# Down Ballot > Down Ballot covers state and local news in the U.S. It's produced by journalist Ben Ledbetter Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About this site URL: https://down-ballot.info/about/ Last updated: 2025-11-04T02:36:55.000Z ## Down Ballot edited by Ben Ledbetter Down Ballot is an independent publication launched in 2024 by journalist Ben Ledbetter. Many posts are free to read. However, they’re not free to produce. It takes time and money to sustain the site. Ben Ledbetter is a versatile, battle-tested journalist that has worked as a reporter and copy editor for outlets in rural and urban areas. He worked for The (Sumter, S.C.) Item, the now-shuttered Loudoun Easterner in Ashburn, Va., and The (Lexington, N.C.) Dispatch. As a freelance journalist, Ledbetter wrote for the University of Texas Moody College of Communication, Carolina Public Press, The (Asheville, N.C.) Citizen-Times, The New Orleans Advocate/The Times-Picayune, The (Rock Hill, S.C.) Herald, The (Orangeburg, S.C.) Times & Democrat, The (Greensboro, N.C.) News & Record, The (Durham) Herald-Sun, The Denver Post, The Charlotte Observer, The (Wilmington, N.C.) Star-News. On Fridays, we publish a weekly report of state and local news from nonprofit news outlets and other sources. It goes out to subscribers on Fridays at 5 am. On other days, there are stories about the Carolinas and adjacent areas. ![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2025/08/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1-7.png) Thank you for reading Down Ballot. ### ### Contact us URL: https://down-ballot.info/contact-us/ Last updated: 2025-10-15T18:41:04.000Z Please send an [email](mailto:support@down-ballot.info) to contact Down Ballot. ### Ben Ledbetter's portfolio URL: https://down-ballot.info/ben-ledbetters-portfolio/ Last updated: 2025-12-21T16:35:21.000Z [Severe weather events lead South Carolina to establish a state office of resiliency - Center for Media EngagementSouth Carolina is experiencing climate change like other spots in the United States and two impacts for the state are rising temperatures and severe weather![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/favicon-1.ico)Center for Media Engagement![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/cme-cropped.png)](https://mediaengagement.org/blogs/severe-weather-events-lead-south-carolina-to-establish-a-state-office-of-resiliency/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Fighting to protect North Carolina trees from invasive pestsConservation groups and government agencies are trying whatever it takes -- from predatory beetles to poisons -- to protect mountain hemlock trees from invasive woolly adelgids.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB-4.png)Carolina Public PressBen Ledbetter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Jonathan-beetle-monitoring.jpg)](https://carolinapublicpress.org/27778/fighting-protect-nc-trees-from-invasive-pests/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Conservation Groups Fighting To Protect NC Trees From Invasive InsectsInsects can certainly be pests, but one invasive group is threatening to wipe out a ubiquitous species of trees in Western North Carolina, a process…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-2.png)WFAEWFAE | By![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/90)](https://www.wfae.org/science-environment/2018-04-29/conservation-groups-fighting-to-protect-nc-trees-from-invasive-insects?ref=down-ballot.info) [One disaster or two? Federal decision looms for damaged countiesTwo weeks after heavy rains battered mountain counties, remnants of a tropical system caused more damage. Federal aid hinges on treating it as one event.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB-5.png)Carolina Public PressBen Ledbetter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/2018-08-07-14.08.07_edited.jpg)](https://carolinapublicpress.org/28133/one-disaster-or-two-federal-decision-looms-for-damaged-counties/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Neighbors consider lawsuit over hospital noise as talks reach impasseNeighbors filed a noise complaint with the city of Asheville over noise from Mission Health, but the company promised talks if they withdrew the complaint. Talks took place and some fixes were made, but neighbors are unhappy with progress.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB-6.png)Carolina Public PressBen Ledbetter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Mission-at-Night-Joe-Franklin-photo_EDIT-2-e1513014575407.jpg)](https://carolinapublicpress.org/27812/neighbors-consider-lawsuit-over-hospital-noise-as-talks-reach-impasse/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Health agencies trade accusations as Rutherford seeks to switch regionsVaya and Partners LME/MCOs exchange barbs over services. Rutherford commissioner points to mountain barrier, but Vaya says it has care providers nearby.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB-7.png)Carolina Public PressBen Ledbetter and Frank Taylor![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/2018LakeLureDam6.jpg)](https://carolinapublicpress.org/27974/agencies-trade-accusations-as-rutherford-seeks-to-switch-regions/?ref=down-ballot.info) [PSC lowers prison phone rates | New Orleans’ Multicultural News Source | The Louisiana Weekly![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/favicon-2.ico)The Louisiana Weekly![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/wayback-toolbar-logo-200.png)](https://web.archive.org/web/20151001153407/http://www.louisianaweekly.com/psc-lowers-prison-phone-rates/) # Stockton a good fit for Tulane women’s basketball Ben Ledbetter Special to The Advocate 4–5 minutes --- From [The Times-Picayune](https://www.nola.com/sports/tulane/stockton-a-good-fit-for-tulane-women-s-basketball/article%5Fd939fa9d-b87e-544d-8267-8da382ef7d51.html?ref=down-ballot.info): Tulane women’s basketball coach Lisa Stockton won her 400th game Friday, Nov. 22 against UNC Wilmington, but the milestone was not immediately on her mind. “I just wanted to win the game at that point,” she said. “You certainly don’t think of anything like that until several days after the game. Obviously, in the heat of the moment, you just want to win the contest.” The Green Wave defeated the host Seahawks 55-50 as Stockton, a native of Greensboro, N.C., reached the milestone with family in the crowd. “It kind of worked out that way, which is nice,” she said. “Having my dad and my sister here was huge for me. They’ve been such a big part of my career, and I’m very thankful. I’ve been at Tulane for 20 years, and I’ve had an opportunity to coach a lot of special people, so it’s good to get.” The two-game trip to North Carolina also included a 69-55 loss at N.C. State, but the higher level of competition helped Tulane. “I don’t know if we played our best in North Carolina,” Stockton said. “But, I think UNC-Wilmington really challenged us when the game was close and we were able to regain the lead and finish it off. “I think that’s something we’ve needed, to be able to finish a game and win it. North Carolina State had some very, very good post play. It really challenged our defense to keep them from scoring in the paint, and also rebounding. It’s hard to get the players attention to detail until you play some good competition. I think that’s probably what we got out of it the most.” The Green Wave (4-1) hosts Ole Miss (4-4) at 2 p.m Saturday and despite the Rebels’ 9-20 record last year, Stockton sees a tough opponent. “I know them from last year,” she said.” I think you’ve got an SEC team that’s going to be very physical. They’ve got size. They’ve got speed. Anytime you go up against an SEC team, you’ve got to be ready for a very physical and very challenging game.” Stockton played college basketball at Wake Forest and her first head coaching position was at Greensboro College, in her hometown. There, she knew she wanted coaching to be her career. “I knew I wanted this to be my career, so you really don’t look at the numbers.” Stockton said. “As much as this is something I knew I wanted to do, and that was my dream to be a head coach, a head Division I coach, I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity.” Stockton is in her 20th season as Tulane’s head coach. She said the school has suited her well. “It’s just a good fit,” she said. “I love the academics. I love the players that we can recruit here. We’ve had a lot of support, and the other thing is New Orleans. It’s a great place to live and enjoy your life here.” Stockton was a point guard for the Demon Deacons, and although it has been a long time since she dribbled the ball across halfcourt, she still knows what her players might be experiencing in games. “I think when you’ve been a player you can relate to where they are and the excitement that they have in the games and the pressure they feel,” she said. “That’s something, even though it’s been a long time since I’ve been a player, I certainly still remember that.” --- [2025-11-08 12-20-12Sidebar from 2005 Clemson-Maryland football game in College Park featuring Curtis Baham from NOLA.2025-11-08 12-20-12.pdf2 MBdownload-circle](https://down-ballot.info/content/files/2025/11/2025-11-08-12-20-12.pdf "Download") [2025-11-08 12-21-18Then-Sumter School District 2 makes more athletics cuts in 2003\. 2025-11-08 12-21-18.pdf955 KBdownload-circle](https://down-ballot.info/content/files/2025/11/2025-11-08-12-21-18.pdf "Download") ### Mentions: "After both a heavy rain event and Tropical Storm Alberto passed through western North Carolina in May, multiple counties faced destructive and sometimes deadly mudslides and floods. In articles “[One disaster or two?](https://carolinapublicpress.org/28133/one-disaster-or-two-federal-decision-looms-for-damaged-counties/?ref=down-ballot.info)” from reporter **Ben Ledbetter,** on August 15,..." ### [Zoom and focus: Top in-depth journalism from Carolina Public Press in 2018A look back at the most significant in-depth journalism from Carolina Public Press in 2018.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB-8.png)Carolina Public PressStaff Reports![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/chemours-plant05-e1543546470917.jpg)](https://carolinapublicpress.org/28430/significant-in-depth-journalism-from-carolina-public-2018/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Port workers find shortage of housing - Business - Houma Today - Houma, LAPort workers find shortage of housing - Business - Houma Today - Houma, LA.pdf73 KBdownload-circle](https://down-ballot.info/content/files/2025/11/Port-workers-find-shortage-of-housing---Business---Houma-Today---Houma--LA.pdf "Download") [Lower Ninth Ward coalition releases food access action plan \_ New Orleans' Multicultural News Source \_ The Louisiana WeeklyLower Ninth Ward coalition releases food access action plan \_ New Orleans' Multicultural News Source \_ The Louisiana Weekly.pdf271 KBdownload-circle](https://down-ballot.info/content/files/2025/11/Lower-Ninth-Ward-coalition-releases-food-access-action-plan--%5F--New-Orleans--Multicultural-News-Source-%5F-The-Louisiana-Weekly.pdf "Download") [Cheers: Two Redskins dancers are from North CarolinaLexington | North Carolina has given the Washington Redskins an accomplished quarterback in Sonny Jurgensen. The Tar Heel state, and Davidson County, has also provided the team with two of its cheerl…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/favicon.png)Wilmington Star-NewsBen Ledbetter, NYT Regional Media Group, Wilmington Star-News](https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2007/11/28/cheers-two-redskins-dancers-are-from-north-carolina/30331437007/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Robinson’s message to youth: Focus on an education, baseball’s a bonusFrank Robinson knows baseball as he’s been a major league player, manager and now works as Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Development.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/icon.ico)NOLA.comBen Ledbetter Special to The Advocate![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/5cdef7861c88e.image.jpg)](https://www.nola.com/sports/robinson-s-message-to-youth-focus-on-an-education-baseball-s-a-bonus/article%5F9e5142d2-2afb-5801-b22c-df91b05cb76e.html?ref=down-ballot.info) ### For prospective clients interested in working with Ben Ledbetter, please contact him [here](mailto:info@benledbetterwrites.com). ### CAROLINAS DOCUMENTED URL: https://down-ballot.info/carolinas-documented/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T21:36:18.000Z This page will have documents relevant to both North and South Carolina that were posted on [DocumentCloud](https://www.documentcloud.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), from [MuckRock](https://www.muckrock.com/?ref=down-ballot.info). The first batch of documents deals solely with South Carolina. ## Posts ### NC announces more funding in storm recovery areas URL: https://down-ballot.info/nc-announces-more-funding-in-storm-recovery-areas/ Last updated: 2026-09-04T09:00:01.000Z **It's Friday September 4, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** NC announces $20 million to expand childcare in storm recovery areas**,** Rival Helene recovery narratives compete as Asheville hosts G20 summit, He spent 27 years on death row as a wrongfully convicted man. What comes next?, Kentucky writer, farmer and advocate Wendell Berry dies at 92, Forest Service declines public meeting on Wilson Creek ICE operation; Advocates call response ‘a shell game’, Redistricting hearing turns tense in US Rep. Bennie Thompson’s backyard, Women on parole face higher rates of mental health, housing challenges. **Media outlets and others featured:** NC Newsline, Carolina Public Press, Verite News, Kentucky Lantern, NC Local, Mississippi Today, Stateline. --- ## NC announces $20 million to expand childcare in storm recovery areas Trevon Spencer (North Carolina Newsline) Published: September 3, 2026 North Carolina is making $20 million available to expand childcare on community college and university campuses in counties affected by Hurricane Helene and Tropical Storm Debby, Gov. Josh Stein announced. The funding is part of a $75 million federal grant awarded to the state for childcare recovery in disaster-affected areas. Applications for the $20 million program will open Sept. 14 and close Nov. 2. “Today marks a step forward in creating opportunity for children and restoring stability for families in areas hit the hardest by these devastating storms,” Stein said. More than 230 childcare centers were affected by Helene, and more than 100 in central and eastern parts of the state were affected by Tropical Storm Debby in 2024, according to state officials. The money can be used to build new centers and renovate older centers. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services says projects must address community needs. State leaders see North Carolina’s higher education campuses as ideal locations to expand childcare options on public land. State officials from NCDHHS say only 16 of North Carolina’s 58 community colleges currently have childcare on campus. About 10 of the 17 UNC System campuses have some form of on-site childcare. “This investment to expand on-site child care to college campuses will reduce barriers for students, faculty, and the surrounding communities, allowing them to learn and work knowing their children are safe and receiving high-quality education and care,” said NCDHHS Secretary Dev Sangvai. > [NC budget offers rural childcare businesses financial help they’ve sought for years](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/07/20/nc-budget-offers-rural-childcare-businesses-financial-help-theyve-sought-for-years/?ref=down-ballot.info) Last year, NCDHHS said that as many as [55 childcare centers](https://ncnewsline.com/2024/10/23/north-carolina-child-care-centers-struggle-to-reopen-in-the-aftermath-of-hurricane-helene/?ref=down-ballot.info) in western North Carolina damaged by Helene were expected to remain closed for the foreseeable future. [By March 2025, ](https://ncnewsline.com/2025/03/24/when-a-hurricane-washes-away-a-regions-child-care-system/'?ref=down-ballot.info)at least 10 remained closed or were operating from temporary locations. The remaining $55 million in federal funding is expected to support recovery payments to eligible providers, salary supplements for early-childhood educators, disaster preparedness efforts and mental health resources. “Childcare is essential economic infrastructure,” said Matt Calabria, director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina. “When a center closes, parents can’t get back to work, employers can’t staff up, and a community’s recovery slows.” --- # Rival Helene recovery narratives compete as Asheville hosts G20 summit by Walker Livingston, Carolina Public Press September 1, 2026 Asheville is buzzing with finance officials, central bank governors and journalists from across the globe this week. The city is hosting a G20 summit — specifically the G20 Finance Track. G20 stands for the Group of 20, which is a conglomerate of 20 countries with the largest economies in the world, including 19 individual nations, the European Union and the African Union. The US Treasury Department says it chose Asheville because of the region’s recovery from Tropical Storm Helene, which occurred nearly two years ago. The Trump administration has framed the G20 in Asheville as a celebration of a supposedly completed recovery. **Kush Desai**, the president’s senior deputy press secretary, likened Asheville to a phoenix rising from the ashes in conversation with Carolina Public Press. US Treasury Secretary **Scott Bessent** recognized Asheville’s “comeback story” while delivering remarks at the summit. But Asheville is just one city in Western North Carolina’s span of 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary, and even parts of Asheville, like the River Arts District and Biltmore Village, have not been fully rebuilt. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Rural parts of the region that are still in the thick of recovery have seldom been a topic of discussion at the international event. Lagging federal funding for the $60 billion disaster hasn’t been either. “The selection of historic Asheville reflects the Trump Administration's commitment to the revitalization and resilience of western North Carolina, which continues to rebuild after the devastating impact of Helene,” Secretary Bessent said in an August press release. Bessent owns a home in Cashiers, in Jackson County, a wealthy rural mountain community about an hour southwest of Asheville. Damage from Helene in Cashiers was minimal. Other rural communities were both hit harder and facing a more difficult recovery. The Hickory Nut Gorge, which includes the communities of Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, Bat Cave and Gerton, in Rutherford, Henderson and Buncombe counties, is still experiencing repairs on the main road that connects them to one another and larger communities like Asheville and Hendersonville. US Sen. **Ted Budd**, R-Advance, attended the G20 on Tuesday, but told Carolina Public Press that after the event he would be traveling around Bat Cave and surveying lingering damage to the community. Secretary Bessent began his remarks on Monday by saying Asheville was chosen for its physical beauty and the community's resilience — before noting that economic growth and “America First” were the foremost priorities of the economic summit. The Treasury Department secured the entire property of the landmark Omni Grove Park Inn for the conference. Other G20 meetings are also occurring simultaneously in the Triangle this week. ### Is WNC really a beacon of recovery? When Tropical Storm Helene initially hit Western North Carolina nearly two years ago, Congress went home instead of authorizing federal funding for the disaster. It was an election year, which politicized the storm on a national level. Helene’s damages amount to roughly $60 billion. Only 16% of recovery has been funded thus far, according to the [Governor’s Recovery Office from Western North Carolina](https://www.wncrecovery.nc.gov/recovery-overview/progress-and-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info). In June, NC Gov. **Josh Stein**, a Democrat, requested $10 billion more from Congress for Helene recovery, which has yet to be addressed. North Carolina has funded roughly $5.3 billion in recovery, while the federal government has supposedly funded $9.5 billion, with a large amount of those federal dollars yet to be disbursed. Budd told CPP that he will not support disaster relief packages that do not include Western North Carolina. Earlier this summer, he stated that he would vote against a supplemental relief request from the Office of Management and Budget that would provide aid to farmers in Florida, but not North Carolina. The senator also said he and Stein have continual conversations about Helene recovery and “what that number needs to be.” At the same time, Budd praised FEMA under Trump. Immediately after Helene initially hit Western North Carolina in September 2024, then-presidential candidate Trump claimed that FEMA was only distributing $750 to those affected by the disaster. The $750 was what is called Serious Needs Assistance, which was an initial direct payment for people affected by the storm for things like food, water and other basics. He also claimed that FEMA money was spent on undocumented migrants instead of disaster aid and that helicopters were not allowed into disaster zones after the storm. Each of those assertions was shown to be false prior to the November election in which Trump was elected, winning both North Carolina and most of its heavily Republican mountain counties where the impact of Helene was hardest. Trump canceled a $7.7 million grant this year for rural parts of the state that would fund broadband and veterans’ affairs as a way to shrink federal expenditures. His administration also denied the state’s request for cost sharing at the federal level that Biden had approved. At G20, Treasury officials remarked on the $5 billion that the Trump administration has secured for Helene in a call to the press before the G20\. They brought up the billions of dollars that the whole state of North Carolina has seen since 2025, not just the western part of the state. FEMA and the delay for disbursements from the federal agency were not mentioned during the call. Budd called FEMA a “calcified” agency because of how long it takes for communities to get relief. The agency requires municipalities to pay for repairs before reimbursing them, which can take years. It also requires an extensive documentation process to be reimbursed for these costs — governments have to take pictures of trucks loading up debris and report where the debris ends up, and so on. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/IMG_0577-scaled.jpg) US Sen. Ted Budd, R-Advance, sits for an interview with Elijah Skipper of WLOS outside the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, which is hosting the G20 Finance Summit, on Sept. 1, 2026\. Walker Livingston / Carolina Public Press “The fastest response is from neighbors helping neighbors, communities helping communities, volunteers flying in doing the initial recovery,” Budd said. “You cannot have a calcified organization responding to urgent needs.” He also told CPP that the G20 pertains to Helene recovery because the war in Iran and increasing energy prices are making it more expensive for those in still-struggling communities. He did not comment on how climate change may cause future storms like Helene and instead said the region needs lower energy prices to make rebuilding affordable. ### ‘We’re not on our feet’ Banners reading, “Planet over Profits” and “Workers over Billionaires,” lined parts of Asheville this weekend. The city is the one Democratic bastion in otherwise conservative Western North Carolina, and messaging about Helene recovery displayed the $60 billion figure. Demonstrations lined downtown, as well as Merrimon Avenue in North Asheville. Folks sang and chanted, and in a very Asheville fashion, there was a puppet show. Community members, including organizers from the NC Poor People’s Campaign, held protests across Asheville the week before the G20\. Some organizers were frustrated with the Trump administration’s claims about Helene recovery; others were displeased with the amount of wealth on display at the event. **Leslie** **Boyd**, a chair with the Poor People’s Campaign, said folks in Western North Carolina just want enough money to finish the job of recovery, and seeing government officials come into town and talk about billion-dollar investments abroad is frustrating. One of the hot-button topics at the G-20 is the war with Iran. “We’ve only struggled to our knees; we’re not on our feet,” she said of Western North Carolina. There was a community vigil in Pack Square Park on Sunday that was in part a protest against the summit and also in remembrance of the approaching two-year anniversary of Helene. Activists like Boyd echoed the sentiment that nonprofits and community groups acted as first responders after the initial disaster. Members of Asheville Food and Beverage United, the local union for service workers, tabled at the vigil, along with other local organizations like Sunrise Movement and Firestorm Books. **Bobby Skelton**, a member of the union, said that the bulk of Helene recovery has been community members looking out for each other. Western North Carolina nonprofits and disaster relief organizations received millions of donations after the storm but suffered extensive damage to their physical structures as well as staffing cuts from the federal level in 2025, according to a report authored by Dogwood Health Trust. Money is still coming in, but not at the rate that many locals would like. “The narrative right now from the G20 is that Asheville is so proud of its full recovery and the government helped,” Boyd said. “That’s all a lie.” ### G20 Hallmark Growth and WNC Though the event is largely self-contained to the Grove Park Inn, Explore Asheville CEO **Vic Isley** said she expects it to bring Asheville and greater Buncombe County $2 million in local spending. Treasury officials also said in a call to the press on Aug. 27 that the G20 will also bring additional millions in earned media coverage, which is the publicity that the city will receive from coverage. “In some cases, organizations seek us out, as Secretary Bessent did with bringing the G20 Finance Track to Asheville and being part of our economic comeback,” Isley said. Tourism in Asheville and the larger Buncombe County has been stronger this year than last. Prior to Helene, tourism accounted for about 20% of the county’s GDP, and Isley said spending is slowly returning to normal. She compared recovery to a continuum — different parts of Western North Carolina are recovering drastically differently, with places like the community of Swannanoa in Buncombe County that are still undergoing repairs on their infrastructure. Carolina Public Press previously reported on lasting [food deserts](https://carolinapublicpress.org/76191/tackling-the-nc-food-deserts-that-helene-created-or-made-worse/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the region, after Helene flooded grocery stores. While minimal statistics are available about tourism’s rebound throughout the region, places that were hard-hit by Helene are facing unprecedented job losses, as well as unmet housing needs, according to the NC Budget and Tax Center. Boyd said she worries that the money brought to Asheville during the G20 won’t go to small businesses that still need disaster relief. Small businesses cannot receive aid from FEMA, but the Small Business Administration offers low-interest loans for businesses after natural disasters. Still, it’s been difficult for [small businesses](https://carolinapublicpress.org/66269/small-businesses-in-western-nc-seek-path-forward-after-catastrophic-damage-from-helene/?ref=down-ballot.info) to bounce back after Helene. **Chris Pilkerton,** the assistant secretary for the Treasury and former acting administrator of the Small Business Administration, told CPP that the SBA usually comes in after FEMA and that folks can still take advantage of these loans after Helene. “These are very long-term loans with very low interest rates and the idea of these is to help small businesses build back up,” he said. ### Who attended G20? What did they discuss? Every year, a different member country hosts the G20 presidency, which means it hosts a series of summits for the G20, and this year, it’s the United States’ turn. Meetings are taking place across the country, with one in Miami that the president will attend. Its theme is growth, and hot topics of conversation include the war in Iran, financial regulation worldwide and bond markets, as well as the United States’ $40 trillion national debt. Asheville is hosting the yearly G20 Finance Track, which includes finance ministers, central bank governors and senior officials meeting together to coordinate economic and monetary policy among member countries. Chapel Hill is also hosting a G20 Innovation Ministerial, which will bring tech leaders like OpenAI’s **Sam Altman** to the Carolina Inn this week. **Elon Musk** will be joining the event virtually. President Trump specifically barred South Africa, which hosted last year’s G20 events, from attending the summit in Asheville because of the alleged persecution of White Afrikaners in the nation. Russia’s finance minister also joined this year's summit, which shocked other attending countries, according to reporting from national news outlets like Reuters and the New York Times. This is the first time a public-private partnership has been at this meeting, which has historically consisted only of government officials. Several Fortune 500 executives are in attendance at the finance track, including representatives from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Chase and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, according to reporting from Axios. Roughly 1,000 people were expected to attend, including 200 journalists from across the globe, according to Explore Asheville. Some journalists from the New York Times, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal were barred from attending the event. The Asheville Watchdog, a local investigative outlet, was also denied credentials for the event. While G20 is wrapping up, Helene recovery conversations will stay in the minds of communities in Western North Carolina and their leaders for the foreseeable future. In North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District, which encompasses a large amount of Western North Carolina, Democrat **Jamie Ager** and Republican State Rep. **Jennifer Balkcom**, R-Hendersonville, are running a race largely on who will better deliver recovery funds to the region. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/80508/rival-helene-recovery-narratives-compete-as-asheville-hosts-g20-summit/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=80508) --- # He spent 27 years on death row as a wrongfully convicted man. What comes next? by Richard A. Webster and Kathleen Flynn for ProPublica, Verite News New Orleans August 31, 2026 *This article was produced for* [*ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network*](https://www.propublica.org/local-reporting-network?ref=down-ballot.info) *in partnership with* *Verite News.* [*Sign up for Dispatches*](https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/dispatches?ref=down-ballot.info) *to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.* Jimmie “Chris” Duncan wiped the sweat off his forehead as he assessed his temporary home from the parking lot of a rundown motel in central Louisiana. Sure, there’s drug dealing and prostitution, he said on a recent summer afternoon. And he suspected his neighbors were cooking meth on a floor below the room he paid $350 a week to rent. But, he said, “I feel safe here. I mean, I’ve been on death row. I feel safe anywhere.” Duncan had spent the last three decades trying to prove his innocence after a jury convicted him of killing his former girlfriend’s toddler. An [investigation by Verite News and ProPublica](https://veritenews.org/2025/03/11/louisiana-jimmie-duncan-bite-mark-analysis-death-row-junk-science/?ref=down-ballot.info) last year showed that prosecutors had relied on key evidence that appeared to be fabricated by a pair of forensics experts whose use of bite mark analysis has since been widely discredited as [junk science](https://www.propublica.org/article/understanding-junk-science-forensics-criminal-justice?ref=down-ballot.info). Nevertheless, Louisiana prosecutors continued to argue that Duncan should be put to death. The threat became ever more real as Gov. Jeff Landry began expediting executions, despite the state’s track record of convicting and sentencing to death people later found to be innocent. It wasn’t until June that the Louisiana Supreme Court [threw out Duncan’s murder conviction](https://veritenews.org/2026/06/29/state-supreme-court-jimmie-duncan/?ref=down-ballot.info), ruling that the bite marks found on the child’s body, the only physical proof tying Duncan to the alleged crime, could not have been made by a human. Chief Justice John Weimer was so outraged by the prosecution of Duncan that he [compared it to 17th-century witch trials](https://www.lasc.org/opinions/2026/25-1014.KP.OPN.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). “We now look back at those practices as asinine and absurd” with “no basis whatsoever in logic,” he wrote. Some of the evidence against Duncan, he said, was “similarly specious.” The trauma that the state imposed on Duncan as a result of his wrongful conviction continues today. Although Louisiana’s top jurist tore apart the state’s case against Duncan, the 57-year-old West Monroe native still isn’t truly free. Steve Tew, district attorney for Ouachita Parish, where the crime allegedly took place, had warned the justices [during an April hearing](https://veritenews.org/2026/04/28/jimmie-duncan-death-row-supreme-court/?ref=down-ballot.info) that he would retry Duncan if the court vacated his conviction. Tew, who did not respond to requests for comment, has said in court that he still believes that Duncan is not only guilty but deserves to be executed. Tew has until next June to decide on a retrial, though his term ends in January and he is not running for reelection. Until then, Duncan said, he is trapped in limbo, both mentally and financially. He came out of Angola with nothing in the bank and now makes $17 an hour working the night shift at Walmart unloading and stocking freight. While he enjoys the job — he was named employee of the month in June — Duncan said he is barely scraping by. There is a state restitution program designed to compensate exonerees up to $480,000 over a decade for wrongful convictions, but he is not eligible until either the district attorney decides not to retry him or he is acquitted in another trial, which can take years. And even then, there is no guarantee he will ever be awarded any money. Attorney General Liz Murrill has [opposed nearly all applications for compensation](https://veritenews.org/2026/08/06/louisiana-wrongful-conviction-compensation-liz-murrill-elvis-brooks/?ref=down-ballot.info), telling lawmakers last year that defending the state against such claims consumes an enormous amount of time and resources and that the [fund should be abolished](https://www.fox8live.com/2025/04/23/louisiana-house-advances-bill-eliminate-wrongful-conviction-compensation-law/?ref=down-ballot.info) altogether. “The foreseeable future for me is the year between now and when they can’t prosecute me no more. That’s the only future I get to play with,” Duncan said. “I’m 100% factually innocent, but not 100% free from prosecution.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/28151047/HT7A9125.jpg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/28151144/HT7A9362.jpg) Duncan runs errands after finishing a night shift unloading freight at Walmart. ### Surviving his first decade in Angola Over the course of more than six hours of interviews with Verite News and ProPublica, Duncan described in harrowing detail the nightmare he lived since police arrested him on Dec. 18, 1993\. By far the worst of it all, he said, was thinking that his neighbors, friends and even relatives could believe he had committed such an unspeakable crime against a child. It felt as if everything he was as a person was “being torn out of you, violently, in an emotionally painful way,” Duncan said. “Just having your identity eviscerated.” Duncan was babysitting Haley Oliveaux in the home he shared with the girl’s mother, Allison Layton Statham, in West Monroe when the 23-month-old died. Duncan told law enforcement he had put the child in the bath, then went to wash dishes. When he heard a noise coming from the bathroom, he rushed to check on her and found Haley floating face down in the water. She was pronounced dead a few hours later. Police initially arrested Duncan for negligent homicide, but prosecutors upped the charge to first-degree murder after pathologist Steven Hayne and dentist Michael West conducted Haley’s medical exam and claimed they discovered evidence, including the purported bite marks, that she had been sexually assaulted and intentionally drowned. Following two weeks of testimony during the trial in 1998, the jury found Duncan guilty; months later, the 30-year-old was sentenced to death. His first decade at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola was the hardest, Duncan said. Not only did he lose his initial appeal in 2002, and with it the dream he could convince the courts of his innocence, but he was forced to watch helplessly as his family gradually fell to pieces. His mother, Barbara Oren, used to visit him every Thursday, and then in 2004, she stopped coming without explanation. Duncan would stare out the window across the hall from his cell, “almost obsessing, like my mom’s gonna show up any time now,” he said. Three years later, Oren died of complications from excessive drinking, her sister, Elaine Whiteside, said. But in truth, Whiteside said, grief killed her. “She fought for Chris for so long, and she turned to alcohol,” Whiteside said. “It’s been very traumatizing for everybody. For the last 32 years, how do you tell someone your nephew’s on death row for the rape and murder of a baby?” Fourteen years after his mother passed, Duncan’s brother, David, died of an overdose. During the first several years of his incarceration, Duncan said he spoke with his brother often, but those calls grew less frequent as David’s addictions took hold. “My brother ended up going from being the region’s No. 1 car salesman to being addicted to drugs to eventually dying of overdose,” he said. “He just couldn’t take it. He couldn’t escape being my brother.” Duncan wasn’t allowed to attend either of their funerals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWN\_WFDlGTE“There was nobody who was immune from it,” Duncan said. Credit: Kathleen Flynn for ProPublica Daily life on death row nearly robbed him of his sanity, Duncan said. Like all inmates awaiting execution, Duncan remained in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. This lasted almost 20 years. And there was never a set schedule for that one hour he would be let out and allowed to use the phone. Some days, it would be 2 a.m. Who could he call at that hour? (Death row inmates were eventually allowed to spend at least four hours outside their cells following a [2017 class-action lawsuit](https://thelensnola.org/2021/09/30/class-action-settlement-mandates-time-outside-of-cells-communal-meals-and-recreation-for-death-row-prisoners/?ref=down-ballot.info).) The concept of time gradually disappeared. Duncan tried to keep a strict routine: wake up, drink coffee, watch the news, exercise and read books, mainly about other cultures and religions. He learned Hebrew so he could better understand the Bible. He became a tutor and helped other inmates earn their GEDs. But the years of confinement began to take their toll physically. After about four years, Duncan started experiencing severe heart pain caused by a bacterial infection. “By the time I was 34 years old, my health had went all the way downhill,” he said. “A lot of nights, I went to sleep, said my prayers and really didn’t think I was going to wake up the next day.” During the summer months, when the heat inside could rise to 115 degrees, Duncan said he experienced seizures. “I’m pretty sure I got brain damage as a result of it,” he said. “There were times when I got out of bed and I didn’t even know if I was left-handed or right-handed. There were a few times when I got up, I didn’t even know my name.” In 2013, three death row inmates sued the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections for “appalling and extreme conditions” as a result of the high temperatures. Their experiences described in the lawsuit closely matched Duncan’s. For 85 straight days in 2012, the heat index in one section of death row exceeded 126 degrees, according to the suit. A judge ordered the state to provide air conditioning throughout death row, but a federal appeals court overturned the order. The corrections department did not respond to questions about conditions within the prison. Instead of breaking him, Duncan said the brutal conditions hardened his resolve to keep fighting. But it didn’t seem as if anyone was listening. “Sometimes the louder you scream, the more people look at you and laugh, like, ‘There’s another one claiming he’s innocent,’” Duncan said. “I was suicidal at one point because I was hopeless.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/28151713/HT7A9543.jpg) Photographs kept by Duncan’s aunt show him during his time in prison. ### Signs of hope Duncan had been on death row for about a decade when he learned from his lawyers and the news that there were others like him — people convicted based on inaccurate evidence, including discredited bite mark science, presented by Hayne or West. Four of them had been exonerated by 2008, and five more would follow. In 2009 journalist Radley Balko [wrote about Duncan’s case](https://reason.com/2009/03/24/forensics-fraud/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Reason, a libertarian magazine, and how it was part of a larger pattern of “forensics fraud” perpetrated by Hayne and West. At the time, Duncan’s attorneys with a New Orleans nonprofit had filed a post-conviction appeal but did not have the resources to conduct a fuller investigation and uncover new evidence required to win. That left his case largely dormant. Then in 2016, Duncan’s attorneys contacted the American Bar Association, which put him in touch with an Atlanta firm that took Duncan on as a client pro bono. (The Innocence Project in New York signed on six years later.) They filed a series of discovery requests that unearthed a trove of evidence pointing to Duncan’s innocence. This included expert witnesses who said the child’s death was an accidental drowning brought on by a seizure and a jailhouse informant who recanted his trial testimony that Duncan had confessed to the crime. Most important was a recording of West’s 1993 examination of Haley. In that grainy black-and-white video, West can be seen taking a mold of Duncan’s teeth and grinding it into and across the girl’s body, seemingly creating bite marks where none previously existed — the marks later used to secure a death sentence against Duncan. The trial judge had not allowed the jury to see the video on the grounds that it was not an indication of Duncan’s innocence. West, who has not responded to multiple earlier requests for comment, had [previously said](https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/who-is-dr-michael-west-from-the-innocence-files?ref=down-ballot.info) he was simply using what he called a “direct comparison” technique — in which he presses a mold of a person’s teeth directly onto the location of suspected bite marks. He admitted in a 2011 deposition in another case that he no longer believed in bite mark analysis. Hayne died in 2020. Atlanta attorney Christian Bromley, who had joined the case, recalled the first time he was shown the recording in 2016 and being “horrified and surprised that the video had been available at that point for over 20 years and just essentially ignored and deemed not relevant.” The video would provide the foundation for Duncan’s latest bid for freedom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWjJHwui8aUDuncan describes his feelings about how calls for the death penalty impacted his case. Credit: Kathleen Flynn for ProPublica Filmmaker Catherine Legge, who spent more than three years creating a [documentary](https://www.knoe.com/2026/04/16/documentary-exposes-junk-science-that-wrongfully-sent-jimmie-duncan-death-row/?ref=down-ballot.info) about his case, also played a pivotal role. Duncan said he’s indebted to her for tracking down Statham, Haley’s mother, and convincing her of his innocence. He knows it wasn’t easy. “Allison spent 30 years being accused of being a partner to her baby’s killer,” Duncan said. In April of last year, then-Ouachita Parish Judge Alvin Sharp [overturned](https://veritenews.org/2025/04/25/jimmie-duncan-murder-conviction-nullified-death-row/?ref=down-ballot.info) Duncan’s conviction, criticizing the “questionable” work of Hayne and West. Tew appealed, claiming that bite mark evidence was an accepted science at the time of Duncan’s trial and that some experts still consider it to be a useful forensic methodology. At Duncan’s [bail hearing](https://veritenews.org/2025/07/25/death-row-prisoner-jimmie-duncan-bail/?ref=down-ballot.info) last July, Statham told the court that the district attorney’s office had lied about her daughter’s death to make it look like murder and continues to perpetuate the lie. She said Duncan deserved to be free. He wept as he listened to his former girlfriend come to his defense. “Just seeing her on the stand and hearing her voice engaged in the same struggle that I’ve been fighting for 30 years, knowing that what mattered to her was the truth,” he said, “That was the only thing that mattered to me.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/28152055/8W3A0777.jpg) Allison Layton Statham and her boyfriend, Mark Dillingham, outside the courthouse in Monroe, Louisiana, during a break in Duncan’s bail hearing in July 2025. Four months later, Sharp granted Duncan bail. He was [released](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/03/jimmie-duncan-louisiana-death-row-inmate-released/?ref=down-ballot.info) into the embrace of his family the day before Thanksgiving. Then, this June, the state Supreme Court rejected the district attorney’s appeal and threw out Duncan’s conviction. Of the four people sentenced to death based in part on the work of Hayne or West, Duncan was the last to be freed. ### Rebuilding a life from scratch Since his release from prison, Duncan has been trying to piece together some semblance of a normal existence. There were the everyday logistics of finding permanent housing and a job. And then the deeper work of addressing the decades of pain that he — and his family — experienced. At first, he slept on his aunt’s living room couch in Pineville in central Louisiana. But she broke her leg in June, which required twice-weekly visits from nurses and physical therapists, leaving little room for Duncan. That’s how Duncan ended up at the motel across the Red River in Alexandria, with half of his belongings packed into the back of a truck. In August, he moved into his own apartment, the first place he has ever lived by himself. “I never really had a place to just be comfortable and relax,” he said. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/28152417/8W3A7135.jpg) Duncan moved into his new apartment in Pineville, Louisiana, in August. He is carrying cowboy boots that he ordered before going to prison; they didn’t arrive until after he was gone. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/28152622/HT7A3216.jpg) Duncan’s Bible is one of his most cherished possessions. He taught himself to read Hebrew while in prison. Duncan’s main focus now is doing the best job he can at work. On most nights, he said he puts his earbuds in, listens to music, unloads the trucks and lets the world drift away. “Ain’t got to think about nothing else,” he said. But Duncan has his eye on the future and enrolled in a Walmart management training program that will bring additional responsibilities. One day soon, though, he knows that he will need to shift his attention back to the flawed criminal justice system in Monroe and the conditions in Angola prison. He wants to make sure the horrors he experienced don’t happen to anyone else, including the guys on death row, men who were convicted of terrible crimes but with whom he still formed true friendships. “I was under the same roof with those people twice as long as I was under the same roof with my own family,” he said. He’s also rekindled a relationship from long ago. Recently, he was going through Facebook friend requests and saw a familiar face, but one he couldn’t quite place. He accepted, and the woman texted him a photo of herself when she was just a kid. It was his childhood sweetheart. The last time he saw her was at a skating rink just after Christmas in the early 1980s. He had given her a pair of earrings. A short time later, her family moved out of town. “She just disappeared,” Duncan said. “She’s one of the only people I remember from my past. I still missed her just the same as I always did.” That part of his life seems at times to be more of a dream than reality, Duncan said. He lived a simple, country life. He hunted and fished. He drank beer, rode motorcycles and worked on hot rods. And he planned to become a firefighter like his dad. But then Haley died. “I can’t be a simple person anymore,” Duncan said. “I try to find ways to be happy, but nothing is simple anymore.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/28152731/8W3A6348.jpg) Duncan turns on a light in his new apartment. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/08/31/louisiana-angola-death-row-wrongful-conviction-jimmie-duncan/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=33090&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ## Kentucky writer, farmer and advocate Wendell Berry dies at 92 Sarah Ladd (Kentucky Lantern) Published: September 1, 2026 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/09/Kentucky_mg_0.jpg) Wendell Berry with two horses on his Henry County farm in 2010\. Photo by Guy Mendes. Kentucky writer and conservationist Wendell Berry once wrote: “Beware the machinery of longevity. When a man’s life is over the decent thing is for him to die. The forest does not withhold itself from death.” A lover of forests, the farmer, author and former English professor died on Monday at his home in Port Royal, [according to the New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/us/wendell-berry-dead.html?ref=down-ballot.info) and other media reports. He was 92. Born in 1934 to Virginia Erdman and attorney John Marshall Berry, Wendell Berry was a prolific writer of nonfiction, [poetry](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?volume=100&issue=6&page=17&ref=down-ballot.info) and fiction from Henry County, Kentucky. In dozens of books he wrote of the need to protect — and ethically use — land, of God as a part of nature and of modernity as a force to be rebelled against. Berry was a member of a group of Kentucky writers called the “[Fab Five](https://www.kentuckymonthly.com/culture/arts-entertainment/2019-kentucky-writers-hall-of-fame/?ref=down-ballot.info),” which included Bobbie Ann Mason and the late Gurney Norman, James Baker Hall and Ed McClanahan. He leaves behind a sprawling legacy of advocacy, conservationism, literary pursuit and protest that inspired people from [the hills of Kentucky](https://www.teachingwhilewhite.org/blog/khmm5532rk5w5a6eso46fbz5b564qq?ref=down-ballot.info) to [Hollywood](https://lithub.com/nick-offerman-on-the-essential-wisdom-of-wendell-berry/?ref=down-ballot.info) and beyond. His death leaves a vacancy of voice that was not always without controversy throughout his life but was decisive and steady throughout a [long career](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/02/28/wendell-berrys-advice-for-a-cataclysmic-age?%5Fsp=105fc6b6-fa91-4609-b4bb-19654716b41c.1778009272675&ref=down-ballot.info). ## Tobacco and love of land Berry came from a long line of tobacco producers. John M. Berry, Wendell Berry’s father, co-founded the [Burley Tobacco Growers Co-Op](http://www.burleytobacco.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the 1920s, which stabilized the price of tobacco and helped farmers who’d been subject to the pricing impulses of the monopoly American Tobacco Company, according to a [Bitter Southerner article](https://bittersoutherner.com/leveling-the-field-for-family-farms-wendell-berry-institute?ref=down-ballot.info). “The brilliance of the program was that it successfully matched supply and demand, preventing farmers from falling victim to overproduction,” the [Bitter Southerner article](https://bittersoutherner.com/leveling-the-field-for-family-farms-wendell-berry-institute?ref=down-ballot.info) says. “Within this equilibrium, farmers in the co-op were guaranteed parity prices, which meant a price that compensated them for all of their inputs.” That article also quoted Mary Berry, daughter of Wendell Berry, as saying the co-op “was the only farm program that I know of that served the people it was supposed to serve, and that was small farmers. It was never a subsidy, it was a price support. It cost the government nothing.” His family farmed in Henry County for generations. In a [1987 interview](https://www.kyhistory.com/digital/collection/Ohist/id/1468?ref=down-ballot.info) with the Kentucky Historical Society, Berry’s father said his great-grandfather bought 500 acres of land in the county after serving in the Army in the War of 1812. When Berry left New York City and [returned home ](https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2026/05/forsaking-success-wendell-berrys-return-to-kentucky/?ref=down-ballot.info)to Kentucky for good in the 1960s, he did so with “some fear and trembling, but also a sense of doing the right thing,” he[ told The New Yorker ](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/going-home-with-wendell-berry?ref=down-ballot.info)in 2019. When he started the trek home, with all his belongings in a Volkswagen Beetle, he told the New Yorker: “I felt a great, deep relief — as if I was following, at last, my true path.” ## ‘Cheerful in dissent.’ Berry was a man of many lanes. He protested the Vietnam War, saying in 1968 that “peace is more important than victory,” according to a Messenger Inquirer article from Feb. 11 of that year. Berry was arrested in 1979 for trespassing as he protested the Marble Hill Nuclear Power Plant in Madison, Indiana. In a [2010 CounterPunch conversation](https://www.counterpunch.org/2010/11/08/quot-everything-worthy-is-under-fire-quot/?ref=down-ballot.info), he said of that day: “People asked if I wanted to be arrested and I said, ‘Hell No’ but I was willing to be.” In 2009, Berry joined thousands of people who marched in protest of the Capitol Power Plant in Washington, D.C., [Inside Climate News reported](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02032009/live-video-capitol-power-plant-protest/?ref=down-ballot.info) at the time, in an effort to fight for cleaner emissions. He echoed the same trepidation and resolve about the prospect of arrest: “Somebody asked me if I wanted to get arrested. The answer is very brief: No. But I’m willing to get arrested. Nothing else is working.” The farmer fought to preserve a controversial piece of University of Kentucky art condemned as racist for many years and pushed back against [mountaintop removal](https://www.lpm.org/news/2011-02-11/mountaintop-removal-protesters-sit-in-at-governors-office?ref=down-ballot.info) by joining a sit-in at former Gov. Steve Beshear’s office in 2011. The [National Endowment for the Humanities](https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/jefferson-lecture/wendell-e-berry-biography?ref=down-ballot.info) described him in 2012 as “cheerful in dissent” and a person who “writes to document and defend what is being lost to the forces of modernization, and to explain how he lives and what he thinks.” [The Berry Center](https://berrycenter.org/about/?ref=down-ballot.info#about-history) was established in 2011 to put “Wendell Berry’s writings to work by advocating for farmers, land-conserving communities and healthy regional economies.” The nonprofit works to bring “focus, knowledge and cohesion to the work of changing our ruinous industrial agricultural system into a system and culture that uses nature as the standard, accepts no permanent damage to the ecosphere, and takes into consideration human health in local communities.” The center educates farmers “in agrarian thought and practice,” runs a bookstore, has a cooperative to help farmers sell to markets [and more](https://berrycenter.org/initiatives/?ref=down-ballot.info). The work is in line with Berry’s legacy of advocacy for land preservation and agrarian life. ## Berry and the University of Kentucky Berry had a complicated relationship with his alma mater, the University of Kentucky. He earned his bachelor and master’s degrees in English from UK, according to the Kentucky Historical Society. He then taught at the University of Kentucky from 1964-1977 and again from 1987-1993\. (His teaching roster also includes Stanford University, Georgetown College, New York University, the University of Cincinnati and Bucknell University). In late 2009, Berry withdrew papers he’d loaned UK, a quiet protest against the university’s acceptance of $7 million from coal producer and philanthropist Joe Craft to rename a residence hall the “[Wildcat Coal Lodge](https://uknow.uky.edu/campus-news/uk-board-accepts-pledge-new-wildcat-lodge?ref=down-ballot.info).” The Kentucky Kernel, the independent student newspaper at UK, [reported](https://kykernel.com/72086/news/wendell-berry-reflects-on-removal-of-papers/?ref=down-ballot.info) that Berry could not abide what he considered an indignity as an advocate for the land and water polluted by mining. “I was taught that taking care of land was one of the primary human responsibilities,” the Kernel quoted Berry as saying. “In the long run, the top soil, the forests and the woodland of this state will be more valuable than the coal deposits.” Berry felt the university’s move was a split from his values and those held by other farmers. “When the university accepted the gift from (the) coal industry in return for naming the basketball dormitory ‘Wildcat Coal Lodge,’ the university had sold an advertisement,” Berry said, according to the Kernel. That wasn’t the only time Berry and UK clashed. In July 2020, Berry joined a lawsuit against the University of Kentucky seeking to preserve a controversial 1934 fresco mural many criticised for its depictions of slavery in America and of Indigenous people. Ann Rice O’Hanlon painted the fresco as part of the [Public Works of Art Project](https://libguides.uky.edu/AnnRiceOHanlon/PWAP?ref=down-ballot.info) and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. It was a site for protests on campus and requests to have it removed for years. According to court documents, complaints began in the 1970s. University of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto agreed to cover the mural in 2019 following a sit-in protest on campus that included the Black Student Advisory Council and others. In June 2020, seemingly moved by the racial justice movement sweeping through the country, [he announced](https://uknow.uky.edu/campus-news/memorial-hall-mural-our-past-our-present-and-why-it-s-time-move-forward?ref=down-ballot.info) the university would remove it. The next month, Berry stepped in and asked a court to halt the removal. In court documents from the time, Berry argued the art needed to be conserved because of its historical significance, difficulty to create and rarity, being one of around 42 frescos from the time. “The O’Hanlon Mural is a figurative representation of the history of Lexington and Central Kentucky,” Berry’s petition read. He wrote of her “artistic choices that abstract the essential truths of the art as opposed to mere representation,” which he said “is part of what makes the O’Hanlon Mural unique and a valuable piece of the cultural assets of Kentucky held in trust by the University.” The Lexington Herald-Leader reported in January 2026 that the mural [remains in its place on campus](https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article312858922.html?ref=down-ballot.info). ## ‘Radical and eclectic’ The [late bell hooks](https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article256616171.html?ref=down-ballot.info), a renowned Kentucky author known for her many writings on feminist theory, racism and love, among other topics, wrote fondly of Berry in “belonging: a culture of place,” one of some 40 books she published throughout her career. She praised him for the “wide range of issues in his essays that were fundamentally radical and eclectic.” She taught at Berea College from his book about race, “The Hidden Wound.” Berry also inspired actor and writer [Nick Offerman](https://mountainandprairie.com/nick-offerman/?ref=down-ballot.info) of Parks and Recreation fame. Offerman, himself an outdoorsman, has narrated several of Berry’s books for audiobook format, including his magnum opus, “The Unsettling of America.” In a 2020 interview with [Literary Hub](https://lithub.com/nick-offerman-on-the-essential-wisdom-of-wendell-berry/?ref=down-ballot.info), Offerman said in Berry he “unexpectedly found a chronicler of the nobility found in good, honest work, and thrift, and affection for one’s family and neighbors and animals and the land that supports and nourishes all of the above.” “I have often asserted that if my job were simply to broadcast the works of Wendell Berry to the world, I’d die a happy man,” Offerman said in that interview. ## Honors Former President Barack Obama awarded Berry with the 2010 [National Humanities Medal](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/02/remarks-president-awarding-2010-national-medal-arts-and-national-humanit?ref=down-ballot.info) for his work as a poet, novelist, farmer and conservationist. He also earned other notable honors, including the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Aiken Taylor Award for poetry, the John Hay Award of the Orion Society and the Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, according to the [Poetry Foundation](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/wendell-berry?ref=down-ballot.info). In 1961, he traveled in France and Italy as part of a [Guggenheim Fellowship](https://www.gf.org/about?ref=down-ballot.info), a prestigious honor for “exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form under the freest possible conditions.” The Fellowship has gone to other notable writers including Ada Limón, Roxane Gay, Carmen Maria Machado and Sigrid Nunez. His [slew of other honors](https://carnegiecenterlex.org/hall-of-fame/wendell-berry/?ref=down-ballot.info) include the Kentucky Libraries Award’ for Intellectual Excellence, the Thomas Merton Award, The Cleanth Brooks Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion from The American Academy of Religion, the Poets’ Prize and others. For a list of Berry’s books, visit [this site.](https://www.booksonboard.com/order-of-books/wendell-berry/?ref=down-ballot.info) Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time. The Berry Center has asked that in lieu of flowers people donate to [The Berry Center](https://98mvzwpab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001TE5itPg5RNVEYEMv6PSrM-iqwLiz9nokVQVSE2jNE8CCKOyOEuIr3FOVrmFn-QurXQNMLzLiAqyOfbKb3afrf17bJopPsG-olrqFvErkdJaTxbbsvKhidrktVl2nBgoMYlsPYQofF2rVLjPxuvbZ1gQ--OckI9-XDBYvyd20dkw=&c=5Hy6UQd7tuQGAcjz5qok%5FUSpHsvprDRQGIGUq5GBBS2Z53BMhjsHRw==&ch=VlMMCaO81tkKCV2ER2Mvq4EcUxVJ3X7M8rlNvtKy%5Fc7peEKWlKuayg==&ref=down-ballot.info) “or a like-missioned organization doing the good work in your home place in Wendell’s memory.” [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://kentuckylantern.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Forest Service declines public meeting on Wilson Creek ICE operation; Advocates call response ‘a shell game’ by Lilly Knoepp, NCLocal September 3, 2026 The U.S. Forest Service declined a call for a public meeting following the June immigration operation [where 13 people were arrested in the Pisgah National Forest](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/06/how-forest-service-worked-with-ice-wilson-creek/?ref=down-ballot.info), angering local environmental advocates. Advocacy groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center, MountainTrue, American Whitewater, Friends of Big Ivy, Forest Keeper, Latinos Aventureros, the North Carolina Chapter of the Sierra Club, and the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association condemned the June Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action at Wilson Creek. In August, they sent [a letter requesting](https://www.selc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-08-13-Letter-to-NPNF-re-Wilson-Creek.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) a public meeting to North Carolina National Forest Supervisor James Melonas and Grandfather District Ranger Nicholas Larson. A USDA spokesperson told NC Local the Forest Service has no plans for a public meeting at this time. Instead, Melonas, who manages the national forests in the state, sent a letter in response to the call. SELC Senior Attorney Sam Evans said a public meeting would be a first step in rebuilding community trust. “It's about the community that the Forest Service betrayed here. And that's who they owe,” Evans said. In the letter, shared with NC Local by Evans, Melonas thanked the groups for their partnership. He explained that the resource management side of the Forest Service is separate from law enforcement. “As you are likely aware, Forest Service law enforcement is managed independently from local and regional leadership, including myself as the Forest Supervisor and the seven District Rangers,” Melonas wrote. “While this structure is necessary to protect the integrity of criminal investigations occurring on National Forest System lands, it also means local leaders are not always involved in law enforcement operations and planning. As such, neither District Ranger Larson nor I have any additional information regarding this incident to provide.” Evans called the response “a shell game.” “It's true that the Forest Service has two separate arms. There's law enforcement and then there's resource management and those are under different chains of command,” Evans said. “It is not possible that the resource management side of the Forest Service, the people that you would ordinarily be emailing with and getting responses from, didn't know about this \[operation\].” The Forest Service [has a separate chain of command](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/06/how-forest-service-worked-with-ice-wilson-creek/?ref=down-ballot.info), but the Patrol captain in the region advises the Forest Supervisor on law enforcement matters occurring in a national forest, according to the USDA. The Forest Service law enforcement also works with federal, local and state partners. The Wilson Creek operation was the [first time in recent memory](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/06/how-forest-service-worked-with-ice-wilson-creek/?ref=down-ballot.info) that the Forest Service has worked with ICE in North Carolina. An ICE spokesperson told NC Local the operation was initially requested by the Forest Service. Melonas did not address the initial contact in his response, instead explaining federal agencies are required to collaborate. “Although Forest Service law enforcement officers and criminal investigators do not enforce immigration law, they are required to collaborate with agencies that do, as well as with state and local partners responsible for enforcing hunting and fishing regulations, drug laws, and other non-resource-related laws,” Melonas said. “The idea that you could compare this to sort of routine law enforcement, really, I thought that was fairly offensive,” Evans said. In the response, Melonas said the partnerships could involve criminal investigations and other safety measures, including checkpoints and patrols. In mid-August, Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials shared the location and date of a sobriety checkpoint ahead of time [on social media](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19HsWFB1ap/). ### Questions about commitment to diverse communities The joint letter to the Forest Service asked Melonas and other officials about past commitments to diversity in the [Nantahala-Pisgah Forest Plan](https://www.bpr.org/bpr-news/2023-02-17/nantahala-and-pisgah-forest-final-plan-released?ref=down-ballot.info), the strategic plan for the management of the over two million acres of national forest in WNC. The letter said the June operation was “inconsistent with the Forest Service’s mission and responsibilities to ensure equitable access to public lands.” While the Trump administration has changed [diversity inclusion language across agencies](https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5922592-judge-rules-trump-parks-diversity/?ref=down-ballot.info), Evans said local leadership has a continued obligation to uphold their commitments. “The same people who are in charge of our forest now during the forest planning process said that this was really important to them. They said that making our forest representative of the local community and making the visitation representative of the people who live around our forests was really important to them. And that, they told us, were their values,” Evans said. “Now when those values are at stake and when it was time to stand up for them, they didn’t.” Quoting a [2023 Carolina Public Press article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/61764/unity-in-conservation-part-one-embracing-diversity-and-ecology-at-wilson-creek/?ref=down-ballot.info), the letter said this “operation appears to have been based on racial profiling, given that Wilson Creek is known for its popularity with Latino visitors.” “This betrayal does not merely undermine visitors’ sense of safety in one specific location, but rather it undermines the credibility of the Forest Service as willing and able to protect the safety of visitors from underrepresented communities across the forests,” the letter said. Melonas’ response did not address racial profiling, but Melonas said he shared the joint letter with regional and national leadership. Latinos Aventureros was one of the organizations that signed the letter. In a [public letter](https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1039237125533494&set=pcb.1039237212200152), the organization recounted years of collaborative work with the Forest Service and non-profit, [A Clean Wilson Creek](https://acleanwilsoncreek.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), to clean up the river. “The same Brown Mountain Beach Road where our volunteers once walked in bright safety vests picking up trash is now also remembered as the road where law enforcement vehicles lined up and families were separated,” the letter said. Latinos Aventureros Co-Founder Sandra Salazar said complaints about trash at Wilson Creek since Hurricane Helene created friction in the area. “There was a debate of whose fault it was: The Anglo community kept blaming the Latino community, and the Latino community was more partial, stating that it was both not just them,” Salazar said. She said Latinos Aventureros has hosted a number of river cleanup events since Helene. Salazar said the group feels “used” following the ICE arrests. In Fall 2024, the [Wilson Creek Action plan](https://www.g5trailcollective.org/wilsoncreek?ref=down-ballot.info), created by a committee including Latinos Aventureros, American Whitewater, and Trout Unlimited released by the Forest Service offered several recommendations. The plan said public land boundaries should be better defined and the area needed more parking and signage for public safety. “I felt like we had a good relationship. But apparently we didn't. It was just, we felt used to be quite honest. Because once we cleaned the river, they ended up doing this,” Salazar said. The Forest Service declined NC Local's requests for interviews with Melonas and Larson, adding that Forest Service law enforcement also had no additional information to share regarding this incident. This [article](https://nclocal.org/2026/09/03/forest-service-declines-public-meeting-on-wilson-creek-ice-operation-advocates-call-response-a-shell-game/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [NCLocal](https://nclocal.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://nclocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cropped-NCLocal_Favicon_48px-1-150x150.png?crop=1) ![](https://nclocal.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=9319&ga4=G-ZYXQJ6BNB9) --- # Redistricting hearing turns tense in US Rep. Bennie Thompson’s backyard by Michael Goldberg, Mississippi Today September 2, 2026 CLEVELAND – Most Mississippi residents who spoke on Tuesday at the first public hearing on redistricting in the Delta criticized what they saw as a Republican push for power at the expense of Black representation, while some others said they support swift action to redraw electoral maps. Tuesday’s hearing was the third in a [slate of public hearings](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/08/18/redistricting-hearing-mississippi-tupelo/?ref=down-ballot.info) intended for Mississippians to share their views on redistricting with a Republican-dominated joint House and Senate committee. It was the first hearing in the majority-Black district of Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/09/01214011/IMG_1072.jpg) Michael Carr, who previously ran for district attorney as a Democrat, said Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Cleveland that the U.S. Supreme Court's Callais decision only mandates redistricting for Louisiana, and that Republicans are falsely saying Mississippi must redraw its lines. Thompson is the state’s only Black member of Congress and only Democrat. Since the [U.S. Supreme Court’s decision](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/29/voting-rights-supreme-court-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the Louisiana v. Callais redistricting case in May, which weakened the Voting Rights Act, Thompson has been the target of calls from Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and some Republican state legislators and other leaders to redraw Mississippi’s electoral maps. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/21222052/MT-Voters-Voices-Logo-Final.png) Thompson did not appear to be in attendance on Tuesday evening in an auditorium at Delta State University in Cleveland, but several Democratic state lawmakers who represent the Delta but were not chosen to serve on the joint committee spoke at the hearing. The Democratic officials said partisan redistricting would split areas with shared cultural and economic interests, and cause “mass confusion” for voters Democratic Rep. Willie Bailey of Greenville, who is not on the joint committee, told audience members that the committee had already made up its mind, and that the hearings would not stop the Republican dominated and majority-white Legislature from dismantling majority-Black districts. “I’m glad to see all of you, but nothing you say tonight will become part of any plan. Nothing,” Bailey said. “There is no time for all the foolishness that we’re doing tonight. Now, they’re up here listening to you, but that’s as far as it’s going. It’s going no further than this room.” The Callais decision removed protection for majority minority districts and cleared the way for Republican-controlled state legislatures to redraw political lines in their favor. Michael Carr, an attorney who has previously run for Bolivar County district attorney as a Democrat, said the Callais decision does not create mandatory redistricting for any state other than Louisiana, and that Republicans are falsely making it seem as though Mississippi has to redraw its lines. “You’ve got the governor, you’ve got the House, you’ve got the Senate, you’ve got three out of four congressional districts. What else do you want?” Carr said. “What they’re doing with suggesting redrawing these lines is diluting our voice, disproportionately taking our power away.” Republican leaders believe that when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Callais decision, it ended the practice of allowing race to be considered in drawing political maps. Susan Spiller, president of the Leflore County Republican Women, said lawmakers are right to redraw lines drawn before Callais, because considering race in drawing electoral maps harkens back to a Mississippi that no longer exists. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/09/01214123/IMG_1080.jpg) Susan Spiller, president of the Leflore County Republican Women, said Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Cleveland that Mississippi lawmakers are right to redraw political districts because considering race in drawing electoral maps harkens back to a Mississippi that no longer exists. “I’m asking this committee to redraw Mississippi’s districts based on traditional, race-neutral criteria,” Spiller said. “It is not 1965\. It is 2026\. It’s time for one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all of us.” The legislative joint committee is holding public hearings across the state, and the full Legislature is expected to convene in a special session this fall to redraw at least state legislative maps. That wouldn’t impact this November’s federal election, but Mississippi lawmakers are likely to target Thompson’s seat with redistricting before he’s up for reelection again in 2028. Resident Nathan Duff said no elected official should take the Delta for granted, as the region faces unique challenges that require adequate representation. “The Delta is not simply another region in Mississippi. Our economy is different, our history different, our population trends are different,” Duff said. “The challenges confronting hospitals, schools, municipalities and agricultural communities are different than the rest of Mississippi.” Effie Burt said Republicans are engaged in a power grab aimed at diluting Black political power. “What you’re doing is wrong, unnecessary, biased and is racist,” Burt said. “You’re trying to take away our voting strength that was achieved decades ago.” Burt then broke out into song, singing "We Shall Overcome," a gospel song associated with the Civil Rights Movement. Tuesday's hearing came days after a hearing in Southaven where speakers skewed much more toward supporting efforts to redistrict in Republicans’ favor. DeSoto County has been the venue of an ongoing legal battle over redistricting and debate over race and representation. Rep. Rodney Hall represents Southaven and is the first Black Republican to serve in the Mississippi House since Reconstruction. Hall, who serves on the joint committee, told Mississippi Today after the hearing that the public’s participation in the redistricting process matters to lawmakers and would influence the outcome. “Emotions are understandably high because Mississippi has a history we cannot, and should not, ignore. But our future does not have to be bound by our past. The Mississippi of today is not returning to poll taxes, at-large legislative districts, or the tactics of another era,” Hall said. “This is our opportunity to face our history honestly, learn from it, and move forward together with fair, race-neutral maps that reflect our highest American ideals: equal citizenship, equal opportunity, and a government accountable to every voter.” The committee is encouraging the public to participate in future hearings. The public can offer comments at any of the seven remaining public hearings, or submit written comments to Ted Booth, the committee’s attorney, at ted.booth@peer.ms.gov. Below is the schedule of the future planned redistricting hearings. Each will start at 6 p.m. - Sept. 8 at Alcorn State University in Natchez. - Sept.10 at Meridian Community College in Meridian. - Sept. 17 at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. - Sept. 22 at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Gulfport. - Oct. 1 at the state Capitol in Jackson. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/09/02/bennie-thompson-backyard-redistricting/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223401/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1188150&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/09/Women_mg_0.jpg) Computers line the walls of a reentry center inside the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia, Mo. Incarcerated women preparing for release can use the computers to search for employment and other resources while on parole. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline) ## Women on parole face higher rates of mental health, housing challenges Amanda Watford (Stateline) Published: September 3, 2026 Women on parole report higher rates of housing instability, poor health and serious mental health and substance use disorders than men on parole and than women who weren’t on parole, according to a new [analysis](https://counciloncj.org/health-housing-and-household-circumstances-among-women-on-parole/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the nonpartisan think tank Council on Criminal Justice. For people leaving prison, parole is a period of transition that can involve finding housing and work, reconnecting with family and accessing health care while also meeting the conditions of supervision. How well those pieces come together can shape whether someone successfully settles back into the community — a key part, some argue, of reducing future involvement with the criminal justice system and promoting public safety. The council’s latest report examined nationally representative 2021-2023 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, comparing women who reported being on parole both with women who were not on parole and with men who were on parole. About 13% of women on parole reported moving three or more times in the previous year, compared with 2% of women who were not on parole and 6% of men on parole, according to the analysis. > [Women’s prison population, correctional costs projected to grow through 2035](https://stateline.org/2026/06/25/womens-prison-population-correctional-costs-projected-to-grow-through-2035/?ref=down-ballot.info) Women on parole also were more likely to report poor health. About 29% rated their overall health as fair or poor, compared with 16% of women not on parole and 17% of men on parole. About 24% of women on parole met the criteria for a severe mental health disorder, compared with 7% of women not on parole and 10% of men on parole, according to the council’s report. About 25% of women on parole also reported experiencing a major depressive episode during the previous year, compared with 10% of women not on parole and 12% of men on parole. The analysis found that substance use disorders were common among people on parole, but severe disorders were more prevalent among women. About 32% of women on parole met the criteria for a severe substance use disorder, compared with 24% of men on parole and 3% of women not on parole. The disparity was especially large for opioid use. About 18% of women on parole met the criteria for a severe opioid use disorder, compared with 5% of men on parole and 0.4% of women not on parole. Health and housing can make the demands of reentry harder to manage, including maintaining employment, attending treatment and supervision appointments, and managing family responsibilities, according to the report. Women on parole also were more likely than men on parole to report living in a household with minor children. About 29% of women on parole lived in a household with at least one child under 18, compared with 19% of men on parole and 30% of women who were not on parole. The survey, however, did not indicate whether respondents were parents, caregivers or financially responsible for the children, according to the report. Health insurance coverage also differed among the groups. About 11% of women on parole reported being uninsured, compared with 7% of women not on parole and 20% of men on parole, according to the analysis. The report’s authors wrote that the findings point to the need for reentry planning that goes beyond supervision requirements to address housing, health care, mental health and substance use treatment and family responsibilities. The authors could not determine whether the conditions preceded or resulted from criminal justice involvement, but the findings strongly suggest women on parole face distinct reentry challenges. *Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at* *awatford@stateline.org* *.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ### GOP lawmakers call for more oversight of license plate cameras after string of misuses in Georgia URL: https://down-ballot.info/gop-lawmakers-call-for-more-oversight-of-license-plate-cameras-after-string-of-misuses-in-georgia/ Last updated: 2026-09-02T19:58:09.000Z By Maya Homan (Georgia Recorder) Published: August 26, 2026 A pair of influential Republican lawmakers are calling for greater oversight into the use of automatic license plate readers that critics say allow law enforcement officers to illegally surveil Georgia residents. Sen. John Albers, a Roswell Republican who chairs the Senate’s public safety committee, said he is working with the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police on a new task force to examine how best to address misuse of the cameras, which are manufactured by companies like the Atlanta-based Flock Safety. “We have to be smart, we have to be balanced and we have to be thoughtful as we work together to both have both short and long-term solutions,” he said during a Tuesday press conference at the state Capitol. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://georgiarecorder.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) In a [letter](https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcbx9oxksj5/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsi=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) to the state law enforcement groups, Senate President Pro Tempore Larry Walker, a Perry Republican, raised questions in response to “the rise in public concern.” Walker wrote that “recent allegations of improper use – resulting in stalking, misidentification, and unjustified arrests – have understandably heightened privacy and accountability concerns for our constituents.” > [Flock Safety tightens safeguards as states, cities question surveillance network](https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/08/16/repub/flock-safety-tightens-safeguards-as-states-cities-question-surveillance-network/?ref=down-ballot.info) Automatic license plate readers, such as the ones made by Flock, work by capturing license plate data, along with other information like a car’s make and color, and storing that information in a searchable database. Law enforcement agencies that have contracts with Flock can use the database to track down stolen vehicles, locate missing people and solve other crimes. However, the technology is not without controversy. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, at least 14 people have been arrested and charged this year for misusing a [state law](https://advance.lexis.com/documentpage/?pdmfid=1000516&crid=c7d13867-e08c-42a6-984b-46822e88ee82&config=00JAA1MDBlYzczZi1lYjFlLTQxMTgtYWE3OS02YTgyOGM2NWJlMDYKAFBvZENhdGFsb2feed0oM9qoQOMCSJFX5qkd&pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fstatutes-legislation%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A6FXN-XJ03-RS0F-348X-00008-00&pdcontentcomponentid=234186&pdteaserkey=sr0&pditab=allpods&ecomp=6s65kkk&earg=sr0&prid=a9353f2f-f547-4825-9864-bf63ddb0bc8d&ref=down-ballot.info) that restricts use of the cameras to only official law enforcement purposes. Albers cited instances of misuse in an [op-ed](https://senatepress.net/guest-editorial-albers-balancing-safety-and-privacy-getting-flock-camera-oversight-right-in-georgia.html?ref=down-ballot.info) he wrote calling for greater oversight of the technology. While law enforcement deserves effective tools for fighting crime, he wrote that “backing the blue does not mean ‘writing a blank check’ for government surveillance.” He also wrote in the op-ed that he is working with the state law enforcement leaders to identify more ways to tighten up the system and left open the possibility of pursuing a legislative fix next year. Flock CEO Garrett Langley [recently announced](https://www.flocksafety.com/blog/flock-guardrails-address-lpr-privacy-concerns-and-police-transparency?ref=down-ballot.info) that the company would be bolstering its safety guardrails, including lowering the amount of time that license plate data can be stored in a database from 30 days to seven, automatically suspending users who appear to be misusing the system and requiring police officers to input case number or specify what type of crime they are screening for when searching through the database. But Christopher Bruce, the ACLU of Georgia’s deputy executive director, said he remains skeptical that the company’s new measures will go far enough to prevent misuse of the system. Adopting laws that require municipalities with Flock contracts to be more transparent with communities about how their data is used and disclose any instances of misuse, Bruce said, could be one way to ensure that there is public accountability. “You can have the right to privacy and the right to public safety. It doesn’t have to be compromised,” he said. “We can do this, but there has to be guardrails around surveillance.” ### Apple Wallet adds driver’s licenses and IDs for Virginia residents URL: https://down-ballot.info/apple-wallet-adds-drivers-licenses-and-ids-for-virginia-residents/ Last updated: 2026-08-31T09:00:11.000Z By Nathaniel Cline (Virginia Mercury) Published: August 27, 2026 Virginians can now carry their state-issued driver’s license or identification card on their iPhone or Apple Watch, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles announced Wednesday in Richmond. The update comes as Virginians increasingly turn to smart devices for everyday activities, including shopping and entertainment events. In 2017, state lawmakers [tasked](https://legacylis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?171+sum+HB2229&ref=down-ballot.info) the DMV with creating standards for issuing, reviewing, and displaying electronic credentials following an extensive pilot research program. Last November, the agency launched Virginia Mobile ID before the technology offer became available on Apple. > [Virginia rolls out Mobile ID, plans to expand use of program across commonwealth](https://virginiamercury.com/briefs/virginia-rolls-out-mobile-id-plans-to-expand-use-of-program-across-commonwealth/?ref=down-ballot.info) Secretary of Transportation Nick Donohue said on Wednesday that he was excited about the launch as residents and customers weigh the benefits against privacy concerns. ID in Apple Wallet allows users to verify their identity and age with participating businesses by sharing only the requested information. “It is easy, it is simple, and really important for all of you folks that are concerned about privacy issues, it is very secure, and it is seamless. So don’t hesitate,” said Donohue. Virginians will be able to present a digital version of their license or ID at more than 250 Transportation Security Administration security checkpoints across the country, pilot Virginia ABC stores, and hundreds of businesses and entertainment venues around the commonwealth. State officials said the ID stored in Apple Wallet may also be used in select business apps, in person at all Virginia DMV locations and with the Virginia State Police. The DMV added that Virginia residents must continue to carry their physical ID as a backup, especially when driving. “This is a momentous day in Virginia as we continue to expand our offering of cutting-edge, highly secure forms of identification for our customers,” said DMV Commissioner Saundra Jack. “We know how important it is to make identification easier to carry and use, and Virginians have been asking for more ways to do that. So much of our everyday life is on our phone and now so is your Virginia ID in Apple Wallet.” The DMV said in a statement to The Mercury that the technology for “other digital wallets is coming soon,” including Google, but did not provide a timeline. To begin using the application, the agency said users should open Apple Wallet, tap the “plus button” at the top of the screen, select “Driver’s License and ID Cards” and follow the on-screen instructions to begin the setup and verification process. To present an ID in Apple Wallet, users hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near a reader. The device then displays the requested information, which is released only after the user reviews it and authorizes its release using Face ID or Touch ID. Because the information is shared digitally through Near Field Communication, or NFC, Virginia users do not need to hand over their iPhone or Apple Watch. Representatives from Apple, ABC, TSA and CBN Secure Technologies — which produces identification cards in Virginia and helped design the Virginia Mobile ID app — attended the announcement. Carter Langston, a TSA spokesman, told The Mercury that the agency has used the technology since the pandemic in several other states. “This is a very secure way of passing information as well, because what’s in the app only gives TSA officers the information they need to verify: Is the credential real, authentic? Does the photo match the person standing in front? Do they have boarding status? Do they have screening status?” Langston said. He added, ”We don’t need to know where they live. We don’t need to know their age or date of birth. That information isn’t passed to TSA in this app.” [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://virginiamercury.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Gov. Stein announces funding for housing in Western NC URL: https://down-ballot.info/gov-stein-announces-funding-for-housing-in-western-nc/ Last updated: 2026-08-28T09:00:32.000Z **It's Friday August 28, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Gov. Stein announces funding for housing in Western NC**,** An ICE facility could change this small town in Eastern North Carolina, Davie County ends water fluoridation after supply chain problems, Did Iowa’s largest beginning farmer tax credit create more farms?, Asheville terminates Flock contract in heated council meeting, Non-Profit Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Delivers Drug Access to Rural Hospitals, City Planning Commission defers data center recommendations again, citing new concerns with water, End of Rankin County schools desegregation order worries Black residents. **Media outlets and others featured:** NC Newsline, NC Local, North Carolina Health News, Investigate Midwest, Carolina Public Press, The Daily Yonder, Verite News, Mississippi Today. --- ## Gov. Stein announces funding for housing in Western NC By Greg Childress (North Carolina Newsline) Published: August 26, 2026 This week, Gov. Josh Stein announced federal awards of more than $69 million to bring affordable rental housing to Western North Carolina. In 2024, the region lost thousands of rentals in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Stein also announced the availability of $53.4 million in competitive federal grants to develop workforce housing units for homeownership across Western North Carolina, bringing total housing investments announced this week to more than $120 million. The awards for rental units will go to 10 developers in 10 counties to provide more than 828 affordable units. The awards range from $1.7 million to $13.5 million. The money will help fund projects in Ashe, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cleveland, Haywood, Henderson, Rutherford, Transylvania, and Watauga counties. “Getting families back into safe housing that they can afford is critical to the recovery from Hurricane Helene,” Stein said in a press release. “This program will ensure these 828 apartments remain financially accessible to people living in the 828 area code for the next 30 years.” The money comes from more than $69 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds administered and monitored by the state Department of Commerce and the N.C. Housing Finance Agency. Award recipients must comply with income limits, rent restrictions, and other program requirements for a minimum 30-year affordability period. The state Department of Commerce will monitor projects throughout the affordability period to ensure compliance with federal requirements and confirm that units serve eligible low- and moderate-income households. Margaret Fenton Lebeck, CEO of the Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC) in Hendersonville, told NC Newsline that the federal dollars will go a long way toward providing rentals in areas devastated by Hurricane Helene. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/08/Gov._mg_1.jpg) Margaret Fenton Lebeck (Courtesy photo) “We had an immense housing crunch before in the counties that our organization works in,” Fenton Lebeck said. “We were at 99.3% occupancy before the hurricane, and so to lose any housing at all just made finding housing that people could afford so much harder.” Meanwhile, funding for the competitive workforce housing grants will come from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and be administered by the Renew NC Workforce Housing for Ownership (WHFO) Program to provide homeowner opportunities in areas most “impacted and distressed” by Hurricane Helene. Workforce housing refers to households earning up to 80% of the area median income. Eligible counties include Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cleveland, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey counties. Eligible counties include Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cleveland, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey counties. “This $53 million investment will expand access to affordable housing across western North Carolina as the region continues to recover from Hurricane Helene,” Gov. Josh Stein said in a statement. “It’s a critical step toward helping our neighbors rebuild in the places they call home.” Eligible applicants include for-profit housing developers, non-profit housing developers, Community Land Trusts (CLTs) and public housing authorities and counties and municipalities among others. Award amounts will range from $2 million to $5 million per project. “Retaining a strong workforce depends on access to affordable housing,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley. “Through the Workforce Housing for Ownership Program, we will help increase the supply of housing available to working families and foster more resilient local economies as communities recover from Helene.” The application window opened Tuesday and closes at 5:00 p.m. on December 13, 2026\. The eligibility criteria, scoring details, and application materials can be found at[ commercerecovery.nc.gov](https://www.commercerecovery.nc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # An ICE facility could change this small town in Eastern North Carolina by Ryan Oehrli, NCLocal August 25, 2026 Winton, North Carolina, looks like many small towns in the eastern part of the state. Main Street is just a few businesses, some churches, a town hall and a post office. Already small, the town has shrunken even more over the last few decades. Main Street is mostly empty with a car, truck or golf cart breaking the silence with a slow roll down the road that leads to the Chowan River. About two miles from downtown, a huge, gray complex sits empty. A few construction workers mill about in front of the dormant Rivers Correctional Institution, a private prison with a history of problems before it closed in 2021\. The 1,320-bed facility is set to open again soon, this time to house detainees for the White House’s mass deportation campaign. Rumors swirled for months that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would open a detention center in Winton, near the Virginia border. In late July, the New York Times [confirmed those rumors.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/us/winton-nc-ice-detention-center.html?ref=down-ballot.info) When it reopens, Rivers is expected to be one of the largest ICE facilities on the East Coast. Its owner, GEO Group, said [in a news release](https://investors.geogroup.com/news-releases/news-release-details/geo-group-announces-contract-company-owned-1320-bed-rivers?ref=down-ballot.info) that a contract with the federal government could “generate approximately $80 million in annual revenues in the first full year of operations.” The company declined to comment for this story. Some of Winton’s 600 or so residents, as well as others in rural Hertford County, doubt that economic prosperity will reach them, too. > “It’s a money thing. It ain’t about helping the area or people.” > > Hertford County resident Dwayne Jones “It’s a money thing. It ain’t about helping the area or people,” Hertford County resident Dwayne Jones said of the facility on a sweltering day outside the Winton Duck Thru, Main Street’s busiest spot, a gas station that also sells hot food. Jones said he would prefer something zeroed in on more systemic problems in the region — “something real *usable.*” Many locals are worried that Hertford County will be overshadowed soon — in a bad way. ICE could distract from solving real problems in the area, some said. Winton Mayor Emy Winstead said residents have told her that they are afraid to go outside at night because, they believe, “ICE will be after them.” “We’ve heard all kind of things here,” Winstead said, adding that the mere mention of ICE frightens some. Supporters, meanwhile, hope the detention center will bring new jobs and spending to the area. ## **Region has long had economic troubles** Winstead described Winton as an “older, retired community” that would benefit from more young people moving in. Hertford County as a whole is struggling to keep people. The persistent population decline it has seen is a familiar story across the region, NC Rural Center Research and Data Manager Dalton Bailey said in an email. “Barring some unforeseen, big happening in Eastern North Carolina, I think it will probably always be one of our more economically challenged regions,” he said. With about 5,000 people, Ahoskie is Hertford County’s largest town. Downtown, business after business permanently closed: a candy store, a department store, a salon and more. So little is left that the few businesses remaining stand out. One reason for downtown's deserted state, some of the local shop owners and workers still there said, was simply that people died. Their children did not continue the family business. The social fabric has thinned since Rosa Sessoms grew up in the area decades ago, she explained in her downtown salon, Styles Unlimited. “Every spot on this strip, down this street, was taken when I was growing up,” she said. ## **Past as prologue** For about 20 years, Rivers held inmates from the Washington, D.C., area. With plans for ICE to take over the building, some are looking back to that time. Mayor Winstead said the prison was never particularly controversial in Winton. “In the very beginning, when they were building it, it was,” she said. “But once it got here, it was no problem whatsoever. They had more prisoners than they originally told us they would, and they sent sewage to our sewage plant. Prisoners flush weird things sometimes. We had some problems with that, but nothing we couldn’t deal with.” With the federal government, Rivers developed [a more troubled reputation.](https://www.theassemblync.com/news/politics/immigration/eastern-nc-immigration-detention-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) An August 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General found high rates of contraband, inmate assaults on staff, uses of force, inmate grievances, drug use, sexual misconduct and other problems. In 2021, the federal government stopped working with private prisons under then-President Joe Biden. An executive order he signed pointed to issues with [“profit-based incentives.”](https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-14006-reforming-our-incarceration-system-eliminate-the-use-privately?ref=down-ballot.info) When the prison closed its doors that March, more than 300 employees [clocked out for the last time](https://www.roanoke-chowannewsherald.com/news/emotional-farewell-174533?ref=down-ballot.info), the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald reported. The loss of hundreds of jobs at once was felt, Winton Town Council Member Blake Blythe said. “There was a lot of jobs out there,” he said. “People had been there a long time, and it hurt. It hurt real bad. It hurt the county, and it hurt the town.” Another 300 or so jobs returning with the re-opening of Rivers would probably not be “transformative,” Bailey with the NC Rural Center said. But the impact would be noticeable, especially if the jobs offered relatively high pay, he said. “I imagine it would show up in the economic data as well as employment gains,” he said. It is unclear how many people will work in the facility or what all their jobs will entail, though some [listings](https://jobs.geogroup.com/working-at-geo/jobs?stretchUnit=MILES&stretch=10&location=Winton,%20NC&woe=7®ionCode=US&ref=down-ballot.info) have started to appear on GEO Group’s website. The job postings call for applicants in nursing, dentistry, administration and maintenance. ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams declined to answer questions from NC Local about the facility. Local officials have distanced themselves, saying they know little about what is planned and reminding the public that Rivers is privately owned. Speaking through County Manager William Shanahan, all five Hertford County commissioners declined to discuss with NC Local the facility or how their constituents felt about its return. “We respectfully ask that the public understand the distinction between federal actions and local government responsibilities,” a statement issued by the commissioners said. “While we value open communication and welcome constructive dialogue, it is important that misinformation does not lead to the misconception that the Hertford County Board of Commissioners is responsible for decisions that are beyond our legal jurisdiction.” While Winstead shared what she heard from residents, she also did not want to weigh in on the facility. ## **Some fear more enforcement, ‘drama’** Some locals are thinking about more than the economics of reopening Rivers. In August, nonprofit advocacy group Siembra NC met with Latinos and others living in Hertford County for a “Know Your Rights” workshop. Many were afraid that the facility will lead to more ICE presence in the county itself, not just at the facility, organizer Andreina Malki said. With so little information from the federal government, it’s hard to know exactly what it will mean for the county, Malki said. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol agents have carried out major, large-scale operations in other parts of North Carolina during the second Trump administration. Their focus has largely been on Charlotte — the state’s biggest and most diverse city — and the Triangle. During a five-day operation in Charlotte last year and in other major operations, federal agents took detainees to Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. Conditions there have drawn heavy scrutiny, [including from federal lawmakers](https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/press-releases/new-sen-ossoff-investigation-uncovers-over-1000-credible-reports-of-human-rights-abuses-in-immigration-detention/?ref=down-ballot.info). Family members often [struggle to locate](https://www.wfae.org/race-equity/2025-11-26/families-struggle-to-locate-loved-ones-detained-in-charlotte-border-patrol-operation?ref=down-ballot.info) detained loved ones. ICE refused to disclose basic information about the more than 400 people detained in the Charlotte operation, [prompting a lawsuit by NC Local.](https://nclocal.org/immigration-updates/?ref=down-ballot.info) Federal officials have not disclosed which detainees might be held at Rivers, which will [reportedly open](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/us/winton-nc-ice-detention-center.html?ref=down-ballot.info) by the end of 2026\. Records obtained by the ACLU and published earlier this year suggest that the facility could hold detainees from Virginia. “This location provides direct highway access and is within a two-hour surface commute of the ICE Richmond sub-office and approximately 60 miles from the Norfolk sub-office,” GEO Group told ICE in a [pitch](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2026/01/2026-ICLI-00003-1ST-RELEASE-JAN-2026-REDACTED.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) later published by the ACLU. “Its rural setting offers a secure operational environment with minimal community disruption while ensuring proximity to key transportation networks and regional support services.” In another [recent document signed by ICE staff](https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/9ad7aef0ee8348f3918ab4b650ce776f/view?ref=down-ballot.info) that NC Local reviewed, the agency said it needs “a turnkey facility within 150 miles of Richmond International Airport” as its Washington Field Office expands operations. “Rivers is an existing facility within the required geographical area with an efficient surface commute time in relation to Richmond International Airport,” according to the document. “It can be operational within three months of contract award date.” Hertford County resident Niecy Lynch did not welcome the idea of increased attention on the area, particularly if it is negative. “It’s just going to start more trouble,” she said of the facility, adding that there was no need for “drama” and “problems.” Politicians and activists in North Carolina have expressed concerns about the town becoming a focal point in Trump’s mass deportation efforts. [Gov. Josh Stein](https://x.com/NC%5FGovernor/status/2080734790374904297?ref=down-ballot.info), the [North Carolina ACLU](https://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/press-releases/ice-plans-to-open-detention-center-in-nc-by-end-of-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) and immigrant rights group [Carolina Migrant Network criticized the plans.](https://www.wfae.org/show/charlotte-talks-with-mike-collins/2026-08-11/how-ice-policy-affected-summer-in-nc?ref=down-ballot.info) People from places like Chapel Hill and Norfolk, Virginia, have [shown up to local government meetings](https://www.roanoke-chowannewsherald.com/news/ice-not-wanted-in-hertford-county-a954fbf7?ref=down-ballot.info) and warned against ICE “creating chaos” for the area and behaving like a “terrorist organization.” Protesters have marched [outside GEO Group’s Charlotte office.](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article314738371.html?ref=down-ballot.info) Immigration is not front and center for local officials who are focused on more immediate, pragmatic issues that might affect community members. At an Aug. 3 town council meeting, Blythe brought up GEO Group’s sewage bill with the town. “I think we need to dive in on that, and let’s get some realistic figures so we can be prepared, because they’re definitely coming,” he said. This [article](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/25/an-ice-facility-could-change-this-small-town-in-eastern-north-carolina/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [NCLocal](https://nclocal.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://nclocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cropped-NCLocal_Favicon_48px-1-150x150.png?crop=1) ![](https://nclocal.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=9232&ga4=G-ZYXQJ6BNB9) --- # Davie County ends water fluoridation after supply chain problems by Anne Blythe, North Carolina Health News August 27, 2026 **Key Takeaways:** - Davie County is ending water supply fluoridation. - Middle East fluoride supply chain issues hamper counties and municipalities. - Traditional fluoride debate also factors into Davie County’s decision. On the first of September, Davie County will join the list of North Carolina community drinking water systems no longer adding fluoride to their supplies. Unlike the handful of other counties that considered ending system fluoridation, the decision in Davie County had a new twist. Pragmatic decisions about international supply chain problems played as large a role as the more typical fluoride debate — new concerns over potential health risks versus established dental science that shows the process to be a successful public health measure for preventing tooth decay. The board of commissioners of the rural-suburban central Piedmont county unanimously [adopted a resolution Aug. 3](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/A-Resolution-Directing-the-Discontinuation-of-Community-Water-Fluoridation-in-the-Davie-County-Public-Water-System.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to [suspend the use of fluoride additives](https://davieconc.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3994/files/attachment/688?ref=down-ballot.info) after learning about Middle East supply chain issues that made it more difficult to safely get the chemicals. Brian Barnett, Davie county manager, told NC Health News in a phone interview this week that its chemical vendor relied heavily on Israel for inventory. Johnny Lambert, Davie [public utilities director](https://www.daviecountync.gov/m/directory/department?did=5&ref=down-ballot.info), [shared a letter](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/2026-Coyne-HFS-Force-Majeure-Letter.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) with NC Health News this week from Coyne Chemicals that went into greater detail about the supply challenges. Coyne’s supplier, ICL, or the Israel Chemicals Limited Group, told the company on Feb. 16 of its intent “to abruptly exit” the U.S. market. “As you may know, our supplier of this product is located in Israel,” the letter states. “They have advised us that they have been severely impacted by the war in the Middle East and have lost a large part of their workforce as a result of those individuals being called into active military service.” That resulted in production problems over the past year, according to the letter. The staffing problems resulted in a decision “to forego operations that allow them to provide us this product in the United States.” Thomas Coyne Sr., president and CEO of the chemical company headquartered in Croydon, Pennsylvania, said his organization had made “diligent attempts” but was unable to find other suppliers of hydrofluorosilicic acid, the liquid chemical added to municipal water supplies. The company declared a *force majeure*, a legal safety net clause that excuses a business or party from liability issues due to extraordinary, unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances such as a natural disaster or war. #### **Not unique to NC** Supply chain issues have affected other water systems across the country. In April, the City of Baltimore cut its fluoride levels nearly in half, [according to NPR](https://www.npr.org/2026/04/15/nx-s1-5786697/middle-east-conflict-causes-a-fluoride-shortage-for-us-drinking-water?ref=down-ballot.info), after its supplier reduced deliveries. Several Louisiana cities recently halted their water fluoridation because of supply chain issues, [according to local TV news reports](https://www.ksla.com/2026/08/24/shreveport-runs-out-fluoride-amid-nationwide-supply-chain-issue/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Milwaukee reported halving](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/health/2026/08/06/limited-supply-forces-fluoride-cut-in-milwaukee-area-drinking-water/91156978007?ref=down-ballot.info) the amount of fluoride it added to its drinking water earlier this month. Many of these decisions across the country have called for temporarily altering fluoridation processes until the supply chain issues can be resolved. #### **Beyond the Middle East conflict** Davie County’s decision also takes into account public health concerns that prompted [Union](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/11/14/debate-over-fluoride-in-water-bubbles-in-nc/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Lincoln](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/02/20/lincoln-county-says-no-to-fluoride-in-its-water-system/?ref=down-ballot.info) counties to ban fluoride in their public water systems. Fluoride skeptics — including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services — have relied on a [study published in JAMA Pediatrics](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2828425?ref=down-ballot.info) finding that fluoride exposure can have a detrimental impact on the cognitive function of children. [Community fluoridation advocates point out,](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/02/19/dentists-oral-health-advocates-urge-epa-to-use-gold-standard-science-in-its-fluoride-review/?ref=down-ballot.info) though, that the study looked at countries with much higher levels of fluoride than is used to treat water in the United States. Furthermore, research has shown that drinking fluoridated water [reduces cavities by about 25 percent](https://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/about/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) in children and adults, according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info), an effect that [benefits low-income residents](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9544072/?ref=down-ballot.info) in particular. Lambert, the public utilities director, said community members have expressed concerns about health effects. Also, he said, employees at the water treatment plant worried about the safety of handling fluoridation chemicals. The commissioners also considered the ability of county residents to make individual choices about fluoride consumption, since the additive is available in toothpaste, mouth rinses and professional treatments applied at dental offices. Lambert said his department heard a range of opinions. “I would say it was about 50/50, people for and against it,” Lambert said. Andrew Rivers, a dentist in Davie County for 14 years, [urged commissioners at their Aug. 3 meeting](https://davieconc.portal.civicclerk.com/event/3994/media?ref=down-ballot.info) to continue adding fluoride to the water system. Rivers has cared for patients, he said, that grew up without consistent access to preventable dental care and seen “children with severe tooth decay, adults who have lost teeth far too early, pain, and in some cases even hospital visits and life-threatening infections.” “This all can be prevented,” Rivers told the commissioners. “Community water fluoridation is one of the most thoroughly studied public health measures for our country. For decades, the overwhelming body of scientific evidence has supported its safety and effectiveness when used in recommended levels.” For many families, Rivers added, community water fluoridation is “a safe and affordable way to help protect oral health. In my experience, the greatest benefits are often seen in those who have the fewest resources.” Ultimately, the board decided “that discontinuing the addition of fluoride to the public water supply is in the best interests of Davie County and its residents,” according to the resolution forwarded to the state Department of Health and Human Services and the state Department of Environmental Quality. When asked whether the decision could be reversed at some point, Barnett, the county manager responded: “The beauty of county commissions is anything they do can be undone, but they have to do it with a vote. In all theory, a board could one day reverse it.” For now, though, Davie County is the third North Carolina county to officially eschew fluoridation of its community water system. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/08/27/davie-county-ends-water-fluoridation/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=69498) --- # Did Iowa’s largest beginning farmer tax credit create more farms? by Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest August 26, 2026 **Key takeaways** - Iowa’s Beginning Farmer Tax Credit increased farmland leasing, but researchers found little evidence that it created more farms or lowered the average age of emerging farmers. - Researchers found limits to what the tax credit has accomplished, while state officials say challenges, such as farm consolidation and an aging farm population, extend beyond any single program. - New farmers struggle to make a living from farming, often relying on off-farm jobs even when they have access to land. As a boy growing up in Spencer, Iowa, Trent Walker spent summers helping on his grandfather’s farm, picturing that he someday would follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and become a farmer himself. During harvest season, he trick-or-treated at his grandpa’s grain bin site as trucks came in from the fields. He was particularly drawn to the changing seasons and how no two days were quite the same. “I would never be able to work in a factory,” said Walker, 30\. “I would just get so bored.” With the passing years, Walker learned that access to land is one of the biggest obstacles for aspiring farmers like him. Buying land was largely out of reach. At $15,000 an acre, he calculated, an 80-acre parcel could cost $1.2 million. Renting was more realistic so he waited for a window of opportunity. That window opened when a relative of his wife, Jessika, retired and offered them land to rent in Dickens, not far from where he grew up in northwest Iowa. Walker said beginning farmers often need an established farmer stepping aside and choosing to give someone younger a start. “The biggest bridge, I think, is the guy retiring willing to give the young guy the opportunity,” Walker said. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/4-30-26-Young-Farmers-Trent-Walker-3-768x1024.jpeg) Trent Walker, 30, and one of his sons pictured on April 30, 2026 near Dickens, Iowa. Walker and his wife, Jessika, farm two small fields of corn and soybeans. photo courtesy of Trent Walker For nearly two decades, Iowa has offered a financial incentive for farm owners to do just that. The state's Beginning Farmer Tax Credit rewards farm owners for leasing farmland and equipment to qualified beginning farmers. Created in 2007, the program places no limit on years of farming experience, unlike the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which defines a beginning farmer as someone who has operated a farm for 10 years or less. To qualify, applicants must reside in Iowa, be at least 18 years old, have knowledge of farm operations and have a net worth of $901,000 or less. Researchers, who studied the program, describe Iowa’s as the biggest beginning farmer tax credit program in the country, awarding thousands of lease contracts and spending more on the incentive than any other state with a similar program. But nearly two decades later, researchers found little evidence that leasing, as the program intended, helped create more farms or younger farmers into Iowa agriculture, raising questions about whether the program changes trends or simply subsidizes deals that were already likely to happen. [Do Tax Incentives for Farmland Leases Increase Farm Supply Evidence From Iowa](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Applied-Eco-Perspectives-Pol-2026-Ross-Do-Tax-Incentives-for-Farmland-Leases-Increase-Farm-Supply-Evidence-From-Iowa.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Researchers’ data analysis concluded that the tax credit increased the number of farm owners leasing land about 17% and the amount of farmland acres about 49%, compared with what likely would have happened without the program, according to researchers from Indiana University, Loyola University Chicago and American Farmland Trust, a nonprofit focused on farmland conservation and helping farmers thrive. In spite of the findings, researchers stop short of calling the program a failure. But they admitted that it is difficult to separate the tax program from other agricultural policies and their outcomes, if any. Julia Valliant, who co-authored the study published earlier this year in Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, a peer-reviewed journal, said one of the biggest takeaways from the study is that more investment in emerging farmers is needed. “Iowa gives the most money in the country to anything like this,” Valliant said. “ You know, $6 million per year, $9 million per year. And that's a very small amount of money in the big picture for agriculture.” ## **New farmers can’t make ends meet** To conduct the study, researchers used federal tax forms farmers file to report farm income and expenses. They found the program increased the number of Iowa farm operators reporting farm income by 0.7% compared with what would have been expected without the tax credit. Iowa spent $58.3 million during the study period. The program spent slightly more than $100,000 for each additional farm operator associated with the tax credit. The state's farm population remains considerably older, at 57 years old on average, than its beginning farmers at 44 on average, according to 2017 agriculture data used in the study. The study found little evidence that the tax credit lowered the average age of Iowa farm operators. Age was another measure researchers used to assess whether the program was changing demographic shifts among farmers in the state. Starting a farm, however, does not necessarily mean making a living from it. Nationally, nearly three-quarters of emerging farmers reported that something other than farming was their primary occupation in 2022, compared with 58% of all U.S. farm producers, according to the most recent data. Walker and Jessika, 29, followed a similar path. They started their own row-crop operation three years ago with two small fields, growing corn and soybeans. To avoid the cost of buying equipment, they help with her family's farming operation in exchange for using its machinery. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/6-29-26_young_farmers_Trent_Walker_466-1024x768.jpg) Trent Walker, 30, his wife, Jessika, 29, and their four children, pictured on June 29, 2026\. Trent and Jessika Walker are beginning farmers near Dickens, Iowa, with two small fields of corn and soybeans. Their off-farm income supports the couple and their four children, ages 9 to 2\. Photo courtesy of Trent Walker Both still work off the farm. Walker serves in the Iowa National Guard and works 35 to 40 hours a week tending hogs in barns owned by his father-in-law and has a seed dealership on the side. Jessika works at a medical office as a clerk. Their off-farm income supports the couple and their four children, ages 9 to 2. Walker said it took about three years for the farm to reach the point where it no longer needed money from their other jobs to sustain itself. The Iowa Finance Authority, which administers the program, said the study findings reflect the limits of what any single policy can accomplish. In an email, Ashley Jared, communications director of the Iowa Finance Authority, said: “IFA appreciates research that helps inform policy and will continue evaluating the program and stakeholder feedback to ensure it is as effective as possible in supporting beginning farmers.” The agency added that they “recognize that broader trends such as farm consolidation and the aging farm population are complex, long-term challenges influenced by many factors beyond any single program, including farmland values, financing, succession planning and changing farm economics.” Even as researchers question the program's statewide impact, the tax credit remains one of several Iowa initiatives intended to support new farmers. ## **The limits of tax credits** Across the nation, states have introduced beginning farmer tax credits to make it easier for people to enter farming and for older landowners to transfer their operations to the next generation. Valliant has been studying such state and national policies for several years, describing them as “experimental, “pioneering,” and ‘innovative.” “We need them… it's so expensive and difficult to get into farming and to help farm owners pass along the farm to a young person,” she said. Between 2015 and 2025, Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin offered tax credits or deductions intended to encourage landowners to lease farmland or other agricultural assets to beginning farmers. Martha McFarland, who works with beginning farmers at Practical Farmers of Iowa, said land access is “consistently identified as the number one barrier.” The challenge can be especially acute for smaller producers, she said, including vegetable growers who may need only five or 10 acres rather than hundreds. Because such leases generate relatively little income for landowners, she wishes the program did more to support smaller-acre operations. “All land access is local,” McFarland said. Walker knows these challenges too well. Around Dickens, farmland that is already rented tends to stay with the same operator until the landowner decides to make a change, often when someone retires. That leaves few openings for farmers trying to get started, making relationships with landowners especially important. “Farming is built on relationships and years of hard work,” Walker said. “It’s not something that you can just get into day one or year one or year two … It takes years of good relationships and financial preparedness.” Chris Anderson has something Walker and many other beginning farmers are trying to build: a family connection to farmland. After serving in the U.S. Army and working as a civilian police officer, Anderson began farming in northwest Iowa in 2019, becoming a fifth-generation farmer. He rents 95 acres from his 93-year-old grandmother. “It’s a blessing to have any farm ground,” he said. The family already has a succession plan. Anderson’s father plans to buy the farm from her estate, compensating his siblings, and Anderson would continue as a tenant, this time renting from his father. But even with access to family land, making a living from farming has been difficult. Anderson, 30, works as an agricultural insurance adjuster, and his wife is a teacher. Anderson and his wife have relied on off-farm income while getting the farm established and have not taken any income from the operation during their first four years of farming. “The farm has to be profitable before it can pay for anything,” he said. Though Anderson knows about Iowa’s Beginning Farmer Tax Credit, he has not spent much time learning about it or applying because his schedule keeps him busy. If his family decided to participate, the tax credit would go to his grandmother as she’s the landowner, not to Anderson. Existing relationships between farmers and landowners do not disqualify them from participating. Iowa allows family members to lease land to one another through the program and permits participants to have a higher net worth than some neighboring states. The survey, conducted by Indiana University in consultation with American Farmland Trust, found that 44% of participants had already been renting farmland to or from the person they later enrolled within the tax credit program. About half of the beginning farmers and landowners surveyed may have enrolled in the tax credit to do what they would have done anyway. [iowa-state-summary-beginning-farmer-tax-credit-particpants](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/iowa-state-summary-beginning-farmer-tax-credit-particpants.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) “Policymakers can decide who literally collects the check, but they can’t determine who is actually going to benefit from the program,” said Justin Ross, a professor of economics and public finance at Indiana University’s Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and one of the study’s authors. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/6-23-26-young-farmers-Justin-RossA-768x1024.jpg) Justin Ross, public finance economist specializing in state and local tax policy at Indiana University. Photo provided. Ross said some of the subsidized arrangements may simply have formalized relationships that were already in place. “So many of these deals just might have been made anyway,” he said. “A question can be whether or not the tax credit is generous enough to actually induce people to do this more than they otherwise would.” The program’s broader eligibility rules may reinforce that pattern, Ross said. “The more relaxed \[the eligibility rules\] are, the less likely it truly is an actual new farmer who wouldn’t be doing this anyway,” he said. The result, according to Ross, is a program that appears to encourage more leasing without producing a corresponding increase in successful new farm operations statewide. Jared said the agency believes there are opportunities to strengthen the program as agriculture evolves. During the last legislative session, she explained in an email, legislation was introduced to enhance the program, including increasing the cash rent tax credit from 5% to 10%, providing additional incentives for below-market rental agreements and longer-term leases, and establishing a tax credit for qualifying sales to beginning farmers. While the legislation did not move forward, Jared said the proposed changes reflect the types of improvements that could encourage additional land-access opportunities while supporting longer-term farm transitions. ## **What comes next** The study evaluated Iowa's Beginning Farmer Tax Credit only through 2017\. Since then, lawmakers have continued to modify the program, even as participation has dropped. The Iowa Finance Authority, which administers the tax credit, reported assisting 153 beginning farmers in fiscal year 2025, well below its annual target of 278\. A separate 2025 evaluation by the Iowa Department of Revenue identified one reason participation may have slowed. Beginning in the 2023 tax year, Iowa's retirement tax changes created a new option for retired farmers, allowing them to either exclude eligible farm rental income or deduct certain capital gains from farm asset sales. Making that election means a retired farmer can no longer participate in the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit program. The evaluation said the lease-income exclusion often provides a larger tax benefit than the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit. Jared said participation in the program has declined since Iowa's tax code changed in 2023\. Many retired landowners who choose the Farm Tenancy Income Exclusion can no longer benefit from the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit, which has reduced participation in the program, she explained. She also said the agency is reviewing its performance targets to better reflect the current policy environment. The evaluation also noted that several neighboring states have adopted different approaches to helping beginning farmers gain access to land. Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania, for example, offer tax incentives for selling agricultural land and other assets — such as machinery, buildings and livestock — to beginning farmers. [Nebraska](https://nextgen.nebraska.gov/eligibility.html?ref=down-ballot.info) offers qualified emerging farmers a one-time state income tax credit of up to $500 for participating in an approved financial management class. It also requires a written succession plan when farmland is rented between family members. Those differences raise a question the study poses — whether helping beginning farmers ultimately requires more than encouraging landowners to sign leases. Brooks Lamb, special adviser for strategic communications at American Farmland Trust, said the access-to-land challenge facing beginning farmers is really part of a larger national problem in how American farmland transitions from one generation to the next. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/5-28-22-young-farmers-Brooks-Lamb-174A-780x1024.jpeg) Brooks Lamb, special advisor for strategic communications with the American Farmland Trust, is pictured here working on his farm in Tennessee on May 8, 2022\. Photo courtesy of Brooks Lamb. “A tremendous amount of land owned by those aging and elder farmers is going to change hands in the next decade or two, simply because those older farmers are going to retire, or they are going to die,” he said. Lamb said no single policy is likely to fix land access for beginning farmers and urged policymakers to look at a variety of tools used in other states, from tax credits to conservation easements. The future of agriculture in the United States will be determined on how and to whom land transitions and that’s how our food systems and rural communities will take shape in the future, he said. This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/08/26/did-iowas-largest-beginning-farmer-tax-credit-create-more-farms/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=760198&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- # Asheville terminates Flock contract in heated council meeting by Walker Livingston, Carolina Public Press August 25, 2026 After a long and tense meeting with more than an hour of heated public comment, the Asheville City Council voted 5-2 Tuesday night to terminate the city’s contract with Flock Safety. It’s a move that comes during a [statewide reckoning](https://carolinapublicpress.org/80427/flock-backlash-growing-in-some-western-nc-communities/?ref=down-ballot.info) with the technology company, which has come under fire for perceived potential Fourth Amendment violations. The resolution came after Asheville Mayor **Esther Manheimer** called on the City Council to end the area’s Flock contract in a video [statement](https://www.facebook.com/MayorEstherManheimer) posted on social media last week. Prior to Tuesday’s vote, the city of Asheville was operating 11 Flock cameras. Eighty-six cameras are operated by other entities across Buncombe County, including homeowners associations and the public school system, inside the city limits. Those other cameras were not affected by the council vote. The votes against the resolution came from council members S. Anntanette Mosley and Sheneika Smith, however some other members expressed reservations before ultimately backing the measure. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** The city manager will now review the Flock contract. Flock Safety manufactures ALPRs, or automatic license plate readers, which capture images of license plates at a singular point in time and enter them into a database where artificial intelligence catalogs vehicle characteristics, like a vehicle’s make, model and color. APD has had a contract with Flock since 2025, which was originally set to run through 2027. Atlanta-based Flock has a network of data on every car it has detected, which allows law enforcement agencies across the country to search for a specific vehicle’s location history across thousands of camera feeds. The council’s resolution made it a point to specify that Asheville has not been using facial recognition technology, nor has it shared its Flock data with any facial recognition database. Other communities in North Carolina, like the towns of Hillsborough and Pittsboro and Davidson County, have each ended their contract with Flock. Others are reviewing their policies as the company has become increasingly controversial. In Western North Carolina, Macon County also recently ended its contract with the technology company. ### Not the only license plate readers Flock’s ALPRs are the only such technology in Asheville right now, but other companies also provide the service — the city just doesn’t have it from them so far. Asheville does have a contract with one such company, Axon, but only for police department body cameras and ALPRs mounted on police vehicles, not the standstill ALPRs similar to the widely recognizable Flock devices. APD currently operates 137 Axon plate readers mounted to police vehicles, according to the [transparency portal.](https://ashevillepdbwc.evidence.com/alpr/public/policy?ref=down-ballot.info) City Council members approved the Axon contract in May, along with a Real-Time Intelligence Center, which will synchronize license plate readers, public and private surveillance cameras in the city and police dash cameras. Council member **Kim Roney** was the only dissenting vote at that time. “The question that we have to address is whether or not we want to allow Axon to do that, and whether or not it just feels like we're replacing the Flock system with something similar,” Manheimer told CPP earlier Tuesday. Council member **Kim Roney**, who is running for mayor against Manheimer, said in a social media post that the council’s resolution on the Flock contract adopted Tuesday night reads more like a pause than taking a stance on Flock. During the meeting, Roney introduced a motion to see a new moratorium on ALPRs, which failed. APD will now engage with a policy reviewer from the American Civil Liberties Union while continuing discussions about ALPRs and surveillance technology. Data from the Axon ALPRs is not shared with third-party networks, according to the company’s transparency portal for Asheville. These cameras retain data for 90 days. Flock cameras now retain data for seven days unless they are involved in an active criminal investigation. The resolution that the council passed Tuesday said information relating to immigration enforcement, reproductive healthcare and First Amendment-protected activity will be protected in regards to the contracts. In other states, law enforcement agencies have used Flock to track those who seek reproductive healthcare outside of state lines. Local law enforcement agencies across the country have also used ALPR data when cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now that the Flock contract has been canceled, the council is at a fragmented pause, as members disagree about the need for license-plate reader technology. Meanwhile, there will still be Flock ALPRs in Asheville, they just won’t be operated by the city. It is also unclear whether Flock license plate readers will be covered before they are removed. Roney asked the city manager whether covering the cameras has been considered and was told that it had not yet been considered. ### Reaction to Flock contract debate Many Asheville community members spoke at the meeting against both Flock and Axon contracts. Some also brought up frustration with the lack of public comment at the earlier meeting where the council voted on the 24-hour Real-Time Intelligence Center and Axon. Some also expressed frustration that Manheimer brought up such an issue that she previously had a different opinion on before a contentious mayoral race. “This is something that the majority of Asheville from across the political spectrum wants,” **Sean Snyder,** an Asheville resident who spoke during the meeting’s public comment period, said. He, like tens of others like him, urged the council to consider ending its contract with Axon, not just the Flock contract. Toward the end of the meeting, council members went back and forth about the city’s future with Axon, and whether they would pursue fixed ALPR infrastructure from Axon to replace the Flock cameras. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/80468/asheville-terminates-flock-contract-in-heated-council-meeting/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=80468) --- # Non-Profit Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Delivers Drug Access to Rural Hospitals by Liz Carey, The Daily Yonder August 20, 2026 A new program from the nation’s only non-profit pharmaceutical company aims to help rural hospitals keep some drugs in stock. A collaboration between [Civica Rx](https://civicarx.org/?ref=down-ballot.info#mission), a non-profit generic pharmaceutical company, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, wants to ensure rural hospitals can have access to generic drugs during shortages and to access those drugs at a fair price. One under-appreciated challenge rural hospitals face is access to generic drugs, leaders with Civica said. Small hospitals are often on the bottom rung when it comes to getting drugs, and they are sometimes left out of the loop when generic drugs are in short supply. Drug shortages impact[ nearly 90% of primary care physicians nationwide,](https://www.ashp.org/drug-shortages/current-shortages?loginreturnUrl=SSOCheckOnly&ref=down-ballot.info) according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. At any given time, the organization reported, there are typically between 200 and 300 active drug shortages in the country. Those disruptions to the drug supply chain can impact the healthcare system, causing treatment delays, medication rationing and extra labor, the organization claimed. A broad array of medications often are in short supply. The most common drug shortage is sterile injectable medications and widely prescribed generics, according to the[ U.S. Food and Drug Administration](https://www.fda.gov/media/189325/download?ref=down-ballot.info). Those include medications to treat ADHD, essential antibiotics like amoxicillin and penicillin, chemotherapy drugs, sterile saline, electrolyte injectables, and injectable pain medications and endocrine therapies. In rural communities, the effects of drug shortages are felt a little more acutely, said Mike Laffin, vice president of member accounts for Civica RX. A drug shortage may mean the hospital’s one pharmacy technician has to figure out another source for the medication, or a substitute medication. That’s time spent on the phone tracking down a drug that could be spent on other tasks. “Civica as a group was initially created to tackle essential generic drug shortages,” Laffin said. “We work with hospitals to ensure that they have the inexpensive generics that they need every day.” To address that need, Civica RX recently launched the[ Civica Rural Hospital program](https://civicarx.org/civica-foundation-receives-3-2m-grant-from-helmsley-charitable-trust-to-help-protect-rural-hospitals-from-critical-drug-shortages/?ref=down-ballot.info) to ensure those facilities have reliable access to critical generic drugs that are often in short supply or subject to supply chain issues. Funded by a $3.2 million grant from the[ Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust](https://helmsleytrust.org/our-focus-areas/rural-healthcare/?ref=down-ballot.info), the program is live in nine states — Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. It will allow eligible hospitals to have access to the company’s drug access program. As an organization, Civica provides hospitals with a membership. Those member hospitals guarantee that they will purchase a certain amount of the medications, and should a shortage occur, they have access to Civica’s supply. The Helmsley Foundation grant covers each rural hospital’s membership fees, and Civica provides them with access to their stocks if a shortage occurs, without requiring them to guarantee they’ll purchase a minimum drug quantity. “Since Memorial Day, I've had 24 meetings, mostly with individual rural hospitals, as well as rural state health associations or rural hospital networks,” Laffin said. “Nobody has said no. We already have six new members… I almost feel like we haven't begun to scratch the surface on creating awareness.” The goal of the pilot program is giving rural hospitals more access at consistent prices, said Wayne Booze, program director for the Helmsley Charitable Trust's Rural Healthcare Program. “There's approximately 330-plus hospitals in our catchment area that could qualify for this program,” Booze said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. “The goal of the pilot project is to try to target about two thirds of them to enter in, and that'll give enough volume of generic drug need and demand for Civica to figure out how to de-risk across that population of smaller hospitals. … This pilot allows for getting access to a consistent supply of drugs without a cost spike and without also being held at risk for not using all the drugs that they think they're going to need.” That means about 225 rural hospitals and 6,750 beds across the nine states in the program will have access to drugs if a shortage occurs. And that means a cost savings for the hospital, said Walter Panzirer, a trustee with the Helmsley Charitable Trust who directs philanthropic investments in rural healthcare, telehealth, and other charitable initiatives. “We hope that the rural hospitals that are choosing to participate in this project will actually see their costs go down, and that's a big thing,” Panzirer said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. “If we can see their costs go down, that’s saying this program is a success, because we're saving money on those line items, so that the hospital can deploy their savings somewhere else.” “These are life-saving drugs that should be available at every hospital, not just the large ones, not just the ones that have access to large buying groups,” he said. The program will also reduce labor costs by preventing pharmacy technicians from having to spend time looking for medications, the organizations said. Right now, the program is only in states the Helmsley Foundation works in — ones they’ve identified as needing more philanthropy than others. But the intention is to roll it out nationwide. “If this works in nine states, I don't see any reason why it can't work in 50,” Civica’s Laffin said. “Is there a possibility the grant ends? Sure, it's a three-year grant. But we're all working towards getting to a place where that gets extended and expanded.” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/non-profit-pharmaceutical-manufacturer-delivers-drug-access-to-rural-hospitals/2026/08/20/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=241679&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # City Planning Commission defers data center recommendations again, citing new concerns with water by Diego Perdomo, Verite News New Orleans August 26, 2026 After a rally opposing the construction of new data centers and a spirited public comment period, the New Orleans City Planning Commission voted [again](https://veritenews.org/2026/03/25/data-centers-new-orleans-east-council/?ref=down-ballot.info) at a Tuesday (Aug. 25) meeting to defer adopting zoning recommendations in favor of more regulation. Before the commission met, the local branch for the Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL) organized a rally outside of City Hall to protest increased energy costs and burdens as a result of large-scale projects such as the [Hyperion facility](https://veritenews.org/2025/08/20/louisiana-meta-entergy-data-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) being built in Richland. PSL organizer Devorah Lea said the construction of data centers like the one in Richland has brought up utility rates across the board amidst an affordability crisis. “Under this current system, we do not have real democratic control over the resources we need to survive, over what is good for our environment,’ Lea told Verite News. “We should have democratic people's control determining how our grid is used. A basic utility, like our electricity, should be a human right.” At the meeting, the commission shared their [updated recommendations](https://cityofno.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=2&event%5Fid=25007&meta%5Fid=815843&ref=down-ballot.info) — like spacing data centers 500 feet away from residential zones, limiting one data center per building and specifying criteria to divide data centers into three categories: small, medium and large/hyperscale. ![Public commenters fill seats at a City Planning Commission Meeting at City Hall in New Orleans on Aug. 25, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/25210223/3C2A8649.jpg) Public commenters fill seats at a City Planning Commission Meeting at City Hall in New Orleans on Aug. 25, 2026\. Credit: Diego Perdomo/Verite News During public comment, the commission heard nearly two dozen commenters share a wide array of opinions against the creation of new data centers in New Orleans. Some speakers supported current recommendations for city policy, while others shared their concerns with the centers and existing recommendations. “The Sewerage and Water Board is not in a state to support data centers at any scale. ... It'd be very important to actually include a definition for water usage in that \[previous\] definition so that we don't overextend ourselves,” said Eian Bailey, a student researcher at Louisiana State University New Orleans. “At the end of the day, water is the most vital thing that we're given from the earth.” Before voting to defer their recommendations, commissioners pointed to their interest in banning larger data centers, implementing specific water use thresholds for facilities by size and initial interests to defer adopting the recommendations. In January, the New Orleans City Commission installed a [yearlong ban](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/28/data-centers-ban-new-orleans-council/?ref=down-ballot.info), or moratorium, on the approval of data center construction following community backlash to a proposal to build a data center in New Orleans East. While the planning committee has met to discuss recommendations for the implementation of these centers, they have been deferred since [March](https://veritenews.org/2026/03/25/data-centers-new-orleans-east-council/?ref=down-ballot.info). Other public commenters, such as representatives from organizations in New Orleans East and the Louisiana branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, stated their concerns that historically Black areas of the city, like parts of New Orleans East, would be targeted by data centers while other sites across the city weren’t considered. “A majority of the East is all highlighted, " said public commenter Tay Giarnellla in reference to a [recommended zoning map](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2026/08/25/new-orleans-data-centers-legality-new-law?ref=down-ballot.info). “Everybody showed up in January and February to shut down that request for a data center in the east for a reason.” ![A map showing areas of New Orleans that New Orleans City Planning staff conditionally recommended for consideration for data center construction. Staff recommended that small and medium data centers could be built in the purple and grey areas and small data centers in the blue and red areas.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/25212618/IMG_0765.png) A map showing areas of New Orleans that New Orleans City Planning staff conditionally recommended for consideration for data center construction. Staff recommended that small and medium data centers could be built in the purple and grey areas and small data centers in the blue and red areas. Alliance for Energy New Orleans Policy Director Jesse George, who was in support of the recommendations proposed by the city planning committee, later said he was not opposed to deferring recommendations to factor in new considerations like water. “They've come up with a pretty good solution to the issue, which is a complete prohibition on hyperscale data centers, which is really the big threat in terms of energy and water usage and environmental effects … leaving open the possibility of economic development for smaller data centers that are used for routine computational and telecommunications purposes.” George told Verite News before the meeting. New Orleans’ actions contrast with state interest in data centers. In July, Gov. Jeff Landry announced further investment from Meta into a $50 billion proposed hyperscale data center in Richland Parish. The Meta project later drew scrutiny due to [non-disclosure agreements](https://www.wwno.org/politics/2026-07-24/gov-jeff-landry-personally-signed-an-nda-with-meta-heres-what-it-says?ref=down-ballot.info) signed by the Landry and many of his staffers, as well as a [state senator's](https://floodlightnews.org/jay-morris-meta-louisiana-project-land-sales/?ref=down-ballot.info) legislative support that saved the technology giant billions in taxes. Once built, it is expected to consume seven times the amount of electricity as New Orleans consumes every day. “If you know the wrong with the data center, why are we even considering it?,” said Ronald Marshall, senior policy strategist for the Voice of the Experienced. “People will be harmed, families will be destroyed. It's an attack on Black communities around this country. None of these billionaires will ever consider a data center in their own neighborhood. Never.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/08/26/data-centers-new-orleans-east-cpc/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=32962&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # ‘We paid the price’: End of Rankin County schools desegregation order worries Black residents by Leonardo Bevilacqua, Mississippi Today August 24, 2026 BRANDON — Before her kids’ first day of second grade in the mid-1980s, Janie McLaurin sat them down in the living room to tell them about hers. She recalled what her history teacher called her: “negress.” She recounted her classmates’ welcome on the morning bus: slaps and shoves. She shared these memories, not because they’d face the same obstacles, but to impress upon them what she fought against to ensure they could attend Rankin County schools. McLaurin said it was why she joined a suit in 1967 to ensure Black students and teachers were treated fairly. The lawsuit led to federal oversight and called for regular check ups by a judge. The desegregation order lasted from 1970 until last month, when U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson [ended court oversight](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/07/30/rankin-county-school-desegregation/?ref=down-ballot.info) when she found school leaders were fair enough to Black students and staff. In a statement, the school district leadership said the judge's decision reflects years of work — an effort that won't end with the desegregation order. "The district will continue building on the progress it has made with all stakeholders," the statement said, "not because it is required by a court, but because providing every student with an excellent education and every employee with a fair and supportive workplace is at the heart of its mission." McLaurin, along with six Black Rankin County schools alumni who spoke to Mississippi Today, believe the decision was premature. “Rankin County schools just took a step backwards,” she said. Johnson acknowledged that racial disparities exist in the school district’s hiring, enrollment, student discipline and course selection, but found those issues result from socioeconomics, where people chose to live and other race-neutral factors. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/08/20210315/3X0A3569.jpg) Community members attend a Rankin County NAACP meeting focused on education issues at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Richland on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. The district isn’t held to a standard of perfect racial balance, Johnson said. The legal standard is whether the district policy is a holdover of segregation. And other school districts that are less racially integrated have been released from desegregation orders, she found. In September, attorney Katrina Feldkamp, counsel with the Legal Defense Fund, argued against letting the district out from its consent decree. Black Rankin County schools students and staff still encounter discriminatory school policies, particularly related to discipline, she argued. She also contended that district leaders have exacerbated resegregation through intradistrict transfers and staff assignments. “My sisters and I were some of the trailblazers in desegregating Rankin County schools. So what I've seen is almost post-traumatic shock,” Angela English, branch president of the Rankin County NAACP, said of the decision to clear the district of discriminatory practices. “It's very personal for me. And I don't intend to see any child have to suffer wrongdoing.” ### **Are Rankin County schools resegregating?** Rankin County schools have resegregated since court ordered integration in 1970, and they’re not alone. More U.S. schools are either majority white or majority minority [than in the past decade](https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity/the-unfinished-battle-for-integration-in-a-multiracial-america-2013-from-brown-to-now/National-Segregation-041624-CORRECTED-for.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). In Rankin County, white families are moving their students from schools where Black enrollment has increased, such as Brandon and Flowood. During the September hearing to determine if Rankin County should be free from its consent decree, the plaintiff’s attorneys held up Pisgah-area schools as a prime example of such resegregation. In the 2022-23 school year, 24 white students transferred to Pisgah High School. Three of the students came from Brandon and Flowood, where Black enrollment has increased, according to an analysis by education equity researcher Erica Frankenberg, who was an expert witness for the plaintiffs. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/08/20210337/3X0A3579.jpg) Sen. Sollie B. Norwood attends a Rankin County NAACP meeting focused on education issues at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Richland on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Johnson also flagged Pisgah schools for being disproportionately whiter than the district. Complaints from within Pisgah schools weren’t limited to resegregation or hiring. Ma’Kesha Adams, a former Rankin County School District employee and daughter of Kenneth Adams, lead plaintiff of the lawsuit, said she was put on an improvement plan after a white student accused her of racism. Despite being the highest rated English teacher in the school, she said, her principal denied her request to see the complaint or other documentation. The move was disappointing because her tenure at the school was mostly positive, she said. She feels conflicted because her tenure as assistant principal at Brandon Middle School was positive, too. Because of her past experiences, and those of her parents and grandparents, Adams said she believes continued oversight is important. She got into education because she believed in its power to provide opportunity to students regardless of background. “Now that the case goes away, how likely are we to stay on top of ensuring that things like what I just mentioned at Pisgah get rectified,” she said. “You have to commit to fostering diversity for the benefit of students and staff.” ### 'It was a very traumatic experience' Jeuan Brown, who attended McLaurin Elementary in the early 2000s, said he felt the brunt of policies that attorneys say disproportionately impacted Black students. “I would get punished and I didn’t do it, and nobody believed me,” he recalled of his time at McLaurin Elementary. **Read more:** [Rankin County schools released from desegregation order](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/07/30/rankin-county-school-desegregation/?ref=down-ballot.info) Black students, who comprised 25.7% of the enrollment in 2023-24 in Rankin County schools, were suspended twice as much as white students. Brown said school leadership ignored racist bullying when he was a student. He remembers when white classmates who taunted him with racial epithets faced no consequences. Instead, he said, school leaders transferred him to the alternative school, without due process, for defending himself in a fight. “Since you’re in alternative school, you’re stigmatized because everybody thinks you're a bad child,” he said. “It was a very traumatic experience,” Brown said of his time in Rankin County schools. “The depression that I have today as a young adult stems directly from those events that occurred starting in elementary school.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/08/20210255/3X0A3550.jpg) NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Katrina Feldkamp, assistant counsel, speaks as Ray Li, policy counsel, listens during a Rankin County NAACP community meeting focused on education issues at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Richland on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Expert testimony at the September hearing backs up Brown’s observations on discriminatory discipline practices. District data showed “a clear pattern of racial bias,” according to behavioral health researcher Jamilia Blake, who analyzed district discipline data in preparation for the hearing. She found Black students were most likely to be suspended multiple times, and school policies did [not reduce that occurrence.](https://ecf.mssd.uscourts.gov/doc1/10518183688?ref=down-ballot.info) However, Johnson, the judge, was persuaded by district leadership testimony that referred to new behavior intervention plans despite the absence of proof of their implementation or of their success in reducing punishments. Adams, who oversaw discipline at Brandon Middle School when she was the assistant principal, said she was surprised to see racial disparities in data for other district schools. “We always made an effort to ensure that what we were doing was consistent and fair,” she recalled of her time in Brandon. “As an administrator, you have to make a conscious effort.” Johnson also found that Black students didn’t face discrimination when participating in extracurriculars. But some Rankin County alumni and parents disagree. At least 10% of student clubs and activities lacked any Black participation, Adams’ family attorneys noted at the September hearing. For Tagira Bush, being Black on the cheer squad at Northwest Rankin High School was isolating, she testified at the September hearing. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/08/20210439/3X0A3703.jpg) NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Hamida Labi, senior policy counsel, speaks during a Rankin County NAACP community meeting focused on education issues at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Richland on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. The squad’s participation fees were too steep for her mother, and district staff would not grant a waiver. Bush said she felt they didn’t care. She later joined a cheer group outside of school and no longer felt the same distress, she told the court at the September hearing. “I don't want any other Black children to have to go through what I had to go through,” she said in September. “I was so discouraged that I just wanted to give up on everything.” District leadership alluded to implementing “supportive measures” to make some clubs more inclusive. The court found that Bush’s testimony and related data weren’t evidence of systemic harm on account of race. ### **The steps forward** Black parents in the county schools said they worry now that the court isn’t watching out for their children. Deidra Moore said she was concerned by the way a district expert witness in the September desegregation hearing explained away high suspension rates for Black students as a socioeconomic fact. She learned new details about the case at a forum hosted Thursday by Mt. Sinai MB Church in Richland. She worries her son could be denied the high quality education she envisioned for him. “Some of their rationale doesn’t make sense,” Moore said of the expert witness’s testimony. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/08/20210214/3X0A3451.jpg) Rankin County NAACP president Angela English speaks during a community meeting focused on education issues at Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Richland on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Moore was also alarmed to hear from organizers that Black students are underrepresented in the district’s gifted and talented program. Moore and her husband moved to Richland for a small-town feel with bigger-city comforts and because they heard Rankin County had top-rated schools. She said she hopes district leaders continue to see her son the way she does: capable of success and of greatness. “We don’t have any major issues right now,” Moore told Mississippi Today. “It’s just scary what the possibility can be now for all kids.” English, the Rankin County NAACP leader, recalled the discrimination she faced integrating Florence Elementary in the late 1960s. Students put frogs and snakes under her desk to spook her. White boys tried to run her off the road in their pickup trucks while she walked to school. Those childhood experiences at the tail end of the Jim Crow Era motivate her to fight for other marginalized groups. Her organization has fielded several complaints in the last year about Hispanic children experiencing discrimination because of their parents’ immigration status. Although court oversight of Rankin County schools has ended, English plans to continue asking for district data and records as well as monitoring attendance-zone redistricting. “And we're not going to let up,” she said. “We don't intend for our children or anybody else's children or grandchildren to have to suffer the way we did. We paid the price so that they wouldn't have to.” *Updated 8/27/26: This story was updated to include a statement from Rankin County School District about the end of the desegregation order.