North State Journal — Vol. 2., Issue 4

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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 4

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www.NSJONLINE.com |

SATURDAY, March 11, 2017

Inside NFL free agency begins. Sports, page 4 Best and brightest Staff Sgt. Nicole Kimble climbs her way over a giant ladder as she runs through the Camp Butner obstacle course during the North Carolina National Guard’s annual Best Warrior Competition on March 7. The fiveday competition puts officers and soldiers through a battery of physical and mental hurdles. After going through battle drills, weapons testing, land navigation, urban operations and many more skills, the best of the best will will move on to the Region III Best Warrior Competition this April in Greenville, Ky. See page A3 for the full story.

EAMON QUEENEY | NORTH STATE JOURNAL

the weekend

News BRIEFing Court grants state’s motion to withdraw from lawsuit against Clean Power Plan Raleigh A federal court approved the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s withdrawal from an ongoing legal challenge to part of the federal Clean Power Plan. N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein filed the motion to withdraw from the suit in February on behalf of Michael Regan, secretary of the N.C. DEQ. Under the McCrory administration, N.C. joined other states to challenge part of the Clean Power Plan that increased regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.

NORTH

General Assembly

JOURNaL

A bill to restore partisan district court elections is sent to the governor amid Democratic opposition, while bills expanding legislative authority over the judiciary pass the House

STATE ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION

By Jeff Moore North State Journal

Robust job growth, 4.7 percent unemployment cap first 50 days CEOs share an inside look at why Trump’s private meetings boost their confidence.

Trump administration assigns judges to immigration detention centers Washington, D.C. The Department of Justice is deploying 50 judges to immigration detention facilities across the United States. In an effort to tackle the estimated 550,000 backlog of deportation cases, the department is also considering asking judges to sit from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., split between two rotating shifts. On Jan. 25 President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at speeding up deportations and holding migrants in detention until their cases can be heard. The order called for the end of a policy known as “catch and release,” by which immigrants were released from detention and given a date to appear in court.

Partisan judicial elections bill to test Cooper’s veto power

RALEIGH — The North Carolina General Assembly assumed a routine quality this week as lawmakers bounced between committee meetings and floor votes, but was highlighted by passage of a bill to restore party labels to certain judicial elections. The bill, H.B. 100, was one of three bills related to the judiciary that sparked partisan

NEW YORK — On Friday the U.S. government released robust jobs data in its monthly report that said nonfarm employers added 235,000 workers to their payrolls last month, with the unemployment rate dropping a tenth of a percentage point to 4.7 percent. U.S. employers hired workers at a robust pace in February, beating expectations, and wages grinded higher, which could give the Federal Reserve the green light to raise interest rates next week despite slowing economic growth. Fed Chair Janet Yellen signaled last week that the U.S. central bank would likely hike rates at its March 14-15 policy meeting. “The report seals the deal for a rate hike next See Job Growth, page A2

“He said one thing for the cameras and the door shuts and then it’s like kumbaya.” — An official on Trump’s meetings with CEOs

madeline Gray | North State Journal

A lone police officer stands in the atrium outside of the Senate chambers at the North Carolina General Assembly.

Recruiting public school teachers gets new focus A new N.C. Teaching Fellows program aims to recruit STEM and special education teachers from varied backgrounds, with extra benefits for work in low-performing schools

Lorenda Overman of Overman Farms on farming, family and faith for the first in our series on women in North Carolina agriculture.

By Donna King North State Journal

the good life

Christine t. Nguyen | North State Journal

20177 52016 $2.00

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See veto power, page A8

By David Shepardson and Ginger Gibson Reuters

INSIDE

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floor debates, but the only one as yet to pass both legislative chambers and be sent to Gov. Roy Cooper. Having already returned party labels to N.C. Supreme Court elections, H.B. 100 would extend the practice to district and superior courts. Nearly universally opposed among by the minority party, Democrats have urged Cooper to veto the bill. At time of print, the bill is still pending on the governor’s desk, but should Cooper reject the bill it will mark his first use of veto power since taking office. Alas, the bill was passed by supermajorities in both the House and Senate meaning the legislature can override a gubernatorial veto if the votes hold. The other judiciary bills, House

Rep. D. Craig Horn (R-Union) and Sen. Chad Barefoot (R-Franklin) speak about a proposal for the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program during a press conference at NC State’s Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center on March 9.

RALEIGH — A newly revamped North Carolina Teaching Fellows program is before the state legislature now after a coalition of the state’s top brass in education presented it at NC State’s Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center on Thursday. The new Teaching Fellows program provides up to $8,250 in a forgivable loan to students who agree to go into teaching special education or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) in N.C. public schools. These are the areas that are the most difficult for teacher recruitment. In 2015, 90 school districts reported having difficulty staffing high school math See Teachers, page A3


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