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North Carolina Joins an Effort To Improve Outcomes for Freed Prisoners – Chapelboro.com

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North Carolina Joins an Effort To Improve Outcomes for Freed Prisoners – Chapelboro.com


Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON


North Carolina has joined a nascent nationwide effort to improve outcomes for more prisoners who return to society through an approach focused on education, health care and housing.

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, signed an executive order Monday that seeks to reduce recidivism through formal training and workforce tools for incarcerated people so more can succeed once they are freed.

More than 18,000 people are released annually from the dozens of North Carolina adult correctional facilities, the order says, facing obstacles to a fresh start from their criminal record.

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“Every person deserves the opportunity to live a life of joy, success and love even when we make mistakes,” Cooper said at an Executive Mansion ceremony. “Every single one of us can be redeemed.”

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, seated, shows an executive order directing state government agencies to boost efforts at successful prisoner reentry that he signed at a ceremony at the Executive Mansion in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson)

The order aligns with the goals of Reentry 2030, which is being developed by the Council of State Governments and other groups to promote successful offender integration. The council said that North Carolina is the third state to officially join Reentry 2030, after Missouri and Alabama.

North Carolina has set challenging numerical goals while joining Reentry 2030, such as increasing the number of high school and post-secondary degrees or skills credentials earned by incarcerated people by 75% by 2030. And the number of employers formally willing to employ ex-offenders would increase by 30%.

“This is the perfect time for this order, as employers really need workers for the record numbers of jobs that are now being created in our state,” the governor said. “Our state’s correctional facilities are a hidden source of talent.”

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The executive order also directs a “whole-of-government” approach, in which Cabinet departments and other state agencies collaborate toward meeting these goals. For example, the state Transportation Department is directed to help provide the Department of Adult Correction information so that incarcerated people can learn how to get driver’s licenses and identification upon their release.

Cooper’s order also tells the Department of Health and Human Services to create ways to prescreen prisoners for federal and state health and welfare benefits before they are freed, and look into whether some Medicaid services can be offered before their release.

The order “charts a new path for us to collaborate with all state agencies to address the needs of justice-involved people in every space,” Adult Correction Secretary Todd Ishee said in a news release.

The governor said there is already funding in place to cover many of the efforts, including new access to Pell Grants for prisoners to pursue post-secondary education designed for them to land jobs once released. But he said he anticipated going to the Republican-controlled General Assembly for assistance to accelerate the initiatives.

Republican legislators have in the past supported other prisoner reentry efforts, particularly creating mechanisms for ex-offenders to remove nonviolent convictions from their records.

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Cooper and other ceremony speakers touched on the spiritual aspects of prisoner reentry.

NASCAR team owner and former Super Bowl champion coach Joe Gibbs talked about a program within the “Game Plan for Life” nonprofit he started that helps long-term prisoners get a four-year bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry so they can counsel fellow inmates.

And Greg Singleton, a continuing-education dean at Central Carolina Community College in Sanford, is himself an ex-offender, having served four years in prison in the 1990s. The college has educational opportunities inside the state prison and county jail in Sanford. Plans are ahead to expand such assistance to jails in adjoining counties.

“What if God didn’t give second chances — where would any of us be?” Singleton asked. “Oh, but thank God he did, thank God he did.”

 

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2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers

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2026 primary turnout report released for eastern NC counties; see your county’s numbers


Here are the voter turnout numbers for the 2026 primary election, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Hyde County had the highest voter turnout, while Onslow County had the lowest turnout. Check out what the voter turnout in your county was below:

BERTIE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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31.85% (3,911 out of 12,280)

CARTERET COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

29.06% (16,543 out of 56,931)

CRAVEN COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

18.63% (14,119 out of 75,778)

DUPLIN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

21.93% (6,981 out of 31,832)

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EDGECOMBE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

18.16% (6,428 out of 35,396)

GREENE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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19.70% (2,147 out of 10,900)

