After dark

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Notes from the Commander-In-Chief

Fighting his battles in the tabloid pages:

Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2017

Yeah, the President of the United States is trying to blackmail media figures with threats of National Enquirer articles...

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Profiles in cowardice

Rep. Chris Millis’ witch hunt against Secretary of State Elaine Marshall once again shows the hypocrisy of the current GOP. The party of small government continually uses the power of government to intimidate and threaten opponents. The silence of supposedly responsible Republican leaders gives a profile in cowardice. Most of the Republican leadership knows the […]
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NC passes bill to punish businesses who divest from Israel

And once again, exactly the opposite of Free Market principles:

North Carolina's House Bill 216 outlines "the public policy of the United States, as enshrined in several federal acts, to oppose boycotts against Israel, and Congress has concluded as a matter of national trade policy that cooperation with Israel materially benefits United States companies and improves American competitiveness; and Israel in particular is known for its dynamic and innovative approach in many business sectors, and, therefore, a company's decision to discriminate against Israel, Israeli entities, or entities that do business with or in Israel is an unsound business practice."

Try to wrap your mind around this: They're not punishing companies who engage in commerce and materially enrich despotic regimes, such as banking with Iran or buying blood diamonds from Sierra Leone. No, these companies are being punished for who they are not doing business with, money they are not spending, profits they are not generating for what can arguably be described as a despotic regime. This is another case where JLF and Civitas should be raising pure hell with the General Assembly, and yet...

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Friday News: We stand with Elaine

Friday fracking video

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Hot air and deplorables

Yesterday, Republican Rep. Chris Millis introduced a measure to begin impeachment proceedings against Secretary of State Elaine Marshall. The House Rules Committee voted to begin an investigation into allegations that Marshall illegally commissioned notaries of public who are not citizens. It’s nothing more than political bluster that was debunked during her re-election campaign last year. […]
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Independent journalists collaborate on in-depth study of NC hog farms

The first of a three-part series titled "Hogwashed":

The odor isn’t just her problem. It’s ubiquitous across parts of eastern North Carolina. It’s the smell of hog country, of millions of pigs and even more tons of their feces. For years, their waste and its stink have been the subject of litigation, investigations, legislation and regulation. A growing body of research has documented the industry’s health and environmental risks. The issue has been well examined in the media, too. The New York Times and the Washington Post covered it. So have “Dateline” and “60 Minutes.” The News & Observer earned a Pulitzer Prize for reporting on it in 1995.

Nonetheless, the stench — and its consequences, both for the lower-income, largely African-American neighbors of the hog farms and the state’s environment — lingers.

North Carolina has so many dragons to slay in the realm of justice, and an equal number of issues associated with our environment. But the intersection of those issues (environmental justice) becomes greater than the sum total of those two, because nimbyism and selfishness on the part of society's "leaders" has eroded the quality of life, the health, and the property values of minority citizens in nearly every community of our state. Happened 100 years ago, fifty years ago, and it's still happening now. Here's more:

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Thursday News: Meddling with the Constitution

Democrats in the wilderness

This is the first segment of a series that addresses problems facing the Democratic Party. Earlier this week, a plane pulling a banner that read “Senator Heller: Keep your word. Vote no on Trumpcare” flew over West Virginia. Unfortunately, Heller represents Nevada, not West Virginia. Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake retweeted the photo, writing, “If […]
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NC's version of "Benghazi" hearings: Trying to impeach Elaine Marshall

Today in misogynistic attacks on professional women:

A committee in the North Carolina House of Representatives will consider legislation that would begin impeachment proceedings against North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall on Wednesday. The House Rules Committee will consider two resolutions related to a possible impeachment during a meeting Wednesday morning.

Representative Chris Millis (R-Pender) will introduce the resolutions. The move comes months after he called attention to the fact that Marshall was commissioning notaries public who are not legal residents of the United States. Millis demanded Marshall’s resignation in March, after her office issued commissioned to people holding DACA cards, a program started by the Obama administration that allows certain illegal aliens who entered the US as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit.

Millis is a rabid anti-immigrant nut-job, who has sponsored bills ranging from punishing cities and employers for helping & hiring them, to making sure their cars get towed and impounded if they don't have a driver's license handy when pulled. And of course he doesn't want them to get said driver's license either, but I'm sure he doesn't grasp the hypocrisy of that. Bottom line, DACA card holders who are also granted Notary powers are under the very same statutory restrictions as others granted that authority, they face the same legal consequences (Civil & Criminal) for abusing that authority as citizens do, and the Statute itself only requires applicants to "Reside legally in the United States." Which that DACA card covers. Case closed. Next?

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Wednesday News: A swing and a miss

MCCONNELL FORCED TO DELAY HEALTHCARE VOTE DUE TO LACK OF SUPPORT IN HIS OWN PARTY: Senate GOP leaders abruptly shelved their long-sought health care overhaul Tuesday, asserting they can still salvage it but raising new doubts about whether President Donald Trump and the Republicans will ever deliver on their promises to repeal and replace "Obamacare." Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced a delay for any voting at a closed-door senators' lunch also attended by Vice President Mike Pence. McConnell's tone was matter-of-fact, according those present, yet his action amounts to a stinging setback for the longtime Senate leader who had developed the legislation largely in secret as Trump hung back in deference.
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More authoritarian partisanship

The most disturbing thing about Republican control of the legislature is not their conservative agenda, but their authoritarian one. Just as the AP is releasing another study showing that gerrymandering in North Carolina rigged the system for Republicans, the GOP is redrawing judicial and prosecutorial districts to reduce the number of Democrats in those positions. […]
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Reverse bait & switch: Wind farm moratorium moved from Budget to Energy bill

Laura Leslie at WRAL has the details:

An ambitious attempt to rewrite state laws to expand the solar industry and lower its cost may be in trouble after Senate leaders made big changes to the carefully negotiated deal.

The most controversial provision added by Senate Majority Leader Harry Brown has nothing at all to do with solar energy. It's a moratorium on state permitting for wind-energy projects through Dec. 31, 2020. That provision, filed by Brown as a standalone bill, was also included in the Senate's budget proposal but was not part of the final budget deal.

I would hope that every single Democrat who voted for the earlier versions of this bill will strongly oppose it now, but Republicans should too. It couldn't survive as a standalone piece of Legislation, and it didn't survive being included in the Budget. Brown is basically thumbing his nose at his own people with this move, and they need to put him in his place. And while they're at it, try and figure out what his obsession with destroying wind energy in our state is all about.

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Tuesday News: Gerrymandering the courts

NC REPUBLICANS REDRAW MAPS TO STACK THE COURTS WITH FRIENDS: North Carolina House Republicans pressed ahead Monday with legislation redrawing electoral boundaries for trial court judges and district attorneys that its author said was months in the making but surfaced with the days left in this year's session quickly dwindling. The updated maps for Superior Court, District Court and prosecutors' districts, combined with the lack of formal input by judicial groups, only raised misgivings among Democrats that the altered boundaries are designed largely to benefit Republicans. "They're trying to rig the courts because they've lost," Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters earlier Monday. "This is an attempt to threaten the judiciary and to rig the judiciary in their favor."
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Tuesday Twitter roundup

The word of the day is "Veto":

Gov Cooper announced yesterday he was vetoing the budget, according the #NCGA website, veto hasn't been received yet #NCPOL

— Jonathan Kappler (@jonathankappler) June 27, 2017

It's called strategy. When you have x number of days to make your decision, and your opponent has y number of days to counter that, and your opponent also has z number of other bills they want to schedule for votes, making their schedule "easier" may not be the wisest choice. And it's definitely not your responsibility.

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If you want electoral gains, study the demographics

Because you better believe Republicans are looking at this:

North Carolina’s two largest metropolitan statistical areas – Charlotte-Concord and the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) – have driven much of North Carolina’s total growth since 2010, accounting for 72% of the state’s 611,000 person growth. For every one-year period since the last census (e.g. 2010-2011, 2012-2013, etc.), the cities of Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham, and Cary have reported the largest numeric gains in population, typically in that order. Greensboro and Winston-Salem of the Triad, and the port communities around Wilmington, have also made significant gains since 2010.

Granted, this is no "stunning revelation," it aligns with previous growth numbers and forecasts. But much of the discussion (I've read/heard) on tactics to strengthen the Democratic Party has focused around energizing rural Democratic operations into a viable alternative in deep-red territory. And that should be done. But the infusion of large numbers of "new" people (not native North Carolinians) into metropolitan zones, provides not only a lot of potential voters, but also a lot of potential grass roots volunteers. But before we do what I heard somebody suggest recently, "Send them out to the rural areas to spread the messages," the real work that needs to be done is a lot closer to home:

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Monday News: You're on your own

Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

SUPREME COURT AGAIN, TO NC: DON'T PLAY POLITICS WITH THE CONSTITUTION: It is becoming all too familiar. If it’s Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will declare another North Carolina law unconstitutional. It’s no joke. Since a new majority took control in 2011, more than a dozen laws passed by the General Assembly have been struck down by the federal courts. It is a sorry record that reflects a reckless disregard for our Constitution in favor of petty partisanship and the unbending desire to impose a rigid ideology on the state. It is a wasteful pastime that gains nothing and leaves innocent victims in the wake. If the politicians in office cannot restrain themselves from enacting unconstitutional laws, voters need to pick new ones who can.
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Anti-abortion group funded by NC General Assembly uses deception to trick women into its web of lies

Subsidizing fraud with taxpayer dollars:

The groups call themselves “pregnancy resource centers.” They used to be called “crisis pregnancy centers,” and have long been the bane of abortion-rights advocates, who say they mislead pregnant women into thinking they are abortion clinics, and then try to coerce them out of the procedure. The groups dispute that and say they are simply helping women at a difficult time.

“Time and time again Crisis Pregnancy Centers have been revealed to provide false information about both abortion and birth control,” said Tara Romano, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-choice NC. “It’s outrageous that our legislature would increase these centers’ funding without also creating a mechanism to hold them accountable.” But the anti-abortion groups dispute that characterization. They say they are up-front with the women who contact them, and are just making sure they fully understand their options.

Within this huge budget bonanza for anti-abortion propaganda mills is $300,000 to set up an operation (In the Capitol, no less) of a Texas-based group called the Human Coalition, whose main goal is to fool women into believing they're contacting an abortion provider. In order to understand their true motives, we need to hold our nose and take a dive into the land of fanaticism:

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Saturday News: Preferred customers first

OIL & GAS INDUSTRY MOGULS WRITING THEIR OWN TICKET IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: Just four days after he was inaugurated, President Donald Trump delivered a clear message that he would use his office to help industry friends and political allies. He signed a Jan. 24 executive order that assured completion of the Dakota Access pipeline, which will transport oil fracked by various companies, including one owned by Oklahoma oilman Harold Hamm, his longtime friend and energy adviser. Since that day, the president has tapped various friends and supporters to help shape his infrastructure agenda, including CEOs who have a financial interest in the regulatory relief Trump is promising and implementing. These include Stephen Schwarzman, who heads the New York-based Blackstone equity firm, which has multi-billion-dollar investments in infrastructure nationwide.
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Pelosi didn’t cost Ossoff the election

Jon Ossoff’s loss in the special election in GA-06 is causing all kinds of handwringing among Democrats. Instead of recognizing that the district was extremely difficult for any Democrat, some people are calling for Nancy Pelosi to step down. They reason that the House Minority Leader is so toxic that she’s turning people against Democrats. […]
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Friday News: Partisan to the last drop

BURR CLAIMS SENATE BILL WILL STRENGTHEN MEDICAID, BUT IT CONTAINS VICIOUS CUTS: Burr said the bill would strengthen North Carolina’s Medicaid program, even as critics focused on the deep cuts the Senate bill would make in the government health insurance program for poor, elderly and disabled people. The cuts to Medicaid are deeper even than the $834 billion proposed in the AHCA. “We were hoping it would be an improvement. We don’t see this as an improvement,” said Julie Henry, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Hospital Association. “We’re very disappointed in this version. The thing that is difficult for a lot of people to see — there are lots of things that are key buzzwords and phrases and repealing a lot of the requirements of the Affordable Care Act — is how much of a burden it pushes to the state.” North Carolina has roughly 2 million people on Medicaid, according to Henry, a figure in line with the national percentage of 20 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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Friday fracking video

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Website under construction

Thursday News: Political gamesmanship

Special elections are practice, not bellwethers

Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff by four points in the most expensive US House race in history. In a lesser watched special election, Republican Ralph Norman beat Democrat Archie Parnell by only three points. The Georgia race embodied the hopes of Democrats and fears of Republicans while the South Carolina was virtually ignored […]
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Words of advice on the 2018 Congressional Election

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As samples are collected for testing, chemical company decides to clean up GENX prior to discharge

And that timing is more than a little suspect:

Beginning tomorrow, the Chemours company will “capture, remove, and safely dispose of wastewater” that contains the byproduct GenX generated at its manufacturing plant in Fayetteville. The company announced late this afternoon that it would eliminate discharge containing GenX into the Cape Fear River, a drinking water supply. GenX has been detected in the Cape Fear near Wilmington; the chemical isn’t removed during traditional treatment at municipal plants.

The timing of the announcement is notable. The NC Department of Environmental Quality started sampling water in the Cape Fear and at the Chemours plant yesterday. The agency and will continue those tests through Thursday, and then resample at the same locations over the next three weeks. Also tomorrow the Cape Fear River Watch is hosting a community forum about GenX and the company.

Had a conversation recently with someone holding an MBA, in which I had to explain the difference between a chemical compound and a base element. Dude was waffling between Libertarianism and Bernie-ish "all politicians are owned by the corporations," and he said something about how we've known what these chemicals can do for close to 100 years, so when he reads about the EPA "still testing" something it's evidence of a payoff. Or something. There are literally thousands of new chemical compounds created every year, mostly by industry, and the bulk of their research is proprietary. Meaning, even if they did discover dangers to the environment or people associated with their new chemical, we probably won't know until that danger is detected by someone outside the company. Here's some background on GENX's predecessor, and the Du Pont spinoff Chemours:

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Wednesday News: The way the ball bounces

JON OSSOFF FALLS SHORT OF FLIPPING GEORGIA'S 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Ossoff’s campaign had nothing if not an abundance of election-obsessed supporters, who helped him raise an unprecedented amount of money and assemble a small army of door-knocking volunteers. Many of them were political neophytes, men and women who once rarely voted but now served as precinct captains and social-media advocates. But Ossoff still lost in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District because his supporters, even when combined with politically moderate independents, couldn’t outnumber Republican partisans. “This is not the outcome many of us were hoping for,” Ossoff told supporters during his concession speech. “But this the beginning of something much bigger than us.”
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Democrats need more working-class pols

The American Prospect has two must-read articles for Democrats. Written, respectively, by Stan Greenberg and Ruy Teixeira, they lay out the party’s deep challenges with working class working class voters. Crucially, it is not just the white working class. Middle-down voters of all hues have lost faith in their party. One glaring problem is a […]
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Tuesday News: Prepping for the 2020 "we own the maps" Election

Tuesday Twitter roundup

It's what you don't do that defines your budget:

The General Assembly’s war on the poor hits another new low https://t.co/IQHU5xc17N #ncpol via @ncpolicywatch

— Frank Goldsmith (@fgold45) June 20, 2017

Taking something that was already critically underfunded and slashing it more:

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When is a clinic not a clinic? When it's an anti-abortion propaganda mill

Republicans should be ashamed of themselves:

Here in North Carolina, the news been similarly discouraging as lawmakers have mostly abandoned the idea of taking affirmative public action to promote women’s health. Remarkably, this is true despite the presence of data showing a number of poor health outcomes for the women of North Carolina as compared to other states. Unfortunately, one “women’s health” initiative the North Carolina General Assembly has managed to find money for is the anti-abortion ministry of so-called crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs).

In 2015, despite making cuts to social safety net programs that many North Carolina women and children depend on, lawmakers managed to increase this funding to $300,000. And in this year’s budget, it appears they are appropriating $1.3 million in state general funds for CPCs, in addition to $400,000 in federal maternal health grant money.

Aside from being a coldly calculating attempt to undermine women's rights, it is also a patently irresponsible use of taxpayer dollars. These "centers" offer very little in the form of maternal health, and zero assistance in helping make child birth affordable, not to mention the costs of raising those children:

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ZSR's Mo Green takes the pulse of North Carolina communities

And finds there is a lot of work to be done:

As the new executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation – an 80-year-old family foundation committed to improving the quality of life in North Carolina – Green set out in May 2016 on a statewide tour dubbed “Mo wants to know.” Seeking to learn where the state is hurting, where it’s doing well and what it needs to ease its pains and enhance its strengths, he spoke with hundreds of people, from one-on-one sessions with community leaders to community forums to private talks with people who poured out their stories of loss and hope. In all, he visited 19 counties from the coast to the mountains.

“We were trying to figure out what was going on in the state and how we could be responsive to that,” he said.

I'm pleased by this, but not surprised. ZSR has done great work over the years supporting research and organizations that help people, and now (more than ever) that help is needed. But the only way to solve some of these problems is in the ballot box:

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Monday News: Right-wing terrorism

Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

STILL TIME TO FIX STATE BUDGET INTO ONE THAT HELPS ALL NORTH CAROLINIANS: Word is that the remaining differences – whatever they might be -- between the N.C. House of Representatives and Senate over the state budget are being worked out by the legislature’s top-most leaders. However, before they wrap things up, lawmakers still have the chance to correct their course on some misguided proposals remaining on the table as well as to incorporate some needs that have been ignored or forgotten. First, stop giving the state’s revenue to people who don’t need it. Continued cuts in the corporate income tax are unnecessary and jeopardize the ability of state government to meet the most basic needs of citizens. Reverse the foolish neglect of public education. Take care of those in need. Reject spiteful cuts to important education programs that help disadvantaged students in the eastern part of the state; Discard mean-spirited cuts to food stamps – that would throw 133,000 people – children and the elderly included – off the program while not saving the state a dime.
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Magistrate ignores 2013 court finding with ban on Reverend Barber

Refusing to acknowledge dictates from judges is becoming a habit with Republicans:

The ban also applies to 31 other protesters arrested that day during a health-care sit-in after they refused to clear the hallways outside legislative leaders’ office. The ban was a condition of the protesters’ release from jail, set by Wake County magistrate Jeffrey L. Godwin as he charged them with second-degree trespassing. General Assembly Police Chief Martin Brock said Friday that his agency didn’t ask the magistrate to set those conditions, but he said he plans to make the request for future arrests of protesters.

Geeta Kapur, an attorney for Barber and the NAACP, says the ban is unconstitutional. She points to the provision in the state constitution that says “the people have a right to assemble together ... to instruct their representatives, and to apply to the General Assembly for redress of grievances.” She pointed to a 2013 decision by a judge to throw out a similar ban on arrested protesters. Since then, most arrests at “Moral Monday” protest events have not included a ban on entering the Legislative Building as a condition of release.

The GOP is notorious for resurrecting bad ideas and questionable legal practices every few years or so, just to see if they will stick, and this ban is no different. And if another judge throws it out, they'll do it again next year or the year after. Precedent? We don't need no stinking precedent, we make this shit up as we go.

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Saturday News: Grifters gonna grift

TRUMP EARNS TENS OF MILLIONS FROM HOTEL AND RESORT PROPERTIES: The Trump-branded hotel blocks from the White House has quickly generated almost $20 million of income for the Trump Organization while Mar-A-Lago, the private club used as a “Southern White House,” has seen profits climb nearly 25 percent — figures that are sure to fuel ethics advocates’ charges that Donald Trump is profiting off the presidency. One marquis property showing income gain is the Palm Beach resort called the Mar-A-Lago Club, which Trump calls his southern White House and it doubled its initiation fees to $200,000 in January, weeks before Trump took office. The disclosure form includes reported income of $37.2 million for the Florida resort, up sharply from $29.8 million in the prior year’s report.
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Joint Defense Agreements Are Not Protected By The Attorney-Client Privilege

Why would any lawyer think that his Joint Defense Agreement, entered into with a co-defendant, was protected from production by the attorney-client privilege?  Well, the lawyer for one of the Defendants In AP Atlantic, Inc., v. Crescent University City Venture, LLC, 2017 NCBC 48 did, but his position was rejected by NC Business Court Judge Bledsoe last week.

A JDA is a written agreement between separately represented parties with common legal interests (generally relating to pending or anticipated litigation) that allows the parties to share confidential information with each other without waiving the attorney-client privilege, work product privilege or any other applicable privilege. 

These agreements generally declare that the parties have a "common legal interest" and that they will not waive their attorney-client privilege by exchanging information.   I'm pretty unenthusiastic about these kind of agreements because if your client really does have a "common legal interest" with someone else, then the law says that the client doesn't waive its privilege by giving the party with the common interest information that is covered by the privilege.  Saying on paper that a client has a a common legal interest with another party doesn't create such an interest if it didn't exist in the first place.

As for the discoverability of a JDA, I don't see why you would even pursue the production of a JDA.  How it would help in proving your case that a Defendant had entered into a JDA?  Or why you would put up a fight if one were requested from you, as it is not protected by any privilege.

The Plaintiff AP Atlantic, the general contractor on a construction project spawning litigation (don't they all do that?) didn't share my point of view.  It wanted the owner of the project (Defendant Crescent) to produce its JDA with a non-party, Summit Contracting Group, Inc.  Summit had been hired by Crescent to perform repairs done in connection with the project.

Judge Bledsoe dismissed the argument that a JDA was protected by the attorney-client privilege.  He relied on a New York appellate decision -- Fewer v. GFI Group, Inc., 78 A.D.3d 412 (N.Y. App. Div. 2010) for that conclusion.  Op. ¶16.

Moreover, Judge Bledsoe ruled that Crescent and Summit did not share a common legal interest despite their declaration in their JDA that they did.  The argument that Crescent ultimately would have to indemnify and defend Summit over claims regarding its repair work was unavailing, especially since no demand had been made on Summit with regard to its repairs, and it was not a party to the litigation.  Op. ¶17.

This is probably a good point to say that my posts do not reflect the views of Brooks Pierce.  There may be many lawyers at Brooks Pierce who think that JDA's are essential.  But not me.

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Shifting the tax burden

The Republican who introduced a bill that allows municipalities to offer a .25¢ sales tax exposes the folly of the GOP tax cuts over the last few years and the negative impact they’re having on North Carolina’s most struggling communities. Instead of providing investments in infrastructure and education, the GOP insists on continuing of offer […]
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Trudy Wade's "garbage juice" bill just more pay-to-play politics

The Queen of Trash strikes again:

A measure on its way to the governor's desk would allow landfills to collect the contaminated liquid that leaks from the trash and shoot it up into the air over the dump, using giant blowers called aerosolizers. The process would save waste companies money by reducing the amount of contaminated wastewater they have to pay to treat.

House Bill 576 would require the state Department of Environmental Quality to approve permits for the process, which Sen. Trudy Wade, R-Guilford, insisted Thursday is safe, though Democrats said they never received studies or data they had requested as evidence of that. The inventor of the aerosolizer technology, patent holder Kelly Houston of Cornelius, contributed $5,000 to Wade's campaign in June 2016, according to state campaign finance records.

And that $5,000 is all the evidence Trudy Wade needs. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with some Guilford County voters? When Wade is not trying to gerrymander the hell out of Greensboro, she's trying to contaminate the entire countryside with nasty landfill water. Trash collecting trucks leaking stinky water right in front of your house? Suck it up. Tired of the smell coming from that dump in your neighborhood? Just wait until we start spraying it in the air, you'll love that. And they keep electing her. Here's more from Lisa Sorg:

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Friday News: What's in the water?

STATE AND LOCAL OFFICIALS CONCERNED ABOUT DISCHARGES OF MYSTERY CHEMICAL GENX: Willmington residents and state officials demanded answers at Thursday night's meeting regarding Chemours, the manufacturing plant that has been discharging toxic chemicals into the Cape Fear River for decades. The information has caused concern of contaminated drinking water in the city of Wilmington and the surrounding area. Chemours is a chemical manufacturing plant upstream of the Cape Fear River. As part of its operations, an unregulated compound called GenX has been released in the river, the source of water for many in the Wilmington area. Officials and locals want more current data immediately, meaning state workers could start collecting water samples from the Cape Fear River as soon as next week.
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2017 MLB Draft: Eight NC State players taken

Who stays and who goes?

The three-day, 40-round ordeal that is the Major League Baseball Draft is over, and as the dust settles, there is some roster uncertainty for NC State in the near term. Eight Wolfpack players were drafted, seven of whom have eligibility remaining.

Joe Dunand is certainly gone, and I’d imagine odds are decent that Evan Mendoza, Josh McLain and Andy Cosgrove sign as well. Brock Deatherage, who went in the 29th round, says he’ll likely return to State. Other than that, who knows.

The full list of Wolfpack draftees:

Rd. 2 (No. 51 overall) — Joe Dunand (JR), Miami Marlins
Rd. 11 (334) — Evan Mendoza (JR), St. Louis Cardinals
Rd. 14 (430) — Josh McLain (JR), LA Dodgers
Rd. 17 (496) — Andy Cosgrove (JR), Minnesota Twins
Rd. 26 (792) — Tommy DeJuneas (JR), Cleveland Indians
Rd. 29 (868) — Brock Deatherage (JR), Pittsburgh Pirates
Rd. 30 (894) — Cody Beckman (SR), Milwaukee Brewers
Rd. 34 (1028) — Tim Naughton (JR), Baltimore Orioles

State also had a trio of recruits drafted, and at least one plans on going to college.

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New Solar bill a wolf in sheep's clothing

If you don't know your history, you're doomed to forget your successes:

North Carolina solar companies owe much of their success to an obscure federal law passed in the wake of the 1973 OPEC oil crisis, when shortages produced lines around the block at gas stations and tipped the U.S. economy into recession. At that time, Americans got about one-sixth of their electrical power from burning petroleum, much of it imported from the Middle East. In a bid for greater energy independence, lawmakers approved The Public Utility Regulatory Policy of 1978, known as PURPA.

Among other things, PURPA required utilities to buy renewable power from independent producers if it cost no more than electricity from the conventional power plants owned by the utility. The aim was to source more power from small renewable facilities, like the Person County Solar Park, easing demand for electricity from coal, gas and—in particular—petroleum-fired power plants.

I will say this again, and keep saying it if that's what it takes: In the clean energy revolution, in the reducing our carbon footprint contest, in the cutting back on pollution effort, it's all about the Megawatts. Yes, allowing for 3rd party leases on residential Solar is great, and it will make it a lot easier for folks to have them installed on their homes, but we're talking 10-15 kilowatts per. An analogy might better get my point across. Say you have a really long wall, that needs to be painted on both sides. On one side, you've got one person using a paint roller, and on the other side, you've got fifty people dabbing with a fine artist's paint brush. When the person with the roller gets tired, another steps up eagerly and starts rolling. On the other side, you're constantly trying to replace each of those fifty people dabbing. I don't need to tell you which side will be finished first, or that one of those sides may never be finished. It's a bad analogy, but it's been in my head for several weeks, and I had to get it out. Here's more on the threat to PURPA:

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Thursday News: Does this answer your question, Donnie?

TRUMP IS BEING INVESTIGATED FOR POSSIBLE OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE BY SPECIAL COUNSEL: The special counsel overseeing the investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election is interviewing senior intelligence officials as part of a widening probe that now includes an examination of whether President Donald Trump attempted to obstruct justice, officials said. The move by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Trump's own conduct marks a major turning point in the nearly year-old FBI investigation, which until recently focused on Russian meddling during the presidential campaign and on whether there was any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Investigators have also been looking for any evidence of possible financial crimes among Trump associates, officials said.
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C.J. Leslie’s sister, Kiara, transfers from Maryland to NC State

Welcome home.

NC State women’s basketball announced Wednesday the addition of transfer guard Kiara Leslie, who is the sister of former Wolfpack men’s player C.J. Leslie. Kiara spent a three years at Maryland, but missed this past season because of an ankle injury.

But she did graduate from UMD, which means she is eligible to play immediately, and she has two years left. She is a welcome addition for a team that lost a lot of experience in the back court to graduation and should be a contributor right away. At 6’0, she’ll be able to help in a variety of ways.

Like her brother, Kiara was a highly-regarded prospect out of high school. She was a four-star recruit widely regarded as one of the top 60 players in the 2014 class.

She averaged 4.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in a little over 11 minutes per game during her sophomore season with the Terps.

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BTP The Podcast Vol. 32: Baseball, hoops ‘crootin, and feeling bad for Pitt Edition

Headlong into the offseason we go.

After a brief baseball postmortem, we talked about NC State’s recent recruiting pickup in basketball. Ditto football. But mostly basketball. We also somehow ended up on a tangent that led us to lamenting the sorry state of Pitt’s basketball program.

BTP The Podcast is available on iTunes or you can just stream it below.

(“Someone Far Away,” American Wrestlers, Goodbye Terrible Youth)

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Big night for Democrats in Virginia

Last night, Virginia held its primaries for governor, council of state and legislative races. While the telling time will be in November, the results point to continued enthusiasm among Democrats and stark division among Republicans. The Democratic primary had almost 70% more voters than the last contested gubernatorial primary in 2009, while Republicans had squeaker […]
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Wednesday News: Cease and desist

BTP Twitter mailbag!

Taking your questions from Twitter about all things NC State

Bringing back an old favorite this week - taking your questions about anything and everything NC State related from the world’s worst medium, Twitter! Let’s get this thing cracking, shall we?

The most nc state loss you've ever witnessed in person

— Josh Goodson (@joshwgoodson) June 12, 2017

God damn, right off the bat we’re getting super dark. Welp, for me, that’s an easy one. The 2003 ACC Tournament final, affectionately known as the “JJ Redick Game.” That was legitimately the closest I’ve ever seen State win anything of note in my lifetime in basketball, and to have it literally snatched away by one player still haunts me to this day. I vividly remember just being absolutely stunned. I had seen instances of NC State sheeeeeeeeet, but lord, never to that level.

There’s so many examples of games like this, but until NC State wins an ACC Tournament, it’s going to be difficult for me to get over that one, even now almost 15 years removed from that game. We’ve talked about this before on BTP, but think how much that one win would change the course of history of NC State basketball. How much longer would Herb have coached in Raleigh? Would the Sidney Lowe or Mark Gottfried eras even happen? Is Lee Fowler still in Raleigh? Hold on, I need to projectile vomit after that last thought. Let’s move on before I get too far down this what if rabbit hole.

What's your NC State 3V3 basketball team based only on players you've seen live? (3 starters + 1 bench)

— Jai Kumar (@TheRealJaiKumar) June 12, 2017

There’s been a lot of talk already about this that Steven covered here, but I like this twist from Jai of adding one bench player. Out of players I’ve seen live in person, I’d have to go Richard Howell, TJ Warren and Julius Hodge, with Tom Gugliotta coming off the bench. Honestly, Richard Howell is one of my favorite players to ever wear the red and white - he worked his ass off every night trying to get literally every rebound. Warren is without a doubt the best pure scorer I’ve ever seen in person play for State, and Hodge, well, Hodge was the ultimate competitor. Googs was one of the first players when I was a kid that I really recognized in going to games with my dad at Reynolds, and Googs in his prime would be a fun addition to this 3 man squad.

@BackingThePack Where are you in your overall excitement for the basketball program now that Keatts has a staff and success recruiting?

— Drew Johnson (@d_johnson13) June 13, 2017

That’s a tremendous question Drew, and to be honest I’m extremely excited to see what Keatts and his staff can do in Raleigh. They’ve had some great early success recruiting, and really after the way last season ended, hell, we can only go up at this point. Having Yurtseven back is a huge boon for this team, and while there likely will be some bumps and bruises in this upcoming season, I think the attitude around the team will be much more positive. I really think he’s going to do great things with the Pack.

when wilh the #goacc moment of the week return?

— Jameson (@the_Jameson) June 13, 2017

In due time, my friend. In due time. Truth be told, #goacc died a bit this past season, but I think once football season starts back, we’ll see its return.

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Primaries could prove dicey for some Democrats

Democrats certainly won’t be lacking for candidates heading into 2018. Across the state, people are announcing their candidacies for Congress and legislature earlier than at any time in recent memory. In the case of the General Assembly, candidates are running for districts that may not even exist in a few months. The court has ordered […]
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Tuesday News: Keep up the pressure

GOVERNOR COOPER REMAINS STEADFAST IN DEMAND FOR NEW MAPS AND ELECTIONS: North Carolina Democrats and allies continued to press Republican leaders Monday to redraw legislative maps quickly after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed last week that nearly 30 districts are illegally racially gerrymandered. Last Monday, the nation’s highest court upheld the lower court decision of three federal judges who originally tossed out the districts in August. The lower court can’t act until formally getting the case back from the Supreme Court, but the judges wrote Friday that they would “act promptly” on when new maps should be drawn and whether a special election is necessary this fall.
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Tuesday Twitter roundup

In the "put your money where your mouth is" category:

For NC, "staying the course" means tax cuts over public investments that promote broadly shared prosperity https://t.co/v8mjs5r7Ky #ncpol

— Budget & Tax Center (@ncbudgetandtax) June 12, 2017

When you try to do something good and some idiot sticks his leg out to trip you:

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NC Democrats only granted symbolic role in GOP budget negotiations

To seem rather than to be:

Eight state House Democrats, including Rep. Elmer Floyd of Fayetteville and Rep. Marvin Lucas of Spring Lake, were invited to the Republican-controlled table to help negotiate the final version of the $22.9 billion North Carolina budget this month.

House and Senate lawmakers began meeting behind closed doors this past Monday to work out their differences in the budget, which they are supposed to pass into law no later than June 30. Lucas said on Thursday said he had not yet been invited to attend one of the work sessions. In these negotiations, Lucas said, it’s better to keep quiet about what you want because the other side can use that against you.

Bolding mine, because that is some seriously immature behavior. Maybe they should try reverse psychology? "Please don't fund this affordable housing project, and why don't we cut those godawful food stamps, too?" But you know what? Lucas is right. There are some things in the House Budget I want to see survive these negotiations, but I have decided (this year) to not blog about those things here at BlueNC, for fear of making them a target for removal. How screwed up is that? And along the lines of "reverse psychology," I'm tempted to cheer this guy on, in the hopes my approval will sour his position:

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More like South Carolina than Kansas

Last week, Kansas ended its disastrous conservative experiment when the legislature passed tax increases to start filling the massive budget hole caused by radical tax cuts. Gov. Sam Brownback came into office promising that huge tax cuts would spur enough growth to offset the loss of revenue. He was so wrong. North Carolina followed a […]
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Monday News: Never forget

Dennis Smith Jr. invited to 2017 NBA Draft green room

No surprise here.

NC State point guard Dennis Smith Jr. will attend the NBA Draft in person—if he wants to, anyway. Smith is one of the lucky few to earn an invite to the draft’s green room, as Draft Express reported this weekend. Around 20 players are expected to be invited to the green room.

NC State has had first-round picks in recent history (Julius Hodge, Cedric Simmons, J.J. Hickson, T.J. Warren) but none have been as highly-regarded as DSJ, who should end up being the highest-drafted prospect of that bunch.

So he should not have to wait long to hear his name called—Draft Express has him going at No. 10 to Sacramento. He was at one time considered a potential No. 1 overall pick, but that’s become unlikely over the last few months.

I’ve seen people knock Smith over his effort at NC State, which is a little confusing to me given the circumstances of the season. If you were going to be a lottery pick in several months, how would you treat a season going nowhere? I’m not saying he couldn’t have played harder, but it’s weird that he’s getting taken to task for his team’s bad year while Markell Fultz has gotten a pass for how terrible his Washington team was.

But that aside, it’s still going to be a big night for DSJ.

