Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Morning News Briefs: Thursday, September 29, 2016

An example of dashcam recorders used by police agencies. Credit: Fernost for Wikipedia

Charlotte Mayor Wants Repeal Of Law On Videos

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts is calling on North Carolina lawmakers to repeal a new law that spells out guidelines for release of police camera and video recordings.

The Charlotte Observer reports that Roberts called specifically on Wednesday for a special session to repeal HB 972. The call comes a week after Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer.

Protesters have demanded that Roberts and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney release the video of the shooting. One video has been released so far, and a police attorney told The Associated Press that much of the video of the shooting is too gruesome to release to the public.

Questions Remain Over Excessive Force Case In Greensboro

The City of Greensboro is putting a hold on the promotion of any officers involved in a recent internal investigation.

This comes after police body camera footage was released this week, showing a white officer assaulting a black man.

Greensboro City Manager Jim Westmoreland has instated a 30 day hold on the promotion of any officer involved in the investigation of Travis Cole. He's one of two officers involved in the assault of Dejuan Yourse in June. Cole resigned from his post in August.

Triad City Beat's Eric Ginsburg has been closely following the case and says the paper found the officer was promoted during the investigation.

The Guilford County District Attorney has said it will not reopen its case against officer Cole. But Police Chief Wayne Scott is preparing a full report on how the internal investigation was executed.

California Limits Travel To North Carolina Over LGBT Law

The state of California has joined the list of those taking action against North Carolina for its law that limits LGBT protections against discrimination.

The Sacramento Bee reports that Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Tuesday prohibiting state agencies from compelling their employees to travel to states with laws that allow discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The law bans state-funded travel to North Carolina.

Audit Report: Physician Overbilled For NC Prisoner Treatment

A state report found a former contract physician at several North Carolina prisons falsified work time records that resulted in him getting paid several hundred thousand dollars more than he should have.

State Auditor Beth Wood's office released Wednesday her investigation after the Department of Public Safety noticed discrepancies between the doctor's records and entry and exit logs at the prisons. Wood's staff calculated the doctor overbilled more than 4,500 hours over three years, costing the state $567,000.

Forsyth Co. Sheriff's Deputy Dies After Being Hit By Car

A Forsyth County Sheriff's deputy has died after being hit by a car earlier this month.

38-year-old Deputy Sheriff J.T. Isenhour was directing traffic Sept. 18 at a bike race in Clemmons when he was hit by a car.

Isenhour was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital, where he died from his injuries Wednesday morning.

The North Carolina State Highway Patrol says the driver was a 92-year-old woman who said she didn't see Isenhour directing traffic. The District Attorney's Office will decide whether charges will be brought against the driver.

Isenhour had been with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office since Oct. 2015.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Receive the morning news briefs delivered to your email inbox every morning, click here to sign-up.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate