Tag: north carolina

Indian Tribe Within North Carolina Votes To Legalize Marijuana, Snubbing Anti-Cannabis GOP Congressman

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) passed a referendum Thursday in favor of legalizing marijuana, becoming the first jurisdiction within the borders of North Carolina—or any of its surrounding states—to commit to the policy change. But it will be a while before would-be customers can make a purchase.

According to unofficial results posted by the EBCI’s Board of Elections, members approved the measure by a margin of 70 percent to 30 percent. Although the referendum does not legalize cannabis automatically, tribal leaders have said they’ll follow voters’ lead when they ultimately take up the issue.

The referendum asked the tribe’s enrolled members, “Do you support legalizing the possession and use of cannabis for persons who are at least twenty-one (21) years old, and require the EBCI Tribal Council to develop legislation to regulate the market?”

Sales would be open to all adults over 21, regardless of tribal membership.

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University of North Carolina Murder Occurred in Gun-Free Zone

The murder that occurred on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus Monday took place in a gun-free zone.

The buildings at UNC Chapel Hill are gun-free via school policy.

The policy says: “It is a felony, punishable by fine and/or imprisonment, to possess or carry, openly or concealed, any gun, rifle, pistol, or other firearm of any kind, or any dynamite cartridge, bomb, grenade, mine, or powerful explosive on any University campus, in any University-owned or operated facility, or at a curricular or extracurricular activity sponsored by the University. Such conduct also may constitute a violation of the Honor Code.”

The exception to this policy is that concealed carry permit holders “may have a handgun in a closed compartment or container within the person’s locked vehicle or in a locked container securely affixed to the person’s vehicle.” But those handguns may not be transported into university buildings or carried or campus for self-defense.

Breitbart News reported that reports of shots fired on campus led to a shelter-in-place alert on the UNC Chapel Hill campus Monday. The shoots were reported around 1 p.m.

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Food Service Giant Sued Over ‘White-Men-Need-Not-Apply’ Program

A former employee of a large food service corporation is suing the company in federal court after it fired her for refusing to participate in a program that discriminates against white male employees.

Courtney Rogers worked for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Compass Group USA Inc. from her home office in San Diego, California.

The company had more than 280,000 employees and $20.1 billion in revenue in 2019, according to its LinkedIn profile. One of the world’s largest employers, the company has thousands of employees in California and counts among its clients Dodger Stadium, San Francisco International Airport, Uber, Snapchat, Netflix, Disney Studios, and NBC Universal.

The company has won recognition for promoting so-called diversity, including appearing on the Forbes list of Best Employers for Diversity from 2018 through 2022.

Its corporate parent, U.K.-based Compass Group PLC, had $32.2 billion in revenue in 2019.

Ms. Rogers was hired in August 2021 and given the job title of “Recruiter, Internal Mobility Team.”

Her responsibilities included the processing of internal promotions, which encompassed posting job listings, reviewing applications, conducting interviews, writing and sending offer letters, carrying out background checks, ordering drug tests, initiating and reviewing onboarding, and ensuring that personnel updates were reflected in the system.

Compass created a program it called “Operation Equity” in March 2022, a purported diversity program that offered qualified employees special training and mentorship and the promise of a promotion upon graduation, according to the legal complaint that was filed in Rogers v. Compass Group USA Inc.

The lawsuit was filed on July 24 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California under the auspices of the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm headquartered in Chicago that organized the legal action.

But participation in the program was restricted to “women and people of color.” White men were not allowed to participate and receive the associated benefits of training, mentorship, and guaranteed promotion.

By calling it “Operation Equity,” the company “used a euphemistic and false title to hide the program’s true nature.” The program would more accurately be called the “White-Men-Need-Not-Apply” program because it is an example of “‘outright racial balancing,’ which is patently unlawful,” and is the kind of program “promoted by people … who harbor racial animus against white men,” according to the legal complaint.

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3 US Marines found dead inside car at North Carolina gas station near Camp Lejeune

Three U.S. Marines were found dead inside a parked car at a gas station in a coastal North Carolina community over the weekend, authorities said.

