CHARLOTTE – It’s a situation that won’t end quickly or easily. In a case that has drawn national attention, a Mecklenburg County grand jury did not indict a police officer on Tuesday on a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the killing of an unarmed man.
Congressman Clay Aiken – what are the chances?
North Carolina is determined to make you look.
The state is not merely content to give observers whiplash by turning from a narrow vote for Barack Obama in 2008 to installing a Republican-controlled legislature in 2010 whose laws over the past year – on everything from voting restrictions to education cuts — have protesters marching.
Now a sprinkling of show business has added razzle-dazzle to the political mix.
Last week, the big news was a report that well-known 2003 “American Idol” runner-up and North Carolinian Clay Aiken, 35, is considering a run for Congress. Compared to that headline, the Indian Trail (N.C.) Town Council member who wrote portions of his resignation letter in “Klingon” was just a distraction.
Jan062014
Checking in on U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan’s 2014 re-election race in N.C.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — N.C .Sen. Kay Hagan is one of a dozen senators being targeted by Republicans in this upcoming election.
Each voted for the new health care law. Mary C. Curtis is taking a look at the challenges ahead for Hagan, how much of an Achilles heal the Affordable Care Act might be and if the GOP has to offer not just opposition but an alternative.
Nov202013
North Carolina residents on SNAP cuts: ‘This is just a worse version of bad’
CHARLOTTE – Diane Byrd, 53, is making ends meet – barely. The in-home health care worker makes just over $400 every two weeks. She pays $470 in rent. And she has depended on the $200 in food stamps she receives, not for herself but for her son’s daughter, Zabria Sherrill, the 7-year-old granddaughter she is raising. “You’ve got your light bill, your gas bill. You’ve got to do the wash,” Byrd said on Friday. “If they cut back on what I get, I’ll have to scratch it out.” But she said she’s not sure how.
On Nov. 1, when Congress failed to act, the temporary increase in the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — established in the 2009 stimulus bill – expired. More than 47 million American saw their benefits go down, a cut of $5 billion in the next year; the Agriculture Department estimated that a family of four receiving food stamps would receive $36 less a month. In Congress, the discussion is about cutting SNAP benefits further as a means of reducing spending. The only disagreement between Democrats and Republicans is over how deep the cuts would be.
Agencies that are expected to fill in the gaps will continue to do the work they’ve been doing on the ground for years. “Since December of 2007, nothing has given these folks a break,” said Carol Hardison, chief executive officer for 13 years at Crisis Assistance Ministry in Charlotte. “This is just a worse version of bad,” she said of the SNAP cuts.
Nov052013
The end of domestic violence awareness month, but not the problem
CHARLOTTE – The confident, composed and extremely successful businesswoman sitting beside me at the “Women Helping Women” lunch was also the face and voice in the video, the one talking about how to move on and grow stronger after experiencing domestic violence at the hands of a partner who professes love.
The event called attention to activities planned for October, domestic violence awareness month. While the month may be drawing to an end, the problem is far from solved. Earlier this year, when President Obama signed an updated version of the Violence Against Women Act, which backs local and state efforts, he acknowledged that the rate of sexual assaults has dropped and progress has been made. But he said there is still work to do.
Oct302013
Who will be the next Charlotte mayor?
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Election Day is less than a week away. We’re talking with Mary C. Curtis on her thoughts regarding the race for mayor.
She’s got all you need to know on the race and the candidates.
Curtis says there’s no clear winner at this point.
Oct302013
GOP launches minority outreach in N.C., defends voter law in court
CHARLOTTE — Republicans were busy in North Carolina and Washington on Monday. Did the activity in the courts and on a conservative stage have the effect of muddying the welcome mat the GOP rolled out for minority voters in the state?
Earlier in the day, Republican state officials filed to urge a federal court to dismiss two lawsuits challenging changes in North Carolina’s voting laws, changes opponents contend disproportionately harm African American voters. A third challenge by the U.S. Department of Justice is waiting in the wings.
Monday evening in Charlotte, at the opening of the Republican National Committee’s African American engagement office in North Carolina, Earl Philip, North Carolina African American state director, said he believed in the message he has been taking to churches, schools and community groups.
Oct222013
North Carolina attorney general dislikes laws he must defend
Roy Cooper wants everyone to know how he really feels. That must be why he wrote a column lamenting why and how he thinks his home state of North Carolina is moving in the wrong direction – that, and perhaps he’s trying out for a gubernatorial run in 2016.
Oct172013