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Profiles in hatred: Anti-Muslim extremists invade US cities

Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

END THE PARTISAN GAMES, DRAW LEGAL VOTING DISTRICTS NOW: It is time for the North Carolina General Assembly to face reality. They are being ordered to create new legislative and congressional districts. For the third time this year the U.S. Supreme Court has taken North Carolina’s lawmakers to task, unanimously ruling they relied too heavily on race to illegally draw the state’s legislative districts. Simply put, the current districts are unconstitutional. The court should give the state a deadline and provide specific criteria to be followed for drawing the new districts. If the legislature will not follow the guidelines, the court should draw the districts itself. Additionally, the court could also ask for public input to help with the new districts.
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NC State football recruiting: Wolfpack picks up verbal from 3-star RB Trent Pennix

The Pack makes another in-state addition.

It’s always nice when you can nab a solid player right from your back yard. Trent Pennix, who is a rising senior at Sanderson High School in Raleigh, verbally committed to NC State on Friday. Pennix is a consensus three-star prospect and one of the top-30 players in North Carolina.

I would like to say I am truly blessed to join the NC State Wolfpack #1PACK1GOAL ⚫️ http://pic.twitter.com/I97CzUScYD

— Trent Pennix⁶ (@Trentonpennix) June 10, 2017

Pennix is listed at 6’0 and 200 pounds, and he already holds an impressive offer sheet with plenty of time left in the recruiting cycle for it to grow. Pennix chose NC State over offers from Virginia Tech, Louisville, West Virginia, Maryland, Wake Forest, and Minnesota, among others.

He ran for 1,215 yards and 12 scores on only 167 carries last season (7.3 YPC) and also tallied more than 200 receiving yards. He rushed for 208 yards in Sanderson’s first win over Millbrook since 2006.

Pennix is the second in-state running back to commit to NCSU, joining four-star Heritage High RB Ricky Person.

Here are the highlights from Pennix’s junior campaign:

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Saturday News: The clock is ticking...

3-JUDGE PANEL WANTS ACTION ON GERRYMANDERING PROBLEM QUICKLY, COOPER CONCURS: A three-judge federal Middle District panel said Friday it wants to move quickly to remedy 28 racially gerrymandered state House and Senate districts. "I'm pleased the court intends to act swiftly," N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper said Friday in a statement. "There is no reason for Republican legislators to drag their heels in correcting this wrong after the Supreme Court affirmed their map to be unconstitutional." In its notice Friday, the court invited attorneys for the state, legislators and the State Board of Elections to provide input "as expeditiously as possible."
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After dark

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Amidst the Trump/Russia scandal, Republicans are gutting Dodd-Frank

And of course, misleading the American people while doing it:

The House on Thursday passed the Financial CHOICE Act, legislation to overhaul and replace the failed Dodd-Frank Act that has contributed to the worst economic recovery of the last 70 years.

“Every promise of Dodd-Frank has been broken,” said Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), as he read letters from Americans about how they were declined home, automobile and small business loans due to Dodd-Frank’s burdensome regulations. “Fortunately there is a better, smarter way. It’s called the Financial CHOICE Act. It stands for economic growth for all, but bank bailouts for none. We will end bank bailouts once and for all. We will replace bailouts with bankruptcy. We will replace economic stagnation with a growing, healthy economy,” he said.

Okay, first of all: The reason many of those folks are having trouble securing loans is because Dodd-Frank didn't go far enough. Banks are still allowed to do many of the things that brought about the Recession in the first place, like investing capital in money management schemes instead of point-of-use/point-of-sale businesses and product manufacturing and such. What the GOP is doing with this bill will put that on steroids, just like the early 2000's. And it will also expose you and I to major financial risks by sidelining the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau:

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You have to pick NC State’s all-time 3-on-3 team; who you got?

David Thompson is not eligible for this competition.

The International Olympic Committee announced Friday that 3-on-3 basketball will be an official Olympic sport in 2020. It’ll be a half court game, rather than full court. It got me thinking about which three NC State players I’d pick to compete in this sort of competition. Which three guys, across all eras, and assuming they are all in their Wolfpack primes, give me the best chance to win in a format like this?

(David Thompson, noted human cheat code, is ineligible on account of he has a previous commitment with being awesome.)

So, you have a half court game to 21, let’s say. The three-point line is in play. You can pick any three players ever to wear the NC State jersey, except for DT. You only get three. Other than that, there are no rules here. Take three bigs if you want, take three guards. Who do you choose, and why?

Here’s the basic structure I’d use to build my team, and my picks:

PG/Breakdown Guy: Dennis Smith — The 3-on-3 game is going to be wide open, and while that should benefit shooters, I also need a guy that can break down guys off the bounce, and nobody fits that description better than Dennis, who is already more explosive than half the guards in the NBA. Con: not the best passer. Pro: don’t matter broke ankles. DSJ is my closer; I expect him to make big shots where necessary, like the court at the Olympics is Cameron Indoor.

(Also considered: Lorenzo Brown, Sidney Lowe, Cliff Crawford)

SG/Deadeye Guy: Scott Wood — There are going to be tons of real estate available in this format, so I need a dude who is going to spot up in the corner and feed off of Dennis for three after three after three, and I don’t think anyone’s better suited for that than Scott Wood, who will earn countless of open looks whether or not he has help from his point guard.

Also considered: Rodney Monroe, Dereck Whittenburg, Ilian Evitmov)

SF/PF/Stretch/Little-Bit-Of-Everything Guy: T.J. Warren — Get. Buckets. I don’t need to explain to you guys how T.J. Warren is almost always in the right place at the right time to get buckets. We saw that for two years. Warren will score in every which way and he’ll also clean up the boards in a format like this, because, again, he is always in the right place. That means plenty of easy put-back scores. I mean seriously, think about DSJ and T.J. playing together. Dennis breaking guys down, T.J. always cutting to the right open spot.

(Also considered: Marcus Melvin, Tom Gugliotta, Juilius Hodge, Richard Howell)

That’s what I have; please submit your picks and arguments in the comments. I also asked folks on Twitter who they would choose and got some excellent submissions.

Rodney Monroe, Kenny Inge, & of course @Follow24Hodge https://t.co/YyyGbykBVk

— Brooks (@AllWhiteBrooks7) June 9, 2017

I'd probably go with (in my time) Rich, Lacey, TJ

— Matt (@UMwolfpack87) June 9, 2017

Doubt it is the best team but Hodge, Evtimov, McCauley https://t.co/ZzwlIiiCP6

— AndyBrinkBrinker (@WulfPack91) June 9, 2017

Howell, Corch and Monroe

— Will Thompson (@thrillis4) June 9, 2017

Howell, Monroe, TJ

— Drew Johnson (@d_johnson13) June 9, 2017

Hodge, TJ, Shavlik https://t.co/PMBZ8Y6lpr

— Matt Murphy (@the_mattmurphy) June 9, 2017

Dennis Smith, Jules of Harlem, Shackleford

— Will (@W_HendersonJr) June 9, 2017

TJ, Googs, and Monroe

— Madison Currin (@MadisonCurrin) June 9, 2017

Dennis Smith, Rodney Monroe, Tom Burleson. Unstoppable.

— JS (@spencer_josh) June 9, 2017

Monroe, Gugliotta, Warren.

— Jeff Roda (@JeffRoda1) June 9, 2017

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Trea Turner had himself a day against the Orioles

He’s still fast.

Trea Turner was not at his best early in the season, but after a 3-for-4 effort against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, the Washington Nationals shortstop has pushed his average up to .270. Turner got on base four times against the O’s, swiped three bags, scored twice, and made a brilliant defensive play as well.

Trea Turner is, like, really good at baseball.

Also, here's the @MLB #ASG ballot: https://t.co/Lu3GdtcdVv http://pic.twitter.com/BDn4ccido2

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 9, 2017

Turner has 21 stolen bases and has been caught only three times, which is a pretty good percentage; he is on pace to steal more than 60 bags this season. Imagine what would happen if he walked more often—he’s taken only nine base on balls this season and has a meager .302 on-base percentage.

He’s also on pace to strike out about 150 times, but as long as he’s hitting the ball hard when he makes contact—he has 19 extra-base hits, including four triples and five homers—he’ll be fine. The strikeouts help the opposition limit his impact, but as yesterday showed, those limits extend only so far.

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Defending the indefensible

On Wednesday, Governor Roy Cooper called for a special session of the legislature to re-draw legislative districts that the Supreme Court found unconstitutional. In a twist, the session would run concurrently with the regular session now in progress. Republicans in the legislature immediately denied the governor’s request, calling it unconstitutional. Both sides immediately cried foul. Republicans […]
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Friday News: Tory plan flops

NC State QB commit Devin Leary’s status up in the air as dominoes fall elsewhere

Welcome to football recruiting.

Penn State five-star quarterback commit Justin Fields recently re-opened his recruitment. Why is that important to NC State? It’s the nature of college football recruiting, for one; for another, it’s the specific nature of recruiting quarterbacks.