The Pender County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were responding to a report of a missing person when they found the three Marines at about 9 a.m. Sunday at a Speedway convenience store on U.S. 17 in Hampstead, about 30 miles south of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

Their causes of death weren’t immediately clear. The Pender County Sheriff’s Office said it was investigating further.

“There does not appear to have ever been any threat to members of the community,” the sheriff’s office said.

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Man found dead nearly 6 hours after running from Fuquay-Varina police officer

Melvis Harris and her family are desperate for answers to her son’s death. She doesn’t understand how Bryan Harris, who she calls BJ, ended up dead.

“They wouldn’t let us come in here and see my child. My baby boy,” she said Thursday evening inside her Fuquay – Varina home

The 36-year-old father of three died six hours after an interaction with Fuquay-Varina Police. It all started shortly before midnight, on Wednesday. Officers said they attempted a traffic stop after Harris who was seen leaving a Citgo Gas Station pulled in front of a truck nearly causing an accident.

Police said Harris didn’t stop for officers until he made it to his parent’s home on Fayetteville Street, less than a mile away. His father Terry Harris said he was outside when Harris showed up. “He got out and he ran and police pulled up and run behind and he went and called for the canine,” Harris recalled.

Police said Harris jumped from an embankment behind his parents’ home. Officers called in Holly Springs K-9 to help search. The police chief, Brandon Medina said after an hour and a half they called off the search.”BJ laid out there he told me that he laid out there in the woods all night long to five o’clock this morning,” continued Terry Harris.

That’s when his parents said their son showed up on their doorsteps. An hour later he wasn’t breathing. “He just kept saying I’m hurting, I’m hurting. The time he took a sip of that cold water. He went out here, hit the floor and his eyes rolled back. And she started hollering and then crying. And she said Terry he ain’t breathing.”

The family said something happened to their son once he made it over the embankment and they believe officers were behind it. They walked us to the bottom of that embankment directly behind the house pointing out what they believe to be blood stains.

“It looked like they’ve been fighting and so my concern, my question would be did they beat my son and leave him for dead,” asked Terry Harris.

But the Fuquay-Varina Police Chief Brandon Medina who watched the body camera video denies those allegations.

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A Home-Based Baker Shouldn’t Have To Choose Between Her Dog and Her Business

Hula is a good girl. She gets overly excited when guests visit, and sometimes she pokes her nose through the backyard fence and barks. But she follows one important rule: She avoids the room between the kitchen and driveway.

No dogs are allowed inside. Hula, a 7-year-old Belgian shepherd mix, learned quickly when her human parents renovated the space in November 2022, adding an oven, freezer, cooktop, and mixers. “She knows not to go in there,” says Hula’s mom, who uses the pet-free zone for a homemade cookie business and asked to remain anonymous for this piece.

The door mostly stays closed anyway, creating clear boundaries between the main kitchen for family meals and the workspace for “cottage food,” which refers to homemade food for sale. The setup eliminates any sanitation concerns about indoor pets.

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North Carolina Using Eminent Domain To Seize Homes and a Church for Electric Car Factory

VinFast is the first company to develop electric vehicles in its native Vietnam, and it’s now making inroads into the American market. Last year, it announced it would build a factory in North Carolina that would manufacture both electric cars and batteries. Then, last week, the company said it would not be able to begin production at the facility until 2025, rather than the initial summer 2024 target.

An upstart company needing extra time to fulfill its promises is hardly news. But in this case, a lot hangs in the balance, as the North Carolina government has pledged to use eminent domain to evict multiple homeowners, businesses, and a church.

When Gov. Roy Cooper announced the deal in March 2022, he called the project “transformative” and said it would “bring many good jobs to our state.” CNBC cited the project when it named North Carolina America’s Top State for Business, marveling that Cooper, a Democrat, was able to strike such business-friendly deals with a General Assembly dominated by Republicans.

