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Gov. Cooper On Teacher Pay: "I Am Doing My Part"
Gov. Roy Cooper has written North Carolina public school teachers explaining his side as to why they haven't gotten meaningful raises because of the extended state budget impasse.
Cooper's office said on Friday it sent a letter to public school principals across the state with the request that it is forwarded to teachers and staff. The Democratic governor asks educators to tell legislators to negotiate with Cooper around a better pay plan.
The deadlock began in June when Cooper vetoed the full two-year budget in part because he says he wants more robust pay increases. Republicans say Cooper's to blame for the impasse.
North Carolina Rep. Holding Won't Seek 2020 Reelection
North Carolina Republican Rep. George Holding won't run for reelection, as a recent redistricting made his current district skew to the left.
Holding announced his decision on Friday. Holding represents the Triangle-area 2nd Congressional District, which was dramatically altered by the state legislature a few weeks ago because state judges ruled it was likely the previous map was tainted with extreme partisan bias favoring the GOP.
Holding acknowledged the remap was part of the reason he won't run. He's a former U.S. attorney who was first elected to the House in 2012.
Guilford County Bus Drivers To Get Pay Raise
Guilford County bus drivers will soon see a bump in their paychecks. Guilford County Commissioners passed a motion Thursday to raise wages to $15 an hour.
The change was long in coming. Drivers began meeting months ago before announcing their demands for a higher wage. In November a protest walkout was planned and later canceled.
Eventually, their efforts were joined by Commissioner Skip Alston and later bolstered by a bit of good fortune in the form of an unexpected budget surplus. Guilford County's new voting machines initially projected to cost $8 million came in at just over $2 million. Alston proposed using 1.5 million from that surplus to up drivers' salaries and says it was long overdue.
In the end, the motion was passed unanimously with $800,000 being applied to bus driver pay and roughly $400,000 to all Guilford County workers currently making less than $15 an hour.
Man Convicted Of Death Threat Against Muslim Candidate
A North Carolina man has been convicted of a charge he anonymously threatened to lynch a Muslim-American man who ran for a state Senate seat in Virginia.
Joseph Cecil Vandevere faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison following his conviction Friday in federal court in Asheville. A sentencing date wasn't immediately set.
Vandevere was charged in June with interstate communication of a threat to injure a person in connection with a tweet directed at candidate Qasim Rashid. The tweet included a picture of a lynching and read, "VIEW YOUR DESTINY."
Rashid, a Democrat, lost his Nov. 5 bid to defeat an incumbent Republican state senator in Virginia.
Winston-Salem Police Investigate Audio Detailing Abuse
An investigation is underway following the release of an audio recording in which the assistant police chief in Winston-Salem apparently admits to physically assaulting his wife.
The Winston-Salem Journal reports city officials have acknowledged that they are conducting an internal personnel investigation into Assistant Police Chief William Penn after the recording was posted to Facebook last month. On the audio, Penn can be heard saying he grabbed his wife by the throat, pushed her against a wall and slammed her onto a couch, but his attorney says he denies an assault occurred.
City Manager Lee Garrity declined to share further details, citing state privacy laws. William Penn has not been criminally charged, and City Attorney Angela Carmon said the decision on whether to begin a criminal investigation has not been made.
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