#north carolina superintendent of public instruction

[tomorrowusa]

North Carolina seems to be the vortex for MAGA extremism this year.

We thought that the GOP candidate for governor Mark Robinson was off the scale.

Meet North Carolina’s GOP Governor Candidate: A Hitler-Quoting Extremist

But Michele Morrow, the GOP nominee for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction, makes Mark Robinson sound almost mainstream.

In other comments on social media between 2019 and 2021 reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates. “I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” she wrote in a tweet from May 2020, responding to a user sharing a conspiracy theory who suggested sending Obama to prison at Guantanamo Bay. “I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life. We could make some money back from televising his death.” In another post in May 2020, she responded to a fake Time Magazine cover that featured art of Obama in an electric chair asking if he should be executed. “Death to ALL traitors!!” Morrow responded. In yet another comment, Morrow suggested in December 2020 killing Biden, who at that time was president-elect, and has said he would ask Americans to wear a mask for 100 days. “Never. We need to follow the Constitution’s advice and KILL all TRAITORS!!! #JusticeforAmerica,” she wrote. CNN reached out to Morrow and her campaign multiple times but did not receive a response.

But wait, there's more!

Morrow also promoted QAnon slogans and tweeted that the actor Jim Carrey was “… likely searching for adrenochrome” – a reference to a conspiracy theory shared by QAnon believers that celebrities harvest and drink the blood of children to prolong their own lives. Media Matters, a left-leaning publication, was first to report the QAnon tweets. All together, Morrow tweeted “WWG1WGA” – the slogan that stands for “where we go one, we go all” and is commonly associated with the QAnon conspiracy – more than seven times in 2020. Central to QAnon lore is the notion of the “Storm,” a belief there will be a day when thousands will purportedly be arrested, subjected to military tribunals, and face mass executions for their alleged crimes, with Donald Trump leading efforts to dismantle them alongside other QAnon “patriots.”

Morrow seems to get off on executions a lot. Her addiction to QAnon (who hasn't been around for years) is not at all out of character.

Sadly, such Republican candidates are hardly unusual these days.

To defeat such MAGA fascist extremist psychopaths it will be necessary to become more politically active in real life this year. That means volunteering, donating, and being more visible as pro-democracy Americans. And not just in North Carolina but nationwide.

My new favorite slogan this year is a classic rallying cry from civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson:

Nobody will save us from us but us.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Nathalie Baptiste at HuffPost:

Over the last few years, elections for public education officials have gone from overlooked and low-profile to heated and politicized affairs, a shift that’s due in large part to conservatives increasingly eyeing schools as places where they can wield significant influence and enact a specific agenda. Moms for Liberty, a far-right group that popped up in Florida during the COVID pandemic and has since campaigned nationwide for a variety of conservative causes, is a significant driver of this shift. The so-called “parental rights” organization has thrown its support behind school board candidates across the country who have gone on to ban books, pass policies that hurt LGBTQ+ kids, and limit what teachers can do and say in their classrooms. In 2022, more than half of the candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty won their races, with those in Florida seeing particular success. But the following year, the group’s high-profile attempts in Pennsylvania were largely a dud.

This year, the group said it has identified 77 candidates for endorsements but has not publicly released the list. “We continue to strive to have all voters across the country engage in their local school board elections and get to know the candidates because we know that change happens at the local level,” Moms for Liberty co-founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich said in an emailed statement to HuffPost. “We have seen an incredible win rate the past two years that shows the power of our grassroots organization and we are excited to see that same kind of win rate this year.” But even as the group keeps a lower public profile than it has during previous elections, its impact is clear. Across the country, far-right extremists are looking to get on school boards and reshape public schooling.

The blueprint for a right-wing, Moms for Liberty-style candidate has been made, and conservatives are following it. These candidates typically rail against “critical race theory,” a college-level academic framework for understanding structural racism that has been co-opted by conservatives to mean talking about race at all and making white people feel uncomfortable. They falsely claim books about gender or sexual identity are inherently "pornographic". They may smear teachers as "groomers", and make sure transgender children are targeted and ostracized at school. Parental rights and fighting to keep trans kids from playing sports are now Republican talking points at all levels of government. “The work of Moms for Liberty hasn’t been as visible. But the rhetoric they use and their candidates are very much visible,” Tamika Walker Kelly, the president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, told HuffPost. In blue, red, and purple states alike, this election is shaping up to have dozens of hotly contested school board races that feature right-wing candidates going up against their more liberal counterparts and hoping to shape the next generation of public school students.

[...]

The state superintendent for public instruction oversees more than 2,500 schools in North Carolina and an $11 billion budget. The race is between Democrat Mo Green, the former superintendent of Guilford County schools, and Republican Michele Morrow, who homeschooled her own children. After defeating the Republican incumbent in March, Morrow made headlines when CNN discovered that she had attended the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection with her children. (There is no evidence that she entered the Capitol building or committed any crimes.) She has also called for the execution of prominent Democrats and made a video saying former President Donald Trump should use the U.S. military to stay in power after he lost the election in 2020. Morrow ran for school board in Wake County in 2022 and lost by 20 points. As a candidate for superintendent, she has lobbed homophobic and transphobic attacks at Green and vowed to rid the state’s schools of diversity, equity and inclusion programs and censor what teachers can say in the classroom.

Far-right extremist school board candidates across several states, campaigning on “parental rights” themes such as anti-LGBTQ+ inclusion and book bans, could reshape the next generation of schooling if they are successful.

In recent elections, far-right school board candidates have largely failed to win their races due to their focus on being culture warriors first.

[maureen-corpse]

My home state of North Carolina didn’t ratify the nineteenth amendment to the constitution until 1971. Of course the amendment went into effect in 1920 all the same, but that’s hardly a good showing, is it? And North Carolina has been going back and forth on voter ID, restricting early voting, and all sorts of tomfoolery for years, all because voting gives people so much power.

(I mention that amendment specifically because it affects me, but there are a few voting-related amendments—the fifteenth amendment among them. People have been fighting to make voting accessible for a very long time.)

Anyway, I’m sure it’s very upsetting for you people when I blaze a silly post encouraging you to vote (it’s free. or should be. per the constitution.) but I feel strongly that voting is important. And now I’m going to subject you to the below screenshot. To annoy you further.

It needs work. I’m still working on it. And you can work on opening up Ballotpedia to see who’s running for superintendent of public instruction in your state.

[lboogie1906]

James D. Lynch (1839 – December 18, 1872) was a missionary, public official, and state legislator. He was the first African American secretary of State of Mississippi and a minister. He was born in Baltimore. His mother was a slave and his father was a white merchant and minister. He obtained his early education at an elementary school instructed by Reverend Daniel Payne of the AME Church. He attended Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire and then moved to Indianapolis where he committed himself to ministry. He preached in the town of Galena, Illinois. He was appointed a "Missionary and Government Superintendent" at Beaufort, South Carolina. He helped to establish churches and schools in South Carolina and Georgia for African American children and adults. He moved to Mississippi as an official of the Methodist Episcopal Church North. The church increased by six thousand African Americans, and twenty meeting houses were created. He realized that the political rights of the freedmen were just as important as their religious faith. He and others organized the Republican Party in Mississippi, where they held the first party convention. He was elected VP of the organization because of his prior services. He then worked to create a new constitution for Mississippi, where he took a moderate stance. He campaigned to secure voter support for a constitutional convention, in addition to verifying the election of Republican delegates. He became involved with the newspaper business and became a publisher and editor of his publication called Jackson Colored Citizen. He worked to improve the public school system throughout the state and acquired support from whites. He was re-elected. He served as a delegate to the RNC. He and his African American supporters started to become disillusioned with the Reconstruction process, along with the increasing tension amongst the African American and European-American Republicans. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence https://www.instagram.com/p/CmTuuNqO7JM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[morning-softness]

I’d like to add that in North Carolina, Maurice Green was elected as superintendent of public instruction, rather than extremist Trump supporter Michele Morrow. So maybe there’s still some hope NC will be able to reverse some of its dismal trends in public education policies.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/north-carolina-superintendent-of-public-instruction-results

I guess even a Red state isn’t always Red completely down the ballot.

Everything feels awful right now but it isn't really. We still don't officially have a winner, but regardless of how the presidential election ends up, I wanted to take a minute and find what lights I can in the 3 a.m. darkness. Here's what I know:

* Kentucky overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to undermine the public education system by offering private school vouchers:

* Delaware has elected a transgender woman to the House of Representatives, the first out trans person of any gender ever elected to congress:

* For the first time in history, two Black women will be serving in the senate at the same time, and they are only the fourth and fifth Black women ever elected to the senate:

* New York State has passed a constitutional amendment enshrining the rights of pregnant people (including the right to an abortion), LGBTQIA+ people, the disabled, immigrants regardless of legal status, and other at-risk groups:

* Democrat Josh Stein has beaten self-avowed Nazi Mark Robinson to become governor of North Carolina:

That's everything I know off the top of my head. It's not many bright spots, but it's not zero. I'm going to try to find more and I'll add them to the post. It's the only thing I can think of to do that isn't sobbing and throwing up or looking up Canadian immigration rules.

