North Carolina
Judge: NC Health Plan Must Cover Transgender Treatments
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina state worker well being plan unlawfully discriminates by excluding therapies for transgender individuals by refusing to pay for hormone remedy and surgical procedures, because it as soon as did briefly, a federal choose dominated Friday.
U.S. District Decide Loretta Biggs sided with a number of transgender individuals or their mother and father in declaring the refusal of protection for therapies linked to gender affirmation violates the equal safety clause of the Structure and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act on the idea of intercourse.
Biggs ordered that the State Well being Plan resume providing “medically mandatory providers for the therapy of gender dysphoria,” which the plan’s board of trustees supplied in 2017 however didn’t proceed afterward. Financial damages might be thought-about in a trial set to start subsequent month, her order stated. Friday’s ruling thought-about competing motions and specialists.
“After years of preventing for honest therapy, lastly having a court docket determine that these healthcare exclusions are improper is vindicating,” North Carolina State College professor Julia McKeown, one of many plaintiffs in a 2019 lawsuit, stated in a information launch from Lambda Authorized, which supplied illustration. “As authorities workers, all we wish is equal entry to healthcare, however we have been denied simply because we’re transgender.”
The State Well being Plan, which is overseen by Treasurer Dale Folwell’s workplace, gives medical protection for practically 750,000 lecturers, different workers, retirees and their dependents. Folwell turned treasurer in early 2017. Folwell’s workplace was nonetheless reviewing the choose’s choice late Friday and had no speedy further remark, spokesperson Frank Lester stated. Folwell, the well being plan, its high government and different authorities entities have been sued.
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Biggs wrote that the plaintiffs’ docs and specialists, medical associations and the plan’s third-party directors agreed that such therapies “may be medically essential to deal with gender dysphoria in some circumstances.”
“Defendants’ perception that gender affirming care is ineffective and pointless is just not supported by the report,” she added.
When agreeing to cowl the medically mandatory providers for 2017, the plan’s board estimated the annual value for such protection can be a number of hundred thousand {dollars}, in line with the order. The U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers had finalized in 2016 a regulation prohibiting protection exclusions associated to gender transition. Biggs did not rule Friday on whether or not the plan’s actions violated the 2010 federal well being care legislation, because the plaintiffs alleged.
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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.
North Carolina
USC Trojans Predicted to Flip Recruits from Utah, North Carolina Before Signing Day
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.
MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Five-Star QB Husan Longstreet Talks Recruitment, Flip to USC Trojans
MORE: Minnesota Vikings’ Jordan Addison Injury Update After Increased Role Vs. Tennessee Titans
MORE: Did NIL Factor Into Julian Lewis Decommit From USC Trojans? Colorado Buffaloes Loom
MORE: USC Trojans Schedule Release: Notre Dame Kickoff Time, TV Broadcast
MORE: USC Trojans Quarterback Miller Moss’ Potential NIL Value as Transfer
MORE: USC Trojans’ Bear Alexander Visiting Georgia Bulldogs: Transfer Portal?
MORE: Chicago Bears’ Caleb Williams Reveals Advice from USC Trojans Coach Lincoln Riley
MORE: USC Trojans’ Lincoln Riley on De-Commitments: ‘Great Ones Always See The Opportunity’
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
North Carolina
School closings, delays in Western North Carolina, Friday, Nov. 22
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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