North Carolina
Mountains-to-Sea Trail in North Carolina seeks to replace more roads
The Mountains-to-Sea Path runs from the very best level within the Smokies to the low-lying seashores of the Outer Banks.
In between, are 1,175 miles winding by means of 37 counties and practically each area of the state. Most individuals work together with brief stretches of the trail whereas a number of traverse the entire thing by climbing, biking, and paddling.
“It was a fantastic alternative to see all of our pure sources, figuring out that we’ve got such a various state,” mentioned Jennifer Browndorf, 52, a retired instructor who accomplished the MST in 77 days final 12 months. “To me, it was probably the most wonderful path ever as a result of it simply had such selection.”
However those that love the MST understand it’s not a completed product. At the moment, solely 62% of the path is precise path; the remaining is related by stretches of blacktop roads supposed extra for automobiles than hikers.
“A whole lot of the street part is tough,” Browndorf mentioned. “I will not say it is not. There is a increased danger and extra logistics.”
The nonprofit Pals of the Mountains-to-Sea Path goals to covert 100% of the MST into off-road footpath, however with personal land rights to contemplate, each new mile of path is tough received.
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Whereas the path’s forested western segments are virtually totally footpath, the MST is generally street within the state’s central and japanese areas.
“We’re form of on the level the place we have got the simple stuff carried out,” mentioned Betsy Brown, outreach coordinator for the Pals of the MST.
To exchange segments of street with path, the group’s community of employees and volunteers contact landowners about permitting the MST to cross by means of their property. They first search for land close to current trails and attain easement agreements that reserve a path hall for public use whereas the landowner retains management of their total property.
Convincing adjourning property house owners to allow the trail is painstaking. And swathes of wetlands within the east add topographical obstacles to extending off-road path.
Mountains-to-Sea Path Enjoyable Information
- The concept for the path got here from Howard Lee, who was the primary Black mayor of Chapel Hill.
- Lee proposed his imaginative and prescient for a statewide pathway throughout a speech in 1977 in Haywood County.
- 152 individuals have accomplished the whole path, together with a document 25 final 12 months.
- The quickest MST completion was 29 days, 8 hours, and 48 minutes. The hiker was a lady named Tara Dower who known as her expertise “a curler coaster of a month.”
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It is a large puzzle,” mentioned Brent Laurenz, the manager director of the Pals of the MST.
One facet of the street sections he doesn’t wish to lose is their proximity to small cities.
“I feel what’s particular concerning the path is that it goes by means of communities and never simply by means of the woods just like the Appalachian Path would possibly,” Laurenz mentioned. “There are cities and communities the place the Mountains-to-Sea Path goes by means of downtown or alongside fundamental road and helps the native financial system.”
Pals of the Mountains-to-Sea Path plan to make use of the roughly $5 million it acquired within the newest state funds to extend land acquisition — each by way of easements and by buying personal lands outright.
“It is actually going to be useful to place a few of these piece of the puzzle on the desk,” Laurenz mentioned of the funding. “It is actually thrilling alternative to open up new leisure communities and get extra individuals and excited.”
This 12 months, the Mountains-to-Sea Path celebrated its 45-year anniversary. By it is fiftieth 12 months celebration, Laurenz anticipations the journey throughout the state will provide far more car-free pathways.
However will the MST ever be totally off-road? That continues to be the objective for path advocates, however with logistical and monetary hurdles standing of their method, will probably be fairly an extended course of.
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Brian Gordon is a statewide reporter with the USA Right now Community in North Carolina. Be at liberty to e mail him at bgordon@gannett.com or observe him on Twitter @skyoutbriout
North Carolina
NC Republicans call on election officials to testify about treatment of third-party candidates
North Carolina elections officials are being called to testify before a legislative committee to talk about their treatment of third-party candidates.
The North Carolina State Elections Board on June 26 blocked requests by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Constitution Party candidate Randall Terry to be listed as presidential candidates on the November ballot. Democrats who control the board said they want more time to review each candidate’s petition before making a final decision at a later date.
On Tuesday, leaders of North Carolina’s House Oversight and Reform Committee sent a letter to Alan Hirsch, chairman of the state elections board, asking him to testify before their committee on July 9. State Reps. Jake Johnson and Harry Warren, co-chairs of the committee, wrote to Hirsch:
“At the hearing, please be prepared to address this information, including:
- The grounds by which the Board denied the petitions of these political parties, even after timely submission.
- Anticipated schedule to resolve questions on the submitted petitions.
- Any communications the Board has had with third-party organizations concerning its decision to leave these political parties off the ballot.
- Any underlying or perceived political motivations the Board may have to exclude these names from the ballot.”
Johnson and Warren also invited other board members and Karen Brinson Bell, the board’s executive director. Paul Cox, the state board’s general counsel, told WRAL Wednesday that the hearing is still up in the air.
The state elections board plans to meet on July 9 and continue reviewing the third-party petitions, Cox said.
