DISTRUST OVERSHADOWS BEGINNING OF REDISTRICTING PROCESS: The plan centers on roughly 1,000 maps drawn by a computer algorithm from Jowei Chen, a University of Michigan professor whose testimony helped convince a panel of Superior Court judges that General Assembly maps drawn by the GOP majority two years ago were so tilted toward Republicans that they constitute an illegal partisan gerrymander. Both the House and Senate would winnow those numbers down by having staff rank each map on a trio of criteria the court in Common Cause v. Lewis identified as particularly important, then amend them here and there in public votes. Wary Democrats and others behind the lawsuit that got the current maps declared unconstitutional were anxious about the process Monday. Several times, they asked GOP leaders whether any analysis had already been done on the Chen maps, an insinuation that Republicans could have seen something they liked and reverse-engineered a process to get it.
https://www.wral.com/nc-legislative-district-map-redraw-underway-but-quickly-hits-snag/18622288/

TAKE MAPMAKING TOOLS AWAY FROM SELF-SERVING POLS: A group of fair-minded people could surely produce more compact and more competitive legislative districts than the sprawling, squiggly gerrymanders we have today. And we fail to see why any voter — or, for that matter, any true public servant — would object. Drawing state House and Senate districts that heavily favor either party dilutes voters’ voice and leads to intense polarization. Republicans and Democrats needn’t pivot to the center when their partisan base holds an insurmountable advantage in voter registration. Primaries become the true contests and voters are deprived of choices on Election Day. In 2016, more than 40% of North Carolina legislative districts had only one candidate on the general election ballot. Twenty-seven representatives and 11 state senators ran unopposed. Heavily gerrymandered districts are the chief culprit.
http://www.wilsontimes.com/stories/our-opinion-take-mapmaking-tools-away-from-self-serving-pols,188863

EYE OF HURRICANE DORIAN PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO HATTERAS: “Life-threatening storm surge and dangerous winds are expected to continue along portions of the North Carolina coast, portions of southeast Virginia and the southern Chesapeake Bay,” the National Hurricane Center wrote Friday morning. “Flash flooding is occurring, and will continue to become more widespread across the eastern Carolinas and far southeast Virginia this morning.” As of 8 a.m. Eastern time, the center of Hurricane Dorian was located 10 miles west-southwest of Cape Hatteras, N.C., as the storm’s eyewall battered the state’s Outer Banks. The eye of the storm itself was passing very close to Cape Hatteras. The storm was barreling northeast at 14 mph, a marked increase in speed compared to the past five days. Dorian’s hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 220 miles.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/09/06/dorian-lash-eastern-north-carolina-southeast-virgi...

PHIL BERGER SAYS GOP WILL NOT APPEAL GERRYMANDERING DECISION: “We disagree with the court’s ruling as it contradicts the Constitution and binding legal precedent, but we intend to respect the court’s decision and finally put this divisive battle behind us,” Berger said in a statement. “Nearly a decade of relentless litigation has strained the legitimacy of this state’s institutions, and the relationship between its leaders, to the breaking point. It’s time to move on.” The ruling follows a two-week trial earlier this summer. Democrats and anti-gerrymandering activists including Common Cause accused Republican politicians in Raleigh of intentionally drawing political districts to take power away from Democratic voters and give inordinate power to Republican voters. Wayne Goodwin, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, said in a news release that Democrats hope to take back control of the General Assembly in the 2020 elections.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article234668747.html

GOVERNOR COOPER ISSUES WARNING ABOUT HURRICANE DORIAN: Gov. Roy Cooper on Sunday said all North Carolina residents should be prepared to take action as Hurricane Dorian, now a Category 5 storm, could threaten the Carolinas later this week. "We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst," he said during a Sunday session with reporters. "Right now, it's fierce storm and North Carolina will likely see heavy rains, winds and flooding. I urge everyone to take it seriously. The time to prepare is now." Dorian slammed into the Bahamas around midday Sunday with sustained winds near 180 mph, the strongest on record to hit the northwestern archipelago, leaving residents scrambling to find shelter as they braced for rising waters and torrential rains.
https://www.wral.com/we-are-hoping-for-the-best-but-preparing-for-the-worst-gov-cooper-says-as-doria...