HYDE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

37.27% (1,123 out of 3,013)

JONES COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

25.91% (1,805 out of 6,966)

LENOIR COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

16.73% (6,251 out of 37,371)

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MARTIN COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

17.61% (2,858 out of 16,228)

ONSLOW COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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11.44% (14,816 out of 129,537)

PAMLICO COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

24.03% (2,446 out of 10,180)

PITT COUNTY

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Ballots Cast:

15.71% (19,429 out of 123,705)

TYRRELL COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

30.49% (723 out of 2,371)

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WASHINGTON COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

28.66% (2,312 out of 8,067)

WAYNE COUNTY

Ballots Cast:

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21.49% (16,408 out of 76,358)



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Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety

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Statewide tornado drill has NC schools and workplaces practicing safety


Wednesday, March 4, 2026 6:41PM

NC schools and businesses encouraged to practice tornado safety

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — North Carolina schools and businesses took part in a statewide tornado drill Wednesday morning as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week.

The National Weather Service led the drill at 9:30 a.m., broadcasting it on NOAA Weather Radio and the Emergency Alert System. Schools, workplaces and households across the state were encouraged to join in.

The National Weather Service didn’t issue a follow up alert to mark the end of the drill. Instead, each school or business wrapped up once they felt they had practiced the procedures thoroughly.

Wednesday’s drill also replaced the regular weekly NOAA Weather Radio test.

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SEE | New warning for parents amid new ‘fire-breathing’ social media trend

Make sure to download the ABC 11 Mobile App ABC11 North Carolina Apps for Connected TV, Mobile News, Echo

Copyright © 2026 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.



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North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam

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North Carolina Rep. Valerie Foushee holds narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam


Nida Allam in 2022; Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC) in 2025.

Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images


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Jonathan Drake/Reuters; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee holds a narrow lead over challenger Nida Allam in the Democratic primary for North Carolina’s 4th Congressional district as ballots continue to be counted.

In a race seen as an early test of whether Democratic voters desire generational change within the party, Foushee holds a lead of just over 1,000 votes with 99% of results in so far, according to the Associated Press.

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Under state law, provisional votes will be counted in the coming days in a district that includes Durham and Chapel Hill. If the election results end up within a 1% margin, Allam could request a recount.

Successfully ousting an incumbent lawmaker is often extremely difficult and rare. However, there have been recent upsets in races as some voters are calling for new leaders and several sitting members of Congress face primary challengers this cycle.

Allam, a 32-year-old Durham County Commissioner, is running to the left of Foushee, 69, framing her candidacy as part of a broader rejection of longtime Democratic norms.

On the campaign trail, Allam ran on an anti-establishment message, pledging to be a stronger fighter than Foushee in Congress, both in standing up against President Trump’s agenda and when pushing for more ambitious policy.

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“North Carolina is a purple state that often gets labeled red, but we’re not a red state,” she told NPR in an interview last month, emphasizing the need to address affordability concerns. “We are a state of working-class folks who just want their elected officials to champion the issues that are impacting them.”

She drew a contrast with the congresswoman on immigration, voicing support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Foushee has declined to go that far, advocating instead for ICE to be defunded and for broader reforms to the federal immigration system.

Allam also clashed with Foushee over U.S. policy towards Israel. As a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, Allam swore off campaign donations from pro-Israel lobbying groups, such as AIPAC, and repeatedly criticized Foushee for previously accepting such funds.

Though Foushee announced last year that she would not accept AIPAC donations this cycle, she and Allam continued to spar over the broader role of outside spending in the race.

Their matchup comes four years after the candidates first squared off in 2022, when Allam lost to Foushee in what became the most expensive primary in the state’s history, with outside groups spending more than $3.8 million.

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However, this year is poised to break that record. Outside groups have reported spending more than $4.4 million on the primary matchup, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

WUNC’s Colin Campbell contributed to this report.



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