VOLUME 6 ISSUE 35 | WWW.NSJONLINE.COM | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2021
General Assembly still working on state budget, redistricting Raleigh The General Assembly is still in session as legislators wait on negotiations between House and Senate leaders and Gov. Roy Cooper over the state’s two-year budget. The three leaders involved: Cooper, House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) and Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) continue to remain tight-lipped over the process. All three say they remain hopeful to reach a compromise agreement. Meanwhile, public comment meetings on proposed maps for state legislative and congressional districts were held on Monday and Tuesday as legislators work to finish the drawing process this week. One source tells NSJ that the final maps should be voted on either late this week or next week. NSJ STAFF
NTSB chair wants Tesla to limit where Autopilot can operate Washington, D.C. The head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is calling on Tesla to act on recommendations to limit where its Autopilot driver-assist system can operate and to put a system in place to make sure drivers are paying attention. In a letter sent to CEO Elon Musk, Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy says the electric vehicle maker has not responded to the agency’s recommendations issued four years ago. The letter comes as federal agencies step up pressure on Tesla over its partially automated driving systems. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Howling coyotes signals pups are moving, not Halloween Raleigh Wildlife officials in North Carolina are advising residents to expect to hear some howling this week, not because Halloween is approaching but instead because young coyotes are leaving their parents to strike out on their own. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission said in a news release that people could see and hear more coyotes in the coming weeks. The commission said the pups may travel up to 300 miles before they settle down in a place not already occupied. According to the commission, littermates often travel together before splitting off in search of a mate. Young coyotes will yip, howl and bark to keep track of each other, as well as other coyotes whose territories they are passing through. The hollow tone of their howl and a tendency to vocalize rapidly in a constant stream of sounds can make two coyotes sound like twenty, the commission said. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sudan’s military takes power in coup, arrests prime minister Cairo Sudan’s military seized power Monday, dissolving the transitional government hours after troops arrested the prime minister, and thousands flooded the streets to protest the coup that threatened the country’s shaky progress toward democracy. The takeover, which drew condemnation from the United Nations, United States and European Union, comes more than two years after protesters forced the ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and just weeks before the military was supposed to hand the leadership of the council that runs the country over to civilians. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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PHOTO VIA AP
Redrawing the maps
Top state redistricting legislators, Sen. Ralph Hise, top left, and Rep. Destin Hall, top right, listen as several dozen members of the public address state lawmakers during a public comment hearing on Senate and House legislative redistricting maps Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.
Vaccine mandates create conflict with defiant workers By David Sharp The Associated Press
NC fishing industry takes wait-and-see approach on coastal wind projects By David Larson North State Journal
Carolinians have been affected by windmills is actually far to the north, in New England. “The ones up north, talking about the wind farms off New England, though they’re not off North Carolina, we have a substantial interest in that area because we have several boats that participate in a number of fisheries up there; the most important in dollar value is the sea scallop fishery,” Schill said. He said that each permit to fish in these New England scallop fisheries costs millions of dollars, and that “doesn’t include the cost of the boat.” Because these wind farms are more ingrained in areas used for fishing, fishermen there have complained that the turbines negatively impact their work. Many fishermen are looking to the Responsible Offshore Development Association (RODA) to represent them in Washington, D.C., on this issue, according to Schill. He said they work to prevent wind-energy projects from negatively affecting fisheries and have had some success. “They’ve been very effective on Capitol Hill and with regulatory agencies letting their views be known,” Schill said. “And there has been legal action on behalf of commercial fishermen up north of here, where it’s definitely going to affect commercial fishing interests.” NSJ also spoke with Glenn Skinner, the current executive director of the NCFA, on Oct. 26, who reiterated that their organization is not sounding any alarm bells on the issue yet. “What we’ve been doing in terms of here in North Carolina is we just monitor it and work with anybody to make sure we don’t have an issue, so they’re not throwing this [wind turbines] right in the middle of current fishing grounds,” Skinner said. Skinner said if they put wind farms in areas they do fish, “we’d see that as a problem if they were going to have a major impact,” and “we’d do whatever we could to address it.” Schill agreed they would “absolutely” be concerned in that
RALEIGH — There has been a lot of recent discussion on major wind-energy projects along the North Carolina coast, and the state’s fishing industry has been watching closely to see how any announcements may affect their fisheries. This year has had a lot of big headlines about wind-power on the N.C. coast. On June 9, Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order saying that the state would strive for development of 2.8 gigawatts of offshore wind-power generation by 2030, ramping up to 8 GW by 2040. Then on Oct.13, there were two separate major developments. At the Governor’s Mansion, Cooper signed a compromise clean-energy bill, which will lean heavily on renewable energy, likely including offshore wind projects. That same day, President Joe Biden’s administration announced a major wind-power plan that would span much of the country’s seaboard, with one of the seven proposed sites being off the Wilmington coast. Biden wants to have 30 GW of wind-energy production in place by 2030, in large part using these sites. Currently, the projects being proposed do not affect areas of the North Carolina coast that fishermen rely on, but representatives of the state’s fishing industry say they are taking a wait-and-see approach to the impact of any future plans. “The things that are being proposed right now off the coast of North Carolina, those windmills would not be in an area that we actively participate in fishing,” said Jerry Schill, former executive director and current government relations director for the North Carolina Fisheries Association, a trade organization representing the state’s commercial fishermen. “There might be some transit interest, boats going back and forth, but off North Carolina, it would not negatively affect our fisherman in terms of where they fish.” Schill said one area that North See WIND, page A2
JOSH “CHEVY” CHEVALIER is a third-generation shipbuilder who hasn’t missed a day of work during the pandemic in his job as a welder constructing Navy warships on the Maine coast. But he’s ready to walk away from his job because of an impending mandate from President Joe Biden that federal contractors and all U.S. businesses with 100 or more workers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “People are fighting for their
constitutional rights — the way they think their life should be,” said Chevalier, one of hundreds of employees at Bath Iron Works threatening to leave. Chevalier is among a small but significant number of American workers deciding whether to quit their jobs and careers in defiance of what they consider intrusive edicts that affect their freedoms. The defiant workers make up a small fraction of the overall workforce, with many cities, states and businesses reporting that more See MANDATES, page A2
National School Boards Association apologizes for letter that sparked U.S. attorney general memo New emails show White House communicated with school boards group; NC congressmen press for answers By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The National School Board Association is now apologizing for a letter it sent to the Biden administration. That letter, which drew comparisons between parents protesting school boards and “domestic terrorism,” was used by the U.S. Attorney General to direct the FBI to intervene in local school board affairs nationwide. On Friday, Oct. 22, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) issued an apology to its members for the letter sent to the White House by the NSBA President and CEO. “On behalf of the NSBA, we regret and apologize for the letter,” reads the NSBA board’s letter. “To be clear, the safety of school board members, other school officials and educators, and students is our top priority, and there remains important work to be done on this issue. However, there was no justification for some of the language included in the letter. We should have had a better process in place to allow for consultation on a communication of this significance. We apologize also for the strain and stress this situation has caused you and your organizations.” According to Parents Defending Education, as of Oct. 22, at least 21 state members of the NSBA have distanced or withdrawn their membership following the Sept. 29 letter, among them is North Carolina. The North Carolina School
Board Association’s response said in part that they had “no role in creating the National School Boards Association’s letter to President See LETTER, page A2