Free Republic

The ReopenNC rally had largely disbanded by 2 p.m., but about 100 protesters blocked Blount Street in front of the governor’s mansion. State Capitol Police closed the sidewalk, so protesters shouted from the street, demanding that Cooper reopen the state’s businesses. They also took issue with the empty flagpoles in front of the mansion, asking why there were no flags flying. First Sgt. Michael Baker, spokesman for the N.C. Highway Patrol, said the flags were taken down as a precautionary measure due to a previous protest in which both the American and state flags were desecrated. “The state Highway Patrol...

'We failed,' Whitmire says, but vows to continue fight By RACHEL GRAVES Sept. 4, 2003, 1:38PM John Whitmire had already spent weeks pacing the halls of the Albuquerque Marriott like a caged tiger when reality set in. A federal court would likely rule against him and 10 other Texas state senators on the lam in New Mexico, and the U.S. Justice Department would probably work against their attempts to stall a Republican redistricting effort, the Houston Democrat thought. As the hotel walls grew more confining, the options of returning to Texas to deliberately get arrested or persuading 51 House members...