If you know more good news, I encourage you to add it in reblogs.

[nowisthewinter]

I don't get it. I just don't get it. I am in North Carolina. We just elected a Democrat governor, a Democrat attorney general, a Democrat secretary of state, a Democrat lieutenant governor and a Democrat superintendent of public instruction, almost blue all the way down and, yet, AND, YET, Trump was declared winner of the state.

If that doesn't smell fishy, I don't know what does.

[mongowheelie]

Republican running for N.C. schools superintendent falsely claims ‘+’ in LGBTQ+ includes pedophilia

Republican running for N.C. schools superintendent falsely claims ‘+’ in LGBTQ+ includes pedophilia

WTF!

[pashterlengkap]

GOP candidate whines that her calls for Biden’s & Obama’s executions were “taken out of context”

Michele Morrow won the GOP primary for North Carolina superintendent of public instruction earlier this month, and she’s now facing scrutiny for her calls to kill prominent Democrats, as well as for her support for the outlandish QAnon conspiracy theory. Her defense? She was just joking, and her words were taken out of context. Related: Elon Musk pushes anti-gay #Pizzagate conspiracy theory as advertisers flee X He just can’t stop endorsing far-right misinformation, even as his platform loses millions in ad revenue. “The dysfunctional media is trying to create ‘gotcha moments’ out of old comments taken out of context, made in jest, or never made in the first place,” she posted on X, sharing a video of her trying to explain away her extreme statements. Your LGBTQ+ guide to Election 2024 Stay ahead of the 2024 Election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter. Daily * Weekly * Good News * Those “gotcha moments” include a 2020 Twitter post, in which she said she wanted “a Pay Per View of [former President Barack Obama] in front of the firing squad.” “We could make some money back from televising his death,” she wrote. “Death to ALL traitors!!” she wrote in another tweet in response to a picture of Obama in an electric chair. In a December 2020 tweet, she called for the death of then-President-elect Joe Biden when he asked people to wear masks during the early months of COVID-19. “Never. We need to follow the Constitution’s advice and KILL all TRAITORS!!! #JusticeforAmerica,” she wrote. In addition to calling for the deaths of Obama and Biden, in 2019 she called for the death of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) – who is Black and Muslim – for “treason.” Omar “and her other law-hating Dems must be getting a little nervous. Are they just realizing the punishment for treason is death?!?” she wrote. Morrow also wrote about North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) responses to COVID-19 in 2020 and used the hashtags #PrisonTimeforFederalCrime and #DeathToTraitors. She even once attacked actor Jim Carrey, saying he was “likely searching for adrenochrome.” The QAnon conspiracy theory says that there is a secret, international cabal of Satanic pedophiles made up of powerful Democratic and Hollywood figures that Donald Trump is secretly fighting to dismantle. In some versions of the conspiracy theory, the cabal is harvesting adrenochrome, a psychoactive drug that they claim is taken from tortured and murdered children after they are sacrificed to Satan. But now Morrow is focused on calling Democrats “radical.” “I’m facing the most radical extremist the Democrats have ever run for superintendent in the history of North Carolina,” she claimed in the video intended to respond to her social posts getting attention in the media. “My opponent spent six years leading a progressive organization that funded efforts to destroy families, public schools, and everyone’s safety in this state,” she continued. Her opponent, Democrat Mo Green, has served as the executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a North Carolina nonprofit that gives millions of dollars a year to smaller organizations in the state that work on issues like affordable housing, education, and the environment. The dysfunctional media is trying to create "gotcha moments" out of old comments taken out of context, made in jest, or never made in the first place. They're doing it to hide the radicalism of the Democrat platform. It won't work. https://t.co/AOeM7HRHru pic.twitter.com/eAfV2ZU3vQ— MicheleMorrow (@MicheleMorrowNC) March 24, 2024 Morrow’s language around “gotcha moments” echoes her confrontation with CNN correspondent Shimon Prokupecz last week. Prokupecz confronted her about her past statements, and she at first tried to avoid responding before she started berating him about “gotcha moments.” “Everyone is so… http://dlvr.it/T4dvzW

