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Tax Relief, Avian Influenza, and UNC Withdrawal on DEI • NC Newsline

Tax Relief, Avian Influenza, and UNC Withdrawal on DEI • NC Newsline

Senior homeowners seek adjustments to state property tax relief program

An image showing small human dolls sitting on a rising pile of coins.
Rising home values ​​are causing major challenges for some older North Carolina homeowners. (Image: Adobe Stock)

By Greg Childress

Rapidly rising home values ​​and gentrification present major challenges for older residents on fixed incomes

In 1982, Mary Patrica Stumpf and her husband Dale bought a house in North Raleigh for $80,000. Forty-two years later, the half-acre home in the pricey Country Club Hills community is valued at more than $1 million.

On the surface, Stumpf is winning. But such large increases in property values ​​are not always a boon for retired and elderly residents. As property values ​​increase, city and county taxes also increase. (Read more...)

North Carolina Democratic leaders call on their Republican colleagues to address looming child care crisis

Little children on a chalk covered playground
(Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Community Change)

By Ahmed Jallow

North Carolina Democratic legislative leaders on Thursday called on their Republican colleagues in the General Assembly to expand funding for child care providers, as federal grant money that helped centers weather the pandemic is set to expire this summer. .

Child care providers and state officials have been urging lawmakers to address the funding gap, warning that without intervention, hundreds of facilities may be forced to close. (Read more…)

Trump found guilty of 34 felonies in New York hush money trial

Trump leaves the courthouse
Former US President Donald Trump walks to speak to the media after being found guilty following his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)

By Ashley Murray

A New York state court jury on Thursday found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up money payments to a porn star to ultimately influence the outcome of the US presidential election. 2016.

The first criminal trial of a former US president concluded in Manhattan, marking an extraordinary moment in American history not only for a former leader, but also for someone seeking to once again occupy the Oval Office. Trump, the Republican Party’s presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, is now a convicted felon. (Read more...)

North Carolina Republicans rush to defend Trump after guilty verdict on 34 felonies

Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, Donald Trump and candidate Hal Weatherman pose for a photo over Memorial Day weekend. (Photo: @HalWeathermanNC account on X.com)

By Clayton Henkel

Hours after a New York jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to ultimately influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, North Carolina Republican politicians continued to defend the former president.

Gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson, whom Trump has endorsed, called the trial a sham.

“Democrats know they can’t beat President Trump at the polls, so they use our government as a weapon against him,” Robinson said on his Twitter/X account.Read more…)

Avian influenza gene found in Forsyth County wastewater discharge; suspected source of dairy cattle

Dairy cows eating in a barn
(Photo by Dusty Pixel/Getty Images)

By Lisa Sorg

Detection “does not mean there is infectious H5N1 virus in the wastewater,” county health officials say.

This story has been updated to reflect that a third farmworker contracted H5N1, in Michigan, on May 30, according to the CDC.

A gene found in a strain of avian influenza, H5N1, was detected last month in industrial discharges from the Forsyth/Winston-Salem County wastewater treatment plant, scientists discovered, coinciding with an outbreak in a cattle herd dairyman in west-central North Carolina. . (Read more…)

Low-wage, cheap-housing states dominated the post-pandemic jobs boom

The Raleigh city skyline.
The skyline of North Carolina’s capital city, Raleigh. North Carolina is one of the few U.S. states that has seen the most job growth in recent years. (Photo: raleighnc.gov)

By Tim Henderson

More than half of the jobs created in the country in the last five years occurred in two states: Texas and Florida.

They are at the forefront of a job creation revolution in which states with the lowest wages and lowest cost of living are gaining the largest share of new jobs, according to a new Stateline analysis of Bureau of Labor data. US Labor Statistics North Carolina came in fourth.(Read more…)

Lawmakers Examine How to Speed ​​Hiring Amid Chronic Staffing Shortages

to "help Wanted" sign
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

By Clayton Henkel

Even before the brief legislative session began, North Carolina lawmakers repeatedly heard from state agencies about double-digit vacancies and the struggle to fill vacancies. The State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC) has noted that low wages have caused some workers to seek work in the private sector, leaving them under stress and with an increasing workload.

On Tuesday, the Senate State and Local Government Committee took an initial step to improve the state contracting process by advancing House Bill 223/OSHR/Various SHRA Changes. (Read more.…)

On ‘World No Tobacco Day,’ a renewed push to curb e-cigarette use by North Carolina youth

a young woman vapes while a smiling friend watches
Among middle and high school students who currently use e-cigarettes, 1 in 4 use the devices daily according to the CDC. (Photo: Getty Images/iStock)

By Clayton Henkel

Tricia Howard never expected her son to start vaping. As a lead nurse for Durham Public Schools, she knew firsthand the addictive nature of e-cigarettes and the harm nicotine can pose to teens.

But when Howard found a vape cartridge in his son’s room, he confronted him and heard a story that’s all too familiar to teen smokers.Read more...)

Protecting the right to protest is how we protect democracy in North Carolina (commentary)

two protesters
House Bill 237 would increase penalties for protesters who block traffic, as well as protesters who choose to wear a mask or face covering during a protest. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)

By Dawn Blagrove and Melissa Price Kromm

Vibrant and effective protest movements throughout American history have helped secure the rights and freedoms we now take for granted. Without the Civil Rights Movement, for example, our children, who are black and white, would not be able to attend school together or receive equal access to quality books or facilities. Everything from the five-day work week to immigrant protection and marriage equality was achieved with the help of community-driven protest movements.

Today in North Carolina, our state legislators are counting on us to forget this country’s successful history of protest, along with the First Amendment, so we can vote against democracy. (Read further…)

UNC’s retreat on DEI is emblematic of a simple truth the right refuses to see (commentary)

a variety of paper face cuttings is a variety of colors
The author says the UNC Board of Governors repeated a mistake often made by the powers that be in American society last week when it voted to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programming from the system. (Image: Adobe Stock)

By Rob Schofield

There was a time in American history, after the Revolution and before the Civil War, when many white Americans – North and South – said it was unnecessary to affirmatively combat slavery or try to restrict it because it was an institution. obsolete that will eventually wither and die on its own.

Fortunately, this was not a view shared by abolitionists nor, ultimately, by President Abraham Lincoln and other union supporters, who eventually came to realize that abolition was the great and ultimate purpose of the Civil War. (Read more…)

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