NC'S OUTER BANKS ARE HAZARDOUS FOR HOMES. IT'S ABOUT TO GET MUCH WORSE: A few days ago, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore announced that a couple more houses collapsed and fell in the ocean near Rodanthe during a moderate storm on the Outer Banks of our state. The unusual aspect of this occurrence was that one of the houses was on high stilts. Often we hear that if you must live near the beach build on stilts and you are not likely to be affected by waves and overwash currents. So much for that generalization. This latest event comes after the Nov. 7, 2021 Nor’easter that halted traffic on N.C. Highway 12 for a couple of days due to flooding and overwash. These events give us a taste of the future, but we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. As everyone knows, climate change is producing warmer seas and the warmer water will produce larger and more frequent storms, all this occurring as the sea level is rising. A higher sea, of course, will increase storm damage. My Geology professor spent several days covering the creation and disposition of the Outer Banks. When you understand that most of NC's Coastal Plain (over 1/3 of the state) was once under water, the consequences of Climate Change become horrifically clear.
https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article261382957.html

PROTECT REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE FOR NORTH CAROLINA WOMEN: It appears the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the current federal legal standard on abortion, as determined in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, and place that standard in the hands of the states. In North Carolina, that means it will be the state legislature that will determine the standard. North Carolina’s current laws are appropriate and adequate. Roe v. Wade already is a very restricted right to abortion – and a majority of North Carolinians support it. “Reproductive healthcare decisions are deeply personal and should be made by patients in consultation with their healthcare providers, not by politicians,” said a letter signed by Gov. Roy Cooper and 16 other governors earlier this week. The letter, to the top leaders of the U.S. House and Senate, called on Congress to act quickly. Bolding mine, because that number (1/3 of the states) is significant, and a clear warning. Some of those other states already have trigger laws in effect, which will outlaw abortion as soon as Roe is overturned. Others will likely act quickly, leaving NC in a distinct minority where it is allowed. We cannot allow Republicans to regain their Veto-proof majorities in the Legislature come November, or NC will join that repressive, misogynistic movement.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-protect-reproductive-healthcare-for-north-carolina-women/20267907/

HAVE OUTSIDE FORCES TAKEN OVER NORTH CAROLINA'S GOP?: Is North Carolina’s Republican Party vanishing? Has it been bought out and swallowed up by former President Donald Trump and organizations backing his endorsed candidates? These are groups such as the “Conservative Outsider PAC” which shares many of the same donors as the Club for Growth that, with Trump, seems to be dominating this state’s GOP primary season. What have these groups been able to buy – in return for the more than $10 million that’s already been pumped into the state to promote their hand-picked candidates -- from the North Carolina GOP establishment? Pretty much anything and everything. What do those state GOP leaders get in return? What has been promised and to whom? What’s expected? Who’s in control? These are crucial questions – not just for the state’s Republicans, but for all North Carolina voters. Is political control being co-opted by big-dollar donors with no stake the state's welfare? BergerMoore have never been concerned about the state's welfare, and they've sold us out for over a decade. Whether it's Art Pope pulling the strings or Club For Growth, it almost doesn't matter. It's not the people, never has been.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-have-outside-forces-taken-over-north-carolina-s-gop/20246725/

END THE COURTROOM DELAY TACTICS. FUND EDUCATION EQUITY ORDER NOW: Twenty-eight years. Countless hours of courtroom hearings and debates. Thousands of pages of legal pleadings. Mounds of data. Two landmark North Carolina Supreme Court decisions. What does it take to get a government -- that is supposed to represent the people; one where elected officials in the three branches of government take oaths to uphold the State Constitution -- to fulfill that Constitution’s promise of access to a sound, quality education for every child? Significant pluralities agree with the courts determination that the state isn’t living up to its Constitutional duty according to the latest WRAL-TV poll – 50% of those who say they voted for Donald Trump; 51% of rural voters and even 45% of Republicans. Sixty-two percent of North Carolinians say public schools are under funded including 59% of Republicans and 63% of rural voters. Additionally, 66% of North Carolinians say teachers are underpaid – including 66% of Republicans. For too long, access to a quality education had depended on where you lived and who your parents were. That is NOT what North Carolina’s Constitution intended. If state revenues were suffering or even stagnant Republicans might have an excuse for delays, but it's just the opposite. They're sitting on billions in surplus, revenues already collected. They could fully fund Leandro and *still* have a healthy rainy-day fund, but children don't make campaign contributions. That's the problem in a nutshell.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-end-the-courtroom-delay-tactics-fund-education-equity-order-now/20236...

NC STATE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION LOOKING INTO MARK MEADOWS' VOTER FRAUD: The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into allegations that a former Trump aide who once represented North Carolina in Congress may have committed voter fraud. Nazneen Ahmed, spokeswoman for Attorney General Josh Stein’s office, confirmed the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows after the New Yorker first reported that the former congressman, who represented North Carolina’s westernmost district, registered to vote in September 2020 using an address he had never visited. Ahmed said Stein’s office received a request from Macon County District Attorney Ashley Welch that the Department of Justice’s Special Prosecutions Sections assume her role in this matter, and the DOJ agreed. Break out the popcorn. Seriously, I'm hungry, but anything that takes more than 3 minutes 15 seconds (that is the optimum popping time) it too much work.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article259506469.html