As Bud Elliott outlines here, quarterback recruiting tends to have a significant domino effect, usually to the luxury of prestige programs and the detriment of the rest of us. When Fields decommitted from PSU, the Nittany Lions began looking elsewhere for a quality QB prospect, and their heavy attention has been drawn to Wolfpack commit Devin Leary, who has done nothing but distinguish himself since committing to NC State in the spring.

Leary is still an NC State commit, but is his recruitment back up in the air? Yeah, it is.

The recruiting culture in football is much different than it is in basketball, and it differs primarily here: when a football player commits somewhere, it doesn’t slow down the other schools that are pursuing him. There’s a reason why there are so many more flips by prospects from one school to another in football recruiting.

Since Leary’s verbal to the Pack, he has made a name for himself with an outstanding performance at the Elite 11 quarterback camp. And Leary is not an in-state prospect; he is from New Jersey, and as an out-of-region prospect it is doubly difficult for a school like NC State to hang onto him when bigger-name schools become involved.

I am not saying that Leary is going to flip to Penn State, just that these are the mechanics of football recruiting, and, well, there’s a lot that lives outside of a staff’s control in these cases. This is just the stuff that happens, man:

A wave of outreach [to Leary] has come from Penn State since Fields, a 5-star recruit, ended his six-month pledge. This includes staff members (Franklin, offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead and offensive recruiting coordinator Josh Gattis) and future Nittany Lions (2017 signee and fellow New Jersey product Fred Hansard, along with 2018 pledges Pat Freiermuth and Jesse Luketa).

Momentum indicates an offer may arrive any moment, 11 months after Leary hoped to secure it on campus.

“That would be huge for me,” he said. “If Penn State extended an offer to me and finally sees my ability to play quarterback, that’s something I’d really respect and like a lot.”

I don’t think it’s particularly difficult to read between those lines. Penn State had the luxury to get in late on Leary, who is right in their back yard. That the Nittany Lions initially passed on him is immaterial as far as both parties are concerned.

(This happens at every tier within college football, by the way. Remember, Jakobi Meyers was committed to play QB at Kent State before flipping to NCSU.)

Getting the jump on a recruit doesn’t matter as much in football as it does in basketball, and it especially doesn’t matter as much when you’re talking about recruiting quarterbacks versus other positions. Just the way it goes. Signing day is eight months away.

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NC State will host Penn State in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

The Pack gets another winnable game.

The ACC announced the matchups for the 2017 Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Thursday morning. NC State will host Penn State this season after playing a road game at Illinois last year.

Penn State had struggles similar to the Pack’s last season, finishing 15-18 overall and 6-12 in Big Ten play, so this should be a pretty even matchup. The full list of Challenge matchups is below. Pittsburgh is the odd team out this year. (The ACC has 15 basketball schools while the B1G has 14, so one ACC team has to sit out the event each year.)

• Boston College at Nebraska

• Clemson at Ohio State

• No. 5 Duke at Indiana

• Florida State at Rutgers

• No. 20 Northwestern at Georgia Tech

• No. 10 Louisville at Purdue

• No. 12 Miami at Minnesota

• Michigan at No. 7 North Carolina

• Penn State at NC State

• No. 21 Notre Dame at No. 3 Michigan State

• Maryland at Syracuse

• Wisconsin at Virginia

• Iowa at Virginia Tech

• Illinois at Wake Forest

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A lesson in managing expectations

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may be bad for the United States, but he’s good for the Republican Party. Democrats should watch McConnell to see how to manage expectations. As James Comey is set to testify, you can feel progressives’ giddiness over the twitters. They’re sure he’s about to bring down the president. The media […]
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Carrying the Millennial banner a little too far

You'd have better luck getting oil & vinegar to mix than some of these folks:

A nonprofit, the Millennial Action Project, has organized the caucus along with similar groups in other states and in Congress. The North Carolina caucus is co-led by Rep. Chaz Beasley, a Charlotte Democrat, Rep. Kyle Hall, a King Republican, Sen. Chad Barefoot, a Wake Forest Republican, and Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Raleigh Democrat. Beasley, Hall and Chaudhuri kicked off their outreach effort Wednesday with a news conference at the Legislative Building.

“It is important to confront the issues that are important to our youngest citizens,” Chaudhuri said, suggesting that lawmakers may hold public forums on college campuses.

It's also important not to waste time and effort trying to build bridges to nowhere. Or to have your message diluted by a fellow caucus member whose views are diametrically opposed to your own. Chad Barefoot was a Primary Sponsor of the bill (now law) wresting control of our Boards of Election from Governor Cooper, and he's also trying to strip a lot more funding from our traditional public schools and give it to charters:

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Thursday News: You broke it, now fix it

GOVERNOR COOPER CALLS SPECIAL SESSION TO REDRAW RACIALLY GERRYMANDERED MAPS: The session Cooper plans to call would run simultaneously with the ongoing regular session, which is due to end some time this summer. He said such a concurrent session is rare but not unprecedented. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday affirmed a lower court ruling that found 28 legislative districts to be illegal racial gerrymanders that diluted the overall influence of black voters. “That means Republican politicians have been picking their voters instead of voters picking their politicians,” Cooper said Wednesday. “They’ve rigged the system and it’s just wrong.”
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NC State rounds out basketball coaching staff with Hargrave’s A.W. Hamilton, per report

Hamilton played for Keatts at Hargrave Military Academy.

Kevin Keatts is bringing on board another coach with whom he has a lot of history. A.W. Hamilton, who both played for Keatts and coached alongside him at Hargrave Military Academy, is expected to be the third and final assistant on Keatts’ NC State staff, per report.

Hamilton succeeded Keatts as the head coach at Hargrave following Keatts’ departure for Louisville. Under both Keatts and Hamilton, Hargrave has been an elite prep school program that has served as a pipeline to high-major programs. Here’s a story on Hamilton from 2011 when he took over as head coach for Keatts.

All three of Keatts’ assistants either played with him or coached with him—or both—so these guys should all be on the same page as they begin to establish Keatts’ philosophy in Raleigh. All of the connections to Hargrave don’t hurt, either.

I will leave you with Hamilton’s old Wake Forest player profile, which includes a number of fun facts about the then-21-year-old.

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NC State reveals black alternate uniforms for Louisville Thursday night game

well hello there

NC State will be wearing alternate uniforms for what could end up being a very big game against Louisville on October 5. The school unveiled the “Black Howl” concept on Wednesday afternoon and my first impression is that they are good.

Black Howl

10.5.17

http://pic.twitter.com/bnPZU7CAxt

— NC State Football (@PackFootball) June 7, 2017

It remains to be seen how the entire ensemble will look under the lights—maybe the jersey lettering ends up looking cheap—but that helmet is fantastic and I love the “Wolfpack” down the side of the pants as well. Looks like an improvement to me on the “Pack in Black” getup State has worn previously as alternates.

The most important thing with this stuff, of course, is that the players and recruits like them, because that’s who they’re for. Slick alternates, marketing, and recruiting all go hand-in-hand and these will definitely get noticed. (Especially on national television this October.) Something about alternates makes a big game feel a little bit bigger.

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Is a sea change finally coming?

Democratic hopes in the last two elections had a ring of wistfulness. The district lines were all but impenetrable; fundamentals favored Republicans. But still, Democrats told themselves, legislative radicalism would hit the GOP like a razor-edged boomerang. While Democrats made some progress, they fell short of their ambitions. They could not triumph over entrenched structural […]
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Conservatives on climate change

One result of Donald Trump pulling the country out of the Paris agreement on climate change is Republicans are starting to explain their positions on the matter. Trump’s move made apparent to everyone that virtually no other country or world leader expresses any doubt about climate change, its causes and its effects. The only people […]
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Coal Ash Wednesday: Time to pay the Polluting Piper

Duke Energy seeks hundreds of millions in increased rates to clean up their own mess:

The Company is requesting recovery of ash basin closure compliance costs incurred since January 1, 2015, in the approximate amount of $66 million per year for five years; as well as recovery of ongoing ash basin closure compliance spending in the amount of $129 million per year, with any difference from future spending being deferred until a future base rate case. Recovery of ongoing costs will mitigate the need for future rate increases for compliance costs associated with coal ash basin closure.

This rate increase is further necessary to enable DE Progress to maintain its current financial position in light of those significant capital expenditures undertaken to meet its customers' needs.

Bolding mine, because it takes a special kind of hubris to demand your "financial position" not be jeopardized, regardless of how irresponsible your business practices have been. If this was anybody but Duke Energy or some other fossil fuel giant, the Free Marketers at JLF and Civitas would be having a whole mess of kittens over the idea of such a monopoly, much less the government helping them stay profitable.

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Wednesday News: Reckless abandon

LAW ENFORCEMENT REJECTS PERMITLESS CONCEALED-CARRY EFFORT: With the state House poised to debate legislation Wednesday ending the requirement that people obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon in North Carolina, law enforcement agencies around the state are lining up in opposition to the measure. House Bill 746 would allow any U.S. citizen 18 or over who legally owns a gun to carry it concealed without a permit anywhere he or she can carry it openly, except where prohibited. Concealed carry permits are issued through a county sheriff's office, which conducts a criminal background check and looks for records of mental illness or incapacity. Applicants must also be at least 21 years old and must show they have passed an eight-hour gun safety class. "They're getting some training. They're getting some knowledge of the law. But just to say, 'You're 18 years old, take a gun and go,' that bothers me," Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison said Tuesday.
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NC State recruiting Texas Southern grad transfer Zac Lofton

Another grad transfer for Kevin Keatts? Sure, why not.

