VOTER ID

Trial begins on challenge to latest N. Carolina voter ID law

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s latest law requiring photo identification to cast ballots is now on trial.  A panel of three state judges began hearing evidence on Monday in litigation filed to overturn a 2018 law that filled in details of how a voter ID constitutional amendment would be implemented. A federal appeals courts already struck down in 2016 a voter ID mandate from 2013. A lawyer representing voters who sued told the judges the law is designed to keep Black voters from the ballot box. But a lawyer for Republicans say that’s untrue, and that the law expanded the types of qualifying IDs.

POSTMASTER GENERAL-CAMPAIGN FINANCE

Wake County won’t pursue criminal complaint of Louis DeJoy

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Wake County’s District Attorney’s Office has decided not to pursue a criminal investigation into allegations by former employees of U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that he reimbursed them for political donations. DeJoy was previously the CEO of New Breed Logistics in North Carolina. Some who worked in the company claimed that DeJoy or his staff encouraged them to make political donations that he’d later reimburse them for. Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman says the federal government is the entity with the jurisdiction to investigate the complaint Common Cause NC filed last year with the State Board of Elections.

AP-US-DRIVE-BY-SHOOTINGS

Man shot at his home two weeks ago killed in second shooting

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man who survived a shooting in front of his house two weeks ago was shot to death while he sat on his porch last weekend. The Winston-Salem Journal reports police say 27-year-old Demar Marquis Floyd was sitting on his porch Saturday night when the suspects drove by his house and opened fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene. On March 26, someone drove past Floyd’s house and opened fire, hitting him in the torso. Winston-Salem police are investigating, but so far, no arrests have been made.

AP-NC-ECU MUSIC TEACHER-GIFT

Former East Carolina music instructor leaves $5M gift

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Officials at East Carolina University say a former music instructor who promised the school a $500,000 gift actually has left a substantially larger sum. A news release from the school says the gift from Beatrice Chauncey totals $5.2 million, all of which is designated to go to student scholarships to the school of music. According to the news release, the $5.2 million gift will double the amount of scholarship money the school of music can award. Chauncey, who was originally from Akron, Ohio, came to what was then East Carolina Teachers College in 1949. She taught the flute for 41 years.

AP-US-BIDEN-INFRASTRUCTURE

Biden wants infrastructure deal, but GOP doubts persist

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden wants Congress to know he’s sincere about cutting a deal on infrastructure. But Republican lawmakers have deep-seated doubts about the scope of his proposed package, its tax hikes and Biden’s premise that this is an inflection point for the U.S. as a world power. Biden met Monday afternoon with a bipartisan group of lawmakers and insisted the Oval Office gathering was not “window dressing.” One of the core disputes is over what counts as infrastructure in his $2.3 trillion proposal. And a fundamental disagreement has emerged about whether the United States is losing its status atop the global economy because of its deteriorating infrastructure.

BC-NC-BODIES FOUND

North Carolina sheriff’s office identifies two found dead

BLADENBORO, N.C. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies in North Carolina have identified two people whose bodies were found inside a home last week. News outlets report the Bladen County Sheriff’s office identified the victims as 51-year-old Sean Patrick Burke and 58-year-old Robbie Hildreth. An autopsy determined that Burke died from blunt force trauma while Hildreth’s cause of death has not been determined. According to the sheriff’s office, Burke and Hildreth were found on Thursday when authorities conducted a welfare check at the home off U.S. Highway 701 south of Elizabethtown.

JAIL DEATH

Police investigating woman’s death at North Carolina jail

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A sheriff’s office says a woman died at a North Carolina jail less than four after hours after she was brought there on Saturday,. The Asheville Citizen Times reports that 37-year-old Tania Shepherd appears to at least the third person to die in the last 10 months while in the jail operated by the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office or in the custody of the sheriff’s office. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation will investigate Shepherd’s death. Shepherd had been jailed on a charge of possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Her bond had been set at $5,000.

UNC BUILDING NAME CHANGES

UNC eyes new names for 3 buildings tied to white supremacy

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina is eying new names for three buildings on its flagship Chapel Hill campus named for people with white supremacist and racist ties. The News & Observer reports that an advisory committee met Thursday to discuss potential names to recommend. The board of trustees voted last summer to remove the names of Charles B. Aycock, Julian S. Carr and Josephus Daniels from the buildings. A university commission asked for the name changes, saying the three men “occupied high positions of influence and public trust” and used their power to oppress Black people.

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