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After Another Court Ruling, NC House Back To Redistricting

The North Carolina House is starting another round of redistricting demanded by judges who declared Republicans unnecessarily redrew a handful of districts in 2017.

The House Redistricting Committee scheduled a meeting for Thursday to discuss remapping of Wake County lines, but planned no votes.

There's a June 30 deadline to approve new House districts for Wake in light of a November court ruling. A panel of state judges found GOP legislators went beyond what federal judges directed to redraw lines to fix racial bias in nearly 30 House and Senate districts.

Cooper Speaks With Physicians On Medicaid Expansion

Gov. Roy Cooper keeps trying to build pressure upon state legislators to approve Medicaid expansion in North Carolina through another public meeting with those in the health care profession supporting it.

Cooper held a roundtable discussion on Wednesday at the Executive Mansion with obstetricians and pediatricians who later visited lawmakers. He said in a news release that providing more coverage to women in their child-bearing years can reduce infant mortality and improve the health of babies. Cooper's office says North Carolina ranks low among states in women's access to health insurance.

North Carolina Sues E-Cigarette Maker JUUL Over Marketing

North Carolina's attorney general has filed a lawsuit against a popular e-cigarette maker, asking a court to limit what flavors it can sell and ensure underage teens can't buy it.

In announcing his lawsuit Wednesday, Josh Stein says he's the first state attorney general to take the maker of JUUL to court. The Massachusetts attorney general also announced an investigation last year into JUUL's sales and marketing.

Stein said JUUL's marketing practices have caused an "epidemic" among young people. He said in a news release: "JUUL targeted young people as customers."

Craft Beer Sales Deal OK'd By North Carolina Senate Panel

Agreed-to legislation from North Carolina alcohol wholesalers and small breweries over who distributes their product as the beer-makers grow is finding little resistance within the General Assembly.

The Senate Commerce and Insurance Committee recommended the bipartisan legislation sought by the state's largest microbreweries, which don't like current limits on self-distributing their products. The measure already cleared the full House last month. 

Current law says once a brewery sells more than 25,000 barrels in a year, third-party distributors take over all sales, marketing and pricing. The compromise would double self-distribution to 50,000 barrels.

Investigation: Town Had Over $64K In Undocumented Spending

A state auditor's investigation has revealed that the small town of Robbinsville in western North Carolina spent over $64,000 of taxpayer money on gas, restaurant meals and other expenses without adequate documentation.

The May report examines $34,343 in credit card charges between July 2016 and Feb. 2018 and $30,660 of fuel purchases made between July 2016 and Nov. 2017.

The same investigation found that town officials and employees received over $15,900 in fringe benefits that weren't reported as taxable income.

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