North Carolina
Another option emerges to expand North Carolina gambling, but most Democrats say they won’t back it
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The prospects of enacting soon an overdue North Carolina budget, permitting more state-sanctioned gambling and implementing Medicaid expansion stayed uncertain Monday as Republicans suggested dividing the topics between two bills. But most Democratic colleagues were unwilling to provide the necessary votes.
Action for passing a two-year state government spending plan idled last week when House Republicans said they didn’t have enough votes to pass the budget on their own if it contained language that would authorize four additional casinos and legalize video gambling machines statewide.
Senate leader Phil Berger said House leaders should have gone forward with votes on the budget containing the casinos and video machines because a majority of House Republicans still supported them.
But a proposal that surfaced over the weekend would place the gambling expansion and language implementing Medicaid expansion together in the same bill that would be voted on later this week. And a separate budget bill, taking out the gambling that a lot of Republicans opposed, would be voted on separately, Rep. Jason Saine of Lincoln County, the House’s top budget writer, told media outlets.
Saine didn’t respond immediately Monday to a text seeking comment. House Majority Leader John Bell, a Wayne County Republican, said later Monday he was waiting for an update on this week’s voting schedule. Through a spokesperson, Berger’s office said it had no information to offer on a path forward.
A state law that Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signed in March directing the state to offer Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults required the budget’s passage before expansion could be carried out. A budget was supposed to be in place July 1, and Medicaid expansion is near the top priorities for Cooper and legislative Democrats.
But there is little to prevent Republican lawmakers from attempting to change the rules on how to implement expansion and pair it with more gambling.
While Republicans have narrow veto-proof majorities in each chamber, opposition by social conservatives to gambling or the lack of public discussion on the gambling provisions makes Democratic assistance likely to get them approved. So it appears some Republican leaders are hopeful enough Democrats would vote for a standalone bill authorizing Medicaid expansion even if it contained the gambling.
Democrats seem mostly unified against the maneuvering so far.
Cooper wrote over the weekend that the proposal pairing Medicaid expansion and gambling was “the most brutally dishonest legislative scheme I’ve seen in my 3+ decades.”
“People are right to be suspicious,” Cooper wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Something has a grip on Republican leaders and it’s not the people of NC.”
Separate open letters released Monday — one backed by all 20 Democrats in the 50-seat Senate and another by 40 of the 48 House Democrats — blasted the pairing efforts while citizens and schools have waited 2 1/2 months for a state budget to pass.
“Now, having lost significant support within their own caucuses and constituents for casinos, support it seems they never had, they are linking casinos to the healthcare of hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians, gambling with their health and lives,” the Senate letter reads.
And House Democrats wrote their letter lets “Republican leadership — and the public — know we will not be bullied into blindly supporting this bill.”
North Carolina already has three casinos operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Catawba Indian Nation.
Berger’s office released over the weekend proposed legislation that would authorize four additional casinos. The 23-page proposal would create “rural tourism districts” where gambling venues and other developments could be built. Three of the four would be in rural counties that meet certain criteria, while a fourth could be operated by the Lumbee tribe in several southeastern counties.
While legislators have said the other three could be built in Anson, Nash and Rockingham counties, the language allows other options. Berger lives in Rockingham County and has been one of the most strongest casino supporters, especially given that a new casino opened recently in nearby Danville, Virginia.
Potential developers, whose applications would be approved by the state administration secretary, would agree at each location to generate at least 1,750 jobs and $500 million in private investment. The state would create a 22.5% excise tax on gross gaming revenue.
Dozens of registered lobbyists representing gambling interests have worked the legislature this year on a host of betting options. Cooper signed a sports wagering law in June.
North Carolina
3 men charged in connection with woman’s death at Cook Out restaurant in North Carolina
Two men have been charged with murder in the death of 29-year-old Davicia Jean Ann Lee at a Cook Out restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, last month. A third is facing a weapons charge.
Two men have been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a woman at the fast-food restaurant Cook Out in North Carolina.
Twenty-three-year-old Alexander Kenyon Carlton Jr. and 19-year-old Calvin Jerade Spence Jr. have been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 29-year-old Davicia Jean Ann Lee late last month in Durham, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on Friday.
