VOLUME 7 ISSUE 28 |
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2022
Oral arguments in Leandro education case center on spending authority Key issues included expanding school choice, parental involvement and better communication from the state By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — Oral arguments in the long-running Leandro education case were heard by the North
Carolina Supreme Court on Aug. 31. Presenting to the state’s high court were the plaintiffs’ attorney Melanie Black Dubis, lawmakers’ attorney Matthew Tilley and N.C. Senior Deputy Attorney General Amar Majmundar, who represented North Carolina’s executive branch. The main question at hand throughout the hearing was whether the courts can bypass the state constitution when it comes to appropriating taxpayer money for ed-
ucation purposes. “Whether the judiciary can order the state to implement and fund money for a sweeping, eight-year, 146-item, comprehensive remedial plan” that would have ramifications constitutionally and educationally, Tilley questioned. Referring to Judge David Lee’s funding transfer order, Tilley called it an “unprecedented violation” See LEANDRO, page A3
DELIVERING AID IN UKRAINE
SHAWN KREST | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
NSJ reporter Shawn Krest is in Ukraine, running supplies between Romania and the war-torn nation as part of a humanitarian mission. He is documenting his trip, from seeing barricades and old mine fields to helping Ukrainians by repairing their homes and delivering aid, all while the sites and sounds of war surround him.
Keep on truckin’: First impression of Ukraine NSJ’s Shawn Krest reaches the war-torn nation while delivering humanitarian aid
State reduces flounder limits as season starts Raleigh Saltwater anglers won’t be bringing in big hauls of one of North Carolina’s most popular recreational fish — flounder. The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission announced Thursday new creel limits for 15 species of fish in the state’s inland waters. The rule reduced the number of flounder an angler may keep per day to one, down from four last year. The season, which lasted just 15 days in 2021, is scheduled for the entire month of September in 2022. Red drum are also limited to one fish per day between 18 and 27 inches and speckled seatrout are limited to four fish per day of at least 14 inches. NSJ STAFF
ALE enforcement operations yield 189 arrests Raleigh Throughout the summer, the state Alcohol Law Enforcement agency conducted several operations aimed at addressing violence at ABC-permitted businesses and investigating crimes that involved alcohol. The statewide enforcement operation was focused in Wilmington, Washington, Greenville, Pembroke, Lumberton, Fayetteville, Chapel Hill, Durham, Elon, Burlington, Kannapolis, Charlotte, Boone, Wilkesboro, High Point, Greensboro, Sanford, Aberdeen, Asheboro, Salisbury, Mill Spring, and Hendersonville. Throughout the agency’s eight districts, agents executed four search warrants, seized six firearms and 78 fraudulent identifications. Of the 189 arrests and 449 charges, 20 were felony charges, 261 were alcohol-related charges, and 80 were drug-related charges. NSJ STAFF
By Shawn Krest North State Journal THEY SIT, one after another, the line stretching off into the horizon. They are the trucks waiting to leave Ukraine. Immediately after clearing customs and entering the country, the first impression of Ukraine is the unfathomable number of people trying to get out. The right lane of the eastbound highway is clogged with 18-wheeler semis waiting to get their loads approved to depart. The wait is a long one. In the early days of the war, an estimated 12,000 trucks were lined up at the borders. The number has gone down, but it appears not by much. The wait is currently more than a week, all spent in highway gridlock, which gives new meaning to the phrase “slow lane.” A shirtless driver squats by his rig, heating something on a small camping stove. Another driver,
clad only in boxers, uses a hose attached behind his cab to take a roadside shower. Small groups of truckers cluster, talking, smoking and glaring at the cars that speed by for a much shorter date with customs. There are several reasons for the unfathomably long line — a desire to leave for safer territory is an obvious one, as is the lack of other ways to transport commercial goods. The port only recently reopened and there is a similar line of trucks approaching the Black Sea commercial docks. Train service has also been interrupted for periods of time during the war, meaning that spending a week or more showering by the roadside is actually the fastest way to get goods to market. Drivers also complain about the bureaucracy — customs is apparently asking for documentation that has never been requested before. For the first 26 kilometers (16 miles), our view of the Ukrainian countryside is blocked by the never-ending parade of parked trucks. It rolls through towns, over hills and into valleys. Our directions
have us turn left onto a new highway, and the line comes with us, rolling more than 30 kilometers into Ukraine. That’s more than 18 miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic. Once we pass the trucks and get an unobstructed view, Ukraine is a sight to behold. Its rolling hills and bright palette of colors are breathtaking. Yellow fields set against a bright blue sky remove any doubt as to how the country chose the colors for its flag. Crops are alternated with equally bright fields of sunflowers. The villages are marked with giant blue and white displays that look more like the base of an Olympic torch than a “Welcome to Chernivtski” sign. The architecture is quirky and endearing, looking like something out of a fairy tale or early Disney movie. It all stands in stark contrast to our starting point, Romania — where everything seems to have been built in the ’60s (either 1260s or 1960s as castles and churches share space with Iron Curtain era industrial buildings) and the country is famous for its dark history as home to vampires.
Ukrainian Orthodox churches dot the landscape, with their bright blue bases and gold domes shining in the sun. The convoy used to cut through Moldova, a straighter line from Romania to Ukraine, but the direct route proved to be inconvenient. “It’s shorter,” says team leader Shannon, but it’s not faster. He vaguely explains that the border “can be tough.” Another longtime driver, Daniel, adds some detail. “They’re jerks,” he says. In addition to making the crossing difficult, Moldovan customs apparently has been known to collect an additional “tax” for using the roads in their country — a tax that, without pointing fingers, many drivers seem skeptical actually finds its way into governSee IMPRESSION, page A8
Stay off the grass: Entering the war zone Land mines, battered homes and air raid sirens welcome NSJ’s Shawn Krest By Shawn Krest North State Journal ON OUR WAY out in the morning, we suffer our first casualty. I’m riding in Nighthawk (the black van — there’s also Opal, a blue one, and MomVan, a minivan) and it begins making a clunking noise about a mile into the trip. “That’s new,” said the driver. The van then immediately lurches and we hear a loud clunk. As we pull to the side of the road, we see a trail of oil behind us. The white smoke and smell are not good signs. I step out of the passenger side to assess the damage. From the driver’s seat, I get a reminder of
where we are. “Try not to step on the grass,” the driver said, pointing at the strip of lawn in front of a melon field. Once we were loaded into MomVan and Opal and running again, a short distance down the road I saw the “Danger: Land mines” sign. So, even the “relatively safe” area has its risks. *** Sometimes, the worst news comes in the form of a simple suggestion. “You might want to bring extra water with you today,” team leader Shannon announced as we prepared to depart. A reasonable piece of advice: For us newcomers, the task may end up being more strenuous than
we expect, or perhaps the weather forecast calls for warmer than average temperatures. “The Russians are trying to take out the bridge out of town,” he clarified. So we may be in the city … longer than we expect. This piece of news, naturally, inspired several questions, all of which Shannon brushed off. “We’ll just bring extra water and, if we need to, we’ll eat Christian first,” he said, gesturing toward the smallest driver in the group and least likely to put up a fight. We are headed into the war zone today. As we get closer to the front lines, military checkpoints are more numerous and better fortified. The soldiers manning them — scared young kids in the “relSee WAR ZONE, page A2
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