[reportwire]

Plan aids NC principals otherwise penalized for pay change

Plan aids NC principals otherwise penalized for pay change

2022-08-24 23:20:56 RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s schools chief unveiled a plan on Wednesday that would prevent some public school principals from facing pay cuts in 2023 due to an alteration in how performance-based compensation is calculated. Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt said about $4.5 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds for education would be spent to…

[thewarrenist]

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction announced today that more than two dozen school districts across North Carolina will share nearly $400 million in new state lottery-funded grant awards. Of that amount, Warren County Schools will receive $24 million. Read more and a statement from Warren County Schools Superintendent Keith Sutton on Warrenist.com! #Warrenist #WarrenCountyNC #WarrenCountySchools #PublicEducation #NCpubliceducation #NCeducation #NCSchools #NCDPI #NCnews #NCblog #TheWarrenist #252news #KeithSutton (at Warren County, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CdHEX9NO3Hk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[orbemnews]

Early data shows NC students slipping on standardized tests for math, science :: WRAL.com By Emily Walkenhorst, WRAL education reporter, and Keely Arthur Raleigh, N.C. — Preliminary data from the North Carolina Department of Public Education shows students scored lower on state tests for math and science this fall compared to fall 2019. About 24,000 tests, out of about 175,000 expected tests total, have yet to be completed. Students have until July 5 to take the end-of-course tests, so the department doesn’t consider the results so far to be comparable to last fall. But with 86.3% of tests administered so far, scores have been lower for Biology, Math 1 and Math 3. The test results were revealed in the State Board of Education’s agenda for this Wednesday as part of a presentation on testing and accountability updates. The state will plans to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Education that would exempt the state from having to form new support plans based on this year’s testing data. With the waiver, the state would have to report certain data, including chronic absenteeism among students and student access to technology. While education has looked markedly different during the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education announced Feb. 22 it would continue to require standardized testing into the spring and would not grant states waivers of it — waivers different from what the state plans to seek, which pertains only to accountability. The department waived the standardized testing requirements last spring when schools quickly converted to remote learning shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic first arrived in the U.S. States have the option to extend testing into the fall. This year has been hard for students, said Stan Winborne, assistant superintendent for Granville County Schools. “They should be given credit for all that they’ve had to go through,” Winborne told WRAL News. Still, he said, test results can be used to help “close the gap” in student success. And with teachers getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and more students returning to the physical classroom, Winborne thinks student performance and test scores will improve. “I have a lot of confidence that our kids will come roaring back and rise to the challenge,” he said. About 54.5% of students were not proficient in biology this fall, compared to 42.1% last fall. For Math 1, 66.4% of students were not proficient this fall, compared to 48.2% last fall. For Math 3, 54.9% weren’t proficient, compared to 44.5%. Scores did not significantly change for English II test results. The shares of students testing at the highest level — Level 5 — are also down so far. For biology, 9.7% of test takers scored at Level 5, compared to 17% last fall. In Math 1, 1.2% scored at Level 5, compared to 3.3%, and for Math 3, 8.9% scored at Level 5, compared to 13.7%. Only about two-thirds of Beginning-of-Grade-3 exams have been administered so far, about 74,000 of the about 109,000 state officials expect to give. The window to administer the test ends March 12. The Department of Public Instruction says the test results here are also not comparable to last fall, because the number of tests administered within the first 20 days of the school year was more than normal. So far, 58.2% of third grade students scored at the lowest of the five levels for the test, compared to 49.8% last fall. More On This Source link Orbem News #data #DepartmentofPublicInstruction #early #Education #Math #NorthCarolinaBoardofEducation #Science #Shows #slipping #standardized #standardizedtests #Students #Tests #WRALcom

[pashterlengkap]

LGBTQ+ groups band together to challenge school district over Don’t Say Gay policies

