Month: June 2023

North State Journal: “President Joe Biden issued a press release June 16 officially announcing “his intent” to choose Dr. Mandy Cohen as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).   Cohen served as the secretary for North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services under Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. She oversaw the state’s COVID-19 response…

WaPo: “The hard-right turn was by design. DeSantis seized on the unusual retirement of three liberal justices at once to quickly remake the court. He did so with the help of a secretive panel led by Leonard Leo — the key architect of the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority — that quietly vetted judicial nominees…

NY Times: “For generations, the residents of Lowndes County, Ala. — a rural, mostly Black community bordering Montgomery — have lacked access to adequate sanitation. Many people funnel the sewage from their homes directly into their backyards, where it pools atop the dense, clay-like soil. The area has seen a resurgence of hookworm, which thrives…

Atlanta News First: “The ACLU of Georgia is demanding answers from state officials in response to arrests made during the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center protests. The letter was sent to Attorney General of Georgia Chris Carr and GBI Director Mike Register. The organization claims the arrests of protestors are based on false accusations. “This…

WRAL: “An assistant principal and former Apex Town Council member claims North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore had an affair with his wife for more than three years, resulting in the “destruction” of his marriage. On Sunday, Scott Lassiter, an assistant principal for the Wake County Public School System, filed a lawsuit against North Carolina…

HuffPo: “The College Board sent a letter to the Florida Department of Education on Thursday affirming that it will not modify any more of its courses, including psychology courses on gender and sexual orientation, to comply with state laws passed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) that restricts classroom instruction topics. “Please know that we will not modify our…

Political Wire: “Florida state Sen. Joe Gruters (R) slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after the governor vetoed many Sarasota area projects that had been included in the state’s 2023-24 budget, the Sarasota Herald Tribune reports. Said Gruters: “The Governor is clearly upset I endorsed Donald Trump for President, and so he took it out on the people…

LGBTQNation: “In the small town of Corbin, Kentucky two Sundays ago, shouts of “Gay rights! Human rights!” at a small protest against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation being pursued at the state level were met with a different, and hateful, kind of demonstration. … Segebart had already flashed a KKK membership card to the man, handed to him…

Political Wire: “The most fascinating political chess match in America outside Washington, DC—where the usual game is more like 52-card pickup anyway—is taking place in North Carolina, involving races from the local to the national level,” The Economist reports. “Joe Biden, who is already running campaign advertising in the state, made his sixth trip there as president…

Politico: “Sen. Tommy Tuberville is rejecting off-ramps and advice from more senior Republicans to end his hold on military promotions, even as Pentagon officials step up their warnings that the maneuver is compromising America’s security. The Alabama lawmaker’s colleagues have approached him in recent weeks to broker a compromise that would allow roughly 250 senior officer promotions…