WAKE COUNTY MULLS NEEDS-BASED PROPERTY TAX PROGRAM: Local elected leaders mostly agreed Thursday night to work with Wake County nonprofits to help low-income residents pay their tax bills. One Wake, a nonprofit made up of religious organizations, and Habitat of Humanity of Wake County, held an in-person and virtual meeting to pitch their plan for long-time homeowners. Three women shared their stories of living in Rochester Heights and the burden of property taxes on their families. “Sometimes it’s just about time for the next tax bill to come out before I finished paying it,” said Martha Elaine Peebles-Brown, whose father built many of the homes in the historically Black neighborhood. The nonprofits propose a program for homeowners who have lived in their homes for 10 years or more, who earn up to 80% of the area median income and who pay more than 2% of their household income on property taxes. Every city/town needs to do this, frankly. And don't tell me it's not fair, because that's hogwash. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article255191517.html#storylink=mainsta...
CAWTHORN FILES BILL BLOCKING MANDATE THAT DOESN'T EXIST: “Vaccine requirements for interstate travel are in direct opposition to the United States Constitution,” Cawthorn said in the release. “The Biden Administration continues to flaunt their blatant disregard for the law in pursuit of their left-wing radical agenda.” No vaccine mandates for travel are currently in effect. President Joe Biden has proposed mandating vaccines in other settings but not for air travel, the Washington Post reported, although Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has said he would support such a mandate. The bill, called the ‘‘Let Me Travel America Act,’’ would ban the government from mandating vaccines for travel within the United States. Me me me. What a spoiled narcissistic brat. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article255178182.html#storylink=mainstage_lead
Building on a previous op-ed I shared, we MUST bolster community pharmacies in NC. They are on the frontlines of vaccine distribution and they are under attack from corporate interests.
DURHAM CONDO HIGH-RISE WILL COST YOU MILLIONS: If you have a few million dollars laying around, the newest luxury high-rise housing coming to Durham may be for you. Million-dollar condos will be part of The Novus, a new high-rise tower developed by a firm with an already established presence in downtown. Although formal plans for The Novus mixed-use tower haven’t been announced yet, renderings of the future tower and early listings for its pricey condo units have appeared online. A three-bedroom, four-bathroom condo of 3,755 square feet with views of the Bull City will go on the market for a cool $3,479,900, according to a new Zillow listing. The building will also include apartments, office and retail space. Smaller condo units that are listed online will go from $1,429,900 to $1,939,900. Now, those are more affordable. Just kidding, this is insane... https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article255127787.html#storylink=mainstage_card
JUDGE RULES UNC CAN CONTINUE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: “While no student can or should be admitted to this University, or any other, based solely on race, because race is so interwoven in every aspect of the lived experience of minority students, to ignore it, reduce its importance and measure it only by statistical models as SFFA has done, misses important context to include obscuring racial barriers and obstacles that have been faced, overcome and are yet to be overcome,” Biggs said. The trial for the affirmative action admissions case ended nearly a year ago in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Winston-Salem. Lawyers for the university and the group Students for Fair Admissions argued over UNC-CH’s race-conscious admissions process. Follow below the fold for another relatively recent failure on their part. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article255109582.html#storylink=mainstage_card
A weird thing that can happen when you're involved in Democratic politics in a safely Democratic seat is that sometimes you go to work on Monday and when you get off work, everyone you know is exploring a run for Congress. #ncpolhttps://t.co/WQqmC8Jd27
NC'S VACCINATION RATE SEEMS STUCK AT 70%, MANDATES ARE NEEDED: At least 1,446,881 people in North Carolina have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 17,456 have died since March 2020, according to state health officials. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services on Friday reported 3,182 new COVID-19 cases, down from 3,761 on Thursday. At least 2,074 people were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday, including 564 adult patients who are being treated in intensive care units, health officials said. On Wednesday, the latest date with available information, 6.1% of coronavirus tests were reported positive. Gov. Roy Cooper signed the “No Patient Left Alone Act” into law on Friday, which ensures patients are allowed visitors in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care and adult care homes. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article255043567.html#storylink=mainstage_lead
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