NC Photo ID, Voting Law Challenges Return To Court
Long-running legal challenges over photo identification and other voting changes in North Carolina are returning to federal court.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments Tuesday in Richmond, Virginia. The hearing comes two months after a lower court upheld the photo ID mandate, restrictions on early voting and ending the practice of counting out-of-precinct ballots on Election Day.
The 4th Circuit agreed to an expedited review. A lot is riding on a final outcome that could occur before the November presidential and gubernatorial election.
Winston-Salem Council To Vote On Budget Proposal
The Winston-Salem City Council is expected to vote on a municipal budget proposal for the next fiscal year at Monday's meeting. If it passes, taxes could be going up for homeowners.
The proposed budget calls for a three and a half percent property tax hike.
City manager Lee Garrity says the money is needed to make municipal salaries more competitive and make some updates that were delayed because of the recession.
Winston-Salem City Council will hold a public hearing on the budget proposal before they vote on the measure at Monday's meeting.
Greensboro Pays Mayor's $8,500 Legal Bill In Developer Suit
The city of Greensboro has paid about $8,500 to lawyers who gave the city's mayor advice before she gave a deposition in a lawsuit.
Developer Eric Robert sued the city in May 2015, saying he should have received part of nearly $7 million in grants to revitalize part of Greensboro. Robert had said Mayor Nancy Vaughan had private conversations with him that contradicted what he was told by the city.
The News & Record of Greensboro reports that Vaughn denied that, and initially said she would pay for her lawyers on her own. But City Attorney Tom Carruthers says Greensboro offered to pay the bill because the mayor was sued as a part of city business.
Robert has dropped his lawsuit.
Protesters Schedule Rally Mourning Orlando Shooting Victims
Opponents of North Carolina's law preventing local governments from passing LGBT anti-discrimination protections and directing which bathrooms transgender people can use are reuniting to honor victims of the shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub that killed 49 people.
The Forward Together movement led by the state NAACP scheduled a vigil "against hate and discrimination" late Monday at the Legislative Building.
Participants will mourn the shooting victims and discuss opposition to the state's LGBT law and new voter identification requirements.
The movement's two previous rallies in April and May ended with arrests of protesters who authorities say refused to leave the building or offices of General Assembly leaders after hours.
Sheriff: Parents Who Kidnapped Son Caught 2,000 Miles Away
Authorities say two North Carolina parents kidnapped their own infant son from social services, then apparently drove across the country in a stolen minivan.
The Randolph County Sheriff's office said Sunday that John Eastlack was found by Missoula, Montana police officers at a hotel with his parents after officers spotted the minivan.
The boy was unharmed and was turned over to social service workers in Missoula, which is about 2,000 miles from Randolph County, North Carolina.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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