COOPER WARNS CONGRESS ABOUT INACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called on the United States to reassert itself as a global leader in the fight against climate change, telling a divided congressional committee of the economic, commercial and personal toll of climate change to his state while touting his moves as chief executive. “We can’t afford not to take urgent action to fight climate change. It is not too late, but it soon may be,” Cooper told members of the U.S. House’s Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday in the first of a series of Democratic-led hearings on climate change. Cooper appeared alongside Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican. Cooper said there is “overwhelming scientific consensus” on climate change and the role humans are playing in it. And he outlined damage that storms and severe weather events have caused in North Carolina in recent years, including hurricanes Matthew and Florence, mudslides in the mountains, animal- and crop-killing heat in the summers and the loss of crops due to flooding and heavy rains.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article225559380.html

GOVERNOR'S OFFICE WANTS COMMITTEE INTERVIEWS, NOT PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS: Following criticism for refusing to allow agency employees to be interviewed by private investigators hired by the legislature, Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration is requesting a public committee meeting where agency representatives would answer questions about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline approval process. Cooper chief of staff Kristi Jones wrote to the legislative oversight committee probing the issue last week. “We have provided you the requested documents, answered your questions and appeared before your committees numerous times on this subject, yet you insist that we answer even more questions from private Republican investigators who should be paid for by the Republican Party and not North Carolina taxpayers,” Jones wrote. Her letter was first reported by WRAL reporter Travis Fain on Twitter.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article225497220.html

TIME TO SHUT DOWN NC'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP: Amid the recent discussion over the effectiveness of the state’s economic development efforts, a new report this week exposed a less than flattering assessment of the private Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. The creation of the five-year-old partnership was a top priority of former Gov. Pat McCrory and the leadership of the General Assembly – who’d contended the state’s economic development efforts would be far better in private hands – and save taxpayer money with the use of private funding. It turned out to be meddling in a place that didn’t need it. As the partnership’s contract expires in October, it has little to show that it has met the effectiveness promised with its establishment. In fact, there’s little evidence of any improvement on what it replaced. There’s no way to tell just who is in charge.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-time-to-shut-down-the-economic-development-partnership-of-n-c/18161491/

PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCATES CALL FOR A HALT TO NEW CHARTER SCHOOLS: Public Schools First NC says the state should reset charter school growth instead of adding new schools or expanding existing ones. The group is asking people to sign an online petition that calls on state legislators to put a new cap on while a comprehensive review is done of charter student performance, fiscal management and the impact of charter-related policies on students, public schooling, and taxpayers. “We can look at having a cap,” Natalie Beyer, a member of the board of Public Schools First and a school board member in Durham, said Thursday. “If there’s going to be charter schools, there can be a very limited number of high-quality schools as originally intended.” But calls for a new cap are drawing opposition from charter school supporters who accuse their opponents of being scared of competition.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article225299125.html

AG STEIN PUSHES LEGISLATION TO FUND TESTING OF RAPE KITS: A bill backed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein and key Republican lawmakers would provide funding to test thousands of rape kits that have been sitting in law enforcement evidence rooms across North Carolina for years and establish protocols to ensure such backlogs don't recur in the future. An audit by the State Crime Lab determined a year ago that more than 15,000 rape kits statewide had never been tested. Stein said Tuesday that existing funds from his department and state and federal grants are whittling that number down by a few thousand, and the proposed Survivor Act would put $6 million in state funding over the next two years toward sending the rest to outside labs for testing. "Untested sexual assault kits ... represent one of the biggest threats to public safety we face in this state," Stein said at a news conference. "Each one of these kits represents a personal tragedy, and each of those victims deserves justice."
https://www.wral.com/proposed-legislation-would-pay-to-test-old-rape-kits-in-nc/18155995/