VOLUME 6 ISSUE 31 | WWW.NSJONLINE.COM | WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
Former Va AG, Trump admin official against new energy bill Raleigh Former Virginia Republican attorney general and Trump administration official Ken Cuccinelli came out against an energy regulation overhaul bill. In writing for WRAL’s opinion section, Cuccinelli said his home state was “several years ahead of North Carolina in passing (bad) new energy laws, some of which have resulted in major costs for customers.” Cuccinelli said a similar structure in rate hikes approved in Virginia “has been disastrous for customers.” He says from 2017-2020, regulators announced that Dominion Energy overcollected $1.143 billion from customers. Cuccinelli also took issue with oversight, saying the proposed bill unbalances power from the N.C. Utilities Commission to the advantage of Duke Energy. “Until we move away from monopolies (a desirable goal) and increase market competition, the independent role of the Utilities Commission is going to be critical to achieving the balance between Duke’s right to make a reasonable profit and the rights of families and businesses across North Carolina to reliable and lowest-achievable-cost power. HB951 badly misses this balance,” he says.
COURTESY PHOTO
North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley addresses volunteers at a National Week of Training event in Wilmington.
Political parties ramp-up activity across NC
NSJ STAFF
Events, voter registration, investments kick start upcoming 2022 battle
8 NC Schools awarded National Blue Ribbon Raleigh Eight North Carolina K-12 schools have been named National Blue Ribbon schools for 2021 by the U.S. Department of Education. The eight schools fall into one of two categories, exemplary high-performing schools and exemplary achievement-gap closing schools. Schools named exemplary high-performing were: Pender Early College High School (Pender), Pearsontown Elementary School (Durham), Elkin Middle School (Surry), Brush Creek Elementary School (Madison) and Union Elementary School (Lincoln). Schools named exemplary achievement-gap closing were: Blue Ridge Elementary School (Ashe), Sallie B. Howard Charter School (Wilson) and Sampson Early College High School (Sampson). “These schools — their leaders, teachers and students — deserve our praise for creating cultures that truly support teaching and learning,” state Superintendent Catherine Truitt said in a press release. A.P. DILLON
DeSantis asks Fla secretary of state to investigate Facebook Tallahassee, Fla. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis asked Florida’s secretary of state to investigate Facebook based on reports the social media company gives preferential treatment to politicians, celebrities, professional athletes and other prominent people. DeSantis cited a recent Wall Street Journal report in asking Secretary of State Laurel Lee to see if Facebook’s policies violated Florida election law. The article detailed Facebook’s practice of exempting highprofile users from some or all of its rules. “If this report is true, Facebook has put its thumb on the scale of numerous state and local races in a disturbing and concealed fashion,” DeSantis wrote. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Cohen legal threat to Union County schools exposes tensions over contact tracing, quarantine authority By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — Last week, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen issued a letter to the Union County school board threatening legal action over the district’s decision to drop contact tracing and quarantine processes. That legal threat and the Union County board’s reaction have exposed issues with quarantine authority and burdensome contact tracing. In the letter dated Sept. 15, Cohen cited the “highly contagious Delta variant” and that “children under 18 are being hit particularly hard in this latest surge.” She said Union County has the third-highest number of COVID cases in kids under the age of 18 for the week ending Sept. 11. Cohen’s letter asked Union County school board members to rescind their Sept. 13 motion that eliminated contact tracing and quarantine processes by Sept. 17, or “legal action may be required to protect public health.” Following Cohen’s letter, Union County schools published a statement with a detailed explanation of their Sept. 13 vote, including that the board’s decision was rendered after “unsuccessful attempts to work with the Union County Health Department on how best to facilitate contact tracing and quarantines.” The statement goes on to say the district demanded that the local health director state in writing what quarantine time periods were to be used. The response letter from the health department said the school district “was not under a directive to use a specific quarantine period.” In an early morning meeting on Sept. 20, the Union County school board affirmed their pre-
vious position and statement, voting 8-1 on shortening quarantine length, recognizing quarantines aligned with state law, and that the local health department was now taking over the contact-tracing efforts. Quarantines will be shortened to 10 days for asymptomatic students and seven days for those who are asymptomatic with negative test results. Students returning to class will have to wear a mask up through the 14th day. Union County schools are currently one of just a handful of mask-optional districts. Being mask-optional coupled with the Union County school board’s recent move to end quarantining and contact tracing highlights difficulties in those processes, one of which is effectively presuming students are sick until they get tested to prove they are healthy. The lone vote against the measures came from at-large member Rev. Jimmy Bention, who said during the meeting that the board’s move “will cause healthy kids to be sent home.” And Bention is correct based on past activity in the district. The StrongSchoolsNC toolkit’s restrictive quarantine measures had put around 7,000 Union County students out of the classroom prior to the board rescinding quarantine processes. During the COVID-19 briefing on Sept. 21, North State Journal questioned Cohen about the quarantine and contact-tracing issues raised by Union County’s school board. She was asked if the StrongSchoolsNC toolkit would be revised. “First, I want to say there are a number of protocols in the StrongSchools toolkit that are incredibly important for the safety and protection of our children and to make sure they are in school safely. I would say vaccine is No. 1,” CoSee COVID, page A2
By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — Republicans and Democrats in North Carolina are ramping up their efforts in preparation for what both sides see as a crucial 2022 election cycle, with major events and initiatives, aimed at gaining the upper hand in the perennial battleground state, already underway. Over the weekend, on Sept. 25, big-name conservatives like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Hucka-
bee, N.C. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, all three major Republican primary candidates for N.C.’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, state Senate Leader Phil Berger and Speaker of the N.C. House Tim Moore, among many others, gathered for the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Salt and Light Conference. The conference was held in Mt. Airy, a town sometimes called Mayberry because of its reputation as the inspiration for the picturesque small town in the “Andy Griffith Show.” The event drew crowds of Christian conservatives to Temple Baptist Church, where they heard See POLITICS, page A2
Will NC become latest state to offer sports betting? By Matt Mercer North State Journal RALEIGH — A bill currently in the General Assembly would add North Carolina to a growing list of states offering sports betting following a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that permits states to do so. The decision in the case, Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, opened sports betting to each individual state. In a 6-3 decision, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that, “Congress may not simply ‘commandeer the legislative process of the States by directly compelling them to enact and enforce a federal regulatory program.’” The result permitted each state to consider their own plans for sports betting. Since that decision, 26 states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of sports betting, according to the American Gaming Association in a Sept. 8 Associated Press report. The N.C. Senate approved Senate Bill 688 in August by a 26-19 vote that split both Republicans and Democrats. Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) notably voted for the bill along with eight other Republicans and a plurality of the chamber’s Democrats. The bill, which is co-sponsored by state Sens. Jim Perry (R-Lenoir) and Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth) is awaiting committee hearings in the N.C. House of Representatives. Sources tell North State Journal that senior House leadership has committed to seeing the bill through, although time is running out, as redistricting and the state budget will consume legislators’ time in the coming weeks. Among the provisions of the
bill are restricting its use to those 21 and older, housing regulation under the North Carolina Lottery Commission, awarding licenses to between 10 and 12 companies, a $500,000 application fee See BETTING, page A2