Archives for June 2019

Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup: SCOTUS Gerrymandering Decision; New Noise Ordinance; NC Budget

Featured at WFAE

After days of “wait and see”, finally a decision from the Supreme Court about North Carolina’s Gerrymandering case. We’ll go through the details.

It got noisy at City Council as they passed a new noise ordinance which some say violates freedom of speech.

The North Carolina Senate votes ‘yes’ on House Bill 370 requiring sheriffs in the state to work with ICE.  Urban sheriffs are opposed, and Governor Cooper calls it “unconstitutional.”  And the legislature has a budget compromise.

Axios uncovers documents allegedly explaining why former Governor Pat McCrory isn’t working for Donald Trump.

Mike Collins and a roundtable of reporters talks about those stories and more on the Charlotte Talks Local News Roundup.

Guests: 

Michael Bitzer, Political Scientist, Catawba College

Gwendolyn Glenn, WFAE Reporter

Mary C. Curtis, columnist for Rollcall.com and WCCB

Jonathan Lowe, reporter for Spectrum News

Joe Bruno, WSOC-TV Reporter

Jun282019 TAGS: , , , ,

This election, black voters will not lie low and take one for the team

Featured at Roll Call

OPINION — Republicans often say that the Democratic Party takes black voters for granted. They are right.

Of course, the GOP then does nothing to appeal to those voters. In fact, with the actions and words of its leaders on everything from gerrymandered districts (see North Carolina) to fair-housing enforcement (or the lack of it), the Republican Party, which once claimed broad support as the party of Lincoln, takes deliberate action to repel them.

So, election after election, Democrats count on GOP radioactivity to drive African Americans to vote for the “D.” What choice do they have, after all?

Read the rest atRoll Call
Jun272019 TAGS: , , , ,

Previewing 2020 Democratic Debates

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The first debates of the 2020 presidential election are here. 20 Democrats will face off in a two-night debate Wednesday and Thursday in Miami.

Each candidate will have a minimum amount of time to make a maximum impact. The stakes may be even higher for those at the bottom of the polls, because their campaigns need attention and money to continue.

So, what should viewers look for, in addition to that memorable moment that can make or break a campaign?

Mary Curtis weighs in.

Read the rest atWCCB Rising
Jun262019 TAGS: , , , , , , , ,

As Democrats line up to debate, the GOP is regressing

Featured at Roll Call

OPINION — It was pretty startling, actually, viewing the lineup for the first debate of Democratic presidential hopefuls in April 2007 on a stage in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Among them were the usual suspects — Sens. Chris Dodd, John Edwards and Joe Biden. And then, there were surprises — Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

This is different, I thought. Whatever happens next, this looks like America, an America I had rarely experienced except in the aspirational promises of its founding documents, with the few exceptions of pioneers such as Shirley Chisholm or Jesse Jackson, when it came to choosing presidents.

When I covered the second Republican debate in May of that year, in Columbia, South Carolina, distinguishing between the candidates was a little tougher at first glance.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Jun202019 TAGS: , , , , , , ,

U.S.-Iran Conflict Escalates

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 international Iran nuclear deal and imposed strict sanctions, it was to put pressure on Iran to pull back from any plans for expansion in the Middle East. The sanctions have hurt the economy, which has also been damaged by Washington canceling waivers for countries to buy Iranian oil without a penalty.

But tensions are hotter than ever after explosions damaged two Japanese- and Norwegian-owned oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

Is America headed for more conflicts in the Middle East?

Read the rest atWCCB Rising
Jun192019 TAGS: , , , , , ,

North Carolina’s Republican Party is having an identity crisis

Featured at Roll Call

OPINION — All eyes with be on North Carolina next year, when the Republican Party holds its 2020 convention in Charlotte to nominate President Donald Trump for a second term. In truth, though, the state has been the center of attention for a while because of actions of party members — and the gaze has not been kind.

Read the rest atRoll Call
Jun132019 TAGS: , , , , , , ,

Campaign season means ‘law and order.’ Can we break the habit?

Featured at Roll Call

OPINION — When mass incarceration in America gets political attention, it’s often so the issue can be used as a cudgel to attack opponents. Thus, the president Twitter-shames former Vice President Joe Biden for his role in promoting the 1994 crime bill even as Donald Trump’s own history of hounding the Central Park Five is highlighted in “When They See Us,” director Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries on the teens accused, convicted, imprisoned and eventually exonerated.

When Democrats and Republicans cooperated on a criminal justice reform bill late last year that made modest changes in the federal system, they congratulated themselves for getting something done in gridlocked Washington.

But it hardly solved the problem. That’s the message of Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, or EJI. “The presidential election will be important setting the tone,” he told me at a recent appearance in Charlotte. “The hard work has to happen in North Carolina, in the state legislature on issues like sentencing, on issues like prisons, on issues like excessive punishment, and that’s true for every state in the country.”

Read the rest atRoll Call
Jun062019 TAGS: , , , , ,

President Trump’s U.K. Visit

Featured at WCCB Rising

CHARLOTTE, NC —  The Unites States and Britain have for generations been proud of their “special relationship,” their cultural, political and military bonds. But as President Trump traveled across the Atlantic for a state dinner and high-level meetings, there are questions about those bonds. The president and the queen exchanged strong and supportive toasts – but there was more to the story.

Read the rest atWCCB Rising
Jun052019 TAGS: , , , ,