VOLUME 7 ISSUE 45 |
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2023
ISABELLE LAVALETTE | NORTH STATE JOURNAL
A sunset on the Outer Banks
Clouds race toward the sunset on one of the final days of 2022 near the Whalehead Club — a site on the National Register of Historic Places — in Corolla on the Outer Banks.
Chief justice: Judges’ safety ‘essential’ to court system
Efforts to restore water continue in western North Carolina Asheville Officials in Asheville are continuing to restore public water to swaths of the region after frigid temperatures curtailed the utility last week. City officials said that water was coming back online in south Asheville as well as lower-lying areas of southern and western Buncombe County. The widespread water outages have lasted a week or more for some people. Residents continued picking up nonpotable water and bottled water from two fire stations in the county on Tuesday. Two of the three sites originally set up for water distribution are still up and running: West Buncombe Fire Department and Enka-Candler Station No. 2. Residents are asked to bring their own containers to fill with nonpotable water — water to be used for flushing toilets and basic needs but not for drinking. A limited supply of drinking water is also available. The YMCA of Western North Carolina also offered up its locations for people who lacked water and needed to shower.
The U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing first arguments for 2023 on Jan. 9
AP PHOTO
Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Georgetown University in this 2019 file photo.
Two NC counties participating in Zuckerberg-linked elections program By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) backed by Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has announced it will be sending $80 million to state boards of election over the next five years. CTCL will be feeding the grants through the U.S. Alli-
ance for Election Excellence (USAEE), which is supported by the Audacious Project, a program housed under TED Conferences that describes itself as a “collaborative funding initiative catalyzing social impact on a grand scale.” USAEE has already chosen 10 county and municipal elecSee ELECTIONS, page A2
Roberts, writing in an annual year-end report about the federal judiciary, did not specifically mention the abortion decision, but the case and the reaction to it seemed clearly on his mind. “Judicial opinions speak for The Associated Press themselves, and there is no obliWASHINGTON, D.C. — With gation in our free country to agree security threats to Supreme Court with them. Indeed, we judges justices still fresh memories, frequently dissent — sometimes Chief Justice John Roberts on strongly — from our colleagues’ Saturday praised programs that opinions, and we explain why in public writings about protect judges, saying the cases before us,” that “we must support Roberts wrote. judges by ensuring Polls following the their safety.” abortion decision Roberts and other “A judicial show public trust in conservative Supreme system cannot the court is at historic Court justices were lows. And two of Robthe subject of pro- and should not erts’ liberal colleagues tests, some at their live in fear.” who dissented in the homes, after the May abortion case, Justices leak of the court’s deJohn Roberts, U.S. Elena Kagan and Socision that ultimately nia Sotomayor, have stripped away consti- Supreme Court said the court needs tutional protections chief justice to be concerned about for abortion. Justice overturning precedent Samuel Alito has said and appearing politithat the leak made conservative justices “targets for cal. After the leak and threat to Kaassassination.” And in June, a man carrying a gun, knife and vanaugh, lawmakers passed legzip ties was arrested near Justice islation increasing security proBrett Kavanaugh’s house after tection for the justices and their threatening to kill the justice, families. Separately in December, whose vote was key to overturning the court’s Roe v. Wade decision. See JUSTICES, page A2
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jeremy Renner undergoes surgery after snow plow accident Reno, Nev. Actor Jeremy Renner was assisting a stranded motorist when he was injured over the weekend in a snow-plow accident in the mountains on the edge of Reno, according to the city’s mayor. Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve told the Reno Gazette-Journal the 51-yearold “Avengers” star was trying to help a stranded car outside his home on the side of a snowy mountain on New Year’s Day when he was run over by his own vehicle. The accident left Renner in critical but stable condition with chest and orthopedic injuries, and Renner’s publicist said in a statement that he remains in the intensive care unit following surgery on Monday. Renner plays Hawkeye, a sharp-shooting member of the superhero Avengers squad in Marvel’s sprawling movie and television universe. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Truitt letter rebuts Governor’s School lawsuit claims By Matt Mercer North State Journal RALEIGH — A letter sent to members of the General Assembly by Republican state Superintendent Catherine Truitt rebuts many of the claims made by a teacher at the N.C. Governor’s School program who was fired in 2021. The Governor’s School is a summer residential program lasting four weeks for “gifted and talented high school students, integrating academic disciplines, the arts, and unique courses on each of two campuses.” Its operations are overseen by officials with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, N.C. Governor’s School Coordinator Rodney Allen, and Director Office of Advanced Learning and Gifted Education Sneha Shah-Coltrane. According to the lawsuit, which was filed in Wake County by the Alliance Defending Free-
According to the lawsuit, the firing came after he spoke out about “the harms of the racially divisive ideology embraced by the school.” dom on behalf of English professor Dr. David Phillips, the firing came after he spoke out about “the harms of the racially divisive ideology embraced by the school.” The case summary says Phillips had spoken out against the school’s “increasing adoption of critical theory, an ideology that views everyone and everything through the lens of characteristics like race, sex, and religion, labeling people as perpetual oppressors or victims based on group membership alone.” Phillips had taught at the Gov-
ernor’s School for eight years, as well as teaching English at Wake Tech and Guilford Community Colleges. In the lawsuit, Phillips also asserts there was “no appeal or other recourse” offered following his firing. Truitt writes in the letter dated Dec. 28, 2022 that she read media reports of the story and took time to gather information. “Like all of you, this story gave me great pause and concern. This was the first time I had ever heard about this situation because a) I very rarely get involved with HR matters as state superintendent, particularly for employees hired for limited periods of time; and b) the teacher in question had never reached out to me with a complaint,” Truitt wrote. She says most, if not all of the Critical Race Theory claims Phillips alleges took place from 2013 to 2021, before she made several changes that took effect in 2022. Truitt adds that the school is typically planned a year ahead of time and the 2021 session planning took place before she was sworn in to office. She says her immediate attention was on See TRUITT, page A2
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