VOLUME 10 ISSUE 48 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2025
NSJONLINE.COM
MARK SCHIEFELBEIN / AP PHOTO
One year later President Donald Trump speaks after making a surprise appearance at a White House press briefing Tuesday, marking one year from his second inauguration.
Sunday voting, early voting sites pared
the
BRIEF this week
Teen suspect in 2022 Raleigh shooting that killed 5 to plead guilty Raleigh An 18-year-old plans to plead guilty to a 2022 mass shooting in Raleigh that left five people dead — including his older brother — avoiding a trial next month, his attorneys said Tuesday. A written notice filed in Wake County court by the lawyers for Austin Thompson said their client intends to plead guilty to all charges against him. Thompson was 15 when authorities believe he went on a killing rampage on Oct. 13, 2022, beginning in his Raleigh neighborhood with his 16-year-old brother. His trial was scheduled to begin Feb. 2. Thompson’s attorneys had indicated last year that they intended to use “diminished capacity” and “voluntary intoxication … of a prescribed medication” in his defense.
Russian diplomat: NATO faces deep crisis over Greenland Moscow Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the bid by U.S. President Donald Trump to take over Greenland poses a “deep crisis” for NATO and raises questions about the alliance’s preservation as a single military-political bloc. Lavrov said Trump’s actions upended the Western concept of the “rule-based global order” that Russia has long criticized, even after Moscow sent troops into neighboring Ukraine nearly four years ago. He said Denmark’s control over Greenland was a vestige of the colonial past but denied Trump’s suggestions that Russia and China have any intentions to threaten the Arctic island.
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The State Board of Elections made rulings for several counties
NC’s America 250 plans take shape U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon made a stop at a Fayetteville high school By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The General Assembly’s America 250 Committee met Jan. 14 to continue its work on celebrations and events for the nation’s anniversary this year. Members heard a guest pre-
sentation from David Hosaflook, an American missionary with dual U.S.-Albanian citizenship, which offered an outsider’s perspective on American freedom, liberty and global admiration for the U.S. Hoosaflook emphasized how Albanians deeply value liberty due to their history under Ottoman, fascist and communist rule, and how Americans born in freedom may not fully appreciate it. See PLANS, page A3
By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — During its meeting last week, the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to end Sunday early voting in some counties as well as early in-person voting sites at a handful of colleges and universities. The board approved Guilford County’s plan for early voting sites in a 3-2 vote along party lines. The decision upheld the county’s exclusion of Washington Terrace Park as a site even though that location was utilized from 2012 to 2024, with one exception in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The current North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) makeup is three Republicans and two Democrats. Nearly all the state’s 100 counties have unanimously set
National School Choice Week returns across US
55 Flagship events planned nationwide
The annual event runs from Jan. 25-31 By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — National School Choice Week returns this year from Jan. 25-31 with 55 flagship events scheduled nationwide, including school fairs, capitol celebrations, and student-led and community events. National School Choice Week is a charitable program conducted each year by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation (NSCAF) and the National School Choice Resource Center, which are both 501(c)(3) nonprofits.
According to a new national survey by the NSCAF, 75% of parents of school-aged American children (46 million nationwide) have “considered, searched for, or enrolled at least one child in a new or different school; the highest level recorded in five years.” More than 28,000 schools are participating in and planning events to celebrate, according to the National School Choice Week website. In Raleigh, there will be a student showcase held Jan. 29 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Fletcher Opera Theatre at Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts at 2 E. South Street. The event, See CHOICE, page A3
their early voting plans, leaving the NCSBE to deal with around a dozen counties where the vote was not unanimous. Those actions included the board voting 3-2 to eliminate early voting hours on Sundays in five counties: Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Harnett and Wayne. Under state law, the state board has final authority when county boards fail to reach unanimous agreement on such plans. “I don’t think we should be voting on Sunday,” NCSBE Chair Francis De Luca said. “I know a lot of people who do nothing on Sunday because that’s the Lord’s day.” “I just find that outrageous,” Democrat member Siobhan Millen said, claiming the change was going against the wishes of the chairs of local boards related to Sunday early voting. The college sites impacted by the voting site changes included Elon, North Carolina See NCSBE, page A2