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Judges Appoint Redistricting Expert, Reject GOP Objections
A federal court is going through with plans to hire an outside expert to redraw several North Carolina legislative districts.
An order from a three-judge panel Wednesday appoints a Stanford University law professor to redraw two Senate and seven House districts by Dec. 1. The ruling rejects arguments from GOP legislative leaders that they should get another chance at remapping. The legislature already redrew the lines in August.
The order says special master Nathaniel Persily can look at voter racial data while doing his work but can't use election results. The judges plan to review his work in a court hearing in January. Candidate filing begins in February.
Legislators Agree School Funding Changes Needed
Members of a new North Carolina legislative task force on public school funding sound like they agree that lawmakers must simplify the current methods for how money from the state gets distributed.
But some House and Senate task force members differed Wednesday on how much freedom local school districts should receive while spending billions of state dollars annually. Others warned the spending overhaul still leaves rural and poor counties trailing their urban counterparts in providing money for teacher salary supplements.
Safety Report Issued For Triad Hospitals
Safety grades are down a notch for two of the Triad's three main hospitals.
The News and Record reports that Moses Cone Hospital of Greensboro slipped from an A to B for the first time in eight reports. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem dropped from a B to a C, while Forsyth Medical Center remained at B for the second consecutive report.
The safety study was released by the non-profit Leapfrog Group, which was founded by larger employers and private health care purchasers.
Leapfrog reviews 30 measures of patient safety, including such areas as error prevention, infections and medication mix-ups.
Several Triad hospitals maintained an A rating, including Novant Health's Medical Park Hospital, Kernersville Medical Center and High Point Regional.
NC Town Founded By Freed Slaves To Rebuild Flooded School
Education leaders have agreed that the elementary school in a North Carolina town founded by freed slaves will be rebuilt and should reopen in fall 2018, two years after Hurricane Matthew flooded it.
The Rocky Mount Telegram reports that the Edgecombe County Board of Education voted Tuesday to rebuild Princeville Elementary School. The vote elicited applause and tears.
The board specified that the school will be rebuilt with several hazard mitigation improvements, such as elevated air conditioning units. Officials say $270,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will cover those changes, while insurance will pay for the estimated $4 million for rebuilding.
Princeville was founded by freed slaves and chartered in 1885.
Human Trafficking Probe Leads To Several Arrests
A human trafficking ring bust has yielded six arrests in North Carolina.
The ring was broken up in Alamance County on Monday after several agencies combined to find seven potential victims and arrest six people.
The Alamance County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that much of the investigation centered on prostitution, some of which was suspected of being involuntary. No charges of soliciting for prostitution were initially issued.