WCNC Charlotte Flashpoint

This week, the North Carolina General Assembly is expected to try to override the governor's veto of two bills aimed at transgender youth. The house is expected to vote on Wednesday.

"Transgender youth have a much higher rate of suicide or suicide attempts. However, when they are affirmed in their life by their families, at school, that kind of thing, their rate of suicide goes down to the national average," Katie Jenifer, mother of two, said.

The bills are focused on banning gender-affirming care and transgender athletes.

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/worry-about-possible-new-north-carolina-restrictions/275-50be9c06-7152-4540-b3ff-1e8d0be2cce3

Charlotte's housing market is finally leveling-off after years of soaring prices left many potential home buyers on the sidelines.

"We're not seeing what we saw last year and the year before," Tiffany Johannes, president of Canopy Realtor Association said. "But this year, we're seeing more of a normalized market out there." 

Johannes appeared on WCNC's Flashpoint this week. Despite the slight slowdown, she said Charlotte's still one of the hottest markets in the country.

"We are in the top eight markets in the country right now, if you look at where people are moving and where they want to be," she said. 

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/charlotte-housing-market-flashpoint/275-3ffa8b79-e202-4791-9d56-1922770c2b3e

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against North Carolina Republicans Tuesday and said state legislatures don't have absolute power over election laws, and that state courts are constitutionally allowed to weigh in on those laws. 

At issue in Moore v. Harper, a fringe legal argument called Independent State Legislature theory. 

"I think the court felt that they were going to have to decide this question sooner or later. It had been raised in a number of cases during the 2020 election, and the majority of the court never directly addressed it. There are cases from other states where it's percolating," said Professor Richard Briffault.

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/legal-scholar-litigation-nc-supreme-court-case/275-b4ab5630-9344-4219-9392-d304a0a921d4

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson speaks with Senate leader Phil Berger regarding the General Assembly's final stretch of its legislative session. Berger discusses the top priorities of the General Assembly and more.

Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory appeared on WCNC Charlotte's Flashpoint with a simple message for Democrats and Republicans ahead of the 2024 elections: Wake up. 

McCrory recently joined the No Labels campaign as the group's national co-chair. No Labels promotes bipartisanship and compromise, and organizers say the group is considering a third-option unity ticket in the 2024 presidential election. 

"Sixty percent of people in America do not like or do not want to select from the current frontrunners of the Democratic or Republican Party," McCrory said. 

No Labels is still waiting until Super Tuesday next spring to make any decisions about its 2024 plans. If President Joe Biden and Donald Trump win their respective parties' nominations, McCrory said the group will put forward a ticket with a Democrat and Republican. 

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/pat-mccrory-issues-warning-to-democrats-north-carolina-republicans-general-assembly-roy-cooper-thom-tillis/275-4f6ced17-100c-4c2e-a5cb-be469f905266

On this week's episode of Flashpoint, WCNC Charlotte's Ben Thompson sits down with mental health advocates about the importance of Mental Health Awareness Month, including Dr. Jaren Doby with Novant Health and Fonda Bryant.

All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere. 

Various medical and physician groups have come out against a new bill in Raleigh that would restrict abortion after 12 weeks into a pregnancy. The North Carolina Medical Society, the North Carolina Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, among other groups have voiced opposition to the "Care for Women, Child, and Families Act."

"This bill is not medically sound. I think there's a lot of misinformation,' Dr. Beverly Gray, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University, said on WCNC's Flashpoint.

Gray said her colleagues tried to convince lawmakers to keep the state's current 20-week restriction, without success.

Despite the broad opposition in the medical community, some doctors support the new abortion restrictions.

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/doctors-debate-north-carolinas-abortion-restrictions/275-f41fa42e-f16c-4c20-9958-84a75f47bd71

Democratic leaders say new abortion restrictions passed by the North Carolina General Assembly could energize their base going into the 2024 election.

"I think that people need to understand the consequences of their local races," Drew Kromer, Chair of the Mecklenburg County Democratic Party, said.

While Charlotte is heavily democratic, Kromer said democrats underperformed in recent elections.

"Wake County in 2020, their turnout was 56%. And the statewide was 51%. And in Mecklenburg, we were down at 45%," Kromer said.

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/democrats-abortion-restrictions-2024/275-271f2754-4511-49f9-a981-a7dec2602890

Justin Parmenter is a CMS teacher and public school advocate. He says the new "Choose Your School, Choose Your Future" bill in the General Assembly offers the wrong kind of choice.

"When your choices have a negative impact on the education that others are receiving, it's not just about your own personal choice. And so I think this approach is depleting resources that we really need in our traditional public schools," Parmenter said on WCNC's Flashpoint. 

On Wednesday, North Carolina Republicans celebrated what would be the largest expansion of the state's private school voucher program since it was created, saying all families should qualify for at least some money regardless of income.

Senate Bill 406 would remove the program's current income caps, replacing them with a sliding scale that would let any family get a voucher, called an Opportunity Scholarship, of up to $3,246.

READ MORE:   https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/teachers-new-voucher-bill-public-education/275-811942be-5a6e-4a37-9572-8b1bd1f6737d

This week on Flashpoint, WCNC's Ben Thompson talks with Sarah Hazel, chief sustainability officer for the city of Charlotte, on the city's strategic energy action plan. In 2018, the city of Charlotte adopted the plan with a goal to have all its fleet and facilities fueled by 100 percent zero-carbon sources by 2030.

"When our city council adopted those goals, they knew that it was incredibly ambitious," Sarah Hazel, Charlotte's Chief Sustainability Officer, said on WCNC's Flashpoint.  

Later, Ben talks to Kathie Dello, state climate office of North Carolina, who says we can see the impacts of climate change all around us.

"We can break it down into just three easy things: hotter, wetter and more humid," Dello said.  

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/flashpoint/earth-day-charlotte-city-carbon-free-2030/275-5a742d42-09f3-4c16-9258-c6dfc637346b