ANGRY ABOUT CONFEDERATE STATUE REMOVALS, REPUBLICANS HOLD AFRICAN-AMERICAN MONUMENT HOSTAGE: Over the weekend, protesters brought down two Confederate statues on the grounds of the North Carolina Capitol building in downtown Raleigh and Gov. Roy Cooper ordered the rest of the Confederate statues at the Capitol removed as well. On Monday in the state legislature, Republicans put a pause on discussion of funding monuments to African Americans on the Capitol grounds and another block downtown. A week after $4 million in funding for the proposed monuments passed the Senate easily in a surprise vote, the money was set to be discussed in a House committee Monday, but was pulled from the agenda. “I do disagree with mob violence. I do disagree with simply relinquishing control of state property regardless of what’s on the property, to be destroyed. It’s going to be a greater discussion,” Saine said. Saine said it’s not up to him to decide how long that “pause” will be.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article243721362.html

PROTESTS' CALL FOR CHANGE NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED WITH ACTION: Four hundred years of institutionalized racism has allowed our governments bureaucracies to treat black and brown communities as less entitled – subjecting them disproportionately to the ravages of natural disasters and the impacts of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 crisis we are in the midst of now. The time to end this discrimination is now. Theirs is a call for action. There is no magic to this. It is only a matter of will and the commitment to EVERYONE, regardless of race, color, religion, sex and national origin, for an opportunity to a quality life. We allow police to use too much force and turn it on racial minorities while enacting laws that disproportionately send more black and brown people to prison. End brutal police practices and reform our judicial system and prison policies. Failure now will be addressed at the polls in November. Voting has never been more important.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-protests-call-for-change-needs-to-be-addressed-with-action/19149459/

REPUBLICANS WANT TO BLOCK NC MUNICIPALITIES FROM BANNING PARADES: “If we’re going to allow parades to protest what people are unhappy about in our country, we ought to allow parades to celebrate what people love about this country,” Daniel said, referring to recent Black Lives Matter protests and marches against police brutality. Sen. Jim Burgin, a Harnett County Republican who presented the new version of House Bill 686, said he thinks the events can be held safely. “Folks, I trust the people of North Carolina,” he said. “These events are outside, people can social distance. We’ve got to get back to our traditions that make this country great.” Raleigh and many other Triangle towns have already canceled Fourth of July festivals and fireworks displays.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/coronavirus/article243631357.html

LARRY PITTMAN TELLS LAW ENFORCEMENT TO SHOOT BLM ACTIVISTS: “This is war,” he wrote on Facebook Monday. “Our people have a right to expect our leaders to be on our side, not surrender to the lawless, godless mob.” Pittman, a pastor, declined to comment Tuesday. “Sorry, I don’t do interviews,” he said in an email. On Facebook, he said if he were in charge he would order police to take back their cities, arrest “these domestic terrorists,” and “If they resist and attack you, shoot them.” “Law and order must be restored,” he wrote. “Innocent citizens have a right to expect elected officials and law enforcement officers to protect them and their property. They also have a right to defend themselves with deadly force if they are able.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article243568942.html

ACE SPEEDWAY CREW MEMBER TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID 19: A crew member for one of the racing teams that participated in last week’s event at Ace Speedway has tested positive for COVID-19, according to Short Track Scene’s Matt Weaver. Weaver, the website’s founder, said CARS Tour series operator Jack McNelly gave competitors the news Saturday afternoon before this week’s series event at Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton. According to Weaver, McNelly said the CARS Tour was notified of the positive coronavirus test in the days after the June 6 event in Alamance County. McNelly did not give the name of the person who tested positive, but Weaver said CARS series officials told him it was one of the racing team’s crew members. On each of the past three Saturdays (May 23rd and 30th and June 6th) Ace Speedway had racing, with the stands nearly full of spectators, few of them wearing masks. A reporter at last week’s event estimated there were at least 2,000 fans in attendance.
https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/article243521227.html