MEDICAID OVERHAUL

Costs watched as Medicaid managed care begins in N. Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Most of North Carolina’s Medicaid recipients have now moved over to managed care. Starting Thursday five statewide or regional health plans are handling care for roughly 1.6 million consumers covered by government health programs for poor children, older adults and others. Other patients will join next year. The managed care developers are hopeful it will mean improved health outcomes and cost controls. A 2015 state law put the wheels in motion for managed care. It was supposed to begin in 2019 but got delayed by a state budget impasse. North Carolina has been the largest state yet to switch to managed care.

AP-US-TENURE-DISPUTE-SLAVERY-PROJECT

UNC trustees OK tenure for journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Trustees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have approved tenure for Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. Wednesday’s 9-4 vote capped weeks of tension that began when a board member halted the process over questions about her teaching credentials. The board voted to accept the tenure application at a special meeting that included a closed-door session. The university announced in April that Hannah-Jones would be joining the journalism school faculty in July. But her lawyers announced last week she wouldn’t report for work without tenure. She had won a Pulitzer for her work on the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project focusing on America’s history of slavery.

FOUR KILLED

Police: 4 found fatally shot after fire, possible explosion

LENOIR, N.C. (AP) — Officials say four people were found fatally shot at a Lenoir home after a fire and possible explosion. News outlets report that police and firefighters were called to the home Wednesday and found a large fire. Lenoir Fire Chief Kenneth Hair says the damage may have been caused by “some sort of explosion.” Officials later found the bodies of two men, ages 29 and 58, an 18-year-old woman and a 15-year-old girl. Police say all four victims appear to have died of gunshot wounds. The incident does not appear to be random, and police say no suspects are being sought. Lenoir fire and police officials and the State Bureau of Investigations continue to investigate the incident.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Medical marijuana clears first hurdle in N. Carolina Senate

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A proposed medical marijuana law for North Carolina has cleared its first significant legislative hurdle. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Wednesday for the measure, which creates a patient, manufacturing, licensing and sales structure. The bill still has to pass through three committees before reaching the Senate floor. But the vote offers evidence that support is growing at the General Assembly for legalizing some marijuana. Patients could obtain an ID card to purchase and possess marijuana if a doctor declares they have one of several illnesses and could benefit from it. There would be 10 licensed sellers statewide.

JUVENILE JUSTICE

NC advances bill to prevent 6-year-olds from going to court

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina House committee has approved a bill to raise the minimum age at which children have to appear before a judge from six to 10. The move to advance the measure on Wednesday ends a three-month period in which the idea stalled within the legislature. But the bill is now larger in size and scope. It now advances to another committee. Over three years, more than 200 kids under 10 were brought before a judge. The 6-year-old minimum for prosecution in the North Carolina juvenile court system is the lowest age set by law in the country.

EDUCATION COVID REPORT

Report shows minimal COVID transmission within N.C. schools

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A new report has found that about 1 in 2,800 K-12 students who attended classes under the loosest reopening guidelines became infected with COVID-19 due to in-school transmission. The findings from Duke University and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine were released Wednesday. They show that mask wearing is the best way to reduce COVID-19 transmission. The report says state education leaders should consider eliminating quarantining youth who are properly masked and vaccinated. State senators on Wednesday declined to support the bill in its current form. It would have let local school boards decide whether to require students to wear masks.

MARSHAL-FUGITIVE-KILLED

Deputy US Marshal won’t be charged in fatal shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina prosecutor won’t pursue charges against a deputy U.S. marshal who shot and killed a fugitive during an attempted arrest at a Charlotte gas station. News outlets report that Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather III announced Tuesday that the deputy feared for his life when he fired the fatal shot. Merriweather writes that Eric Tillman, a senior inspector with the Marshals Service, fired three shots at Frankie Jennings, who was Black, in March. As they struggled at the door of Jennings’ car, Merriweather said Jennings put the car in gear and it moved forward. Tillman then saw Jennings’ “hands reaching toward a gun in the center console cupholder,” and Tillman fired at him three times.

JUVENILE JUSTICE

North Carolina bill aims to stop prosecuting 6-year-olds

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina sets the lowest minimum age in the country by law for a child to be prosecuted, allowing 6-year-olds to be tried in juvenile court. Now, the state is looking to raise the age to ensure children under 10 don’t have to appear before a judge. Many of the more than 2,000 reported complaints in recent years emerged in schools and were disproportionately made against Black boys. Racial justice advocates support the bill but want to see more systemic changes to the state’s juvenile justice system. Three other states allow 7-year-olds to face prosecution while 28 others have no laws specifying a minimum age of delinquency.

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