DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REDUCES FINES BY OVER HALF IN SCAFFOLDING COLLAPSE THAT TOOK 3 (LATINO) LIVES: Anderson Antones de Almeida and Jose Erasmo Hernandez of Durham, as well as Jose Luis Lopez-Ramirez of Clinton, died on March 23, 2015, after scaffolding collapsed while they were working on the 11-story Charter Square building on Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. The Department of Labor initially charged Associated Scaffolding $151,900 for its role in the accident after finding that company workers didn’t follow manufacturer recommendations when tying the scaffolding to the building and put too much weight on the scaffolding while dismantling it, The N&O reported in January 2016. The Durham-based company contested the allegations and on April 18 reached a settlement with the labor department to pay a $70,000 fine and make “a number of safety and health enhancements that will be implemented to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future,” said Mary Katherine Revels, a department spokeswoman.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article216066400.html

OBAMA ENDORSES SIX NC DEMOCRATS IN LEGISLATIVE RACES: Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced endorsements of six Democrats running for the North Carolina legislature. Four of those candidates are running in Wake County. Wiley Nickel of Cary, who used to work for Obama, received an endorsement from his former boss in his run for an open state Senate seat. Nickel faces Republican Paul Smith. Also making Obama’s list: Terence Everitt of Wake Forest, in a rematch against incumbent Republican Chris Malone; Julie Von Haefen of Apex, who is running against incumbent Republican and lead House budget writer Nelson Dollar of Cary; and lawyer Sydney Batch, who is running for an open seat against Republican lawyer John B. Adcock. Obama also endorsed Rachel Hunt, former Gov. Jim Hunt’s daughter, in her race against incumbent Republican Bill Brawley in Mecklenburg County, and Ron Wesson, a Bertie County commissioner running for an open seat in northeastern North Carolina’s District 1 against Republican Ed Goodwin.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article215908400.html

MOORE SCHEDULES VETO OVERRIDE SESSION FOR SATURDAY: The Republican-controlled General Assembly is planning rare weekend floor sessions to handle two vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. House Speaker Tim Moore said Monday he expected the House and Senate to return for veto-override debates and votes this Saturday. Moore says conflicting summer schedules made Saturday best. Cooper last Friday vetoed bills that alter North Carolina ballot language for constitutional referenda and a state Supreme Court race this fall. One prevents a Supreme Court hopeful who switched parties just before candidate filing from having any party label next to his name on the ballot. House Democratic leader Darren Jackson contends Republicans are meeting Saturday so it's harder for the candidate to sue over the label change with a ballot printing deadlines approaching. Moore says that's not been a consideration.
https://www.wral.com/top-lawmaker-says-saturday-sessions-ahead-for-veto-overrides/17736021/

DAVID PRICE: HOLDING TRUMP ACCOUNTABLE FOR HEARTLESS, INHUMANE MASS DEPORTATION AGENDA: At a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention facility in Laredo, Texas, I had a disturbing conversation with a 36-year old from El Salvador who was fleeing explicit threats of violence from criminal gangs. Facing certain death at home, he embarked on a nearly 1,500-mile long journey to join his sister, who was legally residing in the United States. Unfortunately, due to recent unilateral action by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, credible claims of gang violence no longer qualify an individual for asylum in our country—one of many heartless steps the administration has taken to make it more difficult for the world’s persecuted and oppressed to seek refuge in the United States. The following day, I met with immigrant children, living without their parents in a shelter in San Antonio operated by the Catholic Archdiocese. I had the opportunity to speak to 15 girls between the ages of 5 and 16. The group included children who had been separated from their parents as a result of President Trump’s “zero-tolerance” policy, as well as children who had arrived unaccompanied at the border, fleeing desperate situations in their home countries.
https://www.wral.com/david-price-holding-trump-accountable-for-heartless-inhumane-mass-deportation-a...

TOM FETZER TRIES TO BLACKBALL CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE WITH UNAUTHORIZED PROBE: Several members accused Fetzer, a Wilmington lobbyist and former Raleigh mayor, of breaching confidentiality by revealing the top contender’s name to a firm he sought out to look into the candidate’s background. Fetzer, who joined the meeting after it was underway, defended himself, saying there was “a misrepresentation of fact” on the candidate’s CV, or academic resume. Board member and former Chairman Lou Bissette said Fetzer’s behavior was “way outside the realm” of a board member’s role. What happened, he said, wasn’t right. “An individual member of our board took it upon himself to go out and locate some kind of firm to look into the particular candidate and a report was put together,” said Bissette, an Asheville lawyer. “It was sent to all of our board members approximately two hours before our board meeting. ...You know, we’re bound by confidentiality requirements ourselves. This was really an unauthorized disclosure of confidential search information to a third party.”
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article215590130.html