VOLUME 9 ISSUE 27 | THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2024
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BRIEF this week
From pandemic to primary: Truitt’s whirlwind term in office
Durham man among five killed in N.Y. murder-suicide Syosett, N.Y. A New York man distraught that he was being forced to move from his late mother’s home shot and killed four of his family members before taking his own life, police said Monday. Joseph DeLucia Jr. and his family had gathered shortly before noon on Sunday in his mother’s home in Syosset, about 30 miles east of Manhattan on suburban Long Island, just three days after laying the matriarch to rest. But instead of discussing the planned sale of the home, where DeLucia also lived, the 59-year-old fired 12 rounds from a shotgun he’d obtained, killing his three siblings and a niece, according to Nassau County Police Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick. DeLucia then shot and killed himself on the front lawn. The victims were Joanne Kearns, 69, of Tampa, Florida; Frank DeLucia, 64, of Durham, and Tina Hammond, 64, and her daughter Victoria Hammond, 30, both of East Patchogue, also on Long Island.
Truitt offered advice to her successor and discussed how the pandemic impacted her
A.P. DILLON / NORTH STATE JOURNAL
State Superintendent Catherine Truitt, who lost the Republican primary in her reelection bid to Michele Morrow, reminisced about her term in office. By A.P. Dillon North State Journal This is the first installment in a two‑part series on the tenure of outgoing State Superintendent Catherine Truitt.
U.S. consumer confidence rises New York American consumers felt more confident in August as their outlook for the future improved. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 103.3 in August from 101.9 in July. The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months. The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market rose to 82.5. July’s figure was revised up to 81.1 from its initial reading of 78.2, ending a five-month stretch below 80. A reading under 80 can signal a potential recession in the near future. Consumers’ view of current conditions rose to 134.4 in August from 133.1 last month. Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic activity and is closely watched by economists for signs how the American consumer is feeling. On top of the weak July jobs data, the government reported last week that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported.
affiliated candidate in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District running against incumbent Republican Rep. Richard Hudson and Democratic candidate Nigel Bristow, was involved in incidents associated with her former boyfriend, Harper Wilmoth, and a woman named Lauren Cabral, who was dating Wilmoth in 2020. Court documents reveal al-
RALEIGH — North Carolina State Superintendent Catherine Truitt has two pieces of advice for whomever her successor may be. “First of all, this job is not about governing, it’s about leading. You don’t govern North Carolina Public Schools; you lead North Carolina Public Schools,” Truitt said. “And second, I would say that the bases of both parties have turned education into a wedge issue and that this position does have the ability to chip away at that wedge, but only if they move to the center on many issues that impact students. In other words, you’re representing all people, not just the people in your base.” Truitt, elected during the 2020 pandemic election cycle, lost March’s Republican primary to Michele Morrow. Morrow — who has faced criticism for negative comments about public schools as well as her remarks and participation in events during the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising at the U.S. Capitol — will face Democrat Maurice “Mo” Green, a past superintendent of Guilford County Public Schools who spent the better part of the last decade running the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a leading financial supporter of left and progressive groups in the state. “People,” Truitt said, “always need to be looking closer at all Council of State races, not just this race.” And not just the races. Truitt added that the job of the state superintendent is often overlooked — if known at all. “I can tell you with 100% certainty, doing this job for almost four years, that most people don’t know we have a state superintendent of public instruction, let alone that
See ETCHISON, page A2
See TRUITT, page A3
NC-09 candidate’s past includes protective orders Court records in Moore County show accusations against Shelane Etchison By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — A past history of protective orders involving a North Carolina candidate for Congress was found among 2020 court records filed in Moore County. Shelane Etchison, an un-
Justice For All Party certified following court order “We simply don’t have the statutory authority for a mobile app to take the place of the identification cards.” Stacy “Four” Eggers, NCSBE member
UNC Digital ID was also approved for voting after a heated debate By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The North Carolina State Board of Elections approved the Justice For All Party to be certified at its Aug. 20 meeting following an Aug. 12 federal court ruling ordering the agency to do so. There was no board discussion on the order to certify the Justice For All Party (JFA), with board member Siobahn Millen proposing a motion to approve JFA because “our hand is forced because of the federal court.” Member Jeff Carmon reluctantly seconded the motion after several mo-
ments of silence and the motion was unanimously approved. For months, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) had refused to certify JFA, which has Cornel West as its presidential candidate. The NCSBE had also initially refused to certify the We The People Party (WTP), associated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as its presidential candidate, but eventually certified the party in early August. The North Carolina Democratic Party then sued to remove WTP, but Wake County Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory ruled in favor of WTP, stating in his bench ruling, “It would be unconscionable for this court to attempt to tell a candidate who has decided to use one of two methods that the method that he used was a subterfuge, when in fact, if it is or it
isn’t, he still complied with the requirements.” Kennedy has since suspended his campaign and officially endorsed former President Donald Trump at a rally in Arizona on Aug. 23. NCSBE said it hadn’t been informed by WTP of plans to change its nomination, and it may be too late to remove Kennedy from the ballot anyway. “If We The People officially withdraws his nomination, the State Board would have to consider whether it is practical to remove his name from ballots and reprint ballots at that time,” NCSBE said in an email to North State Journal. “In North Carolina, the first absentee ballots go out on Friday, September 6, 10 days from now. As of Tuesday morning, See ORDER, page A2
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“This job is not about governing, it’s about leading.” NC State Superintendent Catherine Truitt