3-JUDGE PANEL TO HEAR LAWSUITS CHALLENGING GOP CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS: Lawyers representing Gov. Roy Cooper, the state NAACP and an environmental group argued Tuesday that four of the six proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot this fall are intentionally misleading and should be excluded. "The General Assembly should not be allowed, cannot be allowed to violate the rights of North Carolinians," said John Wester, an attorney for Cooper. "[Voters] can exercise their rights and power only if they are fairly and honestly informed about the amendment before them." Cooper, a Democrat, has been fighting with Republican legislative leaders over appointment powers to various state boards and commissions since before he took office at the start of 2017. "Both [amendments] take a wrecking ball to the constitution's separation of powers principle, and they would ... strip the governor of constitutional powers," Wester said.
https://www.wral.com/lawyers-spar-over-whether-proposed-amendments-are-misleading/17752926/

SUPREME COURT CANDIDATE SUES GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR PARTY LABEL REWRITE: North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Chris Anglin plans to file a lawsuit on Monday morning, challenging the lawmakers' effort to misrepresent him on the ballot, according to his lawyer. Republican leaders are concerned that Anglin, who is running as a Republican, but was a former Democrat, could siphon votes away from incumbent Republican Justice Barbara Jackson, who's facing a tough re-election battle against Democratic challenger Anita Earls. “I didn’t make, break, or change the rules, just followed them. Even children understand changing the rules in the middle of an election is wrong. What the Legislature has done is a violation of my Constitutional rights. This lawsuit is the next step in my fight to stand up for an independent judiciary,” Anglin said in a press release.
https://www.wral.com/nc-supreme-court-candidate-to-file-lawsuit-monday-morning/17749122/

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REDUCES FINES BY OVER HALF IN SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSE THAT TOOK 3 (LATINO) LIVES: Anderson Antones de Almeida and Jose Erasmo Hernandez of Durham, as well as Jose Luis Lopez-Ramirez of Clinton, died on March 23, 2015, after scaffolding collapsed while they were working on the 11-story Charter Square building on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. The Department of Labor initially charged Associated Scaffolding $151,900 for its role in the accident after finding that company workers didn’t follow manufacturer recommendations when tying the scaffolding to the building and put too much weight on the scaffolding while dismantling it, The N&O reported in January 2016. The Durham-based company contested the allegations and on April 18 reached a settlement with the labor department to pay a $70,000 fine and make “a number of safety and health enhancements that will be implemented to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future,” said Mary Katherine Revels, a department spokeswoman.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article216066400.html

OBAMA ENDORSES SIX NC DEMOCRATS IN LEGISLATIVE RACES: Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced endorsements of six Democrats running for the North Carolina legislature. Four of those candidates are running in Wake County. Wiley Nickel of Cary, who used to work for Obama, received an endorsement from his former boss in his run for an open state Senate seat. Nickel faces Republican Paul Smith. Also making Obama’s list: Terence Everitt of Wake Forest, in a rematch against incumbent Republican Chris Malone; Julie Von Haefen of Apex, who is running against incumbent Republican and lead House budget writer Nelson Dollar of Cary; and lawyer Sydney Batch, who is running for an open seat against Republican lawyer John B. Adcock. Obama also endorsed Rachel Hunt, former Gov. Jim Hunt’s daughter, in her race against incumbent Republican Bill Brawley in Mecklenburg County, and Ron Wesson, a Bertie County commissioner running for an open seat in northeastern North Carolina’s District 1 against Republican Ed Goodwin.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article215908400.html

MOORE SCHEDULES VETO OVERRIDE SESSION FOR SATURDAY: The Republican-controlled General Assembly is planning rare weekend floor sessions to handle two vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. House Speaker Tim Moore said Monday he expected the House and Senate to return for veto-override debates and votes this Saturday. Moore says conflicting summer schedules made Saturday best. Cooper last Friday vetoed bills that alter North Carolina ballot language for constitutional referenda and a state Supreme Court race this fall. One prevents a Supreme Court hopeful who switched parties just before candidate filing from having any party label next to his name on the ballot. House Democratic leader Darren Jackson contends Republicans are meeting Saturday so it's harder for the candidate to sue over the label change with a ballot printing deadlines approaching. Moore says that's not been a consideration.
https://www.wral.com/top-lawmaker-says-saturday-sessions-ahead-for-veto-overrides/17736021/