The Trump administration wants to ban menthol cigarettes, but NC senators push back

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration wants to ban menthol cigarettes, citing their popularity with underage smokers. But North Carolina’s two Republican senators, typically fans of the administration but representing the biggest tobacco-growing state in the country, are fighting back against the proposed ban.

The Food and Drug Administration last week announced its plans to ban menthol cigarettes and cigars and to limit flavors available for vaping or electronic cigarettes. The proposal came a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a record-low 14 percent of American adults smoke cigarettes.

The FDA, in its announcement, said 54 percent of young smokers (ages 12-17) use menthol cigarettes and 70 percent of African-American youth smokers use them. Less than one-third of smokers 35 and older use menthol cigarettes. Menthol cigarettes made up 35 percent of the U.S. cigarette market in 2016, according to the Truth Initiative, an anti-smoking group.

“These menthol-flavored products represent one of the most common and pernicious routes by which kids initiate on combustible cigarettes. The menthol serves to mask some of the unattractive features of smoking that might otherwise discourage a child from smoking. Moreover, I believe that menthol products disproportionately and adversely affect underserved communities,” wrote FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who was appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate.

Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article221907280.html

North Carolina lawmakers propose allowing range of voter IDs

RALEIGH — North Carolina Republican legislators implementing a new change to the state constitution are thinking about allowing a relatively broad range of photo identification to validate voters who cast in-person ballots in future elections.

Proposed legislation state Senate staffers circulated Tuesday would require voters to show a driver’s license, passport, state university ID, tribal enrollment card, or a new type of photo ID issued free by county elections boards. IDs that expired after a voter’s 70th birthday also would be accepted.

The General Assembly returns to work next week after voters this month approved a state constitutional amendment requiring photo identification to vote in person.

Federal judges struck down a 2013 voting law requiring photo ID, ruling Republicans passed it to discriminate against minorities. Republicans say they were protecting election integrity.

https://www.fayobserver.com/news/20181121/north-carolina-lawmakers-propose-allowing-range-of-voter-ids
(no more at link)

After chickenpox outbreak at Asheville Waldorf, county quarantine order challenged in court

ASHEVILLE — First came the rash, then the quarantine — and with it, a legal challenge.

The late October outbreak of chickenpox at Asheville Waldorf School prompted Buncombe County health officials in early November to call for the quarantine of 104 of school's 152 students. Nearly 75 percent hadn't been vaccinated for the virus.

That order expired Tuesday, though it is unlikely to mark the end of county concerns at the private West Asheville school that serves toddlers through sixth graders. Buncombe health officials will continue to monitor conditions when students return from Thanksgiving break next week.

In a Nov. 1 order sent to the parents of unvaccinated children, Buncombe County Health Director Jannine Shaphard wrote that "the intent of this quarantine is to decrease the risk of transmission of the illness and protect the health of non-immune students, staff and community members."

Read more: https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2018/11/20/chickenpox-asheville-waldorf-school-quarantine-court-challenge-religious-freedom-civil-liberities/2069844002/

Recount gives Democrat Rachel Hunt 68-vote win in last contested NC legislative race

Tuesday’s recount gave Democrat Rachel Hunt a win over GOP Rep. Bill Brawley, ending North Carolina’s last contested legislative race and sending one of the state’s most influential lawmakers to defeat.

Hunt had declared victory last week after a count of provisional ballots extended her narrow lead over Brawley in House District 103. Tuesday’s recount gave her a 68-vote win.

“I remain humbled and honored to have been elected to represent the families of House District 103,” Hunt said in a statement. “I look forward to being their voice in the Legislature and fighting to reinvest in our public schools, raise teacher pay, and make healthcare more affordable and accessible.”

Brawley asked for a recount last Thursday.

