REPUBLICAN COA JUDGE CENSURED FOR ALLOWING SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Judge Hunter Murphy's conduct wasn't bad enough to warrant suspension or removal from the bench, the state Supreme Court said in an opinion posted Friday, but it did merit censure. Law clerks in Murphy's office told investigators that Tuite made "comments of a sexual or inappropriate nature" and that they told Murphy about it. In one incident, Tuite was talking about a female job applicant and called her breasts "fun bags." The judge, the Judicial Standards Commission reported, was in the room at the time. The judge repeatedly condoned and enabled toxic behavior, the commission found. When some of the problems were reported to the Administrative Office of the Courts' human resources department, the judge "lacked candor and downplayed, minimized and mischaracterized Mr. Tuite’s actions," the commission found.
https://www.wral.com/nc-judge-censured-after-hiring-his-friend-turning-blind-eye-to-harassment/19435...

SEVERAL QUARANTINING AFTER PHIL BERGER'S STAPH PARTY: Several people with ties to state Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger's office were in quarantine Wednesday after attending Berger’s recent Christmas party. According to spokesman Pat Ryan, Berger, R-Rockingham, hosts a Christmas party every year for current and former staff members. This year, the senator hosted a smaller celebration with some current staff and guests at a Raleigh restaurant. “The gathering was in line with all relevant restrictions, including capacity limits inside restaurants," Ryan said in a statement to WRAL News. Current pandemic restrictions limit indoor gatherings to 10 people, but restaurants are allowed to seat up to 50 percent of their indoor capacity. Ryan estimated the party had fewer than 30 attendees.
https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/nc-senate-leader-s-staff-exposed-to-virus-at-holiday-party/19432804/

RACIAL EQUITY TASK FORCE RELEASES RECOMMENDATIONS: Gov. Roy Cooper’s task force on racial equity released dozens of recommendations Monday in a report that called for widespread changes to address racial bias within the state’s policing and criminal justice systems. The 125 recommendations address policies and laws that disproportionately affect people of color, from traffic stops to protest responses, arrests and reentry into the community after prison time. Other recommendations in Monday’s report include decriminalizing marijuana, revising the role of school resource officers and increasing oversight and accountability for law enforcement. “This is just the start of a public conversation,” Stein said. “We are committed to working alongside leaders across the state to turn these ideas into action.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article247828785.html

ENTERTAINING TRUMP'S PHONY CLAIMS BREEDS UNWARRANTED DISTRUST IN ELECTIONS: The failure to acknowledge the obvious – that Biden DID get the most votes from ALL Americans who cast ballots and DID capture the most electoral college votes to become the next president – isn’t some passive partisan act. Why do these elected representatives tolerate and even encourage Donald Trump’s outrageous and false claims in his desire to keep an office he didn’t win? Why aren’t they speaking up for the integrity of the ballots cast by voters who put them in office? These elected representatives are breeding unwarranted distrust in our electoral system – the most honest and secure on the planet. That isn’t some modest conjecture. Just look at what’s been done by state and local elections officials here in North Carolina. Every challenge – no matter how frivolous – has been objectively examined and found baseless. That’s been repeated by state and local election officials across the nation.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-entertaining-trump-s-phony-claims-breeds-unwarranted-distrust-in-elec...

NC GOP LEADERS HOLD MOSTLY MASKLESS INDOOR VICTORY PARTY: Nationwide, 15.5 million people have reportedly contracted the virus resulting in 290,000 deaths. That did not stop the NC Republican Party from hosting a Victory Party Saturday, along with a luncheon, an executive committee meeting and its central committee meeting. The 96 photos published of the events show some of North Carolina’s leaders attending without masks. Gov. Roy Cooper’s press secretary Dory MacMillan responded to the event in a written statement to The News & Observer. “Elected officials who care about our overwhelmed health workers and the lives of our most vulnerable people will cancel parties and mask up during a critical time of record-high cases and hospitalizations,” MacMillan wrote. “Leaders from all political stripes should come together and set the right examples.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article247752120.html