skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Hearing Today to Determine Ballot Measures on November Ballot in NC

play audio
Play

Tuesday, August 7, 2018   

RALEIGH, N.C. – A Wake County Superior Court will hear a request Tuesday from Clean Air Carolina, Forward Justice and the North Carolina NAACP to prevent the state Legislature from placing four constitutional amendments on the November ballot.

The Southern Environmental Law Center is representing the groups in the lawsuit filed Monday. Their case argues that the amendments would impact voting rights, restructure the government and reduce the separation of state powers.

June Blotnick, the executive director of Clean Air Carolina, says the changes could further reduce environmental protections.

"For the last six or seven years, we've had to defend longstanding clean-air safeguards and the gutting of funding for state environmental programs," she says. "We filed this lawsuit to stop the supermajority in the Legislature from consolidating more power."

If the ballot measures are allowed and approved by voters this November, the power to fill judicial vacancies would shift from the governor to the Legislature and take away the governor's power to appoint people to executive office and determine their roles.

In a statement, Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, called this lawsuit "the most frivolous lawsuit of them all. These groups are advancing a completely spurious argument already rejected by the courts simply to score points against overwhelmingly popular amendments."

Supporters of the amendments say they're intended to improve the process of judicial vacancies and address voter fraud with the voter ID requirement.

State ballots for the November election are set to be finalized Wednesday. Blotnick says the language used in these proposed amendments could easily mislead voters.

"The ballot measures are something a lot of people don't even pay attention to," she warns. "The language that's proposed for these ballot measures is not very clear."

If additional power is shifted to the Legislature, critics say it could further reduce protections for offshore drilling, fracking and water contamination.

Groups such as the NC NAACP are concerned the constitutional changes could impact voting rights and reduce civil-rights protections in the state.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021