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North Carolina Redistricting Maps Approved, Head To Judges Next
North Carolina legislators have completed the remapping of House and Senate districts, required by a court order to be completed by later this week. Now, Republicans who drew them must see whether judges will sign off on the new lines.
The House voted Wednesday to approve the Senate map after a short debate. A few hours earlier, the Senate voted for the House boundaries. The two chambers already approved their own lines earlier this week.
A panel of federal judges set Friday's deadline for maps to be approved. These judges previously ruled 28 districts approved in 2011 were illegal racial gerrymanders.
2 More Cooper Vetoes Overridden By Lawmakers
The Republican-dominated North Carolina legislature has overridden two more vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
The Senate completed the overrides Wednesday evening, which means bills addressing short-term installment loans, some state employees and the panel regulating physicians now become law. The House voted to override the bills last week.
One of Wednesday's new laws allows consumer finance companies to sell credit property insurance that covers more personal goods when initiating loans. The other law gives two of Cooper's appointments to the North Carolina Medical Board to legislative leaders, as well as allows a state worker to get paid for commission work when on vacation.
UNC Says No To Speech By White Nationalist Richard Spencer
The University of North Carolina has rejected a request by white nationalist Richard Spencer to speak on campus.
Spencer is a leader of the white nationalist movement and attended demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, that erupted into deadly violece in mid-August.
Chancellor Carol Folt wrote to the campus community on Wednesday that she declined a request for Spencer's National Policy Institute to rent space for him to speak because of "serious concerns about campus safety."
Greensboro Firefighters Among Rescue Teams Sent To Texas
North Carolina is sending five swift water rescue teams to assist with search and rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
According to a press release from the Department of Public Safety, the rescuers will head to College Station, Texas Thursday morning.
The teams consist of 92 public safety personnel from around North Carolina, including members of the Greensboro Fire Department.
Southern Gasoline Pipeline To Shut Down Due To Harvey
Colonial Pipeline says it plans to shut down a key line that supplies gasoline to the South due to storm-related refinery shutdowns and Harvey's effect on its facilities west of Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The Georgia-based company said in a statement that it expects to shut off the line Thursday. The company had already closed down another line that transports primarily diesel and aviation fuels.
The pipeline provides nearly 40 percent of the South's gasoline.
In September 2016, a leak and gas spill in Alabama that closed the Colonial Pipeline led to days of empty gas station pumps and higher prices in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.