City Reviews Proposal To Extend Confederate Statue Removal Deadline
The deadline to remove a Confederate statue in downtown Winston-Salem is Thursday. But the United Daughters of the Confederacy could have more time to meet the city's demand.
The UDC is asking the city for a 60-day delay on filing legal action to remove the monument.
An attorney for the group says there are questions about the ownership of the statue and whether it meets the legal definition to be described as a public nuisance, and also questions of whether the city's actions are constitutional.
Another issue is whether placement of the courthouse property on the National Register of Historic Places prohibits the removal.
Winston-Salem mayor Allen Joines says the city is reviewing the proposal.
North Carolina Session Reconvenes This Week, But Lasts How Long?
The North Carolina General Assembly returns to work in earnest this week, and how long the session lasts probably depends on working relations between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican lawmakers.
Democratic gains in the November elections mean the GOP no longer has veto-proof control as the session reconvenes Wednesday following a three-week break. Those legislative victories give Cooper and his allies more leverage in negotiating, especially with the upcoming two-year budget. Democrats also will press hard to expand Medicaid.
Other topics likely to get attention this year include school safety, a public education construction package and continued Hurricane Florence recovery.
North Carolina Measure Would Require Testing For All Rape Kits
North Carolina politicians are promising to spend the $6 million needed to catch up on testing decades of ignored evidence collected from sexual assault victims, and also prevent the injustice from repeating.
Attorney General Josh Stein discussed the state's strategy for testing long-ignored sexual assault kits on Tuesday, a day after recent DNA testing led to a South Carolina man's arrest in a 1987 rape in Fayetteville.
Stein and a bipartisan group of legislators unveiled a legislative proposal that would spend millions to catch up on testing sexual assault kits stored and sometimes forgotten in local law enforcement custody.
Conversations Continuing On North Carolina Voting Records Demand
North Carolina state attorneys are continuing talks with U.S. prosecutors over subpoenas issued months ago demanding voting documents and ballots that could be used by federal immigration agents in election fraud investigations.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh initially asked for records last August. The state elections board decided to fight the subpoenas, citing their scope and timing. A federal lawyer told the board the subpoenas could be narrowed and responses delayed until this month.
State House elections committee leaders wrote state Attorney General Josh Stein and elections director Kim Strach on Tuesday seeking an update.
Retired Businessman Perry Picked To Join North Carolina Senate
A retired businessman will join the North Carolina Senate after Republican activists chose him as a successor to a veteran legislator who resigned this month.
The Goldsboro News-Argus reports that Wayne and Lenoir county GOP leaders on Monday picked Jim Perry of Kinston to serve out the rest of ex-Sen. Louis Pate's term through the end of 2020. Pate cited health issues in stepping down Jan. 14. Pate had started his ninth legislative term in January.
Gov. Roy Cooper is now required by state law to appoint Perry.
Perry previously operated a business providing non-clinical support services to dental practices, and also worked with a chain of urgent care dental clinics.
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