NC State is not through trying to add guard depth for next season just yet. Texas Southern graduate transfer Zach Lofton has heard from a number of high majors, per Jeff Goodman, the Wolfpack included. Lofton averaged 16.8 points per game for the Tigers as a junior this past season.

Lofton is the definition of college journeyman, having begun his career at Illinois State before signing with Minnesota, getting kicked off the Gophers before playing a single regular-season game, and then transferring to Texas Southern. Nobody seems to much mind his history, based on the interest he’s gotten: Gonzaga, South Carolina, and Pittsburgh are among the other schools interested.

He was pretty good as a high-workload player last season, posting a respectable 48.7% shooting percentage inside the arc and getting to the free throw line frequently. He is, alas, merely a 27.1% career three-point shooter, though that hasn’t discouraged him from taking plenty of threes.

But he does appear capable of helping in a few different ways and NC State is not exactly in position to quibble over a few flaws in a kid who has averaged double digits in both of his college seasons.

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Walt DeVries breaks down 2018 election numbers

The primaries and general election of 2018 will be unique.  They will effectively be legislators’ elections.  The North Carolina ballot will look like this:* U.S. House of Representatives State Senate State House of Representatives So, all of the U.S. House candidates will be running in both the primaries and general election without any statewide offices […]
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Deposition, My Office Or Yours? NC Business Court: Neither

You probably don't think much, when you are noticing a deposition, about where it should take place.  Ideally, you probably want it to happen in your own office.

The NC Rule of Civil Procedure on depositions, Rule 30, says that the notice of deposition "shall state the time and place for taking the deposition." 

Although you don't have to subpoena a party to appear at his deposition, there are specific deposition locations identified in the Rule for residents and non-residents of North Carolina.  As to residents, Rule 30(b)(1) says that "[a] resident of the State may be required to attend for examination by deposition only in the county wherein he resides or is employed or transacts his business in person."

Non-residents?  The Rule says that "[a] nonresident of the State may be required to attend for such examination only in the county wherein he resides or within 50 miles of the place of service."

So the attorney for the Plaintiff in Micro Miniature Bearing Co. v. Barnett-Sabatino noticed the depositions of the four individual Defendants (all former employees of the corporate Plaintiff) at his office in Statesville.  Each individual Defendant resides in Iredell County, and the Rules would seem to dictate that the deposition be taken in their home county.

Counsel for the individual Defendants (whose office is in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County), apparently decided that he didn't want to make the ardurous 44 mile trek to Statesville to take the depositions, and sought a Protective Order requiring the depositions to be taken in his office.  In an (unpublished) Order, Judge Robinson denied that request, stating that "[t[he Court has broad discretion and authority . . . to control the location of discovery depositions."  Order ¶11.

The reason given for the objection from the witnesses' counsel to the depositions being taken at Plaintiff's counsel's office was that the deponents:

want to be able to confer with their counsel before and during the depositions [and that they] expect the depositions to be  ''especially emotional', and that [they wanted] to be able to retreat to [their] attorney's office if [they] need a minute to relax.

Order ¶12.

Judge Robinson said that he was "sympathetic to the emotional and psychological stress experienced by the Individual Defendants arising from and as a result of this litigation, specifically the upcoming depositions."  Order ¶13.  But even so, he said that this potential stress did not warrant requiring Plaintiff's counsel having to travel from Statesville to Winston-Salem, away from the county in which the individual Defendants live and where the case was venued.

In a bit of Solomonic wisdom, Judge Robinson directed the parties to try to find a neutral site in Statesville for the depositions.  If that was not possible he said that the depositions should be taken "in Room 106 at the Iredell County Courthouse."  Order ¶15. 

There was nothing in this Order dictating which party should bring the Kleenex to the depositions.  But in all seriousness, I had a deponent cry once when I was taking his deposition.  And I wasn't even trying to make him cry.  So depositions probably are stressful for the witnesses.

[Note: If you've read this post in the hour since it was published, it has been corrected by now thanks to Andrew Rodenbough of Brooks Pierce pointing out an error of mine confusing the Plaintiff's attorney and the Defendants' attorney.  Thanks Andy!]

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Illegals

The silliest people on twitter yesterday were the Republicans trying to spin the Supreme Court’s declaration that North Carolina’s legislative districts are racially gerrymandered. They focused instead on the Court’s decision to send the remedy part, a special election in 2017, back to the lower court for more justification. NCGOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse tweeted, […]
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Tuesday News: Punish the leaker, not the perpetrator

Tuesday Twitter roundup

In case you were wondering what law enforcement thinks:

Five Questions with Guilford County Sheriff BJ Barnes on concealed carry https://t.co/QUBHUayz71 via @ncpolicywatch #NCpol

— JoekillianPW (@JoekillianPW) June 6, 2017

The General Assembly needs to pay close attention:

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Walks, errors, doom Wolfpack in Lexington regional finale

That was not pretty baseball.

This wasn’t the gut punch of the last two regionals, where late leads were blown in agonizing, almost unbelievable fashion, but NC State failed for the third straight season to get through to the supers when it had a decided advantage. Regional host Kentucky had to come through the loser’s bracket and beat the Pack twice, and beat them they did, doubling up the Pack 10-5 in the decisive game Monday night after forcing it with an 8-6 win Sunday.

The Pack held early leads in both games. In the finale, despite having a trio of veteran arms on the bump, they beat themselves. Redshirt senior Johnny Piedmonte, redshirt junior Cody Beckman, and senior Joe O’Donnell combined to walk nine batters in eight innings. Throw in four errors, two each from middle infielders Joe Dunand and Will Wilson, that led to three unearned runs, and you have a recipe for going home.

Brett Kinneman staked the Pack to an early 2-0 lead with a long home run in the second but he would strike out in his next three at-bats. The team managed a mere five hits and fanned a total of 13 times.

It appeared that a Kentucky program that is not accustomed to pressure situations would be the team to fold in the middle innings, when a run-scoring wild pitch and an error helped State get two in the fourth and one in the fifth to claim a 5-4 lead. However, two walks, a wild pitch, an error, and a passed ball helped hand the Wildcats a three-spot in the seventh. They salted it away when a couple more walks and a couple more errors gifted three more runs in the ninth. The ball never left the infield.

It was a frustrating end to a frustrating season that saw State swept at Boston College to fall to 20-20. To the team’s credit, they rallied from that low point and put themselves in a position to make the postseason, though that’s a small consolation now after the way it ended. This is a post for another day, but this team is about to get gutted by graduation and the MLB draft, so the Lexington regional might have been Elliott Avent’s last chance to make a deep postseason run for a while, if not ever.

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Lexington Regional final open thread: NC State vs. Kentucky

The winner tonight between NC State and Kentucky advances to play Louisville in the supers next weekend, and the loser calls it a year. Let’s go Pack.

Start time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: SEC Network

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The fine line between a Christian "church" and a cult

Resorting to physical violence is one big indicator the line's been crossed:

A North Carolina man thought he was "going to die" when members of his evangelical church beat and choked him for two hours to expel his "homosexual demons," he testified Thursday.

Matthew Fenner was the first person to take the stand in the assault and kidnapping trial of Brooke Covington, a 58-year-old minister at Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina. Fenner, 23, said Covington was the leader in a 2013 beating involving numerous congregants. He said Covington pointed out his sexual orientation, saying, "God said there is something wrong in your life."

This is pretty horrific, but what's even more horrible is the fact the harshest punishment that might be brought in this court case is two years in prison. That's *if* she's convicted on the two counts (kidnapping and assault) she's charged with. And if it wasn't for the diligence of the Associated Press, nothing would have happened:

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Carlos Rodon pitching against the Mudcats in Zebulon Tuesday night

Rodon has been on the DL all season.

Carlos Rodon is making a rehab start for Chicago White Sox single-A affiliate Winston-Salem on Tuesday night, and it just so happens that Winston-Salem is in the triangle to face the Carolina Mudcats.

So you’ve got yourself an extremely rare opportunity to watch the big fella pitch again in the Raleigh area, folks; I’d take advantage of that if I could.

Rodon has been on the shelf since he developed elbow bursitis in spring training and is probably still a ways off from returning to the White Sox, assuming he returns at all this season. They’ve been extra careful with this injury since the team is in full rebuilding mode right now and his presence would have no impact on what is already a lost season.

That makes Tuesday night the first official Carlos Rodon Day of 2017. Cheers and hooray to us all for this great and most blessed of days.

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Fighting a two-front campaign

Back in 2014, Democratic strategists decided to make the Koch brothers the target of their campaign. The brothers put hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican campaigns and third-party organizations like Americans for Prosperity to attack Democrats and progressive ideas. Harry Reid and company decided to make the Koch brothers villains in an effort to […]
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263,400 reasons Tillis signed onto letter to pull out of Paris Agreement

A wholly-owned subsidiary of the oil & gas industry:

So if the U.S. walks away from the agreement, what sort of standard does that set for all of the other countries who signed on? Will they take Trump's lead and withdraw from the pact, as well?

