News & Views

U.S. Representative Kathy Manning

U.S. Representative Kathy Manning of central North Carolina’s sixth congressional district is less than halfway through her second two-year-term in Washington, but it’s already been one heck of a tumultuous ride. From the January 6 insurrection, through the pandemic, a national economic recovery, two chaotic House Speaker elections and dozens of controversial policy debates and court rulings, Manning has remained a remarkably active and outspoken voice for progressive change.

Now, however, thanks to the latest Republican redistricting scheme, Manning finds herself living in a district that’s likely impossible for a Democrat to win. Not surprisingly, however, that hasn’t stopped her from continuing to speak out forcefully on an array of issues – from a possible government shutdown to aid for Israel and Ukraine.

Senator Lisa Grafstein, Wake County

Wake County State Senator Lisa Grafstein was recently a target of Republican gerrymandering. Under the state’s newly enacted legislative maps, Grafstein – a skilled attorney and one of the Senate’s most vocal and articulate critics of culture war legislation, regressive tax policies and efforts to alter state elections laws – was double-bunked with another progressive Democratic colleague in the obvious hope of scuttling her career in Raleigh.

Reports of Grafstein’s political demise, however, are clearly premature. Not only has the senator already moved to a new home in an a nearby Wake County district, as NC Newsline learned in a recent conversation, she’s speaking out with the same passion, acumen and optimism that’s made her a rising star in the state capital.

Lauren Fox, Ph.D.

As news reports have made clear repeatedly in recent years, North Carolina is suffering from a big and deeply problematic teacher shortage – especially in rural low wealth districts and when it comes to teachers of color. The problem was big and bad even before the pandemic, and it’s gotten worse in its aftermath.

Thankfully, the causes of the shortage are no particular mystery. Indeed, as researchers at the Public School Forum of North Carolina make clear in a new report, there are several eminently doable and commonsense strategies that could make a huge dent in the problem and recently NC Newsline was lucky enough to catch up with one of the report authors, the forum’s Senior Director of Policy and Research, Lauren Fox.

Read the report: Teacher Recruitment and Retention Trends Across North Carolina and the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Photo: State legislative building and reporter Lynn Bonner

Gerrymandering. It’s a topic that’s been on a lot of lips in recent weeks as the Republican leadership of the North Carolina legislature, for what seems like the umpteenth time, drew new legislative and congressional maps for our state.

Interestingly, while gerrymandering – that is to say, rigging maps to favor certain outcomes – is something politicians are normally rather circumspect about, this time that wasn’t the case. Instead, Republican legislators openly bragged that they were drawing maps to guarantee Republicans victories in most legislative and congressional races – even if Democrats get more votes statewide.

So how did things get this openly dysfunctional and what’s next? Recently we caught up with NC Newsline investigative reporter Lynn Bonner, to find out.

Laura Webb and Rochelle Sparko

There are a lot of significant real-world problems that the state legislature’s cheapskate budgeting practices have caused in recent years, and here’s a classic example: Because it receives inadequate funding, the state’s court system has been forced to try and fund itself by imposing big fines and fees on people accused of crimes.

Of course, however, the big problem here is that most of these people are poor and unable to pay. Right now, the state tries to collect over time by converting these fines and fees into civil judgments, but as a new report documents, this conversion gives rise to a whole new set of problems. The report is entitled “Waiving Criminal Court Fees Prevents Harms of Civil Debt,” and recently NC Newsline caught up with attorneys behind it: Laura Webb of the North Carolina Justice Center and Rochelle Sparko of the Center for Responsible Lending.

Photo: Chris Lea (Courtesy WRAL-TV)

A fascinating new documentary from WRAL TV looks at the hidden and troubling histories of some iconic sports venues in the Carolinas. “Ghosts in the Stadium” explores the sobering legacy of white supremacy at Kenan Stadium at UNC Chapel Hill, Carter-Finely Stadium at NC State, Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and Memorial Stadium at Clemson University.

The documentary was conceived and produced by Investigative Documentary Producer Cristin Severance, Sports Anchor Chris Lea and Documentary Photojournalist Dwayne Myers, and recently Lea was kind enough to join NC Newsline for a conversation about how the documentary came together, some of the sobering facts it reports, and how listeners can check it out online.

Dr. Betsey Tilson, State Health Director and Chief Medical Officer (Photo courtesy of NCDHHS)

North Carolina State Health Director Dr. Betsey Tilson shares details on where things stand with COVID-19 and what to expect from this year’s respiratory virus season. Plus we learn the steps you should take in the weeks ahead to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Editor’s note: This is a rebroadcast of an interview NC Newsline originally aired August 20, 2023.

Barb Walsh and her daughter Sophia

The fentanyl crisis has taken the lives of more than 13,000 North Carolinians in recent years and it’s currently killing eight North Carolinians a day. The rise in overdose deaths is driven by illegally manufactured fentanyl.

The group Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina recently joined NC Newsline for an extended conversation, in which founder Barb Walsh shared her family’s story, described the organization she leads, and shared some of the policy changes the group is seeking from state leaders.

Editor’s note: This is a rebroadcast of an interview NC Newsline originally aired August 20, 2023.

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