Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

THE $74,999 QUESTION: CAN UNC'S $2.5 MILLION BAD DEAL BE STOPPED? The DTH revelations are raising questions about whether the key party to the deal, Sons of Confederate Veterans, violated tax and campaign spending laws. State Attorney General Josh Stein, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall who oversees non-profits -- along with the state Revenue Department and state Board of Elections, all must look into these serious matters. The rush to approve anything, at any cost, to get rid of the Silent Sam issue has done just the opposite. In fact, Superior Court Judge Allan Baddour, who signed the initial consent judgment and order is reexamining his approval and will be holding a hearing on Feb. 12 to further look into the deal. It is time for the courts and regulators to say enough-is-enough. Terminate the deal. University officials should be ashamed of themselves.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-the-74-999-question-can-unc-s-2-5-million-bad-deal-be-stopped/18884725/

Mark Dorosin on residential segregation and environmental injustice

Saturday News: Greenwashing?

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FARM WORKERS' UNION POINTS FINGER AT WHOLE FOODS: “FLOC members faced abusive working conditions, wage theft, threats, and violations of basic health and safety protocols in the tobacco and sweet potato fields of North Carolina, including on farms that supply Whole Foods,” the union said in a press release Thursday. Now it is demanding a meeting with “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store.” Whole Foods, a Texas-based supermarket chain, prides itself on being “the world’s leader in natural and organic foods” and is committed to sustainable agriculture. But in 2019, FLOC said, the grocery store “made a set of commitments it has yet to fully follow through on.” “As the 2020 planting season approaches in the U.S. South, farmworkers, NGO’s and labor unions representing workers in the Whole Foods distribution chain have come together to seek real engagement with Whole Foods,” the release states.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article239397123.html

Republican NC Senate candidate hit with restraining order

Dude sounds like a real winner:

The couple married in June 2018 after knowing each other for three years. They met when she was in his gun store shopping for a firearm. Dennis Nielsen is 71. Karen Nielsen is 50, according to court records. “Some of these females like to find a gentleman and have more money,” Dennis Nielsen said. Karen Nielsen said that was a joke because her husband doesn’t have any real money.

Staying with friends, Dennis Nielsen said he hasn’t been home since being served with the court order. He also said he had to close his gun store because he’s not allowed to be in possession of firearms while the order is in effect.

FWIW, a "gentleman" doesn't push his wife down a flight of stairs. This is another advantage of being a Democrat, frankly. While we may have our fair share of lunatics, we only allow a limited range of crazy to survive in our ranks, and gun-toting wife-beaters fall (far) outside that zone. Here's more, but you may need a barf bag handy:

Friday News: Justice comes for Hudson

DCCC PLEDGES HELP FOR PATRICIA TIMMONS-GOODSON'S CONGRESSIONAL RACE: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced Thursday that it has added the 8th District to its “offensive battlefield” in an effort to expand its House majority. “North Carolina’s redrawn congressional map puts the state’s 8th Congressional District squarely in play, forcing incumbent Republican Rep. Richard Hudson into the first competitive general election of his career,” the DCCC said in a memo. Hudson’s Democratic opponent is Patricia Timmons-Goodson, who in 2006 became the first African American woman on the state Supreme Court. Her consultant, Thomas Mills, said the DCCC already has been helping the campaign. Decisions about financial help would come later, he said.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article239349128.html

Friday fracking video

Predator in Blue: Fired detective still stalking rape victims

Quite possibly the ultimate betrayal:

A Fayetteville police detective fired last year over inappropriate messages sent to women who had been raped has been charged with later tapping into a police department database to obtain information about the women.

Paul George Matrafailo III, 34, of 2816 Ally Rayven Drive, was arrested Monday on a felony charge of unauthorized access of government computers.

Needless to say, it takes a special kind of @$$hole to stalk a rape victim, and that level of personal (disgusting) behavior could not go unnoticed by co-workers and supervisors. I'm not just speculating about that, he was actually reprimanded for similar behavior a year before he was fired:

BlueNC