VOLUME 6 ISSUE 12
|
WWW.NSJONLINE.COM
|
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 2021
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
GOP Leader McCarthy opposes Jan. 6 commission Washington, D.C. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that he won’t support a proposal to form a commission to study the Jan. 6 protest at the U.S. Capitol. McCarthy said he wanted the new panel to look at the broader issue of political violence, including Black Lives Matter groups that protested police nationwide in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. He said that given the “shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America, I cannot support this legislation.” The bill’s path forward is uncertain in the 50-50 Senate. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell objected to the initial proposal by Pelosi, saying it should also investigate last summer’s riots. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fauci: Reasonable for businesses to keep masks Washington, D.C. Dr. Anthony Fauci is acknowledging “confusion” after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week said fully vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks in most instances, even indoors. Fauci says it is “reasonable and understandable” that some businesses and localities are maintaining mask requirements, because they can’t be sure of an individual’s vaccination history. Fauci says children who are not vaccinated — including children under 12 who won’t be eligible for vaccines for months — should continue to wear masks indoors. But he says that recommendation could change as the CDC conducts more research and more Americans get shots. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NCDHHS extends Medicaid Managed Care enrollment through May 21 Raleigh The N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday it is extending open enrollment for N.C. Medicaid Managed Care through Friday, May 21. “We want to be sure beneficiaries have every opportunity to choose a plan, so even after open enrollment ends, they have until September 30 to pick a different plan for any reason,” said deputy secretary for Medicaid Dave Richard. The extension will not impact the launch date of July 1, 2021. Beneficiaries who do not choose a health plan by May 21 will be automatically enrolled in a health plan by the department. NSJ STAFF
Endangered red wolves born at North Carolina Zoo, doing well Asheboro Three litters of American red wolves, which are critically endangered and number less than two dozen in the wild, have been born at the North Carolina Zoo, officials announced Monday. The litters, which total 12 pups, were born over three days at the end of April. According to zoo officials, all the pups and their mothers are healthy and doing well. The newest pups bring the total number of red wolves currently in the zoo’s breeding program to 36, making it the second-largest pack in the U.S. The pups most likely will be visible starting in midJune. Zoo officials said only 15 to 20 red wolves remain in the wild, all in eastern North Carolina. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHOTO VIA NC DEPT. OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
State Superintendent Catherine Truitt (left) listens during a recent visit to an elementary school.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
Prosecutor says Pasquotank deputies justified in shooting By Ben Finley The Associated Press ELIZABETH CITY — A North Carolina prosecutor said Tuesday that sheriff’s deputies were justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown Jr., because he ignored their commands and endangered at least two of them when he drove his car toward them. District Attorney Andrew Womble said at a news conference that Brown used his car as a “deadly weapon,” causing Pasquotank County deputies to believe it was necessary to use deadly force. Womble said the deputies will face no criminal charges. Attorneys for Brown’s family who watched body camera footage have previously said that he was trying to drive away from deputies and posed no threat. Family attorney Harry Daniels said that the family was preparing a response to Womble’s an-
nouncement. During his news conference, Womble said a deputy who tried to open Brown’s car door wound up partly on the hood as Brown backed up, and the deputy found himself directly in the car’s path moments later when Brown drove forward. Womble said the deputy had to push off the car with his hand to narrowly avoid being run over, and at least one of the other deputies was also endangered as the group tried to take Brown into custody on drug-related warrants. “I find that the facts of this case clearly illustrate the officers who used deadly force on Andrew Brown Jr. did so reasonably and only when a violent felon used a deadly weapon to put their lives in danger,” Womble said, referring to Brown’s car. He added that he found that “Brown’s actions and conduct were indeed dangerous by the time of the See SHOOTING, page A3
PHOTO VIA AP
Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble answers questions from reporters after announcing he will not charge deputies in the April 21 fatal shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. during a news conference Tuesday, May 18, 2021, at the Pasquotank County Public Safety building in Elizabeth City.
Truitt takes on COVID, Critical Race Theory in first months in office An exclusive with NC’s top education official By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The first quarter of state Superintendent Catherine Truitt’s first year on the job has been busy. She’s dealt with issues ranging from COVID-19 mitigation to literacy and learning loss to the controversy surrounding Critical Race Theory, and North State Journal recently sat down with Truitt to discuss it all. “The job of the state superintendent is to lead the administrative agency that is the arm of the State
Board of Education,” Truitt said, adding that the agency falls under the executive branch. “And as the leader of the Department of Public Instruction, I lead the staff that does the work that comes to us by state board policy or by statute.” Earlier this year, after vocal opposition from Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the SBOE voted to approve a planned revision to the state’s Social Studies Standards, which critics said contained Critical Race Theory (CRT) themes. As a board member, Truitt was involved in these debates. “I think there’s a lot of misunderstanding about what Critical Race See TRUITT, page A2
‘Fund Law Enforcement’ bill aims to offer signing bonuses amid officer shortage By David Larson North State Journal RALEIGH — State Rep. Allen McNeill (R-Randolph) filed House Bill 775, “Fund Law Enforcement/ Detention/Corrections,” in early May to help turn around law enforcement recruitment problems by offering $5,000 signing bonuses for new officers willing to sign a threeyear contract with agencies in the state. “It’s meant to be more of a recruiting tool,” McNeil told NSJ in a phone interview. “I guess you could call it an anti-Defund the Police bill. It was predicated on the fact that it’s getting more difficult to recruit officers into the law enforcement profession.” McNeill said there are a lot of reasons people aren’t choosing law enforcement as a career path. One reason is they used to recruit heavily among those returning from military service overseas, but he said there are not as many available veterans as there were in the past. But a bigger reason, he says, is recent negative attention on the profession, which has taken away a lot of the sense of honor and prestige that came with the job. McNeill is himself a 32-year veteran of law enforcement who “did a bit of everything” during his career. He worked in the prisons, worked patrol, ran the vice unit and then finished his career as the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy. “I felt like I was making a difference in people’s lives, helping solve crime,” he said of his early years on the job. But now, he says his former colleagues in law enforcement are reporting a dip in morale. This is also being seen in the numbers, which
he says show a shortage of around 2,000 officers in the prison system and alarming shortages everySee POLICE, page A2