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North Carolina Orders Duke Energy To Excavate All Coal Ash
The country's largest electric company is being ordered to excavate coal ash from all of its North Carolina power plant sites, slashing the risk of toxic chemicals leaking into water supplies but potentially adding billions of dollars to power bills.
North Carolina's environmental agency said Monday it has decided Duke Energy Corp. must remove the residue left after decades of burning coal from six remaining sites.
Cleanup became a priority after a 2014 leak from a Duke Energy site left coal ash coating 70 miles of the Dan River on the North Carolina-Virginia border.
North Carolina Read To Achieve Gets Retooled In Senate Bill
An effort championed by North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger to improve student literacy by third grade would be retooled in new legislation.
Berger stood with education leaders and researchers while unveiling legislation on Monday focusing on the "Read to Achieve" initiative started in 2013.
A 2018 university study examined test scores and found little benefit from the program that's received over $150 million. Berger says Read to Achieve works well in some places and needs adjustments elsewhere.
The legislation directs teachers to create tailored individual reading plans for at-risk children, following on success in Mississippi. The bill also seeks more literacy training for teachers, giving them incentives to work in summer reading camps.
Bill Requiring Sheriffs' Cooperation With ICE Advances
Legislation to force all North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration agents who ask that defendants in jails be held is soon heading to the House floor.
On a divided voice vote, the House Rules Committee voted on Monday for the measure that Speaker Tim Moore and other Republicans support.
The bill responds to decisions by recently elected Democratic sheriffs not to accept Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers. These documents request that suspects be held up to 48 hours on belief they are in the country unlawfully so agents can pick them up.
North Carolina GOP Chairman Hayes Won't Seek Re-Election
North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes says he won't seek re-election to the post after all.
The former congressman announced on Monday that the state GOP's convention in June will be his last leading the party. Convention delegates will choose his successor.
The 73-year-old Hayes had initially decided to seek another two-year term, but in a release from the party he says complications from recent hip surgery led him to change his mind.
'Racist Language' Found On UNC Minorities Founder Statue
Officials at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill say "racist language" has been found on a monument dedicated to the people of color who helped create the university.
Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz sent a message to the university Sunday night that said the Unsung Founders Memorial and an art installation were defaced with "hateful language and racial slurs."
The News and Observer reports the Unsung Founders Memorial is near where a Confederate statue known as "Silent Sam" once stood. The memorial has since been cleaned, and it's unclear what exactly was written on it.
The university said two people defaced the art and monument early Sunday. The school said one of them is known to campus police, who are getting an arrest warrant. Authorities were reviewing surveillance video to identify the second person.
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