Free Republic

To cover the payment of reparations to local blacks for what was termed injustices from the past, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on July 17 voted unanimously to approve $2 million in its fiscal 2023 budget — and to add $500,000 to future reparations budgets, with an annual increase of 2 percent. The county reparations budget approval followed the City of Ashville’s commitment — also on a unanimous vote — to an initial reparations investment of $2.1 million in its 2022 budget — and included an additional allocation of $500,000 for 2023. “We are at the intersection of yesterday,...

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has spent more than $24 million to defeat progressive candidates in this year's Democratic primaries. The United Democracy Project (UDP), an AIPAC-affiliated super PAC, has already spent $24.2 million on Democratic primaries this cycle, including millions that it raised from top Republican megadonors like Paul Singer and Bernard Marcus. The money has helped AIPAC-backed candidates wipe out progressives in primaries in Michigan, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, California and Ohio. UDP and other pro-Israel groups tied to AIPAC – Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), Urban Empowerment Action PAC and Pro-Israel America PAC —...

The pilot of a small twin-engine plane is heard in a 40-minute recording asking air traffic control for help to making an emergency landing before his 23-year-old co-pilot jumped or fell from it at 3,500-feet. Charles Hew Crooks did not have a parachute on before he plunged to his death in North Carolina on Friday, officials said. In the 40-minute exchange between the unidentified pilot and air traffic control, there is no mention or hint of Crooks falling from the plane. The pilot can be heard saying: 'Emergency, we've lost our right wheel. We would like to proceed to Raleigh...

Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) is seeking to codify a Trump-era rule that limits states throwing up regulatory roadblocks to pipeline construction, Breitbart News learned exclusively on Wednesday.The congressman and Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate is set to introduce a bill on Thursday which would cement the 2020 Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Rule. The rule was created to limit states’ review power after Republicans in Congress reported that some states were using the permitting process detailed in Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to stop new energy projects.The bill is the House companion to Sen. Shelley Moore...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Tens of thousands of people serving punishments for felony convictions in North Carolina but who aren’t behind bars can now register to vote and cast ballots this fall after an appeals court ruling. Expanding the scope of those able to register and vote began Wednesday, the State Board of Elections said — the day after local elections were held in more than a dozen localities. The change proceeds from litigation challenging a 1973 law that prevents someone convicted of a felony from having voting rights restored while they are still on probation, parole or post-release supervision. More...

Two men have been arrested following an attack — involving lighting and throwing improvised explosive devices (similar to pipe bombs) at the remnant (the base) of the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville — amid a crowd mulling around about an hour after the city’s Fourth of July fireworks gala had finished, according to the Asheville Police Department. However, nobody was hurt and there was reportedly no damage to the monument’s base. The remainder of the 75-foot-tall granite obelisk monument has been deconstructed by the city and its stone blocks and other parts are being held, reportedly, in secure, undisclosed warehouses...

Less than a week after the entire police department in Kenly, N.C., announced its resignation, citing a “toxic” and “hostile” work environment, elected officials from the town of about 2,000 residents have gone silent on a plan for law enforcement moving forward. The July 20 mass resignation of the department’s police chief, four full-time officers and two town clerks, who are all white, came less than two months after the town hired a new town manager, who is Black, leaving many critics to question whether race was at the core of the department’s sudden collapse. ... Kenly’s town attorney, Chip...

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Washington, D.C.— Today, after months of bipartisan negotiations led by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), two proposals were introduced which include legislation to reform and modernize the outdated Electoral Count Act of 1887 to ensure that the electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state’s vote for President. In addition to Senators Collins and Manchin, the senators involved in the bipartisan negotiations include: Rob Portman (R-OH), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mark Warner (D-VA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Todd...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The idea of a law to ensure that same-sex and mixed-sex couples have a right to obtain a marriage license is gaining momentum. U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) is one of several Republicans who on Wednesday voiced possible support for a bill passed Tuesday with bipartisan support in the House that would codify those rights.

