VOLUME 6 ISSUE 26
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2021
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
Taliban insist on airlift deadline amid new report of abuses Washington, D.C. The Taliban warned Tuesday that the U.S. airlift from Afghanistan must end Aug. 31, ramping up pressure on an already chaotic evacuation as new reports of rights abuses fueled concern about the fate of thousands of people still trying to flee the country. The announcements set the stage for an endgame a day after the CIA director met with a top Taliban leader in Kabul. Recent days have seen a flurry of efforts to speed the evacuation at Kabul’s airport, where scenes of desperation have highlighted both the disarray of the U.S. pullout and fears that the Taliban will resort to the brutal tactics they used when they last ruled Afghanistan. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cooper vetoes bill altering charter schools board makeup Raleigh Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation that would slightly rework the state panel that recommends whether charter schools can open or should be shuttered. Currently two of the 11 voting members of the Charter Schools Advisory Board are chosen by the State Board of Education, of which the governor picks nearly all voting positions. The bill would have given the education board just one spot to fill, while the superintendent of public instruction or her designate would receive another voting position. Currently the superintendent or her designate is a nonvoting member to the advisory board. “The State Board of Education is constitutionally and statutorily charged with administering children’s education in state public schools, including charter schools,” Cooper wrote in his veto message. “It is critical that the board have both of their appointments to carry out its constitutional duties.” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Daily new COVID-19 cases in Israel approach January peak Tel Aviv, Israel New daily coronavirus infections in Israel are approaching record levels, despite the country’s largely successful vaccination campaign and the recent rollout of the world’s first widespread booster shot. Mandatory masks and green passports, which had been lifted as infections bottomed out in May, are again required to enter public indoor spaces. Officials have pointed to evidence that the initial round of vaccines become less effective over time. Almost 1.6 million people have received the third shot, according to the Health Ministry. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FreedomWorks endorses Budd in US Senate race Washington, D.C. FreedomWorks for America endorsed Ted Budd in the state’s competitive 2022 Republican U.S. Senate primary. The conservative organization says Budd is a staunch supporter of small government principles and maintains a 97% lifetime score on its Congressional Scorecard. Noah Wall, FreedomWorks for America executive director, said, “Republicans need to run principled candidates who demonstrate a clear path to victory. Republicans have the momentum to regain control of Congress, and Rep. Ted Budd is the ideal choice to fill North Carolina’s open U.S. Senate seat and deliver when it comes to advancing conservative priorities.” NSJ STAFF
BRYAN ANDERSON | AP PHOTO
North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson speaks Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, in Raleigh.
NORTH
Lt. Gov Robinson, education task force release report
JOURNaL
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal
STATE
Will your K-12 student be required to get a COVID-19 shot? One Guilford mom shares how her 14-year-old son was vaccinated without parental consent
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — Whether K-12 students in North Carolina will be compelled to get a COVID-19 vaccination or not lies in the hands of the 13 members of the N.C. Public Health Commission. Per state statutes, the N.C. Commission on Public Health (NCCPH), which falls under the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), has the authority to add immunizations to the list of those already in state law for K-12 students. Statutes on immunizations also say that if and when the NCCPH requires a new immunization to be added, or an additional dose of a vaccine, NCCPH is “authorized to exempt from the new requirement children who are or who have been enrolled in school (K-12) on or before the effective date of the new requirement.” 2014 was the last time changes were made for K-12 immunizations by the NCCPH. At that time, updates conforming to Centers for Disease Control guidelines were made with specific attention paid to Pneumococcal Conjugate, Varicella and Meningococcal vaccines. According to its website, the
NCCPH is the “public health rulemaking body for North Carolina” and is “authorized and directed by the N.C. General Assembly to adopt rules to protect and promote the health of the public and to adopt rules necessary to implement public health programs administered by the Division of Public Health.” The NCCPH was created by the General Assembly in 1877 and was originally named the State Board of Health. It was renamed once in 1973 and then became the Commission for Public Health in 2007. The commission has four members appointed by the N.C. Medical Society and nine by the governor. The members of the NCCPH serve four-year terms. Per state law, in order to add a new immunization, only vaccines meeting the standards of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for use by the commission may be used. On Monday, Aug. 23, the FDA approved the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 shot, but only for individuals 16 and older. The Emergency Usage Authorization remains in place for children ages 12 to 15. The approval did not include 12-to-14-yearold children, likely due to investigations into increasing reports of a heightened risk of serious side effects such as myocarditis and blood clots associated with mRNA shots. Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are mRNA See VACCINE, page A2