North Carolina Republican senator Thom Tillis doesn't seem too concerned. He was among twenty-two Republican senators who last week signed a letter urging Trump to scrap the deal, according to the Guardian. He was also the beneficiary of $263,400 in campaign contributions from oil and gas companies since 2012, according to the same report.

It sure didn't take long for Tillis to jump on the gravy train. And we can expect a lot more sellouts between now and 2020, so he can lock in all that "independent spending" from mystery men who have become reliant on the Senate Corporation, LLC. But I'd like to be a fly on the wall when he explains to his two children why he signed this letter. He won't really suffer much from climate change, but they will.

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Monday News: One-Term Pat

MCCRORY TAKES JABS AT COOPER, WHINES ABOUT VOTER ID ABSENCE: McCrory, a Republican who lost to Cooper last November, had strong words for his successor on Hurricane Matthew relief efforts and on the lawsuits between the governor and legislature. “Shame on Gov. Cooper for trying to blame President Trump” for the government’s slow response to Hurricane Matthew funding, McCrory said. “Don’t blame someone else for the lack of leadership.” The former governor also had advice for the legislature. Republican House and Senate leaders were in the crowd at the NCGOP convention. “I know for a fact that we had a lot of noncitizens that were voting,” McCrory said. “Ladies and gentlemen, voter ID would have stopped it. Keep it a clean bill, stay with a voter ID law and get that passed.”
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Demons are real

NC State can close an ugly chapter on Monday night or leave a wound festering.

During NC State’s 8-6 loss to Kentucky on Sunday, Elliott Avent was asked by ESPN’s crew how he handled things with his team pre-game given what happened to State the two postseasons prior. Avent was dismissive, said he made no mention of that heartbreak, and noted that a lot of his kids weren’t around for either the meltdown at TCU or whatever you want to call the loss to Coastal Carolina last year.

That’s the approach I would take, too, and we should be careful not attach meaning where none may lie if NC State loses to Kentucky on Monday night. For those on the team who endured both ever-referenced calamities, though, it would be dishonest to say that those demons aren’t real. They are, and that’s baggage this team carries.

It’s been an emotionally taxing few years on the baseball program, which has been so close to following up its College World Series breakthrough with another.

This NC State team isn’t of the same caliber as its 2015 and 2016 counterparts, but it can do something neither of those teams did by beating Kentucky on Monday night. And we could all move on in turn.

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NC State drops re-match to Kentucky 8-6; decisive game set for Monday night

An easy 3-0 weekend was not in the cards for the Wolfpack.

NC State will have to do this this hard way, but so it goes, so often. The Wolfpack would have advanced to the next round of the tournament by beating Kentucky Sunday night, but the Wildcats prevailed with an 8-6 decision, forcing a winner-take-all contest Monday night.

Catcher Andy Cosgrove staked NC State to an early lead with a two-RBI double in the second inning, and Kentucky quickly answered in the next frame to even the score. Wolfpack starter Brian Brown played with fire during much of his start, and while he was decent enough to prevent a third consecutive deep dive into the bullpen, he was not good enough to deliver a win.

Kentucky’s excellent offense was never much fooled by Brown’s stuff and he was constantly working around base runners to stave off big innings. The Wildcats plated five on Brown’s account and broke through with four runs in the decisive sixth inning to turn a 4-3 lead into an 8-3 edge.

Joe Dunand got three back for the Pack with a loud shot out to right field in the seventh, but there were no more rallies to be had; Kentucky brought in shut-down reliever Logan Salow following Dunand’s homer, and he closed out the game with 2-2/3 innings of no-hit work.

If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that Kentucky had to use Salow at all. Dunand’s shot pressed him into service, and while he threw only 32 pitches, he’ll carry fatigue into tomorrow night, when he might have otherwise been expected to handle long relief. Kentucky might still try him in that role, but a night of work takes a toll.

For Elliott Avent, the big question—as usual—is how to order what’s left of his thin pitching staff. I suppose you could say Kentucky did him a favor Sunday night when it took the lead, since at that point Avent clearly decided to throw the back end of his bullpen rather than commit completely to winning the game and using Johnny Piedmonte or Austin Staley.

Does that pay off? Who knows. Everything’s a calculated gamble of some degree this time of year. But those kids will be available Monday night; ditto Michael Bienlien and Cory Wilder and, perhaps, Joe O’Donnell. Is that enough to see the Pack through?

State’s offense has not been a problem this weekend, but does this team have enough pitching? That was the question coming into the weekend, and it’s the question that lingers into Monday.

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Elliott Avent: ‘Kentucky blue’s a better blue than I look at where I come from’

Whatever your thoughts about Elliott Avent’s coaching abilities, you can’t deny that the man is every bit the hardcore Wolfpacker as the rest of us. Avent was asked about Kentucky’s fan support last night, which prompted the following remark, which was both diplomatic and a little dig at UNC:

NC State Coach Elliott Avent was asked if he was surprised that a "basketball school" like UK brought a crowd like the Cats did tonight. http://pic.twitter.com/BJvkEwn61U

— Ben Roberts (@BenRobertsHL) June 4, 2017

If college baseball got the media attention year-round that it gets this month, I suspect Avent would be a lot more popular among State fans, mainly for off-the-cuff comments like this one. The man is an NC State lifer and he is never shy about showing it, and that makes him a good dude as far as I’m concerned.

This is one reason why I give him the benefit of the doubt even when his on-field decisions are wrong-headed or otherwise confusing. Another reason I cut him slack is that he’s, y’know, good at his job. Don’t let all the bunts in the world confuse that fact.

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Lexington Regional Sunday open thread: Indiana vs. Kentucky; NC State vs. TBD

Go Bobcats

Here we are and here it is: Kentucky and Indiana will play an elimination game early Sunday and the winner of that game will get NC State later in the evening. NC State needs one more win to advance out of this regional.

Loser’s bracket:

1 p.m. ET: (2) Indiana vs. (1) Kentucky (ESPN3)

Winner’s bracket:

7 p.m. ET: (3) NC State vs. Kentucky/Indiana (ESPN3)

hats hats hats

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Sunday News: From the Editorial pages

LEGISLATURE'S BUDGET: MORE COMFORT FOR THE COMFORTABLE: Want to know what the priorities and motives are for the leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly? The budgets produced by the state House and Senate provide a clear view. The themes are consistent in both documents -- those who already have the most, get even more. And those with the greatest need are considered freeloaders who refuse to work and want to bilk state government to finance their indolence. So what if we prevent 500,000 people from getting health insurance? They could get a job if they just tried – particularly the elderly and children. How responsible is it to continue to spend millions on private school vouchers when there is practically no accountability or transparency in where the money goes nor how the students perform academically? Not to mention that some of the schools discriminate on admissions.
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Sean Adler pitches NC State past Kentucky

What a ballgame!

Sean Adler couldn’t have been more instrumental in NC State’s last five wins, and none was bigger than Saturday’s 5-4 triumph over one-seed Kentucky in the Lexington regional. Adler, who had saved the Pack’s last four wins, including Friday’s marathon extra-inning affair against Indiana, entered the game in the first after starter Michael Bienlien struggled and went 7.2 innings for the win against a potent Wildcats lineup.

With Adler having thrown 122 pitches, Austin Staley came on for the ninth and allowed what turned out to be a harmless solo shot to Evan White before nailing down his fifth save to preserve the Pack’s undefeated run so far in regional play. Host Kentucky will square off with Indiana in an elimination game Sunday afternoon with the winner facing the Pack at 7 p.m. Whoever emerges will have to beat State twice (with the second game on Monday, if necessary) to advance.

Though Kentucky is the host school, State was the “home” team for the game and quickly found itself down 1-0, but Stephen Pitarra’s first home run of the season knotted things in the bottom half of the inning, and Josh McLain made it back-to-back jacks and the Pack would never trail again.

Tristan Pompey’s solo shot evened the score in the third, but the Pack caught a break in the bottom of the fifth when Evan Mendoza’s scorching liner to center was misplayed by Marcus Carson, who dove and came up empty, allowing two runs to score. Andy Cosgrove tacked on an important insurance run with a single to left that plated Mendoza.

The Wildcats got a run off Adler in the seventh and the aforementioned solo shot in the ninth but couldn’t claw all the way back. Adler gave up six hits and walked three, but he made big pitches when it mattered over and over to get out of jams.

Pitarra reached three times for the Pack with his homer and a pair of walks. Joe Dunand was the only Pack player to record more than one hit, going 2-for-4, though every player in the starting lineup, save for Will Wilson, had a hit.

Brian Brown will presumably take the ball Sunday night for the Pack. Though he had a rough outing against UNC in the ACC tournament, Brown has turned in a nice season (4-2, 3.38 ERA) and has arguably been State’s ace for the last three years. Especially considering relief ace Joe O’Donnell should be available after having Saturday off, you couldn’t ask for a more enviable position.

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