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Thompson Named New Winston-Salem Chief Of Police
The city of Winston-Salem has a new police chief.
City Manager Lee Garrity on Friday announced the appointment of Assistant Chief Catrina Thompson.
According to a press release, Thompson will take over September 1st. Current chief Barry Rountree is retiring.
Thompson will become the city's 15th chief of police. She is a 23-year veteran of the department.
NC Senate Republicans Advance Remap Court Demands
North Carolina Senate Republicans are advancing their proposed remap of the chamber's districts even though Democrats argue the boundaries don't adequately address questions of race that federal judges are bound to ask.
The Senate redistricting committee approved along party lines Thursday evening the GOP's rewrite of districts. The first of two required floor votes is expected Friday. The committee did make minor changes to districts in and around Raleigh and Fayetteville.
Other amendments that Democrats proposed for the Charlotte and Greensboro areas were rejected. Democrats said their proposals would have eliminated racial gerrymanders they say remain from the 2011 map that a federal court struck down as unlawful. But Republicans stuck to their premise that racial data were not used in redrawing.
Cooper Sees Vetoes On 2 More Issues Overridden By NC House
North Carolina lawmakers are again reversing Gov. Roy Cooper's effort to block legislation.
The state House on Thursday overrode two more Cooper vetoes. If the Senate goes along, that would make seven bills that became law despite the governor's opposition.
Legislation was approved allowing Republican lawyer Bill Peaslee to draw a second state paycheck for his occasional Property Tax Commission work along with his full-time job on the state Industrial Commission. Cooper also would lose to legislative leaders two of his 13 appointments on the board that regulates doctors.
The second bill would allow credit property insurance to be sold for more consumer products such as all-terrain vehicles.
Davie Commissioner Takes Seat In North Carolina Senate
North Carolina's newest state senator has taken his seat at the General Assembly.
Republican Dan Barrett of Advance was sworn in early Thursday after Gov. Roy Cooper officially appointed him the day before. GOP activists in Rowan, Davie and Iredell counties last week had chosen Barrett to succeed Sen. Andrew Brock of Mocksville, who resigned in late June.
Barrett has been a Davie County commissioner and once ran for governor. He'll fill out Brock's term through the end of 2018.
Settlement Should Help Black Candidates In NC County
A court settlement over election districts in a rural North Carolina county should help black candidates get on the local governing board after an absence of two decades.
A national civil rights organization sued Jones County leaders and boards in February on behalf of black voters who alleged racial discrimination in how county commissioners are elected.
An agreement by the two sides in the case signed by a federal judge this week means the at-large method by which five commissioners are elected will be replaced with one in which seven commissioners are elected from specific districts.
Duke University Receives 2 Endangered Lemurs From Madagascar
A pair of endangered lemurs has been imported to the U.S. from Madagascar for the first time in two decades.
The Duke Lemur Center announced Thursday that it transferred the 5-year-old male and 3-year-old female 9,000 miles from Madagascar to their new home in North Carolina. They were born in a conservation center in Madagascar.
The center says there could be fewer than 1,000 blue-eyed black lemurs in the wild.
Center officials say it took three years of planning and 60 hours of travel to get them to the U.S. Duke says it's the first time lemurs have been imported to the U.S. from Madagascar in 24 years because of strict regulations on the primates.
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