REPORT DETAILS LACK OF FUNDING FOR EDUCATION OVER LAST DECADE: But WestEd says that when adjusted to 2018 dollars, per-pupil spending in North Carolina has declined about 6% since 2009–10. The report also says that, based on 2017 dollars, average salaries for the state’s teachers that year were lower than compared to 2003 or 2009. This level of education funding, according to the report, has led to problems such as fewer teachers employed, “stagnating salaries” and “underfunded” high-poverty schools. “They try to address it, but unfortunately, funding is not there — that’s what we are told,” an unnamed middle school teacher says in the report. “For instance … we don’t have textbooks, we need to make copies of reading selections to teach those kids. We only get, like, 1,500 copies per nine weeks. … [W]e [use] our own money, we have to buy cartridges for our printers to print this.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article238868598.html

WORK TOGETHER TO MEET STATE'S CRITICAL 2020 HEALTH NEEDS: In 2019, the state watched as labor and delivery services closed in neighboring rural communities. This is tragic. No mother should have to worry about how she is going to get care or where she will deliver her baby. We see hospitals in rural parts of the country continuing to close their doors and North Carolina is not immune. This continues to be a crisis and we must do better. For eastern North Carolina, expanding Medicaid, designing a reasonable solution to resolve State Health Plan liabilities and funding a new Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University must be a priority for the state. Expanding Medicaid will improve access to care, something we desperately need not only in the East, but also throughout the state. North Carolinians are subsidizing care in 37 other states that have expanded Medicaid while too many North Carolinians struggle.
https://www.wral.com/michael-waldrum-work-together-to-meet-state-s-critical-2020-health-needs/18862608/

NC ATTORNEY GENERAL APPEALS VOTER ID RULING: The question of voter ID in North Carolina for the November 2020 elections remains unsettled, as Attorney General Josh Stein announced Thursday he will appeal a judge’s ruling blocking the state law requiring ID from going into effect. However, it appears that no matter how the legal fight unfolds, voter ID won’t be required during the state’s primary elections. Stein said in a news release that he would not request that ID be put back in place for the primary, “to avoid any further voter confusion.” Although Election Day for the primary isn’t until March, absentee voting starts in less than two weeks. His decision follows a high-profile win by the North Carolina NAACP, which successfully argued to a federal judge that the 2018 voter ID law appeared to be motivated at least partially by racial discrimination.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article238917153.html

LATE-ENTRY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OPENS TWO MORE NC OFFICES: Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg plans to make Raleigh and Fayetteville two of his first New Year’s destinations. The former New York mayor is opening field offices in both cities on Friday while visiting North Carolina, according to an email the campaign sent to the NC Insider. Bloomberg’s Raleigh office will be located on Davie Street. The Democrat plans to meet with voters, staff and supporters in both cities; as well as military families and veterans in downtown Fayetteville. The downtown Raleigh event will be open to the public with Bloomberg scheduled to speak at noon at the new office. The campaign had not released a more specific location on Davie Street as of late Tuesday. Bloomberg’s strategy to win the 2020 election is to focus on states like North Carolina that vote on March 3 or later, the Charlotte Observer previously reported. He is currently fifth in the polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, according to a polling average from RealClearPolitics.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article238874918.html

LAND HAS BEEN PURCHASED FOR RALEIGH SOCCER STADIUM AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT: The purchase of the first tract of land is split across both sides of the I-40 beltline next to South Saunders Street and was bought from the North Carolina Equipment Company for $11 million. The second site at the intersection of I-40 and South Wilmington Street was bought for $8.6 million from Elite Waste Services, a Raleigh waste company. The remaining 44.5 acres of land for the proposed stadium to the right of South Saunders Street and Penmarc Drive will be purchased next year from seller Alice Penny, Redmond said. An outdoor 20,000-seat stadium surrounded by high-rises and other private development is envisioned for the future. Developers want the stadium to hold other athletic, musical and community events beside NCFC and NC Courage matches. Downtown South has been described by Malik as another “North Hills,” referencing the project’s proposed office, retail, hotel and apartment space. The proposal consists of 1.6 million square feet of office space, 1,200 hotel rooms, 1,750 apartments and 125,00 square feet of retail.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article238693603.html