RALEIGH — Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s task force investigating indoctrination and the spread of Critical Race Theory in North Carolina K-12 classrooms has delivered its first report. Robinson’s Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students (FACTS) task force was formed in March of this year with the objective of combating lessons and materials found to be inappropriate or politically biased. The 12-person advisory board for FACTS is made up of teachers, local and state board members, lawmakers, university professors and other community members. A portal for the public to submit concerns and examples was created on the website of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. There are 506 submissions included in the original report which have been reviewed by Robinson’s office and the task force. On Aug. 24, Robinson held a press conference discussing some of the details. Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden), Sen. Deanna Ballard (R-Watauga), Sen. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover), and state superintendent of public instruction Catherine Truitt were in attendance. “I want to make this plain; this is not an attack on educators or education,” said Robinson. “I am going to say that again, because I know there are going to be people who will say this is an assault on the teaching profession. It is not.” “What this is is an attempt to stop the abuse of the teaching profession by a few or using that profession to put undue pressure on young minds to accept their way of thinking,” Robinson said. Robinson said the task force was put together to answer the question of whether indoctrination is happening in North Carolina public schools. He then said that after doing this report and task force, that “the overwhelming answer is yes, it is.” N.C. Superintendent Catherine Truitt gave some brief remarks that included praising much of the work happening in public schools, but said that “no child should ever feel marginalized or ques-
Wilmington Marine struggles to get interpreters out as Taliban takes over By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — As many around the world watch the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, for one retired North Carolina Marine protecting the lives of those left behind is personal and now his mission. “To me, I feel like they are not only friends, but family,” Col. Eric Terashima told NSJ in an Aug. 23 interview. “I have a hard time not crying every day looking at every-
thing happening over there.” Terashima had three deployments to Afghanistan between 2010 and 2020, spending a total of more than two years in the country. He worked as an intelligence officer, an intelligence plans director and then, in his final deployment, the team police officer in charge for Task Force Southwest. During this time, he was in a small base in a provincial capital and became very close to the locals with whom he served, rubbing shoulders regular-
ly with everyone from powerful figures — like the provincial governor and the chief of police — to more common people. “I had daily contact with a lot of Afghans,” Terashima said. “They are the gentlest, kindest, most generous people I’ve been around. Most of them are very poor, but they, as a matter of course, would share their food and their tea with us. They’re just incredibly generous as a people. See INTERPRETERS, page A2
tion their place while in school.” She later said that based on what was in the report, it was clear that some educators were “using their personal and political beliefs to influence their students rather than to educate them.” “As a parent, a former teacher, and as the state superintendent, I am disappointed by the examples that have been brought to light,” Truitt said of the report. Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) touched on Critical Race Theory cited several examples from the report, including a student who experienced discrimination during remote learning when her teacher praised certain viewpoints while shutting others out and a 14-year veteran teacher who is afraid to speak out. Berger quoted the teacher, who said, “anyone who speaks up is afraid they will be canceled or terminated because they have a different opinion.” Berger said, “Take these teachers seriously; they are raising a red flag.” “Don’t tell me this doctrine doesn’t exist. Don’t tell me that all these teachers and parents are just making this stuff up,” Berger said of the report examples and Critical Race Theory. He then launched into an example of a presentation given at the Governor’s School which he said “looks like something straight out of Robin DeAngelo white privilege seminar.” The report presented at the press conference, originally 766 pages, was summarized down to approximately 41 pages and made See FACTS, page A3