A federal judge cited concerns about bats when throwing out a document supporting revised management plans for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests.
Races filling the N.C. ballot were won or lost by the thinnest of margins. With a few exceptions, races — statewide and national — stayed excruciatingly close days after election night. Just as polls predicted. All teetering within the margins of error, albeit with at least one important anomaly on a largely red night. The...
Discussion of the coronavirus dominated the first half-hour of the gubernatorial debate between incumbent Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. But at times, Cooper treated Forest like a proxy for the GOP-led General Assembly, as the governor attacked school choice, tax cuts, teacher pay, and other issue-driven fights between Cooper and...
North Carolina has been shut down for six months, 30 weeks, more than 200 days. The N.C. Constitution created a feeble executive branch, and its governor remained among the weakest in the nation. Until now. When the pandemic hit, Gov. Roy Cooper seized control of the economy, selecting essential businesses and shuttering the rest. His orders unleashed...
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses several interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. This report was updated to include new information. Beware of budget gimmicks: The state unexpectedly received $457 million in tax over-collections, but don’t try to spend the money, Sen. Harry Brown,...
Each week, staff at Carolina Journal looks back at the week in N.C. politics and chooses several interesting, relevant stories you may have missed. Dropped lawsuit: Lt. Gov. Dan Forest has dropped his lawsuit against Gov. Roy Cooper over the governor’s COVID-19 executive orders. Josh Stein, N.C attorney general, tweeted the news Thursday, Aug. 13....
A Superior Court judge has rejected Lt. Gov. Dan Forest’s attempt to throw out some of Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive orders linked to COVID-19. But the same judge is allowing the case to move forward. “[T]he Court concludes that the Lieutenant Governor has failed to demonstrate that he is likely to succeed on any claims...
Whether a judge rules in favor of Gov. Roy Cooper or decides to throw out Cooper’s executive orders, he knows his decision is likely to head straight to the N.C. Supreme Court. Judge James Gale is weighing Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest’s lawsuit to throw out Cooper’s COVID-19 executive orders. Forest says Cooper violated the...
Gov. Roy Cooper is approaching the COVID-19 emergency with a “heavy hand,” claiming “unlimited authority” over North Carolinians’ freedom of movement. That’s according to the latest court filing in a lawsuit pitting Cooper against the lieutenant governor. The Forest v. Cooper suit involves the two major-party candidates in the 2020 N.C. governor’s election. A Superior...
Gov. Roy Cooper contends a lawsuit challenging his COVID-19 executive orders stands “no chance of success.” That statement crops up in the first paragraph of Cooper’s official response to the lawsuit from Lt. Gov. Dan Forest. A hearing in Forest v. Cooper is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 4. The case pits the two major-party candidates...
A lawsuit pitting the two major-party contenders in North Carolina’s governor’s race will head to a court hearing Aug. 4. Superior Court Judge James Gale set that hearing date in Forest v. Cooper. In the suit, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest challenges the process Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has used in issuing executive orders linked...
