In this situation:
1. Senate provides final approval to Blue Cross NC bill the insurance coverage commissioner says is terrible for policyholders
Republican Insurance coverage Commissioner Mike Causey
By Lynn Bonner
The state Senate on Tuesday authorized a bill permitting nonprofit Blue Cross NC to act a lot more like a for-profit insurance coverage organization more than the objections of the state Insurance coverage Commissioner and in spite of an 11th-hour appeal from the state Treasurer to slow the action.
Blue Cross Blue Shield NC, the state’s dominant overall health insurer, will be in a position to set up a holding organization for its assets. The holding organization would be in a position to purchase companies without having oversight from state regulators. [Read more…]
two. James Lyons, Durham’s strong waste director, fired right after NC Newsline investigation
Lyons was introduced as Durham’s new director of the Strong Waste Management Division earlier this month. (Photo: DurhamNC.gov)
By Lisa Sorg
James Lyons, who began as Durham’s strong waste director just 3 weeks ago, has been fired, properly straight away, right after an NC Newsline investigation into his function history. In an e mail sent at six:56 p.m. Tuesday, City Manager Wanda Web page announced Lyons’s termination. As NC Newsline reported earlier Tuesday, the City paid a national search firm [Read more…]
three. NC Senate Republicans propose sweeping voting alterations like new guidelines for mail-in ballots
Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Photos
By Lynn Bonner
Senate Republicans want new restrictions on voting that would need signature verification and two-issue authentication of mail-in ballots. In addition to these new needs, Senate Bill 747 also folds in restrictions that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed in the previous. A single provision in the bill eliminates the 3-day grace period for mail-in ballots. Mail-in [Read more…]
Bonus study: NC elections board preps for voter ID, braces for a lot more, potentially high priced, needs
four. State education leaders say college voucher expansion will not prompt public college exodus
Photo: Getty Photos
By Greg Childress
An expansion of the state’s college voucher plan to consist of all households regardless of revenue is not probably to lead to an exodus of students from regular public schools, NC Division of Public Instruction officials mentioned Wednesday. That statement is primarily based on what analysis shows has occurred in other states that enable wealthy households access to college [Read more…]
Bonus study: Eight new college top quality indicators could be added to state’s A-F grading technique
five. Newsline unique report: A neighborhood inundated with industrial waste
The Mountaire chicken slaughter plant disposes of its wastewater by spraying it on farm fields. The contamination can seep into the groundwater. (Photo: Lisa Sorg)
By Lisa Sorg
Fifty-nine thousand tons of carbon dioxide. Fifteen tons of hazardous air pollutants. An additional seven tons of ultra-fine particulate matter that can burrow deep into the lungs, invade the bloodstream and lead to babies to be born also early and also tiny.
Thirteen unlined dumps, their decades-old contents seeping into the groundwater. Fourteen hazardous waste web pages, leaving behind a cancer-causing soup of solvents and pesticides, oils and dyes. Millions of gallons of urine and feces excreted each day by 300,000 hogs, plus an untold quantity of chickens and turkeys. [Read more…]
More segments in this series:
six. Some NC Residence members warm to healthcare marijuana, but the bill’s outlook remains hazy (with video)
Bill sponsor credits cannabis with assisting save his life although fighting colon cancer
By Clayton Henkel
North Carolina’s healthcare marijuana bill has been largely dormant given that passing the state Senate in early March. But members of the state Residence showed indicators Tuesday that they have been becoming a lot more comfy with the Compassionate Care Act. The bipartisan bill would enable physicians to authorize cannabis in treating a lot more than a dozen debilitating healthcare situation [Read more…]
7. NC Senate provides final approval to mobile sports wagering bill
Wise phones make it straightforward to location wagers in on the net casinos and sporting events. Photo: Getty Photos
By Clayton Henkel
Legislation that would enable North Carolinians to location bets on qualified and college sports as effectively as horse racing won final approval (37-11) in the state Senate Thursday.
The measure drew each bipartisan assistance and opposition.
Sen. Jim Burgin joined Democrats to speak against the bill. He dismissed the argument that the state was losing out on income from sports gambling that was taking place in other states or off the books. [Read more…]
7. Altering prison healthcare release law could make 1,000+ folks eligible
Inmates in a lot of prisons have to spend for fundamental necessities and rates on these things have been increasing. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Photos)
By Kelan Lyons
Senate Republican leaders incorporated a provision deep inside their price range that would broaden North Carolina’s healthcare release law that provides sick, elderly and dying incarcerated folks a path out of prison so they can invest the finish of their lives outdoors the confines of a cell. Information shared with NC Newsline by Ben Finholt, director [Read more…]
Bonus reads:
eight. Alter could be coming to the UNC Board of Governors. Will it matter?
The UNC Board of Governors meets in Raleigh. (Photo: Joe Killian)
By Joe Killian
The UNC Board of Governors would transform beneath a bill revised this week in the state Residence — as would the method for appointing members. But will adding members to the UNC System’s governing board — and the method by which they are appointed — make a substantive distinction? The new version of Senate Bill [Read more…]
9. Much more than one hundred organizations contact on Target, other companies to stand up to anti-LGBTQ threats
Photo: Ted Eytan, Getty Photos
By Joe Killian
A coalition of a lot more than one hundred organizations — quite a few from North Carolina — are calling on the important retail chain Target and the organization neighborhood at-big to stand up to extremist threats going into LGBTQ Pride month. As Newsline reported, Target reluctantly decided final week to pull some Pride Month merchandise from its shelves as [Read more…]
Bonus study: Monday numbers: Coming of age LGBTQ in the South
ten. As soon as once more, Biden tends to make the finest of an not possible situation (Commentary)
The author says President Joe Biden did the proper point in striking a debt ceiling deal with Residence Republicans. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Photos)
By Rob Schofield
In a best planet – or even a genuinely very good 1 – there’s no doubt that the debt ceiling agreement President Biden struck with Residence Speaker Kevin McCarthy more than the weekend would be a aggravation and a disappointment. The agreement will inflict all manner of painful cuts to core public structures and solutions that are [Read more…]
11. Weekly Editorial Cartoon from John Cole:
