|
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 30
WWW.NSJONLINE.COM |
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2018
Inside Duke to host Notre Dame with Harris at QB, B1
DAVID GOLDMAN | AP PHOTO
David Darden Jr., carries out a photo of his daughters as well as other personal items from his mother’s flooded home in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence in Spring Lake, N.C., Monday, Sept. 17, 2018.
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
Pay raise for military passes U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. The Senate on Tuesday approved a wide-ranging, $854 billion bill that funds the military and a host of civilian agencies for the next year and provides a short-term fix to keep the government open through early December. The measure includes $675 billion for the Defense Department and boosts military pay by 2.6 percent, the largest pay raise in nine years. The bill also approves spending for Health and Human Services, Education, Labor and other agencies, including a 5 percent boost for the National Institutes of Health. Senators approved the bill 93-7. The measure now goes to the House, where lawmakers are expected to approve it next week, days ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline for a government shutdown.
MJ donating $2M to flood victims Charlotte Michael Jordan, who played high school basketball in Wilmington is donating $2 million to assist residents of the Carolinas. The 55-year-old owner of the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets is contributing $1 million each to the American Red Cross and the Foundation for the Carolinas’ Hurricane Florence Response Fund. In addition, more than 100 members of the Hornets organization will help pack disaster food boxes Friday at Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte. The goal is to deliver 5,000 food boxes to Wilmington and Myrtle Beach.
INSIDE N.C.’s rainy day fund is $2 billion, and Florence brought a seriously rainy day. Jones & Blount
5
20177 52016 $2.00
8
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
Florence brings flooding and questions Emergency workers rescued and evacuated more than 2,200 people and around 575 animals NSJ Staff TRENTON/WILMINGTON — The death toll has risen to at least 34 in three states, with 26 fatalities in North Carolina, as Florence’s remnants went in two directions: Water flowed downstream toward the Carolina coast, and storms moved through the Northeast, where flash floods hit New Hampshire and New York. In the meantime, residents of Wilmington stood in line for hours for food and water Tuesday, after
military trucks were able to bring supplies to the flooded off city. Mayor Bill Saffo said two routes were now open into Wilmington, which had been completely cut off by floodwaters, but those roads could close again as water swells the Cape Fear River on the city’s west side. “We still are encouraging or asking folks not to come home,” said Woody White, chairman of the New Hanover County commissioners. “We want you here. We love you. We miss you. But access to Wilmington is still very limited and is not improving as quickly as we would like.” At Fayetteville, about 100 miles inland, near the Army’s sprawling
Brett Kavanaugh and accuser invited to testify in a committee hearing showdown Strategies taking shape for NC amendments fight Kavanaugh accuser earned her undergraduate degree at UNC Chapel Hill
By Alan Fram and LisaMascaro The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Republicans are moving forward with plans to hear testimony next Monday from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and a woman accusing him of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers at a party. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of “blatant malpractice” by waiting weeks to disclose the letter Christine Blasey Ford had sent lawmakers describing the alleged incident. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who had the letter, said she didn’t reveal it to protect Ford’s confidentiality, yet Ford took a lie detector test back in August and Democrats on the committee kept the letter under wraps. Critics say their actions indicate a plan for an 11th-hour announcement. “I believe that the member that first received that letter was as late as July, and quite honestly, I’m shocked that the matter didn’t come up in the nearly 32 hours of testimony that Judge Kavanaugh was before us,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R- N.C.) Sunday on “Face the Nation.” Tillis is on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford told the Washington Post that Kavanaugh forced her into a room and tried undressing her during a party when both were in high school. Kavanaugh denies those allegations. On Monday in See KAVANAUGH, page A10
“She should not be insulted. She should not be ignored. She should testify under oath, and she should do it on Capitol Hill.” White House adviser Kellyanne Conway
Groups gear up for battle on this year’s six proposed constitutional changes By David Larson For the North State Journal RALEIGH — With an unusually high number of constitutional changes on November’s ballot, there is a lot at stake for many groups and a lot of money being invested to sway the vote. The amendments cover issues as varied as voter ID, the right to hunt and fish, a state income tax cap, strengthening crime victims’ rights, and changes to both the state elections board and the process of filling judicial vacancies. After strong pushback from all the state’s living former governors, the legislature made adjustments to the latter two. The governors, including both Republicans and Democrats, staged a joint press conference to protest what they felt were efforts to sway the balance of powers in the oversight of
See FLORENCE, page A2
boards, commissions and the judiciary in those two amendments. Referring to the Board of Elections and judicial vacancy bills opposed by the former governors, Pat McCrory told the North State Journal, “I’m very pleased with the changes. They were very positive. But I still just don’t think these two amendments were needed.” Liberal activists have spent less effort trying to find areas of agreement and instead are going with a simpler message — “Nix All Six” — pushing a rejection all six amendments. The 501(c)(4) Stronger NC has raised $4,840 of their $10,000 goal on GoFundMe, and on Social. fund they have a goal of raising $3,500 specifically for their “Nix All Six” campaign. Stronger NC has set up a website, nixallsix.com, and has yard signs with the same message in place across the state. McCrory, despite actively opposing two of the amendments, said he will be voting for the other four of six, and that with support from large majorities for voter ID See AMENDMENTS, page A2