Read more: https://www.heraldsun.com/news/politics-government/elections/article221946330.html

Cooper's Work Paid Off

One of the biggest winners in the midterm elections in North Carolina wasn’t even on the ballot. Governor Roy Cooper, with more than a little help, built the political machine that put Democrats in a position to sustain his veto and prepare them for the Battle Royale that takes place here in 2020. Cooper never stopped campaigning in the wake of his election as governor in 2016. On Tuesday, his work paid off.

Cooper served as attorney general from 2000 to 2016, passing up numerous opportunities to run for higher office despite calls for his candidacy. I used to joke that we knew election season was upon us when Cooper officially announced that he wasn’t running for whatever particular position was looking for a Democratic nominee. Pundits and political insiders speculated that Cooper lacked the ambition to run or was too cautious. In fact, he was just savvy enough to stay out of losing battles.

Once Cooper announce he was running for governor in 2013, he campaigned relentlessly. He believes that our state is under assault by forces that will, and have, set us back. He’s been at it for five years now and he’s not even half way through his first term. His victory in 2016 clearly wasn’t about him; it was about North Carolina and the progressive vision that drove the state for 50 years prior to Republican control.

He continued the fight throughout his battles with the General Assembly in the long session of 2017, setting up a political infrastructure and traveling the state to make sure it was funded. Throughout 2018, he showed up at events across North Carolina to help candidates up and down the ballot, despite two major hurricanes in the final weeks of the midterm election. He had a growing army of activists behind him and provided the leadership that a successful insurrection campaign needs.

Read more: https://www.politicsnc.com/coopers-work-paid-off/

Judge "No"? Senate moves closer to confirming reactionary Jesse Helms disciple to the federal bench

An Alt-Right Editor Accused Antiracism Activist and UNC Professor Dwayne Dixon of Assault.

Taxpayers shelled out $400,000 to airline that never came to Newport News airport

The $400,000 of public money given to an airline that planned to launch service from Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport was never repaid after the airline backed out.

The incentive payment for Elite Airways was part of a package meant to bring air service between the airport and the New York area after the collapse of People Express.

The $400,000 paid to Elite came from the Regional Air Service Enhancement Committee, or RAISE, which is funded by seven area cities and counties.

The Peninsula Airport Commission used more than $700,000 from the same committee in 2015 to help repay a $4.5 million loan to People Express, which the commission had secretly agreed to guarantee. In addition to the local government money, the airport commission used $3.5 million of state aviation funds and $299,500 in federal money to pay off the People Express debt.

Read more: https://www.dailypress.com/news/airport/dp-nws-airport-elite-incentive-20181120-story.html

Virginia could save millions by letting more old and sick prisoners free, audit says

Relaxing the rules around releasing some of Virginia’s oldest and sickest prison inmates could save the state millions of dollars, according to a new audit.

The study, conducted after lawmakers raised concerns about growing Department of Corrections medical costs, showed Virginia’s spending on healthcare per inmate is growing 7.6 percent annually – almost double the rate of growth for Medicaid spending.

The state spent about $6,500 on medical expenses per inmate in fiscal year 2017 – that’s about the same the state spends per Medicaid member.

And its most expensive inmates are the sickest and oldest.

Read more: https://pilotonline.com/news/government/virginia/article_25055972-ecce-11e8-bedc-33e616e5458b.html

Parent's gun goes off accidentally inside Portsmouth school, and ricochet injures a woman

PORTSMOUTH -- A woman sustained a minor injury Tuesday afternoon when a parent brought a gun to Simonsdale Elementary and it “inadvertently discharged,” according to police and a robocall issued by the school.

At 3:52 p.m., police got a 911 call that a woman was “struck by a ricochet” to the lower body, according to a police department tweet.

After investigating, police charged 29-year-old Antonio Mills with possession of a firearm on school property, possession of a firearm by a felon and reckless handling of a firearm. According to a news release from the department, Mills ran from the scene and has not been found.

Tammy King, the school principal, sent a robocall to families Tuesday afternoon saying that a parent entered the building with a weapon just before dismissal.

Read more: https://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/article_c57cd8a4-ed13-11e8-bc8e-83f19f205a73.html