While it was only founded in 2017, VinFast has the backing of Vietnam’s wealthiest citizen and has been valued somewhere between $20 billion and $60 billion. For the North Carolina factory, the company pledged to spend $4 billion and create 7,500 jobs within five years. In exchange, the state promised incentives totaling $1.2 billion, including $450 million toward site preparation; $400 million from Chatham County, where the facility would be located; and a $316 million grant over 32 years in which the company is reimbursed for the state income tax money its employees pay.

But taxpayer money isn’t the only thing the state is giving away. As part of its site preparation process, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) also planned roadway improvements to accommodate the traffic a new factory would create. Those plans would require displacing a total of 27 homes, five businesses, and Merry Oaks Baptist Church, which has stood on its spot since 1888.

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School Cop and his Teacher Wife Arrested for Grooming, Raping, and Filming Students

A disgraced school resource officer and his now-fired teacher wife have been indicted on disturbing sex charges involving a student from the school where they worked. Parents and students from Corinth Holders High School in Wendell, N.C. are now asking if anyone else was involved.

According to authorities, Mike Medlin, a Johnston County Sheriff’s Office deputy and school resource officer, and his wife Ami Medlin, a teacher for 22 years and worked as a family and consumer science teacher at Corinth Holders High School, have been hit with multiple charges.

The couple was indicted on three charges each of taking indecent liberties with a student, first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, and sexual servitude.

Prosecutors described a “highly elaborate grooming process” carried out by the couple on a troubled boy at the school. The abuse spanned the course of two years.

“He was invited into their home and given alcohol. Videos were made of him doing sexual things and then given to Miss Medlin at school so she could watch,” the prosecutor said.

Details of the abuse were made public, including the fact that Mike Medlin admitted to being “involved” after the student was intoxicated. According to police documents, the couple admitted to taking a student home with them to “watch movies” in their bed with them.

The couple was also accused of inappropriate relationships with other children, including a girl who had been a babysitter for their children.

Despite the couple’s own admissions and the extremely disturbing allegations surrounding their indictments, the courtroom was packed on Monday with their supporters, according to WRAL.

The male victim, who is now an adult, was also in the courtroom on Monday as the district attorney asked for $75,000 bail for each of them. The judge, who was apparently swayed by the thin blue line, bumped the bail down to $50,000 and the couple quickly posted it and returned home.

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Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Spotted Over North Carolina; US Might Shoot It Down Over Atlantic

A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon appears to be heading toward North Carolina, according to ABC News, citing a senior US official familiar with the situation. That official said the US would probably shoot the balloon down over the Atlantic Ocean and retrieve it. 

Within the last hour, numerous Twitter users have uploaded footage of what appears to be the Chinese balloon floating above North Carolina. 

On Friday, we cited Capital Weather Gang, who accurately predicted the balloon’s trajectory while it was floating above the Midwest. Now updated predictions for Saturday morning show the balloon might be headed toward the Atlantic. 

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The City of Charlottesville’s new online speech restrictions for employees is likely unconstitutional

The City of Charlottesville passed a new policy for city workers that prohibits them from commenting, offline and online, about a wide range of topics. The policy is a potential violation of employees’ First Amendment free speech rights.

The policy was passed in response to how the city handled Allen Groat, an analyst for the fire and police department, for his involvement in the January 6 2021 riot at the US Capitol. Groat tweeted that he would engage in a “show of force,” and posted a photo of himself and former head of the Proud Boys.

Groat was investigated but was not criminally charged. Mayor Lloyd Snook said that Groat was not going to be fired because he had not been criminally charged. In response to the outrage that followed, Mayor Snook said that the city would review personnel policy.

The new policy, as reported by Fire, which went into effect last week, “requires that employees refrain from conduct, on- and off-duty, that will undermine City government objectives or impair the proper performance of governmental functions.”

That includes conduct that “undermines close working relationships that are essential to the effective performance of an employee’s job duties,” as well as conduct that impairs “discipline or harmony among co-workers.”

The policy heavily restricts city employees from exercising their First Amendment rights. An employee could be punished even for criticizing dangerous working conditions.

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