North State Journal Vol. 4, Issue 52

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VOLUME 4 ISSUE 52

SPORTS

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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

Hurricanes to host outdoor game in 2021

the Wednesday

NEWS BRIEFING

Trump pardons, commutes sentences President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner convicted in a gambling fraud scandal who built one of the most successful NFL teams in the game’s history. DeBartolo, who owned the San Francisco 49ers during their 1980s-1990s dynasty, was involved in one of the biggest owners’ scandals in the sport’s history. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony when he paid $400,000 to former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards in exchange for a riverboat gambling license. DeBartolo stepped down as owner in 1997 after two Louisiana newspapers reported he would be indicted for gambling fraud. DeBartolo avoided prison, was fined $1 million and was suspended for a year by the NFL. DeBartolo was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016. President Trump also took additional executive action Tuesday, commuting the 14year prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and pardoning former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Trial against insurance magnate, others gets underway North Carolina’s largest political donor in recent years and two associates are heading to trial on corruptionrelated charges nearly a year after a federal indictment was filed against them. Greg E. Lindberg, an insurance company magnate and investor, along with John Gray and John Palermo, were in Charlotte federal court on Tuesday. Jury selection will occur before opening statements and evidence are presented. Federal prosecutors contend the three participated in a scheme to bribe North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey with up to $2 million in campaign money so scrutiny of Lindberg’s businesses would ease. Causey, a Republican, told law enforcement voluntarily about what was happening and agreed to cooperate with authorities, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The three defendants have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys wrote in court filings that their clients’ actions weren’t criminal and that Causey tried to entrap them. A fourth person indicted — former state GOP chairman and ex-U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes — accepted a plea agreement late last year. Lindberg gave more than $5 million since 2016 to North Carolina candidate and party committees and independent expenditure groups. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Courts make photo ID less likely in 2020 An NC Court of Appeals panel remanded the enforcement of photo ID laws until after a full trial on the merits. “All evidence points to the conclusion that discriminatory intent remained a primary motivating factor behind (the law), not the amendment’s directive to create a voter ID law,” Court of Appeals Judge Toby Hampson wrote in the opinion directing the lower court to issue the preliminary injunction. With the state and federal preliminary injunctions in place, chances are dwindling that the voter ID requirement will be carried out in any 2020 election. NSJ STAFF AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAUL LOEB | POOL PHOTO VIA AP

President Donald Trump attends the 62nd Daytona 500 At Sunday’s kickoff race for the 2020 NASCAR season, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump took a pace lap in front of the field in “The Beast,” the modified Cadillac used for official presidential travel, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020.

NORTH

STATE

JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION

Over half of NC counties have passed 2nd Amendment resolutions By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — As of the end of the first week of February, 60 of North Carolina’s 100 counties have passed some form of Second Amendment resolution affirming the right of citizens to bear arms. That number is over four times the total from the end of January, when only 12 counties had passed such a measure. Brunswick, Carteret, Lee and Lenoir are the most recent to join the movement. The Franklin County Commission passed their resolution on Feb. 3, stating the county will protect the rights of its citizens to keep and bear arms and oppose any unconstitutional means to restrict such rights. Onslow County commissioners met on Feb. 10 and unanimously adopted a Second Amendment resolution. By the recommendation from the county’s attorney, the Onslow resolution does not declare the county specifically to be a “sanctuary.” Onslow Chairman Jack Bright said that they passed this resolution to let legislators know how their citizens felt after watching the introduction of laws restricting gun rights in Virginia. On Feb. 11, Madison commissioners voted 4-0 to pass a resolution that declares Madison County to be a “Second Amendment

Sanctuary.” The next day, on Feb. 12, Martin County commissioners unanimously passed a similar resolution. Iredell County’s Board of Commissioners discussed the topic in January and unanimously passed a resolution at its meeting in early February, as did commissioners in Bladen, Columbus and Johnston counties. The Columbus resolution was supported by Rep. Brendan Jones (R-Columbus) at the county commissioner’s January meeting. In a letter to the commissioners, Jones said, “Recent gun control efforts by those around the country, however, have led various counties and towns to take a proactive stance to ensure there is no infringement upon this constitutional right. As a result, passing or enacting a resolution of this kind would work to oppose restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms.” Gun control efforts in other areas of the country are headed to North Carolina soon, starting with a major gun control group dropping a large amount of cash to push for more restrictions on See GUNS page A2

See Murphy to Manteo on pages A4-5 for a map of NC counties with gun santuary laws.

Bloomberg visits NC amid rising poll numbers, spending Rivals accuse the billionaire mayor of attempting to buy the election By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited three North Carolina cities on Feb. 13 as his poll numbers and infrastructure grow during the Democratic primary for president. Justin Vollmer, Bloomberg’s senior adviser in the state, told NSJ in a Feb. 17 phone interview that despite bad weather, events in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Raleigh were a success. “For that early in the morning? I was really excited,” Vollmer said. “We had over 700 in Winston-Salem, and that started at roughly 8 a.m. in the morning. An hour or so later, we were in Greensboro, and we had over 500 people. Similar weather conditions, where you literally couldn’t see five feet in front of your face. And then we headed to Raleigh where we had over 700 people there as well. … We got all that done before noon, so it was a good day.”

Bloomberg’s strategy to spend time in N.C. and other Super Tuesday states, which vote on March 3, is based on a conscious decision to look past the first four states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. “We’re focusing on every state March 3 and on. We decided not to be part of the first four,” Vollmer said, saying their two reasons were that caucuses are chaotic and undemocratic, and that the early states “don’t have a good representation of the United States in terms of demographics.” According to recent polls, Bloomberg is whittling away support from some of the front runners. In Public Policy Polling’s early February poll, Biden had dropped to 25%, Sanders to 16% and Bloomberg, who had been in single digits in the January PPP poll, rose to 14%. In a SurveyUSA poll released by WRAL only a couple weeks later, on Feb. 18, the Democratic primary in N.C. was a three-way tie, with Sanders and Bloomberg at 22% and Biden within the margin of error at 20%. See BLOOMBERG page A2

Democratic hopefuls now test strength among minority voters By Bill Barrow The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. — For I.S. Leevy Johnson, the Democrats’ search for a challenger to take on President Donald Trump is personal. “There is what I call an ‘ABT mood’ in the black community: Anybody but Trump,” said the 77-year-old who was the first black graduate of the University of South Carolina’s law school. “It has people of color very motivated and excited about voting this time, because See VOTERS page A2

INSIDE Dan Forest takes on what he says is “fake news” about his campaign — and lands a big endorsement Jones & Blount


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