“My understanding is that the committee is looking to reschedule, because they weren’t aware that the State Board was planning to meet next Tuesday to consider petitions,” Cox said in an email. The board is scheduled to meet at 1:30 p.m. on July 9.
Staff for the legislative committee leaders didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The legislators’ request comes a day after Republican members of Congress also inquired about the board’s decision. On Monday, Republican chairmen of the House Administration and House Judiciary committees asked the state elections board to provide them with documents and other information related to the board’s decision.
The committees “are concerned that the NCSBE’s decision was politically motivated and may have been done to influence the 2024 presidential election by limiting the candidates for which voters may cast their ballots,” Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, wrote in a letter to the state elections board. Jordan chairs the judiciary committee and Steil chairs the administration committee.
The board intends to provide the committees with the documents they seek, Cox confirmed earlier this week. Many of them are already publicly available on the state board’s website.
North Carolina voters have signaled that they’d like to have options for president besides Republican Donald Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden. The board’s review of third-party candidates comes as Democrats have raised concerns about Biden’s ability to defeat Trump following his heavily-scrutinized performance in a recent debate.
The three candidates petitioning to get their names on North Carolina’s ballot are hoping to do so by having their political parties formally recognized by the elections board. Kennedy would represent the We The People Party, West would represent the Justice For All Party, and Terry would represent the Constitution Party.
Board members raised different issues with each petition.
Democrats on the state elections board expressed concern that Kennedy is using the We the People Party to circumvent state law — and that the proposed party doesn’t represent a group of voters with a specific set of policy beliefs.
In North Carolina, state law makes it harder for individual candidates to get ballot access than for new political parties. Board members asked We The People representatives about a script they provided to volunteers, which said the purpose of the petition was to create a new political party and get Kennedy’s name on the North Carolina ballot.
As for the Justice For All petition, board members said they worried that volunteers misled signatories about the purpose of the group, which espouses liberal ideals. West is a former honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Italo Medelius, chair of Justice For All Party of North Carolina, told the board at its June 26 meeting that its petition materials may have been accessed by Trump supporters. The party’s petition, board members noted, should be signed by people who want to advocate for a common set of beliefs.
The Constitution Party’s petition, meanwhile, is hung up on a technical issue.
State law requires party petitions to include a legitimate address. The group’s petition listed the address of a former residence for Al Pisano, chair of the state party.
Pisano told board members that he wasn’t sure if he needed to change the address. The party was on North Carolina’s ballot in 2020. Its presidential nominee, Don Blankenship, received 7,549 votes of the 5.5 million cast.
Pisano said that he had previously reached out to elections board staff about the address issue and didn’t receive an answer. Board members delayed their decision on the Constitution Party to review records exchanged by Pisano and board staff.
Democratic board member Siobhan Millen said that, before the address issue came up, she had expected the party’s petition to be “probably a slam dunk.”
North Carolina
NC governor to participate in White House meeting amid concerns over Biden’s debate performance
North Carolina’s Gov. Roy Cooper plans to participate virtually in a White House meeting today with other Democratic governors across the country and President Joe Biden, according to the governor’s office.
The meeting, confirmed by the White House, comes after a group of Democratic governors talked on Monday about concerns over the current president’s run this November without the president, USA TODAY reports. Much of the concern surrounds Biden’s debate performance last week where he was seen freezing and stumbling over his words. Biden, 81, has even told reporters it was not his best performance.
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Despite public calls for Biden to step down from the race and a flurry of potential replacements thrown out, Biden has not indicated he would do so. In fact, during a rally in Raleigh the day after the debate Biden told visitors “I know how to do this job.”
Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper on Monday signed legislation that places an official definition of antisemitism into state law, which supporters say could help law enforcement determine whether someone should be charged under current hate crime prohibitions based on race, religion or nationality.
The measure came to Cooper’s desk after the Senate and House approved it in near-unanimous votes last week. The bipartisan backing followed recent heated nationwide campus protests over the Israel-Hamas War and supporters’ concerns that some comments by pro-Palestinian demonstrators had crossed the line into being antisemitic.
The act adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which is outlined as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” It also includes several examples of antisemitism, such as the denial of Jewish people’s right to self-determination and applying double standards to Israel’s actions.
In a statement Monday, Cooper said the now-enacted “SHALOM Act” addresses rising antisemitism.
“While we protect the right to free speech, this legislation helps to make our state a more welcoming, inclusive and safe place for everyone,” the Democratic governor said.
A coalition of civil liberties and multifaith groups opposed the legislation, saying it could stifle protesters’ otherwise free speech, particularly of words critical of Israel. Opponents demonstrated outside the governor’s mansion late last week urging that he veto the bill.
As of Monday afternoon, Cooper still had more than 20 bills on his desk sent to him by the General Assembly before lawmakers wrapped up their primary work session for the year. Cooper has a 10-day window on each bill to sign them into law or veto them. A bill becomes law if he takes no action within 10 days.
Featured photo via AP Photo/Bryan Anderson.
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