Gov. Pat McCrory is proposing 5 percent average pay raises for N.C. public school teachers, along with bonuses that would average 3.5 percent. Terry Stoops, the John Locke Foundation’s director of research and education studies, analyzes McCrory’s plan. Spending money to help low-income people deal with the N.C. court system often has been considered a priority of the political left. But Thomas Maher, executive director of the N.C. Office of Indigent Defense Services, says the argument for his agency’s work ought to be supported across the ideological spectrum. Maher explains he and his colleagues work to support Americans’ Sixth Amendment rights. In recent years, the General Assembly set up an independent review board to review appeals of unemployment claims. A report has raised some red flags about the way that board is able to conduct its reviews. You’ll hear highlights from a legislative review of that report. North Carolina has become one of the top states for the solar industry, but a top environmental regulator warns that little has been done to prepare North Carolina for the eventual disposal of used solar panels. You’ll hear concerns from Tom Reeder, assistant secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, along with reaction from skeptical state lawmakers. Some legislators want to take a closer look at North Carolina’s occupational licensing rules. Sen. Andy Wells, R-Catawba, discusses his work to identify problems in the current licensing structure and to come up with solutions.