“There can be no justification for the willful and arbitrary cancellation of an election.”
Tag: N.C. General Assembly
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Letter: Contact legislators to support ERA
“I feel adding the ERA will protect all Americans from discrimination and offer equal protection under the law regardless of gender.”
Letter: City Council needs to fight for climate action
“Council had the courage to fight the state over the election process. Let’s hope they find the courage to choose to fight over this life-and-death climate emergency.”
Letter: Lawmakers must adequately fund mental health care
“I urge our lawmakers to adequately fund life-changing mental health care for the good of our society, economy and future.”
From CPP: Judges block NC congressional elections with current maps
A three-judge panel issued an injunction late Monday blocking use of the current North Carolina congressional district map in the 2020 election. Although not yet compelling the “coequal branch of government” to draw new maps, judges noted that legislators could proceed to do that on their own and thus avoid any disruption to the election schedule.
News Briefs: New N.C. House maps for Buncombe, Eastern Band re-elects Sneed
As currently drawn, the proposed districts would shift representation for large areas of Buncombe County. A 2011 state law also required that districts for the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners match those of the county’s House representatives. As currently drawn, the maps would move Commissioner Jasmine Beach-Ferrara from District 1 to District 2, shift Al Whitesides from District 1 to District 3 and reassign Amanda Edwards from District 2 to District 1.
Uphill Battle
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
Buncombe board debates ICE detainer bill
Republican members of the board argued that their Democratic colleagues were out of place in issuing official letters against pending state HB 370, which would require Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller and other sheriffs throughout North Carolina to comply with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests on penalty of removal from office.
Man of the hour: The rise of Mark Meadows
“Oddly enough, the future of the Republican stranglehold on North Carolina and the nation can be glimpsed through Meadows and the 11th District.”
Letter: Make our voices heard about gerrymandering
“If we desire democratic rights for ourselves and our children, this is the very moment that we must shed our tendency of quiet civility and shout, collectively, loud enough that the court in Washington is aware that American citizens will accept nothing short of the legacy the Continental Congress intended for us after blood was shed for this nation’s freedom.”
Letter: Parents, unite to fund e-cig prevention efforts
“Your first step can be urging your state representatives to pass N.C. House Bill 276. This bill creates a funded state program that can tackle this focused issue.”
2018 in review: Partisanship alive and well in WNC politics
As the Democratic Party retook control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections, Buncombe Dems managed to hold onto a few key positions in local elections — perhaps most notably that of county sheriff. Politics also seeped into the Board of Commissioners race, where Republicans fell short in their bid to flip the party composition of the board.
Three WNC counties to be removed from vehicle emissions program
As of Saturday, Dec. 1, vehicle owners in Haywood, Henderson and Rutherford counties will no longer have to submit their cars and light-duty trucks to an annual emissions inspection. Inspections remain in place for Buncombe and 21 additional counties, while the three other counties bordering Buncombe — Madison, McDowell and Yancey — have never required them.
Why 2018 isn’t the ‘year of the woman’ in NC
“Let’s all make women reappear instead of disappear politically and the ‘year of the woman’ commonplace and not just about 2018.”
Letter: Vote — the future of NC falls on you
“Voting is the most influential way a citizen can make their voice heard and affect their government. Yet right now in North Carolina, the right to vote is under attack.”
N.C. parties weigh in on proposed constitutional amendments
Carl Mumpower, chair of the Buncombe County Republican Party, encourages voters to support the six amendments. In contrast, both Democratic and Green party leaders aim to “nix all six,” while the Libertarians support only a lower constitutional cap on state income taxes.
Letter: Give Sundays back to nonhunters in NC
“However, with last year’s passage of [the] Outdoor Heritage Enhanced [law], our legislature created a very real problem for nonhunters who have relied on Sundays as a free and clear day to go where they please on our public lands, in particular our national forests.”
Letter: Defeating an attack on our kids’ futures
“With the halving of school resources over the last few years, it looks like Raleigh wants to make quite sure that our kids ‘don’t count.’ Defeating this brazen attack on our own and our kids’ future will need volunteer efforts over the long haul, not one-time flashes in the pan.”
Letter: Voter discrimination — let’s not do it again
“In order to give a gloss of public approval to voter discrimination by Republicans, this time they want a state constitutional amendment to require the photo ID.”
Letter: Van Duyn knuckles under on district elections ‘compromise’
“I find it appalling that Ms. Van Duyn thinks it wiser to engage a senator that isn’t even from Buncombe County, much less Asheville, to support legislation that isn’t favored by the citizens of our city.”
Letter: GOP lawmakers feed their power addiction
“The most recent ploy to feed their addiction to power is that of spending state tax dollars to fund so-called pregnancy crisis centers that are in fact run by anti-choice groups that likely have church or religious affiliations, centers that do not offer family planning services, that do not offer other women’s health services.”