RACIAL INJUSTICE-CONFEDERATE FLAG
Confederate flag losing prominence 155 years after Civil War
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Confederate battle flag is losing its place of official prominence in the South 155 years after the end of the Civil War. Mississippi’s Republican-controlled Legislature voted Sunday to remove the Confederate emblem from the state flag. Other states took action previously. NASCAR, meanwhile, has banned the rebel banner from its car races. The flag with the familiar X design is still visible along Southern highways and in some stores. It’s far from being banished in the region. But even flag supporters are surprised by the speed with which change is taking place amid a national debate over racial inequality.
AP-NC-COURTS-EMERGENCY DIRECTIVES
Chief justice extends several emergency orders for NC courts
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The chief justice of North Carolina’s Supreme Court is extending various emergency directives in the state’s courts in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Chief Justice Cheri Beasley said in a statement Monday that the directives would continue to allow increased use of remote technology and limit foot traffic in courthouses. The directives include restricting entry into courthouses for anyone who was likely exposed to the coronavirus. Only people with business in courthouses will be allowed inside. Other directives include increased use of teleconferencing for remote court hearings and allowing certain documents to be served by email.
BC-NC-CONFEDERATE MONUMENT-TIME CAPSULE-NORTH CAROLINA
Crews removing Confederate monument unearth time capsule
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Crews removing a Confederate monument in North Carolina have unearthed a time capsule. The Raleigh News & Observer reports that workers encountered the time capsule while dismantling a 75-foot Confederate statue that stood on the state Capitol grounds for 125 years. Crews found the capsule Monday when they removed the monument’s base. The rusty capsule will be opened later this week in a lab setting. It’s unclear when kind of condition the contents are in. An estimated 30,000 people were at the monument’s dedication in 1895. Gov. Roy Cooper had ordered the removal of that statue and others for safety reasons after protesters toppled other statues.
COLLEGE PROFESSOR-SOCIAL MEDIA POST
North Carolina professor to retire following backlash
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — The University in North Carolina says one of its professors will retire following a backlash over his latest social media comments. UNC-Wilmington’s chancellor announced Monday that Mike Adams will retire on August 1. An online petition calling for his firing was launched after Adams called Gov. Roy Cooper “Massa Cooper” on Twitter and referred to North Carolina as a “slave state.” The News & Observer reports Adams also has been criticized for other social media comments in years past.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-NORTH CAROLINA
Forest: Lawsuit against fall rival Cooper isn’t political
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest says his impending lawsuit against Gov. Roy Cooper for unilaterally closing businesses and mandating face masks due to COVID-19 isn’t politically motivated. Forest said Monday the Democratic incumbent has failed to seek or receive support for six executive orders from other elected officials that make up the Council of State. Forest is trying to unseat Cooper in November. Cooper’s administration has said the governor has other authority to act on his own to protect health and safety. The lawsuit can’t be filed until Forest clears state government legal hurdles to sue using his own staff attorney.
CONFEDERATE CANNONS MOVED
Confederate cannons removed from Raleigh now at Fort Fisher
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Two Civil War cannons that were at a Confederate monument in Raleigh are now at Fort Fisher. The Wilmington Star News reports that the naval cannons arrived Sunday after they were removed with the 1895 monument on the orders of Gov. Roy Cooper last week after they were vandalized. Fort Fisher was a Confederate fort during the Civil War. Michele Walker is a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. She says the cannons will remain on display at Fort Fisher because they are from the same era as those already on display at the historic site.
DALTON-ISOTHERMAL
Ex-Lt. Gov. Dalton to retire from N.C. community college
SPINDALE, N.C. (AP) — Former Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton will retire early next year as president of a western North Carolina community college he’s led since 2013. Isothermal Community College in Spindale said on Monday that Dalton told faculty and staff by email of his decision to step down this coming February. The 71-year-old Dalton is a Rutherford County Democrat and former state senator who was elected lieutenant governor in 2008. He won his party’s nomination for governor in 2012 but lost to Republican Pat McCrory later that year. Dalton cited the desire to spend time with family for his retirement decision.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-JACKSONVILLE
Jacksonville, host of summer GOP convention, requires masks
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The city of Jacksonville is where President Donald Trump is expected to accept the Republican nomination in August in his bid for re-election. But the city on Monday enacted a mandatory mask requirement for public and indoor locations and places where social distancing isn’t possile. The requirement takes effect at 5 p.m. The Republican National Committee picked Jacksonville for the political spectacle after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, wouldn’t give in to the president’s insistence that the large gathering be held without social distancing measures.
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