North Carolina
The NC legislature begins voting on plans for new election districts that will expand GOP majorities | NC Newsline
The state Senate approved new congressional district boundaries and gave a preliminary nod to a new plan for state Senate districts despite Democrats’ warnings that they would be overturned by courts.
A little later Tuesday, the House approved a district plan for its chamber.
All three maps lock in Republican majorities.
The congressional map would change the 7-7 partisan split in the North Carolina delegation to 10 Republicans, 3 Democrats and one district that is trending Republican.
Even if Democrats were to win 50% of votes or more statewide, Republicans would keep their substantial majorities in the state House and Senate, according to a Duke mathematician’s analysis. The plans the legislature is voting on this week are more gerrymandered than the maps Republicans drew in 2021, according to the analysis. Those 2021 plans were struck down by a Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court as extreme partisan gerrymanders.
“Basically, the political scientists are telling us we’re passing rigged maps,” said Rep. Eric Ager, a Buncombe County Democrat.
Democrats in the House and Senate made similar claims about congressional and legislative maps: that they violate the federal Voting Rights Act by failing to create districts in eastern counties where Black voters can elect the candidates of their choice.
Republicans denied it, saying they asked for evidence that they needed to draw such districts and did not receive a response that made them think they should change their minds.
“None of the evidence provided what was needed to make us change course,” said Sen. Ralph Hise, a Senate redistricting chairman.
Sens. Val Applewhite of Cumberland County and Paul Lowe of Forsyth both asked Republicans why their districts were redrawn to increase their Black populations. Republican redistricting committee leaders would not answer. They have said repeatedly that they did not use racial data in creating any of their plans.
North Carolina has a long history of courts overturning its redistricting plans. Blue said Republicans are facing another court challenge over how they treated Black voters.
“You can close your eyes, put your head in the sand, but the United States Supreme Court understands when race is involved,” Blue said.
Republicans in the state House rejected Democrats’ attempt to create more districts in eastern North Carolina that supporters said would comply with the Voting Rights Act.
Rep. Robert Reives, the Democratic House leader, said the House map is unfair to people without power.
“We need to empower people who do not have a voice in this building,” he said. “This does not give us representative government. Period.”
The new Senate district plan places Sen. Lisa Grafstein of Wake County into a district with incumbent and fellow Democrat Jay Chaudhuri.
It also puts incumbent Democratic Sen. Natasha Marcus of Mecklenburg into a strong Republican district with a Republican incumbent. They were the only two Democrats drawn into districts with other incumbents.
Marcus is outspoken on issues such as voting rights and reproductive rights, but hadn’t said much about being targeted until Tuesday’s floor debate.
“You are choosing to eliminate me from this chamber with the stroke of your pen,” Marcus said. Rather than allowing her constituents decide whether she should be reelected, Marcus said, Republicans have decided for them.
To accomplish that, Republicans carved up municipalities in her district and even divided her home precinct, she said.
“I came here to do what my constituents sent me here to do,” she said. “And now, you are using gerrymandering to penalize me for doing my job, for representing my constituents.”
The Senate must vote on the plan for new House districts before they’re final. The House must act on the congressional and state Senate plans. Gov. Roy Cooper cannot veto redistricting bills.
ASHEBORO, N.C. (WTVD) — The North Carolina Zoo is celebrating 50 years.
Located in Asheboro, the zoo houses about 1,700 animals and over 250 species primarily from Africa and North America.
On social media, NC Zoo wrote Friday:
“Throughout our history, we’ve been home to a diverse array of remarkable animals, dedicated keepers, and passionate employees who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Join us in honoring this milestone by visiting the Zoo in 2024!”
The Zoo also mentioned the Zoo’s first animals, which were two Galapagos tortoises named Tort and Retort.
The post said in part: “These two tortoises symbolize the early days of the North Carolina Zoo and are cherished deeply in our hearts.”
The North Carolina Zoo is one of two state-supported zoos in the country. The other is the Minnesota Zoo.
Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.
North Carolina
NC has some of the most dangerous roads in the US: See how Wilmington-area counties rank
With a recent study revealing North Carolina as one of the states with the riskiest roads to travel, some may wonder how safe the roads are here in the Cape Fear region.
MarketWatch Guides, a site that provides “reviews of consumer products and services to help readers make educated purchasing decisions,” focuses in part on car insurance comparisons, vehicle safety and more.
A recent study by the site analyzed factors including annual miles driven per 100,000 system miles, percentage of rough roads and fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers. States were given a rating out of 10 points, with 10 being the most dangerous.
More: Distracted driving in Wilmington: How big of a problem is it?
North Carolina’s ranking among the most dangerous
According to the study, the states with the most dangerous drivers based on the factors studied are:
- Louisiana – 7.55/10
- California – 7.21/10
- New Mexico – 6.74/10
- Hawaii – 6.73/10
- Delaware – 6.67/10
- New Jersey – 6.53/10
- Mississippi – 6.47/10
- North Carolina – 6.39/10
- Massachusetts – 6.33/10
- Maryland and Texas – 6.26/10
According to the study, North Carolina had 32.5 fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers, but only 2.1% of rough roads, which was the lowest percentage out of the other ranked states.
For a more localized perspective, the North Carolina Department of Transportation releases annual traffic crash facts data. The most recent 2022 report includes a ranking of counties based on several factors, including reported crashes, crash severity, crash rates based on population, registered vehicles and estimated vehicle miles traveled.
The most dangerous county for drivers, ranked at No. 1 for the past five years, was Robeson County. The county had 60 fatal crashes in 2022 with 1,136 non-fatal injury crashes. The rest of the total 4,056 crashes were property-damage-only. The county with the best ranking was Hyde County, coming in at No. 100. The county had one fatal crash in 2022 and 10 non-fatal injury crashes. The county had a total of 45 crashes, the rest of which were property damage only.
More: MyReporter: Which intersections see the most red-light camera violations in Wilmington?
Here’s where the Cape Fear region counties ranked.
Brunswick County
Ranked No. 76 in 2022, Brunswick County had 25 fatal crashes and 715 non-fatal injury crashes. The total crashes for that year were 3,146. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.
New Hanover County
Ranked No. 58, New Hanover had 19 fatal crashes and 1,313 non-fatal injury crashes, both of which went down from 2021. The total crashes in New Hanover were 5,617. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.
Pender County
Ranked No. 47, Pender County had the worst ranking despite having the lowest number of crashes. The county had 12 fatal crashes and 374 non-fatal injury crashes, and a total of 1,156 crashes. The rest of the crashes were property damage only.
Iris Seaton, USA Today Network, contributed to this report.
Tropical Storm Debby already has parts of Florida under tropical storm warnings. The Florida Big Bend is currently under a Hurricane Warning. Debby is forecast to briefly strengthen into a category 1 hurricane as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico where water temperatures are near 90 degrees.
As it continues its path over land it is expected to dial back to tropical storm strength as it reaches the Carolinas mid to late next week. Moderate rainfall is possible for northeast North Carolina and southern Virginia by the end of the week.
Higher amounts of rain are possible for southernmost portions of the Outer Banks but generally models show 2-4 inches for northeast North Carolina and 1-2 inches for southern Virginia through Thursday.
Stay with News 3’s First Warning Weather Team for the latest updates as the storm develops.
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