4 STUDENTS IN SCOTLAND COUNTY SCHOOL WERE PLANNING COLUMBINE-STYLE ATTACK: Law enforcement and school officials in Scotland County are investigating after receiving reports that some students were discussing a Columbine-style attack, WMBF reported. Scotland County Sheriff’s Lt. Inv. Jessica Sadonikov said last week employee a Carver Middle School employee alerted the school resource officer about suspicious posts on Instagram. Officials determined that three or four students, between the ages of 12 and 13, were discussing a Columbine-style attack in a manner that made investigators think they were serious, Sadonikov said. She added that specific teachers and several students were targeted, and one of the alleged posters specifically mentioned Columbine when questioned.
https://www.wral.com/scotland-co-students-investigated-after-allegedly-discussing-a-columbine-style-...

SCHOOL CHOICE DOESN'T HAPPEN IN A VACUUM: Since the cap on charter schools was lifted by North Carolina’s state legislature in 2012, the number of charter schools in the state has nearly doubled. This year we have 185 charter schools in operation, serving more than 100,000 students across the state (overseen by a staff of 8 people). Next year we’ll have 200. The rapidly expanding charter schools siphon money away from traditional public schools and reduce what services those public schools can offer to students who remain, according to a recent Duke University study. As students leave for charters, they take their share of funding with them--but the school district they leave is still responsible for the fixed costs of services such as transportation, building maintenance and administration that those funds had supported. Districts are then forced to cut spending in other areas in order to make up the difference. In Durham, where 18 percent of K-12 students attend charter schools, the fiscal burden on traditional public schools is estimated at $500-700 per student. As the number of charters increases, so will that price tag.
https://www.wral.com/justin-parmenter-school-choice-doesn-t-happen-in-a-vacuum/18139776/

MOORE AIDE GILLESPIE DREW SALARY FOR 8 MONTHS AFTER RETIRING: Last April, state lawmakers, legislative staff and lobbyists used Facebook and Twitter to wish Mitch Gillespie, a senior policy adviser for House Speaker Tim Moore, a happy retirement. But after Gillespie, 59, of McDowell County, left the legislature in April, he continued to receive his paycheck. All told, he collected $81,700 in pay, state records show, and then he reported he was owed another $12,400 in unused leave. Those records show his last day as an employee was Dec. 31, 2018. Today, Moore’s staff and the legislature’s human resources director are offering little explanation as to how an employee who worked full-time for about five years could accrue enough leave time to receive $94,100 after he stopped working. Lawmakers do not receive paid vacations and cannot accrue leave.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article224905605.html

JUDGE REJECTS WRIT OF MANDAMUS FOR HARRIS: A judge on Tuesday denied Republican Mark Harris' effort to be declared the winner of the 9th Congressional District election, saying the incoming State Board of Elections doesn't have to certify the results of the election until an investigation into alleged absentee ballot fraud is completed. Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway denied Harris' motion for a writ of mandamus, which would amount to a court order forcing the elections board to certify the results. Harris has acknowledged hiring Bladen County political operative McCrae Dowless to oversee absentee ballot operations in the county. Several people have told reporters that Dowless paid them to pick up mail-in ballots, a felony under North Carolina law due to tampering concerns. Dowless has, through his attorney, denied any wrongdoing, but he hasn't yet sat down with elections board investigators looking at the 9th District.
https://www.wral.com/judge-rejects-mark-harris-bid-to-be-declared-9th-district-winner/18139441/

WOMEN'S MARCH RETURNS TO A CHILLY ASHEVILLE: Participants in an annual Women's March in western North Carolina say they feel empowered and encouraged by midterm election victories that raised the profile of women in politics. The Citizen-Times reported thousands of people marched in downtown Asheville on Sunday for the city's third edition of the march. Other versions of the march were held Saturday cities like Washington and New York. The newspaper says the Asheville crowd was smaller than in previous years and dwindled to hundreds as marchers reached Martin Luther King Jr. Park. Rally speakers recounted elections won by women last November. Longtime activist Mandy Carter of Durham urged young people to pledge to mobilize as the 2020 presidential election cycle began. Women's marches began in 2017 in response to President Donald Trump.
https://www.wral.com/western-north-carolina-women-s-march-participants-encouraged/18137083/