Three LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in western North Carolina have fired an opening salvo in their effort to overturn the state’s discriminatory Don’t Say Gay law. The Campaign for Southern Equality, Youth OUTright WNC, and PFLAG Asheville have joined forces to challenge the Buncombe County School District (near Asheville) over SB49, enacted in August after North Carolina Republicans overrode a veto by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. Related: Gay student rips into hate group co-founder to her face: “You deserve to be fired” Zander Moricz didn’t mince words when telling anti-LGBTQ+ school board member Bridget Ziegler she’s “terrible” at her job. The Don’t Say Gay legislation, also known as the Parent’s Bill of Rights, bans instruction on “gender identity, sexual activity, or sexuality” in kindergarten through fourth grade and requires parents to be notified “prior to any changes in the name or pronoun used for a student in school records or by school personnel,” with some discretion accorded to school administrators. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our daily newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Promotions (occasional) * Week in Good News (one on the Weekend) * Week in Review (one on the Weekend) * Daily Brief (one each weekday) * Sign Up The law went into effect immediately with its passage, and in the months since, school districts across the state have been grappling with how to implement it. In a complaint addressed to the Title IX Coordinator for Buncombe County Schools, the three groups allege SB49 violates the education provisions of Title IX. “The policies passed by the Buncombe County Board of Education to comply with the state law SB49 (alternately called the ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ’ law and the ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’) create a hostile educational environment for LGBTQIA+ students, families, staff and faculty,” the complainants write, “and in doing so violate Title IX and Buncombe County Schools’ obligation to provide every student with a safe and non-discriminatory school environment.” The complaint cites Title IX’s ban on sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding, which includes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. In October, the Campaign for Southern Equality addressed their allegations over Title IX to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, which responded, “Absent a determination by USED Office of Civil Rights or a court order affirming your position, neither the State Board nor DPI can knowingly fail to comply with a duly enacted state law.” The groups’ strategy then moved to obtain just such a determination from a local official entrusted with enforcing Title IX. In Buncombe County, that responsibility falls to Shanon Martin, Title IX Coordinator for Buncombe County Schools. “We request that, should these allegations of a Title IX violation be confirmed, the Buncombe County Schools Title IX Coordinator instruct the Superintendent to delay all implementation of the SB49-related policies passed on December 7, 2023, until such time as the federal complaint against DPI and SBE has been resolved,” the complaint to Martin reads. Craig White, supportive schools director at Campaign For Southern Equality, told Blue Ridge Public Radio that his team expects to file a federal complaint in January. Rob Elliot, chairman of the policy committee for the Buncombe County Board of Education, said figuring out how to enforce SB49 has been “very stressful” and a “noisy, big, complex legal discussion.” “We don’t exist just under the confines of this one new law, Elliot said. “This doesn’t define our entire world. We exist under a whole universe of federal law and state law, all of which we have to abide by as well.” http://dlvr.it/T0ZHBZ

[dr-archeville]

INDY Daily: Public Schools Need Funding Now as Budget Stalls • Nida Allam is Running for Congress • Judge Could Order Leandro Funding this Week

It’s Tuesday, November 9

Thanks to this week's sponsor, Rhythm Wigs & Rhythm in Words. Giving voice and agency to Black women 40 and older is the spark that started the company four years ago—a company inspired on memories, music, and mood. Indulge in products that go down memory lane, share intellectual winks, and give reminders of how amazing and influential you really are.

Good morning, readers.

The state budget is now four months late and, despite the positive signaling from the legislature and Governor Cooper over the last month or so, we seem to be stuck at another impasse.

Yesterday, State Superintendent Catherine Truitt sent a letter to Cooper and legislative leaders all but imploring them to pass a budget that gives some money to schools that haven't seen any additional funding in four years and that have been ravaged by COVID-19 pandemic challenges.

Truitt actually seems worried that the state will neglect to fund schools again:

"No matter the number, $0 and 0% increases should not be the state's goal when it comes to increasing funding for education after three years of pandemic hardship that has undoubtedly created new needs and new priorities for educators and students on top of what existed pre-pandemic," Truitt wrote.

Truitt then went on to highlight a number of state education programs and services that will either cease to exist or need to be funded locally if no budget is passed soon, including teacher licensure systems, human resources management systems, educator prep programs, and, disturbingly, "funding that provides basic wireless access impacting classroom instruction," including to charter schools focused on special needs programs.

"To continue providing Wi-Fi to these classrooms at no local cost, School Connectivity requires an additional $4.6 million for each of the next five years," Truitt wrote.

This seems bad. But the other big news this week is that the deadline set by Superior Court Judge David Lee for lawmakers to fund the $1.7 billion Leandro plan over the next two years is fast approaching.

