CHARLOTTE GAS STATION REFUSES TO SERVE GREEN CARD HOLDERS: Emilio Zepeda Cordova and Walter Montano Lopez — who are Salvadoran but living in the country legally — are suing Sam’s Mart LLC after they said a Charlotte-area clerk refused to serve them until they provided “proof of legal citizenship.” In response, Zepeda Cordova and Montano Lopez said they handed her a Central American passport, a North Carolina license, a green card and a Social Security card. “The Sam’s Mart employees working refused to serve plaintiffs and stated, ‘this is not legal,’” according to the complaint. “When plaintiffs persisted, the Sam’s Mart cashier repeatedly yelled, ‘I want to see United States ID’ and then instructed plaintiffs to leave.” A representative for Sam’s Mart did not immediately respond to McClatchy news group’s request for comment Wednesday.
https://www.newsobserver.com/latest-news/article236322963.html

NC GOP WANTS TO MOVE GERRYMANDERING SUIT TO FEDERAL COURT: Republican legislative leaders are trying to move from state court to federal court a lawsuit challenging the North Carolina congressional map drawn in 2016. The GOP lawmakers filed a notice Monday in the partisan redistricting litigation that voters filed last month in Wake County court. The lawmakers' attorneys said the venue change is necessary because complying with the plaintiffs' demands for a new map would conflict state redistricting rules with the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights Act. A federal court granting the move could scuttle the plaintiffs' case, since the U.S. Supreme Court recently declared federal courts lack authority to rule on partisan gerrymandering claims.
https://www.wral.com/nc-republicans-seek-moving-congress-case-to-federal-court/18698137/

THE WEAK REPUBLICAN CASE AGAINST EXPANDING MEDICAID IN NC: Perry’s argument follows a series of hollow Republican warnings about Medicaid expansion. First there was the rationale offered by then-Gov. Pat McCrory. He deemed North Carolina’s Medicaid program “broken” and said it would be irresponsible to add a half-million more people to the program. It turned out that the program is actually quite efficient compared to other states and has even come in under budget in recent years. Next came the claim that the state couldn’t afford its 10 percent share of the cost of expansion. But under Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget proposal the state’s share would be covered by the hospitals and health care plans that would benefit from the surge in insured patients. Finally, there’s the semi-conspiracy theory that the federal government might renege on its commitment to pay a minimum of 90 percent. Given that 36 states are now getting that level of payment, it’s unlikely that their representatives in Congress would approve cutting it back.
https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article236040708.html

BERGER BLAMES DOT FOR FUNDING SHORTFALL: "We’ve known for years that the Map Act was something that we were going to have to have money for, so they’ve known about that. We also, for at least a year, have known the issues dealing with the extra money that was utilized to pay for damage during the hurricanes," Berger told WRAL News. "The question is, among some members, why has this all of the sudden come up as a crisis, and what could they have done to manage through it?" Agency defenders have pointed to laws setting a minimum and maximum for the DOT's cash reserve as one reason for the fiscal straits that have left pre-planning for some 900 projects on hold. In addition, the impact of Map Act settlements and additional storm-related expenses have further exasperated the cash balance issue. Most recently, the Cooper administration made a request for $50 million to help address Hurricane Dorian expenses by the department.
https://www.wral.com/senate-leader-ready-to-close-session-without-budget-deal/18689458/

INCUMBENTS CROWDER AND STEPHENSON TRAILING IN VOTES TO NEWCOMERS: Council members David Cox, Nicole Stewart and Corey Branch all won their races with more than 50% plus one of the votes cast, successfully avoiding a November run-off election. And newcomers Patrick Buffkin and David Knight will also be joining the board. That may not be the case for incumbents Russ Stephenson and Kay Crowder. The longtime council members trailed Jonathan Melton and Saige Martin, respectively, after all of Tuesday’s votes were counted, though neither of the challengers crossed the 50% threshold and Stephenson, at least, suggested that he would ask for a runoff. The power on the council shifted two years ago. The majority call themselves proponents of smart-growth, while critics say they are slow- or anti-growth. Only one in the current majority — Cox — won outright Tuesday.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article235853772.html