A third man, 18-year-old Jamari Treyvon McKnight, is charged with one count of going armed to the terror of the people, which basically means terrorizing someone with a weapon like a gun.
USA TODAY could not immediately find attorneys representing the three men.
The shooting occurred just after 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 at the Cook Out on South Miami Boulevard, according to the sheriff’s office. When deputies arrived at the scene, they found Lee dead.
The sheriff’s office called the shooting “an isolated incident” that happened after shots broke out following a fight, WNCN-TV reported.
Arrests made in fatal shooting of Davicia Jean Ann Lee
Detectives arrested Spence and Carlton on Thursday and took them to the Durham County Detention Center without bond on charges of carrying a concealed gun, felony conspiracy, going armed to the terror of the people and first-degree murder, the sheriff’s office said.
McKnight was also taken into custody and arrested Thursday night on misdemeanor going armed to the terror of the people, according to the sheriff’s office. The Morrisville police arrested him and he is currently being held in the Wake County Detention Center until his first court appearance, the agency added.
The investigation into Lee’s homicide is ongoing, while all findings are now in the process of being turned over to the Durham County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, according to the sheriff’s office.
The USC Trojans are in pursuit of flipping two class of 2025 recruits, Nela Tupou and Alex Payne. Can the Trojans flip one or both of these players before national signing day?
Nela Tupou Player Profile
Nela Tupou is a 6-4, 220 pound tight end/defensive end out of Folsom, California. He is rated as a three-star recruit and ranked as the 43rd-best ATH in the class of 2025 per 247Sports.
Tupou committed to the Utah Utes in February of 2024, but he just recently visited USC last weekend for the Trojans’ 28-20 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
On3 is now predicting that Tupou will likely flip this commitment from Utah to USC.
Alex Payne Player Profile
Alex Payne is a 6-5, 265 pound offensive tackle out of Gainesville, Florida. He is rated as four-star recruit and ranked as the 16th-best offensive tackle in the class of 2025.
Payne committed to the North Carolina Tar Heels in January of 2024, but he as well as Tupou, visited USC last weekend.
In 247Sports recruiting analyst Tom Loy’s updated crystal ball prediction, he had Payne flipping his commitment from North Carolina to USC. Loy has a good track record of predicting where recruits will end up as his all-time hit rate for predicting recruits’ final destinations is 81.64 percent.
USC Bolstering Up Offensive Line to Go Along With Weapons
One of the glaring holes for the USC Trojans this season has been the offensive line. For USC to bounce back next season, they will have to get much better in the trenches. This has been exposed in their first season in the Big Ten. Landing Tupou, who can both be a factor in the run blocking scheme as a blocker, and Payne, one of the top tackle prospects in the country, would go a long way for next season and the future of the program.
Barring a flurry of transfer portal decisions, the Trojans will have an abundance of skill position talent coming back next season.
Freshman running back Quinten Joyner has been the second best back this season behind senior running back Woody marks.
Four of the Trojans five leading receivers are sophomores. Makai Lemon, Zachariah Branch, Ja’Kobi Lane, and Duce Robinson all have shown flashes of potentially being a number one wide receiver next season.
Add in the Trojans starting sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava and they have one of the youngest teams in the Big Ten. If USC continues to address the offensive line in the last days of the 2025 recruiting cycle and in the transfer portal this offseason, the Trojans could be a dangerous team next season.
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MORE: Why 4-Star Hayden Lowe Flipped From USC Trojans To Miami Hurricanes, Mario Cristobal
MORE: USC Trojans Women’s Basketball Star JuJu Watkins Makes Name, Image, Likeness History
Sledding in Haw Creek Dec. 9, 2018
The Tracey family enjoys the snow in Haw Creek with some sledding.
Angeli Wright, Asheville Citizen Times
Some school systems in Western North Carolina are closed Friday, Nov. 21, due to winter weather.
- Avery County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
- Graham County Schools: Closed, workday for staff.
- Madison County Schools: Closed, optional teacher workday.
- Mitchell County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
- Watauga County Schools: Two-hour delay.
- Yancey County Schools: Closed, remote learning day.
This story will be updated
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