VOLUME 7 ISSUE 13
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2022
Remembering and honoring our heroes
AG Stein recovering from ‘minor stroke’ Raleigh Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein said Tuesday he was hospitalized after experiencing strokelike symptoms. In a tweet, Stein said doctors confirmed he experienced a minor stroke and a procedure was performed to remove a small blood clot. “I’m feeling back to normal now and am beyond blessed to have no lingering effects. My doctor wants me to stay here for another day or two to get some rest before I get back to work,” Stein said. Stein, who has said he is vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, confirmed last week he had tested positive for the virus. NSJ STAFF
Trio of polls show good news for Republicans in ’22, ’24
PJ WARD-BROWN | AP PHOTO
Ted Budd speaks with his family after winning the Republican U.S. Senate primary at WinMock at Kinderton in Bermuda Run, on May 17, 2022.
Raleigh Three polls released after the May 17 statewide primary give Republicans leads in races on the ballot this November – and in a race many expect in two years. The polls were conducted by the Carolina Partnership for Reform by Meeting Street Insights just days before the primary. In all three, Republicans lead in general election matchups: Ted Budd over Cheri Beasley in the state’s U.S. Senate race, N.C. Supreme Court nominees Trey Allen and Richard Dietz over Sam Ervin IV and Lucy Inman, and in a 2024 gubernatorial preview, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson over Attorney General Josh Stein. Budd had a slight edge over Beasley, with 44% to 43%. An East Carolina University poll released on Monday had better news for Budd, giving him 47% to Beasley’s 39% among registered voters. Robinson led Stein by a 48% to 42% margin with 10% of those surveyed. NSJ STAFF
Pentagon says more high-tech weapons going to Ukraine Washington, D.C. Nearly 50 defense leaders from around the world met Monday and agreed to send more advanced weapons to Ukraine, including a harpoon launcher and missiles to protect its coast, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that “low-level” discussion is underway on how the U.S. may need to adjust its training of Ukrainian forces and on whether some U.S. troops should be based in Ukraine. The U.S. withdrew its few troops in Ukraine before the war. Milley’s comments left open the possibility troops could return for embassy security or another noncombat role. The U.S. embassy in Kyiv has partially reopened and is staffing up again, and there have been questions about whether the U.S. will send a Marine security force back in to help protect the embassy. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Nominees Beasley, Budd turn focus to November By Matt Mercer North State Journal
Records find more taxpayer money paid to secretive education nonprofit $680,915 in additional payments discovered; Over $2M paid to The Innovation Project overall
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — New records obtained by North State Journal detail more payments made by North Carolina school districts to a secretive education nonprofit, The Innovation Project (TIP). As of April 30, North State Journal has obtained payments made by an additional nine districts; Craven, Forsyth, Hoke, Johnston Lenoir, Lincoln, Mt. Airy, Person, and Scotland. These districts made combined payments of $680,915 to TIP during the same time span. North State Journal originally requested payments made to TIP from 33 public school districts in the state known to have had contact with TIP. The districts included Alamance-Burlington, Asheboro City Schools, Beaufort, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Chatham, Craven, Cumberland, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Granville, Guilford, Hoke, Johnston, Iredell-Statesville, Kannapolis, Lenoir, Lincoln, New Hanover, Moore, Mount Airy, Onslow, Person, Rockingham, Rowan-Salisbury, Scotland, Wake, Warren, Wilson and Vance. Of those 33, 21 produced payments to TIP totaling close to $1.35 million spanning the time period from 2017 through 2021. With the inclusion of the information from the nine districts, the overall total of taxpayer dollars flowing to TIP now stands at $2,048,800. Three of the districts, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Randolph, and Surry, reported no payments. Three more districts,
Edgecombe, Warren and Wayne, continue to be nonresponsive to requests for information. Johnston County’s payment to TIP included $164,000 in passthrough payments to the “North Carolina Education Collaborative,” which was TIP’s previous legal name. The pass-through funds were related to a $150,000 grant from the organization which gave TIP its seed money, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR). Documents obtained from Johnston County Schools shows that TIP had been collecting payments through its prior name, “North Carolina Education Collaborative (NCEC).” It is unclear if any of the districts surveyed by North State Journal also made payments to TIP while it was still named NCEC, which would raise the already over $2 million total paid to the group. An October 2016 letter to Johnston County’s superintendent at the time, Dr. Ross Renfrow, outlined the funneling of a $150,000 ZSR grant through Johnston County Schools to NCEC. The $150,000 was to be paid by the district to NCEC in installments for “multiple initiatives” in the district. A Dec. 16, 2015, letter from Leslie Winner, a former executive director of ZSR, to NCEC’s co-founder Gerry Hancock detailed that the money would go towards “The Implementation Initiative of The Innovation Project.” Rolled up in Winner’s letter was a series of topic areas covered by the initiative, including a “Restart Schools Collaborative” that would be expanded to a “larger” restart schools network. Also on the list was a virtual academy collaborative, a homeschools initiative, a principal leadership study, a future STEM teachers scholarship, innovation classrooms, leadership services, and establishing partnerships.
RALEIGH — Fresh off dominating wins in their respective party’s primaries Tuesday night, Democratic Party nominee Cheri Beasley and Republican nominee Ted Budd began targeting one another in statements, ads, and kicking off the general election for the state’s U.S. Senate seat. Beasley celebrated in Raleigh with a who’s who of Democratic Party leaders, including Gov. Roy Cooper, at the state Democratic Party headquarters.
“North Carolina, I’m honored to be your nominee ... the first African American woman to be your Democratic Senate nominee,” said Beasley Tuesday night. “As North Carolina’s next U.S. Senator, Cheri will be an independent and fierce advocate for North Carolina and continue her work to provide opportunity for families across the state. North Carolina Democrats are proud to stand with Cheri as we work to do everything we can to flip this seat,” state Democratic Party See BUDD, page A2
Without Edwards, Cawthorn would’ve won Senate primary By Matt Mercer North State Journal RALEIGH — The outsized attention placed on the 11th Congressional District Republican primary was driven by the tumultuous 18 months Madison Cawthorn spent as a first-term Congressman. Yet without the entry of Chuck Edwards into the field, he would be on the path to reelection. The race truly began when the General Assembly’s 2021 redistricting session got underway last fall. Following statewide public hearings and draft proposals that garnered much attention on Twitter, the legislature placed a new district between the mountains and Mecklenburg County – and political observers seemed certain that House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) would run for the seat. That, of course, didn’t happen, with Cawthorn saying he would leave his western NC district and run in the new one. In his words, it was to keep an “establishment, go along to get along Republican” from winning. “This was a tactical move to ensure North Carolina’s conservative fighting spirit is strengthened,” Cawthorn said in a video announcing the move. A host of candidates would announce their campaigns without the presence of an incumbent, Edwards among them. However, state courts got involved, and in a series of courtroom moves the legislative map was discarded. In that time, though, Cawthorn’s
move drew ire from the people who sent him to Washington in the first place. None of the candidates who got into the race left – including Edwards. First elected to the state Senate See EDWARDS, page A2