal services, but postal service, Social Security and other benefits generally continue. Processing of passport applications, mortgages and small business loans can be delayed among other things. National parks and museums generally close and many non-defense federal employees are furloughed. In 2013, 40 percent, or 850,000 federal workers, were told to stay home for two weeks without pay. The disruption looks bad regardless of which party is in power, so lawmakers are working on a fix, but bipartisanship is in short supply, according to those on Capitol Hill. In the House a spending bill would pass with Republican votes but in the Senate, a spending bill needs 60 votes to pass, and Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority there. At least some Democratic votes are needed to pass
INSIDE N.C. is already preparing for the 2020 census. Jones & Blount
5
20177 52016 $2.00
8
a measure. However, Democrats say they won’t sign a spending measure without protection for 800,000 recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program created by executive order under President Barak Obama in 2012. A Trump executive order sunsets the program in March, and on Tuesday the White House said they’ll ask the Supreme Court to overturn the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision last week that said the administration had to keep taking DACA applications while lawsuits over it continued. “It defies both law and common sense for DACA ... to somehow be mandated nationwide by a single district court in San Francisco,” said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Trump has said he’s willing to make a deal to help the Dreamers, but he has insisted that funding for border security, including the wall along the U.S. border with Mexico he promised as a presidential candidate, be included in any legislative package. “We just got to back up a little bit and say we’re not that far away on border security, we’re not that far away on the diversity lottery, we’re not that far away from a reasonable, sustainable DACA provision and program for this population that’s worried sick about what happens on March 5,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said in an interview on Fox News Tuesday. The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen, told lawmakers on Tuesday that even if there is not a fix by March for so-called Dreamers, those who have registered with federal authorities will not be a top target for deportation. “If you are a DACA that’s compliant with your registration — meaning you haven’t committed a crime and you in fact are registered — you are not a priority of enforcement for ICE should the program end,” she said. Lawmakers are expected to try to pass a spending bill before Friday that includes a $4.7 billion increase for missile defense and ship repair and $81 billion in additional disaster aid.