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Cooper's First Vetoed Bill Back Before Republican Lawmakers
Republican legislative leaders are deciding whether they've got the votes to cancel Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's first veto of a GOP bill making local trial court elections officially partisan again.
The House placed the vetoed measure on its floor debate calendar Wednesday, but doesn't have to act right away. At least three-fifths of House and Senate members voting would have to agree to override for the law to be enacted. The bill is one of several pieces of GOP legislation designed to reshape the state's courts or weaken Cooper.
Cooper says judges shouldn't be chosen based on party labels, but on experience and other qualifications.
Full Appeals Court To Hear Challenge To Prayers At Meetings
A federal appeals court is taking another look at a lawsuit challenging a North Carolina county commission's practice of opening meetings with Christian prayer.
The full 15-judge bench of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the Rowan County prayer case on Wednesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the commission on behalf of three people who said the commission's practice of starting meetings with prayers that almost always referred to Christianity was coercive and discriminatory.
A divided three-judge panel of the Richmond, Virginia-based court ruled last year that the practice was constitutional as long as commissioners don't pressure others to participate.
Committee Endorses Winston-Salem “Welcoming City” Resolution
A Winston-Salem city committee has endorsed a “Welcoming City” resolution on a split vote.
The resolution reaffirms Winston-Salem's commitment to provide a “safe and welcoming environment to immigrants, refugees and other newcomers.”
The statement does not propose declaring Winston-Salem a “sanctuary city,” a designation that could invite financial penalties imposed by lawmakers.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports the resolution, proposed by Council member Dan Besse, passed on a 3-1 vote. Council member Robert Clark, the committee's only Republican, dissented, calling it a partisan document designed to create division between the city and lawmakers in Raleigh and Washington.
The resolution will go before the full city council on Monday.
UNC Health Care: Patient Information May Have Been Leaked
UNC Health Care has sent out a letter alerting its prenatal patients that their confidential medical information may have been shared with their home county by mistake.
On Monday, the University of North Carolina Health Care System sent letters to 1,300 patients who are thought to have completed "Pregnancy Home Risk Screening Forms" between April 2014 and February 2017.
The forms were used to collect personal information from Medicaid-eligible prenatal patients and were shared with patients' local health departments to connect them with support services.
But the system said a review of the obstetric clinic practices revealed that forms completed by women who were not eligible for Medicaid "may have been mistakenly sent to the county health department where they live."
NAACP Leader: GOP Lawmakers Offended Public With Policies
A chief critic of North Carolina Republican policies on everything from voting and LGBT rights to health care and the minimum wage says GOP legislators have offended the public and their laws must be overturned.
State NAACP president the Rev. William Barber led a lobbying effort Tuesday at the Legislative Building for his organization and allied groups with the "Forward Together" movement. Clergy and other activists went door-to-door to House and Senate members' offices to push their policy agenda.
A couple of hundred people joined Barber for an afternoon news conference, where he complained about the inaction of GOP legislative leaders, especially after court rulings on voting laws and redistricting.
Bill Would Create Commission To Advocate For College Players
Some North Carolina lawmakers want to create a commission that would advocate for college athletes.
A bill filed Tuesday in the Senate would create the Legislative Commission on the Fair Treatment of College Student-Athletes, which would "examine the needs and concerns" of athletes in the University of North Carolina system.
The bill is sponsored by three Republican Senators — Warren Daniel of Burke County, and Dan Bishop and Jeff Tarte of Mecklenburg County.
The commission would study issues related to athletes' health insurance, injuries, unionization and profit-sharing for the use of their image.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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