Equal Rights Amendment introduced in General Assembly
More than 40 years after it first took up the matter, the North Carolina General Assembly may consider finally ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment first passed by Congress in the early 1970s.
“The Equal Rights Amendment symbolizes the unpacking of equality. We’re in this space right now where we’re talking about equality and what it means to be an inclusive society,” said Dr. Ameena Zia, a Mills River-based social impact consultant and appointed United Nations representative at ECOSOC, the Economic and Social Affairs Council, since 2015.
Last summer, Americans commemorated the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which finally gave women the right to vote. Last fall, they saw the first woman and woman of color elected to the office of the Vice President.
State report calls for greater police transparency
A task force founded by Gov. Roy Cooper in the wake of violent protests after the police killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd last summer makes dozens of recommendations to strengthen and support North Carolina’s law enforcement community, including several that would lead to greater transparency by law enforcement agencies.
“It’s high time that North Carolina’s open government laws move out of the basement and into the vanguard of the best open government states in the country,” said John Bussian, a Raleigh intellectual property and media attorney.
Currently, state laws make the disclosure of disciplinary records of state employees especially police and teachers difficult or impossible, which can perpetuate the hiring and continuing employment of so-called “bad apples.”
Sen. Kevin Corbin
Violence and looting by anyone, for any political cause, is wrong and illegal. The riot yesterday as well as the riots that have taken place over the past few months have been well documented by television stations as well as dozens of cell phone recordings. These people should be easily identified and held accountable for damages and charges like breaking and entering.
The time has long passed for the microphone to be passed to those who want civility and honest conversations. In the past few months, including yesterday in Washington, there have been sincere people who truly want their cause heard. In addition to the sincere protesters, there have been instigators or “agitators” that have escalated the events to property damage and injury to persons.
A promise to keep on keepin’ on
How does one best express gratitude?
That thought kept coming up as I sat down to write a column for this week’s paper. After the rush of a holiday season that was so different, I found myself in our quiet mountain house on an unseasonably warm and sunny day pondering the year to come with more than a little excitement. This is going to be another memorable year, and I can’t wait to push forward.
But how do I thank those who helped get me to this state of mind, this knowledge that we this newspaper and this company can perhaps foster conversations and dialogue that could help our part of the world in 2021?
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North Carolina is just beginning to see the impact the Thanksgiving holiday may have had on the state s coronavirus numbers. In a press conference Tuesday, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen said that she believes the numbers the state has seen thus far are just the beginning. It is likely the increase in COVID-19 cases reported over the last week reflect those that went to Thanksgiving gatherings already sick. Throughout the next week, the state s numbers will start to reflect those that did not know they were sick with the virus until after attending those holiday gatherings. This week, the state continuously set record numbers of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The case counts, in addition to a positive test rate of 10.5%, prompted Sec. Cohen to urge North Carolinians to consider canceling any remaining travel plans and to keep any gatherings small and outdoors this