Either way, it looks the state will have to cough up some money for public schools despite Republican leaders' best efforts not to. Given the state has a budget surplus of $6 billion, flush with COVID relief money, it seems largely doable one way or another, as Truitt notes:

"If both branches of government are unable to reach a compromise, my hope is that a budget can still be put forth for a vote," Truitt said. "Should this vote come to fruition, I would hope that no pressure be applied to legislators in voting for or against it, as they should be allowed to represent their constituents rather than feel pressured to support a political party."

Have a great Tuesday, everyone. Thanks for reading.

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[Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam. Photo by Jade Wilson.]

Orange County

A web-based, interactive workforce model developed at UNC-Chapel Hill predicts a significant shortage of nurses over the next decade, a problem exacerbated by the pandemic. 

Regular closures will begin this week on East Rosemary Street for the early stages of the East Rosemary Street Redevelopment Project.

The Daily Tar Heel profiled 21-year-old UNC-CH graduate Chris Suggs, who was elected to Kinston's city council this month and is the youngest elected official in North Carolina.

Durham

Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam is running for Congress in the newly drawn District 06, covering retiring Rep. David Price's territory in Orange, Durham, and part of Wake County. Allam, 27, joins N.C. state Sen. Wiley Nickel in the race.

Jamal McClinton Coltrane, a 31-year-old volunteer with Bikes Up, Guns Down in Durham, was found fatally shot in his car on N.C. Highway 55 over the weekend.

The Duke Chronicle looks at the history of housing inequality in Durham.

U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Jackson visited Duke and held a roundtable discussion with Black graduate students as part of a town hall Monday. He also emphasized strengthening the Voting Rights Act as a key priority and said he will release a climate plan this week.

Wake

Due to COVID-19 spacing requirements, Wake County shelters are looking for extra space or a building to protect people who are homeless from the cold as winter nights set in. 

Local elected officials gathered at Union Station in downtown Raleigh Monday to tout the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The spending plan will bring commuter rail to the Triangle along with several other infrastructure projects. 

N.C. + Elsewhere

Researchers say that evidence-based re-entry resources, including access to mental health care and substance use treatment, are key for success for formerly incarcerated people who are usually sicker than the general population.

Superior Court Judge David Lee could order the legislature to fund the state's $1.7 billion Leandro plan for public education this week. Republican lawmakers have questioned Lee's authority to order them to fund the plan.

U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis is among several senators named in a lawsuit brought by a gun safety group that alleges lawmakers took illegal campaign contributions from the NRA.

Statewide COVID-19 by the numbers: Monday, November 8

1,103 New lab-confirmed cases (1,494,278 total; seven-day average trending down)

1,040 Current hospitalizations reported (seven-day average trending down; 18,317 total deaths, +66 over Friday)

22,882 Completed tests (19.5 million total; most recent positive rate was 5.1 percent)

11,656,155 Total vaccinations administered; 56 percent of total population fully vaccinated; 67 percent of 18 years+ fully vaccinated.  (State data not updated daily)

Eat. Drink. Do.

Get out and about in the Triangle today. Got an Eat.Drink.Do Idea? Email us at EatDrinkDo@indyweek.com

Eat Get ready for Thanksgiving with Mon Macaron.

Drink Chase the cold weather blues away with the Ginny at Good Day, Good Night

Do Escape to Margaritaville with Broadway's new musical comedy at DPAC.

Today's weather Sunny and warmer with highs in the mid to upper 70s.  

Song of the day Son of a Son of a Sailor — Jimmy Buffett In honor of Escape to Margaritaville at DPAC, a song from a legend.

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[justinspoliticalcorner]

Vesper Henry at MMFA:

[Update (6/6/24): Following publication, Media Matters received information that Rachmuth was recently replaced in her role as Morrow’s campaign manager, though she has continued to promote fundraisers and events for the campaign. Language in this article has been updated to reflect the change.] Education First Alliance President Sloan Rachmuth put her conservative group in North Carolina on hold to serve as a campaign manager for extremist Michele Morrow’s campaign for the state’s superintendent of public instruction. In years of right-wing media appearances, Rachmuth has espoused inflammatory rhetoric and advocated for policies that exclude LGBTQ people in the classroom and public life. Media Matters previously reported that Morrow is a right-wing commentator who subscribes to the QAnon conspiracy theory and has connections to another extremist group.

Sloan Rachmuth, the Education First Alliance President who formerly served as the campaign manager for far-right North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Michele Morrow, went on various right-wing media shows to oppose LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools.