VOLUME 10 ISSUE 33 | THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2025
NSJONLINE.COM
JACOB KUPFERMAN / AP PHOTO
Perfect at home Bryce Young, Dave Canales and the Panthers rallied from a 17-0 deficit to beat the visiting Dolphins and improve to 2-0 at Bank of America Stadium with their 27-24 win Sunday in Charlotte. Carolina improved to 2-3 on the season.
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Audit says CATS cut security 40%
BRIEF this week
Supreme Court rejects appeal from Epstein associate Maxwell Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein. On the first day of their new term, the justices declined to take up a case that would have drawn renewed attention to the sordid sexual-abuse saga after President Donald Trump’s administration sought to tamp down criticism over its refusal to publicly release more investigative files from Epstein’s case. Lawyers for Maxwell, a British socialite, argued that she never should have been tried or convicted for her role in luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein, a New York financier. She is serving a 20-year prison term.
3 human immune system scientists win Nobel Prize in medicine Stockholm Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their work on peripheral immune tolerance. Their discoveries have advanced treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases and may improve transplant success. The Nobel Assembly announced the award Monday. Sakaguchi first discovered regulatory T cells in 1995. Then, in 2001, Brunkow and Ramsdell identified a mutation in the Foxp3 gene linked to autoimmune diseases. Sakaguchi later connected these findings, showing how the Foxp3 gene controls T-regs. The trio will share nearly $1.2 million in prize money.
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Education Department awards $53M to charter school group The government agency handed out $500 million overall By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A public charter school organization in North Carolina will be receiving a portion of the $500 million in charter school program grants announced earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Education.
“A one-size fits all education system is not working for our students. Charter schools allow for innovative educational models that expand learning opportunities for students,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in the announcement of the grants. Of the new funding, the North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools (NCAPCS) will reSee CHARTERS, page A3
The report claims Charlotte’s transit system used inclusion requirements for security contracts By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor released a preliminary audit report showing that the Charlotte Area Transit System, or CATS, had cut back its security force by 40% in the years leading up to the August 2025 murder of Iryna Zarutska on the city’s light rail system. “The safety of the citizens of Charlotte needs to be first and foremost when security decisions are being made,” said State Auditor Dave Boliek. “Our report shows there has been a clear shift away from armed security in the CATS’s private security contracts. “Further, limiting any part of a contract providing citizens
NCInnovation releases 2025 annual report The nonprofit is required by the legislature to produce the review By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — NCInnovation released its annual report for 2025, outlining the organization’s spending on grant projects and overhead costs. The annual report is mandated in statute by the legislature. “With the expansion of regional hubs, a growing portfolio of grant-funded projects, and hands-on commercialization support, NCInnovation is delivering on its mission to accelerate the commercialization of UNC system applied research,” NCI President and
CEO Bennet Waters said in a press release. “The university-to-industry pipeline has long underpinned American innovation, and North Carolina remains well positioned to create regional economic development from its world-class research successes,” said Waters. NCInnovation (NCI) is the nonprofit university research accelerator that was given a $500 million endowment by the General Assembly in the state’s 2022-23 budget. Under that endowment, NCI was allowed to use $50 million as investment income in the 2023-24 fiscal year and $90 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year. See REPORT, page A8
$18.8M Research funding awarded by NCInnovation for 25 projects at 14 UNC System schools
with security to only firms that meet a DEI checkbox raises questions as to whether politics has taken priority over public safety. As we continue our investigation, we will be examining the decisions that went into designing, soliciting, and approving these security contracts.” House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls) reacted to the report on X, writing that Boliek’s investigation “revealed that Charlotte officials put woke DEI ideology ahead of public safety. This is unacceptable. The House will be taking action.” Two days later, Hall announced the formation of the House Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety that will “study and make recommendations regarding the intersection of mental health services, involuntary commitment processes, and the safety of the general public.” See CATS, page A2