Republicans have pivoted to proposing a range of measures to provide a social safety net for women and families after endorsing the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which ended the national right to an abortion. While Democrats are hoping to downplay the state of the economy and make abortion a key issue going into the November midterm elections, Republicans are trying to win over suburban women and moderate voters after backing the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which returned the abortion issue back to the states. On Wednesday, a group of Republicans led...

Ever borrowed some pine straw from a neighbor’s yard or stayed in a motel room with someone of the opposite sex to whom you weren't married? If so, take caution: In North Carolina, if they meet certain parameters, these acts could place you on the wrong side of the law. While every region has its own unusual or unique laws, the Tar Heel state stands out for some of the strangest legislation to be found in the lower 48. So if you’re considering a drunken Bingo binge or find yourself coveting the neighbor's grease vat, you might want to think...

* Malik Shabazz led dozens of people who searched through a home for seniors in Raleigh, North Carolina, last week looking for Carolyn Bryant Donham, 87 * Donham - then Bryant - accused Emmett Till, 14, of whistling at her in a store in Money, Mississippi in 1955, leading to the boy's murder * Shabazz, 55, is a black nationalist with a history of making racial slurs According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Shabazz is 'particularly skilled at orchestrating provocative protests' * The anti-hate organization says of Shabazz, 'He is a racist black nationalist with a long, well-documented history...

A new effort has commenced in the struggle to block President Trump from running to regain the highest office in the land. In an unprecedented move, a statement has been mailed to every secretary of state in the union asking for their signed commitment to bar Mr. Trump from the ballot.After disqualification battles against candidates for the House of Representatives from North Carolina to Georgia to Arizona have largely stalled in state and federal courts, the statement signals a new front in the campaign to use the events of January 6, 2021, to shape the future of American elections.Free Speech...

Harrowing video footage shows 7- and 8-year-old baseball players cowering for cover as gunshots rang out at a Little League state championship game in North Carolina. The footage showed under-8 players as well as the adults officiating initially frozen in fear as at least three shots rang out Sunday — with one landing just feet from a player, WITN said. Most of the players then dropped to the ground while a handful fled the field in Wilson as a chorus of adults screamed, “Get down!” The clip ended with the youngsters on the ground trying to crawl to safety. “No...

HENDERSONVILLE — The executive director of the North Carolina Apple Festival resigned June 23 over comments he made on social media about Juneteenth, according to the festival Facebook page. The post on the festival’s Facebook page said David Nicholson, the executive director of the festival, confirmed the resignation of David Nicholson, the event’s long-time.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Police have identified the man accused of being at the center of Wednesday’s hours-long pursuit through Charlotte. According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, 26-year-old Tyler Christopher Harding has been charged with four counts of vehicle theft, two counts of felony hit-and-run, possession of a stolen vehicle, felony flee to elude, burglary and numerous traffic citations. Investigators said Harding has felony arrest history from Texas and is new to the Charlotte area.

A bill currently in the works in the North Carolina legislature would allocate $50,000 to get rid of free public EV chargers unless free gas pumps are built alongside. Politicians have to run on some kind of platform, and Ben Moss—my incoming state House representative here in North Carolina's District 52—decided that his animating principle is Being Mad at Electricity. To prove his animosity toward this invisible menace, he's sponsoring House Bill 1049, which would allocate $50,000 to destroy free public car chargers. It contains some other enlightened ideas, but that's the main theme: We've simply got to do something...

Moore v. Harper focuses on a new North Carolina voting map created by court-appointed experts after earlier maps proposed by the Republican-led state legislature were struck down. The North Carolina Supreme Court in February ruled that the maps offered by the state general assembly were partisan gerrymanders, violating free speech, free assembly and equal protection provisions of the state constitution. But the state legislature appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has agreed to take up the issue of redistricting and possibly restore the Republican-drawn map. Central to the petitioners' argument is the so-called "inde­pend­ent state legis­lature" theory...