NC REPUBLICANS SLING PORK TO FEED AT-RISK LEGISLATORS: In the state budget this year, legislators handed out millions of dollars in grants to towns, individual schools, county fairs, local libraries, little museums, nonprofit groups, and for-profit companies. These grants are called “member money” in the halls of the legislature. They're also known as pork. Sen. Dan Blue of Raleigh, the Senate's Democratic leader, said budget pork is meant to help Republican legislators vulnerable in the 2018 election. Pork projects "go excessively in areas where their incumbents are at risk," he said. The marquee example of helping endangered Republicans was the $200,000 aimed at 35 schools in Sen. Jeff Tarte's Mecklenburg County district. The money was to be funneled through the charity DonorsChoose, but the earmark was erased after the group said accepting the money would violate its principles.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article213976184.html

NC GOP CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE CHASTISED BY JUDGE OVER POOR PARENTING: Steve Von Loor, the Republican nominee challenging Democratic 4th District Congressman David Price, claimed that A.J. Robey was harassing him and making him afraid for his safety. He claims Robey has a collection of "assault knives" and has thrown rocks at his car. Meanwhile, Robey claimed the opposite was true, accusing Von Loor of threatening behavior toward Maria Robey, who divorced Von Loor in 2010. He wanted a court order to keep Von Loor away from his home. Wake County District Judge Dan Nagle threw out both claims, saying they didn't rise to the level of severity the law requires for protective orders. He also gave both men, who have engaged in an acrimonious back-and-forth on social media in recent weeks, and their wives a lecture about their parenting skills, telling them to start acting like adults. "Custody and visitation should be about the children, but now it's turned into something else, and it's having a bad effect on the children," Nagle said.
https://www.wral.com/nc-congressional-candidate-trades-harassment-charges-with-ex-wife-s-husband/176...

GOP CLAIMS WHITE SUPREMACIST PRIMARY WINNER CONCEALED HIS BIGOTRY FROM VOTERS: Current and former party officials say Russ Walker's rhetoric on race, religion and white supremacy wasn't part of the campaign. That came out later, when a website called christdescendedfromjoseph.com was tied back to him. Walker's pitch during his one joint appearance with fellow candidate John Imbaratto had more to do with the lawsuits he's filed over the years and the health effects of canned soda, Imbaratto said. He didn't mentioned God being a racist or Jews being the "children of Satan," themes he hits heavily online. There were signs, though. Literally. Walker protested The News-Journal, a local newspaper in Raeford, in January with a sign that said "God is a Racist." He had sued the paper over its refusal to print his letters, the newspaper reported Tuesday. Walker's campaign website, walkerforhouse48.com, is long and text heavy. It runs about 1,200 words before mentioning "the Jews."
https://www.wral.com/racist-candidate-nc-republican-headline/17672629/

NC "INFLUENCERS" CALL FOR BETTER FUNDING OF NC SCHOOLS: Public schools need to receive adequate funding to ensure the continued health of North Carolina, according to a new survey of some of the state's most influential leaders. A group of 60 North Carolina Influencers — comprised of leaders in the state’s political, business, academic and faith communities — were asked about the importance of 14 different education topics. Nearly all the Influencers listed adequate funding as being very important, saying that taking care of that issue would help solve a variety of other problems affecting the state's K-12 education system. "While many of these issues are very important, adequate funding is the most important," said Pamela Davies, president of Queens University of Charlotte. "If NC was funding K-12 education appropriately, many deficiencies in our system, including teacher pay and Pre-K, could be addressed."
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/influencers/article213909629.html

VOTERS NEED TO REJECT RUSHED, FATALLY-FLAWED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS: The people of North Carolina have learned very little about what is really in the unprecedented bundle of proposed amendments to the State Constitution. It’s not their fault. The little that is known gives every voter good reason to oppose these amendments and reject each one when they go to the polls in November. The fatal flaws are significant and strike at the fundamentals our Constitution is supposed to uphold. The amendments were concocted in secret. There’s been too little time for public examination, distribution of information and debate of changes that carry such permanence. Amendment advocates have been deceitful and dishonest. The Constitution is not a playground for partisan manipulation. Vote against all of the amendments and the legislators who pushed them. November can’t come soon enough.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-voters-need-to-reject-rushed-fatally-flawed-constitutional-amendments...