* This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/08/24/rankin-county-desegregation-order/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223401/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1187049&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- ### Would Gov. Brian Kemp really shut down his Pathways Medicaid program? URL: https://down-ballot.info/would-gov-brian-kemp-really-shut-down-his-pathways-medicaid-program/ Last updated: 2026-08-26T09:00:05.000Z **By Ariel Hart (Georgia Recorder) Published:** August 20, 2026 Patient advocates reacted with alarm this week at the suggestion by the administration of Gov. Brian Kemp that it could end Georgia Pathways to Coverage, his signature Medicaid program that gives health coverage to about 18,500 poor Georgians. Precious Andrews, an advocate who works for mothers’ and children’s health, said she was in shock when she saw the news. “I was like, this is totally insane,” she said in an interview with the Georgia Recorder. The state Department of Community Health said in documents [filed last week](https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/08/14/georgia-officials-say-new-federal-medicaid-rules-threaten-states-partial-expansion-program/?ref=down-ballot.info) that unless the federal government increases its financial support of Georgia’s partial Medicaid expansion, the program is “unsustainable.” The feds currently provide two-thirds of the cost to cover those 18,500 low-income people, the same amount it provides for the state’s general 2 million-plus Medicaid population, old and young. But Georgia wants a special increase to 90% federal support. Washington has previously said Georgia doesn’t qualify. Georgia officials say that quirks in a new federal law change things. They say the law will increase the Pathways program’s patient load not just with more patients, but with patients who are more expensive to care for – too expensive, they argue, for the state’s budget. “The financial burden of this federally-mandated coverage expansion is simply not sustainable for Georgia in the long run,” the state wrote in its application. A spokesman for Kemp, Carter Chapman, said Wednesday that the governor still “fully supports DCH’s efforts to ensure Georgia Pathways remains a national model for other states while maintaining the integrity of the first-of-its-kind program.” “While we cannot speculate on potential outcomes at this time with discussions ongoing” with the feds, Chapman said, “the governor is committed, as he always has been, to ensuring Georgians have access to quality healthcare while maintaining fiscal discipline for the state.” [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://georgiarecorder.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) ## Federal changes would grow Georgia’s partial expansion program The uproar is a result of the passage last year of President Donald Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. That law made massive cuts to Medicaid nationwide and in Georgia. One nationwide cut was made by adding new eligibility requirements for Medicaid enrollment for the 40 states that expanded Medicaid to all their poor. Anyone who doesn’t work or perform certain activities will be kicked off. However, for Georgia, which already did a partial expansion with its own requirements, those new requirements are more lenient. That specific rule is not a cut for Georgia, but a loosening of the rules. In one example, as a partial Medicaid expansion to the poor, Georgia now will be required to offer coverage to low-income parents who care for children as old as 13\. Currently, Pathways covers those parents for kids up to age six. The Kemp administration calculated that enrollment for the partial expansion group would increase by about 100,000, to a total of nearly 120,000 over 18 months. That’s not much more than the Kemp administration forecasted when it first launched the program. But Kemp aides say they’ll cost more per patient. A spokeswoman for the department said the patients mandated for inclusion in the new federal law include more patients in expensive programs like active addiction recovery and [the medically frail](https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/07/28/advocates-puzzled-after-hiv-is-left-off-of-georgias-medically-frail-list-for-medicaid-work-rules/?ref=down-ballot.info). ## Is Pathways legally eligible for more federal funding? Allowing Pathways to expire on schedule at the end of the year would be a major development politically, putting an end to the foremost initiative of Kemp’s first year as governor and his policy response to the singular issue in his campaign to beat Stacey Abrams: dealing with Georgia’s uninsured poor. Kemp created Pathways in a new law in 2019, the Patients First Act. Among other initiatives, it lifted the state’s ban on partial Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, and created work and activity requirements for newly eligible Medicaid members. Such requirements had previously been banned in other states, but they were not banned under the new ideas of President Donald Trump and recent court decisions. The first Trump administration partnered closely with Kemp to develop the programs and make them work. Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Seema Verma, in 2020 flew down to Atlanta to announce her approval in a celebratory ceremony beside Kemp at the Georgia Capitol. She said no one had done more to make use of the administration’s new flexibilities, and shook the governor’s hand as cameras flashed. Under the ACA, if Georgia had expanded Medicaid to all of its poor, it would already get that 90% from the feds for those patients. But federal law says that states that only do partial expansion don’t get the special rate. However, Georgia is making the case that Trump’s tax cut and spending law makes Georgia more like those other states even though it didn’t fully expand Medicaid. And they claim the federal law has created a dire situation for the state budget. Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, said that giving Georgia the extra federal money that goes to full expansion states when Georgia has not done full expansion simply wouldn’t comply with the law. Full expansion under the law means giving Medicaid to everyone under 138% of the federal poverty level, or about $22,025 for a single adult. Georgia only gives it to those under 100% of the federal poverty level. But, she says, maybe the Trump administration could surprise everyone with its take on the law. “From a legal perspective, waiving the match like this would be a bridge really, really far … The lawyers know that,” Alker said. “I expect them to turn it down. But who knows?” State Senate Appropriations Chairman Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican who introduced the Patients First Act for Kemp in 2019, said he’s not surprised at the situation. “I think that’s consistent (with) what you’ve been hearing from the Governor and Legislature since Nathan Deal,” Tillery said in a text message. Deal as governor rejected full Medicaid expansion when it was first created as an option by President Barack Obama under the Affordable Care Act. “Our two biggest expenses are education and Medicaid,” said Tillery, who was a floor leader for Kemp. “Our two largest annual increases are also generally education and Medicaid. Georgians have been clear how they feel about the government – state and local – taking more of their money. The trend on these increases is unsustainable, much less with a change dictating more state funds.” ## ‘So what happens to those 18,000?’ Advocates for patients who raised the alarm about the Pathways announcement made clear that they still would prefer the state to do a full Medicaid expansion as laid out under the original Obamacare law. Andrews, who is director of special projects and innovations at Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia, spoke at a public hearing on the issue Wednesday. Speaking later with a reporter from her personal perspective, she said, “So what happens to those 18,000? Are we now living in a society where – you have to basically sacrifice a certain number in order for a certain number to survive?” Georgians for a Healthy Future has advocated for full Medicaid expansion and released a written statement. “More than 18,000 Georgians could lose the only health coverage available to them, not because of anything they did, but because state leaders are using their coverage as leverage in a funding dispute with Washington,” Laura Colbert, the group’s executive director, said in the statement. “Whatever happens with this request, Georgia should not be threatening to take health coverage away from the people who depend on it.” Before new restrictions in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, fully expanding Medicaid under the ACA would have given every low-income Georgian Medicaid. Estimates have varied over the years but it might have provided insurance to 200,000 uninsured Georgians. The new federal law passed last summer will lessen that number and experts aren’t sure yet by how much. The 18,500 current Pathways enrollment figure comes from state records obtained by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. The Georgia Hospital Association, which represents powerhouse health systems as well as teetering rural hospitals, didn’t comment on the claims that the state’s Pathways program is no longer sustainable. It supports the request for more federal money, though. “GHA supports affordable coverage options for Georgians and continues to support efforts by DCH and the state to expand those coverage opportunities in a cost-effective manner,” Anna Adams, the association’s chief government relations officer, said in an email. Laurisa Barthen, executive director of the Georgia Council for Recovery, said people grappling with addiction recovery and mental health problems need health insurance to climb out. “Ending Pathways is not a feasible solution if the 90% match is denied,” Barthen said during Wednesday’s public hearing. “More than 18,000 Georgians currently rely on this coverage, and many more could potentially gain coverage under the new eligibility framework. So Georgia should be working towards reducing the need for preventable crisis services by expanding healthcare coverage, not creating the possibility that thousands of our friends and neighbors will lose it.” Alker said that if the request is denied, it would mark the end of Kemp’s signature Medicaid program, which has carried huge [administrative costs](https://thecurrentga.org/2025/09/24/georgia-pathways-medicaid-work-requirement-gao-report/?ref=down-ballot.info) compared to its low enrollment. (Kemp has long argued that Pathways has been a major success because it left hundreds of thousands of Georgians free to choose not Medicaid but private Affordable Care Act plans.) Legally, canceling the program would not be hard. It’s officially a pilot program set to expire at the end of 2026 unless Georgia and Washington agree to renew it. “He very well understands the twists and turns behind this, and that this has been turned down before,” Alker said. “So, is this a face-saving way out? They get turned down, and then they can say, ‘Oh, we couldn’t do it,’ – rather than having to admit failure? “That’s one possibility,” she said. “We’ll just have to see.” ### Puerto Rico is rationing water, but many residents stopped trusting the tap long before the drought URL: https://down-ballot.info/puerto-rico-is-rationing-water-but-many-residents-stopped-trusting-the-tap-long-before-the-drought/ Last updated: 2026-08-24T08:59:59.000Z **By Ivis García, Texas A&M University, The Conversation** Published: August 20, 2026 Imagine turning on your kitchen faucet and nothing comes out. Not for an hour, but for two full days. Then the water returns, only to stop again two days later. That is what [more than 180,000 customers](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/puerto-rico-rations-water-48-hours-time-intense-drought-rcna591174?ref=down-ballot.info) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and six nearby municipalities have been dealing with since Aug. 7, 2026, and officials expect 48-hour rotating outages to continue [at least through August](https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/puerto-rico-begin-water-rationing-due-intense-drought-2026-08-06/?ref=down-ballot.info). The official explanation is [drought](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/national-climate-202607?ref=down-ballot.info) that has depleted the [island’s reservoirs](https://www.drought.gov/drought-status-updates/drought-update-puerto-rico-and-us-virgin-islands-2026-07-23?ref=down-ballot.info). July was the [driest month San Juan has recorded](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/national/202607?ref=down-ballot.info) in more than 120 years. The Superaqueduct, a large, [aging pipe system](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/08/06/puerto-rico-water-pipes-are-breaking-taps-are-running-dry/?ref=down-ballot.info) that carries water to the metro area, also [ruptured in June](https://www.sanjuandailystar.com/post/prasa-chief-superaqueduct-repairs-on-pace-despite-extent-of-3rd-break?ref=down-ballot.info), severely reducing water supplies. “[This situation is out of our hands](https://abc7news.com/story/puerto-rico-working-federal-agencies-water-crisis-governor-says/19656095/?ref=down-ballot.info),” Gov. Jenniffer González said in early August as water rationing began. But as a [professor of urban planning](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x45RIOYAAAAJ&hl=en&ref=down-ballot.info) who has spent years studying water in Puerto Rico, I know that a great deal of the problem Puerto Rico is facing has been in someone’s hands. And for many households I’ve spoken with, the announcement changed less for their daily lives than you might expect. ## People were already living without water Puerto Ricans have dealt with [water-rationing before, including during a drought in 2015](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-puerto-rico-is-coping-with-the-worst-drought-in-decades?ref=down-ballot.info) that left 400,000 customers receiving water service every third day, and again [in 2020](https://apnews.com/general-news-c7fec884e19eee4265e3fe401e89fdb2?ref=down-ballot.info). After Hurricane Maria in 2017, parts of the island went nearly five months without dependable service. The water interruptions never really stopped for many Puerto Ricans after that. Residents of one San Juan neighborhood [counted 123 days of water outages over the 13 months](https://www.npr.org/2026/08/06/nx-s1-5922450/amid-severe-drought-puerto-rico-to-begin-rationing-residents-water?ref=down-ballot.info) before the latest rolling outages began. Some brought their unwashed laundry to a protest in the capital in August 2026\. A community leader in another town [told The Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-water-rationing-drought-shortage-901a4855761bb0ad188230960be25d73?ref=down-ballot.info) the rolling outages schedule did not mean much, because her neighborhood had been experiencing water outages for several months. Filling buckets, keeping jugs by the door, checking the faucet each morning – for many Puerto Ricans, that routine was in place long before now. The government-owned water company, Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, or PRASA, is responsible for the water system. But no agency publishes how often households lose service, and Puerto Rico has no independent water regulator. Past engineers’ reports for PRASA have [counted reported leaks and overflows](https://docs.pr.gov/files/AAA/Nuestra%20AAA/Documentos/FY2024%20CER%5FFinal.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), but not how many homes were affected. Much of the information about the latest outages has come instead from residents and investigations by the Puerto Rico House and Senate [into repeated water interruptions](https://www.sanjuandailystar.com/post/prasa-faces-senate-scrutiny-over-water-service-failures?ref=down-ballot.info). ## Losing half its water to leaks Part of Puerto Rico’s water problem is the large amount of water lost between water treatment facilities and customers. Two aging systems are failing at once: large transmission mains like the Superaqueduct, where a break can cut off an entire city, and roughly 15,000 miles of distribution lines that leak continuously. This is not a new problem. PRASA [lost 267 million of the 513 million gallons it produced](https://puertoricobonds.pr.gov/puerto-rico-aqueducts-and-sewers-authoritypr/documents/view-file/i6907?mediaId=1517495&ref=down-ballot.info) each day, close to half, to leaks from pipes before it reached anyone in fiscal year 2024, according to Puerto Rico’s federally appointed Financial Oversight and Management Board, which certifies the utility’s budget. The utility’s fiscal plan includes investing in leak detection, but shows only a 6% reduction in water losses since 2019. Overall, the costs have been estimated at nearly US$100 million annually in wasted water production and over $200 million in lost revenue. The island, which has been battered by severe storms and earthquakes in recent years, relies heavily on disaster recovery funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and [funding from other federal and state](https://www.prfaa.pr.gov/recent-press-releases/governor-announces-major-federal-funding-allocation-to-strengthen-puerto-ricos-water-infrastructure?ref=down-ballot.info) agencies for its water system repair work. To secure those funds, it [prioritizes projects that FEMA will reimburse](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-105557?ref=down-ballot.info) – treatment plants, meters and hurricane reconstruction – rather than the thousands of miles of small pipes where most of the water is lost. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has put Puerto Rico’s need for distribution and transmission pipe work at [$2.2 billion](https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-09/Seventh%20DWINSA%5FSeptember2023%5FFinal.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), far more than the [funding it receives](https://docs.pr.gov/files/AAA/Infraestructura/Documentos/PRASA%20FAASt%20Workplan%5FBYA%20Fourth%20Revision%5F4.6.2022%5Frev%20PRASA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) for water systems or the amount it gets from customers. ## Mistrust of the system In addition to the outages, water quality problems over the years have created widespread mistrust of Puerto Rico’s water system. An [analysis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data](https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/threats-on-tap-drinking-water-puerto-rico-ip.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) found that in 2015, water systems serving the island had more health and other violations than in any other U.S. state or territory. In 2021, researchers analyzing EPA compliance data found that [17 of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23898-z?ref=down-ballot.info) had systems the agency classifies as serious violators. However, that label does not tell a household whether the problem is contamination or paperwork, which is part of why people stop trusting what comes out of the tap. I worked on a research team led by engineers at Iowa State University that studied how Puerto Rican households get their drinking water. In 2022, we [surveyed and interviewed 154 residents](https://doi.org/10.1061/AOMJAH.AOENG-0005?ref=down-ballot.info) in the Loíza, Comerío and Aguas Buenas regions. Sixty-four percent said they mistrusted their tap water. They talked about taste, color and smell, and their own history with the utility. One said the water tasted like the ocean. Another said that, after Hurricane Maria, the pipes smelled of dead animals. A third boiled the water as recommended, got sick anyway, and didn’t go back to using tap water. Some residents said they rely on bottled water when they can, even when the taps are running. One told us she uses municipal water when her bottled water runs out because she has no car and will not keep asking her children to bring more. A few said relatives shamed them if they used water from the faucet. These households are paying for water whether it arrives or not. The published residential rate starts near $30 a month on top of the cost of the water actually used. But buying bottled water is more expensive than tap water, and the [median household income in Puerto Rico is $26,297](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/PR/PST045224?ref=down-ballot.info), compared to roughly $82,000 nationally. The poverty rate is 37.3%. A [separate survey our team ran with 208 older adults](https://doi.org/10.1021/acsestwater.4c00273?ref=down-ballot.info) in Loíza found 86% using bottled water and 71% also drinking tap water. ## Paying for repairs A utility that cannot hold its customers will have an even harder time financing its repairs. The system’s $1.1 billion in annual revenue can’t cover the roughly $1.3 billion in operating costs and $240 to $270 million a year in debt service on about $3.8 billion in long-term debt. That is why the capital program is mostly federally funded. But that federal funding is paid as reimbursements, and the [work has been slow](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-24-105557.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Puerto Rico’s [most recent congressional status report](https://recovery.pr.gov/documents/14th%5FCongressional%5FReport%5Fon%5FPR%5FEconomic%5Fand%5FDisaster%5FRecovery%5FPlan%5F20251231T154128.713Z.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) found it slowed even more after FEMA added new procedural requirements in 2025. In Puerto Rico, the money for repairs mostly exists on paper. Some is obligated but not disbursed, some is committed to court-ordered wastewater work instead, and almost none of it is aimed at the small pipes losing the water. A utility that has spent two decades [under federal consent decrees](https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/puerto-rico-aqueduct-and-sewer-authority-prasa-pollutant-discharge-settlement?ref=down-ballot.info) for breaking Clean Water Act rules and releasing raw sewage into waterways still cannot cover the island’s water system’s actual needs. *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-290044)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Ivis García*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/ivis-garcia-705894?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-290044)*,* [*Texas A&M University*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/texas-aandm-university-1672?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-290044) **Read more:** - [Wildfires can contaminate nearby homes and water systems – here’s what Spokane’s returning residents need to know](https://theconversation.com/wildfires-can-contaminate-nearby-homes-and-water-systems-heres-what-spokanes-returning-residents-need-to-know-289395?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-290044) - [The South’s aging water infrastructure is getting pounded by climate change – fixing it is also a struggle](https://theconversation.com/the-souths-aging-water-infrastructure-is-getting-pounded-by-climate-change-fixing-it-is-also-a-struggle-227672?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-290044) - [Puerto Rico has a plan to recover from bankruptcy — but the deal won’t ease people’s daily struggles](https://theconversation.com/puerto-rico-has-a-plan-to-recover-from-bankruptcy-but-the-deal-wont-ease-peoples-daily-struggles-176118?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-290044) *Ivis García received funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Assistance Agreement No. 84004001, and the National Science Foundation, Award 2302205\. The research was conducted with colleagues at Iowa State University and Bradley University, with local field research assistants in Puerto Rico. The views are the author's and have not been reviewed by the EPA, NSF or the rest of the team at ISU.* ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/1191aecd-c7ad-4d24-ba14-2ab37977aab4.jpg) ### Global finance leaders to be in Asheville for G20 summit URL: https://down-ballot.info/global-finance-leaders-to-be-in-asheville-for-g20-summit/ Last updated: 2026-08-21T09:00:01.000Z **It's Friday August 21, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Global finance leaders to descend on Asheville for G20 summit**,** A Three-Year-Old Tries to Cope Without his Beloved Papi, The race to power AI could reshape North Carolina’s grid — and its communities, University Medical Center firing violated city ‘ban the box’ law, attorneys say, At first redistricting hearing, Mississippians call push for new maps a ‘power grab’, Wisconsin to hold commutations hearing Friday, Alaska on course to approve new campaign donation limits in Ballot Measure 1 **Media outlets and others featured:** Asheville Watchdog, MindSite News, North Carolina Health News, Verite News, Mississippi Today, Wisconsin Watch, Alaska Beacon --- [Global finance leaders to descend on Asheville for G20 summit • Asheville WatchdogFinance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s 20 largest economies are set to converge on Asheville this month for a pair of high-level meetings that U.S. officials say will help shape global economic policy for the coming year — and put the recovery of post-Helene Asheville in the international spotlight. Asheville is the \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-c4e4b972-88e8-4463-9e46-7d060a31a398.png)Asheville WatchdogPETER H. LEWIS![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/tire-place-final-2500-copy-f64653b8-26e8-4a89-a9b2-9aaf0df4153a.jpg)](https://avlwatchdog.org/global-finance-leaders-to-descend-on-asheville-for-g20-summit/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Global finance leaders to descend on Asheville for G20 summit Officials say city was chosen to highlight President Trump’s commitment to Helene recovery in Western North Carolina by [PETER H. LEWIS](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/peter/?ref=down-ballot.info) August 18, 2026 Finance ministers and central bank governors from the world’s 20 largest economies are set to converge on Asheville this month for a pair of high-level meetings that U.S. officials say will help shape global economic policy for the coming year — and put the recovery of post-Helene Asheville in the international spotlight. Asheville is the first ministerial-level finance meeting held outside a national capital or major financial center in recent years. The Trump administration said it chose Asheville deliberately to showcase the effectiveness of the government’s response to disaster recovery, and also to tout the broader economic successes of the administration’s policies. > It’s an honor the state, regional, and local officials say is welcome, but complicated. > “I live out in Swannanoa, and we moved here one year before the storm,” Kit Cramer, president and CEO of the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, told *The Watchdog*. “We’re still driving past areas that were devastated by the storm every day. And yet you can drive through portions of this county and not be aware that anything ever happened.” “So it’s a tale of two cities,” Cramer said. “Parts have bounced back beautifully, and parts are still in need.” Elected officials, including North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, and Republican Senators Ted Budd and Thom Tillis have expressed frustration with both the overall amount of federal aid to the region and the need for frequent appeals, and even a lawsuit, to get the administration to release funds already approved. Officially known as the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Ministerial, the gathering — the exact location in Asheville is for now a closely held secret, although the [Omni Grove Park Inn](https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park?ref=down-ballot.info) is listed as completely booked throughout the summit dates — is part of the G20 Finance Track, the series of meetings that runs alongside the broader G20 process and brings together the finance ministers and central bank governors of the group’s 19 member countries, along with representatives of the European Union and African Union. Asheville will host two back-to-back meetings: - **August 29–30:** A meeting of G20 finance and central bank deputies, who handle much of the technical groundwork ahead of the ministerial session. - **August 31–September 1:** The main event — a meeting of the finance ministers and central bank governors themselves. As many as 21 finance ministers and 21 central bank governors could attend — one of each from the 19 G20 member countries plus the European Union and the African Union (42 people at full strength). In practice, attendance among the principals fluctuates. Beyond the G20 members, these meetings also typically include heads of major international financial institutions (International Monetary Fund, World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Financial Stability Board) and representatives from invited guest countries. In all, counting deputies, staffers and support teams, as many as 500 international delegates are expected to show up in Asheville, generating $1.5 million to $2 million in direct spending to local businesses, said Ashley S. Greenstein, public information officer for Explore Asheville. The selection of Asheville in itself supports the recovery. Assuming all goes off without a hitch, it will demonstrate that the region’s tourism infrastructure can once again support large corporate and international gatherings. But, critics note, there will be implications for traffic, hotels, restaurants, security, and other disruptions of daily life for residents. It’s unlikely Trump himself will attend but given the popularity of his administration in Asheville, there is a high likelihood of protests. In previous Trump visits to the area, the police have established cordoned-off “free speech zones” to keep protesters at a safe distance from the event venue. Typically, security is planned in close coordination between the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State, and the Secret Service, with the likely participation of the North Carolina National Guard (specifically the 105th Military Police Battalion, which is headquartered at Asheville Armory), and local law enforcement. City and state officials have cast the selection as both an economic and symbolic win. North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner called the G20 the preeminent gathering of world economic leaders, adding that the state considered it an honor to be chosen. ### **Touted as a showcase for Trump’s successes** Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Asheville as the host city in February. “The selection of historic Asheville reflects the Trump Administration’s commitment to the revitalization and resilience of western North Carolina, which continues to rebuild after the devastating impact of Hurricane Helene,” Bessent said. But nearly two years after Tropical Storm Helene tore through western North Carolina in late September 2024, the federal recovery effort remains a contested issue. Administration officials say the federal government accelerated aid to the region. State and local officials, courts, and advocacy groups argue that the federal response has fallen short of promises made. Bessent also said hosting the event in Asheville would highlight for the foreign leaders the success of President Trump’s economic policies. “Thanks to President Trump’s pro-growth economic policies, the United States’ economy is reaching historic heights,” Bessent said. That may be true for the stock market; the Dow Jones Industrial Average is closed at a record high earlier this month. But it is also true for the [U.S. national debt](https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/vendor/%5Faccounts/JEC-R/debt/Monthly%20Debt%20Update.html?ref=down-ballot.info), which has grown an average of $7.9 billion a day over the past 12 months and is projected to reach a jaw-dropping $40 trillion while the G20 delegates are in town. As for holding up Asheville as an exemplar of the overall success of the Trump Administration’s economic policies, local business leaders say their experiences suggest much room for improvement. As of this month, multiple polls indicate that only 28% to 32% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 63% to 70% disapprove. *The Economist*’s tracker of YouGov polling in mid-August found that Trump has a net approval rating among North Carolinians of minus 26\. Trump’s net approval rating for his handling of inflation and prices reached minus 44 in August, the lowest it has been this term. Local business owners and realtors describe uncertainty in the economy tied to high interest rates and rising costs linked to inflation, on top of a broader slowdown since the pandemic and Helene. [Affordability](https://avlwatchdog.org/high-housing-prices-low-wages-driving-young-people-away-from-asheville/?ref=down-ballot.info) continues to shape spending habits for both newcomers and longtime residents, making it harder for people to get established given the higher cost of living. At the city level, residents are frustrated over a projected $8.9 million budget shortfall for the 2026-27 fiscal year, with staff warning that recurring expenses are outpacing revenues, potentially requiring spending cuts and property tax hikes. “I think it’s important for the public to understand that there’s a gap in our budget, not because there’s money missing, but because of inflation, because growth hasn’t been as large as we thought it was,” City Councilmember Bo Hess said in May. ### **Nearly $60 billion in damages statewide** The Trump administration’s stated commitment to western North Carolina’s recovery from Helene gets mixed reviews. Helene hit on Sept. 27, killing more than 100 people in North Carolina, including 43 in Buncombe County, erasing entire communities, washing out roads and bridges, closing schools, damaging or destroying more than 9,000 homes in the county, and leaving thousands without shelter. The storm destroyed sections of Interstate 26 and Interstate 40, isolating the city, and damaged water treatment pipes, leaving residents without potable water for 53 days until Nov. 18. Helene caused an estimated $53 billion to $60 billion in damage and recovery needs, depending on the source, making it the most destructive storm in state history. Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration formally requested $25.6 billion in federal assistance, a figure state officials have said would put North Carolina’s federal cost-share roughly in line with the 48 percent average other major disasters have historically received. Then-President Biden agreed to North Carolina’s request for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to cover 90 percent of Public Assistance. The federal government typically covers 75 percent of the cost. The increased federal reimbursement share decreased the financial cost to the State of North Carolina for eligible programs and projects. But Helene was followed in quick succession by Hurricane Milton, in October, and in January by raging wildfires in southern California, both of which took dozens of lives and left tens of billions of dollars in damages. So, demand for emergency funds soared just as the Small Business Association was forced to pause new loan offers. The lapse continued until outgoing President Biden signed the American Relief Act of 2025, which provided $2.25 billion to replenish the SBA’s disaster loan account on Jan. 1, 2025 — three months after Helene. FEMA, too, was under duress. During the final months of his 2024 campaign and in his first weeks in office, President Trump made Helene recovery a priority, visiting western North Carolina in January 2025\. During a visit to Swannanoa, he toured storm damage, sharply criticized FEMA’s handling of the disaster — “FEMA’s turned out to be a disaster,” he said — and argued states should be empowered to manage recovery directly rather than working primarily through the federal agency. He signed an executive order aimed at speeding up debris removal and road rebuilding, and cleanup work in areas like Swannanoa ramped up in the weeks following his visit. But Trump also told reporters during an Asheville visit that he thought the country should “recommend that FEMA go away” and rely more heavily on state-level disaster response. Cameron Hamilton, the acting head of FEMA, visited Asheville in January 2025 with Trump and Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA. Soon after, Hamilton testified to Congress that “I do not believe it is in the best interest of the American people to eliminate the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” A day later, Noem fired Hamilton. Then came the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). By February, the Elon Musk-led task force, with Trump’s imprimatur, had tried to dismantle FEMA along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — including the climate research center in Asheville — the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Education, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). DOGE abruptly slashed funding for the [AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triangle-sandhills/news/2025/04/18/americorps-nc-helene-recovery-cuts?ref=down-ballot.info), which had sent 52 young adults to work with the United Way of Asheville Buncombe County, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity, and other organizations in cleanup efforts. All were withdrawn from western North Carolina. Although presented to the G20 delegates as a Trump Administration success story, the extent of Asheville’s recovery from Helene is still an open question. The core of the ongoing debate is how much federal money has actually reached western North Carolina since Helene, and how quickly. Despite 18 months of pressure from state and local officials, as of March 31, 2026, federal disaster aid to North Carolina totalled $7.8 billion, according to [state recovery dashboards](https://www.wncrecovery.nc.gov/grow-nc-q3qr-2026/open?ref=down-ballot.info) and advocacy groups tracking the funding — far less than the $25.6 billion requested by Democratic Gov. Cooper. The federal aid amounts to just 13 percent of North Carolina’s estimated damage costs — a far lower share than the 50 percent to 70 percent reimbursement rate the federal government has typically provided after other major disasters like Katrina, Maria, and Sandy. While the administration facilitated a $1.4 billion housing recovery grant and accelerated debris removal, it simultaneously reduced federal cost-sharing for debris to 90 percent of costs from 100 percent, at a cost to North Carolina taxpayers of [at least $200 million](https://ncnewsline.com/2025/04/14/nc-will-appeal-fema-ruling-to-end-100-helene-cost-share-as-state-braces-for-tariff-impacts/?ref=down-ballot.info), according to Stein. Harder to calculate, but undeniable, Trump’s tariffs also raised the cost of much of the equipment and materials needed to rebuild houses and infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also initially blocked Asheville’s plan to spend $225 million in Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds because the plan contained Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language, a decision that local leaders contended postponed the arrival of essential recovery assets. Earlier this year Noem’s successor, Markwayne Mullin, rescinded Noem’s policy of personally reviewing all FEMA expenditures of $100,000 or more. Since then, federal officials have periodically announced incremental new funding tranches throughout 2025 and 2026 — including $103 million in April 2026, $116 million in January 2026, and nearly $300 million in June 2026 for public assistance and mitigation projects — which by mid-2026 had pushed cumulative FEMA Public Assistance funding to North Carolina past $2 billion. Stein has taken a more urgent tone, traveling to Washington in June 2026 with the state’s congressional delegation to request more than $10 billion in additional funding for housing, water and wastewater systems, roads, dams, and small businesses — an indication that, from the state’s perspective, existing federal commitments remain well short of what’s needed. Administration officials have framed the pace of disbursement differently than critics. Congressional Republicans representing the region, including Rep. Chuck Edwards, who represents Asheville and western North Carolina, have credited the administration for delivering reimbursements, thanking Trump and Mullin for what they’ve called continued partnership on debris removal, road repairs, and school reopenings. ### Legal fights over disaster mitigation funding A significant and recurring flashpoint has been the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, a pre-disaster mitigation fund. FEMA canceled BRIC nationally in 2025, freezing more than $200 million earmarked for over 60 North Carolina infrastructure projects. North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson sued, and a federal court ruled in December 2025 that FEMA’s cancellation was unlawful and ordered the money reinstated. FEMA did not immediately comply. Jackson’s office said that as of February 2026, the agency had not restarted the program or funded pipeline projects, prompting a motion to enforce the court’s order. FEMA ultimately conceded in March 2026, agreeing to submit a plan to restart BRIC and make roughly $1 billion in new mitigation grants available nationally. A separate, still-unfolding dispute emerged in July 2026, when Jackson joined a 22-state coalition suing FEMA and DHS over new conditions attached to more than $1 billion in Homeland Security and disaster-response grants. The lawsuit alleges the agencies are conditioning funding — including money North Carolina uses for storm and flood response — on states adopting Trump’s policies on election audits, voter-citizenship verification, and cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The plaintiffs argue that those terms exceed FEMA’s authority. ### Where things stand Taken together, the picture reflects two frequently competing narratives. Administration officials and regional Republican lawmakers point to a steady drumbeat of funding announcements, an accelerated debris-removal push early in Trump’s term, and a stated intent to streamline a historically slow-moving federal bureaucracy. State officials, some independent organizations, and advocacy groups counter that despite those announcements, the overall share of promised federal aid actually delivered has lagged well behind the pace set after comparable disasters, while legal fights over programs like BRIC and homeland security grants suggest an unusually contentious federal-state relationship over money local governments say they were already promised. On the one-year anniversary of Helene, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer told the *Asheville Citizen Times* “the thing that is frustrating me the most right now is trying to get the help we need from Washington that has already been approved by Congress.” “We know on our side of the equation, we’re doing everything right. We’re filing all the correct paperwork, we’re accounting for money in all the ways we’re required to, we’re checking all the boxes, we have a team of professionals here that just do disaster management and they are here helping us navigate all of this. But,” Manheimer said, “we’re still finding that we’re having a disconnect with this administration.” With Gov. Stein’s June 2026 request for an additional $10 billion still pending in Congress, and litigation over grant conditions ongoing, the full federal response to Helene — and how future disasters get funded during Trump’s second term — remains an open question nearly two years after the storm. ### What officials hope to accomplish As the country hosting the G20 presidency this year, the United States — through the Treasury Department, working alongside the State Department — is setting the agenda for the Finance Track. Treasury has outlined a set of priorities for its host year, including pushing pro-growth economic policies through modernized financial regulation, building a better understanding of large global economic imbalances, improving transparency around sovereign debt and easing debt restructuring processes, backing growth in the digital asset sector, upgrading cross-border payment systems while cracking down on payment-related fraud and scams, and boosting financial literacy worldwide. Those topics are expected to dominate the closed-door discussions in Asheville, where deputies will hammer out technical details in the first meeting before ministers and governors weigh in and, potentially, issue a joint statement or communiqué during the second. The Asheville sessions are just two stops on a longer 2026 circuit for the Finance Track, which began with an April meeting in Washington, D.C., and will continue with an October gathering in Bangkok before the broader G20 process wraps up in December with a leaders’ summit — the marquee event of the U.S. host year — at Trump National Doral in Miami. The Asheville meetings will bring together officials from some of the world’s most consequential economies — including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus the EU and African Union — at a moment when global debt levels, cross-border payment fraud, tariffs, and the rapid growth of digital assets are all high on the international economic agenda. In a speech earlier this month in Las Vegas — like Asheville, a town heavily reliant on tourism — Trump touted his “no tax on tips” policies and said “I saw polls today on television that say Donald’s Trump polls on the economy aren’t good. The economy’s the greatest economy we’ve ever had by far.” If true, the greatness is distributed unevenly in Asheville. The stock market and asset gains in the second Trump Administration have disproportionately benefited wealthier Americans, while lower-income households face higher prices and reduced benefits — sometimes called a “K-shaped” economy. When the G20 delegates arrive in Asheville, what they’ll see is a recovery partly enabled by federal aid, but “mainly because of the local response, the state, regional, Asheville,” said Matt Raker, executive director of the nonprofit Mountain BizWorks, which facilitated more than $60 million in loans to small businesses. “I think it’s really about how the local community came together to support small businesses, and really individual contributors across the country, more so than the federal response, because there was no SBA money, and then they cut FEMA. Then, when SBA got turned back on, it got DOGEd.” It could have been worse. “FEMA has a stat that after disasters of this kind of scale, you lose about 40 percent of businesses that had to close for some period of time due to the disaster, and then another 15, 20 percent often go out of business within the year after that because they can’t sustain themselves,” Raker told *The Watchdog*. “We are doing way better than that” in the Asheville region,” he said. Cramer, the chamber leader, said the disparate nature of the recovery has led her to ponder: How do you continue to advocate for the things that remain to be done, when parts of the community no longer show outward signs of the devastation? “While we’re grateful for every dollar we’ve received, we still need to receive more, because there are just tremendous needs out there, whether it’s community-wide infrastructure, or it’s support for small business, and everything in between, including housing.” “So I welcome them to take a look at it,” she said of the G20 delegates, “and hope they can see both sides, to see the two cities that exist, and the two realities that exist.” Raker said additional, significant federal investment is required to make sure that the region continues to recover. *The Watchdog* asked Raker, are we talking billions of dollars of additional needed federal aid? “Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah,” Raker said. “I’d say this is a 10-year recovery. And we’ll be two years this September.” Asked if he had a message for the G20 Finance Track delegates coming to Asheville this month, Raker said: “While folks are struggling, on the positive side, 80 percent of people are confident that they’ll make a full recovery. So, the outlook is good. I do think that shows if there was the right-sized kind of federal recovery investment into the region, people know exactly where to put that to get to recovery. So it would make a big difference.” “And people want to recover,” Raker said. --- *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on our* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog/)*,* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/avlwatchdog/?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*TikTok*](https://www.tiktok.com/search?q=asheville%5Fwatchdog&t=1784848453157&ref=down-ballot.info)*, and* [*YouTube*](https://www.youtube.com/@AshevilleWatchdog-WNC?ref=down-ballot.info) *pages. Please submit your comments there.* --- [*Asheville Watchdog*](http://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Peter Lewis is a former New York Times senior reporter, columnist and editor. The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to* [*avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2023-08-01-at-12.50.33-PM.webp) --- # A Three-Year-Old Tries to Cope Without his Beloved Papi by Cora Cervantes, MindSite News August 19, 2026 ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/13123228/image-4-1024x671.png) Jazmin Carino rocks her son, Carlos, at a park in Los Angeles. Her husband self-deported to Mexico City after five months in an ICE detention center in California's Central Valley. **Text by Cora Cervantes. Photos by Julie Leopo for MindSite News/CatchLight** *This story was reported by MindSite News and was produced in partnership with* [*CatchLight*](http://catchlight.io/?ref=down-ballot.info) *as part of its three-year* [*Mental Health Visual Reporting Initiative*](http://catchlight.io/mental-health?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* When the father of pre-schooler Carlos Carino\* was taken into custody in Los Angeles last September by ICE agents and brought to a detention center in California's Central Valley, the changes in Carlos were immediately evident. He refused to participate in circle time at preschool. He cried frequently in school and at home. And he started calling everyone ‘Papi,’ – Daddy in English, but also a term of endearment for children in Latin American countries. *Names in this story indicated by \* have been changed to protect the identities of the people described. A fact-checker and an editor have worked with the reporter on this story to verify the information about each person whose identity was withheld.* For six months, the family navigated the separation as they fought in court for the release of Carlos's father, Miguel Carino\*. They had reason for hope – or so they believed. Carlos is like one of every five children in California – [they live in mixed-status families](https://www.immigrantdataca.org/indicators/mixed-status-families?ref=down-ballot.info) in which at least one member is undocumented; across the country, there are some 4.7 million mixed-status households. As these families cope with aggressive immigration enforcement, a parent's detention can launch them into multiple layers of trauma, buffeted by events they can't control. The consequences are severe: A [report](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.08.8.19?ref=down-ballot.info) by six psychiatrists in Psychiatric News noted that prolonged separation between children and their immigrant parents "can undermine attachment security and increase children’s vulnerability to anxiety, depression, and behavioral problems." Carlos' father had been living in Los Angeles for nearly 25 years, owned a small construction business in his neighborhood of East Los Angeles and employed other workers. Jazmin, his wife of five years, is a U.S. citizen, and Miguel had applied for an "adjustment of status" based on his marriage. Then he was detained during what his attorneys assumed would be a routine check-in with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Enforcement (USCIS). ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/13123318/image-5-694x1024.png) Jazmin Carino has taken on additional housekeeping work to support her family since her husband's detention and subsequent self-deportation. Jazmin, 24, tried to keep the family connected while taking on extra house-cleaning shifts. She and Carlos started making the five-hour round-trip to the Central Valley twice a month. But the visits were painful, and they distressed Carlitos. “We couldn’t hold hands, we couldn’t get up from our seats,” Jazmin recalled. “When it was time to say good-bye, my son didn’t want to let go of him.” But after a while, even these constrained visits seemed to help Carlos. One morning, he arrived at his pre-school wearing a hand-knit beanie that his father had made for him. “He kept it on all day and was happier than he had been,” recalled Ana Soto\*, an early education assistant at the preschool. He wore the beanie daily, as if he were wearing a piece of his father. “One day, I called for him: ‘Papi, come over here,'" Soto said. "He looked at me and said, ‘I am not Papi, I am Carlos.’" To Soto, that signaled a greater sense of security. But in March, faced with the prospect of his likely deportation and exhausted by the brutal conditions at the detention center, Miguel decided to self-deport to Tijuana, Mexico. Jazmin tried to cope, taking Carlos to visit him in Tijuana. Then, in April, Miguel moved further south to Mexico City so he could seek work to support himself. Mexico City is far away, and the family does not have the resources to fly there. Carlos hasn't seen his father in person for three months and it's unclear when he will see him again. Now the family must try to stay connected through video and phone calls, and Carlo's confidence and ease are fading again. When a parent is taken away, a child’s world collapses. Being forcibly separated from family members can cause emotional deregulation and ratchet up their insecurities, says Tatiana Londoño, an assistant professor of social welfare at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs. Her work explores the ways that Latino immigrants navigate and adapt to detention, deportation and family separation. > ***Separation is not merely stressful for young children — it is toxic.*** > > –Clinician commentary, New England Journal of Medicine "Even a small separation from parents, no matter how short, can have a rupture on that child's developmental well-being,” Londoño says. "We are leaving a long-term, potentially multi-generational impact on these families." Children learn that a parent – the person they most rely on – "is no longer my secure base," Londoño says. "They learn that no one is safe for them. They might have issues in future relationships, or they might not be able to discern a healthy relationship from an unhealthy relationship.” Studies show that exposure to harsh immigration enforcement and separation from a primary caregiver is a form of "toxic stress“ that increases future risks of physical and mental illness. Such risks are heightened when they occur on top of "prior exposure to violence, poverty, and family loss in countries of origin," according to the Psychiatric News report. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/13123521/unnamed-16-1024x674.png) Jazmin touches her son's hand-knit beanie — a gift his father made for him while in immigration detention. His preschool teacher noticed Carlos was "happier than he had been" on the days he wore it. A 2022 study in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management looked at the ways that the children of immigrants living near Morristown, Tennessee, were affected over the year following a massive immigration raid in that community. The researchers found "a substantial spike in absences from school in the month of the raid and significant increases in exclusionary disciplinary actions and in diagnoses of substance use disorder, depression, self-harm, suicide attempts or ideation, and sexual abuse." Another study, [published in 2020 in the Journal of Traumatic Stress,](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jts.22576?ref=down-ballot.info) looked at 458 migrant children and adolescents who were seen in mental health clinics and found that 43% of them were diagnosed with PTSD and 24% with depression. Of those, almost half of the children — 49% — said they were experiencing three or more problematic behaviors ranging from academic problems and skipping or acting out in school to substance use, having suicidal thoughts or attempts, or being physically aggressive towards others. In a commentary [published in March in the New England Journal of Medicine](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2601176?ref=down-ballot.info), a team of clinicians and researchers made this point: "For physicians, mental health clinicians, and public health professionals, the evidence is unequivocal: separating parents and caregivers from young children causes preventable, policy-driven trauma with long-term consequences for child health and development. Separation is not merely stressful for young children — it is toxic." Compounding the problem is that at the very moment ICE raids are creating trauma, the Trump administration is also cutting food assistance and other services that help support families in distress. Londoño and other advocates are urging the state of California to help fill the gap by increasing funding to organizations working to meet immigrant families' basic needs so parents can be "emotionally available to their children." ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/13123650/image-6-1024x682.png) Jazmin walks Carlos home from his early childhood education program in Los Angeles. Since her husband's departure, she relies on family and community for support in caring for their son. She also knows her family is far from alone. She has seen families from as far away as Florida waiting to visit their spouses in the lobby of Central Valley Annex, the massive detention center run for ICE by GEO Group, the private prison company. > ***We are leaving a long-term, potentially multi-generational impact on these families.*** > > –Tatiana Londoño, assistant professor at UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs “I recall a woman with six children, including one child with autism and a newborn," Jazmin said. "I saw newborns from out of state visiting and being held by their fathers for the very first time.” Carino hopes she may one day be able to bring her husband back to the United States and reunite her family. For now, though, she is focused on economic survival – and easing the emotional impact on Carlos, who turned 3 in May. His preschool threw a party for him and the family celebrated via a video call with Miguel in Mexico City. To his mother, it was bittersweet: It was Carlitos' first birthday without his Papi. This [article](https://mindsitenews.org/2026/08/19/ice-detention-a-three-year-old-tries-to-cope-without-his-papi/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MindSite News](https://mindsitenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- ![](https://mindsitenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=17608) # The race to power AI could reshape North Carolina’s grid — and its communities by Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News August 18, 2026 > **Takeaways:** > **Data centers could raise electricity costs for North Carolina customers.** > **Amazon’s Richmond County data center project faces scrutiny over 645 proposed diesel generators.** > **Flexible data-center power use could delay costly grid upgrades.** On July 24, nurses and environmental advocates gathered outside the General Assembly in Raleigh to protest the North Carolina AI Leadership Council’s new[ strategic road map for the state’s adoption and use of artificial intelligence](https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/07/01/governor-stein-announces-ai-strategic-roadmap-protect-and-better-serve-north-carolinians-prepare?ref=down-ballot.info). Protesters raised concerns, among other topics, about electricity costs and new energy infrastructure required to power proposed data centers across the state. “Duke Energy has received tax breaks for three data centers that it owns, and the utility is proposing a 15 percent rate hike on its North Carolina customers,” Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway, an N.C. State University assistant professor of African American History and Public History and a [North Carolina Environmental Justice Network ](https://ncejn.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)board member, told the crowd in front of the legislature. A week after the General Assembly protest, Richmond County residents and allies gathered outside the Old Richmond County Courthouse in Rockingham before a public hearing held by the[ N.C. Department of Environmental Quality](https://www.deq.nc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info). The[ hearing](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/events/public-hearing-preliminary-determination-air-quality-permit-applications-amazon-data-services-and?ref=down-ballot.info) concerned separate air-permit applications from Amazon and Duke Energy tied to Amazon’s proposed data-center campus. ![Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway speaks at a podium outside the North Carolina General Assembly as rally participants hold signs reading “Trust Nurses Not A.I.” and a National Nurses Organizing Committee banner.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/DSC04989-scaled.jpeg) Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway, an N.C. State University assistant professor and North Carolina Environmental Justice Network board member, speaks at a July 24 rally outside the General Assembly in Raleigh. Protesters opposed the use of AI in patient care and raised concerns about the electricity demand and community impacts of data-center expansion. “We were sold a story about investment, jobs and progress,” Shaun Ingram said during a press conference at the Rockingham event. ”But now we are looking at air permits, generators, turbines, emissions, noise, water demand and risks to communities that are already overburdened.” The concerns about electricity’s costs extend beyond data-center opponents. Attorney General Jeff Jackson said last month that [Duke Energy Progress understated the impact of a proposed settlement reached with the state over energy rates](https://ncdoj.gov/duke-energy-gave-incorrect-residential-rate-increase-families-to-pay-9-3-more-not-6-8/?ref=down-ballot.info). Duke told regulators that residential rates would rise 6.8 percent over two years, but Jackson’s office argued that residential customers would instead pay about 9.3 percent more. “The details matter here, and Duke got it wrong under oath,” Jackson said in a news release from his office. The protests and permit fight point to a broader question for North Carolina: How should the state meet the enormous electricity demand expected from hyperscale data centers? Critics fear the answer will be new power plants and the pollution that comes with it, new transmission lines, higher customer bills and additional pollution in rural communities. #### **Who pays for growth?** The [North Carolina Energy Policy Task Force reported ](https://governor.nc.gov/documents/files/nc-energy-policy-task-force-2026-report/open?ref=down-ballot.info)that data centers make up 30 percent of economic-development projects in Duke Energy’s pipeline in North and South Carolina but account for 80 percent of their projected energy demand through 2030. All that extra need calls for more capacity to power it. Aside from the rate settlement, Duke Energy Carolinas has asked state regulators to approve a rate increase that, if approved as filed, would raise the average residential bill from about $143 a month to about $168 by 2028 — an increase of about $25 a month, or 17 percent over two years — according to the[ N.C. Department of Justice](https://ncdoj.gov/attorney-general-jeff-jackson-fights-to-save-north-carolina-families-nearly-1-4-billion-on-duke-energy-carolinas-bills/?ref=down-ballot.info). That’s all as Duke Energy Corp. is booming, [reporting $4.9 billion in profits in 2025](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326160/000132616026000007/er-20251231xearningsreleas.htm?ref=down-ballot.info). Amazon has said it will[ invest $10 billion](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/aws-investment-north-carolina-ai-cloud-infrastructure?ref=down-ballot.info) in the Richmond County AI and cloud-computing campus and create at least 500 jobs. Richmond County is a state-designated Tier 1 county, placing it among North Carolina’s 40 most economically distressed counties. ![A group of Richmond County residents and advocates stands outside the Old Richmond County Courthouse in Rockingham after a press conference, holding signs opposing a proposed data center and raising concerns about water, health and pollution.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Richmond-County-scaled.jpg) Richmond County residents and advocates pose for a photo outside the Old Richmond County Courthouse in Rockingham on July 30, 2026, after a press conference ahead of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s public hearing on air permits tied to Amazon’s proposed data-center campus and Duke Energy’s temporary diesel generators. Duke Energy’s applications cover 645 diesel-fired generators: 588 emergency backup generators proposed by Amazon and 57 temporary generators Duke Energy would operate to provide “bridge power” until the site can connect to the grid, according to an N.C. Department of Environmental Quality[ release](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/07/21/reminder-deq-announces-joint-public-hearing-amazon-data-center-and-duke-energy-air-quality-permits?ref=down-ballot.info). The agency’s[ Division of Air Quality](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/07/21/reminder-deq-announces-joint-public-hearing-amazon-data-center-and-duke-energy-air-quality-permits?ref=down-ballot.info) said air-dispersion modeling found that emissions from each facility were not expected to violate health-based air-quality standards. But diesel engines emit fine particulate matter, often called soot, and nitrogen oxides. Exposure to these pollutants can worsen asthma and other respiratory illnesses, especially for children, older adults and people with existing heart or lung conditions. “This is an area that has a disproportionately high amount of people with disabilities,” said Jasmine Crockett, a staff attorney for the[ Southern Environmental Law Center](https://www.selc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “There is a high population of children under the age of five. There’s a high population of elderly people here, and those are the exact people who are expressly impacted by pollution that comes from diesel-powered generators.” #### **Buying time** Some argue there are ways to have both data centers and less demand on the grid. A 2025 analysis by Duke University researchers offers one way to buy time before the capacity and the grid need to grow. The [report co-authored by Tim Profeta of Duke’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability](https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/publications/rethinking-load-growth?ref=down-ballot.info), found that data centers and other large electricity users could help delay the need for some new power plants and transmission lines by agreeing to briefly reduce their electricity demand during the handful of hours each year when demand on the grid is highest. On an average day, the U.S. grid uses 53 percent of the capacity it has,” Profeta said. “The other 47 percent is unused because we don’t build the grid for an average day. We build it for the hottest day in the summer or the coldest day in the winter, when everything is running and we need to make sure the power doesn’t go out.” Profeta and his colleagues argue that there’s flexibility built into the system that would allow utilities to connect large new customers sooner while giving utilities and data-center developers more time to determine what long-term generation and grid upgrades are actually needed. They estimated that this approach could defer some grid-expansion needs by about five years. The analysis found that the existing U.S. power system could potentially accommodate 76 gigawatts of additional demand if new large electricity customers agreed to reduce their use during periods of peak demand by only an average of a quarter of one percent of their annual operating time. That’s roughly equivalent to the annual electricity use of 63 million average U.S. homes. The amount of additional demand the grid could accommodate would increase if new large customers committed to greater flexibility. Lori Bennear, the Stanback Dean of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a professor of energy economics and policy, compared the approach to using the middle seat in a car rather than buying a larger vehicle for an occasional extra passenger. “You have two kids, and you’re driving them to soccer practice all year long,” Bennear said. “Every once in a while, you’ve got to have a third kid in the car. You don’t go buy a bigger car; you just use the middle seat. We get the middle seat open a lot on our grid. But the challenge is how do you shift the load so that you’re using that middle seat more often rather than going out and buying all new cars?” #### **What’s at stake** In addition to finding ways to use the existing grid more efficiently, Profeta said there are two additional ways data centers could reduce the pressure they place on the grid in the short term. One option would be for companies to build dedicated on-site power systems, such as gas turbines or generators that serve only the data center rather than connecting to the broader grid. That could ease near-term demand on the system. The problem, though, is that this approach could also extend reliance on fossil fuels, depending on the technology used. A second option would direct investment toward homes and businesses through rooftop solar, batteries and efficiency upgrades. When coordinated through software as a “virtual power plant,” those distributed resources can act together as a grid resource, potentially reducing peak demand while lowering homeowners’ bills and improving resilience for participating households and businesses, Profeta said. “The appeal of this moment is that the federal policy incentives are not really needed to build these \[virtual power plants\] if the data center companies invest in what is needed (in order to free capacity and speed their path to power),” Profeta said in an email. The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality is considering whether to issue the Amazon and Duke Energy air permits after the public hearing and comment period, which ended on July 31. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/08/18/the-race-to-power-ai-could-reshape-north-carolinas-grid-and-its-communities/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=69340) --- # University Medical Center firing violated city ‘ban the box’ law, attorneys say by Robert Stewart, Verite News New Orleans August 19, 2026 A group of civil rights attorneys is accusing University Medical Center New Orleans (UMC) of violating the city of New Orleans’ “ban the box” law — which prohibits public employers from discriminating against job applicants and current employees because of past arrests or convictions — when it fired employee Devon Jones in April, allegedly due to his criminal background. The attorneys also requested that the city conduct a full investigation of the employee’s termination. The nearly eight-year-old [ban the box law](https://www.nola.com/news/new-law-bans-city-contractors-from-initially-asking-job-seekers-about-criminal-history/article%5F03b11104-25c7-5fda-982a-eb80686b5b1a.html?ref=down-ballot.info) restricts both city agencies and city contractors from making adverse personnel decisions based solely on past convictions. While the law allows those employers to conduct criminal background checks, they have to show that a past conviction would directly interfere with an applicant or employee’s job duties. City contractors such as UMC, which administers a publicly funded violence prevention program for the city, must now sign a sworn statement pledging to comply with the ban the box policy. But in an [Aug. 12 letter addressed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28565326-employment-discrimination-attorney-letter-8-12-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) to the city’s Chief Administrative Officer Joe Giarrusso and circulated to New Orleans City Council members, attorneys representing Jones allege that he was fired from his position as a violence interrupter based solely on his conviction for a 2009 armed robbery. Violence interrupters, whose jobs are funded through the city prevention program, work closely with victims of violent crime to help them address trauma and prevent retaliatory violence. The city and various partners have operated [some version of the violence interruption program](https://www.nola.com/news/crime%5Fpolice/ceasefire-program-to-reduce-street-violence-launches-in-central-city/article%5Fd79c3bf1-fbd1-5c6d-b9cb-e035b4f23e3c.html?ref=down-ballot.info) for more than a decade. For the past several years, it has been based out of UMC. The hospital’s CEO signed a contract earlier this year agreeing to comply with the ban the box policy, prior to Jones’ firing. Jones’ “conviction bears no relationship to his job duties — his lived experience was, by the program’s own account, a basis for his hiring — and he has an extensive, documented record of rehabilitation,” the Aug. 12 letter reads. The letter was signed by four attorneys representing Jones: Ilona Prieto of criminal justice reform advocacy group Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), civil rights attorney and Loyola Professor William Quigley, civil rights attorney Ronald Wilson and Emily Early of the Center for Constitutional Rights. LCMC Health, the nonprofit health care network that manages UMC, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. According to the letter from Jones’ legal team, LCMC relied on a provision of state law that prohibits hospitals from hiring people with certain serious convictions. But Jones’ attorneys say the nonprofit is misinterpreting the law. New Orleans [passed](https://council.nola.gov/news/archive/2018/october-2018/council-passes-ban-the-box-ordinance-by-district/?ref=down-ballot.info) its first ban the box ordinance in 2018, which went into effect the following year, after the [federal government](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/11/fact-sheet-white-house-launches-fair-chance-business-pledge?ref=down-ballot.info) and cities and states across the country [had taken up](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/business/small-business-criminal-record.html?ref=down-ballot.info) similar measures to find ways to ensure formerly incarcerated people had access to work opportunities. The original version of the law prohibited hiring managers from requiring applicants to disclose past convictions on job applications and allowed them to conduct background checks only after conducting an interview with an applicant. In 2025 those protections for the formerly incarcerated expanded. The New Orleans City Council [voted unanimously](https://www.nola.com/gambit/news/the%5Flatest/new-orleans-strengthens-ban-the-box-law/article%5Fd60cd5e1-23d5-434d-93d1-15ddf0d7d2da.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that spring to enhance the ban the box ordinance, by adding language that requires the city and its contractors to consider the relationship between the conviction and the nature of the job and to explain in writing how the employer came to their employment decision. According to the letter, Jones was notified that he was fired on April 22, 2026, and a day later a member of the program's staff informed him that his termination was based on his criminal history. “You cannot discriminate against a person because of a mistake they made in their life 10-15 years ago,” said Ronald Marshall, the chief policy analyst for VOTE. “You have to give people an opportunity to prove themselves, otherwise, you’re abandoning an enormous population of people from mainstream society.” Marshall, who [had served](https://www.voiceoftheexperienced.org/rmarshallbio?ref=down-ballot.info) 25 years in prison, was a major advocate for strengthening ban the box laws and championing the [Fair Chance Amendment](https://veritenews.org/2025/09/12/fair-chance-2025-election-criminal-jobs/?ref=down-ballot.info) — a 2025 ballot initiative that amended the city’s charter to recognize the formerly incarcerated as a protected class. Prieto, who sent out the letter to city officials, said that having passed the strengthened ban the box measures more than a year ago, and approaching the year anniversary of New Orleanians voting overwhelmingly for the Fair Chance Amendment means that city officials now have an opportunity to show their commitment to ensuring formerly incarcerated individuals get a fair shake. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/18161842/3U0A3222.jpg) University Medical Center New Orleans The mayor and the city’s Chief Administrative Officer, Joe Giarrusso, who both voted in favor of the enhancements to ban the box as members of City Council, did not respond to requests for comment. New Orleans City Councilmember Eugene Green declined to comment on Jones’ firing, citing potential litigation. Councilmember Aimee McCarron’s office said the council received VOTE’s letter and has requested a legal review. Other City Council members did not respond to requests for comment. Jones, who sent his [own letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28563404-devon-jones-letter/?ref=down-ballot.info) to the city as well, said that the termination from a career he grew to love in the two-and-a-half years he worked as a violence interrupter came as a blow. “I'm beyond traumatized,” Jones said in an interview. According to Jones, he received an email saying he was no longer working with the organization, and that after requesting a reason for his firing, a member of the program’s outreach staff sent a text message saying that background check law mandated immediate termination. ### ‘If I didn’t pivot, then I’d be like my peers’ In 2009, when Jones was 16, he was arrested for an armed robbery, and he was tried as an adult in 2010\. In October of that year, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor with the Department of Corrections, but he only ended up spending about 12 years in total in the system. He was released in 2021\. Jones said that it was while in detention that he acquired some of the very knowledge that he would need to apply working in violence interruption such as understanding one's emotions and recognizing one's own ability to overcome traumatizing experiences. He said he needed to learn to overcome that past in an environment not conducive to emotional recovery. “If I didn’t pivot, then I’d be like my peers who I have seen, \[who\] lost themselves in the prison system because they feel like the system failed them, and they have to prove a point, right?” Jones said. “So, I took a different path, and in prison, that’s not easy to do because the abnormal is normal and the normal is abnormal, right? Evil is perceived as good, right, and good is perceived as weakness." Jones said that on the morning when he received the termination notification he felt like he was taken back to the moment he was sentenced at the age of 16\. He hoped that instead of seeing him as a criminal, the organization would see him as the 33-year-old man who entered a workforce development program, enrolled in college and developed into a capable professional. In an interview, Jones said his past experiences made him more qualified to work for the violence intervention program. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/18162100/3U0A1538.jpg) Jones said that his past made him more qualified to work as a violence interrupter. For Jones it was through overcoming the experiences of his youth and learning how to understand his own emotional needs that he developed some of the insight to provide trauma-informed care, a [therapeutic approach](https://www.cdc.gov/community-violence/prevention/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) Jones said he was trained in that helps people process traumatic experiences and develop coping strategies to deal with that trauma. For him overcoming the past was a qualification for the job. It’s a qualification for UMC too. According to a current [job posting ](https://careers.lcmchealth.org/us/en/job/JR0037303/Violence-Interrupter?ref=down-ballot.info)for the violence interrupter role, the organization lists [personal experiences](https://careers.lcmchealth.org/us/en/job/JR0037303/Violence-Interrupter?ref=down-ballot.info) overcoming violence and incarceration as part of qualifications it considers for a violence interrupter. The same posting says that according to [Louisiana law](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=964764&ref=down-ballot.info), some convictions, including any conviction for armed robbery, make an applicant ineligible to work in health care. In the letter to the city, Jones’ attorneys point out this state law and argue that it is not applicable to Jones because it applies to health care workers. His legal team argued that they believe Jones’ position as a violence interrupter did not qualify him to be considered a health care worker under that law. “He's not providing health care services. He's a community liaison,” Prieto said in an interview. Prieto also added that some language in the job description has only recently been added. According to Prieto, the job posting previously said background history is not a deterrent to applying for the position. A search in Orleans Parish’s court database showed that outside of Jones’ 2010 conviction, he has a pending court case stemming from an August 2025 domestic incident with a former girlfriend, who he said also worked at UMC. The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office said it is pursuing charges of unauthorized entry and theft of an electronic device. The former girlfriend could not be reached for comment. Jones’ legal team said that his current case holds no bearing on their allegations that he was wrongfully terminated from a city contractor. "It's important to note that the legal system presumes that all persons are innocent until proven guilty, and that applies with Devon as well, regardless of a mistake he made more than a decade ago,” the legal team said in an emailed statement. Jones said he hopes that his search for accountability for his employment termination will ultimately ensure that organizations who are subject to the city’s ban the box requirement will adhere to the law. Jones said he hopes his firing "is highlighted and looked at as a serious matter, to hold people accountable to adhere to these laws that \[are\] in place to help people like myself.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/08/19/ban-the-box-university-medical-center-new-orleans/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=32831&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # At first redistricting hearing, Mississippians call push for new maps a ‘power grab’ by Michael Goldberg, Mississippi Today August 18, 2026 TUPELO *–* Mississippi residents who spoke on Tuesday at the first of several public hearings on redistricting around the state urged lawmakers to not redraw electoral maps, calling the effort a needless power grab aimed at diluting Black political power in a state with a sordid racial history. The Republican-dominated joint House and Senate committee on redistricting kicked off its slate of public hearings in a nearly packed room at Itawamba Community College in Tupelo. Leaders of the committee say the hearings will allow lawmakers to solicit feedback before making recommendations on new voting maps to the full Legislature in a likely special session this fall. The push to redraw maps comes after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in the [Louisiana Callais case](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/29/callais-supreme-court-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info) in May. The ruling gutted part of the Voting Rights Act and, by removing protections for minority districts, cleared the way for Republican-controlled state legislatures to redraw political lines in their favor. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/08/18210734/IMG_0878.jpg) A crowd of residents attended a legislative redistricting public hearing in Tupelo on Aug. 18, 2026. President Donald Trump, who is working to protect a slim GOP majority in Congress in this November’s midterm elections, has pressured states his party controls to redraw maps, and many have already complied. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/21222052/MT-Voters-Voices-Logo-Final.png) In Mississippi, the joint House and Senate committee is expected to do the bulk of the work of redrawing Mississippi’s legislative, judicial and congressional voting lines. But with Mississippi having had its federal midterm primaries months ago, it appears unlikely congressional maps would be redrawn for November's federal election. Only 10 of the 20 members on the state joint committee were in attendance on Tuesday. The room was dominated by Mississippi residents who oppose redistricting. Many of those who spoke said the Callais decision doesn’t require Mississippi to redraw its maps, and that doing so would create confusion for voters and impose a financial cost on localities. They also said hard-won progress to increase Black representation in Mississippi since the Jim Crow era would be eradicated. The Reverend Jeffrey Gladney, pastor of a Church in Shannon, said redrawn maps would “eliminate Black districts” and attack “Black voices that represent the Black community." “If maps are redrawn, they will split neighborhoods, divide communities, take away resources from already weakened communities,” Gladney said. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/08/18210709/IMG_0902.jpg) Resident Jim Newman speaks at redistricting public hearing in Tupelo. on Aug. 18, 2026. Jim Newman, chairman of the Lee County Democratic Party, said the Legislature should redistrict after the next U.S. Census in 2030 rather than rushing to redraw maps at President Trump’s urging as states such as Texas have done. “Y’all are looking for a power grab, plain and simple,” Newman said. “It didn’t have to happen. But the president asked for it, and by God, everybody bends over to take care of the president. And it’s not any different here in Mississippi.” Teresa Roberts said redistricting would impact the social and economic well-being of “marginalized people.” “These are people who need us, who need you, and you are going to take away what little strength they already have,” Roberts said. “Shame on you.” Katie Gilbert said she came straight from work to attend Tuesday’s hearing. She was raised in Tupelo and went to Tupelo High School. She said redistricting would contribute to the "brain drain" flight of young people out of Mississippi. “We wonder a lot of times why we have a brain drain in Mississippi, why a lot of educated young folks leave this state. It’s because of decisions like this that are leaving us in the past,” Gilbert said. “Mississippi has a very dark history, but we do not need to continue on with a dark future. Equitable maps lead to a stronger Mississippi.” Walter Jones said his family lived down the street in Chicago from the family of Emmett Till, a Black youth whose murder in Mississippi helped spark the Civil Rights Movement. He said he moved to Mississippi because of the progress the state had made in overcoming its history of racial discrimination, but he now wonders whether he made the wrong move. “I came down here because things have changed. Mississippi was becoming a great place to stay. People was people. Everybody like everybody,” Jones said. “If this is what y’all want to do to Mississippi after all the hurt and struggles y’all went through to get to where we’re at today, I made a bad decision.” Only one person in attendance, Mike Walker, appeared to speak in favor of redistricting. “All I’ve heard up here today is bashing these elected representatives for what they’re trying to do,” Walker said. “So let me ask you, what color is your soul? It’s a soul thing people. It ain’t Black or white. It’s a soul thing.” Many civil rights leaders, Black lawmakers and voting rights advocates believe the hearings are a pretext for the Legislature moving to dismantle majority-Black districts and weakening Black political power in the state. Democratic Rep. Rickey Thompson of Shannon, who is not on the joint committee but attended the hearing, said he doubted his Republican colleagues would take community feedback into account. “They already have their plans together,” Thompson told Mississippi Today. “They’re just going through the motions.” Republican leaders believe that when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Callais decision, it ended an improper practice of allowing for the consideration of race in drawing political maps. Since the Callais decision, some GOP leaders in Mississippi and Washington, D.C., have called for heavy partisan gerrymandering, including redrawing of incumbent U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson’s district to help oust him, the state’s only Black member of Congress and only Democrat. Cliff Johnson, a University of Mississippi law school professor who is the Democratic nominee challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly in this year's midterms, attended the hearing and mingled with attendees. He said the hearing showed Mississippians didn't want a redistricting process that inflamed racial and partisan divides. “I thought it was very powerful to see people stand in front of a bunch of legislators and ask to have a say. My sense as a lifelong Mississippian is that our diversity is such a strength,” Johnson said. “The notion of having representatives chosen by a cross-section of our population is something that makes us stronger.” The committee is encouraging the public to participate in future hearings. The public can offer comments at any of the seven remaining public hearings, or submit written comments to Ted Booth, the committee’s attorney, at ted.booth@peer.ms.gov. Below is the schedule of the future planned redistricting hearings. Each will start at 6 p.m. - Aug. 27 at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Southaven - Sept. 1 at Delta State University in Cleveland - Sept. 8 at Alcorn State University in Natchez - Sept.10 at Meridian Community College in Meridian - Sept. 17 at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg - Sept. 22 at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Gulfport - Oct. 1 at the state Capitol in Jackson This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/08/18/redistricting-hearing-mississippi-tupelo/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223401/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1186725&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Wisconsin to hold commutations hearing Friday by Natalie Yahr / Wisconsin Watch August 18, 2026 - Gov. Tony Evers reopened the commutations process in April – the first time in 25 years Wisconsin prisoners had the opportunity to request shorter sentences. - The Commutation Advisory Board will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday. The virtual meeting is open to the public with no registration required. - It will stream at [www.youtube.com/@GovCommutations](http://www.youtube.com/@GovCommutations?ref=down-ballot.info) and/or [wiseye.org/live](http://wiseye.org/live?ref=down-ballot.info). - Natalie Murphy, one of 12 people who will speak at the hearing, told Wisconsin Watch she spent two weeks reading through her application before submitting it. - The ACLU of Wisconsin also released new polling this week that shows a majority of Wisconsinities favor some form of clemency for some individuals. A dozen incarcerated Wisconsinites will publicly make their case for clemency on Friday. Those individuals represent a fraction of the people who’ve applied for commutations since Gov. Tony Evers [reopened the process](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisconsin-prison-commutations-are-back-what-incarcerated-people-should-know/?ref=down-ballot.info) in April, marking the first opportunity in 25 years for Wisconsin prisoners to request their sentences be shortened. The Commutation Advisory Board, appointed by the governor, will recommend which applicants’ sentences Evers should commute. Initial announcements said the board would hold its first meeting in June, but it’s [now scheduled for Friday, Aug. 21](https://publicmeetings.wi.gov/view/11a88fd9-3cdf-44f1-8a1e-a7e2e696113c/1?ref=down-ballot.info), from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The meeting, which is virtual, is open to the public with no registration required. It will stream at [www.youtube.com/@GovCommutations](http://www.youtube.com/@GovCommutations?ref=down-ballot.info) and/or [wiseye.org/live](http://wiseye.org/live?ref=down-ballot.info), according to the governor’s office. Among those addressing the committee Friday is Natalie Murphy, who was sentenced in 2016 to 20 years in prison and six and a half years of extended supervision for first-degree reckless homicide and second-degree recklessly endangering safety. Incarcerated at Taycheedah Correctional Institution, she’s spent the last seven years working full time as a certified peer specialist, sharing her own experience and offering a listening ear to fellow prisoners for $1 an hour. “Being able to take the things that I have made mistakes in, or the pain that I have … and show people that there’s hope to get through that, is crucial to who I am at this point in my life,” Murphy said. When she heard the governor’s commutations announcement, she filled out the 17-page application. For two weeks, she read through it every day. “I’d start in the morning, like, ‘OK, does this reflect who I am as a person?’ And then I would tweak it,” Murphy said. When she was ready, she got it notarized and mailed it. At the end of July, she got a letter saying she’d been selected for a hearing. “I was shaking quite a bit,” Murphy said. “I just wasn’t expecting it.” Murphy acknowledges that one purpose of the legal system is to punish people for their crimes by removing them from the rest of society. But she thinks the commutation process shows people that rehabilitation matters too. “If we do not emphasize rehabilitation and second chances and putting faith back into people, it can create a really dangerous and toxic environment,” Murphy said. ## **Poll shows Wisconsinites favor clemency** The majority of Wisconsinites favor some form of clemency for at least some individuals, according to [a new poll](https://www.aclu-wi.org/publications/gbao-clemency-memo/?ref=down-ballot.info) commissioned by the ACLU of Wisconsin. The poll, conducted in March by public opinion research firm GBAO, surveyed 800 registered voters in Wisconsin. Of those voters, 51% support ending or shortening the sentences of prisoners “who meet certain selected criteria” if courts determine they can “successfully and safely re-enter their communities.” Thirty-seven percent opposed the idea. The poll found voters were more likely to support early release for incarcerated individuals who are on hospice or need extensive care in their old age, as well as for female prisoners who killed or attacked an alleged abuser, and for prisoners who have served 20 years or more for a crime they committed as a minor. Respondents also support pardons for a variety of Wisconsinites who’ve served their sentences. Pardons, which Gov. Evers has issued throughout his tenure, officially forgive an offense and restore the person’s civil rights. In Wisconsin, pardons are currently available only to individuals who completed their full sentences, including any extended supervision, at least five years ago. Though these pardons don’t shorten sentences, they can make it easier to get a job, housing or a professional license. Eighty percent of ACLU survey respondents said they support pardons for individuals convicted of nonviolent crimes, and 50% said they support pardons for those convicted of violent crimes. Wisconsin’s next governor will determine whether Wisconsinites will continue to receive commutations after Evers leaves office in January. In April, Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s gubernatorial campaign [told Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisconsin-governor-evers-commutations-prison-election-candidates-democrat-republican/?ref=down-ballot.info) he would rescind Evers’ executive orders on commutations because they allow people convicted of murder to apply. Under Evers’ executive order only those previously convicted of sexual assault, physical abuse or sexual exploitation of a child, trafficking of a child, incest or soliciting a child for prostitution are ineligible for commutations. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who [won the Democratic gubernatorial primary](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/08/wisconsin-democratic-governor-primary-election-results-race-crowley-hong-nomination/?ref=down-ballot.info), told Wisconsin Watch in April he would work with the Legislature to “institutionalize” Evers’ commutations process but that he “would not allow commutations of murderers.” For now, many Wisconsin prisoners are holding out hope that their applications will be granted before any potential changes to the process. On Friday, Murphy will read from the personal statement she was told to prepare, explaining why she’s in prison, what rehabilitation she’s done, what she’d do if she got out and why she thinks she deserves a commutation. Beyond that, she’s not sure what to expect. She doesn’t know when or how she’ll learn what the board and the governor decide. If she doesn’t receive a commutation, she’ll remain incarcerated until her scheduled release date in 2036\. Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s prison population is nearing a record high. As of Friday, Aug. 14, the system held 23,789 prisoners, just 37 shy of the record set in 2019\. That’s nearly 6,000 people more than the system was designed for, according to the Department of Corrections. *Wisconsin Watch reporter Brittany Carloni contributed to this report.* This [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/08/wisconsin-commutations-hearing-prison-sentences-clemency-governor-evers-pardon/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1319861&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/08/Alaska_mg_0.jpg) Voters line up on Aug. 17, 2026, at the early voting station set up in Anchorage's Midtown Mall. Voters reported waiting about an hour to cast their primary election ballots. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) ## Alaska on course to approve new campaign donation limits in Ballot Measure 1 By James Brooks (Alaska Beacon) Published: August 19, 2026 Early tallies from Tuesday’s statewide primary election showed overwhelming support for a ballot measure that will restrict the amount of money that political candidates can accept from groups and individuals. With 377 of 402 precincts reporting by 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, Ballot Measure 1 had the support of 71.5% of participating voters. That’s only slightly less than the 73% margin that a similar ballot measure received in 2006. The limits imposed by that 2006 measure remained in place until 2021, when a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals [ruled that Alaska’s limits on campaign contributions were so tight that they violated the First Amendment](https://www.adn.com/politics/2021/07/30/federal-court-ruling-likely-allows-unlimited-cash-in-alaska-political-campaigns/?ref=down-ballot.info). Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration declined to appeal that decision, and the state’s 2022, 2024 and 2026 elections have taken place without limits on the amount of money that candidates may accept. A poorly funded group called Citizens Against Money in Politics [gathered thousands of signatures](https://alaskabeacon.com/2024/10/19/alaska-lt-gov-dahlstrom-approves-campaign-finance-ballot-measure-for-2026-vote/?ref=down-ballot.info) to put a measure on the ballot. The Alaska Legislature [passed a substantially similar bill](https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/05/20/alaska-legislatures-last-day-action-could-cancel-campaign-finance-ballot-measure/?ref=down-ballot.info) this year, but [Dunleavy vetoed it](https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/07/10/alaska-governor-vetoes-new-limits-on-political-donations/?ref=down-ballot.info), clearing the way for the measure to appear on the August primary ballot. Vote-counting is expected to continue through Aug. 28, the deadline for mailed absentee ballots to reach the Alaska Division of Elections. Barring legal challenge, the measure would take effect after this year’s elections. When enacted, the new law would prohibit political donors from giving a candidate more than $2,000 per election. Groups would be allowed to give no more than $4,000 per candidate per election. Both limits would be adjusted for inflation every 10 years, and they will only apply to state-level elections — for governor, state House and state Senate. Candidates themselves would still be allowed to spend as much of their own money as they want on their own campaign. Federal elections — those for President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House — operate under different limits in federal law. The measure does not affect the amount of money that can be spent by groups operating independently of candidates’ campaigns. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that limiting those groups amounts to restricting their free speech. Also this year, the Supreme Court ruled that political parties may spend unlimited amounts of money in conjunction with candidates for federal office. That decision does not directly affect state candidates but could implicate them in the future. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://alaskabeacon.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- \-30- ### Alabama 2nd Congressional District race could have national implications URL: https://down-ballot.info/alabama-2nd-congressional-district-race-could-have-national-implications/ Last updated: 2026-08-20T09:00:36.000Z By Anna Barrett (Alabama Reflector) Published: August 13, 2026 ## Key points - The contest between U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile and Republican nominee Rhett Marques for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District is likely to draw national attention. - The district was redrawn to favor Republicans after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, and the electorate is expected to have a GOP lean. - However, Democrats say defending Figures’ seat will be a priority and hope resources and a favorable national environment will assist the congressman. Tuesday’s primaries set the contest for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, a nationally-watched race that could help determine control of Congress next year. Voters in the district in southeastern Alabama — redrawn by the Alabama Legislature after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state to use a [map](https://www.sos.alabama.gov/sites/default/files/06-03-2026/2023%20Congressional%20Plan%5FMap.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that it previously ruled racially discriminatory — will choose between Republican Rhett Marques, a Trump-endorsed state legislator from Enterprise, and incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures of Mobile. Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, who was [elected chair of the Alabama Democratic Party on Saturday](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/08/08/i-hear-you-i-see-you-alabama-democrats-elect-bobby-singleton-as-chair/?ref=down-ballot.info), said in an interview Wednesday morning that maintaining Figures’ seat is a priority for him and the party. “We’re going to be very aggressive in this district. I think that this is a very volatile district for us and we’re going to take a lot of resources over here in CD2,” Singleton said. “Not only in money, but in manpower, boots on the ground. We feel like we can win it.” In his victory speech Tuesday night, Marques said it is important to flip the seat in order to prevent the progressive wing of the Democratic party – like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York City – from taking over. “My opponent, who will be coming up in the fall, he will not only prop them up, he will caucus with them, and he’s going to vote with them,” he said. “Make no mistake about it. The Democrats stay together, and that is scary.” > [Rhett Marques wins Republican nomination in Alabama 2nd Congressional District](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/08/11/rhett-marques-wins-republican-nomination-in-alabama-2nd-congressional-district/?ref=down-ballot.info) Figures said in an interview Wednesday evening that there is no basis for that statement of characterization of him or his fellow Democrats. “I consider myself to be the type of member that’s representing the state of Alabama, that’s representing District 2\. What we do every single day is put the people and interests and needs of this district first and foremost,” he said. “Whether they are from our rural areas or whether they’re from our city centers, whether it’s issues to help our farmers or issues to help people who need to keep the hospital in their communities open, that’s what we do. That’s what we focus on, and that’s what we prioritize.” Rep. Scott Stadthagen, R-Hartselle, chair of the Alabama Republican Party, echoed the anti-progressive sentiment of Marques in a statement Tuesday night. “The \[Democratic\] candidates running for congressional seats and their gubernatorial nominee, Doug Jones, embrace the values of liberal extremist states like Massachusetts, California, and New York, while our entire Republican slate stands tall for commonsense, conservative Alabama values,” he said. “The Alabama Republican Party grassroots team stands ready to knock on every door, put a sign in every yard, and put in the hard work required to elect the ALGOP ticket from top to bottom in November.” > [For 1st time in history, Alabama will have two Black U.S. House members serving together](https://alabamareflector.com/2024/11/11/alabama-will-have-two-black-u-s-house-members-serving-together-for-1st-time-in-history/?ref=down-ballot.info) Figures was elected to the district in 2024 under a [court-ordered map](https://alabamareflector.com/2023/10/05/federal-court-selects-new-alabama-congressional-map/?ref=down-ballot.info) that spanned from Mobile to Montgomery to the Georgia state line. The map, aimed at giving Black Alabamians a chance to elect their preferred leaders, set the Black Voting Age Population at 48.7%. Figures’ 2024 win was the [first time Alabama elected two Black representatives](https://alabamareflector.com/2024/11/05/shomari-figures-wins-election-to-alabama-2nd-congressional-district/?ref=down-ballot.info). The [2023 Legislature-passed map](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/06/02/supreme-court-allows-alabama-to-use-2023-congressional-map-in-august-special-primary/?ref=down-ballot.info) that was put in place in May covers the Wiregrass, Montgomery and the eastern part of the Black Belt, and reduced the BVAP to 39.9%. The Cook Political Report [rates the district R+7](https://www.cookpolitical.com/house/race/481721?ref=down-ballot.info). However, Democrats – who are projected to have a good environment in November — have signaled support for Figures. In a press release Tuesday night, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee touted Figures’ [voter-centered approach to lawmaking,](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/08/shomari-figures-says-he-expects-courts-to-maintain-congressional-redistricting-injunction/?ref=down-ballot.info) his efforts to pass legislation for [rural hospitals](https://aldailynews.com/figures-aims-to-support-struggling-rural-hospitals-with-a-new-bill/?ref=down-ballot.info) and his ability to secure funding for counties throughout the district. “Shomari Figures is the fighter that the people of Alabama need in Congress. He’s laser-focused on the issues that matter most: lowering costs, expanding access to health care, and creating economic opportunity,” Suzan DelBene, chair of the DCCC, said. ## Wiregrass turnout boost Tuesday’s turnout numbers across the five special primary elections were extremely low. According to the [Alabama Secretary of State’s Office](https://www2.alabamavotes.gov/electionNight/statewideResultsByContest.aspx?ecode=1001300&ref=down-ballot.info), just 5.24% of eligible voters cast ballots on Tuesday, about 113,000 voters out of a total electorate of 2.1 million. Turnout in the 2nd District was slightly better, with 8.16% of registered voters casting a ballot on Tuesday, but that remained below the 23% statewide turnout in the [May 19 primaries](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/20/alabama-primary-turnout-unchanged-from-2022-but-democratic-leaning-counties-see-gains/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the 11% turnout in the [June 16 runoffs](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/06/26/republican-ballot-numbers-drop-democrat-ballot-numbers-increase-as-voter-turnout-declines/?ref=down-ballot.info). Candidates in the 2nd District expressed concern throughout the race of [low turnout](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/07/30/democratic-vice-chair-urges-strategic-voting-in-august-election-amid-gop-turnout-concerns/?ref=down-ballot.info) and predicted roughly [30,000 Alabamians would vote](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/08/05/one-week-before-primary-al-02-gop-candidates-pitch-platforms-at-barbour-county-forum/?ref=down-ballot.info). In the end, about 42,600 in the district cast a ballot. Turnout in Wiregrass counties was significantly higher than other areas of the district. Three of the candidates were native to the region: Marques of Coffee County, David Matthews of Dale County and James Richardson of Henry County. “Y’all showed out … Coffee County, the Wiregrass, the River Region, everybody came together tonight,” Marques said Tuesday night. > [Democratic voting turnout surges, Republican turnout falls during May 19 primary](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/28/democratic-voting-turnout-surges-republican-turnout-falls-during-may-19-primary/?ref=down-ballot.info) Coffee County had the highest turnout at 10.56%. Marques won his home county with more than 60% of votes, and about 2,000 votes ahead of the candidate with the second most votes. About 9.25% of voters cast a ballot in Dale County, which Matthews won with about 600 votes over Marques. About 8.24% of voters cast a ballot in Henry County, which Marques won. Richardson attended Marques’ watch party Tuesday night in full support of the state representative. With no contested races, Democratic-leaning counties had much lower turnout. Bullock, Russell and Macon counties had the lowest turnout in the district at 3.08%, 2.11% and 1.68%, respectively. Marques won all three counties. ## Map change impact on November With racially polarized voting in the state, Republicans see the new district as more favorable to them because the 2023 map has a decreased Black Voting Age Population than the court-ordered map that Figures won under in 2024. A panel of federal judges ruled that the 2023 map denied Black Alabamians the opportunity to elect a representative of their choosing under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965\. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly weakened that section of the VRA in a case known as [Louisiana v. Callais,](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/04/30/repub/a-us-supreme-court-ruling-hammered-voting-rights-what-does-it-mean-and-what-happens-now/?ref=down-ballot.info) and now requires any challengers to prove intent to racially discriminate. The [2023 map was reinstated](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/11/u-s-supreme-court-vacates-ruling-blocking-use-of-2023-alabama-congressional-map/?ref=down-ballot.info) shortly after Callais. A [special session of the Alabama Legislature](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/08/alabama-legislature-gives-final-approval-to-primary-bills-as-state-seeks-to-redistrict/?ref=down-ballot.info) paved the way for the [special primary election](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/12/gov-kay-ivey-sets-special-elections-for-four-congressional-districts/?ref=down-ballot.info), which [voided election results from the May 19 primary](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/13/alabama-moves-to-implement-2023-congressional-map-as-legal-battle-continues-in-courts/?ref=down-ballot.info) under the 2024 map. Marques was a candidate in the 1st Congressional District under that map and switched to the 2nd district due to his residency. Figures [maintained through the special session](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/07/alabama-lawmakers-advance-primary-bills-as-protests-erupt-in-committees/?ref=down-ballot.info) that he was not worried about his job, but would continue fighting for his constituents. “The opponent doesn’t change the focus,” Figures said Wednesday. “The focus has always been and will always be the people of this district, and showing them that we have a record of delivering, a record of providing resources to this district, a record of you know seeking out solutions for the pain that they’re feeling.” > [Alabama lawmakers advance primary bills as protests erupt in committees](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/05/07/alabama-lawmakers-advance-primary-bills-as-protests-erupt-in-committees/?ref=down-ballot.info) An [internal Democratic poll published in July](https://hub.nationaljournal.com/serving-maine-up-on-a-golden-platner?ref=down-ballot.info) showed that Marques and Figures are in a “statistical tie” among 400 likely voters. Figures raised $1.35 million through July 22 to Marques $1.32 million, according to the [Federal Election Commission](https://www.fec.gov/data/elections/house/AL/02/2026/?ref=down-ballot.info). Figures has spent about half of his cash and Marques spent $1.13 million. Although Marques has Trump’s endorsement, Singleton is confident Figures has a chance. According to polling [conducted by YouGov and analyzed by The Economist](https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker?ref=down-ballot.info), Trump is broadly unpopular with Alabama residents, though he maintains a positive rating among 2024 voters. “President Trump is not going to have to run this race. Rep. Marques is going to have to run this race,” Singleton said. “To have President Trump on his side, it’s a good thing for us.” *The Key Points box was written by Editor Brian Lyman.* - This story was updated at 9:44 a.m. to include comments from U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures. ### Climate change may be making us lonelier: How heat waves and extreme weather disrupt social connections everyone relies on URL: https://down-ballot.info/climate-change-may-be-making-us-lonelier-how-heat-waves-and-extreme-weather-disrupt-social-connections-everyone-relies-on/ Last updated: 2026-08-17T08:59:59.000Z By Fiona Doherty, University of Tennessee, The Conversation (The Conversation) Published: August 5, 2026 **By Fiona Doherty, University of Tennessee** Severe storms, heat waves and wildfires can shut down the social life of a community, [flooding out festivals](https://www.local3news.com/local-news/bonnaroo-flooding-aftermath-scattered-debris-muddy-conditions-thousands-devastated/article%5F7c2b0999-43bf-4d53-8784-f94d347b18a0.html?ref=down-ballot.info), [canceling community events](https://chicago.suntimes.com/environment/2026/07/16/air-quality-outdoor-events-canceled-list-concerts-beaches?ref=down-ballot.info) and [keeping people indoors](https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2026/06/12/what-temperature-is-considered-too-hot-to-go-outside-in-louisiana-heat-index/90510262007/?ref=down-ballot.info). They’re also evidence of how climate change isn’t just changing the environments we all live in, but also impeding our ability to connect with one another. Around the world, social connection is increasingly recognized as [essential to individual and collective well-being](https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721421999630?ref=down-ballot.info). It keeps our [brains active and can lower stress levels](https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.21224?ref=down-ballot.info). During emergencies, social ties can also save lives. Relationships are conduits for timely [information sharing, mutual aid and collective action](https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764214550299?ref=down-ballot.info). When temperatures soar, friends and neighbors share heat warnings, [check on older adults or other community members](https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2026.2649312?ref=down-ballot.info) who may need help, and coordinate community cooling shelters when formal systems are overwhelmed. Yet, the effects of climate change may be [weakening the very social fabric that helps communities thrive](https://doi.org/10.1038/s44360-025-00041-6?ref=down-ballot.info). As extreme weather becomes more common and disruptive, the effects can impair relationships, interrupt routines and communication, and damage gathering places and the foundations of community traditions. As an [assistant professor of social work at the University of Tennessee](https://faculty.utk.edu/Fiona.Doherty?ref=down-ballot.info), I study converging social and environmental crises, including social disconnection and extreme weather. I’ve found that one of climate change’s most overlooked impacts may be its ability to worsen the [continuing loneliness epidemic](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Studies show the amount of time Americans spent interacting with friends and family in person was [declining even before the COVID-19 pandemic](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) shut down a lot of social interaction starting in 2020\. My team’s [recent research in rural Appalachia](https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2026.2695698?ref=down-ballot.info) has found several ways that extreme weather is further hindering social activities. ## Extreme weather keeps people apart Extreme heat has [dominated global headlines this summer](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/02/el-nino-summer-heat-record?ref=down-ballot.info). When outdoor temperatures become dangerous, [people retreat indoors](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000689?ref=down-ballot.info) to stay in air conditioning or near electric fans. This can come with a social cost. “I don’t remember it being this hot growing up,” one 28-year-old social worker told my research team. “People don’t want to leave their house if it’s that hot. People don’t want to go to community events and be out in the community.” Severe storms and flooding can [make travel unsafe or impossible](https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-024-00548-8?ref=down-ballot.info), preventing people from leaving their homes, reaching family or attending social gatherings. These disruptions can erode the everyday interactions that help people feel connected. ## Power outages sever communication Extreme weather can also cut off the communication channels that help people stay connected. Severe storms, flooding, winter weather and extreme heat are all associated with power outages, which can [leave residents without electricity, sometimes for weeks](https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05274-0?ref=down-ballot.info). Electricity failures are often coupled with internet and cellular service interruptions, hindering communication via text messaging, phone calls, social media and email at precisely the time it’s needed most. As one 74-year-old rural resident explained to my team: “We’re so isolated. We do not have any cellphone service other than through Wi-Fi. So when the power’s out, we have no cellphone service … without your phone, you really lose all your connections.” ## The loss of shared places and traditions Another way climate change can weaken social connection is by [altering places and traditions](https://ecoamerica.org/mental-health-and-our-changing-climate-2021-edition/?ref=down-ballot.info) that hold cultural and community significance. I witnessed this firsthand when [Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee hit my hometown](https://www.usgs.gov/publications/floods-2011-new-york?ref=down-ballot.info) of Cherry Valley, New York, in 2011\. After floodwaters broke the dike, a treasured community place known as “the reservoir” – a small lake where families swam and picnicked – was emptied, leaving our rural community without one of its few gathering spaces. In my team’s Appalachian study, residents described how an extreme drought paired with prolonged heat affected places where people gather, share traditions and maintain [connections across generations](https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2025.2596952?ref=down-ballot.info). Water levels in lakes and rivers dropped too low for recreation, wildfires swept through the Wayne National Forest, and crop losses meant fewer of the region’s beloved pawpaw fruit when the annual [Ohio Pawpaw Festival](https://ohiopawpawfest.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) arrived. A 68-year-old resident told us: “I look around and it’s just absolutely horrible. Our streams have gone dry. I had a friend drop off some pawpaws the other night and pitiful … nothing like what normally drops. It’s really bad and I suspect this is going to continue. We’ve got to figure something out.” This kind of degradation of cherished places and traditions can threaten shared experiences that help communities stay connected. ## These disaster often overlap These fractures of social connection often overlap as [communities face increasingly frequent co-occurring weather events](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chapter/chapter-11/?ref=down-ballot.info). A severe storm, for instance, may trigger flooding and power outages during a heat wave, disrupting transportation and communication during dangerously hot temperatures. Over time, frequent and consecutive weather hazards can weaken relationships by limiting mobility and social engagement. People who are already socially isolated, including older adults and those living in rural areas or lacking reliable transportation and internet access, are [often most vulnerable](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-95408-w?ref=down-ballot.info). Climate change and extreme weather can [leave them even more isolated](https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196%2823%2900216-4?ref=down-ballot.info). ## Keeping social connection amid disasters As global temperatures rise, driven in large part by the burning of fossil fuels, [climate change increasingly affects daily life](https://coast.noaa.gov/states/fast-facts/climate-change.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Social connection is crucial, both for responding to extreme weather and for working together to help the entire community adapt to a changing climate. One [promising way forward](https://doi.org/10.1017/S1468109922000366?ref=down-ballot.info) is for cities and counties to invest in community hubs, such as public libraries, or create new gathering spaces [across communities](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2025.107108?ref=down-ballot.info). These spaces can bolster social connection year-round by hosting inclusive [lifelong learning activities](https://doi.org/10.1080/24750158.2026.2630131?ref=down-ballot.info) while also serving as [cooling shelters and climate resilience hubs](https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2024.2343670?ref=down-ballot.info), providing resources to help residents prepare for disasters, [phone-charging stations when power goes out elsewhere](https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2026.2695698?ref=down-ballot.info), and an internet connection. In an era of accelerating climate disruption, social connection may be a community’s greatest asset, and yet one of its most fragile resources to protect. *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-288678)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Fiona Doherty*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/fiona-doherty-2549509?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-288678)*,* [*University of Tennessee*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tennessee-688?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-288678) **Read more:** - [Repeated storms are turning disaster recovery into a way of life, and leaving communities facing disaster fatigue](https://theconversation.com/repeated-storms-are-turning-disaster-recovery-into-a-way-of-life-and-leaving-communities-facing-disaster-fatigue-287147?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-288678) - [If FEMA didn’t exist, could states handle the disaster response on their own?](https://theconversation.com/if-fema-didnt-exist-could-states-handle-the-disaster-response-on-their-own-248758?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-288678) - [When disasters fall out of the public eye, survivors continue to suffer – a rehabilitation professional explains how sustained mental health support is critical to recovery](https://theconversation.com/when-disasters-fall-out-of-the-public-eye-survivors-continue-to-suffer-a-rehabilitation-professional-explains-how-sustained-mental-health-support-is-critical-to-recovery-260781?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-288678) *Fiona Doherty received funding from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, The Women’s Place at The Ohio State University, the College of Social Work PhD Program at The Ohio State University, and Grand Challenges for Social Work for the research mentioned in this article.* ### NC lawmakers look into Rocky Mount family’s death after city cut off electricity URL: https://down-ballot.info/nc-lawmakers-look-into-rocky-mount-familys-death-after-city-cut-off-electricity/ Last updated: 2026-08-14T09:00:59.000Z **It's Friday August 14, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** NC lawmakers look into Rocky Mount family’s death after city cut off electricity**,** State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom is taking U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ place on the NC-11 ticket, Thanks to new evidence, Durham man cleared in robbery after serving time, Civil rights leaders sound alarm over city’s potential application for grant from Trump’s Justice Dept, New Study: Black Lung Disease Rate in Appalachia Is the Worst in 50 Years as Coal Miner Protections Stall, What It’s Like in Prison Just Miles Away From Washington State’s Destructive Fires **Media outlets and others featured:** NC Newsline, NC Local, Carolina Public Press, Verite News, Public Health Watch, Prison Journalism Project --- ## NC lawmakers look into Rocky Mount family’s death after city cut off electricity By Laura Leslie (North Carolina Newsline) Published: August 10, 2026 North Carolina state lawmakers are asking Rocky Mount officials for answers after a family of three was found dead in their mobile home not long after their electricity was cut off due to an unpaid bill. The family was [reportedly](https://www.wral.com/news/investigates/rocky-mount-deaths-utility-billing-questions-august-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) using a generator in the home, according to relatives. Assistant city manager C J. Jordan told Newsline Monday the investigation is still ongoing and the state medical examiner has not yet released an official cause of death for Kenny and Tracey Swann and Mahala Scurlock. The three were found dead on Aug. 3. Relatives told local news outlets that the Swanns offered the city utility a partial payment to try to avoid having their power cut off, but city policy requires full payment or a plan to pay the entire balance within three months to prevent disconnection, so the city refused the family’s offer. > I would hope that we would dream of a world where no one dies simply because they're behind on their energy bill. > **– N.C. Sen. Natalie Murdock, D-Durham** Sen. Natalie Murdock said hearing about the tragedy “honestly gave me chills.” Murdock, D-Durham, and Sen. DeAndrea Salvador, D-Mecklenburg, filed a bill earlier this year that would ban utility companies from shutting off power for nonpayment during periods of high heat. “I would hope that we would dream of a world where no one dies simply because they’re behind on their energy bill,” Murdock said. “That’s just not acceptable.” [Senate Bill 1027](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/s%201027?ref=down-ballot.info) was never given a hearing by Republican legislative leaders, and no Republicans signed onto the measure. Unlike in many North Carolina communities, electricity in Rocky Mount is supplied by a city-owned utility. The utility, which handles water, gas and trash as well as power, already charges higher prices than other utility service providers. It has had problems with billing mistakes and delays that have left some city customers owing thousands of dollars, facing disconnection, and unable to contact the utility by phone for help. The utility delayed shutting off power for several months, but recently resumed disconnections. A federal program known as LIHEAP — the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program — is available to help low-income people pay their utility bills. But Murdock said the program is cumbersome for people to navigate, and its funding has been reduced under the Trump administration. She said the Swanns’ case illustrates the growing need for help. “When you simply do not have the money when it is extremely cold or extremely hot, and you have these cut-offs, it could literally cost people their lives,” Murdock said. “Now you have three human beings who are no longer with us.” Rep. Allen Chesser, R-Nash, represents part of Rocky Mount. He declined to be interviewed for this story, but said in a statement he’s been in contact with city leaders about the deaths. “The investigation is ongoing so I will resist the urge to speculate before it is complete,” Chesser said, adding that his prayers are with the Swann family. Chesser said Rocky Mount’s city manager and mayor have told him they are “in the process of reviewing how residents actually experience the utility billing process — not just what the written policy provides, but whether a customer in trouble can reach a person, understand their options, and get on an arrangement in time for it to matter.” “They’re evaluating their procedures against best practices to build in more flexibility where it’s needed, and my office will be following up to check on the progress,” Chesser wrote. > [Sweating that next electric bill? NC Senate Democrats say these bills could help.](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/06/25/sweating-that-next-electric-bill-nc-senate-democrats-say-these-bills-could-help/?ref=down-ballot.info) Murdock said she doesn’t understand why the family’s attempt to make a partial payment wasn’t enough to forestall disconnection. “We know that there are folks that are operating in good faith. They simply don’t have it,” Murdock said. “They’re making decisions between buying groceries, paying for their medication, paying for increased healthcare, or skipping debt because they know they have a power bill that they can’t afford.” “When you get to where bills are $1,000 plus in arrears, you’ve got to work with folks because it will take them a long time to dig themselves out of that hole,” she added. In the meantime, Murdock said she plans to follow up with the city and utilities to look for solutions to the larger problem of rising energy bills in a state that experiences hotter summers every year. “I will be going directly to the utility, following up with these co-ops to see what can be done, and that includes Duke Energy, I will be asking them what else can we do to assist low-income ratepayers that just simply cannot afford to keep up,” Murdock said. “We just can’t leave them hanging.” [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://ncnewsline.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # State Rep. Jennifer Balkcom is taking U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ place on the NC-11 ticket. Here’s what that means for her state House seat. by Lilly Knoepp, NC Local August 11, 2026 There is a new candidate on the November ballot vying to represent the 11th congressional district in Congress. On Monday night, Republicans shared that Jennifer Balkcom, who has served two terms representing the 117th House district in the North Carolina General Assembly, will replace U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards on the ballot. “I’m blessed to receive the Republican nomination for the 11th Congressional District. Western North Carolina is where I was born, raised, and chose to raise my own family,” Balkcom said in a press release after the decision. “It has been an incredible honor to fight for Henderson County in Raleigh, and I will take that fight to Washington and work every single day to make life more affordable for working families, improve community safety, support our farmers, and ensure we have the resources we need to continue to recover from Hurricane Helene.” Edwards [announced](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/05/edwards-out-nc11-new-candidate-november-election/?ref=down-ballot.info) he would not continue his re-election campaign following an ethics committee investigation which alleged sexual harassment and a toxic work environment. He trailed his challenger, Democrat Jamie Ager, three-to-one in fundraising. Despite the fundraising advantage, pundits expected a tough race for the Republican-leaning 11th district which covers fifteen and a half counties, an area bigger than the state of Rhode Island. Before the vote, [Balkcom wrote in an August 9 statement](https://x.com/JenBalkcom/status/2086639070113853469?s=20&ref=down-ballot.info) that it was time for her to step up. “I hadn’t planned to go to Washington. But I’ve learned throughout my life that when your community needs you, you don’t sit on the sidelines; you step up,” [Balkcom](https://x.com/JenBalkcom/status/2086639070113853469?s=20&ref=down-ballot.info), a mortgage loan officer, said. Her voter registration showed Balkcom voted in Democratic primaries until 2016\. She addressed the change in her statement Monday evening. “Like many Americans, the Democrat Party left me behind when they abandoned their values and embraced extremism. We’re seeing that extremism play out across the country, as their party nominates radical socialists who want to raise taxes, open our borders, and do away with our way of life,” Balkcom said in her statement. “We must prevent that radical agenda from reaching our government, and that starts right here in the Eleventh District.” In the state House, Balkcom advocated for parents’ rights, Helene recovery and school choice. She was the primary sponsor on bills including [Back the Blue Pay Act](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H42?ref=down-ballot.info), and the [Sentence Enhancement/Immigration Related Crimes](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H261?ref=down-ballot.info) measure. She also sponsored the [Women’s Safety and Protection Act](https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewBillDocument/2025/3821/0/DRH40376-NB-4?ref=down-ballot.info) which defined biological sex and gender and included specifications such as legally requiring the sex on a person’s drivers license to match their birth certificate. ### **How was Balkcom chosen?** The NC-11 GOP committee that selected Balkcom included 61 representatives from each county GOP party in NC-11\. [Analysis](https://chriscooperwcu.substack.com/p/catching-up-on-a-hell-of-a-week-in) of the committee members showed the majority were from Buncombe County, the county with the largest population in the district. A similar process happened earlier this year when [Rep. Mike Clampitt died,](https://nclocal.org/2026/03/23/what-happens-when-a-legislator-dies-during-his-term/?ref=down-ballot.info) and Republican leaders selected [current-Rep. Anna Ferguson](https://nclocal.org/2026/04/16/nc-legislatures-newest-member-first-enrolled-tribal-member/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Representative Jennifer Balkcom is exactly the kind of leader Western North Carolina needs fighting for us in Washington,” Merry Guy, the 11th District’s Republican chair, told [the News & Observer.](https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article316827479.html?taid=6a7a674db69cf70001ea9c79&utm%5Fcampaign=trueanthem&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fsource=twitter) “She understands the people and communities of this district, and she is ready to stand up for our families, protect our values, and fight for the issues that matter most to Western North Carolina.” [Recent campaign finance reporting](https://avlwatchdog.org/democrat-ager-reports-a-nearly-9-to-1-fundraising-advantage-over-edwards-in-republican-leaning-11th-district/?ref=down-ballot.info) showed Edwards with less than $1 million funding, trailing Ager who raised more than $3 million. The Edwards campaign is not required to move the funds to Balkcom’s campaign. Edwards did not respond to questions about the funding. In her race to keep her seat in the state House, Balkcom’s campaign [showed](https://www.ncsbe.gov/campaign-finance/reporting-schedules/state-and-county-reporting-schedule?ref=down-ballot.info) almost $68,000 cash on hand, with $55,500 dollars from Balkcom’s personal loans. ### **What happens in NC-117?** Balkcom can finish her term in the state House while she campaigns for higher office. Because she won the Republican primary for her state seat, [state law](https://ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter%5F163/GS%5F163-114.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) requires the district executive committee of the political party - in this case Henderson County - to appoint another candidate to fill the vacancy. According to state law, the committee must make its selection at least 75 days before the general election, which would be August 20. A few names of Republicans are already being floated to take the NC-117 spot. Chris Wilson who lost to Balkcom in the primary could revive his campaign. Edneyville farmer Linda Odom Pryor declared her desire for the candidacy[ in a social media post](https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db5oOP6RUL9/?ref=down-ballot.info) on Tuesday morning. Former Henderson County manager Steve Wyatt could also be under consideration. The Republican candidate will face Democrat Lynne Russo. A relative newcomer to WNC, Russo has been campaigning with Jamie Ager and his brother, N.C. House Rep. Eric Ager, [particularly around the rebuilding of Bat Cave and Gerton after Hurricane Helene](https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2026/07/01/bat-cave-gerton-hurricane-helene-recovery-nut-gorge/90743283007/?ref=down-ballot.info). Following the Balkcom announcement, Russo [shared on social media](https://www.instagram.com/p/Db5h6GhlZB4/?igsh=MTIyYXVqNjZwcml1Mw%3D%3D&ref=down-ballot.info) that she is ready to run regardless of the GOP’s pick. “While Republicans scramble to choose a new candidate and build a campaign, we'll keep doing exactly what we've been doing: showing up, listening, and working for the people of Western North Carolina,” Russo wrote. “We are organized. We are ready. And we have an extraordinary opportunity to flip this seat in November.” Russo received a $500 fine for failure to submit campaign finance reports on time at the end of May, according to documents from the State Board of Elections. The campaign submitted a waiver to dispute the claim that was denied by the State Board of Elections in July. In the most recent report filed in July, Russo's campaign had almost $22,000 in cash on hand with about $38,000 coming from individual campaign contributions. There are no personal loans listed in the report. ### **State Republican leaders rally behind Balkcom** With less than 90 days before the election, North Carolina Republicans are rallying behind Balkcom as she kicks off her campaign. N.C. House Speaker Destin Hall endorsed Balkcom on Monday afternoon before the committee meeting. “Jennifer is a principled conservative, a tireless advocate for her district, and a leader who gets things done,” Hall [wrote in a statement](https://x.com/ncspeakerhall/status/2086901893763150135?s=20&ref=down-ballot.info). “I know she’ll take that same determination to DC and fight for the people of WNC. She’s the right person at the right time, and she will win in November.” U.S. Sen. Ted Budd endorsed Balkcom on Monday evening. “Jennifer Balkcom fights every day for the people of WNC, whether it’s disaster recovery, supporting farmers, or standing up for women & girls. I’m endorsing Jennifer because she’ll bring the values & strength of WNC to D.C., work to grow our economy, & always stand up for NC-11,” Budd wrote in a [statement](https://x.com/TedBuddNC/status/2086966166115815694?s=20&ref=down-ballot.info). Following Balkcom’s announcement, the National Republican Congressional Committee also sent out a statement in support of her campaign. “Congratulations to Jennifer Balkcom! As a North Carolina State Representative, Jennifer is ready to hit the ground running and deliver results for Western North Carolina. In Congress, Jennifer will help Republicans deliver a strong economy, support North Carolina farmers, and maintain a secure border,” NRCC Spokesman Reilly Richardson said in a statement. This [article](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/11/new-nc-11-candidate-for-congress-means-new-republican-candidate-117/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [NCLocal](https://nclocal.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://nclocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cropped-NCLocal_Favicon_48px-1-150x150.png?crop=1) ![](https://nclocal.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=9130&ga4=G-ZYXQJ6BNB9) --- # Thanks to new evidence, Durham man cleared in robbery after serving time. by Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press August 13, 2026 **Anthony Tyrone Brown** went on trial for armed robbery in October 2014 following an incident at a dollar store in Durham several months prior. Brown always insisted he was innocent, but based on the evidence available at the time he was convicted by a jury and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. He was released in February 2021\. Ever since his initial conviction, Brown has been working with the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence to try and clear his name. After filing motion after motion for years without success, newly discovered evidence — a previously unidentified fingerprint — has completely changed the game. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** This new evidence led the court this month to vacate Brown’s conviction and dismiss the original charge against him. However, the case brings to light potential issues with how agencies like the Durham Police Department are handling biological evidence under the existing state statute. ### What happened? Just before 7 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2014, a Black man was captured on a surveillance camera walking near the checkout lanes of a dollar store on Guess Road in Durham. He got the attention of an employee, **Brittany Evans**, who came over to the checkout area to help him, according to later court records. After placing a pack of gum on the conveyor belt at the checkout, the man made Evans aware that he had a gun and demanded the money from the register. **Kristin Hunt**, an assistant manager, was called over by Evans to help open the register. Once it was opened, Hunt put the money in a plastic bag and the man grabbed it before leaving the store, the May 2025 motion said. Officers from Durham police responded a little after 7 p.m. and talked to the employees about what they saw. Both had somewhat similar descriptions of the suspect, with Hunt describing him as “stocky,” while Evans described him as “pudgy in the face.” The incident report described the man as a “Black male, age 35-45, height 6' to 6'2", weighing 200 to 220 Ibs., with a muscular build,” the May 2025 motion said. Officers pulled eight fingerprints from the crime scene, seven of those coming from the front doors and one from the pack of gum the suspect picked up, the May 2025 motion said. A match to Brown was made six days later from a left palm print on one of the doors, the May 2025 motion said. Following this, officers put together a photo lineup of seven Black men — including Brown — and presented it to the store employees. Evans and Hunt both reviewed the photos twice, but while Evans was ultimately unable to identify the suspect, Hunt only identified Brown after choosing someone else first. Even then, she only had “80% confidence” it was Brown and said “he didn’t have facial hair when he came in,” since Brown had a full beard in the lineup photo, the May 2025 motion said. Brown also had this full beard in an arrest photo for unrelated charges a few days after the store robbery. In addition, the described weight and height range of the suspect from the incident report was different from Brown’s, the May 2025 motion said. On February 6, 2014, Brown was arrested for the store robbery and the robbery of another convenience store, the May 2025 motion said. That October, Brown was tried for both armed robbery charges, never faltering in his belief that he was innocent and insisted “he worked a full-time job and owned a $40,000 car and did not need to rob dollar stores.” He pleaded not guilty to the charges, despite the possibility of lesser ones had he taken a deal, the May 2025 motion said. While he was cleared in the other robbery, the jury ultimately found him guilty of the one at the [dollar store](https://carolinapublicpress.org/64285/family-dollar-split-dollar-tree-nc-outlook/?ref=down-ballot.info), the case in which prosecutors presented the left palm print match and Hunt’s identification of Brown as the strongest evidence against him, the May 2025 motion said. However, the fact still remained that Evans never identified Brown as the robber and even said he was a regular shopper at the store, the May 2025 motion said. **Christine Mumma**, executive director at NCCAI who has also been representing Brown, said he ended up serving seven years in prison before he was released for good behavior. Ever since his conviction, Brown has submitted motions to try and appeal his conviction to no avail. Before he was sentenced, the motion described Brown making one final plea to the court: “It wasn't me, Your Honor. I don't know why she said it was me, but I had a full-time job and custody of my son,” he said. “I worked there all the time. I don't understand. I went to the store all the time. Thank you, sir.” ### New evidence At one point, after a string of unsuccessful motions by Brown, Durham police became aware of “deficiencies” in the work of **Clinton Babb**, one of the department’s latent print examiners at the time, according to a July 2025 motion. He worked for Durham police from December 2013 to June 2016 and was the same examiner that pulled prints the day of the dollar store robbery, an October 2025 order said. [Carolina Public Press](https://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) reached out to Durham Police to ask how they came to question Babb’s work, but the department declined to comment at this time. Mummasaid the department sent more than 2,000 of Babb’s cases to independent examiners to be reviewed. The review revealed instances where Babb claimed prints “did not have evidentiary value,” yet another examiner said otherwise of those same prints, the July 2025 motion said. A finding of “no evidentiary value” basically means there’s “not enough detail to compare to someone to identify them,” Mumma said. In the dollar store case, Babb had described the print from the pack of gum and four other prints from the scene as having “no evidentiary value,” the July 2025 motion said. While Mumma acknowledged there wasn’t enough detail on the print from the gum for an identification, there was enough for an exclusion. “Had they looked at that print, it would show that there was a whorl pattern,” she said. “Anthony Brown does not have a whorl pattern.” This could have served as “powerful evidence of his innocence,” the July 2025 motion said. Even more frustrating was that when Durham police sent Babb’s cases off to be reviewed, they only included cases that were still unsolved, Mumma said. “They didn't care if somebody had been convicted based on his bad work,” she said. “They only cared if someone hadn't been convicted.” In March 2026, Brown’s counsel requested the full 2014 fingerprint database search included in Babb’s report, a June 2026 motion said. The Durham Police’s counsel responded two weeks later and said they didn’t have that information, nor did they believe they still needed to have it. They didn’t provide a status on the prints in the database when asked either, the motion said. At that point, Brown’s counsel reached out to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, which is in charge of the SAFIS fingerprint database. They were able to confirm Brown’s prints were still there and that Durham police had even accessed the prints at the end of March, the June 2026 motion said. A motion for discovery was filed by Brown’s counsel on April 15, 2026, to try and gain access to digital copies of the three prints that were still being kept in the database, as well as other materials, but the motion was met with opposition. Even so, once it became an order from the court, Durham Police agreed to run the prints through the database for comparison and provide the report to Brown’s counsel, the June 2026 motion said. That report would change everything. Released on June 2, it revealed that one of the previously unidentified prints from the robbery matched with another man. Not only that, an analyst noted the match to him was stronger and of better quality than that of Brown’s print match, the June 2026 motion said. Because no police agency has publicly identified this person as a suspect in the dollar store robbery, CPP is not naming him at this time. In 2009, this man was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. He is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 235 pounds — much closer to eyewitnesses’ description of the dollar store robber, the June 2026 motion said. Why didn’t this individual pop up until now? The report indicated that although Babb uploaded the prints he collected to the database back in 2014, he never actually performed a search like he said he did, the June 2026 motion said. At the very least, this discovery points to this man as “a more likely suspect than Mr. Brown,” the June 2026 motion said. If the prints were run in 2014, the match to this other individual would have been discovered and “provided an important investigative avenue for law enforcement,” the motion said. Armed with this new information, Brown filed yet another motion on June 26 to have his conviction vacated and his charge dismissed. This time, the Court had a different response. “In summary, the newly discovered evidence of fingerprints other than those of the defendant and an updated analysis present a reasonable probability that someone else could have participated in or was in fact the individual who committed the offense,” the court said in its response on July 20\. Ultimately, Brown’s conviction was vacated and his charge was dismissed, according to a consent order filed on Aug. 4. “Being cleared after seven years is something I prayed for and hoped for every single day. It’s an overwhelming feeling of relief, gratitude, and peace to finally have my name cleared,” Brown said in a statement to CPP. “At the same time, it’s emotional because no decision can give me back the years I lost or erase everything my family and I endured.” ### Problematic evidence handling statute [G.S.§ 15A‑268](https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter%5F15a/GS%5F15a-268.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) is the existing statute that covers how biological evidence in a criminal case should be handled. As the statute reads now, whenever evidence is introduced at trial and enters the custody of the clerk of court’s office, the judge determines who collected the evidence and whether it’s biological in nature. Biological evidence is considered any item that contains blood, hair, saliva, fingerprints and more. If the evidence is biological, it should receive a special designation in court records. This designation is important because it sets it apart from other kinds of evidence, which can be destroyed by the clerks with limited notice following a trial, Mumma said. Biological evidence, on the other hand, must always be preserved unless proper notice and destruction procedures are followed that “give the defendant an opportunity to be heard,” Mumma said. The statute also says that, “upon conclusion of the clerk’s role as custodian,” the clerk returns biological evidence to the agency that first collected it. However, two problems with this exist that relate to Brown’s case. First, sometimes, the process for identifying biological evidence isn’t properly followed. This is what happened in Brown’s case. After NCCAI took on Brown’s case in 2020, it tried to perform DNA testing on the prints pulled from the crime scene. “Sometimes fingerprint examiners are not correct,” Mumma told CPP. “There is an error rate in fingerprints, but DNA, as long as it's a strong enough profile, it doesn't have an error rate.” But at that point, the prints were “no longer available” for testing. A notice of intent to destroy evidence went out in June 2019, but that should’ve only covered non-biological evidence, Mumma said. “Good example of the judge, prosecutor, and defense not identifying the prints as biological even though the law required it as of 2009, and even though the statute says fingerprints are biological, the clerk not keeping them because no one else followed the law,” Mumma said in an email to CPP. “The statute is cumbersome, which happens when legislation is done piecemeal.” As a result, the physical print cards from Brown’s case couldn’t be used for any further testing. Had they been available in 2020, Brown could’ve been exonerated sooner, Mumma said. “The clerk said they wouldn't have destroyed them, they would have sent them back to law enforcement,” Mumma said. “Law enforcement said they didn't have them. So we, to this day, don't know what happened to the prints. We just know they're not where they're supposed to be.” While Durham Police have maintained that the print cards were destroyed, Mumma said she’s not convinced. “A similar thing happened in Kevin Johnson's case, who was exonerated in June 2023,” she told CPP in an email. “DPD said the prints had been destroyed, but they were miraculously found once someone conducted a thorough search. It takes someone who wants to find the evidence to find it.” The second issue with the statute is that the rule regarding designation wasn’t added to it until 2009, meaning there is a lot of evidence in the clerk’s custody that lacks designation but is biological, Mumma said. “That doesn't help them with what is currently in their evidence rooms, and they have taken the position … that if it doesn't say ‘biological’ on it, they don't have to preserve it, which is ridiculous,” she said. “Because that means biological evidence from cases in the early 2000s, which would benefit the most from DNA testing, could be destroyed. It defies logic.” Adhering to the statute and returning biological evidence to the collecting agency is important because those agencies are often the best equipped at handling it, Mumma said. “Law enforcement is the best long-term custodian of biological evidence because they have to be trained in how to collect it and preserve it and are more up to date in advancements in science because they use them in current investigations,” Mumma told CPP. “They have the space and training (that) clerks do not.” The solution is to make the statute clearer so there’s no room for confusion for the clerks, Mumma said. Instead of indicating that only biological evidence should be returned to law enforcement after trial, Mumma recommends changing the statute to require that all evidence collected by law enforcement be returned to them after trial and labeled as a trial exhibit. She also recommends getting rid of the judicial process that designates evidence as biological. “This would simplify the process and eliminate room for error,” Mumma said. From there, the law enforcement agency can look to existing guidelines to determine what should be destroyed or not, she said. ### Potential problems at DPD Aside from the issues with the statute, there could be issues at Durham Police that go beyond the work of just one print examiner in one case. Mumma said she thinks a “complete independent audit of the Durham Police Department's latent print section” is warranted. “Babb was supervised by somebody,” Mumma said. “Somebody was signing off on his work, so that is for an independent auditor to determine.” Mumma said she is also suspicious of how “they hid the evidence from us for so long.” “Two months ago I asked the Durham Police Department to objectively look at the evidence in this case, and they responded that they thought the conviction was good,” she said. “It wasn't until we were issuing subpoenas for law enforcement to be called to the stand that the state consented.” Those subpoenaed officers, including Babb and two other examiners at the department, didn’t end up having to testify at the evidentiary hearing on Aug. 4 because the district attorney’s office agreed to vacate the conviction before then, Mumma said. Brown’s is not the first exoneration to come out of Durham either. In fact, his is the fifth case since 2022 to be exonerated by NCCAI, Mumma said. Brown applied to NCCAI in 2020 to have them look into his case, but other exonerations were the result of something called the Durham DA Project. Brown’s case was worked into the project later on, Mumma said. The project started in 2018 under former District Attorney **Roger Echols**. NCCAI had concerns about cases in Durham following the disbarment of former district attorneys **Mike Nifong** and **Tracey Cline**, Mumma said. Because of this, Echols signed a memorandum of understanding with NCCAI agreeing to “work cooperatively” as their organization looked into Durham cases, Mumma said. “That didn't mean agreeing to anything. It meant if we found a credible claim of innocence, that he would provide us with access to files to review the evidence in the cases,” she said. “No commitment to agree, but just to cooperate in investigations if there was a credible claim of innocence.” NCCAI looked for these cases by sending out more than 1,000 questionnaires to inmates in the Department of Corrections who had been convicted in Durham, screening out cases “that were not likely candidates for postconviction relief,” Mumma said. The string of exonerations resulting from this work points to a “larger issue,” Mumma said. “Just because I have not pursued a case where there's a claim of innocence from that time frame, does not mean there's not a valid claim of innocence,” Mumma said. “There's procedural bars that would keep us under the law from going forward, but it would not keep the state from having an interest. ... I'm limited by the law.” Echols left office in 2019 and his successor, District Attorney **Satana Deberry,** took office that same year. Deberry signed a memorandum of understanding with NCCAI when she took office as Echols did, but Mumma said she “never followed through on the terms of it.” CPP reached out to Deberry’s office for comment, but they did not respond prior to publication. “They have authority to not be limited by the law, which Satana DeBerry has exercised within her office,” Mumma said. “So the question is, will she exercise it to look at old convictions that may be unjust?” While there’s no expectation for her to do that, the exonerations should inspire others to take action, Mumma said. “If those don't cause people with a moral and ethical compass to initiate their own objective reviews, then the MOU doesn't matter,” she said. ### What’s next? The case now has new evidence and the work of a former department latent print examiner has been called into question. But the way forward from here is currently unclear. Durham Police also declined to comment at this time regarding if it’s done any further investigation into Babb. “I'm sure they will not on their own go back and look at cases from Mr. Babb or anybody else,” Mumma told CPP. “Because that might open them up for criticism, even if someone was convicted who shouldn't have been.” Brown told CPP he now has “a chance to move forward.” “My plans are to rebuild my life, spend time with my loved ones, work hard, and appreciate every opportunity that comes my way,” he said. “I don’t take freedom or time for granted anymore because I know how quickly both can be taken away.” If people take away anything from his experience, Brown said he hopes they understand the importance of “a fair process” and always pursuing the truth. “Even when things seem impossible, and it feels like no one is listening, you can’t give up,” he said. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/80334/durham-man-cleared-in-robbery-after-serving-time-thanks-to-new-evidence/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=80334) --- # Civil rights leaders sound alarm over city’s potential application for grant from Trump’s Justice Dept. by Katie Jane Fernelius, Verite News New Orleans August 11, 2026 New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno’s administration is considering applying for a competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Justice through[ its Model Cities Initiative](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/making-america-safe-again-doj-award-300-million-model-cities-dedicated-restoring-law-and?ref=down-ballot.info) that, if awarded, could provide tens of millions of dollars to support public safety programs and strategies at a time when the city is in [desperate need of additional money](https://www.nola.com/news/politics/new-orleans-helena-moreno-money/article%5F2ecffe65-39f3-4fad-85d9-8ae3d987e436.html?ref=down-ballot.info). But it appears that in order to receive the grant, the city would have to agree to align with Trump administration priorities, including supporting federal immigration authorities and enforcement of bans on public camping, squatting and loitering, among others — causing some local civil rights and housing advocates to sound the alarm over the effort. The Model Cities Initiative, which was announced in June, is poised to grant $300 million to two to four American cities — to be used on a [wide variety of public safety initiatives](https://www.justice.gov/asg/media/1444021/dl?inline&ref=down-ballot.info), from professional development for law enforcement officers to equipment and technology, such as license plate readers and small drones, to services for those struggling with mental health and substance use issues. Still, advocates feel that the costs — namely, the city needing to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Department of Justice and agreeing to align with its stated priorities — are too high. “The ACLU of Louisiana has serious concerns with the Model Cities Initiative and strongly encourages the city of New Orleans not to apply,” said Sarah Whittington, advocacy director at the ACLU of Louisiana. Whittington said the politics of the Trump administration appear to be baked into the grant program. She referenced the DOJ’s call for applicants, which begins, “In cities across America, violent crime and public disorder have surged over the past few years” and goes on to criticize “policies that have weakened and demoralized law enforcement \[and\] limited the prosecution of crimes.” In fact, violent crime has [dropped in cities across the country](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/07/24/crime-rates-many-offenses-are-plummeting-across-us-for-reasons-that-arent-simple/?ref=down-ballot.info) over the past few years, including in New Orleans, where violent crime is at its [lowest level in decades](https://www.nola.com/news/crime%5Fpolice/remarkable-nopd-shifts-strategic-gears-amid-historic-drop-in-violent-crime/article%5Fdae9d86d-8842-475e-a52e-6eb335a93bda.html?ref=down-ballot.info). “From the first sentence describing the purpose of the funding, it reeks of partisan propaganda that doesn’t match the realities of public safety in our city,” Whittington said. “And while the framework for funding could support and develop strong initiatives in New Orleans, it comes at much too high a cost.” ### ‘Dangerous strings attached’ According to an[ informational powerpoint](https://www.justice.gov/asg/media/1448971/dl?inline&ref=down-ballot.info), the Model Cities Initiative is intended to build off of recent law enforcement activities in[ Memphis](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/restoring-law-and-order-in-memphis/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Washington D.C.](https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-deployment-washington-trump-crime-66e7c6ab6beccd4146f39cff514f99c8?ref=down-ballot.info), where the federal government, alongside state agencies, engaged in[ hypervigilant policing](https://www.ms.now/news/doj-must-end-memphis-law-enforcement-surge-as-questions-linger-in-deaths-of-black-men-says-naacp?ref=down-ballot.info) and aggressive prosecution, including deploying[ the National Guard](https://lailluminator.com/2026/03/02/national-guard-new-orleans/%0Ahttps://lailluminator.com/2026/03/02/national-guard-new-orleans/%0Ahttps://lailluminator.com/2026/03/02/national-guard-new-orleans/%0Ahttps://lailluminator.com/2026/03/02/national-guard-new-orleans/?ref=down-ballot.info). Trump has declared that the enforcement operations have been successful at curbing violent crime, while local leaders and community advocates have had [mixed](https://nextcity.org/features/memphis-responding-ice-and-national-guard-presence?ref=down-ballot.info) [responses](https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-deployment-washington-trump-crime-66e7c6ab6beccd4146f39cff514f99c8?ref=down-ballot.info) to the activity. According to[ the call for applications](https://www.justice.gov/asg/media/1444021/dl?inline&ref=down-ballot.info), Model Cities funding will encourage “common sense policing” and “the adoption of new technologies—including drones and artificial intelligence,” in addition to support for “whole-of-community” approaches, such as building up capacity in prosecutors’ offices, reducing recidivism and supporting those with substance use or mental health challenges. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/08/10161605/AP26200026513184.jpg) Members of the National Guard and a police officer stand watch on Beale St., Friday, July 17, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) While the funding can be used for a wide variety of programs, the grant itself requires applicants to ensure that their initiatives align with the DOJ’s priorities, which include supporting immigration enforcement, combatting violent crime and enforcing prohibitions on urban camping, loitering and squatting, among others. Jonah Gilmore, Moreno’s director of communications, confirmed that the city is gauging interest in submitting an application from community partners, city agencies and law enforcement about the Model Cities Initiative grant, in addition to other federal grant opportunities. “The Model Cities grant takes a ‘whole-of-city’ approach to violence reduction, and in line with the proposal, the city is interested in focusing on prevention, intervention, enforcement, and reentry,” Gilmore said in an email. “The city has made historic reductions in violence and is reviewing opportunities through this grant to continue this work and ensure that we are able to sustain and further reduce violence in our community.” A representative for Orleans Parish Sheriff Michelle Woodfork also confirmed that her office was working with the city and other public safety partners on a potential application. However, neither Gilmore nor the representative for Woodfork answered questions as to what specific programs or initiatives they were hoping to potentially fund with the federal money. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2025/08/21223130/20250709_CZB_Qualifying_01.jpg) Michelle Woodfork at the Orleans Criminal District Courthouse after qualifying to run for sheriff on Wednesday, July 9, 2025\. Woodfork would go on to win the election over incumbent Susan Hutson. Still, it’s not yet clear whether the city will ultimately choose to apply for the money. The New Orleans Police Department for years operated under a policy that strictly limited officers’ ability to aid federal immigration enforcement officers or engage in immigration enforcement activities themselves. The policy, which was adopted as part of the department’s long-running federal consent decree, was [rescinded earlier this year,](https://www.nola.com/news/crime%5Fpolice/nopd-immigration/article%5F1cf9b51e-4b6f-4008-81c4-8641d5289a2d.html?ref=down-ballot.info) several months after the [consent decree was dissolved](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/19/judge-ends-long-running-nopd-consent-decree/?ref=down-ballot.info). But there are still limits on NOPD’s ability to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other immigration enforcement agencies. Earlier this year, Moreno issued an [executive order](https://nola.gov/nola/media/Mayor-s-Office/Executive%20Orders/HM-26-14-%28Section-287%28g%29-Agreements%29.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) prohibiting city officials from entering into any 287(g) agreements, which would delegate and deputize law enforcement officers to perform immigration enforcement duties. But the Model Cities grant, if awarded, could put the city at odds with that policy. “This grant comes with dangerous strings attached,” Whittington told Verite News. “It would require the city of New Orleans to enter a cooperative agreement with this Department of Justice and allow for substantial involvement in this project and all public safety initiatives here.” ### 'All money is not good money’ ![Public safety camerax](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2023/01/21230228/Public-safety-camera-1024x684.jpg) The city’s surveillance hub, the Real Time Crime Center, now has access to more than 1,000 live camera feeds around the clock, seven days a week. About half of those come from city-owned cameras and half from private residents and businesses who pay to give the city direct access to their cameras’ live feeds. Edith Romero, an organizer with the anti-surveillance organization Eye on Surveillance, echoed Whittington’s concern. She is worried that the Model Cities Initiative would not only risk ramping up[ local surveillance technologies](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/02/project-nola-video-surveillance/?ref=down-ballot.info) that[ her organization is already concerned about](https://veritenews.org/2026/07/10/nopd-drones-french-quarter-weapons/?ref=down-ballot.info) but would also put vulnerable communities at greater risk of being subjected to enforcement. “We’re appalled that this is even being considered,” Romero told Verite News. “If the city moves to apply for this funding source, it is just Helena Moreno abandoning the communities of New Orleans, especially immigrant communities.” For Andreanecia Morris, president of the Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance, the prospect that Moreno’s administration might apply for the grant feels at odds with the city’s stated policies and priorities — especially its current work to help unhoused people access short- and long-term housing. “The city has said it has no intentions of criminalizing homelessness, but it is going after dollars that would require it to do so,” Morris told Verite News. “All money is not good money. … We have got to be discerning and careful.” Some local governments around the country have challenged the premise of the Model Cities funding. Consideration of the grant was was recently rejected by city councils in[ San Bernardino, California](https://www.sbsun.com/2026/08/05/immigrant-advocates-blast-federal-grant-sought-by-san-bernardino/?ref=down-ballot.info) and[ Billings, Montana](https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/government-politics/article%5Ff3317ecf-aecf-4a60-8572-cb053b7fdf73.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Two city council members in Las Cruces, New Mexico, last month[ wrote an op-ed](https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/opinion/commentary/2026/07/18/dojs-model-city-initiative-is-a-trojan-horse-for-las-cruces/90956039007/?ref=down-ballot.info) calling the funding a “Trojan horse,” bribing local governments to participate in programs “steeped in fear and surveillance,” under the guise of public safety. New Orleans leaders, however, are facing a[ serious budget crunch](https://www.nola.com/news/new-orleans-budget-cuts/article%5F9d64e36a-f02c-41b6-b44b-051585b9ba7f.html?ref=down-ballot.info) and cash flow issues — with few avenues for immediate relief — and just dealt with weeks of contentious back-and-forth with Attorney General Liz Murrill and Governor Jeff Landry following a grand jury indictment of the state’s top prosecutor, which was later thrown out. The city is also already familiar with navigating outside agencies: [Troop NOLA](https://lsp.org/about/troop-information/troop-nola/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the Louisiana State Police has been stationed in the city since January 2024, and the National Guard has had an ongoing presence since late last year. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/08/11/new-orleans-model-cities-grant-trump/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=32675&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # New Study: Black Lung Disease Rate in Appalachia Is the Worst in 50 Years as Coal Miner Protections Stall *It’s now as bad as it was in the 1970s, with thousands of miners sick and dying.* [New Study: Black Lung Disease Rate in Appalachia Is the Worst in 50 Years as Coal Miner Protections Stall - Public Health WatchIt’s now as bad as it was in the 1970s, with thousands of miners sick and dying.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-PHW_Circle_Logo-270x270-8a5a7ed9-6a8f-4acf-a436-6b8684052c41.png)Public Health WatchHoward Berkes/Public Health Watch, Justin Hicks/Kentucky Public Radio![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Crum-and-xrays-128ec432-a3e1-40c6-b048-6213b6755e45.jpg)](https://publichealthwatch.org/2026/08/05/black-lung-disease-coal-miners-appalachia/?ref=down-ballot.info) *This article was originally published by Public Health Watch, a nonprofit investigative news organization. Find out more at* [*publichealthwatch.org*](https://publichealthwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). by [**Howard Berkes/Public Health Watch**](https://publichealthwatch.org/author/howard-berkes-public-health-watch/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [**Justin Hicks/Kentucky Public Radio**](https://publichealthwatch.org/author/justin-hicks-kentucky-public-radio/?ref=down-ballot.info) August 5, 2026 Respiratory therapist Marcy Freeman doesn’t need a research study to confirm for her a return to the dark days of coal mining. She finds evidence in a stack of more than 150 funeral programs, all for former patients at her pulmonary rehabilitation clinic in Norton, Virginia. “Each one of these represents a life that’s gone because of black lung,” Freeman explained as she flipped through the programs, recognizing names and images. “These are husbands. These are brothers … These men were just hard-working men and the only thing they did was go to work and provide for their families. And it cost them everything … This is the aftermath of black lung.” The aftermath is more dire than even black lung clinicians and researchers expected, according to new data published Wednesday in the [American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine](https://academic.oup.com/ajrccm/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ajrccm/aamag401/8750197?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* The data appears in a peer-reviewed research letter from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, a federal research agency. Public Health Watch, Kentucky Public Radio and NPR obtained a draft of the NIOSH research letter before publication. NIOSH researchers found that working veteran underground coal miners in central Appalachia are suffering from the incurable and fatal lung disease at the highest rates in nearly 50 years. Miners working in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia who’ve had at least 25 years underground have the worst rate of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, or black lung disease. One in three — 32.5% — tested positive in X-rays conducted by NIOSH during the last five years. The last time the rate of disease was that high for miners with the same work history was 1978\. In 2018, when NIOSH last reported [rates of the disease](https://www.npr.org/2018/07/19/630470150/black-lung-rate-hits-25-year-high-in-appalachian-coal-mining-states?ref=down-ballot.info), the rate was 20.6%. The new research shows that even miners with as few as 15 years underground have higher rates of black lung — rates not seen in nearly 40 years. “I’m disgusted,” said Dr. Scott Laney, a NIOSH research epidemiologist who is the lead author of the research letter. “This is not going to get better because of all the disease that’s already in the pipeline. These guys are being treated like disposable widgets, not human beings … We’re watching them die right before our eyes.” More than 1,700 coal miners died from black lung from 2020 through 2023, [according to an earlier NIOSH study](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7441a1.htm?ref=down-ballot.info). Kentucky Public Radio and its reporting partners provided the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA, a summary of the NIOSH findings, but the agency declined to comment or respond to questions before seeing the published report. ### **‘Coal miners are no better off**‘ The new findings “should stagger and shock anyone who has compassion for … hard-working people,” said Celeste Monforton, a former federal mine safety regulator and workplace safety academic and advocate. “This is the consequence of their work and the consequence of us wanting cheap electricity,” Monforton added. “We’re back where we were \[nearly 50 years ago\] … Coal miners are no better off than they were \[then\].” The newly published findings do not include the number of miners tested or diagnosed in the five-year period used to determine the rate of disease. But in response to questions from Public Health Watch and Kentucky Public Radio, NIOSH said it screened 280 working veteran underground miners in central Appalachia in the past five years, with 91 testing positive for black lung. The agency used that sample to estimate a rate for all similar miners in the region, an approach used since 1974\. “The overall process” NIOSH researchers applied here “is valid in my opinion,” said Dr. Akshay Sood, a clinical and research pulmonologist specializing in occupational lung diseases, including black lung, at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Sood reviewed a draft of the NIOSH research letter at the request of NPR, Kentucky Public Radio and Public Health Watch. The NIOSH study “reinforces prior observations that disease prevalence continues to increase despite modern dust-control regulations,” Sood concluded. The NIOSH researchers also wrote that “multiple external indicators … demonstrate patterns consistent” with their findings, including thousands of new cases of disease diagnosed by black lung clinics in the last decade. The new estimated rate for the veteran central Appalachian underground miners is more than a fourfold increase since the prevalence of disease hit a low point: [just 7% in 1999](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30024799/?ref=down-ballot.info). That was 30 years after [Congress imposed strict limits](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-1521/pdf/COMPS-1521.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) on exposure to the coal mine dust that causes black lung. Since then, [the dramatic plunge has reversed](https://www.npr.org/series/156453033/black-lung-returns-to-coal-country?ref=down-ballot.info), especially in Appalachia, where thousands of miners are suffering from early, advanced and fatal stages of disease, according to [data gathered from clinics](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/11/07/1210051981/coal-miners-black-lung-silica-dust-rule?ref=down-ballot.info) testing and treating miners. Unlike NIOSH, which focuses on working miners, the clinics tend to see retired and laid-off miners who seek lung exams while trying to obtain state or federal black lung benefits. The clinics have been inundated with miners in the wake of coal mine closures. More than 15,000 workers across the country lost coal mine jobs in the last decade, according to[ employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES1021210001?ref=down-ballot.info). “It’s awful,” said Dr. Brandon Crum, a radiologist in Coal Run Village, Kentucky, who specializes in detecting signs of black lung in X-rays. In 2016, Crum first documented an alarming spike in severe black lung — and rapid progression of disease — among younger and younger coal miners. [NIOSH researchers](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6549a1.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) and an [NPR investigation](https://www.npr.org/2016/12/15/505577680/advanced-black-lung-cases-surge-in-appalachia?ref=down-ballot.info) confirmed his findings. The new NIOSH research indicates to Crum that the trend continues. “It’s just another thing that proves what we’ve been saying for the last 10 years,” he said. “And this may be even worse than what we thought it was going to be.” The [National Mining Association](https://nma.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), or NMA, the leading industry trade group, was also provided a summary of the NIOSH findings. NMA noted that the rates of disease reported by NIOSH in miners tested in the last five years — and the new cases diagnosed at clinics — do not stem from current silica dust exposures in coal mines because it can take years for disease to develop and for disease to be diagnosed. “This means that the incidences discussed in these studies cover miners whose initial exposure dates back years and, in many cases, decades,” Ashley Burke, a spokeswoman for NMA, wrote in an emailed statement. “These incidences do not reflect the conditions, practices, protections or regulations that are in place today.” Still, miner advocates are concerned that high rates of disease will continue because of a major change in coal mining that’s causing dangerous dust exposure. ### **‘If it’s silica, it’s not just dust**‘ In recent decades, the biggest coal seams in Appalachia were mined out. Mining companies turned to the thinner seams that remained, digging through mountains to reach and then mine them. That requires cutting lots of rock, and in Appalachia that rock typically contains quartz, which is rich in silica. The result is clouds of both coal dust and highly toxic silica dust. “Excessive inhalation of coal mine dust is the sole cause of \[black lung\] in coal miners,” the new NIOSH research letter said. “Substantial evidence shows that exposure to the respirable crystalline silica component of coal mine dust plays an important role in contemporary disease patterns.” Laney said the link between silica dust and black lung disease is strong, based on exposure data and radiographic data, which shows abnormalities “suggestive of silica exposure.” And he says researchers have inspected lungs removed in autopsies and after transplantation and “we can see the silica in these lungs.” [Silica dust is 20 times more toxic than coal dust alone](https://arlweb.msha.gov/s&hinfo/BlackLung/ControlDust2009/1%20Health%20Consequences%20-%20Beckley%20workshop.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) and contains fine particles that are easily inhaled. Silica particles cause lungs to fight back with fibrotic tissue that builds and builds, severely inhibiting the ability to breathe. Coal miners who’ve worked underground in the last 25 years witnessed the changes that led to more silica dust exposure. “The thickness of the coal is not there,” explained Tim Balthis, a former miner and mine foreman in Kentucky and Virginia. It’s not like the days when the “grandpas” mined the big coal seams, he said. “So you’re having to take more rock, which in turn creates silica dust.” Balthis spoke at New Beginnings Pulmonary Rehab, one of four black lung clinics owned and operated by respiratory therapist Marcy Freeman. The clinics help miners ease symptoms of the incurable disease. At 57, Balthis has what is called complicated black lung, the advanced and fatal stage. He tried to describe for non-miners what it’s like working around silica dust in an underground coal mine. “It’s like opening your front door and letting the sunshine \[in\]” with dust particles floating in the light. “And then multiply that by ten billion times … It’s like a fog,” Balthis recalled. ### **‘Thousands of opportunities for disease’** The National Mining Association cites government data that shows increasing compliance with silica dust exposure limits in the last 10 years, with mining companies nationwide meeting those limits more than 90% of the time. Last year, the compliance rate hit 97%. But a high rate of compliance doesn’t mean miners are fully protected. The small percentage of overexposures has translated to thousands of instances in which miners are put at risk. Kentucky Public Radio and Public Health Watch analyzed MSHA silica dust sampling data, and found that coal miners were exposed to excessive levels of silica dust more than 5,000 times since 2014\. Silica particles are so toxic, so easily inhaled and so easily embedded in lungs that “thousands of exposures equate to thousands of opportunities for disease,” said former regulator Monforton. In fact, an [NPR and FRONTLINE investigation](https://www.npr.org/2018/12/18/675253856/an-epidemic-is-killing-thousands-of-coal-miners-regulators-could-have-stopped-it?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2018 documented 21,000 instances of overexposure to silica dust in a review of 30 years of federal data. The news organizations also documented a growing number of retired and laid-off miners stricken with complicated black lung, a count that now exceeds 4,000 since 2010. ### **‘A love affair with the black rock**‘ NIOSH first recommended tougher limits on silica dust exposure in coal mines in 1974\. But for 50 years, both Democratic and Republican administrations failed to act. That finally changed in 2024, when the Biden administration succeeded in establishing [a new silica dust regulation](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/16/1245011608/silica-dust-mine-safety-coal-black-lung-final-rule?ref=down-ballot.info) for mining. It made the exposure limit twice as restrictive. It also provided, for the first time, a direct regulatory response to overexposure, including imposition of even tougher exposure restrictions, and possible fines, for noncompliance. But the mining industry sued, agreeing with the tougher exposure limit but not the enforcement mechanism. Federal courts responded to the industry lawsuits, which also cite other issues, with an indefinite delay in enforcement of the tougher silica exposure limits. The Trump administration did not oppose the delay, announcing it too would put [enforcement on hold](https://www.lpm.org/news/2025-10-15/victims-of-black-lung-disease-protest-ongoing-delays-for-toxic-silica-dust-protections?ref=down-ballot.info). And the Trump administration is trying to boost coal mining. In early June, [Trump announced](https://apnews.com/article/trump-coal-mining-power-plant-climate-electricity-0a7126d66de97b10f32eaa39b1af669f?ref=down-ballot.info) close to $700 million in federal spending to sustain coal-burning power plants and to support exports of coal. “Coal’s a great business,” Trump said at the time. “In terms of power, there’s nothing like it.” Monforton said the administration seems to have “a love affair with the black rock, and not a love affair or compassion or concern for coal miners.” Mining companies are required to control dust exposure with robust ventilation underground. Mining machines must also have water sprays that tamp down dust. But sometimes they don’t work well enough to keep the dust down. The coal mining industry wants to be able to require the use of dust masks so that miners could still work when other control measures fail. “When other controls do not adequately reduce exposure levels, those extensive controls will be supplemented with respirators, which is no different than any other profession that requires the use of masks to ensure air quality safety.” the NMA’s Burke said. But federal law treats underground coal mining differently from other industries. The [Mine Safety and Health Act](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title30/chapter22&edition=prelim&ref=down-ballot.info) requires coal mining companies to prevent “unsafe and unhealthful conditions” and to make sure miners can work their entire careers in working conditions “sufficiently free of respirable dust” so they don’t fall victim to black lung. Dust masks and respirators have also been problematic. Many [miners interviewed by NPR ](https://www.npr.org/2019/01/23/686000458/i-figured-it-was-going-to-be-a-horrible-death-and-it-probably-will-be?ref=down-ballot.info)complained that masks impair communication in a dangerous and noisy environment, become clogged with dust, are too hot to work in and fail to screen out finer particles. Lawsuits against dust-mask companies have resulted in multimillion-dollar verdicts and settlements. Even more modern devices have issues, including helmets that push fresh air down across the face and behind a clear shield. MSHA noted in its [2024 silica dust regulation](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-04-18/pdf/2024-06920.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that the helmets “are not a permanent solution” because they make it difficult to communicate effectively, and may limit peripheral vision and situational awareness, which can make work hazardous. Dr. Drew Harris, a University of Virginia pulmonologist who is also medical director at the Stone Mountain black lung clinics in Virginia, is direct about delayed protections for coal miners. “We need to act and we need the will to act,” Harris asserted. “We need to enforce the protections that we know will work to make this disease go away.” ### **‘Folks that don’t have a voice’** Harris’ black lung clinics in southwestern Virginia, Stone Mountain Health Services, see more miners and diagnose more cases of disease than any clinic in the country. Miners from coal counties across Appalachia flock to Stone Mountain because it provides testing, treatment and legal help with black lung benefits claims. Harris called the new findings from NIOSH “outrageous.” But they’re not surprising based on what he’s been seeing in the clinics. In just the past five years alone, Stone Mountain has diagnosed 2,400 new cases of black lung. “If you imagine one out of every three school teachers were getting an incurable lung disease because of something they were exposed to at work, the whole country would put their hands up screaming and stop whatever this exposure was immediately,” Harris said. “\[But\] this is largely impacting rural Appalachian folks that don’t have a voice, that don’t have a country to unite behind them.” ### **‘God’s not done with me yet**‘ ### The growing rate of disease has resulted in a steady stream of miners seeking state and federal benefits for living and medical expenses. More than 26,000 miners or their surviving dependents drew $175 million from a federal black lung trust fund in 2024, according to a [Labor Department report to Congress](https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OWCP/OWCPFY23-24AnnualReporttoCongress.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Mining companies contributed more than $23 billion to the fund, according to NMA, but bankruptcies and underinsurance shift some of the burden to taxpayers. The fund owes more than $6.5 billion to the U.S. Treasury. Public funds pay for most of a growing number of lung transplants, which cost as much as $2 million each, and are mostly for miners in central Appalachia, according to a [NIOSH study](https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208670?ref=down-ballot.info). The black lung burden for miners like Tim Balthis makes life itself challenging. Even the simplest tasks are difficult as fibrotic tissue builds up in his lungs. Breathing becomes more and more labored. He knows it will only get worse. He’s likely to die from it unless he qualifies for a lung transplant. But even that, for coal miners, comes with a median survival rate of[ less than seven years](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7441a1.htm?ref=down-ballot.info). “It’s like a cut in your manhood.” Balthis said, noting that he carries and uses an “emergency inhaler” to get more than a few minutes of playing time with his grandchildren or even singing at church. “I’ve had several doctors say that I should already be dead … And I tell them this … ’God’s not done with me yet.’ I’ve been obedient to Him, and now He’s giving me back to my grandbabies … He’s not finished with me.’” *Howard Berkes reported for:*[ *Public Health Watch*](https://publichealthwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, an independent nonprofit investigative newsroom focused on public, environmental and occupational health; NPR; and the PBS series FRONTLINE. Justin Hicks reported for: Kentucky Public Radio; the* [*Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom*](https://www.lpm.org/tags/appalachia-mid-south-newsroom?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a collaboration of public radio stations in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia; and NPR.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/08/PHW_Final-2048x665.webp) --- # What It’s Like in Prison Just Miles Away From Washington State’s Destructive Fires by Jeffrey McKee, Prison Journalism Project August 5, 2026 On Aug. 1, smoke was visible in the distance as I walked to the chow hall for lunch at Airway Heights Corrections Center near Spokane, Washington, where the Old Trails Fire is now burning just a few miles away (see [map estimate](https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=18o0VQmqZRzr%5FvZaf6OQvNCQ-yB57ykg&usp=sharing&ref=down-ballot.info) here). Over the course of the afternoon, the wall of smoke encroaching on the prison from the northeast grew. By the time I walked that same path to dinner only a few hours later, the clouds of smoke dwarfed the five aerial water tankers dropping fire retardant in a futile attempt to suppress the fast-moving flames. The Old Trails Fire, one of three major fires in what’s referred to as the Spokane Complex fires, has destroyed hundreds of homes in the Airway Heights area, about 9 miles west of Spokane. Collectively, the fires have burned over 10,000 acres, and roughly 65,000 people remain under evacuation orders, according to The Spokesman Review, a local newspaper. As of Wednesday morning, [the evacuation zone](https://www.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=337af083184c474d9d9181bb44f957b0&ref=down-ballot.info) closest to the prison — just over a mile northwest of the facility — was considered Level 2, which indicates "significant danger” to the area and encourages residents to evacuate voluntarily or “be set” to leave at a moment’s notice, according to Spokane Regional Emergency Communications. Those of us incarcerated in the Spokane area face the same dangers as other residents, but without the ability to make the same choices about our health or safety. Over the past few days, as the fire has continued to burn and heavy smoke pollutes the air around the prison, I and others around me have weighed our limited options, trying to protect ourselves as best we can. The morning after the fire began, I was already feeling the effects of smoke inhalation. My throat was sore and full of phlegm, my eyes itched and my lungs ached. At 52 years old, smoke from the increasingly frequent wildfires near my facility is affecting my breathing and sinuses more and more. Outside my window, the sun was a blood-red orb on the horizon and dark clouds of smoke filled the air. Yet, despite the obvious danger, no action was taken on Sunday to protect the health of the incarcerated population at Airway Heights. Our sole communication from the facility that day was a kiosk message stating the facility was not under an evacuation order and remained "safe to operate." However, the message announced that visitation and volunteer programming would be canceled through the weekend. The message went on to state the facility was "closely monitoring the air quality." In an email to a Prison Journalism Project editor Tuesday afternoon, Chris Wright, a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Corrections, said the prison remained safe to operate. “We have set up an Incident Command Post that is closely monitoring the fire’s behavior, weather conditions, air quality and any potential impacts to facility operations,” Wright wrote. He added that an evacuation was unlikely, but should it occur residents would be relocated to another facility, as happened in 2022 when a fire forced [the evacuation of Larch Corrections Center](https://katu.com/news/local/larch-corrections-center-in-sw-wash-evacuated-by-fast-growing-nakia-creek-fire?ref=down-ballot.info) in southwest Washington. A 42-year-old incarcerated individual who goes by the nickname Casper said on Saturday that he felt the prison was not doing enough to protect the incarcerated population. "There is no notification about mask availability. No education \[on\] what we can do to reduce the effects." On Monday, we received the first indication of protective measures. Two HEPA 500 DefendAir air scrubbers were set up in the living area of my unit, followed by a kiosk message announcing that N95 masks were available by request from staff members. The accommodations did little to ease people’s discomfort, especially those with chronic conditions. Even after the air filter and masks were provided, Robert P., a 48-year-old man with asthma, reported that his breathing hadn’t improved. "Every breath I take it feels sour, ashy. Burns. Feels like I'm going to vomit," P. said. When asked if he sought help from the prison's medical staff, P. said he would not, based on previous experiences with the prison's medical staff and fear of reprisals from the Indeterminate Sentencing Review Board, Washington state's parole equivalent. The DOC, he said, had “broken” his spirit. "I don't want to stand up for myself. I have had issues with medical, kites getting ignored, months to respond, doctors leave, keeping my files in limbo,” he said. Although N95 masks are available, as of Tuesday morning only a handful of people were using them. This [article](https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/08/05/washington-fires-spokane-prison/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Prison Journalism Project](https://prisonjournalismproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/prisonjournalismproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-PJP-favicon-2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://prisonjournalismproject.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=41764) --- ### The Newest Federally Recognized Tribe Wants Better Healthcare. It May Be On Its Own. URL: https://down-ballot.info/the-newest-federally-recognized-tribe-wants-better-healthcare-it-may-be-on-its-own/ Last updated: 2026-08-12T09:00:25.000Z By Andrew Jones Jul 31, 2026 ![A Native American woman stands outside in the late afternoon sun.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_04.jpg) Angie Lowery, a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe, stands outside her home in Robeson County, North Carolina. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) LUMBERTON, N.C. — Soybean fields surround Angie Lowery’s home in Robeson County, on a plot of rural land in southeastern North Carolina. Dozens of antique gas station signs, 20 feet tall, dominate her front yard. A framed re-creation of *The Last Supper*, Lone Ranger posters, and a 3-foot-wide tobacco harvesting basket adorn the walls of her home. A collector, Lowery over the years has amassed remnants of her region’s past. But behind the house, the 44-year-old’s backyard garden showcases her goals for the future, one that involves a long, healthy life with her kids: collard greens, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, red and white potatoes, kale. Like Lowery, many in the small towns of Lumberton and nearby Pembroke are citizens of the Lumbee Tribe who have dealt with heart conditions. The mother of four struggled with obesity and had to take insulin pills and shots daily. By when her first grandchild was born, in 2024, Lowery imagined her own life ending the way her biological father’s did: Daily insulin shots for diabetes. Kidney dialysis treatments at home. Dead of a heart attack at 63\. She wanted her grandkids to remember her. “If I don’t get this weight off me, if I don’t change my eating habits, it’s going to take me over,” she recalled thinking. So, she expanded her garden. She cut fatty foods and sugary drinks out of her diet, stopped eating fried and fast food, and started moving more. She lost 120 pounds in two years and weaned herself off the daily insulin pills. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina late last year became the 575th tribe to secure federal recognition as a sovereign nation, a milestone that leaders and citizens celebrated in tears. The designation provides federal funding for an array of services, including for healthcare. [John Lowery](https://www.ncleg.gov/Members/Biography/h/1001?ref=down-ballot.info), chairman of the tribe and a state representative, [declared that](https://www.youtube.com/live/CXydqVc8Qpg?si=xx1IlvFnk-V0Me4Z&t=4753&ref=down-ballot.info) “the biggest benefit” would be access to the Indian Health Service — its clinics and hospitals, as well as funding that it could provide for the tribe to [create its own health system](https://www.ihs.gov/selfgovernance/aboutus/?ref=down-ballot.info). But Lumbee researchers and healthcare providers say that money won’t be enough. For decades, IHS has been [chronically underfunded](https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/key-data-on-health-and-health-care-for-american-indian-or-alaska-native-people/?ref=down-ballot.info#4c121d57-d38d-46b1-ba19-d6a69f032e51), with the agency’s budget workgroup estimating that [it’s nearly $55 billion short](https://legacy.nihb.org/resources/NIHB-FY26-Budget.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) of what it needs this year. And that was before the Trump administration’s cuts to other federal agencies further pinched IHS. Slashes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year initially included laying off nearly [1,000 IHS employees](https://ictnews.org/news/rfk-jr-rescinds-indian-health-service-layoffs/?ref=down-ballot.info), and President Donald Trump’s proposed 2027 budget cuts more than $150 million for a [program to address diabetes](https://www.nihb.org/nihb-highlights-trump-administration-releases-fy2027-budget-request-to-congress/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Includes%20%2449,million,-%2E) in Native American tribes. The nearest IHS facility is more than a two-hour drive to another state for most of the 55,000 Lumbee citizens in Robeson County. The county is one of the [poorest in the U.S.](https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/05/persistent-poverty-areas-with-long-term-high-poverty.html?ref=down-ballot.info) and has some of the [worst health outcomes](https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/health-data/north-carolina/robeson?year=2025&ref=down-ballot.info). ![A photo taken from the side of the road shows three signs. They read: "Welcome to North Carolina." "Welcome to Robeson County; first U.S. rural health department." "Home of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke."](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_01.jpg) Robeson County is mostly rural, agricultural land. Most of the members of the Lumbee Tribe live in the small towns of Lumberton and Pembroke, both about a half-hour drive from the South Carolina border. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) The Congressional Budget Office in 2022 estimated that the tribe could increase IHS spending by [$247 million over four years](https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2022-10/hr2758.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). The tribe will have to rely on other revenue sources that are now allowed through recognition, such as a casino, to reverse the health disparities their people have faced for decades, Lumbee researchers said. “None of us can depend on IHS alone, because we just don't have the resources within that system,” said [Donald Warne](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/faculty/4481/donald-warne?ref=down-ballot.info), a physician, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, and a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe. “But it’s a great starting point.” The IHS did not respond to questions about plans for the tribe’s health system. John Lowery did not respond to requests for an interview or a list of questions, but he said on a June podcast that he expected healthcare to be the [largest portion of the tribe’s budget](https://youtu.be/5aKRcFiOi2A?si=24e3za9DYNDEsbpw&t=1521&ref=down-ballot.info). ![Angie Lowery holds up a piece of jewelry she made.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_06.jpg) Lowery makes beaded earrings, teaches culture classes, owns a gravestone business, and makes engravings in her Pembroke, North Carolina, shop. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) ![A photo of a wall. On the left is a print of a painting of the Last Supper. On the right are prints of vintage advertisements: Merita bread, a red stamp featuring a Native American man wearing a headdress, and 7Up.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_08.jpg) Antiques hang on Lowery’s walls at her home. She and her husband, Grant Hunt, are avid collectors. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) **‘Not Just Statistics’** Eighteen years ago, [Andrea Blackburn](https://healinghandsfamily.com/about/?ref=down-ballot.info), a doctor in Lumberton and a citizen of the tribe, was working at a nearby medical center. There, she said, she was taught that patients with certain last names “are often referred directly to cardiac catheterization,” a procedure to diagnose heart conditions. Blackburn said she realized that common Lumbee surnames carried an expectation of disease. “Nearly two decades later, I can tell you that reality has not changed,” she told assembled tribal leadership and citizens at a public hearing. Robeson County’s rates of heart disease, diabetes, and [risky substance use](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs-services/chronic-disease-and-injury/injury-and-violence-prevention-branch/north-carolina-overdose-epidemic-data?ref=down-ballot.info) continue to rank among the highest in the state, Blackburn noted. In 2025, [more than half of the county’s residents](https://www.ncacc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025%5F05%5FMedicaid-Enrollment.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) were Medicaid enrollees, the highest percentage of all counties in the state. “But these are not just statistics to me,” she said. “These are my patients. These are our families.” ![A photo of a woman standing in her office.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_10.jpg?w=1270) Andrea Blackburn, a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe, is a physician in Robeson County. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) For Angie Lowery, breaking free from those statistics meant taking her health into her own hands. She hopes a healthy diet is the answer to breaking her family’s cycle and living long enough to form relationships with her grandkids. And she brought the rest of the family with her. Her teenage daughter lost about 35 pounds. Two of her other children are now “health fanatics,” Lowery said. Her granddaughter will be 2 in November. One Sunday morning in March, Lowery served up macaroni, cauliflower, and chickpeas for her as they spent the day together. Lowery had supported building a casino, believing it would provide better education, infrastructure, and healthcare for her family. “That vote, I’m thinking of my children’s future,” she said. ![Angie Lowery stands next to rows of plants growing in rows in her backyard garden.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_03.jpg?w=1270) Lowery grows squash, onions, potatoes, and other produce in her backyard garden. Later this year, she’ll can some of the harvest for her family. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) **Casino Dreams in Limbo** Tribal citizens are deeply divided over how to reverse decades of economic decline that have led to poor living conditions, unaffordable health services, and chronic disease. Four months after Trump signed the Lumbee Fairness Act — [declaring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dCUuQcHMmA&ref=down-ballot.info) “I love the Lumbee Tribe” — tribal leaders gathered at a business meeting to take the first steps toward building a casino and establishing gaming as a new revenue source. Hundreds of federally recognized tribes across 29 states have used gaming as a source of revenue, [bringing in $43.9 billion](https://www.nigc.gov/?wpdmdl=12761&ind=1754333463993&ref=down-ballot.info) in fiscal 2024, according to the latest report from the National Indian Gaming Commission. The approach has been popular among tribal nations looking for more dollars to build up healthcare. The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma in 1999 [became the first tribe](https://www.choctawnation.com/news/iti-fabvssa/the-talihina-indian-hospital-part-ii/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=In%201999,hospital%29%2E) to build its own hospital, using roughly $25 million in gaming money, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in western North Carolina funded its own hospital in 2015 mostly with [$82 million in gaming funds](https://kffhealthnews.org/health-industry/how-the-eastern-cherokee-took-control-of-their-health-care/?ref=down-ballot.info). But the Lumbee Tribe’s effort to establish a casino collapsed in June. [More than 60% of voters](https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2026/06/24/election-results-lumbee-casino-north-carolina?ref=down-ballot.info) rejected a Lumbee constitutional amendment that would have allowed tribal leaders to create infrastructure needed for a gaming business. John Lowery said [on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story%5Ffbid=pfbid02gnKG1awQz8uzSvAijTigCiwPnJRUnKc5TPSSmw7udqJknWJzcNn6NUpVWoi4DJXZl&id=100082023654573) that he doesn’t plan on bringing back the initiative now that it was rejected “by the majority of Lumbee voters.” His term as chairman ends in two years. ![An indoor photo shows a headshot of a John Lowery framed next to a sign that shows a rendering of a casino. Text above it reads, "Visit LumbeesChoose.com to learn more about the June 23rd Amendment vote."](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_11.jpg?w=1270) A portrait of Lumbee Tribe Chairman John Lowery hangs beside a rendering of a proposed casino and resort meant to help bring in revenue for the newly federally recognized tribe. Citizens voted against the project. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) Other funding sources to provide health services for the tribe could include gas stations or hotels, he said in a call with citizens before the vote. Lumbee and other Native health researchers said they believe a twofold system — using IHS money and additional revenue — is necessary. Funds from gaming could compensate for what IHS can’t support. Casinos’ impact on tribal health has been debated in research for decades. [Studies show](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4957391/?ref=down-ballot.info) that the money from gaming helps tribes build more facilities, hire more doctors, and improve social services, but unhealthy substance use and smoking increase. “There’s going to be negative impacts,” [Brittany Locklear](https://www.uncp.edu/about/directory/brittany-strong-locklear.html?ref=down-ballot.info), a social work professor at the University of North Carolina and citizen of the Lumbee Tribe, said at a June panel discussion on gaming. [Ronny Bell](https://pharmacy.unc.edu/directory/bellr/?ref=down-ballot.info), 62, a Lumbee citizen and a researcher studying Native health at UNC, said the community has felt ripple effects from systemic racism, having not been acknowledged as a tribal nation for so long, and the economic downturn following the loss of Robeson County’s manufacturing and tobacco jobs. That history plays a part in the health statistics in Robeson today, Bell said. But with federal recognition, he said, the Lumbee people have achieved a victory they’ve fought for since 1888. “I think about the resilience of the Lumbee people and how they've gone through this 100-plus-year fight for federal recognition,” Bell said. “I sort of see that as a continuation of this resilience, and how now we have this opportunity with federal recognition to bring in resources to help address those issues.” ![A photo of a large government building. In front of it are three flagpoles: on the left is the Lumbee Tribe flag; the American flag is in the center; the North Carolina flag is on the right.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_13.jpg?w=1270) The Lumbee Tribe government offices and citizen housing in Pembroke, North Carolina, stand amid long stretches of agricultural countryside. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) **Resolution and Uncertainty** Jada Brooks, a Lumbee citizen and UNC researcher who studies Indigenous health and lives in Robeson County, is conducting a study about heart health among Lumbee women. The initiative includes classes in which Lumbee women ages 18 to 50 signed up to discuss their health. That’s where she met Angie Lowery, who talked about her lifestyle changes with the group. “I was just floored by, like, just the extent to which she went,” Brooks said. She and other Lumbee researchers said federal recognition allows Lumbee citizens to be set apart in census data, paving a way to get clear information on heart health, cancer rates, diabetes diagnoses, and mental health risks. “There’s challenges in even understanding the nuances of these complex health disparities, because a lot of data isn’t out there,” said Ryan Dial, a public health researcher at UNC and a member of the Lumbee Tribe. But access and confidence may be the biggest barriers Lumbee people will have to overcome, Brooks said. “I think what really matters is people feeling like they can trust the healthcare system.” Brooks said she worried that a casino would encourage bad health habits, such as smoking and drinking. “Let’s not create more problems for ourselves than we already have,” she said. She voted against the casino. Like others in the tribe, Angie Lowery believes in her people’s power to help themselves, regardless of whether government steps in to help. “Just because we're federally recognized don't mean that the doors are going to open up and money’s going to fall through the door like dirt,” she said. ![A photo of Angie Lowery reading from sheets of paper stapled together. She is seated in the driver's seat of her car with the door open.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/07/Lumbee_14.jpg?w=1270) Angie Lowery sits in her Ford F-250 reading the Lumbee Constitution on a hot June day. The tribe secured federal recognition in December 2025\. (Andrew Jones/KFF Health News) [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* This [article](https://kffhealthnews.org/rural-health/tribe-native-disparities-indian-health-service-federal-recognition-lumbee-north-carolina/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150) ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=2259072&ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0) ### East Tennessee cities are gearing up to fight data centers URL: https://down-ballot.info/east-tennessee-cities-are-gearing-up-to-fight-data-centers/ Last updated: 2026-08-10T09:00:01.000Z By Larry Griffin (Tennessee Lookout) Published: July 30, 2026 Data centers, which store and facilitate data for computer applications, have become more ubiquitous in public discourse over the past few years as artificial intelligence, AI, tools have risen in prominence. In areas where the data centers have located, residents have reported constant low humming noises that [disrupt everyday life](https://tennesseelookout.com/2026/03/18/a-battle-over-data-centers-heats-up-along-the-mississippi-tennessee-state-line/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTVsL1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFzS3BDU2hTMk1wZFR1b1pIc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHjSebXv2cIO3ELHIbNzBKzRdLvglyzpkGwJEM6htADnB4fh66qZVCS7lc5Mh%5Faem%5FaQZnwkB5qPiFcffn-JJygw&ref=down-ballot.info). They’ve seen higher energy costs and in some cases companies [plan to cut off](https://fortune.com/2026/05/12/lake-tahoe-data-center-49000-residents-power-source/?ref=down-ballot.info) whole regions’ power supply to better service AI data centers. And people worry about the [environmental cost](https://tennesseelookout.com/2025/07/07/a-billionaire-an-ai-supercomputer-toxic-emissions-and-a-memphis-community-that-did-nothing-wrong/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the data centers as emissions continue to pollute the air the longer the centers operate. Crypto or bitcoin mines, meaning facilities used to manufacture digital currency, are also a worry. While they’re separate entities from data centers, they are often grouped together by those opposing them. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://tennesseelookout.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) The City of Johnson City, in its efforts to regulate such facilities, classifies both as buildings “primarily designed or used for the storage, management, processing, validation, or transmission of digital information” while using “specialized mechanical, electrical, cooling, and standby power systems intended to support continuous or large-scale digital operations.” Data centers are proliferating in Tennessee, with several planned in [Virginia](https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/proposed-wise-county-data-center-in-early-stages-amid-growing-concerns/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Kentucky](https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/greenup-county-places-moratorium-data-035900907.html?ref=down-ballot.info), all less than 200 miles from the Tri-Cities area. In East Tennessee’s backyard, crypto company ExoticRidge sued Hawkins County in March, after the county banned crypto mines. The case has become a cautionary tale for others in the region as it makes its way through the courts. The company claimed that the ban was unjust, saying it wouldn’t be causing harm. “Our on-grid projects are designed to maximize energy efficiency and uptime, while our field deployments are focused on utilizing unconventional energy sources to provide sustainable, low-cost power. Leveraging our founders’ experience, we are committed to delivering high-quality results from our projects,” the company’s website states. Libertarian think tank [The Beacon Center](https://www.beacontn.org/exoticridge-v-hawkins-county-fighting-back-against-an-arbitrary-data-center-ban-in-east-tennessee?ref=down-ballot.info), which defends public property rights and companies which it views as unfairly maligned by government action, has taken up the case to fight in court. Attorney Ben Stormes with the Beacon Center told Tennessee Lookout that he thought it was mostly a misunderstanding on the county’s part. > [Visual: Mapping Tennessee’s current and proposed data centers](https://tennesseelookout.com/2026/07/10/visual-mapping-tennessees-current-and-proposed-data-centers/?ref=down-ballot.info) “It’s an unpopular business, and the government reacted without thinking too much,” he said, calling the idea of banning entire businesses “anti-American.” In its response document filed with the court, Hawkins County states it is trying to do right by its citizens, who “made clear to their elected representatives that they do not want to live alongside a gas-burning computer farm that pumps out dirty air and noise pollution at all hours of the night and day.” ## Being proactive Even where no data centers have filed applications for permits, cities in the region are trying to cut them off at the knees before they even start a plan. Bristol passed a two-year moratorium on the centers, while Kingsport has passed regulations stating that the centers can only come to heavy industrial zones 500 feet from homes, with a noise cap of 60 decibels. Jonesborough ruled that data centers couldn’t come within 1,500 feet of residential structures. Washington County approved a moratorium on data centers through June 30, 2027. In Monroe County, resident Amber Bright leads a Facebook group titled [NO DATA CENTERS TENNESSEEE – MONROE COUNTY CHAPTER](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1459389912603284).of Members have been petitioning municipalities to ban or regulate the data centers before any take root in the area. Bright told Lookout that while no data centers have attempted to come to the area, she wants to get ahead of the issue: “I do not want Monroe County — or any rural community — to suffer lasting local damage for the benefit of corporations that will not have to live with the consequences.” > [Local Tennessee officials are putting data center plans on ice to consider regulations](https://tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/15/local-tennessee-officials-are-putting-data-center-plans-on-ice-to-consider-regulations/?ref=down-ballot.info) Johnson City ruled in 2025 that data centers could only apply to locate in the I-2 Heavy Industrial zone. ## Public concern In a recent survey by the City of Johnson City, over 5,000 of the 6,000 respondents said they were “extremely concerned” by the prospect of a data center coming to the city. Several residents spoke at a June 9 meeting of the Johnson City Regional Planning Commission in which the city’s regulations against data centers were discussed. Rebecca Tolley worried about how little AI has been regulated so far, including the way it steals peoples’ art and writing and how it can generate explicit images. “There are several minors who have become victims of child sexual assault material generated by AI,” she said. “I’d like to encourage you all, to continue to very heavily scrutinize these industries as they come in and propose to come in.” “We have no need for a data center,” said fellow resident Brad Parker. “We do have a need for clear water running, nice air above Buffalo Mountain and good ground that will grow our fruits and vegetables.” A third resident, Rachel Holly, worried that if a data center came to town, residents would lose any recourse: “We’re not gonna matter, we’re just going to be rerouted until we’re not heard.” ## A years-long effort The Johnson City Commission has extended a moratorium on data centers until December, while a special board including city personnel and concerned residents is trying to hammer out the details. Johnson City Planning Manager Whitney Hodges said the project to craft regulations against data centers has been going on for the last couple of years, and spans a massive endeavor to tweak the noise and zoning rules in the city to evolve them for more modern technology. At a city commission work session on July 16, Hodges said the proposal so far states data centers would have to remain an as-yet undetermined distance away from residential properties and will have to cap their noise levels .The city is looking into what are acceptable noise levels for industrial-size businesses. Hodges said it’s been tricky because they have to make sure proposed rules wouldn’t infringe on other businesses’ work or create other, new problems. Quotation We have no need for a data center. We do have a need for clear water running, nice air above Buffalo Mountain and good ground that will grow our fruits and vegetables. **– Brad Parker, Johnson City resident** Data centers would have to conduct environmental impact studies and have contingency plans for what would happen to the massive buildings if the data center companies end up abandoning the projects and leaving town. They will also have to make public websites detailing their actions. Finally, any data centers coming to town would have to undergo annual reviews to make sure they’re compliant with all the rules, with the city reserving the right to reject them for shortcomings. The ordinances and rules are still in draft form and Hodges said they likely won’t become official until October or November this year. Hodges wants to correct the perception that Johnson City was or is getting ready to welcome a data center to the area. Every city is “trying to walk a line” with data centers, she said, regulating them while not outright banning them, as cities can’t legally ban legal businesses from operating. She called data centers a “moving target” and said it was important to keep abreast of any new developments so they could make regulations. Johnson City resident Sylvain Bruni has been a vocal critic of data centers and has spoken up against them at local government meetings for years now. He has been working with city officials on their plans. While he knows some of his neighbors want a total ban on data centers, Bruni frames his goals as practical and said the idea was to have enough regulations to protect the community. “A lot of people want to go very fast and very strong,” he said. “I’m trying to be in the middle of what the community wants with what the city can do.” [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://tennesseelookout.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Memphis advocates call on private airport to stop servicing ICE detention flights URL: https://down-ballot.info/memphis-advocates-call-on-private-airport-to-stop-servicing-ice-detention-flights/ Last updated: 2026-08-07T09:00:42.000Z **It's Friday August 7, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Memphis advocates call on private airport to stop servicing ICE detention flights, Two more face federal charges with making threats in Nolan Wells’ death investigation, ICE says Forest Service requested cooperation in Wilson Creek operation, NC lawmakers send two big election bills to governor, Why truckers always seem to be on the phone while they drive on the highway, From shelters to medical care, three young West Virginians want the state to change how it confronts homelessness, Nearly 15 years after student discipline reform, school suspensions in Mass. are falling. Are emergency removals taking their place? **Media outlets and others featured:** Tennessee Lookout, Mississippi Today, NC Local, Carolina Public Press, CalMatters, Mountain State Spotlight, CommonWealth Beacon. --- ## Memphis advocates call on private airport to stop servicing ICE detention flights By Anita Wadhwani (Tennessee Lookout) Published: August 5, 2026 Memphis advocates on Tuesday called on a privately-run aviation company to stop servicing flights that transport detained immigrants out of the state. Volunteers with Vecindarios 901, a Memphis mutual aid organization that coordinates a “rapid response” network to help immigrants impacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said they have tracked 51 flights since March transporting detainees from Wilson Air Center. Using publicly available flight tracking data, the group has traced most of these flight destinations to Alexandria, Louisiana, where ICE has established a large detention facility. Maria Oceja, Vecindarios 901 co-founder, urged owners of the Wilson Air Center, located on the site of the Memphis International Airport, to “reconsider your role” in the Trump administration’s mass immigrant detention and deportation operations. “The Trump administration has separated parents from their children, wives from their husbands and families from their communities,” said Oceja, citing increased detentions as a result of ICE’s participation in the Memphis Safe Task Force and an uptick in detentions statewide that have brought hundreds of immigrants to a detention center in the city of Mason, located about 40 miles from the airport. “Before they can even contact an attorney to fight their case in court they’re immediately flown out of this airport to a detention center in Louisiana, Alabama or another detention center in another part of the United States.” she said. “By flying them out they are losing the opportunity to fight their case in Tennessee so they can stay with their families,” she said. Advocates on Tuesday also raised safety concerns over the use of restraints during flights that could place individuals at risk during air emergencies. Wilson Air Center did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment. [ICE Air Operations](https://www.ice.gov/factsheets/ice-air-operations?ref=down-ballot.info), a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, coordinates the majority of flights via contracts with airline companies to transport detained immigrants to detention centers within the U.S. and on deportation flights outside the country. In a statement received after publication, a spokesperson for ICE noted that ICE Air Operations provides “a network of air transportation to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) 25 field offices to facilitate the movement of illegal aliens within the United States and their removal to destinations worldwide via air charter and commercial charter services.” The transportation of detainees between facilities is routine, for reasons that include “capacity, security or logistical needs,” the spokesperson said. Individuals are fully restrained during the flights per ICE policy, the spokesperson said. “Detainees transported by ICE Air aircraft will be fully restrained using handcuffs, waist chains, and leg irons” during the flights, the spokesperson said. They are also provided meals and drinks. “ICE is committed to the safety and welfare of those in custody throughout the entire transfer and removal process. Allegations of inhumane treatment or attempts to hide information is categorically false,” the spokesperson said. In June, there were a total of 1,889 immigration enforcement flights — a 59% increase from June 2025, according to [ICE Flight Monitor](https://www.humanrightsfirst.org/ice-flight-monitor?ref=down-ballot.info), which tracks flights using publicly available data. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://tennesseelookout.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) - 8:44 am This story was updated with a response from ICE received after publication. --- # Two more face federal charges with making threats in Nolan Wells’ death investigation by Mina Corpuz, Mississippi Today August 4, 2026 Federal investigators have charged at least two more out-of-state people with allegedly threatening a witness and state court employees authorities believe are connected to the [Nolan Xavier Wells](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/07/20/nolan-xavier-wells-funeral-reward/?ref=down-ballot.info)’ death investigation. Ohio resident Michelle Edwards and Illinois resident Edward Porter each face a federal charge of transmitting threatening communication to kill or injure. Court records do not state what the maximum penalty would be if convicted, but the portions of federal law under which they are both charged carry sentences between five and 20 years. The court unsealed their charges Friday, the same day a [California man](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/07/31/nolan-xavier-wells-threats/?ref=down-ballot.info) was arrested for allegedly sending a bomb and death threat to a Mississippi Gulf Coast chancery judge who is the stepmother of a friend who went to Horn Island with Wells and others on July 4\. A park ranger discovered Wells’ body on the island on July 6, after his friends had already returned home. Investigators from an FBI task force said Edwards called in bomb threats to the George County Chancery Clerk’s Office and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department the afternoon of July 23\. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department is leading the death investigation, and George and Jackson counties are both in the chancery judge’s district. Edwards allegedly used a blocked phone number when she called the clerk’s office 21 times between 1:34 and 1:42 p.m., according to the criminal complaint. During the calls, she said, “Do not go outside,” “the clock is ticking,” and “die.” She also allegedly called the sheriff’s office twice using the \*67 function, which makes the caller ID appear as private, unknown or blocked. Those calls led law enforcement to place the building on lockdown and use a bomb detection dog to sweep the area. Investigators submitted disclosure requests to telephone companies, which identified an Ohio number. A Cash App account and law enforcement records listed the phone number under Edwards’ name. Cell site information from July 23 included an area in Cincinnati where Edwards had two listed addresses. The complaint accuses Porter of threatening to kill a witness in the Wells death investigation and another person in Mississippi on Friday morning; in both cases, Porter threatened to kill the person’s family members. He allegedly told the witness, who is identified in court records as “W-1,” that he knew where they live and provided proof by texting the witness their address. Porter told the other person, identified as “W-2,” that he would cut them up and put them into a suitcase. Then, investigators say Porter called the witness back to say he was outside their home to kill them. The threats came from a Gulfport-area text free number, which allows people to make calls and send texts over the internet. Agents requested information from a company called Pinger about the number, and the company provided two IP addresses tied to Porter, which included a Chicago-area number and a Maywood, Illinois, address. Agents found that the Pinger account used to make the threats was created the same day the threats were sent. Cell site information placed an iPhone under Porter’s name at his residence in Berwyn, Illinois. Wells’ disappearance and death have captured national attention, which has included the spread of [theories and misinformation](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/07/30/nolan-xavier-wells-deaths-unclear/?ref=down-ballot.info) on social media and threats made against people believed to be involved. The FBI is investigating threats received by friends of Wells, their families, Wells’ parents and local and state public officials working on the case. So far, none of the threats against Wells’ family has resulted in an arrest. Wells, 18, traveled by boat with a group of friends to Horn Island off the Mississippi Gulf Coast to celebrate the Fourth of July. He did not return to Ocean Springs and was reported missing. His death remains under investigation and a cause of death has not been released. The case is expected to be presented to a grand jury once the investigation is complete. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/08/04/nolan-wells-threats-federal-charges/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223401/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1185534&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # ICE says Forest Service requested cooperation in Wilson Creek operation. Here’s how law enforcement in national forests works. by Lilly Knoepp, NCLocal August 6, 2026 A popular swimming hole in the Pisgah National Forest became [the site of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation late last month](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/04/community-responds-after-ice-raid-in-forest/?ref=down-ballot.info), raising questions about when and how law enforcement partners with federal immigration enforcement officers in North Carolina. This is the first time ICE has partnered with the U.S. Forest Service in the state in recent years, ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams told NC Local. The initial request for the operation came from Forest Service Law Enforcement, not ICE, he said. “I believe in this case they reached out to us along with the Caldwell County Sheriff's Office and they asked us to assist them and we set up this operation,” Williams told NC Local. The Forest Service declined to confirm who initiated the action. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said it arrested 13 people who were illegally in the United States during the operation in partnership with the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office and the Forest Service. Conservation groups and local advocates questioned why Forest Service officials worked with federal immigration authorities. Following the incident, Siembra, a Latino advocacy organization, hosted a vigil near the spot of the raid. Organizer Andreina Malki asked why this immigration operation happened in the Pisgah National Forest. “A question that you know that I have, as someone that loves and appreciates the national forests, is, ‘Why is that a place of immigration enforcement?' That is a place where families go to rest, where families go to enjoy a perfect summer day,” Malki said. “That is not a place where one would expect this to happen.” But the cooperation between federal law enforcement agencies is not unusual. “This cooperation is part of how we keep recreation areas safe and sustain the health of the forests,” a Forest Service spokesperson said in an email. The Forest Service pointed to a [2025 law enforcement operation](https://www.fs.usda.gov/r08/northcarolina/newsroom/stories/forest-service-law-enforcement-officers-break-suspected-ramp?ref=down-ballot.info) when officers seized 425lbs of illegally harvested ramps in the Nantahala National Forest as an example of law enforcement's regular operations in the national forest. The Forest Service, which covers 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands, confirmed that its Law Enforcement & Investigation division “routinely partners with Federal, State, Tribal and local police—daily in most places.” This typically includes joint work on resource‑protection patrols, traffic safety on forest roads, search‑and‑rescue support, wildfire‑cause investigations, arson, drug violations, or theft of forest products. “Forest Service law enforcement is dedicated to keeping the national forests safe and secure for the American people. While our law enforcement officers have no authority to enforce immigration law, they collaborate with other federal and local law enforcement agencies,” a Forest Service spokesperson said in an email. Forest Service law enforcement officers are independently managed and fall outside the direct supervision of local Forest Service units. Officers report to the local Patrol Captain, who in turn reports to the regional Special Agent in Charge and regional Patrol Commander. Each of the Forest System’s 10 regions is divided into zones where special agents and uniformed officers are “stationed by workload and supported by patrol command and administrative staff.” The regional law enforcement officers do not report to the forest supervisors who oversee all the other forest service activities. The Patrol captain in the region will advise forest supervisors on law enforcement matters occurring in a national forest. The Forest Service also has criminal investigators assigned to each region who conduct criminal investigations into violations of federal law involving National Forest System lands. The Forest Service declined an interview request and declined to confirm how many Forest Service law enforcement and investigation officers are employed in North Carolina, citing “officer safety.” While Forest Service law enforcement has long functioned in the state, the Wilson Creek immigration operation marked a unique partnership. Williams said it’s the first time in his almost eight year tenure with ICE that he remembers the agency working with the Forest Service in North Carolina. Williams said ICE has recently worked with the Forest Service in South Carolina and Georgia, though NC Local found no public references to these operations. [In 2025](https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2025/08/23/advocates-raise-alarms-over-ice-harassing-family-at-ozarks-swimming-hole?ref=down-ballot.info), it was reported that ICE questioned people about their immigration status at a swimming hole in Arkansas. Williams did not specify the reason for the Wilson Creek operation but underscored the authority of ICE to detain people without documentation. “Obviously they encountered aliens, and we're the only agency for the most part that has the authority and the information to determine alienage, so that's why they called us,” he told NC Local. ICE declined to share the names of the 13 people they say were arrested on July 26\. [NC Local spoke with one family member](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/04/community-responds-after-ice-raid-in-forest/?ref=down-ballot.info) who said her nephew was detained. ### **Increasing cooperation with ICE** While ICE has always had relationships with other local, state and federal law enforcement, the volume of cooperation has “skyrocketed” under the Trump Administration, an [NBC analysis](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/agreements-allow-local-police-work-ice-skyrocket-rcna258787?ref=down-ballot.info) earlier this year showed. “There are 1,168 agencies with officers signed up to help ICE, up from 135 during the Biden administration and 150 at the end of Trump’s first term,” the report stated. “I would categorize it as a whole of government approach,” Williams said. Increased funding for ICE also enabled the expansion. In January, ICE’s budget increased from $10 million to $85 million, [NPR reported](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/21/nx-s1-5674887/ice-budget-funding-congress-trump?ref=down-ballot.info). Local and state law enforcement agencies may enter into agreements, called 287(g) agreements, with the federal government to collaborate on immigration enforcement. Some local governments in Colorado, California and Illinois have pushed back against cooperation with ICE, according to the [Migration Policy Institute](https://www.migrationpolicy.org/journal/policy-beat/escalation-ice-operations-emboldens-state-and-local-lawmakers-constrain-its?ref=down-ballot.info). In North Carolina, state leaders embraced expansion of federal cooperation, citing the re-election of President Trump as a clear communication from North Carolina voters of “their strong desire to create a safer country through increased border security and stronger immigration policies" in [a new law](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2025/Bills/Senate/PDF/S153v1.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) requiring state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with ICE. Governor Josh Stein vetoed the measure, called the North Carolina Border Protection Act. In June, Republican lawmakers [overrode the veto](https://www.wunc.org/race-class-communities/2026-06-30/new-nc-law-ends-sanctuary-city-policies-mandates-ice-cooperation?ref=down-ballot.info). The new measure requires state law enforcement agencies, such as the State Bureau of Investigation and Highway Patrol, to enter 287(g) agreements with ICE. At the end of last year, [ 25 law enforcement agencies in NC](https://nclocal.org/2025/11/06/law-enforcement-cooperation-with-ice/?ref=down-ballot.info) had 287(g) agreements. The Caldwell County Sheriff’s Department, which collaborated on the Wilson Creek operation, entered an agreement with federal authorities in 2020\. [The ACLU reports](https://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org/287g/?ref=down-ballot.info) there are currently 28 active agreements in NC. The Sierra Club, a national environmental group, condemned the Wilson Creek incident and framed it as part of a pattern of increased immigration action. “Bringing immigration enforcement into public recreation areas undermines the sense of safety and belonging that these spaces provide and could discourage people from visiting national forests and other outdoor spaces altogether,” the organization said in[ a press release](https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2026/08/sierra-club-condemns-ice-operation-pisgah-national-forest?ref=down-ballot.info) following the Wilson Creek operation. The Sierra Club warned that the expansion of 287(g) agreements across the country and increased ICE funding could “bring similar operations to more communities and public recreation areas.” This [article](https://nclocal.org/2026/08/06/how-forest-service-worked-with-ice-wilson-creek/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [NCLocal](https://nclocal.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://nclocal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/cropped-NCLocal_Favicon_48px-1-150x150.png?crop=1) ![](https://nclocal.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=9103&ga4=G-ZYXQJ6BNB9) --- # NC lawmakers send two big election bills to governor by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press August 4, 2026 After a year of work, North Carolina lawmakers agreed on a pair of wide-ranging election bills Tuesday evening that would shorten the primary early voting period, allow challenges of early voted ballots after Election Day and extend some ballot counting and curing deadlines, among other policy changes. Now, the power is in Gov. **Josh Stein**’s hands. He can sign the election bills into law, veto them or allow them to become law without his signature. Stein indicated late Tuesday that he would indeed veto the more controversial of the bills. The first of the two election bills, House Bill 834, passed with some Democratic support in a vote of 74-35\. The second, House Bill 958, fell along party lines, in a 62-46 vote. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Consequently, Republicans would likely have enough votes to override a veto of HB834\. However, Stein has not indicated he would veto that one. The closer margins on HB958, which Stein has said he would veto, suggest it would be difficult for Republican legislators to override the governor's veto of that bill. House Speaker **Destin Hall**, R-Caldwell, told reporters he doubts lawmakers will come back to override any vetoes before the November election. They’ll have to wait until the planned post-election session. “Hopefully we don’t have to worry about that, and the governor just signs it and doesn’t veto it,” he said Tuesday prior to Stein's indication of his plans. Hall added that the pair of bills make elections more transparent and clarify who can and cannot vote in North Carolina. “Folks who are legally authorized to vote should be able to vote,” he said. “And the reality is, nobody has a difficult time voting in this state who’s eligible to vote.” ### Controversial election bill House Bill 958 One of the election bills was more controversial: HB958\. All Democrats and unaffiliated lawmakers voted against the bill, including some frequent swing voters. **Early voting period**: While a provision to shorten the primary early voting period from 17 to 10 days is new to House Bill 958, it’s not a novel idea. This session, several lawmakers proposed cutting early voting days to some degree. County election directors told [Carolina Public Press](https://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) that they were [prepared](https://carolinapublicpress.org/76217/nc-senate-splits-massive-elections-bill-into-2-sends-them-back-to-house-with-changes/?ref=down-ballot.info) for any outcome, but preferred that the general election early voting period stay intact. Some said lower turnout during primary elections would make a 10-day early voting period manageable. Meanwhile, voting advocates argued that a longer early voting period gave people more time to decide how they wanted to vote and more opportunities to cast a ballot, while keeping lines shorter. Rep. **Pricey Harrison**, D-Guilford, noted that a “significant portion” of elections in North Carolina are decided in the primary. “Most of us in this chamber are here because we won a primary,” she said. “I think cutting back on primary days, you need to think about that piece of the calculus, and I think that's a bad move.” Hall said two weeks of primary early voting is “plenty of time,” considering the lower turnout. **Challenging early voted ballots**: If House Bill 958 becomes law, anyone could challenge an early voted ballot up to three days after Election Day. Under current law, challenges must happen at the time ballots are cast, with the exception of absentee ballots. Rep. **Phil Rubin**, D-Wake, called the provision “the Griffin,” referring to 2024 failed state Supreme Court candidate **Jefferson Griffin**, who challenged tens of thousands of ballots in an attempt to overturn his loss. Rubin said it was dangerous to allow candidates to wait to see election results before deciding whether to pursue ballot challenges. “You don't want candidates strategically filing challenges just to try and win an election,” Rubin said. “We should win elections at the ballot box, not in the courtroom.” After bipartisan negotiations, the final House version of the bill only allowed challenges up to the close of the polls, but the Senate brought the extension back. Other Democrats took issue with the Senate undoing some of the bipartisan work that led to the final House bill. Rep. **Amber Baker**, D-Forsyth, encouraged lawmakers to vote against the bill, and send a message as a House chamber that “we stand united on the work that we’ve done.” **Due process for dead voters**: This spring, the State Board of Elections announced that it found about 34,000 potentially dead voters on the state’s voter rolls using the federal Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system. That would be about 0.46% of North Carolina’s registered voters. State election officials have been using the SAVE system to crosscheck the state’s voter rolls with several federal databases to root out ineligible voters. That could include noncitizens, voters who have moved from one jurisdiction to another or dead voters. Every week, the state Department of Health and Human Services sends the election board a list of people who have died so that they can be removed from the voter rolls. So, it’s likely that many of the 34,000 voters identified by SAVE did not notify North Carolina election officials before moving, and subsequently, dying. HB958 requires the State Board executive director to distribute the names of dead voters identified by the SAVE system to county boards within a week of getting the information. Then, county boards must remove those voters from the rolls. However, there is no process to confirm whether the identified dead voters are actually deceased. There’s no notice or challenge hearing before the voter is removed. Rubin said lawmakers should include due process, especially considering the databases that SAVE uses are known to be incomplete and imperfect. “It will lead to lawsuits,” he said. “It violates constitutional protections, and this bill could have guaranteed them.” Late Tuesday, Gov. Stein posted to X that he would indeed veto this bill. "Your vote is how you make sure that your government actually works for you and your family," Stein wrote. "I will always defend your right to vote. I will veto House Bill 958 because it makes it harder for you to vote, introduces unnecessary chaos into our elections, and invites sore losers to overturn an election they lost. "The bill passed with only Republican votes. Thank you to every single Democratic and Unaffiliated house member for standing against this bad bill. Now, I ask you to call your legislators and urge them to uphold the veto. Because in this democracy, the power rests with you — the people. Let’s keep it that way." ### More bipartisan support for House Bill 834 The other of the two election bills received bipartisan support. It includes extended deadlines for counting provisional and absentee ballots, and fixing certain ballot issues, from three days after Election Day to five business days. The bill outlines the process for securing ballots and electronic vote records between the end of the early voting period and Election Day. It clarifies that if a voter dies between casting their ballot and 11:59 p.m. on the day before the election, their vote does not count. There’s also a provision extending the time certain expired Class C driver’s licenses can count as valid voter IDs to the end of 2027\. Finally, HB834 allows people who want to challenge State Board decisions in court to either choose Wake County Superior Court, where all challenges occur now, or the superior court in their home county. While Harrison said she appreciates the deadline changes, she doesn’t like the ability to sue outside of Wake County. It will lead to “judge shopping,” a process where plaintiffs try to file lawsuits wherever they think they’ll find the most sympathetic judge. “That's going to prove to be a real problem for fair judicial treatment of election issues,” she said. *Editor's note: This article was revised to reflect news developments after it was initially posted.* This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/80268/nc-lawmakers-send-two-big-election-bills-to-governor/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=80268) --- # Why truckers always seem to be on the phone while they drive on the highway By [Gagandeep Singh](https://calmatters.org/author/gagandeep-singh/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![A silhouetted truck driver stands beside the cab of a semi-truck inside a dimly lit repair garage. Bright daylight streams through the open bay door behind him, outlining his profile and reflecting off the truck's polished side.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/061026_TruckDrivers_AP-CM-02.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1) Gurinderjit Singh at a truck yard in Fresno where he parks his semi-truck on June 8, 2026\. Photo by Adam Perez for CalMatters This story was originally published by [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Sign up](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) for their newsletters. The calls started rolling in nonstop to Fresno trucker Gurinderjit Singh as he prepared for an out-of-state delivery earlier this summer. Some congratulated him on his son’s recent engagement while others were fellow drivers inviting him to join a conference call. He climbed into his Peterbilt, clipped his headset, joined the call, and settled into an hourslong conversation with friends around the world. Singh, an Indian origin trucker who is something of a social media influencer, spends at least eight hours a day on the phone while hauling freight, Monday to Saturday. He described the custom as a “call of empathy” — a ritual that gives him a jolt of positive energy and keeps him awake while behind the wheel. It’s a habit that he and many other truckers share as they plug into conversations that cross continents and time zones, building a kind of rolling community that travels with them down the highway. They say it helps them take care of their [mental health](https://calmatters.org/category/health/mental-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) in a career marked by long hours sitting alone in vehicles without access to exercise. “There is a lot of stress on truck drivers in the United States,” Singh said. “I think the long call is a meaningful method that can reduce this level of stress, social isolation or loneliness in the truck by sharing feelings with others.” Of course it’s illegal to drive while handling a cellphone and drivers make a point to keep one ear free on their headsets to comply with state laws. They are also aware that distracted driving can be deadly, and several of them told CalMatters they end their calls when they hit heavy traffic. There is something at stake every time a driver picks up that call: control of an 80,000-pound machine, highway safety, and a commercial driving license that doesn’t come back easily if something goes wrong. The California Department of Motor Vehicles evaluates drivers’ physical and mental health during license renewals, and they can be suspended. Yet, California has neither conducted a statewide study on truck drivers’ mental health, nor offered a program to support rehabilitation if a trucker faces mental health issues. They’re on their own to get an attorney and fight for a license renewal if an issue gets the state’s attention. ![A person in a grey T-shirt and headset sits in the driver's seat of a semi-truck, looking out the open window.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/061026_TruckDrivers_AP-CM-24-1024x682.jpg) Gurinderjit Singh sits in his semi-truck in Fresno, on June 8, 2026\. Photo by Adam Perez for CalMatters Lindsey Bryan is the health & wellness manager at [Project 61](https://project-61.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit focused on truck drivers’ health. “We see that drivers face social isolation daily,” Bryan said. “They’re away from their loved ones, and also lacking many of the things that you and I might do on a day-to-day basis that help us reduce our stress.” Academic researchers have found the solitude truckers experience makes them unlike other workers when it comes to social media and online communication. A 2016 paper, titled “[Work Strain, Social Isolation and Mental Health of Long-Haul Truckers](https://prolepsis.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Work-Strain-Social-Isolation-and-Mental-Health-of-Long-Haul-Truckers.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info),” noted social media has been linked to feelings of isolation for online adults. But not for truckers. Social media, such as WhatsApp and FaceTime, has the opposite effect for them while on the road, giving them a sense of community. “These (social media) opportunities would provide truck drivers much-needed social connections during layovers, while waiting to load/unload their trucks, any other non-driving periods, or during emergencies,” the authors wrote. ## 'Until she starts snoring' The calls may sound like a distraction, but truckers say they often help drivers stay focused. “The reason, even in my car today, I talk on my cell phone, via hands-free or bluetooth and it keeps you alert,” said Joseph Rajkovacz, a retired executive for Western States Trucking Association. “It's no different than turning on your radio and singing along to a song you like. Even though nobody wants to hear your singing. So it does help keep you alert, too.” That’s why Gerald Bailey, 53, says he spends 27 hours on the phone every week with his wife and brothers, chatting at all times of the day and night. It's become a routine for him once he’s behind the wheel. He was talking on the phone with his wife at a truckstop in Lodi earlier this summer while he waited for a mechanic to fix his truck’s air conditioning. “I stay on the phone with my wife until she starts snoring,” Bailey said while smiling. “Then I let her have a well-deserved sleep and I don’t want to disturb her.” ![A person wearing glasses and a headset sits in the driver's seat of a semi-truck with the door open. The person has a series of tattoos visible on his upper body and wears an assortment of rings on both hands.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/060826-Trucker-Mental-Health-MG-13-CM-1024x682.jpg) Gerald Bailey of Redding sits in his semi-trailer truck at the Pilot Flying J travel center in Lodi on June 8, 2026\. Bailey said he combats the loneliness of life on the road by talking with his wife on the phone. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters Some truckers, however, are prohibited by their employers from talking while driving. They’re monitored with cameras in the cabs, too. “It’s against company policy,” said driver Peter Andrews, 62, of Texas as he walked through a truck stop near Sacramento. “I have to pull over the truck to call someone. They’ve put camera equipment with artificial intelligence right on my face, so I can’t use my phone.” ## Health risks on the road According to Project 61 data, 70% of truck drivers in the United States are obese — twice the rate of U.S. adult workers. They also experience heart disease and depression at twice the rate of the average U.S. worker, and diabetes at twice the rate of the general population. Raman Dhillon, chief executive officer of the North American Punjabi Trucking Association, knows the toll personally. When he was driving the truck, he put on weight then learned he had diabetes and high blood pressure. ![A white semi-truck parked in a parking lot with other semi-trucks and a truck hauling vehicles around.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/060826-Trucker-Mental-Health-MG-11-CM-1024x682.jpg) ****First:** Semi-trailer trucks at a Pilot Flying J travel center in Lodi on June 8, 2026\. ****Last**: Gurinderjit Singh’s headset hangs inside his semi-truck in Fresno, on June 8, 2026\. Photos by Miguel Gutierrez Jr. and Adam Perez for CalMatters Truckers are “on the road. They are quarantining in that 10-by-10 cab, and loneliness at that time is intense,” Dhillon said. “You have 11 hours of driving, three hours of break, and 10 hours of sleep, and it’s constantly going on. I think a lot of drivers cope with this through phone calls.” Singh, the Fresno driver, views those physical health risks as connected to mental health isolation. He notes that drivers feel more isolated when they eat poorly. That’s why his wife, Harjinder Kaur, a nurse, packs two or three delicious Indian curries, along with wheat breads, for his deliveries. Truckers say they also endure what they describe as a kind of discrimination that weighs on them as they travel, including businesses denying them access to restrooms. The complaint reached Congress last year when a Republican lawmaker introduced legislation that would require retailers and warehouses to [allow truckers access to bathrooms](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2514?ref=down-ballot.info). The bill has not moved forward. “They don’t allow us to use restrooms,” said Brenda Johnson, 58, who drives a truck out of Oregon along with her husband. “There’s no structure. And these companies where we deliver treat us as less than human.” ![A long-haul truck driver sits in the open cab of a semi-truck, one hand resting on the steering wheel. Wearing sunglasses, a headset and casual clothing, she looks toward the camera from the driver's seat. Bright sunlight illuminates the truck doorway while the cab interior remains in shadow.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/060726-Johnson-Trucker-GS-CM-01-1024x682.jpg) Brenda Johnson in her semi-truck at the Sacramento 49er Plaza in Sacramento on June 7, 2026\. Johnson has been a long-haul trucker since 2005\. Photo by Gagandeep Singh for CalMatters Exercise is its own obstacle. “We don’t really have any safe place to exercise,” Johnson said at a truckstop near Interstate 80 in Sacramento. Do you want to walk around a parking lot with trucks going in and out? You’re dodging all kinds of things. There’s no real safe place for exercise.” ## Fighting loneliness The constant companionship of her husband hasn’t solved Johnson’s loneliness. “Even though my husband rides with me and is constantly with me, I can still be alone and not be alone,” Johnson said, who has been driving since 2005\. “Because we’re together all the time, we don’t really have anything to talk about.” Johnson instead leans on her two girlfriends in the trucking industry, and some immediate family members. On a typical day, she may spend about an hour on the phone outside of company-related calls though that figure can swing sharply. “My five hours would jump close to 25 hours in a week when I am in a good mood,” Johnson said. “When I’m depressed, though, I isolate myself. I don’t want to talk to anybody. I just don’t want to deal with anything.” Long-haul trucker Jose Martinez, 50, was resting at a truck stop near Stockton when he described a similar rhythm. He has struggled with the guilt he feels for missing time with his family while he’s working. Now he calls family or friends whenever he feels lonely during a 10-hour shift. "It's basically the whole time, and it's a positive thing to talk to people," Martinez said. ## Talking through emergencies For immigrant drivers, the cellphone calls offer an immediate connection to their home country that wasn’t possible in the Citizens Band (CB) radio era. The U.S. trucking industry has long benefited from immigrant labor. Between 2000 and 2021, the number of foreign-born truckers more than doubled, rising from 316,000 to over 720,000 drivers. Today, about 18% of U.S. truck drivers are foreign-born. According to North America Punjabi Trucking Association, nearly 35% of Punjabi truckers of Indian origin contribute to the California trucking industry. ![A view of the front of a semi truck from the upper cab with two silver exhaust pipes going up with a grey overcast sky in the background,](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/060826-Trucker-Mental-Health-MG-10-CM-1024x682.jpg) Semi-trailer trucks at a Pilot Flying J travel center in Lodi on June 8, 2026\. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters Singh, the Fresno driver, has a side hustle hosting a weekly TV show on Punjab politics. He’s publishing a book called “Ameriki Trucknama,” which translates to “American Truck Saga.” He also has 19,000 followers on Facebook, where people come for his political insights. As he drove to Kansas City earlier this summer, his fellow Punjabi drivers asked his thoughts about who’d win in upcoming legislative assembly elections in Punjab, the northern Indian state that most of them call home. Back on the highway, Singh points to more concrete benefits of the calls. They have helped drivers manage roadside emergencies. Two years ago, he was on the phone with a friend when his friend’s truck’s fuel line burst somewhere in rural Texas. Panicked, Singh stayed on the call while his friend tracked down a local mechanic. “Eventually, if he had not been on the call, we don't know what (would have) happened,” Singh said. *This story was produced jointly by CalMatters & CatchLight as part of our* [*mental health initiative*](https://www.catchlight.io/mental-health?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2026/08/trucker-mental-health-long-phone-calls/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # From shelters to medical care, three young West Virginians want the state to change how it confronts homelessness by Eva Altizer, Mountain State Spotlight August 2, 2026 On one winter night at the beginning of 2025, more than 1,900 people in West Virginia were staying the night in shelters or on the streets. That number comes from the federally mandated [Point in Time count](https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahar/2025-ahar-part-1-pit-estimates-of-homelessness-in-the-us.html?ref=down-ballot.info), an annual census conducted near the beginning of the year by volunteers. It does not include unhoused people who are “couch surfing” or living with friends or family. And some of the people affected by homelessness are kids. More than 15,000[ students in the state experienced homelessness](https://wvde.us/sites/default/files/2025-08/24-25%20State%20Data.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) at some point during the 2024-2025 school year according to the state’s Department of Education. Confronted with unsheltered people, some of the state’s municipalities, including Morgantown, Clarksburg, Parkersburg and Wheeling, have implemented bans on camping in public places. And though [critics have roundly condemned](https://wvpublic.org/story/government/community-advocates-oppose-morgantown-camping-ban/?ref=down-ballot.info) those policies, arguing that they criminalize homelessness, legislators have introduced state-wide bans in the last two legislative sessions. Mental illness and substance abuse are among the key causes of homelessness according to [a study of the state’s homeless population](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/legisdocs/reports/agency/H16%5FCY%5F2024%5F26389.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) completed by the Department of Health Services in 2024\. But other challenges that people face include the lack of affordable housing and employment. Homeless advocates and some who have experienced homelessness themselves say those with few housing options need more shelter, more information about resources and expanded public health strategies that reduce the harm of addiction. ## **Spending time with people** Niamh Coomey, 26, was a journalist-turned-bartender from the Twin Cities area in Minnesota when her cousin offered her a vacant bedroom in her new Wheeling apartment. She took the opportunity, and began working again as a reporter at The Wheeling Intelligencer, where she was later assigned to cover the city’s camping ban. Writing about unhoused peoples’ displacement made her realize how much she cared about it. As Coomey began volunteering with the unhoused population, she realized she wanted to do more for the disenfranchised people in her community. So she switched jobs and became the editor-in-chief of the Mustard Seed Mountain Street Paper. The street paper is based in The Mother Jones Center for Resilient Community, or the “MoJo House” in Wheeling and describes itself as “biased for the poor, working, and misunderstood.” Some of its recent stories include first person accounts from [victims of the Triadelphia flood in 2025](https://www.msmpaperwv.com/news/trimedelphia?ref=down-ballot.info), [convicted felons](https://www.msmpaperwv.com/news/fromcelltosacred?ref=down-ballot.info), [and people who have achieved sobriety](https://www.msmpaperwv.com/news/imachefandimsober?ref=down-ballot.info). The goal of the paper is to create understanding for the underprivileged, and help unhoused people find work and dignity while they’re at it. ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/NiamhCoomey-683x1024.jpg) Niamh Coomey works as the editor-in-chief of The Mustard Seed Mountain Street Paper in Wheeling. Courtesy photo. The paper works with a system of unhoused vendors who buy each paper for a quarter and sell them for a dollar or more, keeping the profits to support themselves. One of the vendors is a woman who has struggled with mental illness and is writing her autobiography. Coomey said the paper is a “little spot of hope” for her. Coomey herself sometimes struggles with making ends meet. “Rent is expensive. Groceries are expensive. Having a car is expensive. I don't have a car right now. I can't afford a car,” she said. She has taken financial assistance from Ohio Valley Mutual Aid, a nonprofit. But she considers herself privileged because she can rely on her family for help, unlike many of the vendors and people she works with for the paper. Living in Wheeling for only two years, Coomey does not want to speak for the community, but she considers the treatment of homeless people by the city, and how they’re perceived by the public, to be dehumanizing. On a snowy December morning last year, she was helping campers pack up their belongings as the last safe camping spot for homeless people closed. She said the experience was traumatizing for the campers, and [there weren’t really places for them to go](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2023/10/25/parkersburg-wheeling-camping-ban-shelter/?ref=down-ballot.info). Coomey believes there should be more. “They can't get into public housing. A lot of times they can't get into shelters. At that point, there's really no option for them,” she said. Coomey said spending time with the people themselves makes a difference. She said the comments she has heard from city officials demonstrate a real lack of understanding of the causes of the problem and how the community got here. “I don't think a lot of them are actually trying to have conversations with these people that they want to discuss so much and talk so poorly of,” she said. ## **Someone in their corner** When Skylar Sams was in seventh grade, life with her parents became chaotic. Eviction notices came in the mail, the bills weren’t being paid and she was only eating when she went to school. So she took it upon herself to move in with her grandma. Things started to go well after that — she graduated from high school and started college at WVU Parkersburg studying elementary education. But Sams lost the Pell Grant and her financial aid when she didn’t perform well her first semester. She dropped out of college and got jobs working in restaurants, but things went downhill again when her grandma passed away. Without housing, Sams was living in her boyfriend’s car. A friend named Jack Comeau, known locally by the stage name Moon King, was involved in many nonprofit programs in the Parkersburg area. He told her about a transitional living program with the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia. Sams got involved with the program immediately, and three weeks later, she had an apartment. ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/SkylarSams-1024x679.jpg) Skylar Sams lives in Parkersburg and believes information about programs and resources to help people with housing need to be advertised better, particularly to struggling youth. Courtesy photo. “When I was stressing out about if I was either gonna have to crash at my mom's house or live in my boyfriend's car with him, I felt like I had nobody,” Sams said. “It was nice knowing that I had a group of people, who I had only met once, willing to help me find an apartment — help me get set up, so that I'm not a young adult just being thrown into the waters and being told ‘swim.’” Now 22, Sams said making ends meet is still a struggle. She has a fulltime job at a local daycare and a paid weekend job taking care of her mom. Her boyfriend works 40 hours a week, but they both still rely on food stamps, medicaid, and the ongoing assistance given to them by the transitional living program to make it. “I have to sit there, budget my paychecks and be like, ‘okay, well, this one can go towards rent. This one can go towards the electric bill. Oh — phone bill’s due — gotta pay that.’ After everything's paid, I got like 20 bucks for food,” Sams said. Coming from a family that lived paycheck to paycheck, Sams thinks that it is very difficult to be a successful young adult without coming from a middle or upper class family. Sams had friends in high school who were homeless but didn’t know about the youth programs that could have helped them. Many of them feared talking to school officials because they could be put back into foster care or their bad home lives. The resources need to be more advertised, to struggling youth in particular she said. “(They need) someone to just be in their corner. To have a support system and know that they can go to someone. And feeling like they aren't throwaways — basically knowing that they are wanted,” she said. ## **‘You deserve so much more than this’** Now in her fourth year as a medical student, Abby Mitchell, 29, has been volunteering in street medicine, taking basic medical care and consultation to shelters and people living on the street, since her second year. First, she worked with the student organization, MUSHROOM, the Multidisciplinary UnSheltered Homeless Relief Outreach Of Morgantown. Now on the WVU School of Medicine’s Charleston Campus, she volunteers for CHASM, the Charleston Homelessness and Street Medicine Mission. Alongside her medical school rotations, it adds up to a lot of time with people down on their luck. “They have people who love them. They have family members. They have dreams,” Mitchell said. “These folk are just so overly appreciative of the smallest things. And sometimes that's heartbreaking because I'm like, ‘you deserve so much more than this.’” The student organizations she has worked with have had varying abilities to provide care that reduces the harm of drug addiction, and it frustrates Mitchell. She would like to provide more consistent harm reduction care, such as handing out testing strips for fentanyl and xylazine, exchanging needles, and providing doses of naloxone. ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/IMG_9268-scaled-e1785523572212-969x1024.jpg) Abby Mitchell said she would like to provide more consistent harm reduction care, such as handing out testing strips for fentanyl and xylazine, exchanging needles, and providing doses of naloxone. “There's a lot of conversation about not understanding why we do harm reduction. But a lot of times when you treat people who are facing substance abuse disorders with kindness and nonjudgment, that helps them have self-motivation and also helps them build trust with the medical community,” she said. She said that can eventually lead to less drug use and sobriety. “The issue is systemic and the root is that these people need resources and support,” Mitchell said. Once, while doing a street round in Morgantown, Mitchell and other student volunteers had to perform wound care in the dark, pouring rain, with their headlights on, to treat a man with xylazine burns. The patient clearly felt shame about his situation — at first, he told the volunteers that he had been pushed into a fire. Mitchell wants street medicine to break down the barriers to care and reduce shame. “This patient was in excruciating amounts of pain,” she said. “And I think that was a really visceral moment where I’m like, this community is really sick and they need a lot of help, and there's no access to it.” **Correction Aug. 3, 2026:* This story has been updated to correctly identify the college where Skylar Sams studied elementary education.* This [article](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/08/02/homelessness-new-approach/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mountain State Spotlight](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-MountainStateSpotlight-Icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=35301&ga4=315690663) --- # Nearly 15 years after student discipline reform, school suspensions in Mass. are falling. Are emergency removals taking their place? by Hallie Claflin, CommonWealth Beacon August 4, 2026 **IN 2012**, after child advocates spent years trying to reduce punitive suspensions in schools, Massachusetts passed sweeping education reforms under [Chapter 222](https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2012/Chapter222?ref=down-ballot.info), kickstarting a longstanding policy shift away from exclusionary discipline methods. The law came as the nation moved away from the [Zero-Tolerance policies](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/education/zero-tolerance-policies-schools-overview?ref=down-ballot.info) of the 1990s and toward efforts to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. Chapter 222 established new due process and data reporting requirements for school districts regarding the discipline and exclusion of students. The underlying principle was to make exclusionary methods like suspension a last resort and require those who are removed from the classroom to continue receiving access to learning materials. Around the time the law was passed, many out-of-school suspensions were for non-criminal, non-violent, non-drug-related offenses, and that broad, discretionary, catch-all category was where some of the greatest [racial disparities](https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/reports/suspended-education-in-massachusetts-using-days-of-lost-instruction-due-to-suspension-to-evaluate-our-schools/?ref=down-ballot.info) existed. Students of color were removed from school for minor offenses at disproportionately higher rates than white students, as were students with disabilities compared to their peers. In 2022, the state took it a step further by passing [Chapter 177](https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2022/Chapter177?ref=down-ballot.info), requiring school districts to attempt alternative methods like restorative justice, counseling, and mediation before resorting to exclusionary discipline. Nearly 15 years after that initial policy shift, out-of-school suspensions are falling. From 2018 to 2025, they dropped from nearly 28,500 statewide to less than 22,000, according to data reported by school districts and collected by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). In that same timeframe, the number of students receiving any form of disciplinary action in Massachusetts schools decreased by nearly 24 percent. In-school suspensions declined as well. Yet, while only impacting a small percentage of students, emergency removals — a mechanism allowing school administrators to immediately remove a student from school due to severe behavior for up to two days before the child receives a legally-mandated hearing — have substantially increased, from nearly 1,500 in 2018 to more than 3,900 in 2025\. The number of emergency removals dipped during the 2020-2021 school year but has increased every year since 2022. The state’s 26 Gateway City school districts — which are responsible for educating some of the most disadvantaged student populations in Massachusetts — reported more than half of all emergency removals in 2025, despite making up just 28 percent of the state’s total public school population. In those districts alone, emergency removals collectively grew by 78 percent while suspensions decreased by 23 percent. What’s behind the increase? The answer isn’t simple. The trend has racial justice and education advocates sounding the alarm, suggesting that school districts may be circumventing suspensions (and the alternative discipline methods they are legally required to employ) and instead opting for emergency removals as a quick fix to behavioral issues. Those removals are amounting to lost learning that advocates say is ultimately contributing to the state’s staggering racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps. “We’ve had all of these changes, but there's not a lot of teeth,” said Jenny Chou, executive director of the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, a legal services and advocacy group representing families and children. “The more you're not in school, the worse off you are, and now we have this whole system where it's seemingly justified to put you out.” Teacher advocates and school officials say they haven’t been provided with the necessary level of resources or training to deploy alternative discipline methods, calling Chapter 177 an “unfunded mandate" amid a [chronic shortage](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/16/metro/massachusetts-special-education-teacher-shortage/?ref=down-ballot.info) of special education professionals. Others say the increase can be at least partly attributed to an uptick in more violent, volatile classroom behavior due to youth mental health struggles brought about by the pandemic. “The sad outcome of that is that schools are overusing emergency removals so they don't have to comply with our harder out-of-school suspension laws, and also so they don't have to use the alternatives that our state isn't providing them funding or training for,” said Matthew Cregor, an education attorney at the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, which offers legal representation to people with mental health challenges. Research has long shown that exclusion from school is linked to [poorer academic outcomes](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.17105/spr-14-0008.1?ref=down-ballot.info), [higher risk of dropout](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.17105/spr-14-0008.1?ref=down-ballot.info), and [increased contact with the criminal justice system](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34117607/?ref=down-ballot.info). A [2018 study](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7288849/?ref=down-ballot.info) found that suspended youth were 40 percent more likely to be arrested within five years and 94 percent more likely to have been arrested as a minor. More recent studies have shown that these disciplinary practices negatively affect young people’s [emotional and mental well-being](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12888457/?ref=down-ballot.info#ABS1). The modest decline in out-of-school suspensions in Massachusetts has been celebrated by education advocates on all sides. But even though suspension rates have decreased for students of color and students with disabilities, both groups continue to be suspended at higher rates than their peers. In 2025, those with disabilities were suspended out of school at 2.5 times the rate of those without disabilities, according to data collected by DESE. Hispanic students were suspended 2.5 times as often as white students, while Black students were suspended nearly three times as much as white students. The disparities persist when it comes to the use of emergency removals. Those with disabilities were removed at more than three times the rate of those without disabilities in 2025\. Hispanic students experienced emergency removals nearly three times as much as white students, while Black students were removed more than four times as much as white students. “If districts were meaningfully deploying approaches like restorative justice, mediation, and conflict resolution, they'd be able to act in a proactive manner to address student conflict and student misbehavior,” said Leon Smith, executive director of Citizens for Juvenile Justice, a nonprofit advocacy organization. **“**They'd be able to get to the root of some of these behaviors, and they’d be able to de-escalate conflicts before they result in fights and things of that nature. In the absence of that, you have continuing behavior that, unfortunately, is still falling into exclusion.” Jay Blitzman, a former juvenile court judge and former director of Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC), said any kind of disciplinary exclusion contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline. “This adversely affects public safety, quite candidly,” he said. “Educational continuity is essential. Doing everything we can to keep youth in school is obviously good for them, but it’s also part of being smart on crime.” “It's easy to react and blame kids, but we as adults have to assume some systemic accountability,” he added. “These problems are historic, and they aren’t going away.” Chapter 222 required districts to provide students and families with notice and a hearing prior to an out-of-school suspension, except during emergency circumstances, in which the child can receive their hearing after being removed. Emergency removals were established as an official disciplinary category in 2014\. Districts may finally be reporting them with some accuracy, Cregor said, which could help explain the spike in removals. But some advocates, including Jennifer White, an education attorney at MAC, suspect that school officials are utilizing informal removals that are not being officially reported as emergency removals to the state. She told *CommonWealth Beacon* she has worked with parents that have received mid-day calls from school officials requesting that their child be picked up after one or more behavioral incidents. Yet some are allowed to return to school the next day without ever receiving the mandated hearing that is supposed to accompany an emergency removal. Chou said she has seen similar cases. “As if that's some time-out that they're allowed to do,” she said. Beccah Griffith**,** president of the Malden Education Association and a special education teacher, said many districts are reluctant to use formal discipline measures for students on Individualized Education Program (IEP) plans out of fear of invoking a manifestation determination — a legal meeting required by the ⁠Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to decide if a student's misbehavior was caused by their disability or a failure to follow their education plan. It is triggered when a school plans to suspend a student with a disability. This could account for the uptick in the use of emergency removals, as well as the disproportionate use of removals against students with disabilities, Griffith said. A [2025 Stanford research study](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23328584251375062?ref=down-ballot.info) published by a journal of the American Educational Research Association found evidence that schools in California, after being sanctioned for disproportionately suspending Black students, began using informal ways to remove students from learning, such as sending children home early or isolating them in hallways, often without recording the action as a form of discipline. Researchers found more broadly that these practices occur when mandates to reduce formal suspensions “are not paired with adequate resources for alternative restorative behavior management approaches.” Because of the budget crunches around hiring ancillary service providers like social workers, behavior analysts, and speech therapists, many districts have only been able to hire staff for legally mandated services, like math and science teachers, rather than additional supports, Griffith said. “There is resentment and dislike towards these alternative discipline strategies because they're not being resourced properly,” she added “If we have the requisite, expertly trained staff and the time, space, and resources, it works. But I don't know any educator in Massachusetts that has all of those things.” In addition to staff and funding, advocates say implementing alternative discipline practices requires long-term training, programming, oversight, and technical assistance. DESE’s [Rethinking Discipline Initiative](https://www.doe.mass.edu/sfs/discipline/?ref=down-ballot.info), for example, coaches school districts on data reporting and assists in the reduction of disparate rates of suspension for students with disabilities and students of color. “The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education continues to work with districts to develop the supports and practices that educators need to reduce the inappropriate or excessive use of emergency removal and other types of suspension,” a DESE spokesperson said in a statement provided to *CommonWealth Beacon*. In 2025, there were 3,915 reported emergency removals in Massachusetts schools. Much like suspensions, 42 percent of those removals were for offenses labeled as non-drug, non-violent, and non-criminal — something advocates say is inherently contradictory. Some say the problem lies in the language of the law, which allows an emergency removal when a student’s continued presence poses a danger to other people or property, “or materially and substantially disrupts the order of the school.” A principal may immediately remove a student if “there is no alternative available to alleviate the danger or disruption,” according to [statute](https://www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/603cmr53.html?section=53.07&ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=September%2019%2C%202023-,53.07%3A,-Emergency%20Removal%20under). Advocates have questioned what constitutes a "disruption," and whether there are circumstances in which a disruption warrants an emergency removal rather than a formal suspension process or another type of discipline. Since 2022, districts have increasingly cited the non-drug, non-violent, non-criminal offense category for emergency removals, rising from 37 percent of all emergency removals in 2022 to 42 percent in 2025\. Because the behavior in this category is undefined, it is difficult to determine what students are doing to be removed from school on this basis. “The pandemic and the tremendous toll it took on student mental health resulted in more disruption and dysregulation in schools, and as a result, we are seeing a swing back toward removing students from school,” Cregor said. “But I think there's some reasonable fear that districts are calling things emergency removals that are not emergencies.” Since the pandemic, teachers and administrators in Massachusetts and beyond have [spoken out](https://www.edweek.org/leadership/threats-of-student-violence-and-misbehavior-are-rising-many-school-leaders-report/2022/01?ref=down-ballot.info) about an uptick in violent, explosive behavior in the classroom. Gerald Koocher, former president of the American Psychological Association, said this behavior can be linked to feelings of loneliness and disconnectedness that arose during the pandemic, which did not go away when students returned to school. “It put them in social isolation, it put them under stress, and it weakened their connection with school,” Dr. Koocher said of the pandemic. “There has been a broader pattern of youth violence, which includes firearms, especially among teenagers, and particularly in urban areas.” But the state's disciplinary data shows that some of the most common violent offenses occurring in schools, including physical attack (battery), threat of physical attack, and physical fights, have either returned to their pre-covid levels or slightly decreased. But, when it comes to emergency removals, these categories have been increasingly cited as the offense type. For instance, the number of reported emergency removals administered for offenses labeled “physical attack” increased from 387 instances in 2018 to 1,133 instances in 2025\. Yet, the total number of reported physical attacks in schools across the state decreased slightly from 8,136 in 2018 to 7,991 in 2025. Chelsea Public Schools superintendent Almi Abeyta said six years after the pandemic hit, educators and administrators are still grappling with students’ social and emotional issues. “At the end of the day, we don't want children to be out of school,” she said. “But we're seeing more dysregulation with our younger children — pre-K through grade 5 — than what we've noticed in the past. We have little kids that will just destroy an entire classroom.” In 2024, [legislation](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H453?ref=down-ballot.info) that would have prohibited the use of suspensions and expulsions on pre-K through Grade 3 students advanced out of the education committee. While the move was celebrated by child and student advocates, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents opposed the bill, arguing that school administrators require flexibility when making disciplinary decisions. The bill ultimately died in the House, though there is a [current version](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H541?ref=down-ballot.info) that is again awaiting legislative action after passing out of the Joint Committee on Education. Abeyta said school staff do everything they can to intervene before suspending or removing a child. She said educators recognize the critical role that counselors, clinicians, and other behavioral support staff play. Yet budget cuts last year forced the district to reduce staff by more than 50 full-time employees. “I left it up to the principals to decide, and none of them cut social workers or counselors,” Abeyta said. Abeyta said emergency removals are mostly reserved for safety issues, though in 2025, nearly 44 percent of Chelsea’s emergency removals were for non-drug, non-violent, non-criminal offenses. In 2025, the district had the third highest emergency removal rate of the 26 Gateway City school districts, after Fitchburg and Holyoke. The number of removals in Chelsea grew from 20 in 2022 to 151 in 2025. Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) president Matt Bach said the trend in emergency removals is a symptom of “deeper issues” regarding districts’ ability to provide the best services to students, adding that schools are facing both a funding and staffing crisis. “Is \[the trend\] paralleling the reduction in education professionals across the board? Is it paralleling a reduction in public education investment? Is it paralleling substandard curriculum products, which are choking school budgets and intensifying student disengagement?” Bach said. “The ratio between professionals and students in these districts is what's going to matter most for student outcomes and behaviors.” He said the MTA has encouraged restorative practices like increased recess time and reduced screen time, which have been [shown](https://healthymag.org/2026/05/12/new-guidelines-from-pediatricians-why-recess-is-more-important-than-ever-for-kids-health-and-learning/?ref=down-ballot.info) to benefit dysregulated students. The association has also pushed for Gov. Maura Healey’s [recent proposal](https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-healey-boosts-schools-funding-to-retain-teachers-paraprofessionals-mental-health-counselors?ref=down-ballot.info) to direct an additional $100 million to public school districts across the state. The funding would help communities manage growing financial challenges ahead of the new school year. The proposal, which must be approved by the Legislature, would add to the more than $7 billion already appropriated for K-12 education in the fiscal 2027 state budget. The hope, Bach said, is that some of that funding could be used by districts to rehire staff that might have been laid off in the spring due to budget shortfalls around the state. Educators like Griffith say that without an adequate number of behavioral support staff, districts won’t be able to reduce their exclusionary discipline rates. “When there is one social worker for 75 to 100 students with complex emotional needs, you're not able to be proactive in supporting them,” she said. “Educators want to be proactive to try to prevent a crisis that could result in emergency removal. That's the way we're trained, but it's often not what we're able to do.” This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/education/nearly-15-years-after-student-discipline-reform-school-suspensions-in-mass-are-falling-are-emergency-removals-taking-their-place/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=319029&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) ### Tackling the NC food deserts that Helene created URL: https://down-ballot.info/tackling-the-nc-food-deserts-that-helene-created/ Last updated: 2026-08-03T09:00:09.000Z by Walker Livingston, Carolina Public Press July 27, 2026 Every Wednesday afternoon in the heart of Swannanoa, volunteers hand out seasonal produce while community members flow through the produce market in an old church building that nonprofit Bounty and Soul hosts. Last week, it was summer squash, fresh tomatoes and watermelon for the summer season. Swannanoa is an unincorporated rural community in eastern Buncombe County between Asheville and Black Mountain. Ingles, the area’s only grocery store, was destroyed during Tropical Storm Helene, leaving residents with a 10-mile commute either east or west to get to access groceries. That makes the community one of the region's food deserts. **Ali Casparian** is the executive director of Bounty and Soul. She founded the organization after experiencing food insecurity when she moved to the area after a traumatic situation. When she would give back by volunteering at local food banks, she was disappointed that people usually received processed, canned food. One day, she went to MANNA, a food bank that serves 16 counties and the Qualla Boundary. The organization is a central point for regional food banks in Western North Carolina to pick up food, especially crops that farmers give away. Casparian saw walls of produce that were going to waste because no one had picked it up yet. She took some of the produce home and with other community volunteers, they had a small, free farmers market. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** From there, Bounty and Soul was born. They now have a community market each weekday across different parts of Buncombe County. But the Wednesday market inside Beacon Community Center in Swannanoa is their ground-zero. “If you ask people what they want instead of what they need, it looks different,” she said. “People need food, but if you ask them, ‘What kind of food do you want to eat?’ It's fresh food.” About 50 miles north in Mitchell County, TRACTOR Food and Farms is addressing the food crises in another one of the region's food deserts in a different way. It’s a community supported agriculture hub, where a group buys a direct share of produce from local farmers and sells produce to community members or gives it to other markets. They also have a small grocery store attached to their warehouse. They’re looking to hit the ground running with it in the fall. **“**We're looking around; … there's no grocery store,” said **Dru Zucchino**, TRACTOR’s executive director. “We're gonna do that, and we're gonna do it the way that we feel the community needs it done.” The nonprofit’s mission simply has been to fill the gaps in the local food system, he said. Since Helene hit, there have been many gaps. Spruce Pine, where TRACTOR is headquartered, also lost its Ingles Market during Helene. ### 'Emergency button you press all the time' Both Spruce Pine and Swannanoa have become food deserts since Tropical Storm Helene hit the area with flooding and destruction. Both local organizations, and more across the region, have had to find new ways to step in and provide for residents who are in need of healthy food. Food deserts are defined by the US Department of Agriculture as rural areas where a significant share of residents live more that 10 miles away from a large supermarket. In urban areas, residents of food deserts live more than a mile away from a supermarket. North Carolina has one of the highest populations of people living in rural areas in the country — second only to Texas. COVID-19 made food access particularly hard for rural communities. People who were elderly or had disabilities had difficulty leaving the house to accessing food in ways that they had before. According to a study from the NIH, individuals in rural Appalachia had to oftentimes choose between medication, food and utilities. In some areas in Western North Carolina, Helene compounded the long-term effects of this. “You have this emergency button and you press it all the time,” Zucchino said. CSAs and food organizations in the region often work directly with farmers, and Zucchino said it’s like TRACTOR sometimes does customer service for farms. They work with 70 local farmers to get a variety of produce. Farmers in rural Western North Carolina were also devastated by Helene. Many have land that is unusable because of damage that was weathered during the storm, some have expensive equipment that is still under repair and others just had to move elsewhere so their business could survive after the storm. There’s no figure for how much donated food was lost during Helene, but a report from the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project said that 86% of small farms in Western North Carolina sustained damage during Helene. Very few farms in Western North Carolina have scaled corporate buyers, Zucchino said. CSAs often act as a bridge between small farmers and consumers, so he said TRACTOR created a farmer’s task force for farmers that needed work after Helene. They repaired farmland in ways that most volunteers could not. “Maybe in small rural communities, socialist agriculture makes sense, but like capitalist mining also makes sense, and those two can coexist, and they can adapt to each other, and they can adapt their models and live peacefully,” Zucchino said. ### Future of Ingles Both Spruce Pine and Swannanoa previously relied for groceries on Ingles Markets that were destroyed during the storm and have yet to reopen, nearly two years later. Another Ingles store in Morganton in Burke County has also not been rebuilt since the storm, but the town has other national options. Ingles is a regional grocery chain that operates throughout Southern Appalachia. In North Carolina, about 11% of residents experience food insecurity according to the state Department of Health and Human Services. And, about 16% of census tracts across the western part of the state are considered food deserts, a data set from Feeding America, a nationwide food security organization which MANNA Food Bank is a regional partner with. In Swannanoa, food insecurity was a problem long before Helene, and it has worsened because many residents just can’t afford to drive to the closest grocery stores, and because many families depend on just one car and at the end of long work days, driving a half hour just isn’t on the table, Casparian said. After the storm, both Bounty and Soul became ground zero for Swannanoa residents seeking food and a little bit down the line, they consolidated their markets in town to twice a week to provide for more residents who are food insecure. Many Spruce Pine residents grocery shop at the Walmart Supercenter in town, or travel to Marion in McDowell County or to Johnston City in Tennessee, according to **Bill Slagle**, the executive director for the Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce. “It’s also had an impact on local sales tax in Spruce Pine, which has had impacts outside of just the lack of an available option for people to shop,” he said. Ingles recently told the local government in Spruce Pine that they closed on a new location for a store, and will presumably demolish their old one. The Mitchell News-Journal recently [reported](https://www.newstopicnews.com/mitchell/news/food-lion-returns/article%5Fbe9dc52b-47ff-51be-8d51-399461a89daf.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that Food Lion has broken ground on bringing its store in Spruce Pine back in the next 18 months. Last October, the Buncombe County Adjustment Board approved an expansive rebuild of the dilapidated Ingles in Swannanoa, but it has not yet broken ground on the project. The parking lot remains bare and the sign says the store in Black Mountain, which is about 10 miles away, is open. Bounty and Soul operates a farmer’s market truck out of the Black Mountain store, which they were grandfathered into because they worked with the previous property owner. Ingles does not donate to the market. Ingles did not respond to inquiries for this article prior to publication. ### Food deserts face D-SNAP cuts One of the short-term solutions to food insecurity is SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which has lost 4 million enrolled members following the passage of the national One Big Beautiful Bill last July. After Helene, D-SNAP, or Disaster SNAP, was administered in the region briefly. **Francisco Chavez,** who is the community engagement manager for Bounty and Soul, said he’s seen an increase in produce market attendees since the news of SNAP cuts hit. Last fall, during the government shutdown, the state government [released](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73348/frozen-snap-funds-leave-nc-recipients-trying-to-figure-out-what-will-happen-next/?ref=down-ballot.info) partial payments to SNAP recipients, while people who received SNAP waited to hear about the future of the program. But since, in the [budget](https://carolinapublicpress.org/76016/nc-budget-agreement-finally-reached/?ref=down-ballot.info) that passed earlier this month, about $52 million in SNAP funds are left to counties to administrate. According to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, this budget requires counties to cumulatively pay that amount this fiscal year for the federally required administrative cost shift from last year’s national bill, which will rise to $69 million in the 2027 budget. “Paired with separate legislation that will limit counties’ ability to grow property tax revenue, these additional expenses will strain counties’ ability to adequately fund their workforces responsible for SNAP timeliness and payment error rates,” NCCACC wrote in an email statement to Carolina Public Press. ### Finding creative solutions to food deserts Access to nutritious food is just one of the social determinants of health, which are nonmedical factors that can determine someone’s health outcome. Some of the other determinants are economic stability, education and housing. Many individuals living below the poverty line, regardless of natural disasters, are unable to consider health at the grocery store. Kari Brayman, the communications director for TRACTOR, said that sometimes food that sits on shelves in grocery stores can be about three months old. During the last two years, nonprofits in Western North Carolina have risen to the occasion to address gaps in food access and community health. Some of these organizations also address other determinants of health. TRACTOR has a program called Food is Medicine, where they “fill” prescriptions for healthy food, which has been a bridge for some community members in the interim of SNAP access. Bounty and Soul provides health and wellness education as well. “Nonprofits, churches, other you know neighborhood organizations, they've carried the weight of recovery in this area,” Casparian said. “I’ve seen the best of humanity express itself throughout the whole recovery.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/76191/tackling-the-nc-food-deserts-that-helene-created-or-made-worse/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=76191) ### Vast produce supply chain complicates tracking food safety in the Midwest URL: https://down-ballot.info/vast-produce-supply-chain-complicates-tracking-food-safety-in-the-midwest/ Last updated: 2026-07-31T09:00:13.000Z **It's Friday July 31, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Vast produce supply chain complicates tracking cyclospora in Missouri and Kansas, Affordable housing often costs more to build than market-rate housing – Colorado is closing the gap, Homeless New Orleanians swelter amid scorching heat wave, Socorro Catholic churches unite residents over ICE detention center, water concerns, How one man’s Olympic moment brought new life to Jackson rugby, A Tale of Two Behavioral Health Systems, or How the State Border Determines Who Gets Access to Mental Healthcare. **Media outlets and others featured:** Missouri Independent, The Conversation, Verite News, El Paso Matters, Mississippi Today, The Daily Yonder. --- ## Vast produce supply chain complicates tracking cyclospora in Missouri and Kansas By Meg Cunningham (Missouri Independent) Published: July 30, 2026 The same food supply chain that lets restaurants serve nearly identical produce in Missouri, Michigan or California can also make it remarkably difficult to figure out where contamination began when Americans get sick. As cyclospora cases climb across Missouri and Kansas, public health investigators are working backward through a supply chain that can stretch thousands of miles and cross international borders before fresh produce ever reaches our table. Every confirmed case of cyclospora, which is famously afflicting patients with “explosive diarrhea,” triggers an interview that can last up to an hour as public health investigators and epidemiologists ask patients to recall meals from days, or even weeks, earlier. The summer months typically bring a small uptick in cyclospora, which is considered a parasitic infection that spreads through food or the use of contaminated water. But the scope seen across the country this year stands out as the country’s largest outbreak in recent history, sending local, state and federal investigators searching for a common source. And the painstaking process of finding the source of the illness in just one person in Kansas or Missouri highlights a larger challenge: Produce can move through the hands of dozens of farms, packing facilities, grocery stores or restaurants in days. When contamination occurs, tracing it back through that system can take weeks. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/07/Vast_mg_1.jpg) Source: Centers for Disease Control ## **How investigators track cyclospora cases in Missouri and Kansas** Missouri has reported nearly [600 cyclospora cases](https://www.stlpr.org/news-briefs/2026-07-27/missouri-reports-600-cyclospora-illnesses-illinois-added-to-federal-outbreak-investigation?ref=down-ballot.info) as of July 27, while Kansas has reported [289](https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/2388/Kansas-Reportable-Infectious-Disease-Das?ref=down-ballot.info). In a typical year, officials in Jackson County see between three and seven cases, which can often be connected to international travel. Nationwide, at least [41 states have reported cases](https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/php/surveillance/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info). More than 4,000 cases have been confirmed by testing, with another 7,400 cases that were not confirmed by lab testing. Overall, the country has seen 308 hospitalizations related to the infection so far. In 2025, the country recorded about 2,700 cases total. ## Cyclospora Cases The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [said](https://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/php/surveillance/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) it factors in a six-week reporting lag between the onset of an illness and when cases are actually reported to the CDC, and it anticipates cases continuing to rise. This summer, officials say emergency departments across the region have also seen an uptick in patients arriving at the hospital with diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. In Boone County, Missouri, where health officials are investigating cases in dozens of patients, each interview can take up to an hour. “It is becoming quite a time-consuming endeavor to single in on a common theme,” said Austin Krohn, the public information specialist for Columbia and Boone County Public Health. And the process is made longer by conflicting information from federal officials and major distributors as to the cause of the outbreak. Federal officials initially pointed to Taylor Farms, a [major lettuce farmer and distributor](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-24/walmart-taco-bell-among-companies-taking-a-hit-from-taylor-farms-produce?ref=down-ballot.info), as the cause of much of the contaminated lettuce moving throughout the country. Major food retailers like Taco Bell voluntarily pulled shredded lettuce from their menus, but the Food and Drug Administration later backtracked, saying testing resulted in a false positive result. For health officials trying to find the cause of illness, the uncertainty at the federal level made the process all the more difficult. “The false positive thing that’s been going on with the FDA maybe lengthened the process here,” Krohn said. Investigators must ask where people ate, where they shopped and what symptoms they experienced. Plus, the infection can take up to two weeks to show symptoms, making tracking even more complex. “It’s incredibly complicated with this one because there is a gestation period that can potentially last up to two weeks,” Krohn said. “You have to recall all these things because symptoms can potentially start appearing much later.” Because many people can recover at home without ever going to the doctor, the number of cases is almost certainly higher than what is being reported, Krohn said. “Numbers are most assuredly going to go up in an official capacity and in a nonofficial capacity,” he said. ## **Local cyclospora cases feed the national picture** Investigations don’t stop at the county level. They get elevated to state officials, who then compile data and share it with the federal government. Officials in Jackson County are working diligently to identify potential sources of contamination. “The distribution network as it pertains to our food is very, very complex in this country,” said Ray Dlugolecki, the assistant health director at Jackson County Public Health. “Without a centralized entity looking at the data from a large, 70,000-foot perspective, it can take some time to identify sources.” Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services is participating in weekly calls with all 50 states and the CDC to coordinate with public health officials across the country, said Nathan Koffarnus, a Missouri state epidemiologist. “When we get enough really good data from all the questionnaires and the interviews,” Koffarnus said, “the CDC compiles that and does a big data study on it. That’s when they can really identify these clusters of illness that maybe all come from a common source.” The complexity of tracking cases is a byproduct of a nationwide food system tailored to convenience and consistency, regardless of season or geography. ## **How market consolidation can lead to a lack of transparency in the food supply chain** Restaurants and grocery chains depend on consistency, said [Darin Detwiler](https://cps.northeastern.edu/faculty/darin-detwiler/?ref=down-ballot.info), a food safety and supply chain expert at Northeastern University. Customers expect the same quality whether they’re eating in Missouri and Kansas or on the coasts. Demand from large restaurant chains and grocery retailers prioritizes consistency year-round, Detwiler said, despite the fact that most produce is limited to certain seasons in the majority of North America. That can lead to consolidation and large distributors owning major parts of the market. Detwiler pointed to changes in enforcement rules for the Food Safety Modernization Act, which was passed by Congress in 2010\. One part of the law asked producers to test water and water treatment beginning in 2016, but [industry lobbyists pushed back on the rule](https://www.thepacker.com/news/food-safety/ag-water-proposed-rule-draws-industry-focus-draws-some-pushback?ref=down-ballot.info), arguing it was too expensive to do. “All of the sudden, boom, we are hit in 2017, 2018, 2019 with all of these leafy green, romaine lettuce outbreaks and recalls,” Detwiler said. And as the cyclospora outbreak continues across the country, changes in federal rules are a topic of conversation. The FDA’s new food traceability rule was [set to take effect](https://www.grocerydive.com/news/food-traceability-regulations-grocery-fda/810737/?ref=down-ballot.info) in January of this year, with the goal of requiring more standard recordkeeping for certain high-risk foods. But enforcement of the rule was delayed until July 2028. The CDC has [also reduced the number of pathogens](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-quietly-scaled-back-surveillance-program-foodborne-illnesses-rcna227089?ref=down-ballot.info) it tracks — including cyclospora — in its FoodNet program, the primary foodborne illness disease surveillance effort. Although illnesses are still reportable through other systems, the changes no longer require producers to collect the same level of data. “Here we are, and this past weekend has been quite eye-opening for the American consumer,” Detwiler said. “It’s not about access and sustainability as much as it is also that trust and confidence in the safety of the product,” Detwiler said. Even with some digitization improving traceability efforts across the supply chain, a lack of transparency in how food reaches the American consumer is creating uncertainty, Detwiler said. “It’s the transparency that is causing what I’ll classify as a certainty gap — you have to understand whether to trust them or not,” he added. ## **The case for shorter supply chains** Some advocates for more regionalized food systems say outbreaks like this expose another consequence of market consolidation. Katie Nixon is a Missouri farmer and the food systems director at Nevada, Missouri-based nonprofit [New Growth](https://www.newgrowthmo.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), which is in part working to strengthen local and regional food systems. Nixon said shorter supply chains aren’t immune to foodborne illness or contamination problems, but she argues problems are often easier to trace and the system provides more transparency to consumers. “Over the years, we’ve lost many of our medium-sized farms. Small farms are kind of stuck in small-farmness, and medium farms get bought up by the big guys. Then the big guys get bought up by the mega guys,” Nixon said. “It seems like in this system, it’s just so massive that it’s kind of been lost track of,” she said. Regional food systems can create greater accountability and trust, Nixon said, because produce moves through fewer hands before reaching customers. “When you have regional food systems, it can only go so far,” Nixon said. “You can’t make the entire country sick from one packing facility because that packing facility wouldn’t have the capacity to service the entire country.” In shorter food supply chains, growers, distributors and buyers are more likely to know one another and their customers, Nixon said. “A lot of times accountability is a lot stronger because the people know each other,” Nixon said. Still, she acknowledged that regional food systems are often too small and seasonally dependent to serve the needs of many consumers. For investigators, every outbreak begins with the same questions. What did you eat, and when? But for Nixon and others, this summer’s cyclospora outbreak poses a question of what sort of food supply people want. “We’re the backstop,” Nixon said. “You want those customers to be steady customers, not just emergency customers.” *This* [*article*](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2026/07/29/cyclospora-cases-missouri-kansas-produce-supply-chain/?ref=down-ballot.info) *first appeared on* [*Beacon: Kansas City*](https://thebeaconnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *and is republished here under a* [*Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License*](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* --- ## Affordable housing often costs more to build than market-rate housing – Colorado is closing the gap Lower land costs and new statewide housing reforms have made Colorado an outlier. By Solomon Greene, University of Denver, The Conversation Published: July 28, 2026 ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/3e893fe8-ee63-4a8a-a008-6aa6245f5f40.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/07/Affordable_mg_0.jpg) Reducing the administrative and regulatory costs associated with building affordable housing can increase the housing supply in Colorado. Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images **By Solomon Greene, University of Denver** In much of the United States, [developers spend more to build an affordable apartment](https://therealdeal.com/magazine/december-2025/why-units-that-rent-for-less-cost-more-to-build/?ref=down-ballot.info) for a low-income family than a market-rate one just down the street – sometimes far more. It is one of the central paradoxes of the nation’s housing crisis: The affordable homes that lower-income renters need most tend to be the costliest to build. Colorado is an exception. In a recent [study of more than 140 housing developments](https://www.rand.org/pubs/research%5Freports/RRA3743-1.html?ref=down-ballot.info) in California, Colorado and Texas, researchers at RAND, [a nonpartisan research organization](https://www.rand.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), found that affordable apartments in Colorado cost about $50 less per square foot to build than market-rate units. Colorado was the only one of the three states where affordable developments cost less to build than market-rate ones. I’ve spent nearly three decades trying to understand why affordable housing costs so much to build – and how to bring those costs down. I now direct the [Center for Housing Research and Innovative Solutions at the University of Denver](https://stories.du.edu/magazine/departments/features/can-colorado-solve-its-housing-crisis-du-launches-new-center-to-help-find-answers/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info), where we study how to expand housing supply and affordability in Colorado and across the Rocky Mountain West. Earlier, I led the research office at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that studies housing markets, affordability and federal housing programs. [Throughout my career](https://law.du.edu/about/people/solomon-greene/?ref=down-ballot.info), I keep running into the same paradox: The tools designed to make housing affordable are also a big part of what makes it expensive to build. ## When rent can’t cover the bill At the core of the housing paradox, the numbers just don’t add up. Affordable housing programs typically serve households earning well [below their area’s median income](https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html?ref=down-ballot.info), the midpoint where half of local households earn more and half earn less. Their capped rents fall below what it costs to build a new apartment, especially where land, labor and materials are expensive. To close that gap, developers assemble multiple layers of public and private subsidies. The cornerstone is the federal [Low-Income Housing Tax Credit](https://www.urban.org/research/publication/low-income-housing-tax-credit-how-it-works-and-who-it-serves?ref=down-ballot.info), which gives investors a tax break in return for financing apartments that must stay affordable for decades. Typically, those units are rented only to households earning at or below 60% of area median income, at capped rents, for at least 30 years. Because the credit rarely covers the whole gap, developers usually combine it with other sources of public money: state credits such as Colorado’s own [affordable housing tax credit](https://www.chfainfo.com/rental-housing/housing-credit/colorado-state-affordable-housing-tax-credit?ref=down-ballot.info), local housing funds and [federal grants](https://www.hud.gov/hud-partners/community-affordable-housing-programs?ref=down-ballot.info). Each funding source has its own application, deadlines and income rules, and assembling this financing takes lawyers, accountants, consultants and staff time – the [so-called soft costs](https://apps.urban.org/features/cost-of-affordable-housing/?ref=down-ballot.info) that sit on top of the hard costs, such as concrete, steel and labor. Studies that [compare affordable and market-rate buildings](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/making-apartments-more-affordable-starts-with-understanding-the-costs-of-building-them/?ref=down-ballot.info) find that soft costs are where a large share of the cost difference originates. Affordable projects tend to have significantly higher soft costs, even when the [buildings themselves are similar](https://www.rand.org/pubs/research%5Freports/RRA3743-1.html?ref=down-ballot.info). In other words, much of what makes an affordable apartment expensive isn’t the building – it’s the financial and regulatory machinery wrapped around it. Affordable housing is built largely with public dollars, yet the full cost picture is surprisingly hard to see. A 2023 [Government Accountability Office report](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107064?ref=down-ballot.info) found that no federal agency has clear authority to collect and compare development-cost data nationwide. The HUD office I led was also responsible for maintaining the government’s data on federally assisted housing, and my team routinely struggled with inconsistent and incomplete cost information. Policymakers are making billion-dollar decisions with only a partial view of where the money actually goes. ## How Colorado breaks the pattern So why does affordable housing cost less to build in Colorado? The RAND study points to [where and how it gets built](https://www.rand.org/pubs/research%5Freports/RRA3743-1.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Unlike their counterparts in California and Texas, Colorado’s affordable developers built for less, per square foot, than the state’s own market-rate builders. In Colorado, a key distinguishing factor is land: Developers paid just $1.50 per square foot, against about $23 for market‑rate builders, often on public land offered at little or no cost. That cheaper land, along with lower-cost building sites, more than offsets the higher soft costs that affordable projects still carry everywhere, Colorado included. ## What actually lowers costs In recent years, [Colorado has passed a series of laws](https://tsscolorado.com/can-new-laws-solve-the-housing-crisis-gov-polis-bets-his-signature-on-it/?ref=down-ballot.info) aimed at easing the frictions that inflate housing costs, especially for subsidized projects, making the state a real-time test of what works. Research already points to several promising levers, none of which requires weakening the protections that keep homes affordable. The most powerful lever is land. Cities and states across the country are increasingly offering public land at little or no cost, reducing one of [development’s biggest expenses](https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/policy-downloads/using-public-land-affordable-housing-considerations-policymakers/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Colorado’s 2026 HOME Act](https://coloradosun.com/2026/03/26/colorado-home-act-housing-bill-signed/?ref=down-ballot.info) authorizes school districts, universities, transit agencies, housing authorities and qualifying nonprofits to build homes on land they already own, through a streamlined approval process that limits how restrictive local zoning can be. It lowers two costs at once: the price of the land and the months spent winning approval. Colorado is also reducing the paperwork that inflates soft costs. In 2022, [voters approved Proposition 123](https://coloradosun.com/2022/11/14/affordable-housing-colorado-prop-123-results/?ref=down-ballot.info), which requires communities that want state housing dollars to act on affordable-housing applications within 90 days. More than 100 jurisdictions, Denver among them, have adopted such [fast-track reviews](https://cdola.colorado.gov/press-release/100-local-governments-fast-track-affordable-housing-as-dola-awards-16m-in-latest?ref=down-ballot.info). The state has also [launched a common application](https://housinghubcolorado.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) that lets developers apply once for money from the state, its housing finance agency and the city of Denver, instead of submitting separately to each. In a [recent state survey](https://cdola.colorado.gov/press-release/the-state-of-colorado-chfa-and-denver-launch-first-step-towards-a-common-application?ref=down-ballot.info), developers called this their top priority for reducing soft costs. Parking rules are another hidden driver. Requiring builders to include parking forces them to construct expensive structures – sometimes $50,000 per space – and give up land that could hold homes. A [study by two of my University of Denver colleagues](https://theconversation.com/denver-study-shows-removing-parking-requirements-results-in-more-affordable-housing-being-built-263889?ref=down-ballot.info) estimated that ending Denver’s parking mandates would boost housing construction by about 12.5%, or roughly 460 additional homes a year. [Denver](https://denverite.com/2025/08/05/denver-parking-minimums-abolished/?ref=down-ballot.info) dropped its parking minimums in 2025, following [a 2024 state law](https://cdola.colorado.gov/parking-minimums?ref=down-ballot.info) that lifted them near transit. On construction, Colorado is easing its [building and inspection rules](https://cdola.colorado.gov/press-release/building-more-housing-coloradans-can-afford?ref=down-ballot.info) to make factory-built housing simpler to permit. Affordable developers are using [modular and panelized construction](https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/blog/testimony-to-the-select-committee-on-housing-construction-innovation/?ref=down-ballot.info) to narrow the gap with market-rate building. These homes, which are assembled in a factory, can cost less and get built faster. While leading research at HUD, I toured affordable developments built this way, including one in Detroit that cost [roughly 30% less than comparable homes nearby](https://www.huduser.gov/archives/portal/pdredge/pdr-edge-frm-asst-sec-052824.html?ref=down-ballot.info). The savings matter most in rural and mountain areas, where labor is scarce and the building season is short. The country still struggles to measure what actually drives housing costs. Building stronger regional data, and the partnerships among agencies, lenders, universities and developers to use it, can show where rules add value and where they instead add delay and cost. ## Affordable housing’s impact Stable, affordable housing is linked to better health, stronger school performance and [higher lifetime earnings for children](https://housingmatters.urban.org/articles/how-housing-matters-educational-health-and-economic-outcomes?ref=down-ballot.info). In one national study, each additional year that a child spent living in assisted housing as a teenager [raised their adult earnings by 3% to 6%](https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20180144?ref=down-ballot.info). So every dollar lost to unnecessary cost – the delay and duplication that make housing no better – is a home that never gets built for a family who needs one. Affordable housing will always require some subsidies: When the rents that low-income households can pay fall short of what building costs, public or philanthropic dollars must close the gap. But those costs are not fixed. Colorado’s experiment is a reminder that the gap between affordable and market-rate housing can be narrowed, but only by treating the financial plumbing as seriously as the bricks and mortar. *Read more of our stories about* [*Colorado*](https://theconversation.com/us/boulder-colorado-news?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-286630)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Solomon Greene*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/solomon-greene-2722929?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-286630)*,* [*University of Denver*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-denver-812?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-286630) **Read more:** - [A rare bipartisan housing bill just became law – but Americans will still struggle with affordability](https://theconversation.com/a-rare-bipartisan-housing-bill-just-became-law-but-americans-will-still-struggle-with-affordability-287286?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-286630) - [‘Affordable’ Pittsburgh doesn’t have enough affordable housing – here’s why](https://theconversation.com/affordable-pittsburgh-doesnt-have-enough-affordable-housing-heres-why-280113?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-286630) - [A successful USDA program that has supported more than 533,000 affordable rental homes in rural America is getting phased out](https://theconversation.com/a-successful-usda-program-that-has-supported-more-than-533-000-affordable-rental-homes-in-rural-america-is-getting-phased-out-273637?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-286630) *Solomon Greene is affiliated with the National Housing Law Project (Vice President of Board of Directors).* --- # Homeless New Orleanians swelter amid scorching heat wave by Diego Perdomo, Verite News New Orleans July 27, 2026 For people experiencing unsheltered homelessness like Victor Tate, shade is sometimes the only available relief from summer heat. Living in a makeshift shelter under the Pontchartrain Expressway, Tate told Verite News that he lost his shelter during 2025 [Super Bowl sweeps](https://veritenews.org/2025/01/16/super-bowl-unhoused-sweeps-jeff-landry/?ref=down-ballot.info), had his phone stolen and felt disrespected often by people passing by during the last 10 years that he’s been unsheltered on and off. With the heat index expected to reach as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius) this week, full shelters and worsening climate conditions, Tate is bracing for the additional stress brought on by rising temperatures. “If it gets hot, you’ve got to stay up under here or go to the shelter at night,” he said. ”The cars going back and forth — that’s what makes it cool. Then when it rains, the wind blows.” About 1,563 people experience homelessness across Orleans and Jefferson parishes, according to [recent data](https://files.hudexchange.info/reports/published/CoC%5FPopSub%5FCoC%5FLA-503-2025%5FLA%5F2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. While the point-in-time counts estimate just over a quarter of unhoused people are unsheltered, people can often fall in and out of the gaps of New Orleans’ safety net. ![A man on Gravier St. carries an umbrella to shade himself from the afternoon sun during a heat advisory on July 21, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/24162352/20260721_CZB_Library_05.jpg) A man on Gravier St. carries an umbrella to shade himself from the afternoon sun during a heat advisory on July 21, 2026\. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America Like the rest of the nation, Orleans Parish has seen warmer [maximum morning temperatures](https://cmintemp.scipp.lsu.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info) — meaning those who remain outside have less recovery time from the heat, according to research from the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP), a partnership between Louisiana State University and University of Oklahoma. Barry Keim, an environmental health professor at LSU who is a former state climatologist, called humidity a “killer” as it interrupts people’s natural ability to cool off. “When you perspire, you're still not getting a whole lot of evaporation off of your skin because the air is so humid to begin with,” Keim said. “It limits the amount of evaporation that can take place. And as a result, your body just continues to get hotter and hotter.” According to research from the [Louisiana Department of Health](https://ldh.la.gov/page/4876?ref=down-ballot.info), parishes in southeast Louisiana experienced 98 heat-related deaths since 2023, which is just over half of the statewide total. This year, people from those same parishes made up over a third of all statewide hospitalizations for heat-related injury. Seniors and people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to heat, according to Joe Heeren-Mueller, a coordinator for the Louisiana Advocacy Coalition on Homelessness. Over the past six years, seniors — aged 65 and older — are the fastest growing unhoused population with a 78% uptick in homelessness, according to a [recent study](https://unitygno.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024%5FPIT%5FReport%5FFinal.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from Unity of Greater New Orleans. ![Elainna Williams of the Office of Homeless Services and Strategy distributes water to Robert Harrison during a heat advisory in New Orleans on July 20, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/24162211/20260720_CZB_WaterDistribution_12.jpg) Elainna Williams of the Office of Homeless Services and Strategy distributes water to Robert Harrison during a heat advisory in New Orleans on July 20, 2026\. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America According to the National Weather Service’s Baton Rouge/New Orleans office in Slidell, this year is currently the 16th hottest summer season since 1946\. NWS meteorologist Danielle Manning recommends people outdoors stay in shaded areas, avoid physical activity and hydrate with water instead of coffee, soda or alcohol. While unhoused New Orleanians are supported by shelters and heat relief initiatives in Orleans and Jefferson parishes, shelters are just one step in eliminating homelessness, according to Heeren-Mueller. He added that because demand for shelters is higher than their capacity, specialized solutions are needed to help people find relief. “That doesn't simply mean that we need to just build more shelters because...what works is creating flow,” Heeren-Mueller said. “You need sufficient shelters, and those who go into shelters need somewhere to go afterwards where they can maintain stable housing.” At the start of next year, public sleeping will be illegal statewide because of a new law, Act 788\. The law doesn’t explicitly mention the termination of services and programs that help people who are unhoused, but housing advocates are concerned at its potential to weaken trust with unhoused people and push them away from lifesaving services. **“**Over 350 cities have passed anti-camping bills in the past two years,” said Jesse Rabinowitz, the communications director for the National Homelessness Law Center. “None of them have solved homelessness because laws that make it a crime to be homeless will never actually solve homelessness. They'll only make homelessness worse.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/27140114/20260721_CZB_Library_03_1.jpg) People cool off at the main branch of the New Orleans Public Library on July 21, 2026\. Due to its central location, this branch serves a large number of unhoused people and acts as a cooling center for the public during heat advisories. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America During extreme hot and cold weather, New Orleans activates [cooling and warming centers](https://nolagis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/nearby/index.html?appid=7ec4b8a492a14870a683e06237e6a920&utm%5Fcampaign=City%5Fof%5FNew%5FOrleans&utm%5Fcontent=&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery&utm%5Fterm=&distance=1#find=-10027152.248258518%2C3497734.446802737) in its libraries and recreation facilities. When overnight shelters for unsheltered people are at capacity, cooling centers can house about 100 people at each center. City outreach teams from the Office of Homeless Services & Strategy and the Public Health Emergencies & Environmental Health Unit also coordinate bottled water distribution near the Claiborne Corridor and French Quarter. During colder weather, the same outreach teams will attempt to get unsheltered people into warming centers and shelters. Elainna Williams, an Office of Homeless Services’ team member, said she learned how important rapport was the first time she did winter street outreach. “They would not come off the street, and it was mind blowing. But then I went to the warming center the next day, and \[saw\] some of the same people that told me ‘no’ the night before,” Williams said. “Sometimes it takes time, and sometimes it could be a level of trust.” To reduce the citywide heat index, the Office of Sustainability is planning to plant 40,000 trees by 2030 as part of the New Orleans forestation plan. After Katrina, New Orleans lost 200,000 trees, decreasing available shade and its [tree canopy coverage](https://nola.gov/next/sustainability/adaptation-nature-solutions/urban-reforestation/?ref=down-ballot.info) to half of the shade of other southern cities. The [Heat Action Plan](https://nola.gov/next/sustainability/adaptation-nature-solutions/heat-action-plan-development/?ref=down-ballot.info) is currently being drafted and is expected to be adopted by the city later this year, outlining different cooling strategies. As the public sleeping ban goes into effect before winter’s coldest days, some advocates worry criminalization could [perpetuate homelessness](https://shelterforce.org/2025/07/03/criminalizing-homelessness-doesnt-work-study-finds/?ref=down-ballot.info). A city spokesperson said warming and cooling efforts would not be affected by the public sleeping ban. Outside of municipal operations, local grassroots efforts aid those living outside of shelters. During summer months, Below Sea Level Aid dispatches street teams to hand out cold drinks, ice packs, battery-powered fans and other cooling supplies. The weekly trips are part of the nonprofit’s harm reduction and public health mission. “New Orleans is not built to handle extreme heat. Our infrastructure actually makes it even worse,” said Below Sea Level Aid founder Jack Waguespack-Slooijer. “I really try and focus on our people who are under the overpasses and directly on concrete or the street, \[as\] opposed to being in a park or somewhere green.” *Christiana Botic contributed to this report.* This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/07/27/homeless-heat-wave-new-orleans/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=32369&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # Socorro Catholic churches unite residents over ICE detention center, water concerns by Robert Moore, El Paso Matters July 27, 2026 SOCORRO, Texas – In the 1980s, Maria Estella Padilla went door to door after Mass, organizing house meetings to bring running water and sewerage services to hundreds of thousands of homes along the Texas-Mexico border. Today, at 82, she’s back to organizing her neighbors and fellow parishioners at La Purisima Catholic Church in an effort aimed both at stopping a planned immigrant detention center and protecting the access to water that she and others fought so hard to win decades ago. “We did it back then when we didn't have the internet, when we didn't have social media, but now they communicate quickly. It would be easier in a way to do it now than it was back then when we had to go door to door and take signups after Mass,” she said of her latest fight. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, then headed by Secretary Kristi Noem, announced a[ $38 billion plan to buy and retrofit 11 warehouses](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/ice-spending-billions-to-turn-warehouses-into-migrant-detention-facilities?ref=down-ballot.info) across the country to convert them into sprawling detention facilities to serve the administration’s mass deportation program for undocumented immigrants. That included three warehouses on the edge of Socorro, about 15 miles southeast of the El Paso city limits, that had been built to hold nuts harvested from nearby pecan groves. The property, [sold to DHS for $123 million by a Kansas City area developer](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/06/el-paso-texas-dhs-buys-warehouses-ice-mega-immigration-detention-center-clint/?ref=down-ballot.info), included three reinforced concrete warehouses of about 296,000 square feet each, with an adjacent plot of land available for expansion. DHS initially said the Socorro facility would hold up to 8,500 immigrants awaiting deportation, which would have made it one of the [largest immigrant detention centers](https://www.npr.org/2026/03/23/g-s1-114107/ices-growing-detention-footprint-and-the-communities-fighting-back?ref=down-ballot.info) in the country. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/dhs_facility_rv1-1024x683.png) After Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin replaced Noem in March, DHS said it was [canceling plans to convert at least seven of the 11 warehouses](https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/06/26/dhs-chief-acknowledges-missteps-1-billion-warehouse-purchases/?ref=down-ballot.info) – though not the Socorro site. In June, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement [told El Paso leaders](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/06/12/trump-administration-scales-back-plans-for-massive-socorro-immigration-detention-center-escobar-says/?ref=down-ballot.info) that the privately run detention facility would be smaller than previously announced, but didn’t provide details. But local leaders and residents, many organized by local parishes, remain outspoken about their concerns, citing environmental, as well as moral reasons. Socorro has transformed over the past 50 years from a mostly agricultural area with no running water or sewer service into an El Paso suburb of almost 40,000 people. Pecans, cotton and other crops are still produced in the area, but much of the historic farmland has been sold for housing developments. Socorro opposition to the detention center began to grow in April, when the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization began meetings with parish leaders in the town's three Catholic churches to discuss what the planned detention center might mean. EPISO is part of the Industrial Areas Foundation, a national network that works with local religious congregations around the country – primarily but not exclusively Catholic – to organize communities around issues that local residents identify as most important. In El Paso and throughout Texas, the most consistent issue for IAF affiliates over the past 50 years has been water. In El Paso County alone in the 1980s, more than 80,000 residents lived in homes without water or sewerage services. Hundreds of thousands of other residents along the Texas-Mexico border lived in so-called *colonias*, illegal subdivisions built without basic infrastructure. Organizing by IAF organizations led to hundreds of millions of dollars in state investments starting in the late 1980s that brought basic water and sewerage infrastructure to most – but not all – of the state’s colonias. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Socorro-parish-976x1024.jpg) El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization members, from left, Alicia Mossman, Maria Estela Padilla and Gerardo Cruz at a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe at San Felipe de Jesus Catholic Church in Socorro, Texas. (Robert Moore / El Paso Matters) EPISO began focusing on the proposed Socorro immigrant detention center in April, based largely on Catholic social teaching on the treatment of immigrants. Organizers put together what they call “house meetings” at each of the town’s three Catholic churches. “And when people learned what was happening, then the water issues started to surface,” said Surya Kalra, EPISO’s lead organizer. Officials with El Paso Water and the Lower Valley Water District said hundreds of thousands of gallons of water a day would be needed for a large detention facility. House meeting participants started talking about water issues they were seeing at their own homes, especially with water pressure. “People started to realize that they weren't isolated in their own issues on water pressure and water backup and all that stuff,” Kalra said. “That's what house meetings do when you have people get together and they start to share their stories, they realize that what they thought might be their own personal failing is actually a systemwide difficulty.” On May 28, more than 40 people organized by EPISO went to a meeting of the Lower Valley Water District board. The agenda didn’t include any items about the detention center or water pressure issues, but several residents addressed the board in English and Spanish during the public comment portion of the meeting. “I’m completely opposed to detention centers on so many levels, on a human level, ethical, moral, our faith, we just don't believe in that. The way we're treating them, it's just abhorrent,” Padilla said at the meeting. “But on a practical level, we don't have water, and we have several issues at our house. The most common one is the pressure.” ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CB_SocorroWater-1-1024x683.jpg) Grace Herrera, center, was flanked by her daughter, Gracie Ortiz, left, and granddaughter Eleina Gibbs, at a May 28 board meeting of the Lower Valley Water District. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) “We are many generations of families, and I would hate for us to be known as the city that is holding this many people that don't deserve to be treated the way they're going to be treated,” said Grace Herrera, who attended the meeting with her daughter and granddaughter. Several residents focused on a disruption of service on May 18, when the area’s water pressure dropped dramatically. Lower Valley Water District officials didn’t respond to El Paso Matters’ questions on the water pressure issues raised by residents. A Socorro dialysis center had to shut down for the day, said Alicia Mossman, whose nephew works at the facility. “They were trying to disperse these people to other dialysis centers. Many of the people that show up for dialysis are dropped off and have no way to get them elsewhere, so they had to do without dialysis that day,” she told the water board. Herrera’s granddaughter, Eleina Gibbs, started to tell the water board about what happened at her middle school the day the water pressure dropped, but she was too soft-spoken for the board and audience to hear. So her mother, Gracie Ortiz, read her letter for her. “No one could go to the restroom or drink water. This continued from 8:30 in the morning to the end of the day,” Gibbs’ statement said. Her letter said that by the end of the school day at 3:30 p.m., she rushed home to use the restroom, only to find it occupied by her grandmother. “I desperately waited for her to get out. When she was done, I rushed to get in.” ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Socorro-letter-836x1024.jpg) Gracie Ortiz holds a statement her daughter, Eleina Gibbs, prepared for a meeting of the Lower Valley Water District board on May 28, 2026\. (Robert Moore/El Paso Matters) The girl’s statement said her parents weren’t told that students didn’t have access that day to the restroom or drinking water, a claim disputed by the Socorro Independent School District. “Parent messages were sent by the campus, and water was made available for restrooms and consumption,” district spokesperson Daniel Escobar said. “The campus did consolidate to use specific restrooms on campus. Drinking water also was offered for students and staff.” Rosalinda Vigil, the water district board chair, was clearly moved by Gibbs’ statement. “I'm a resident, and I, too, have complained about pressure and certain issues, and I pray and promise that we hopefully won't have to go through this again,” Vigil said. “We're going to address these issues, and we're going to talk about them, so that no one should ever have to go through this again.” EPISO and the parishes continue efforts to inform residents about the detention center and ongoing water concerns, and meet regularly with local government officials. Democratic U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso met with EPISO representatives shortly after a June 12 meeting where Acting ICE Director David Venturella told her the administration had adjusted its plans for the Socorro warehouse facility. “The Department of Homeland Security is going to proceed with using those warehouses, but there will not be 8,500 people held there,” Escobar said during a news conference after her meeting with Venturella. “They said that they’ve changed the plans a little bit. It will be a training facility. It will be a campus, essentially, for ICE, with offices and conference rooms, but yes, there will be privately run detention.” ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/CB_ICEWarehouse-44-1024x683.jpg) The Department of Homeland Security purchased a three-building warehouse complex in Socorro for the purpose of creating a new migrant detention facility. Photo was taken March 20, 2026\. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) Escobar and other El Paso area officials said even a scaled-down detention facility would stress water and public safety infrastructure in the Socorro area. DHS officials didn’t respond to a request for comment from El Paso Matters about its plans for the Socorro warehouses. Kalra said EPISO will remain vigilant in its efforts to stop the detention center, and to advocate for improved water services for Socorro’s residents. She said the Catholic parishes will play a key role in those efforts because they serve as a place of trust for many residents. “If you're doing this outside of the structure of an institution or a church, it's catch as catch can. But churches have deep networks of relationships of trust that help people understand and interpret what's going on and start to get organized quickly,” Kalra said. Padilla, who was part of the fight to bring water to the colonias in the 1980s, said she believes that it's possible to organize the community again around the detention center and water issues. “I believe we can, but it does take involvement by organizations that are already organized, like churches, and that's why I am so happy to see that our church is behind this effort, and that San Felipe (another Socorro Catholic church) is behind it, and others. But that's what it takes, and I do believe we can do it,” she said. *This article was produced as a collaboration between El Paso Matters and Religion News Service as part of the* [*Atlas of American Belonging*](https://religionnews.com/the-atlas-of-american-belonging/?ref=down-ballot.info) *project, supported by the Henry Luce Foundation.* This [article](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/07/27/socorro-texas-ice-detention-center-water-supply-churches-organizing/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [El Paso Matters](https://elpasomatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://elpasomatters.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=115938) --- # How one man’s Olympic moment brought new life to Jackson rugby by Aaron Lampley, Mississippi Today July 27, 2026 Mitchell McGinnis owns two music academies and teaches vocal lessons in his spare time. He goes regularly to the gym, but that was as far as his athletic prowess and interest in sports went – until he found himself in Paris, at Stade de France during the 2024 Olympics, watching a sport he knew almost nothing about. The game looked vaguely familiar: players chasing an oval-shaped ball and piling atop one another. But this was not American football. This was rugby. While still in the stands, he picked up his cell phone and began searching for anything he could learn about the sport. McGinnis did not know it yet, but his curiosity would help revive one of Mississippi’s oldest rugby clubs, attracting new players to an organization that nearly died out during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I remember sitting there Googling rules and trying to understand what was happening on the field,” he said. “It happened so fast.” His introduction to rugby came by chance. A friend who won a lottery to attend the Olympics invited McGinnis to Paris. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/07/09123551/IMG_0150.jpeg) Mitchell McGinnis poses for a photo prior to the Men's Rugby game at Stade de France on Wednesday, July 24 2024. He started searching for local rugby leagues near his Jackson home. Facebook led McGinnis to the [Jackson Rugby Football Club.](https://www.jacksonrugby.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) He began sending messages to the club back home. Within minutes, a practice was scheduled for that August. Excitement built. But that initial practice fell through. So did another. That’s when McGinnis decided to grab the ball himself and run with it. He began recruiting players and scouting a field to play on. He would eventually get Jackson Public Schools’ permission to use Murrah High School’s practice field. Nearly three months after McGinnis first reached out to Jackson Rugby, they were finally going to meet. He showed up at the high school dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. He kept slipping on the wet grass in his tennis shoes. “My friends joke a lot of times that a toxic trait of mine is thinking that I can do anything,” McGinnis said. While rugby continues to grow in popularity in the U.S., it is hardly a staple of televised sports – dominated by football, basketball and baseball. Nevertheless, rugby has found homes in some American communities. One of the early Mississippi [adopters was Jackson Rugby](https://www.deepsouthrugby.net/history/a-brief-history-of-deep-south-rugby/?ref=down-ballot.info). In rugby, two teams compete to advance an elongated ball to score a try — or a goal — by kicking, running and passing the ball backward. Its origins extend to the early 19th century in England and spread to the United States, mostly on [college campuses](https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/rugby-arrives-in-the-united-states?ref=down-ballot.info). USA Rugby, the country's governing body for the sport, counts [11,000 active players. ](https://usa.rugby/about?ref=down-ballot.info) ### **An English sport makes it way to America** In a state dominated by college football, the English sport found its footing in Mississippi’s capital city in 1974\. Back in 2010, team members even purchased and created their own makeshift facility with practice fields near Highway 49\. “We get to have a good time. We get to run around together, laugh at each other, make a joke, have something to look forward to at the end of the week,” said Chris Mendonca, the team’s coach. “This is what I live for.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223302/Jackson-Rugby-Club-1.jpg) Jackson Rugby Club coach Chris Mendonca catches a pitch during practice at the Murrah High School practice field, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. Mendonca’s rugby journey started in 1999 during his Air Force deployment to Trier, Germany. Fresh from military training, Mendonca felt he was lacking a community and outlet outside of work. He would run across a local rugby league and instantly fell in love with the sport. Rugby became an outlet for Mendonca during his deployments in South Korea, Florida and Japan. Wherever he went, the sport gave him an anchor. “I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have this,” Mendonca said. When he returned to civilian life, Mendonca went to work for Raytheon, a defense and aerospace company, that transferred him to Brandon in 2018. He already knew he would join Jackson Rugby prior to his move. He had played against the team in 2005 when he played for a club in Okaloosa, Florida. But it was not the same Jackson rugby team he remembered. The team was not nearly as active as it once was. Players left as they began families and started new careers. The last few active members attempted to host practices amid busy schedules. There were talks of merging the Jackson team with the one in Biloxi, but those discussions stalled when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Things continued to fizzle until McGinnis gave the team the push it needed. ### **The goal: ‘play, have fun, challenge ourselves’** Mendonca was one of the two experienced players available when McGinnis organized the resurgent team’s first practice in October. Mendonca arrived early and walked around the school parking lot filling a garbage bag with trash as he waited for other players to show up. McGinnis arrived next. He approached Mendonca, wondering if he was a worker with the school. Mendonca said picking up trash was just something he could do while waiting. The team now makes a habit to clean the parking lot after every practice. Nearly two years have passed since the team’s revival on that muggy evening. Now Jackson Rugby regularly has over a dozen players at practice, with new people showing up to try the sport. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223305/Jackson-Rugby-Club-10.jpg) Jackson Rugby Club practice at the Murrah High School practice field, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. On most Sundays at 3 p.m., you can find the team at Murrah High School preparing for its next game. They sprint up and down the field, practice passing the ball and slam into foam pads to perfect their tackles. In between drills, they gather under a bright blue tent that gleams in the sun as they cool off with fresh watermelon and a misting fan. “If you’re interested in playing, just come out and try for a practice or two,” McGinnis said. “We like to have a good time. It doesn't matter if you're a guy or girl. Come out and learn the game with us and have a good time.” Caroline Swindool joined the group in early February after coming across a yard sign with the team’s information. At first she was intimidated by the predominantly male team. Her love for fitness and trying new things pushed her to join, and Swindool was welcomed with open arms. “It’s really just a hodgepodge of a bunch of different people that you wouldn't put together in a group normally, but everybody comes out and has the same common goal,” Swindool said. “We just want to play, have fun, challenge ourselves and get better.” The club’s newfound popularity hasn’t gone unnoticed. McGinnis said several people approached the team’s tent at the Mobile Battleship Rugby Tournament earlier this month. Some asked about hosting games in Jackson later this year. James Lawson has been a team member for two decades and has seen the team through hard times. He said the team is exactly where it needs to be. “I think we got the right combination of people on the team right now,” he said, “and a lot of younger people on the team now to help grow rugby in this area.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223305/Jackson-Rugby-Club-7.jpg) Jackson Rugby Club coach Chris Mendonca, left, and team members during practice at the Murrah High School practice field, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223305/Jackson-Rugby-Club-5.jpg) Joo Reynolds, left, and Jackson Rugby Club coach Chris Mendonca at practice, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223302/Jackson-Rugby-Club-2.jpg) Joo Reynolds, center, and Jackson Rugby Club teammates at practice, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223308/Jackson-Rugby-Club-16.jpg) Jackson Rugby Club practice scrum at the Murrah High School practice field, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223305/Jackson-Rugby-Club-13.jpg) Rugby balls used by the Jackson Rugby Club during practice at the Murrah High School practice field, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223305/Jackson-Rugby-Club-11.jpg) Jackson Rugby Club practice at the Murrah High School practice field, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223302/Jackson-Rugby-Club-3.jpg) Jackson Rugby Club coach Chris Mendonca catches a pitch during practice at the Murrah High School practice field, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223305/Jackson-Rugby-Club-6.jpg) Jackson Rugby Club practice at the Murrah High School practice field, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Jackson. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/07/27/new-life-to-jackson-rugby/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223401/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1184451&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # A Tale of Two Behavioral Health Systems, or How the State Border Determines Who Gets Access to Mental Healthcare by Astra Lincoln, The Daily Yonder July 22, 2026 In July 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) mandated significant health care funding cuts and policy changes related to low-income health insurance programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) administration. As of April 2026, [1.59 million Americans](https://ccf.georgetown.edu/feature/state-by-state-medicaid-enrollment-data/?ref=down-ballot.info) had lost their Medicaid insurance because of OBBBA-related cuts. Because of the bill, an estimated 13 million more people will lose their insurance over the next three years. Between direct funding cuts and a massive loss of clients, health care providers around the country were understandably left on edge. And then the no-cause termination letters started to arrive. Becky Wolery, the founder of the Oregon/Idaho-based mental health clinic, Insight Matters, first got the news in December 2025: her clinic was losing its Oregon Medicaid eligibility. Going forward, Wolery’s Ontario, Oregon-based clinic could no longer accept any new Medicaid patients. “It was basically a close-down notice,” Wolery said. At the Ontario office, 90% of patients are insured through Medicaid. Even existing patients need to renew their prior authorization every six months. Once their existing authorizations had expired, these patients’ coverage would be denied. Wolery panicked. Ontario, population 11,645 — the largest of any in eastern Oregon’s expansive Malheur County — was already in a health care desert, despite having the highest rate of Medicaid enrollment of any county in the state. For years, Wolery had only practiced in Idaho, where she lives. When her clinic had outgrown its first building in Payette, she decided to analyze her patients' demographic data so she could find a new space that best fit her clientele, only to realize that a huge portion of the patients were paying with Oregon Medicaid, crossing the border from Ontario or elsewhere in Malheur County in order to seek out counseling or substance use treatment. She decided to open a second location in Ontario. In less than a year, they had outgrown the first building and had to relocate into a new, larger space. Since then, her practice has been booming. Now, a total closure was on the horizon. All this, before Medicaid enrollment had really begun to unwind. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/image-1296x972.jpeg) The Snake River near Annex, Oregon. (Photo by Astra Lincoln) ### **Which Side Are You On?** One year after its passage, the implementation of the many fiscal changes mandated by OBBBA — which have been largely managed by individual states — has had vastly different impacts for communities depending on which side of a state border they find themselves on. For residents of the Oregon-Idaho boundary area, access to care largely depends on which side of the Snake River a person happens to live on. On the eastern, Idahoan side of the border, 4% of state residents were cut from Medicaid in September 2025\. Some behavioral health programs — including some that provide funding for peer support and crisis response teams — were cut, but subsequently refunded. Otherwise, business has continued more or less as usual. Although behavioral health providers are anticipating new restrictions to arrive this July, Idaho has yet to experience any seismic shifts to its health care landscape. This is largely because Idaho had such limited state-sponsored health care services to begin with; the state’s 19% enrollment rate is well below the national average. And in the rural communities along the Idaho-Oregon border, behavioral health care access has always been limited. In Weiser, Idaho, across the water from Ontario, there were no mental health care providers practicing in town until the town’s hospital opened a small clinic three years ago. Since then, more clinics have followed — but mostly have sprung up to serve the population being sentenced to court-mandated rehabilitation following drug and alcohol charges. For everyone else, the closest in-patient facility is over an hour away. “For a small city like us, we have nowhere to take our people that need help,” said Weiser City Clerk Natasha McDaniel. “We just put them in jail. And when they come out, they have a criminal record, and it’s harder to get a job. It’s just a vicious cycle.” So business may be carrying on in Idaho — but it’s bad business to begin with. For Oregonians living on the other side of the Snake River, it’s a different story. In recent years, the Oregon Health Plan, which administers Medicaid for state residents, has significantly expanded Medicaid eligibility. Whereas most states only allow coverage for able-bodied adults below the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) — which is $15,960 for a single person — Oregon enrolls anyone earning less than double the FPL. There have been additional expansions for pregnant people and immigrants. Because of this, Oregon stands to have the most significant drop in Medicaid enrollment of any state in the nation. In Oregon’s rural areas alone, OBBBA will lead to a $4 billion reduction in Medicaid funding through direct cuts and cuts to Medicaid-covered health care services — though most of these changes won’t begin to be implemented until late 2027, and some won’t take full effect until 2034\. In June 2026, the Oregon Health Authority announced new Medicaid eligibility rules. Beginning in 2027, Medicaid participants will need to renew their coverage every six months (currently, the renewal period is two years). And, beginning in October 2028, copays will be required for many health care services, though emergency care, mental health care, prenatal care, and substance use treatments will be excluded — which will likely reduce access to care even among people who retain Medicaid eligibility. Already, [20% of rural Oregonians](https://www.oregon.gov/oha/HPA/HP/Cost%20Growth%20Target%20documents/2024-Impact-of-Health-Care-Costs-on-Oregonians%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) delay or skip necessary care due to cost. And in Malheur County — Oregon’s second largest, and one of its most rural — Medicaid enrollment is disproportionately high, relative to other parts of the state: 50% of residents are currently enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare. Among those enrolled in Medicaid (which provides free insurance to low-income people), the vast majority (almost 80%) are children. Nearly 25% have a disability, nearly 50% are Hispanic or Latino, and more than 25% speak Spanish as their primary language. And for residents living outside of Ontario, where all of Malheur County’s behavioral health clinics are located, patients may have to drive more than three hours to access a clinic. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/image-1-1296x972.jpeg) Agricultural lands surround the confluence of Idaho's Weiser River with the Snake River, which marks the border with Oregon. (Photo by Astra Lincoln) ### **Inadequate Response** The federal government has taken some steps to offset these impacts — though economists and health care researchers suggest that the measures made to date will almost certainly be inadequate. In addition to sweeping Medicaid cuts, the OBBBA established the [Rural Health Transformation Program](https://www.cms.gov/priorities/rural-health-transformation-rht-program/overview?ref=down-ballot.info) (RHTP), which sought to distribute special funding to rural areas, like Malheur County, to offset the disproportionately high impacts that other portions of the bill would cause in regions already facing worse health outcomes. Oregon's rural residents have been shown to “experience higher rates of chronic disease, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer,” said Clare Pierce-Wrobel, Oregon Health Authority (OHA) Director of Health Policy and Analytics, in an interview for [KEZI ](https://www.kezi.com/news/local/oregon-gets-200m-to-improve-rural-health-care-access/article%5Fc14519a1-09ed-48d2-bcb4-594195d2d68e.html?ref=down-ballot.info)earlier this year. The state was awarded $200 million in RHTP funding. Across the country, the RHTP has allocated $50 billion to rural hospitals over five years — though the Kaiser Family Foundation, a national nonprofit focused on health policy, [wrote in a study](https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kff.org%2Fmedicaid%2Fhow-might-federal-medicaid-cuts-in-the-enacted-reconciliation-package-affect-rural-areas%2F%23%3A~%3Atext%3DBuilding%2520on%2520separate%2520KFF%2520estimates%2520of%2520state-by-state%2520Medicaid%2520cuts%252C%2520this%2520analysis%2520estimates%2520that%2520Medicaid%2520spending%2520in%2520rural%2520areas%2520could%2520decrease%2520by%2520%2524155%2520billion%2520over%252010%2520years.&data=05%7C02%7Cnomaan.merchant%40cnn.com%7C4ff1d421997b4069c86508ddf61ae754%7C0eb48825e8714459bc72d0ecd68f1f39%7C0%7C0%7C638937317595666970%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=tdDdSTAqUzjST4QvQefula4QwaLUbcUxYDmVaztKWig%3D&reserved=0&ref=down-ballot.info) published in July 2025 that “Federal Medicaid spending in rural areas is estimated to decline by $137 billion, more than the $50 billion appropriated for the rural health fund.” Because of this, an estimated [338 rural hospitals](https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter%5Fon%5Frural%5Fhospitals.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) are expected to close, including three in Idaho and four in Oregon — as well as additional closures among private and specialty clinics located outside of hospitals. By the end of 2025, Oregon had [already lost](https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/december%5F2025-obbba%5Faccountability.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) an acute care hospital, an inpatient care center, a birth center, six occupational health centers, and four occupational medicine clinics. In April, the first $21.7 million in RHTP funds was awarded to 12 Oregon-based programs — but none went to projects located in Malheur County. Because so many clinics — like Insight Matters — are funded almost entirely through Medicaid payments, it has been [predicted](https://www.studentdoctor.net/2025/11/20/the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-and-rural-medicine/?ref=down-ballot.info) that many rural hospitals and clinics will close despite the patchwork funding provided by the RHTP. ### **Bad News** In Malheur County, four of the five behavioral health clinics, including Insight Matters, received no-cause termination notices in December. For now, the Insight Matters’ Ontario clinic has been able to stay open — in part because of the additional programming they offer, via a grant-funded contract with the Department of Health and Welfare, in schools, domestic violence shelters, and nursing homes. The grant will fund these programs through next year, at which point the viability of the Ontario location will depend on fickle grant funding. Whether or not the clinic closes entirely will depend on whether such grants are renewed. In the meantime, the clinic's 350 patients, 90% of whom rely on Medicaid, are faced with a choice: terminate care, or cross the river to receive out-of-pocket treatment in Idaho. "People in these rural areas are used to driving into main areas for services," said April Browne, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Family Services Treatment in Weiser, Idaho — a community that got its first mental health care provider just three years ago. "They're getting on the freeway anyway to go to work. So maybe they're going to attend a group or see a counselor at that time \[after work\]." Even before the clinics in Ontario began to close, Browne already had several Oregon-based, self-pay clients. But a health care landscape that only offers substantive options to people who can afford to pay out-of-pocket will mean that already stark poverty-related health outcomes will continue to intensify. This is bad news for a state that has historically had the highest rates of mental health challenges in America. Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in state investments, Oregon has been ranked the [worst state in the nation](https://www.oregonjournalismproject.org/mha-report?ref=down-ballot.info) for mental health for several years — more than 30% of the state’s adults live with some form of mental illness. With new funding, the state’s ability to provide care has improved — in 2025, Oregon was ranked seventh in the country for mental health care access — but wellbeing indexes have yet to follow. Part of the problem is that health care is managed at the county level, and so standards and implementation can be inconsistent at best. Only one behavioral health clinic in Malheur County, Lifeways, remains to serve the entire population of a county that has a larger area than the state of Maryland — and will need to find a way to provide care to the 800 patients who had previously received treatment at the newly out-of-network clinics. Lifeways did not respond to multiple requests for comments. But several clinicians working in the region reported that many patients pursuing behavioral health care are hesitant to pursue care there. The clinic has developed a bad reputation because of huge staff turnovers (among its leadership and clinicians), as well as long wait times, and bad personality fits — which research has shown is [one of the largest determinants](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/11/ce-corner-relationships?ref=down-ballot.info) in the success of behavioral health treatment. For patients who don’t find a good fit at Lifeways, no other options exist. ### **Cooked Books?** Which clinics are in-network in Oregon is determined by the different regional coordinated care organizations, or CCOs, that administer the state's health care plans. In the more densely populated parts of the state, several CCOs are available for Medicaid clients to enrol in, based on which providers they want access to. But for the entire eastern half of the state, only one CCO exists. All mental health dollars distributed through the Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization are managed through Greater Oregon Behavioral Health Inc. (GOBHI). When the OBBBA was passed, OHA directed the state's CCOs to implement cost-cutting measures, prompting GOBHI to terminate Medicaid eligibility for the three Malheur County-based clinics, according to the termination letters GOBHI distributed. (GOBHI also terminated contracts with several clinics in Harney and Baker counties, also in Eastern Oregon.) Wolery requested a meeting with the GOBHI CEO to ask why Lifeways was selected to maintain its contract, while other clinics were not. At the meeting, the CEO explained that they had analyzed “network capacity,” and found that Lifeways had adequate capacity to meet behavioral health needs, according to Wolery. But when Wolery reviewed the numbers, she found that they were only using Lifeways existing patients in their calculations — and not the 800 patients receiving care at the other clinics. “I think they’re doing false reporting,” Wolery said. Earlier this year, Wolery joined four other local agencies to file for an investigation against GOBHI with the CMS, citing multiple NQTL violations of the Mental Health Parity Act. GOBHI did not respond to interview requests from the *Daily Yonder*. Wolery also suspects that the need for these cuts might have more to do with general fiscal mismanagement than any immediate OBBBA-related funding gaps. In recent months, GOBHI has been faced with fines and repayment requests related to financial and administrative errors. It might also have something to do with the who’s-who of Eastern Oregon health care. The current Lifeways CEO is the treasurer for the GOBHI board tasked with GOBHI’s fiscal decision-making, including how to implement the coming Medicaid funding cuts. ### **Oregon’s Radical Plan Years in the Making** What are residents of these rural regions of Idaho and Oregon to do, in the face of dwindling insurance options and closing clinics and hospitals? In Idaho, social worker April Browne said, “There will just be people that fall through the gaps. We all have community connection. But that’s the only thing here that can close those gaps.” In Oregon, there might be another option: the state is currently considering a universal health care plan. Since 2023, a governance board has been developing a policy proposal that could fully fund and implement a single-payer health care option that would cover every resident in the state. It’s the first serious effort to establish a single-payer health care system since 2002, when voters overwhelmingly rejected a plan proposed via ballot measure. For Oregon’s rural clinics, which have historically been less likely to withstand unstable funding environments, the plan could have a “stabilizing effect,” said the advocacy nonprofit Health Care for All Oregon (HCAO) President Valdez Bravo, who works in health care administration. “The Baker City Birthing Center closed a few years ago, right on the eastern edge of the state. That wouldn’t have happened if we had a universal health care system providing stability and predictability to funding,” Bravo thinks. One of the Universal Health Plan Governance Board’s (UHPGB) nine members, Chunhuei Chi, helped design Taiwan’s first universal health plan in 1995\. He’s been working on health care finance ever since, and has been involved in Oregon’s efforts to implement a universal health plan ever since the last ballot initiative in 2002\. In an interview for *Willamette Week* in May 2026, Chi said the current UHPGB effort is “the closest \[to success\]. This is probably the closest ever.” If enacted, the plan put forward by the UHPGB could resolve many of the health care funding gaps created by OBBBA. While the draft plan is not set to be released until September 2026, early summary documents released by the UHPGB suggest that the final version will include provisions to provide full insurance coverage to every resident, regardless of income, for all medically necessary services. There would be no premiums, no co-pays, no out-of-network providers, and no Coordinated Care Organizations. According to a 19-page [summary of preliminary recommendations](https://www.oregon.gov/uhpgb/Documents/board-meetings/2026/20260416/UHP-summary-2026-focus-groups-intro.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) released in April 2026, the plan would cover all necessary physical and behavioral health services, as well as routine vision and dental care and some fertility services, with minimal to zero cost-sharing for patients at the point of service. For patients, there would be no insurance premiums, no deductibles, and no co-pays. And insurance would no longer be tied to a person’s job — which could have a huge impact for the 40% of Oregonians who currently do not have coverage through their employer. The plan would be funded through a combination of federal funding, business contributions, and a progressive income tax. (The income tax would only be on income over 200% of the FPL, or $31,500,) Preliminary analysis shows most Oregon residents would pay less for their care under the proposed plan, and most businesses would pay less in health care costs for their employees. The UHPGB is due to submit its final recommendations to the state legislature in September of 2026\. But whether or not the legislature acts on the plan depends on whether or not it is written into a bill that is then introduced to the 2027 legislative session. In July, a petition circulated by HCAO and the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America encouraging legislatures to do so had collected more than 4,000 signatures. If the UHPGB’s plan is brought to the session, the legislature could then either vote to pass the recommendations into law as-is — though the HCAO leadership team does not expect that it will — or refer the plan to a ballot measure, which could go before voters in 2028. If a bill or ballot measure is eventually passed, the new plan would not fully cure Oregon’s health care landscape overnight. “There will still be challenges for rural communities that lack services,” said Colin Stackhouse, who serves as HCAO’s Communications Coordinator and also volunteers on the UHPGB Community Engagement and Communications Committee. “Rural clinics are closing. This plan won’t directly address that,” Stackhouse said. “But it will solve the problem for the people in these rural communities who can’t see available providers because their local providers don’t take coverage. It would solve the insurance coverage access question.” Bravo is optimistic about the plan’s potential trickle-down effects. “Right now, we’re heading in a direction where there’s just not going to be any care offered \[to rural residents\]. We’re going to be like five hours away from what you need.” But if more robust insurance infrastructure existed, Bravo is confident that “it will promulgate more care being offered out there in Eastern Oregon.” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/a-tale-of-two-behavioral-health-systems-or-how-the-state-border-determines-who-gets-access-to-mental-healthcare/2026/07/22/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=241555&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) ### States move to limit classroom screen time URL: https://down-ballot.info/states-move-to-limit-classroom-screen-time/ Last updated: 2026-07-30T09:00:52.000Z By Robbie Sequeira (Stateline) Published: July 23, 2026 After school cellphone bans passed many statehouses with bipartisan support in recent legislative sessions, state lawmakers are turning to legislation governing how long students should spend looking at screens. This year, four states passed laws restricting or regulating screen time for students from childcare through fifth grade. Iowa[ capped](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ba=HF2676&ga=91&ref=down-ballot.info) digital instruction at 60 minutes per day for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, with exceptions for special education, assessments and computer science. Utah lawmakers this year [directed](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0273.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the state education board to develop grade-specific technology rules, including restrictions on screen time in kindergarten through third grade and prohibiting one-device-per-student ratios in elementary school. A new Tennessee[ law](https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default?BillNumber=SB2310&ga=&ref=down-ballot.info) requires every district and charter school serving K-5 students to adopt an age-appropriate digital device policy to minimize unnecessary screen time. And Alabama this year adopted a [law](https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2026RS/HB78-enr.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) requiring the establishment of screen time standards and teacher training for childcare facilities, prekindergarten and kindergarten. But a Missouri [bill](https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB2230&year=2026&code=R&ref=down-ballot.info) to require school districts and charter schools to adopt screen time policies for kindergarten through fifth grade and an Oklahoma [proposal](https://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb4358&Session=2600&ref=down-ballot.info) to cap screen time at 60 minutes per day for students in prekindergarten through fifth grade both failed. The Missouri bill easily cleared the House but stalled in the Senate. Despite passing the Oklahoma House unanimously, that bill stalled in the Senate and faced pushback from a technology industry trade group. The Software and Information Industry Association referred to the bill as an “unfunded mandate” and said it would increase administrative burdens and undermine workforce readiness. Some school districts also are adopting screen time policies for the upcoming school year. The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school district, is the one of the first to impose systemwide, grade-by-grade instructional screen limits. > [As school cellphone bans gain in popularity, lawmakers say it’s time to go bell-to-bell](https://stateline.org/2026/02/03/as-school-cellphone-bans-gain-in-popularity-lawmakers-say-its-time-to-go-bell-to-bell/?ref=down-ballot.info) Los Angeles has barred instructional screen time before second grade. The district also set limits that increase incrementally to 60 minutes per subject each week for middle school students and 90 minutes per subject each week for high school students. Inanna Balkin, a rising high school senior at Amherst Regional High School in Massachusetts, told Stateline that “it’s really important for students to learn how to manage their screen time,” and that schools should help students develop habits for managing screen time rather than simply removing access to technology.“Automatically not having access to your phone or a screen during the day kind of doesn’t allow for students to be responsible for their own management when school is over,” said Balkin, who uses an app called Opal to block distractions while doing homework. There are no clear national statistics measuring how many minutes students spend using screens for classroom instruction, yet screen time has become [a focus ](https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/secretary-kennedy-announces-hhs-action-reduce-harmful-screen-use-protect-children-online.html?ref=down-ballot.info)of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including a warning from the surgeon general’s office. Tracy Weeks, senior director of education policy and strategy at education technology company Instructure, told Stateline that states should consider metrics other than minutes when proposing screen time policies. “The policy focus has been on minutes, and that’s the wrong conversation to be having, because not all minutes are created equal,” Weeks said. “Scrolling for 10 minutes is not the same as actually interacting with a tool for learning.” Virginia [now requires](https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodeupdates/title22.1/section22.1-206/?ref=down-ballot.info) public schools to provide instruction about time spent using electronic devices and their addictive potential. [Maine is directing](https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?item=1&paper=HP1376&snum=132&ref=down-ballot.info) the Maine Education Policy Research Institute to study classroom technology use, including average instructional time on school-issued devices and existing safeguards. *Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached at* *rsequeira@stateline.org* *.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Virginia Beach doctor pushes hospitals to establish protocols for dealing with Parkinson’s patients URL: https://down-ballot.info/virginia-beach-doctor-pushes-hospitals-to-establish-protocols-for-dealing-with-parkinsons-patients/ Last updated: 2026-07-27T09:00:57.000Z By Yiqing Wang/[WHRO](https://www.whro.org/health/2026-07-22/virginia-beach-doctor-pushes-hospitals-to-establish-protocols-for-dealing-with-parkinsons-patients?ref=down-ballot.info) (Virginia Mercury) Published: July 23, 2026 Howard Weinberg keeps his Parkinson’s medication in a small container attached to his keychain, so he always has it wherever he goes. The retired doctor from Virginia Beach has to take the medication every six hours, at 1 o’clock and 7 o’clock, day and night. For him, that schedule is not optional. “It should be within 15 minutes of when it’s due. And if you don’t, then you lose mobility, you get so many complications,” Weinberg said. Those complications can include falls, swallowing problems and urinary tract infections. But Weinberg said maintaining that routine to prevent those complications can be tough when Parkinson’s patients end up in the hospital – something that’s not uncommon. National data [shows](https://www.parkinson.org/sites/default/files/documents/hospital-safety-guide-april-2026.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) about 1.1 million Americans are living with Parkinson’s disease. One in three are hospitalized each year, and one in six have avoidable complications during the stay because they do not receive their medications on time. During the day, he said, hospital medication rounds often happen every four hours at standard times, which often doesn’t line up with a Parkinson’s patient regimen. Weinberg has seen Parkinson’s disease from several sides. He spent decades as a physician. His mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the early 90’s. His sister was diagnosed with the disease eight years ago. Then, after his wife died in 2024, Weinberg was diagnosed with Parkinson’s himself. “I’ve known about Parkinson’s for 55 years, but it’s only in the last year when I become worse that I’m understanding what it’s like to be patient with Parkinson’s,” Weinberg said. “It’s a whole new world until you experience it yourself.” Weinberg now volunteers as an ambassador for the Parkinson’s Foundation, a national organization that supports people living with the disease and advocates for better care. He gives presentations on hospital safety and encourages patients to prepare medication lists before a hospital stay. Because hospital medication rounds often do not match patients’ individual dosing schedules, Weinberg is pushing hospitals to establish clearer protocols to make sure Parkinson’s patients receive their medication on time. “I would love them to \[have\] at least a partnership, so maybe the nurse knows they’re in the room and in a place, and it was 1am and the nurse hasn’t come in to give you, you take the pills that are in the room, and then they see that you took them,” Weinberg said. Annie Brooks, who works on hospital care for the foundation, said Parkinson’s medications should ideally be given within 15 minutes before or after a patient’s specific scheduled time. “The time sensitivity of Parkinson’s medications is similar to the time sensitivity of diabetes medications for people with diabetes,” Brooks said. Brooks said federal rules [allow](https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Guidance/Transmittals/Downloads/R116SOMA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) hospitals to let some patients or caregivers administer their own medication, as long as the hospital has a written policy and confirms they can do it safely. But she said many hospitals are still hesitant. “It means you have to have some processes set, some expectations set,” Brooks said. “It’s not something that a lot of hospitals do, but it is absolutely something that we hear from the Parkinson’s community is a desired protocol.” The Parkinson’s Foundation is working with about 50 health systems nationwide through its Hospital Care Learning Collaborative. The effort focuses on medication timing, avoiding drugs that can worsen Parkinson’s symptoms, helping patients move during hospital stays and screening for swallowing problems. Virginia Commonwealth University Health is one of the participating systems. Leslie Cloud is a professor of neurology in the VCU School of Medicine and the medical director of the Parkinson’s Foundation Center of Excellence at VCU. She said the collaboration’s priorities start with making sure hospitalized Parkinson’s patients get the exact medications they take at home, without substitutions, and get them on time. “No substitutions, like the exact same ones, and exactly on time — not plus or minus two hours, but on time, plus or minus 15 minutes,” Cloud said. Cloud said getting medication within that 15-minute window is one of the biggest challenges for hospitals because medication delivery depends on staffing and nursing workflow. She said VCU is looking at a 30-minute medication window as a more realistic first step toward the 15-minute goal. The health system is also working on changes to its electronic medical record system to flag Parkinson’s patients and warn providers about drugs that can worsen their symptoms. Cloud said allowing some patients to use their own medication can help, especially because newer Parkinson’s drugs are not always available in hospital pharmacies. “Our patients are really good about taking their medications on time because they know what happens when they don’t,” Cloud said. “They’re more likely to get the medicine in that plus or minus 15-minute window if they have control over it themselves.” But Cloud said self-administration is not possible for every patient, including people with dementia or those who do not have a caregiver who can help manage medication safely. For Weinberg, the goal is to make those steps part of routine hospital care before a Parkinson’s patient arrives. He said he has been advocating for local health care systems in Hampton Roads to adopt similar protocols, but he says he’s gotten nowhere. Sentara, one of Virginia’s largest health systems, declined an interview request for this story. Riverside Health, which operates a Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders Program, had not responded to an interview request by publication time. Weinberg said hospitals already have protocols for conditions such as chest pain or stroke symptoms. He wants Parkinson’s care to be treated with the same urgency. “I’d like to see every hospital in the United States and the world put in a patient’s protocol for Parkinson’s,” Weinberg said. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://virginiamercury.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Louisiana communities are left in the dark on toxic air — and industry helped keep it that way URL: https://down-ballot.info/louisiana-communities-are-left-in-the-dark-on-toxic-air-and-industry-helped-keep-it-that-way/ Last updated: 2026-07-24T09:00:27.000Z **It's Friday July 24, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Louisiana communities are left in the dark on toxic air — and industry helped keep it that way, Mark Sanford joins crowded race for US Senate with familiar warning on government overspending, State audit clears up one Rocky Mount utility headache, draws attention to another problem, How South Carolina Prisons Are Limiting Access to Books, OPINION: Rising health insurance exchange costs are bad news for Mississippi’s working poor, As college graduates fret over finding jobs, a record shortage of workers is projected, This Dane County community helped pioneer a national movement for aging together, WVU Health leadership failed to address painkiller thefts for years as opioids devastated West Virginia; Orleans DA’s office withholding critical case records from law firm reviewing wrongful convictions. **Media outlets and others featured:** Floodlight, South Carolina Daily Gazette, Carolina Public Press, Prison Journalism Project, Mississippi Today, The Hechinger Report, Wisconsin Watch, Mountain State Spotlight, Verite News. --- ### ***Lawmakers weakened community air monitoring as industry pushed back against greater scrutiny.*** ### **By Ames Alexander/Floodlight** [*This story*](http://floodlightnews.org/louisiana-toxic-air-monitoring/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is from* [*Floodlight*](https://floodlightnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action, in partnership with The Guardian and with contributions from The Louisiana Illuminator. Sign up for Floodlight’s newsletter* [*here*](https://floodlightnews.org/sign-up-for-our-newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* Kimbrelle Kyereh lives just a few hundred feet from the massive chemical storage tanks in St. Rose, in southeastern Louisiana. Oily fumes sometimes drift into her home, bringing headaches, nausea and insomnia. On one such night, she grabbed her son at 3 a.m. and fled to an all-night IHOP. In 2023, after years of coping with the noxious odors, Kyereh began collecting air samples in her yard for a local environmental justice group. But soon after, Louisiana passed an industry-backed law that sharply restricted how that kind of data could be used. So she stopped. “I shut my mouth like they wanted me to,” Kyereh said. Along the 85-mile corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans — where cancer rates from toxic air pollution are among the nation’s highest — many residents live in the shadows of heavy industry with no idea what they’re breathing. Turns out, that’s by design. A Floodlight analysis found that Louisiana’s public air monitors are often located miles from major industrial polluters and fail to test for some of the most dangerous chemicals. The analysis identified the state’s top 25 industrial air polluters using emissions data that companies self-report to the EPA. Then we used state data to calculate each plant's distance to the nearest public air monitoring station — and to determine which pollutants those monitors actually test for. We found: - Ten of Louisiana’s heaviest air-polluting facilities operate without a single public air monitor within five miles. - Dow Chemical’s plastics factory in Plaquemine is one of Louisiana’s biggest air polluters, releasing an array of toxic pollutants including ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen. The nearest air monitoring station is about eight miles away and measures only ozone. - No public monitors measure ammonia — despite CF Industries’ Donaldsonville plant emitting more than 7 million pounds of it in 2024, making it one of the nation’s top toxic polluters, according to EPA data. - The three chemicals that researchers have concluded “together account for the large majority of [total cancer risk](https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2504770122?ref=down-ballot.info)” in the area — ethylene oxide, chloroprene and formaldehyde — aren't monitored by the state at all. Industry groups have spent years fighting proposals that would require better monitoring around manufacturing plants. They also helped draft a 2024 law that sharply restricted how community air monitoring could be used in enforcement. Lawmakers later introduced similar legislation in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, suggesting Louisiana is one front in a broader fight over who gets to measure toxic air. **What the monitors missed** On Aug. 24, 2023, a leak at Marathon’s southeast Louisiana refinery exposed the limits of the state’s air monitoring system At 6:50 p.m., the Coast Guard fielded a report that naphtha — a highly flammable liquid — was leaking at the Garyville facility. More than six hours passed before the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality began monitoring the air. Around 7 a.m., the leak ignited a massive fire, sending a plume of black smoke into the air. Two nearby schools opened anyway. Residents within two miles weren’t ordered to evacuate until 10:15 a.m. — more than 15 hours after the leak began. Naphtha exposure can cause dizziness, headaches and nausea, and a [Guardian investigation found](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/09/marathon-oil-fire-louisiana-cancer-alley?ref=down-ballot.info) at least 29 residents were later treated at area hospitals. The nearest state air monitor measures ozone — but not the toluene and other toxic pollutants released in the fire — and the plant’s own monitors track just one chemical at its fenceline: benzene. The company’s Los Angeles refinery, by contrast, continuously monitors more than 15 pollutants — as California regulations require. Wilma Subra, a [decorated](https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-1999/wilma-alpha-subra?ref=down-ballot.info) environmental chemist from Louisiana who examined the fire’s emissions, said better air monitoring likely would have prompted faster school closures and evacuations. The state’s monitoring network, she said, is “not adequate to protect the health of the community living in close proximity to these industrial facilities.” **‘Emergency waiting to occur’** Community advocates and environmental researchers have spent years pressing for expanded monitoring — especially in predominantly Black communities near industrial facilities. Adrienne Katner, an associate professor at Louisiana State University and a former state environmental health scientist, [concluded in 2022 ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28239331-excerpt-of-dr-katners-critique-of-louisianas-2022-air-monitoring-plan/?ref=down-ballot.info)that roughly 400 high-emission facilities in Louisiana had no public air monitoring. Communities only learn about toxic releases when there’s a shelter-in-place order or an evacuation, she said. She called the situation “a public health emergency waiting to occur.” Today, Katner says the lack of air monitoring data serves as a shield for polluters. “The theme is, if you don’t look for it, you won’t find it,” she told Floodlight. Families living near polluting facilities bear the burden of that uncertainty, Katner said: “It’s taking years off their lives.” The following year, researchers from Johns Hopkins University drove a mobile laboratory through Louisiana's industrial corridor to measure pollution firsthand. In 14 of the 15 locations they studied, cancer risks from toxic emissions exceeded EPA figures — in some areas by more than 11 times. Peter DeCarlo, an atmospheric scientist at Johns Hopkins who co-authored the study, said regulators miss much of the region's pollution because too few air monitors measure too few chemicals. “If large emissions from these facilities are happening far away from the air monitors, they're often going to go unnoticed,” DeCarlo said. “But that doesn't mean they're not gonna have an effect on the people who live there.” Even the EPA has raised concerns. In 2023, the federal agency urged state regulators to create a permanent monitoring station in New Orleans’ Irish Channel neighborhood. The area sits just across the Mississippi River from BWC Harvey, a 48-acre storage terminal that handles hot asphalt and other toxic chemicals and has drawn hundreds of resident complaints about noxious fumes. A temporary state monitor there had previously recorded elevated levels of harmful particulate matter. But in 2022, Louisiana regulators shut it down. The Irish Channel wasn’t the only community where the state retreated from monitoring. Louisiana’s 2022 monitoring plan included a section titled “Environmental Justice Considerations,” describing monitors in communities such as St. Rose and the Irish Channel. A year later, the section was gone, as was the St. Rose monitor. ****The Irish Channel neighborhood sits directly across the Mississippi River from three bulk liquid storage terminals in Harvey — two operated by BWC Terminals and one by Kinder Morgan — which handle petrochemicals, petroleum products and other liquids. (Brad Racino / Floodlight)** When the EPA urged the state to keep considering environmental justice, LDEQ replied that such considerations were “beyond the scope” of the plan. LDEQ operates 35 permanent air monitoring stations and says that it operates “a robust air monitoring network that meets and exceeds all regulatory requirements.” But the agency acknowledges that the network is not designed to monitor pollution in fenceline communities. Jason Meyers, who oversees the agency’s 35-person air monitoring team, told Floodlight: “We run our sites well. We have good operators, and \[the network\] provides very high-quality data.” The agency has two mobile monitoring vans that respond to incidents, monitor air quality in parts of the state without permanent stations, and fill in when major storms knock out power. The department also measures toxic air pollutants at 19 sites around the state, but that equipment doesn’t monitor continuously. Most of those monitors sample every sixth day — on a fixed, publicly known schedule — meaning plant operators know when the air will be tested. “Financial and technical constraints limit full monitoring coverage” of all toxic air pollutants, [LDEQ acknowledged.](https://www.deq.louisiana.gov/page/9a930b90-b16b-6806-a52276a44ca19f9e?ref=down-ballot.info) While community advocates have pushed for more air monitoring, Louisiana has moved in the opposite direction. Since 2020, the state has lost four air monitoring stations. Expenditures for the LDEQ division that oversees air monitoring fell nearly 15% between 2020 and 2026\. Adjusted for inflation, spending dropped by more than one-third. Louisiana’s challenges are not unique. Across the country, state monitoring agencies have faced years of stagnant federal support even as equipment and labor costs climbed. The number of operating air monitors nationwide [fell by nearly half](https://aqs.epa.gov/aqsweb/documents/about%5Faqs%5Fdata.html?ref=down-ballot.info) over the decade ending in 2021, the last year for which EPA has published figures. “Your dollars are just not going nearly as far,” said Chet Wayland, who led EPA’s Air Quality Assessment division for 18 years. “The bottom line is that more money is desperately needed for monitoring.” The EPA does monitor toxic air pollutants at 26 stations nationally — but none are in Louisiana or Texas, two of the states with the largest toxic emissions volumes. **How industry got its way** For years, former Louisiana Sen. Cleo Fields, a Democrat from Baton Rouge, returned to the Capitol with the same proposal: Require major industrial polluters to monitor toxic air emissions at their property lines and report what nearby communities were breathing. Each time, the bill died. “I got so frustrated because every year this was opposed by industry for no good reason,” Fields, now a member of Congress, told Floodlight. State regulators, he added, “were working totally in concert with industry … and the citizens just had no voice.” Fields said he repeatedly heard from the petrochemical industry that his proposed bills would cost industry too much. “Well, what is it costing people?” he asked. “It’s costing them their lives.” After Fields’ failed attempts, state Sen. Royce Duplessis tried again this year with a bill requiring perimeter monitors at facilities emitting toxic pollutants. That measure also failed. The [Louisiana Chemistry Association](https://lca.org/aws/LCA/pt/sp/LCA%5Fhome%5Fpage?ref=down-ballot.info) and other groups have repeatedly fought these efforts, helping to kill bill after bill in the state legislature. The powerful trade group represents 70 chemical industry companies that operate more than 100 sites across the state. The association has found a legislative ally in Republican state Sen. Eddie Lambert, an attorney from Ascension Parish who chairs the state Senate environmental committee — the same committee that repeatedly killed the bills. Campaign finance records show Lambert received more than $28,000 in political contributions from petrochemical, oil and gas and other polluting industries since 2020\. He has also reported investing in major oil companies. He told Floodlight that neither his investments nor campaign contributions from industry have influenced his decisions in the legislature. “I don't take that into consideration at all,” he said. Lambert added that he was surprised oil and gas companies had donated to his campaigns because he consistently backed lawsuits filed by Louisiana parishes seeking to hold the industry accountable for coastal damage. In opposing one fenceline monitoring bill in 2021, Lambert contended that “air moves around” and that pollution readings near industrial plants could be skewed by other sources — an argument also made by the chemical industry. An LCA staffer told a state Senate committee that year that requiring industries to conduct fenceline monitoring could “create unnecessary paranoia on the part of the public” and expose companies to lawsuits “based on false readings of air monitors.” Air quality scientists, however, have found that properly designed fenceline monitoring systems can isolate a facility's emissions from other sources. In 2024, Lambert sponsored the Community Air Monitoring Reliability Act (CAMRA), which prohibits the use of air pollution data for enforcement or regulatory actions unless it’s captured by EPA-approved monitors — equipment that typically costs tens of thousands of dollars, far beyond the reach of most community groups. The LCA helped draft the bill, Daniel Bosch, an attorney representing the group, acknowledged at a state Senate committee hearing in 2024\. Speaking in favor of the CAMRA law, Brian Landry, the LCA’s vice president of political affairs, told the Senate committee that his group had noticed private and public funds flowing to community groups to do their own air monitoring. Community air monitors can reveal pollution hotspots that distant government monitors miss. In some communities, the data have prompted regulators to investigate pollution complaints and helped residents push for stronger oversight. CAMRA, Landry said, was intended to ensure that any community monitoring data given to LDEQ “for any future purpose is accurate and definitely correct.” In a statement to Floodlight, LCA president David Cresson defended the law, saying it ensures “data used to enforce our state's environmental protection laws complies with minimum U.S. EPA standards” and doesn't stop residents from monitoring air quality for their own information — only from using unregulated methods for enforcement purposes. A top EPA regional administrator at the time, however, [called the bill “inconsistent with federal law.” ](https://www.eli.org/sites/default/files/files-pdf/EPApositiononSB275notifyingSenatorCleoFields-1.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Despite the EPA’s letter and widespread community opposition, the state legislature passed the bill. Critics say the law has stifled community air-quality reporting efforts, which typically rely on low-cost monitors. It’s what stopped Kyereh from her own monitoring efforts in St. Rose. After CAMRA became law, legislators in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia introduced similar bills, also using arguments promoted by industry groups. That legislation failed in West Virginia but passed in Kentucky and Ohio. CAMRA had been law for just two months when Lambert traveled to the Henderson Beach Resort in Destin, Fla., to speak at a conference hosted by the Louisiana Chemistry Association. The group paid his $450 hotel bill. “I wouldn't consider that a big deal,” Lambert told Floodlight. He said it isn’t reasonable to expect state senators —whose base salary is $16,800 a year plus a $6,000 expense allowance — to cover such costs themselves. The Louisiana ethics code allows lawmakers to accept lodging and meals from industry groups, as long as they're tied to a public speech and the gifts are disclosed. Asked whether Louisiana needs more public air monitoring stations, Lambert said industrial plants already collect emissions data. “If we already get the information from the plants, why would we want to spend our resources there?” he asked. Under EPA rules, however, some plants are allowed to report emission estimates rather than direct measurements — and those estimates can be wildly off base. A 2025 [ProPublica investigation ](https://www.propublica.org/article/epa-air-pollution-pittsburgh-clairton-coke-works?ref=down-ballot.info)found that when the EPA required temporary physical monitors at industrial sites, 97% of facilities were underreporting emissions. At a Dow Chemical facility in Plaquemine, for example, emissions of vinyl chloride — a carcinogen — were more than 150 times higher than the company’s estimates. **Left to wonder** Tish Taylor lives less than a mile from the Denka Performance Elastomer plant in St. John the Baptist Parish, which made neoprene, the synthetic rubber used in wetsuits. After federal regulators determined the plant’s chloroprene emissions posed an “unacceptably high” cancer risk to surrounding communities, Denka suspended production in 2025\. Chemical producer DuPont continues to operate on the same campus and has faced its own EPA penalties for emissions violations. The two closest public monitors — each about five miles away — measure only lead and ozone. Taylor loves working in her garden. But when the wind blows on a sunny day, she knows that there’s something toxic in it, she said. “I just have to wonder how much.” \== --- ## Mark Sanford joins crowded race for US Senate with familiar warning on government overspending Former Gov. Mark Sanford is joining the race to replace U.S. Senate Lindsey Graham on a pledge to "get Washington's finances back in order." By Seanna Adcox (South Carolina Daily Gazette) Published: July 23, 2026 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/07/Mark_mg_0.jpg) Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford speaks to the media during a campaign stop at the Statehouse on Sept. 16, 2019, in Columbia, South Carolina, during his brief presidential campaign. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images) Former Gov. Mark Sanford announced Thursday he’s joining the race to replace U.S. Senate Lindsey Graham on a pledge to “get Washington’s finances back in order.” It’s a familiar message for Sanford, who’s spent decades as a congressman, governor, and presidential candidate warning about the nation’s escalating debt. According to the U.S. Treasury, that debt has climbed to nearly $39.7 trillion, up from $4.7 trillion when Sanford was first elected to the U.S. House in 1994. “I’m worried for our children because for the first time, America’s borrowing from the future faster than we’re building it,” Sanford says in a [video announcing his bid](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhYr0TdpdjY&ref=down-ballot.info). “If left unaddressed, that debt will crush our economy. It will wipe out our savings, and it could even destroy our republic.” Sanford is among a growing list of candidates seeking the GOP nomination in next month’s special primary following Graham’s death July 11 at age 71. His death is a “reminder to all of us how short and precious life is,” Sanford says in the video’s opening, noting his father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease when he was in high school. That diagnosis is what prompted Sanford’s family to move to the Beaufort County property where he spent summers growing up. His entry into the U.S. Senate race [follows announcements](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/07/20/2-sc-congressmen-launch-bids-for-u-s-senate-as-darline-graham-says-im-in/?ref=down-ballot.info) by U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman of the 5th District, U.S. Rep. Russell Fry of the 7th District, and Graham’s sister, Darline Graham, who was [sworn in](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/07/14/repub/darline-graham-lindseys-sister-sworn-in-as-his-us-senate-replacement/?ref=down-ballot.info) last week to [fulfill the late senator’s term](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/07/13/sc-governor-appoints-sen-lindsey-grahams-sister-to-fulfill-his-term/?ref=down-ballot.info) that ends in January. > [2 SC congressmen launch bids for US Senate, as Darline Graham says ‘I’m in’](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/07/20/2-sc-congressmen-launch-bids-for-u-s-senate-as-darline-graham-says-im-in/?ref=down-ballot.info) Candidate filing for the Aug. 11 primary began Tuesday and ends July 28\. Five other candidates have turned in their paperwork to be on the ballot. They include Upstate businessman Mark Lynch, who placed a distant second in the GOP primary Lindsey Graham won easily last month. Others include Duke Bukner, a Walterboro attorney who’s [twice unsuccessfully challenged](https://scdailygazette.com/2024/08/01/republican-challenging-scs-jim-clyburn-is-running-on-change/?ref=down-ballot.info) U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn in the heavily Democratic 6th District. One candidate doesn’t live in the state — yet. Clark Neilson filed Tuesday with a Charlotte address but plans to build a house on land he owns in Charleston County, [The State newspaper reported](https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article316624819.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Earlier this year, Sanford jumped into the open contest [for the 1st District](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/03/30/former-gov-sanford-seeks-seat-back-former-state-democratic-party-chair-runs-for-sc-treasurer/?ref=down-ballot.info) in an effort to win back the seat he’s held twice before. But he [ended that bid](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/04/30/former-gov-sanford-ending-bid-to-win-back-scs-1st-district/?ref=down-ballot.info) less than a month later, saying he planned to form a nonprofit focused on bringing the debt down. The two-term governor not only has statewide name recognition, but he could also stand out from the crowd as a candidate not touting an alignment with President Donald Trump. In 2019, Sanford launched a bid to challenge Trump’s bid for a second term, hoping to spark a national debate about the mounting debt. But his short-lived presidential campaign [never got traction.](https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/inside-mark-sanford-s-longshot-short-lived-2020-bid-trump-did-him-in-again/article%5Ff47a4520-0715-11ea-a402-cb59d4d3a762.html?ref=down-ballot.info) Even the South Carolina GOP refused to hold a 2020 presidential primary, which Sanford protested by traveling the state with a [cardboard cutout](https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/mark-sanford-uses-cardboard-prop-of-donald-trump-to-condemn-canceled-gop-primaries/article%5F29e9bc34-d8ba-11e9-a380-bf1d4fec4386.html?ref=down-ballot.info) of Trump. Trump [endorsed Darline Graham](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/07/17/president-donald-trump-encourages-sen-darline-graham-to-seek-full-six-year-term/?ref=down-ballot.info) last Friday in a post encouraging her to run. --- # State audit clears up one Rocky Mount utility headache, draws attention to another problem by Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press July 20, 2026 A recent [state audit](https://www.auditor.nc.gov/documents/reports/infosystems/isa-2026-558/open?ref=down-ballot.info) has calmed concerns that Rocky Mount residents were double-billed for utilities, but also drew attention to more than $30,000 in total outstanding utility bills from two City Council members. Rocky Mount provides utility services for more than 31,000 customers across the city as well as nearby areas of Nash, Edgecombe and Wilson counties. These services include electric, gas, water and sewer, the audit report said. Some residents first raised questions about utilities in late 2025, when they received two bills within a month and thought they had been double-billed, the report said. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** While the audit found that residents were not double-billed, it revealed that two City Council members — **Charles Roberson** and **T.J. Walker** — had racked up more than $30,000 in total outstanding utility bills. Both council members have since paid off those balances. This latest development comes as Rocky Mount has faced pressure from the state Local Government Commission to fix serious financial problems. While the city has made significant progress in its recovery efforts, the audit report emphasized the city still has “little margin for error,” calling into question the current council’s ability to lead the city through the remainder of its recovery. ### Utility billing concerns The misplaced concern over double-billing stemmed from a large gap between meter reading and billing dates, which the city’s Director of Business and Collections Services first discovered in December 2025 after staff layoffs, the report said. The reason for the gap was “unauthorized and undetected modifications” to the meter reading and billing schedules, which led to meter readings occurring earlier and earlier each month, even though the city’s policy is to schedule these readings for roughly the same week each month, the report said. Proper billing practices are outlined by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which instructs utilities to bill customers within roughly five days of the meter reading. While Rocky Mount’s utilities technically don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the commission, the city still tries to abide by its guidelines, the report said. However, Rocky Mount was billing customers seven to 14 days after meter readings, even 30 days afterward in some cases. These delays had been going on as far back as January 2025, the report said. City Manager **Elton Daniels** said these kinds of delays can cause “corresponding fluctuations in the amount due on a customer's invoice.” To resolve the gap, the director decided to send an additional utility bill in either December 2025 or January 2026\. The city made multiple efforts to help residents understand the reasoning for the additional bill including discussions at council meetings, meeting with customers in person and over the phone to discuss concerns, and posting information on the city website and social media pages, Daniels said. Despite these efforts, some residents still thought they were being double-billed and went to the news media to share their concerns, the audit report said. When CPP asked how receptive residents seemed to be to the audit’s findings, Daniels said that while the situation “understandably created frustration and uncertainty for citizens,” the audit confirms no improper billing occurred. City officials are still unsure who was responsible for making the schedule changes that caused the billing gap in the first place and reasons behind that change, the report said. When CPP asked whether the city plans to investigate further who was behind the schedule changes that led to the gap and whether there are concerns it might happen again, Daniels said: “We will continue to implement improvements that strengthen our operations while maintaining our commitment to transparency, accountability, and quality customer service.” ### Outstanding payments The audit found that council members Roberson and Walker each had their own outstanding payments. Roberson had 30 utility accounts that had a total outstanding balance of more than $27,000 and hadn’t made a payment in more than six months, the report said. Walker had an outstanding balance on one utility account of more than $3,000 and hadn’t made a payment since February, the report said. After the billing gap was discovered in December, the city initiated a temporary pause on late fees and service disconnections for all utility customers due to potential financial difficulties from the additional bill, the report said. If any customers — including the council members — fell behind on payments, the pause meant they wouldn’t be penalized or have their service disconnected. However, the billing gap was discovered in December 2025, and these council members continued to not pay their bills through April 2026, the report said. When CPP reached out to Roberson and asked how it reached this point, he explained that he’s had multiple utility accounts for several years for city redevelopment projects which were on AutoPay. Before the billing problem, he removed his accounts from AutoPay because he couldn’t determine how payments were being applied across his accounts. “My questions were never about avoiding payment,” Roberson told CPP. “They were about the accuracy, transparency and accountability of the city's billing system. My goal has always been to help build a utility system that is efficient, reliable and works fairly for every customer.” Roberson also said he supported bringing in the state auditor to conduct an independent audit of the utility billing system. The report argued that the lack of payments from council members suggested “they took advantage of this decision to further their own personal financial interests.” Roberson, on the other hand, said he respectfully disagrees. “The temporary suspension of late fees and utility disconnections was a citywide administrative policy that applied to every utility customer,” he said. “I did not vote to create that policy, I did not direct staff to implement it, and I received no preferential treatment, write-offs, or debt forgiveness. “I believe the report establishes facts regarding account balances, but I do not believe it identifies evidence supporting conclusions about my personal intent or motivation. I have respectfully asked the Office of the State Auditor to reconsider that language during the review process.” Council members did follow through on the auditor’s recommendation that they pay their outstanding bills. Letters from the city obtained by CPP showed that Roberson — whose outstanding balance had grown to more than $34,000 at that point — paid his bills and had a zero balance on his accounts as of June 9\. Walker also paid his outstanding bills and had a zero balance as of June 16. Carolina Public Press reached out to Walker’s office for comment, but he did not respond prior to publication. ### Impact on financial recovery This isn’t the first time a City Council member has been delinquent in their utility payments, according to a [2020 state audit](https://files.nc.gov/nc-auditor/documents/2021-06/INV-2020-0558%5F0.pdf?VersionId=C4asq10ElPtNuIeo.XPw.WAzHqKgvK2y&ref=down-ballot.info). Council member **Andre Knight** previously had an outstanding utility balance of more than $47,000 that accumulated over two decades, starting as far back as 1999\. Previous city officials went against city policy by ensuring Knight’s services weren’t disconnected despite his lack of payment and ultimately wrote off the amount he owed, arguably giving him “preferential treatment,” the 2020 report said. When the state auditor recently followed up on the status of Knight’s written off balance, it found there had been no change since 2020\. **Brianna Kraemer**, deputy communications director for the state auditor, said that unlike the other two council members, Knight’s outstanding balance is not active since it was written off. “That said, the Auditor's Office is not abandoning its accountability efforts in Rocky Mount, and Councilmember Knight should not be let off the hook,” Kraemer said. More recently, Knight had more than $300 written off from two utility accounts last year, though he paid the original balances owed afterward, the report said. CPP reached out to Knight’s office for comment, but he did not respond prior to publication. Considering the recently discovered outstanding payments of the other council members, the auditor pointed to a “longstanding culture” among the City Council that “prioritized individual gain over the public interest,” the report said. The findings couldn’t come at a worse time for the city, which is still recovering from a financial crisis first identified in a [state audit](https://www.auditor.nc.gov/documents/reports/performance/per-2026-558/open?ref=down-ballot.info) earlier this year. As part of the [city’s response](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74908/rocky-mount-seeks-to-recover-after-scathing-nc-audit-finds-serious-financial-mistakes/?ref=down-ballot.info) to increase revenue, it hiked utility rates by 15%, the report said. “While such measures are likely necessary, they can be unpopular with the public, and therefore it is incumbent on the governing body to reinforce the public understanding of the City’s commitment to its priority of sound management of public funds,” the report said. “Thus, private actions that lend even an appearance contrary to that understanding put this priority at risk.” After the revelations about City Council members, the auditor argued the council’s ability to lead the city through the remainder of its recovery is “diminished,” the report said. However, Roberson said he’s as committed as ever to improving the city’s finances. “For years before I got on the council, I have advocated for modernizing the utility billing system, improving transparency, strengthening internal controls, reducing unnecessary costs to utility customers, and ensuring that residents have confidence in the city's billing practices,” Roberson told CPP. “I intend to continue that work.” The report indicated the city’s total operating budget is $279 million — making $30,000 merely a drop in the bucket. But its documented financial issues mean it’s already on thin ice. The message from the state auditor and the LGC since March has been clear: there’s very little room to mess up again. “Rocky Mount continues to face financial and personnel issues that need to be addressed,” State Auditor **Dave Boliek** said in a [press release](https://www.auditor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/07/08/rocky-mount-follow-audit-explains-double-billing-confusion-unpaid-bills-city-council-members?ref=down-ballot.info). “The State Auditor’s Office will not stop providing much-needed transparency to the people of Rocky Mount, so that they can make informed, educated decisions on what’s best for their community.” In addition to paying off outstanding utility balances, the auditor recommended that the city automate its bill scheduling process, correct its meter reading and billing schedules, and protect these schedules from unauthorized changes, the report said. The city affirmed the auditor’s findings and said it has made “good-faith efforts” to address the auditor’s recommendations, having already completed some actions while others are still underway. “Collectively, they demonstrate the city's commitment to implementing meaningful corrective actions, strengthening governance and utility billing practices, enhancing internal controls, and ensuring compliance with applicable laws, policies, and industry best practices,” the city said in its response letter. “The city believes that the actions already taken, along with those currently underway, will improve operational effectiveness, promote accountability, and support the continued restoration and enhancement of public confidence in City operations.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/76124/state-audit-clears-up-one-rocky-mount-utility-headache-draws-attention-to-another-problem/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=76124) --- # How South Carolina Prisons Are Limiting Access to Books by Gary K. Farlow, Prison Journalism Project July 14, 2026 In October, the South Carolina Department of Corrections began restricting the number of places from which prisoners can receive books, which has caused major disruptions for people in my facility. The approved vendors include [Hamilton Book](https://www.hamiltonbook.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), [Books N Things Warehouse](https://www.booksnthingswarehouse.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), [Books to Inmates](https://bookstoinmates.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), [SureShot Books Publishing](https://sureshotbooks.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqP%5FikauQ4ZwRQlKQokw4W1KLcCQZtdzE4zRtRm56vl8WdTb9da&ref=down-ballot.info) and the online stores of Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million. Noticeably absent from the list was Amazon and any of the nationwide free books-to-prisoners organizations. The list also did not include a single university or college. Before October, there had only been restrictions on the subject matter of books, which still continue. Incarcerated people at MacDougall Correctional Institution, where I’m detained, say the book policy has impacted their studies. “The biggest obstacle we’re facing with correspondence college programs is that this new policy is being interpreted in its strictest sense,” said one person working on his master’s in substance abuse counseling from an accredited university. He added that he believed “even class assignments are being rejected as coming from unapproved vendors.” Another man said that books he ordered and paid for before the policy change had also been rejected. “My entire next semester’s texts were sent, but I received a notice telling me I couldn’t have them since it was not from an approved vendor,” said the man, in his second year of a bachelor’s program. “When I tried to explain that it was from a university and not a bookseller, it was like I was speaking Klingon or something.” In such cases, prison staff have given people the choice of paying for return postage or simply having the “contraband books” destroyed. Everyone I spoke to for this story requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. In an email to a Prison Journalism Project editor, Chrysti Shain, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Corrections said that the policy was created to help stop the flow of drugs into state prisons. Shain said SCDC had concerns about books being handled by people working at "unverified brick and mortar stores prior to shipment.” “By requiring that all book orders come directly from established, nationally recognized online retailers, SCDC can ensure that materials are shipped securely from controlled commercial distribution centers — minimizing risks while still allowing for extensive access to reading material,” Shain said. Shain denied that academic materials were being rejected on a widespread or regular basis, adding that the institution’s leadership was working with those who were taking correspondence courses to ensure they received their materials. “If an inmate has had coursework denied, they have not communicated with staff about it. We know of no instance in which this is true,” Shain said. Writers, poets and artists also say the policy has prevented them from receiving books and publications they were published in. “My art was just released as part of an inmate collection by a publisher out in California,” one artist told me. “I was so excited when I got the letter telling me that my art was going to be published only to have the mailroom reject the anthology. I didn’t have the funds to mail it home, so I guess they just put it in the trash.” According to Shain, the policy change coincided with a six-month investigation into a scheme in which a former employee and an incarcerated person mailed books with drug-laced pages to at least 20 incarcerated people across 14 prisons. Through the investigation, SCDC agents discovered 666 pages soaked in synthetic marijuana and 241 Suboxone strips in the packages. All of the shipments were disguised as being shipped from a bookstore. Last fall, Shain said, 15 incarcerated people at McCormick Correctional Institution overdosed and two of them died from drugs that SCDC believes were paper soaked in fentanyl-tainted K2\. “The new policy allows inmates to receive books from reputable booksellers, and no one to be injured or killed by the contents,” Shain said. “It provides a level of safety that was not there before.” One staffer I spoke to at my facility said the prison had previously intercepted books with illegal substances sprayed on paper and even books being mailed in from fabricated book vendors. “Books have been received in revised Amazon boxes — that were not from Amazon — that contained controlled substances,” he said. “It’s often a real challenge to determine what’s authentic and what’s bogus.” “We’re just following directives,” said another staff member. “We didn’t make this new policy, but we have no choice but to follow it.” Both requested anonymity because they were not permitted to speak to the media. Prior to the new policy, there was a daily list of prisoners called to the mailroom to sign for and receive books. Now, days go by when no one is called. “It’s like it always is in prison — if one person messes up, everybody pays for it,” one old-timer told me. “I have been down near ’bout 30 years and I ain’t never seen it no different.” “Typical knee-jerk response,” said another person. “Instead of punishing the ones responsible, they punish everyone.” This [article](https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2026/07/14/south-carolina-limits-access-to-books-in-prison/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Prison Journalism Project](https://prisonjournalismproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/prisonjournalismproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-PJP-favicon-2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://prisonjournalismproject.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=41593) --- # OPINION: Rising health insurance exchange costs are bad news for Mississippi’s working poor by Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today July 19, 2026 Mississippi had one of the nation’s largest declines in the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange enrollment based on early 2026 numbers, meaning that it has become even more difficult for the state’s working poor to garner medical care. According to The Associated Press, Mississippi’s ACA health insurance exchange enrollment [declined 26.4%](https://apnews.com/article/affordable-care-act-obamacare-enrollment-subsidies-trump-189b9b197edbc3c6883d77691dd894b7?ref=down-ballot.info) from February 2025 to February 2026\. It is likely that the enrollment will drop even more – perhaps significantly more – because of the higher cost to obtain a policy from the health insurance exchange based on decisions made by the administration of President Donald Trump. It could be logically argued that the higher costs of the insurance policies obtained on the exchange impact Mississippi’s working poor more than any other group in the country. First of all, Mississippi’s working poor population is behind the proverbial healthcare eight ball because the state is one of 10 nationwide that has not expanded Medicaid, as is allowed under the Affordable Care Act with the federal government paying the bulk of the costs. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2024/10/21233440/Clergy-and-Medicaid-expansion-5.jpg) Clergy from across the state during a press conference at the state Capitol urge legislators to expand Medicaid, Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Jackson. In the 40 states that have expanded Medicaid, many of their low income people do not have to depend on the healthcare exchange for coverage. They can sign up for expanded Medicaid to obtain healthcare. But in Mississippi, Medicaid expansion is not an option. So, when the Joe Biden administration pushed through legislation to greatly enhance the already existing federal subsidies for exchange health insurance policies, the working poor in Mississippi – even extending to middle-class families – signed up en masse. Mississippi had the second-highest increase in exchange enrollments – second only to Texas, which also had not expanded Medicaid. After the enhanced subsidies went into effect, [Mississippi had a 242% increase](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/07/27/health-care-worse-new-federal-law/?ref=down-ballot.info) to 338,159 people, according to KFF, a nationwide nonprofit that studies healthcare policy. Of the 10 states with the recent highest declines in ACA enrollment after the enhanced subsidies ended, Mississippi and South Carolina were the only two that had not expanded Medicaid. The enhanced subsidies ended in December 2025 after the Trump Administration and the Republican-led Congress refused to extend them. While multiple Republican lawmakers made efforts to pass legislation to extend the subsidies, U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith and other Republican members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation [made no visible efforts](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/21/mississippi-leaders-health-care/?ref=down-ballot.info) to reinstate the enhanced federal aid. As a result of the enhanced subsidies ending, KFF estimated that a 40-year-old Jacksonian earning $30,000 per year would see his or her monthly insurance cost [increase from $42 to $155](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/11/13/thousands-of-mississippians-could-go-uninsured-if-premiums-rise/?ref=down-ballot.info) for a policy purchased on the exchange. Based on that calculation, it should not be a surprise that Mississippians are dropping the health insurance exchange policies. After all, they are dealing with higher costs for groceries, gasoline and other necessities at the same time they are being hit with higher healthcare insurance costs. They are making the decision to drop the health insurance policies and hoping they do not get sick and understanding that if they do face a major medical bill with no insurance, they will be unable to pay it. The medical bills they cannot pay place a burden not only on them and their families, but also on the overall state healthcare system that must absorb those unpaid costs. In short, Mississippi's working poor have been hit with rising health insurance exchange costs and no Medicaid expansion, meaning they have less access to healthcare than most Americans. But the fact that poor Mississippians, facing higher costs, cannot afford healthcare should not be a surprise. Is it even news? Like the old adage goes, it is not news when dog bites man. It is news when man bites dog or when a poor Mississippian actually has access to decent healthcare. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/07/19/health-insurance-exchange-working-poor/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223401/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1183707&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # As college graduates fret over finding jobs, a record shortage of workers is projected by Jon Marcus, The Hechinger Report July 12, 2026 Even as job seekers fret about artificial intelligence and tech behemoths announce massive layoffs, Matt Walsh is finding it surprisingly hard to help technology companies hire certain kinds of workers. That’s what Walsh’s recruiting firm, Blue Signal, does. And in specialties including semiconductor production, “the unemployment rate is probably negative 20 percent,” the CEO of the Phoenix-based search company said. “It’s ridiculous. There just aren’t enough people.” College graduates booed commencement speakers who hyped AI, which has steadily [reduced the number of entry-level jobs](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract%5Fid=5425555&ref=down-ballot.info) available, and Meta cited AI when laying off more than 8,000 workers in May. But economists are sounding alarms that the AI talk is masking a different problem. It’s not that there won’t be enough jobs, these experts say — it’s that the United States is already facing what's projected to be the biggest shortage of workers in its history. The problem “could [hobble the American economy](https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/cew-falling%5Fbehind-fr.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) for years to come,” predicts the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “The [largest labor shortage](https://lightcast.io/resources/blog/rising-storm-press-release-september-17-2024?ref=down-ballot.info) the country has ever seen,” the Lightcast labor market data company calls it. JPMorganChase warns of a [national security risk](https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmorganchase/documents/impact/policy-center-workforce-report.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from “a pervasive talent deficit that constrains the nation’s capacity to build, compete, and protect its interests.” And it’s not only tech workers. There will be shortages in the tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of nurses, physicians, teachers, engineers, pharmacists, mental health counselors, construction workers and [airplane mechanics](https://avbrief.com/aviation-mechanics-shortage-expected-to-double/?ref=down-ballot.info), both government and independent sources project. Most are jobs AI generally can’t do. “All of these people who keep a society functioning are the very people we’re not going to have enough of,” said Ron Hetrick, Lightcast’s principal economist. Among the trends that have been leading to this moment: a mismatch between the careers college graduates are pursuing and the kinds of jobs employers are struggling to fill. [Far fewer students are majoring in health care fields](https://www.niche.com/blog/healthcare-jobs-are-booming-but-where-will-the-workers-come-from/?ref=down-ballot.info) than are needed to meet demand, for instance. **Related: Interested in innovations in higher education? Subscribe to our free biweekly** [**higher education newsletter**](https://hechingerreport.org/highereducation/?ref=down-ballot.info)**.** “We have pumped so many young people into business and finance” when what’s really in demand are graduates in other fields, Hetrick said. “It’s like a factory producing these workers like widgets, even though society is saying, ‘We really don’t need them.’ And the factory just keeps pumping them out.” But the principal reason for the looming workforce shortages is much more basic. It’s that a protracted decline in the birthrate is coinciding with a record wave of retirements. Between 2024 and 2032, when the last baby boomers sign up for Social Security, more than 18 million college-educated workers will leave the labor force while [fewer than 14 million enter it](https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/cew-falling%5Fbehind-fr.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), according to the Georgetown center. Meanwhile, even as the number of people with associate and bachelor’s degrees falls, the center forecasts, the number of jobs requiring them will grow. That will leave a gap of 4.6 million fewer workers than are needed. Lightcast puts [the deficit](https://lightcast.io/resources/research/the-rising-storm?ref=down-ballot.info) at an even higher 6 million. These aren’t dystopian predictions. [The shortages are already showing up](https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage-the-most-impacted-industries?ref=down-ballot.info), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports. In many industries, it says, even if every worker now unemployed were plugged into an open job, there would still be positions left unfilled. “We have a crisis in front of us in not preparing people for the world that’s coming,” said Bill Haslam, the Republican former governor of Tennessee and co-chair with Democratic former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s [Commission on the American Workforce](https://bipartisanpolicy.org/report/a-nation-at-risk-to-a-nation-at-work-the-case-for-a-national-talent-strategy/?ref=down-ballot.info). The effect of population shifts on the supply of talent, with or without degrees, has been compounded by a drop in the proportion of high school graduates [choosing to go to college](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cpa/immediate-college-enrollment-rate?ref=down-ballot.info); a sharply reduced rate of immigration; and a growing number of Americans who have [left the workforce altogether](https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage?state=ny&ref=down-ballot.info) because of such things as lack of child care, early retirement, incarceration and substance addiction. College and university enrollment is down [by nearly two million students](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d24/tables/dt24%5F303.10.asp?ref=down-ballot.info) since its peak in 2010, the U.S. Department of Education reports. The low birthrate since around then means the number of college-age Americans is forecasted to decline [by another 13 percent](https://hechingerreport.org/the-impact-of-this-is-economic-decline/?ref=down-ballot.info) through 2041\. ## The Looming Workforce Cliff ### Projected shortages of workers, 2024 to 2032 | Managers | 2,900,000 | | -------------------------------------- | --------- | | Teachers | 611,000 | | Driver/sales workers and truck drivers | 402,000 | | Nurses | 362,000 | | Engineers | 210,000 | | Construction workers | 200,000 | ### Projected shortages of health care workers by 2038 | Licensed practical nurses | 245,950 | | ------------------------- | ------- | | Registered nurses | 108,960 | | Mental health counselors | 99,780 | | Addiction counselors | 77,050 | | Primary care physicians | 70,610 | | Physical therapists | 60,610 | | Pharmacists | 30,400 | | Pediatricians | 9,320 | | OB-GYNs | 7,660 | | Cardiologists | 7,270 | ### Projected shortages of semiconductor industry workers by 2030 | Technicians | 26,400 | | ---------------------------------------- | ------ | | Engineers (master's or doctoral degrees) | 17,400 | | Engineers (bachelor's degrees) | 9,900 | SOURCES: [Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce](https://cew.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/cew-falling%5Fbehind-fr.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info); [U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration](https://bhw.hrsa.gov/data-research/projecting-health-workforce-supply-demand?ref=down-ballot.info); [Semiconductor Industry Association](https://www.semiconductors.org/chipping-away-assessing-and-addressing-the-labor-market-gap-facing-the-u-s-semiconductor-industry/?ref=down-ballot.info) **Related:** [**What it’s like to enter the job market in the middle of an AI revolution**](https://hechingerreport.org/what-its-like-to-enter-the-job-market-in-the-middle-of-an-ai-revolution/?ref=down-ballot.info) Fewer than half as many people [immigrated to the United States](https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2026/population-growth-slows.html?ref=down-ballot.info#numeric) last year as the year before, the Census Bureau says; yet 41 percent of the home health aides who will be increasingly needed to care for the nation’s aging population have historically [come from somewhere else](https://www.niche.com/blog/healthcare-jobs-are-booming-but-where-will-the-workers-come-from/?ref=down-ballot.info), along with a fifth of nursing assistants, dentists, pharmacists and registered nurses. “We’re doing a fantastic job of rolling up the welcome mat and saying, ‘We don’t want you,’ ” said Brad Hershbein, senior economist and deputy director of research at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Walsh, at Blue Signal, has a theory about why there seems to have been little attention to the looming labor shortage, outside of the industries affected. He uses the metaphor of frogs that will jump out of a pot of boiling water if they’re dropped into it but not if the water is brought to a boil gradually. In the same way, people are only slowly becoming aware of shortages, Walsh said. Already, in his small Illinois hometown, he said, he’s noticed it takes six months for people to get a doctor’s appointment because there aren’t enough doctors. “ ‘Everybody needs to hear this,’ ” Lightcast principal economist Ron Hetrick said an audience member implored him after he spoke at an event about the problem. But “some people really haven’t felt the pain enough to care as much as they should.” Besides, said Allison Shrivastava, education and labor market economist at the college search and ratings platform Niche, attention has been focused on the shrinking supply of entry-level jobs in certain fields. “When people are having trouble getting into the labor market, it’s hard to say there are going to be labor shortages soon,” Shrivastava said. **Related:** [**Faster, thinner: Colleges are swiftly trimming a B.A. degree to three years**](https://hechingerreport.org/faster-thinner-colleges-bachelors-degree-three-years/?ref=down-ballot.info) The fact is, she said, that “we are going to be hard pressed to find a corner of the economy where labor shortages don’t have an impact.” Shortages of workers have already begun to [slow production lines](https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmorganchase/documents/impact/policy-center-workforce-report.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) at manufacturing facilities tied to the defense industry, according to JPMorganChase. Semiconductor plants are being built faster than they can be staffed. Too few electricians, line workers and technicians mean delays in the modernization of the energy grid. The semiconductor industry payroll is projected to grow by nearly 115,000 jobs by 2030, which is [67,000 more than there are workers now or projected to be in the pipeline](https://www.semiconductors.org/chipping-away-assessing-and-addressing-the-labor-market-gap-facing-the-u-s-semiconductor-industry/?ref=down-ballot.info) to become technicians and engineers, the Semiconductor Industry Association estimates. “The semiconductor industry is not alone here,” however, said Erik Hadland, the association’s director of technology policy. “We’re a small part of a much larger issue.” State governments, which are closest to the problem, have been scrambling to avert it. To get college graduates to come or stay and work, some will [help them pay off their student loans](https://hechingerreport.org/aging-states-to-college-graduates-well-pay-you-to-stay/?ref=down-ballot.info). A bill under consideration in Minnesota would offer in-state tuition to most public colleges and universities for [children of parents who take jobs](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/94/2026/0/HF/3432/?ref=down-ballot.info) in that state, waiving the previous requirement that students have graduated from a Minnesota high school after attending for a minimum of three years. Several states have combined their higher education and workforce development agencies, including [Missouri](https://dhewd.mo.gov/workforce-development?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Colorado](https://governorsoffice.colorado.gov/governor/news/governor-polis-legislative-education-and-workforce-leaders-announce-innovative-vision-colorado?ref=down-ballot.info). Connecticut has established both an [Office of Workforce Strategy](https://portal.ct.gov/ows/state-strategy/data?language=en%5FUS&ref=down-ballot.info) and a [Career Pathways Commission](https://portal.ct.gov/governor/news/press-releases/2026/04-2026/governor-lamont-signs-executive-order-establishing-the-connecticut-career-pathways-commission?language=en%5FUS&ref=down-ballot.info). Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has formed a working group to [review that state’s workforce development infrastructure](https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-announces-illinois-state-attainment-working-group-members?ref=down-ballot.info) and increase the number of college graduates. Some states face shortages that appear more severe than others. South Dakota has just [41 workers for every 100 open jobs](https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage?state=ny&ref=down-ballot.info), for instance, while California and nine other states have more workers than jobs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce finds. In Pennsylvania, a study commissioned by the state Department of Education has projected that the state needs to increase the number of people with credentials beyond high school [by more than 4 percent](https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/sbhe/documents/pdeworkforcepostsecondarycredentialgapreport.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to fill a shortage of 218,000 such workers a year by 2032\. That will be a significant challenge, considering that college enrollment there [has generally been falling](https://nscresearchcenter.org/current-term-enrollment-estimates/?ref=down-ballot.info). There are also shortages in industries whose workers don’t need college and university degrees. Fewer than half as many people are entering the construction trades as are needed, for example, according to Branka Minic, CEO of the Building Talent Foundation, which represents 3,600 employers who are trying to fill that gap. **Related:** [**More than a quarter of private colleges are at risk of closing, new projection shows**](https://hechingerreport.org/more-than-a-quarter-of-private-colleges-are-at-risk-of-closing-new-projection-shows/?ref=down-ballot.info) “There’s plenty of jobs” in the skilled trades, she said, some starting at $50 an hour. “Show me what college graduates earn that kind of rate.” As for the prospect that AI can fill those largely physical roles, she told of seeing a poster plastered on an unfinished building. “Finish this, ChatGPT,” it said, mockingly. That higher pay is an example of how the market will respond to shortages, said Hershbein, at the Upjohn Institute. In some industries, he said, “wages and compensation will adjust, people will find training, businesses will train people and there will be adaptations. Necessity is the mother of invention.” Job seekers also need more current information about where the demand is greatest, said Cheryl Oldham, former vice president of education and workforce policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and now executive vice president for human capital at the Bipartisan Policy Center. “We’ve got to develop systems that can be much more nimble and responsive to the needs of the labor market, because the labor market is changing probably faster than it’s ever changed,” said Oldham, who also served in the George W. Bush administration. Some savvy workers are figuring it out for themselves. Seth Russell’s high school counselor nudged him toward college. Instead he learned welding and now works full-time as a fabricator. “I got hired straight out of high school. I have no debt. I’m just making money, paying bills,” said Russell, now 22, who lives in Torrance, California. “There’s so many jobs out there.” *Contact writer Jon Marcus at 212-678-7556,* *jmarcus@hechingerreport.org* *or jpm.82 on Signal.* *This story about* [*shortages of workers*](https://hechingerreport.org/as-college-graduates-fret-over-jobs-a-record-shortage-of-workers-is-projected/?ref=down-ballot.info) *was produced by* [The Hechinger Report](https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our* [*higher education newsletter*](https://hechingerreport.org/highereducation/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* This [article](https://hechingerreport.org/as-college-graduates-fret-over-jobs-a-record-shortage-of-workers-is-projected/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Hechinger Report](https://hechingerreport.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cropped-favicon.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://hechingerreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=117026&ga4=G-03KPHXDF3H) --- # It takes a village: This Dane County community helped pioneer a national movement for aging together by Addie Costello / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch July 14, 2026 Click here to read highlights from the story - Village programs like SAIL help older adults stay independent by connecting them with volunteers, social activities and trusted service providers. - Members both give and receive help, creating a neighbor-to-neighbor support network that reduces isolation and helps people age in their own homes. - Dane County's SAIL is one of the nation's oldest village organizations, and similar programs are expanding as communities look for new ways to support an aging population. Lush greenery and bright flowers surround John Short’s longtime Madison home. But the 83-year-old is not the one with a green thumb. That belongs to a volunteer through Sharing Active Independent Lives (SAIL), who visits regularly to work in Short’s garden. It’s one benefit he receives as a member of SAIL, a nonprofit-run network that helps older adults in Dane County find community and stay independent. While Short needs yardwork help, he can still drive. So he volunteers those skills, taking fellow members to appointments. Other members help with household chores while tech-savvy volunteers offer computer advice. One woman even volunteers by calling members on their birthdays. The network of older adults helped pioneer the village model, a national movement that encourages neighbors to support each other as they age in the communities they choose. Dane County members ages 55 and older pay sliding-scale dues to access volunteer services, social activities and a list of vetted service providers. SAIL launched in 2005 and is considered the country’s second-oldest village model. Now, there are 285 villages, including two others in Wisconsin, according to the [Village to Village Network](https://www.vtvnetwork.org/content.aspx?page%5Fid=1905&club%5Fid=691012&ref=down-ballot.info#search%5Fresults), which brings villages together to share best practices. Short joined SAIL more than two years ago, becoming one of about 500 members. Aside from receiving help in his garden, he has used the village’s list of background-checked service providers to hire a handyman. Short didn’t mind handing off some of the home maintenance after taking care of it for nearly three decades. He’s filled his extra time by reading more books and playing more bridge. Members can also join regular social activities, including clubs for books and biking. Members ages 90 years and older get an additional perk: a special lunch twice each year. Short has yet to qualify for that invitation. He finds connection through chats during volunteer driving shifts. While he typically refrains from asking passengers their ages, he recalls that the first woman he drove was 102. The rides, often to doctor’s appointments, have “been kind of fun,” he said. Such joy from volunteering doesn’t surprise Christine Klotz, president of the village’s operating council. “You get more from SAIL when you give more,” she said. ![A person stands beside a stone fireplace with one hand resting on the mantel, surrounded by vases, framed artwork and decorative objects.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/asseIMG_3512-782x587.jpeg) Christine Klotz, 75, stands in her home outside of Madison, Wis., July 1, 2026\. She joined Sharing Active Independent Lives with her husband a decade ago, paying full membership dues for years despite not needing services beyond social connection. (Addie Costello / Wisconsin Watch) Klotz, 75, joined SAIL with her husband a decade ago, paying full membership dues for years despite not needing services beyond social connection. “I just really believe in the model and believe in the concept of paying it forward,” Klotz said. “I want the organization to be strong when we need it.” Unlike other aging resources, members design and direct SAIL, Klotz said. “You're joining a group of people who are committed to work together to help each other as we get older.” ## **Want to join a village?** Dane County residents can learn more about SAIL at [sailtoday.org](https://sailtoday.org/content.aspx?page%5Fid=60&club%5Fid=382691&ref=down-ballot.info) or by calling 608-230-4445\. Northern Door County residents can learn more about Do Good Door County at [dogooddoorcounty.org/sail](http://dogooddoorcounty.org/sail?ref=down-ballot.info) or 920-333-1083. [Felician Village](https://felicianvillage.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a senior living community in Manitowoc, coordinates Felician Village at Home. To learn more, visit [felicianvillage.org](http://felicianvillage.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) or call 920-684-7171, ext. 425. ## **What if you don’t live near a village?** Check with your Aging and Disability Resource Center to learn about similar programs nearby, said Ann Albert, the executive director of AgeBetter, the nonprofit that runs SAIL. Places of worship, libraries and local organizations that are actively recruiting volunteers can offer similar social benefits and a sense of connection found in the village model, said Shannon Guzman, the director of housing and livable communities with AARP Public Policy Institute. Want to start a village? Contact the [Village to Village Network](https://vtvnetwork.org/content.aspx?page%5Fid=22&club%5Fid=691012&module%5Fid=248578&ref=down-ballot.info) for resources and guidance. This [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/07/wisconsin-sail-village-dane-county-community-aging-older-adults/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1318699&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB) --- # WVU Health leadership failed to address painkiller thefts for years as opioids devastated West Virginia by Henry Culvyhouse, Mountain State Spotlight July 17, 2026 WVU Health Systems knew for years that employees were stealing highly addictive drugs. A federal settlement shows the medical system didn’t take enough steps to report and stop the problem. Between 2017 and 2024, drugs were disappearing inside the WVU Health System while the state was engulfed in a deadly and widespread opioid epidemic. In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration launched an investigation. Federal officials found systemwide theft and lax record keeping, and said the state’s biggest hospital system failed to stop nurses and other staff from stealing controlled substances. WVU Health Systems and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia [entered into a $4.1 million settlement](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndwv/media/1452226/dl?inline&ref=down-ballot.info) this week, which mandates the hospital system adopt procedures to prevent thefts, and to report when they happen. Details of the settlement show that as early as January 2017, the hospital system failed to report a suspicious order for Dilaudid, a powerful synthetic opiate the Mayo Clinic [said is used as a last resort](https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/hydromorphone-oral-route/description/drg-20074171?ref=down-ballot.info). As early as 2018, hospital officials recognized there was a problem in the Morgantown area. That same year in February, a patient complained she did not receive her Percocet, a mild painkiller, according to the settlement. Records show the suspected thief, a medical provider, was seen nodding off at the nurse’s station. In 2019, West Virginia University Hospital hired an outside expert to review procedures and issue a report. “The report identified multiple, potential controlled substance diversion issues, such as not securely storing controlled substances,” the settlement noted. “Leadership at WVUH was aware of recommendations to prevent diversion of controlled substances, not all of which were implemented across the WVUHS facilities.” During the first quarter of 2021, at least two medical providers admitted to stealing painkillers. Federal officials found the hospital system did not report these thefts to the DEA. The DEA launched its investigation into the issue in May 2022, after receiving reports that a nurse had stolen drugs, according to the settlement. “During the course of the investigation, DEA investigators learned that various WVUHS facilities, at various times, systemwide, were aware of employees suspected of diverting controlled substances from WVUHS facilities and patients,” the settlement states. Despite the incidents listed out over the years, and the systemic failures to prevent the theft of drugs detailed by the DEA, a hospital spokesperson in a statement downplayed the case as mainly a problem of paperwork. “Importantly, this matter concerned regulatory compliance, recordkeeping, and documentation requirements. It did not involve findings that WVU Health System intentionally engaged in unlawful distribution of controlled substances or that patient care was compromised,” the spokesperson said. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia, which took the lead in the settlement, through a spokesperson declined to comment on the settlement. As to where the drugs went, Kevin McWilliams, a DEA spokesman for the Louisville Field Office, which oversees West Virginia, said that the investigators concluded most were being abused by the medical providers who took them. He said paperwork issues at the hospital made it very difficult to determine the quantity of drugs that had been stolen over the years. Moving forward, WVU Health Systems has agreed to implement a systemwide invoice tracker for controlled substances, a dedicated team to investigate the theft of drugs, a database of employees who have been suspected of stealing drugs and an education program on controlled substances. Additionally, WVU Health Systems will install more cameras and file any report of suspected theft to the DEA in a timely manner. This [article](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/07/17/wvu-health-system-settlement/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mountain State Spotlight](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-MountainStateSpotlight-Icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=35121&ga4=315690663) --- # Orleans DA’s office withholding critical case records from law firm reviewing wrongful convictions by Robert Stewart, Verite News New Orleans July 21, 2026 The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office has repeatedly denied requests for public records from Innocence & Justice Louisiana, a nonprofit, pro bono law firm that has helped free dozens of wrongfully convicted prisoners. Internal case records held by the DA’s office are critical to the firm’s investigative work, said Jee Park, executive director of Innocence & Justice Louisiana, which was previously known as Innocence Project New Orleans. The ongoing denials, which began earlier this year, could result in delays to appeals and post-conviction proceedings, running the risk that innocent people will continue to languish in prison unnecessarily. “Most of our wrongfully convicted clients have been exonerated based on information contained in police and prosecution records,” Park said. “This has included evidence that another person committed the crime, that state witnesses had motives to lie to the jury, and that eyewitnesses were pressured to make a false identification of our client.” Park said that Innocence & Justice routinely requests records for its clients, which can be challenging for incarcerated people to access particularly because of the costs associated with obtaining them. “We rely on state actors to comply with Louisiana's public records laws in the interest of transparency, accountability, and revealing the truth,” Park said. In January, Innocence & Justice Louisiana [filed a lawsuit](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28504113-cahill-v-williams/?ref=down-ballot.info) against the DA’s office on behalf of one of its former employees. Beginning in 2024, the employee — Alexandria Cahill — tried to obtain records related a murder case it was investigating. According to the suit, Cahill’s requests were repeatedly met with delays and denials from the DA’s office, allegedly in violation of state sunshine laws. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/21162448/20260611_CZB_DAoffice_436.jpg) The Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office on South White Street in New Orleans, pictured in June 2026. Since the suit was filed, the DA’s office has denied at least seven requests for access to additional records in its custody, according to communications between the law firm and the DA’s office, which Innocence & Justice provided to Verite News. In emails and court filings, the DA’s office has claimed that Innocence & Justice owes thousands of dollars for records it has already provided the group, saying it will not comply with records requests until that bill is settled. Innocence & Justice Louisiana disputes the fees. In April, an Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge ruled for the DA’s office, dismissing the suit. Innocence & Justice is appealing the ruling. The DA’s office did not respond to multiple requests from Verite News for comment. Cahill, the former employee, could not be reached for comment. The lawsuit marks a notable rift between Williams and the group, which the DA once counted among his allies. Williams, a former defense attorney who was elected in 2020 by campaigning as a progressive prosecutor, has a history of working with Innocence & Justice. Beginning in 2002, Williams did pro bono work for the firm to help free wrongfully incarcerated people. In 2003, he worked with the firm to [help free](https://www.runwithjason.com/biography?ref=down-ballot.info) Greg Bright and Earl Truvia, who had spent more than 27 years in prison for a 1997 murder in New Orleans’ Calliope project that they did not commit. Williams also served for years on the organization’s board of directors, according to Williams’ [2020 campaign website](https://www.runwithjason.com/meetjason?ref=down-ballot.info). After taking office in 2021, Williams [hired former Innocence Project New Orleans Director Emily Maw](https://thelensnola.org/2020/12/11/every-single-person-in-that-office-has-to-understand-the-culture-shift-how-jason-williams-plans-to-remake-prosecution-in-new-orleans/?ref=down-ballot.info) to head his newly created civil rights division, which was tasked with reviewing potential wrongful convictions and excessive sentences under previous administrations. The work of the civil rights division led to [hundreds of prisoners](https://www.nola.com/news/courts/new-orleans-district-attorney-jason-williams-redefines-progressive-prosecuting/article%5F4dfd758e-c9d8-11ee-9a91-e373c60dbc70.html?ref=down-ballot.info) having their sentences reduced or being released. ### Fight over fees The fees that Williams’ office is saying Innocence & Justice owes can be traced to the post-conviction case of Raymond Laugand. [Laugand](https://justicelouisiana.org/clients/raymond-laugand/?ref=down-ballot.info) was convicted of second-degree murder for the 1996 shooting death of a 27-year-old man in New Orleans. After two trials — the first was overturned by the Louisiana Supreme Court after it found that Laugand’s legal counsel was not prepared for trial — he was sentenced to life in prison in 2002\. Innocence & Justice, then Innocence Project New Orleans, investigated his case and proved that the state withheld evidence that could have changed the outcome for Laugand. Williams’ civil rights division participated in a joint review of Laugand’s case together with the organization. And in 2023, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office agreed that Laugand did not receive a fair trial. Laugand’s conviction was vacated in September, 2023\. But the Louisiana Attorney General’s office, which took over the murder case in 2024 after Williams recused himself from it, sought to re-prosecute Laugand for the murder. During discovery in Laugand’s new case, Innocence & Justice asked an Orleans Parish Criminal District Court judge to subpoena the DA to provide certain records pertaining to Laugand’s case. The DA’s office provided those records, sending the organization an invoice for roughly $5,400 for copying charges. A subsequent subpoena for additional records resulted in an invoice for about $3,900\. Louisiana’s [public records law](https://legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=99691&ref=down-ballot.info) allows public bodies to charge fees for providing copies of public records. And it gives the custodian of the records the right to refuse providing additional public records if the requester has an unpaid balance. But the law [governing subpoenas](https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-13/rs-13-5112-1/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Louisiana says that when the court determines a criminal defendant seeking case records is determined to be indigent — or unable to pay — the custodian of the records should provide them without an advance fee. The fees should only take effect upon a conviction. In Cahill’s case, Innocence & Justice argues that Laugand was found to be indigent But the DA’s office maintained its position that Innocence & Justice is not entitled to review or receive any public records until it pays the unpaid balance from the records obtained through subpoena for the Laugand case. In a legal filing, the office further said that the law firm’s request for records through subpoena is “a public records request in disguise.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/21162708/20260720_CZB_RobertJones_04.jpg) Robert Jones. Robert Jones is a former client of Innocence & Justice Louisiana — he [was incarcerated](https://justicelouisiana.org/clients/robert-jones/?ref=down-ballot.info) for more than 23 years for a murder and sexual assault conviction obtained through prosecutorial misconduct and the state’s withholding of evidence and sentenced to life in prison. Innocence & Justice helped him get exonerated for those crimes. He won his freedom in 2015 and later sat on the group’s board of directors at the same time as Williams. In an interview, Jones said the indigent status of the client in question is key to understanding the situation. It would be different if the client were paying a law firm for representation, but the group represents its clients at no charge, as its clients often do not have the means to pay for complex investigations and post-conviction legal work. “I think that maybe the courts and the DA’s office are actually missing that. They're missing that piece.” Jones said about the indigent status of the law firm’s client. Jones said that while he was incarcerated he wrote to the Orleans Parish DA’s Office for years requesting his records, but was only able to get them in full when Innocence & Justice stepped in to represent him. “The records can literally determine whether a person dies in prison or \[is\] released from prison. That’s the importance of the records,” Jones said. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/07/21/orleans-da-public-records-innocence-justice/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=32259&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ### Democratic socialism is on the rise some places, but has roots in KY URL: https://down-ballot.info/democratic-socialism-is-on-the-rise-some-places-but-has-roots-in-ky/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T09:00:20.000Z By Berry Craig (Kentucky Lantern) Published: July 16, 2026 [Democratic socialism](https://www.forwardky.com/the-surprising-rise-of-democratic-socialism/?ref=down-ballot.info) is on the rise in some b[lue states](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/nyregion/dsa-young-voters-primary-ny.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&ref=down-ballot.info), but socialists are still rare in ruby red Republican Kentucky. That wasn’t always so. Six-score years ago, Louisville hosted the Christian Socialist Fellowship movement’s first national convention. The movement even spread to the Jackson Purchase, arguably Kentucky’s Trumpiest territory today. The CSF aimed “to perfect an organization of the ‘Christian people who believe in socialism,'” according to the June 18, 1906, Louisville Courier-Journal. Conservative evangelicals might rate “Christian Socialist” as the most oxymoronic of oxymorons. Nonetheless, the CSF hoped to “permeate churches, denominations, and other religious institutions with the social message of Jesus; to show that socialism is the necessary economic expression of Christian life; to end the class trouble by establishing industrial democracy, and to hasten the reign of justice and brotherhood on earth,” according to the June 19, 1906, C-J. The Christian socialists met in Liederkranz Hall with “delegates from many states…in attendance,” the paper reported on June 18\. Speakers at the three-day gathering included the Rev. W.H. Ramsay of Louisville’s Unitarian Church. William A. Ward of Henderson was elected CSF treasurer. Delegates tapped for secretary Lucien V. Rule “whose Post Office is Goshen, but who is reckoned usually as a citizen of Louisville,” the C-J told its readers on June 19. The convention also featured outdoor speechmaking on the Jefferson County courthouse steps and at Third Avenue and Market Street. At the YMCA, the Rev. D.P. Bliss of New York City addressed the Louisville Ministerial Alliance, explaining the CSF’s aims and urging “that the Louisville Ministers co-operate with the Fellowship.” Christian socialism took root even in rural areas, including the Purchase, the state’s westernmost region. In 1911, Viola, in Graves County, [welcomed, or at least tolerated, ](https://nkytribune.com/2016/10/old-time-kentucky-now-rare-as-a-may-blizzard-socialist-party-once-a-big-draw-in-graves-county/?ref=down-ballot.info)a “Second Annual Summer Meeting of'” local Christian socialists, according to The Christian Socialist, the CSF newspaper. The rally, mostly held outdoors, followed a smaller 1910 get-together, apparently in a tobacco barn. The 1911 meeting lasted from July 30 to Aug. 6 and attracted a large crowd; 800 showed up for the closing session, The Christian Socialist reported. Meanwhile, in 1909, British socialist writer John Spargo wrote that the Christian Socialist Fellowship had organized meetings nationwide. In an article published in the July issue of the American Journal of Sociology, he added that “many of its most active members are equally active in the socialist party itself. Just prior to the last election, some 200 ministers, all in actual charge of parishes, and representing all the leading Protestant sects, signed a manifesto pledging themselves to the socialist cause, and it is said that upward of two thousand other ministers have signified their general sympathy and support.” There were Catholic Christian socialists, too, Spargo wrote. “When a bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church in America can carry the red card of membership in the socialist party, and when, as at the last convention in Chicago, delegates to the national convention of the socialist party, as loyal Catholics, without any shame or apology to any of their comrades, can go directly from mass to the work of shaping the policy of the socialist party, it is obvious that we are in the presence of a new socialism of a quality and temper undreamed of by Marx and Engels.” While the CSF faded away, there is an [Institute for Christian Socialism ](https://christiansocialism.com/?ref=down-ballot.info)whose website says the group’s mission is supporting “US churches, their members, and institutions in confronting the world’s captivity to capitalism and in claiming, embodying, and promoting the radical socialism of the Christian faith and life.” ICS Board Member C.R. Boardman said he doesn’t know of a direct connection to the CSF, but added, “we do consider ourselves in their lineage.” Election success by New York’s Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other Democrats who belong to the Democratic Socialists of America have given the vapors to T[rump and the MAGA faithful](https://www.axios.com/2026/06/30/trump-communism-red-scare-reboot-midterms?ref=down-ballot.info) and driven centrist Democrats like [James Carville](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-carville-slams-democratic-socialists-these-people-are-so-fucking-stupid%5Fn%5F6a52674ae4b08b2da68d4f1f?ref=down-ballot.info) to the fainting couch. Trump and the GOP have resurrected old-time Cold War Red-baiting against the Democrats. “Republicans have had success since the McCarthy Witch Trials of the 1950s with simply accusing anyone with policies to the left of Hitler of being a socialist or a communist,” regular contributor Ivonne Rovira [wrote ](https://www.forwardky.com/jesus-christ-super-socialist-2/?ref=down-ballot.info)in Forward Kentucky. “That’s obviously no longer working. But that doesn’t mean folks won’t try.” In her post titled “Jesus Christ, Super Socialist,” she proposed a sure-fire response to the socialist slam from folks who lean leftward: “The next time someone calls you a socialist whether you’re actually in DSA or just a progressive, embrace it: make your face light up and say, ‘Thank you! I try to be a good Christian!'” ### A key ‘forever chemicals’ lawsuit settles out of court in North Carolina URL: https://down-ballot.info/a-key-forever-chemicals-lawsuit-settles-out-of-court-in-north-carolina/ Last updated: 2026-07-20T09:00:43.000Z By Lisa Sorg (North Carolina Newsline) Published: July 14, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13072026/north-carolina-chemours-forever-chemicals-lawsuit-settlement/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [***Forever War***](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/forever-war/?ref=down-ballot.info)*: This is part of a series about the PFAS crisis in North Carolina.* CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C.—Mike Watters was running on two hours of sleep and one cup of coffee as he drove home to Grays Creek from the federal courthouse in Raleigh. Watters is among 2,658 plaintiffs suing Chemours, a chemical manufacturer near Fayetteville, North Carolina, for releasing toxic GenX and other PFAS into the Cape Fear River and surrounding air, soil, groundwater and drinking water wells—including the Watters family’s. By the time he arrived in Raleigh for opening arguments in the[ lawsuit,](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28464889-dew-et-al-v-ei-dupont-de-nemours-company-ncedce-18-00073-040001/?ref=down-ballot.info) he had waited eight years for his day in court. But Watters and the other plaintiffs won’t get to see a trial this week. He learned this morning that both sides had agreed to settle out of court. “I wanted to see it go to trial,” Watters said. “I would have liked to have seen how a jury would have handled it.” Attorneys have yet to disclose details of the settlement, which affects all of the plaintiffs. “We are pleased to report that we have made significant progress in resolving our clients’ claims in a way that will compensate them for the impact of PFAS chemicals from the Fayetteville Works Plant to their lives and property,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Brett Land and Cary McDougal, of the Baron & Budd law firm, said. “We believe this is an extremely positive and successful outcome on behalf of our clients.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/07/A_mg_1.jpg) Jamie White, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, tends to her vegetable garden. She lives in Grays Creek, a community hard-hit by PFAS contamination from the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant five miles away. Credit: Mehmet Demirci/Inside Climate News A Chemours spokesperson said the company had no comment on the case. GenX is one of roughly 15,000 types of PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, because they persist in the environment for hundreds of years. They are used to manufacture Teflon coatings, stain-, grease- and water-resistant materials, and other consumer products. Scientific studies have linked PFAS to higher rates of testicular and kidney cancer, thyroid disorders, reproductive problems, low birth weight and a depressed immune system. Chemours has disputed the link between the chemicals and these health effects. The Chemours plant was owned by DuPont, also named in the lawsuit, until 2015. The plaintiffs were seeking compensation for their diminished home values, the inability to fully enjoy and use their property and emotional distress about their health. Had the trial gone forward, Watters would have finally heard Chemours’ officials testify. If called to the witness stand, Watters could have looked at them while he told his story of how the contamination nearly ruined his life. Bellwether trials such as this one serve as test cases, whose jury verdicts can portend the outcome of future litigation with the remaining plaintiffs. Sometimes, to avoid costly and protracted litigation, the parties settle the cases out of court. That’s what happened in this case. The plaintiffs’ attorneys told Inside Climate News they could not disclose who initiated the settlement. Chemours has faced lawsuits in multiple states, including New Jersey and Ohio. The company has accrued $361 million in PFAS-related litigation liabilities, according to the company’s [December 2025 filings](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1627223/000110465926025940/tm265311d4%5Fars.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ### **How To Comment on the EPA-Chemours Settlement** The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a [settlement agreement](https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/us-et-al-v-chemours-company-et-al?ref=down-ballot.info) with Chemours to resolve violations of clean water, toxic substances and hazardous waste laws related to PFAS. The proposed settlement would affect three states—North Carolina, West Virginia and New Jersey. The agreement is worth $450 million, but most of those costs are related to alternative water supplies and other mitigation measures outside of North Carolina. The fine itself would be $22.5 million, which the EPA says it calculated based on Chemours’ ability to pay. Half of the money will go to West Virginia. The rest of the money would cover pollution controls and other remediation projects in the three states, albeit with a financial cap and the potential for Chemours to earn financial credits. > The agreement is contingent on a federal court’s approval. > The public can comment on the [proposed settlement](https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/us-et-al-v-chemours-company-et-al?ref=down-ballot.info) through July 29. > By email: pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov > By postal mail: Assistant Attorney General, U.S. DOJ—ENRD, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044–7611 The litigation was among [several lawsuits](https://portal-nc.tylertech.cloud/app/RegisterOfActions/?ref=down-ballot.info#/4962D6702D1A24F388BB37E5268D1EB179C384DC12BC6272470C8FE3E795FBBA153A4CF0448B16A40CB36143FFC88D65BC85B7FC1B2A5AC809992660C991E918B896013435A69C9E30C3CA69C0FD797D/anon/portalembed) against Chemours and its predecessor, DuPont. [Three North Carolina public water utilities](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28464890-cfpua-complaint/?ref=down-ballot.info) affected by the contamination are also suing the companies; one case is scheduled for state court next month. These legal proceedings are happening in the broader context of the Environmental Protection Agency’s erosion of PFAS regulations. The court system is one of the few places where plaintiffs feel they can bring polluters to heel. Under EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, an appointee of President Trump, [the agency has proposed rescinding](https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/proposed-pfas-rescission-rule?ref=down-ballot.info) drinking water standards for GenX and two other forever chemicals, which were established under the Biden Administration. The rollback is expected to be finalized this year. In April, Zeldin [appointed two Chemours officials,](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/administrator-zeldin-announces-selection-members-science-advisory-board?ref=down-ballot.info) Shawn Gannon and Sean Uhl, to the EPA’s Science Advisory Board, which will “provide Gold Standard scientific advice” to the agency, according to the EPA website. Both Gannon and Uhl were involved in projects at Fayetteville Works and are quoted in court documents unsealed earlier this year related to the public utilities’ lawsuits against the company. In a separate legal case from the litigation involved Mike Watters, the EPA in late June announced a proposed [$450 million settlement agreement](https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/chemours-settlement-summary-june-2026?ref=down-ballot.info) with Chemours to resolve a raft of environmental violations involving GenX, PFOA and other forever chemicals at plants in West Virginia and New Jersey, and at Fayetteville Works in North Carolina. Critics say the proposed settlement agreement contains so many loopholes it would do little to protect communities near the New Jersey and West Virginia plants and would accomplish even less for North Carolina. North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who says the EPA didn’t consult with state officials about the settlement, even as a courtesy, called it [“an insult to the people of eastern North Carolina.](https://ncdoj.gov/gov-stein-and-ag-jackson-denounce-epa-chemours-backroom-pfas-deal/?ref=down-ballot.info) Our state is ground zero for GenX contamination, but this deal does practically nothing to clean up our water.” Chemours denies that it violated the laws enumerated in the settlement but agreed to its terms. Those include the EPA’s waiver of any future legal action against Chemours for the violations listed in the agreement. That would prevent the EPA from reopening those cases in the future, even under different leadership. The EPA referred Inside Climate News to the U.S. Department of Justice, which issued a statement: “Through this commitment, Chemours will better control PFAS at its plants, allowing the company to continue its manufacturing operations while protecting communities in North Carolina, West Virginia, and New Jersey from PFAS exposure,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This agreement ensures that the company will manufacture these critical materials in a responsible manner.” The agreement covers only a few of the 15,000-plus types of PFAS, including GenX and its predecessor, PFOA, which is no longer manufactured. Sampling by North Carolina environmental regulators, public utilities and Chemours has found dozens of PFAS compounds in discharges from the plant, public water supplies and private drinking water wells. The lawsuit covered 17 types of chemicals that have been detected in neighbors’ wells. According to previously sealed court records released earlier this year by U.S. Magistrate Robert Numbers II, in 2002 DuPont also [failed to disclose the presence](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28465475-13119968671-unsealed-gannon-1/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p87) of fluoromalonate, which is not a type of PFAS but nonetheless a “toxic compound of concern” in the plant’s wastewater. Nor did the company, in 2008, include all information to the EPA about environmental releases of GenX and workers’ exposure to the compound, according to the agency’s complaint. Meanwhile, the company was also allegedly misleading DEQ by reassuring the agency that it would not release GenX from a specific manufacturing area of Fayetteville Works, court documents show. That was partially true, but DuPont later admitted that it had not disclosed it was releasing GenX and its precursors—chemicals that under some conditions can become GenX—from a different part of the plant into the Cape Fear River and the air through the stacks. From the stacks, those chemicals mixed with atmospheric moisture, became GenX and contaminated the drinking water wells of thousands of people, [state environmental regulators ](https://cleanairact.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/15%5FHartsfield%5F20250501-NC-DAQ-PFAS-Updates-for-AAPCA-no-notes.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)found, including the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “I know the chemicals affected more than just my property,” said Watters, who has participated in studies to measure PFAS in his blood. “I know what’s in my body, and the bodies of my wife, dog and son.” “The communities that have been impacted by this company’s toxic pollution should be infuriated that Chemours is getting away with this,” said Jean Zhuang, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “After decades of research on how much they’ve destroyed the air and drinking water and soil and rivers and all of these communities, the company is fighting tooth and nail to shield itself. It has no intent to protect the community.” *This article was updated on July 13, 2026, to correct a statement about the type of lawsuit filed against Chemours and DuPont. It was not a class-action but a consolidated action.* ### Alabama death row inmate who stopped gas execution wants to stop other methods URL: https://down-ballot.info/alabama-death-row-inmate-who-stopped-gas-execution-wants-to-stop-other-methods/ Last updated: 2026-07-17T09:00:42.000Z **It's Friday July 17, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Alabama death row inmate who stopped gas execution wants to stop other methods, Eight school-based health clinics close in Southwest Virginia as federal funding pressures mount, The ‘Hub-and-Spoke’ Model for Addiction Treatment in North Carolina, Wildfire Smoke Is Back and Making the Air Unhealthy: Your Guide To Staying Safe in NYC, Repeated storms are turning disaster recovery into a way of life, and leaving communities facing disaster fatigue, NC auditor’s former liaison resigns amid furor over pressuring county elections board on early voting plans, State budget advances plan to reopen Martin County hospital, This county lost its hospital. Bringing it back is easier said than done, Advocates, elected officials call for statewide siren system after 14 tornadoes touch down near New Orleans. **Media outlets and others featured:** Alabama Reflector, Virginia Mercury, The Daily Yonder, The City Reporter, The Conversation, Carolina Public Press, North Carolina Health News, Mississippi Today, Verite News. --- ## Alabama death row inmate who stopped gas execution wants to stop lethal injection execution By Ralph Chapoco (Alabama Reflector) Published: July 15, 2026 Attorneys for an Alabama death row inmate who successfully challenged Alabama’s nitrogen gas execution protocol last month have asked a federal judge to prevent the state from using a different execution method to put him to death. In the July 7 filing, attorneys for Jeffrey Lee asked the U.S. District Court Judge Emily Marks to expand an injunction against nitrogen gas to lethal injection and electrocution, the state’s two other statutory methods of capital punishment. The filing said it would be “manifest injustice.” “Mr. Lee would face execution by a method he specifically elected away and that the state represented he would not face,” the motion states. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://alabamareflector.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) Attorneys for Lee declined to comment further on Tuesday. A message was sent to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama Department of Corrections on Tuesday seeking comment. The court has given Alabama until July 17 to reply. A message was sent to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and the Alabama Department of Corrections on Tuesday seeking comment. The court has given Alabama until July 17 to reply. Lee was convicted of the 1998 murders of Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson during a robbery of a pawn shop in Orrville. A jury voted 7-5 to sentence Lee to life in prison, but the presiding judge overruled the jury and sentenced Lee to death. The practice of judicial override was abolished in 2017. Lee was scheduled to be executed by nitrogen gas in June, but he argued that the method amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Witnesses to prior nitrogen gas executions have reported those subjected to it [struggling and gasping for air](https://alabamareflector.com/2024/01/25/kenneth-eugene-smith-executed-by-nitrogen-gas-for-1988-murder-for-hire-scheme/?ref=down-ballot.info) through the process. Lee said he would prefer to be executed by firing squad, a method not currently authorized by Alabama. Marks [in June](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/06/02/federal-judge-allows-alabama-nitrogen-gas-execution-to-go-forward/?ref=down-ballot.info) ruled that while Lee would experience “air hunger,” the acute distress that people who are in the process of getting executed will experience, she ruled it was an “inescapable consequence of death” and not additional pain beyond what is needed to put someone to death. On appeal, a three-judge panel at the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals [reversed that part of the ruling](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/06/08/days-before-alabama-execution-federal-court-orders-new-hearing/?ref=down-ballot.info), writing it was “over and above the mental distress that typically accompanies the knowledge of impending death by execution.” The panel directed Marks to determine whether execution by firing squad was feasible. Marks ruled it was and enjoined the state from executing Lee by nitrogen gas. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office immediately appealed that ruling, seeking a stay of the permanent injunction, but the 11th Circuit and [the U.S. Supreme Court](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/06/11/us-supreme-court-leaves-stay-against-alabamas-nitrogen-gas-executions-in-place/?ref=down-ballot.info) declined to overturn Marks’ ruling. The Alabama Attorney General’s Office then [filed an expedited request](https://alabamareflector.com/2026/06/12/with-nitrogen-gas-blocked-alabama-seeks-to-execute-inmate-by-lethal-injection/?ref=down-ballot.info) with the Alabama Supreme Court, seeking to execute Lee by lethal injection. Lee’s attorneys wrote in the July 7 filing that attorneys for Alabama in 2018 agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by Lee in 2016 against the state’s lethal injection protocol, after Lee opted into execution by nitrogen gas. Lee’s attorneys cited language in the agreement that an attempt to execute Lee would be carried out by nitrogen gas, and “not the three-drug lethal injection protocol at issue in this litigation.” That, they argued, prevented execution by lethal injection. “Having secured dismissal of that action based on that representation, the state cannot reverse course,” the motion states. “Yet in seeking a new execution date for Mr. Lee after he prevailed in challenging the protocol, the state now asserts that it ‘is prepared to execute Lee via lethal injection with the three-drug cocktail adopted in 2014.”’ Lee also argues that the state cannot go back on its word. “Mr. Lee reasonably relied on the State’s representation that his execution would be by nitrogen hypoxia, not lethal injection, and dismissed his lethal injection lawsuit as a result. Equity forbids the State from reversing on that representation to Mr. Lee’s detriment,” the motion states. The motion argues that Alabama law states people can only be executed by lethal injection only if nitrogen gas is no longer available. That is not currently the case because “lethal injection is available only if nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution—not merely the protocol implementing it—is held unconstitutional by the Alabama Supreme Court or the U.S. Supreme Court, or by the Eleventh Circuit if certiorari is denied.” --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/07/Eight_mg_0.jpg) Exam gloves in a health clinic. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury) ## Eight school-based health clinics close in Southwest Virginia as federal funding pressures mount By Charlotte Rene Woods (Virginia Mercury) Published: July 10, 2026 Federally Qualified Health Centers in Southwest Virginia have shut down eight school-based health clinics, prompting the Virginia Community Healthcare Association to urge U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, to intervene. The association, which represents FQHCs across the state, sent Griffith a letter Thursday about the closures. The outreach program had served as an extension of health services into communities where access to primary care is limited. It has been funded by reinvesting savings from a federal drug pricing program back into the communities the clinics serve. The federal program, known as 340B, allows qualifying hospitals and clinics that treat underserved populations to buy prescription drugs at steep discounts while charging insurers full price and keeping the difference. The arrangement helps safety net providers that operate on tighter margins reinvest the savings back into their communities, including the school-based clinics that have since closed. VCHA CEO Tracy Douglas wrote in her letter that the Southwest Virginia coalition of clinics had realized about $2.7 million in annual 340B savings, but those savings are projected to decline by $400,000 amid rising demand for care. FQHCs are among safety net providers that also include free clinics and health-related nonprofits, all of which are facing growing demand as people lose health coverage amid various federal actions. Simply put, it’s getting harder to stretch 340B dollars at a time when clinics are stretching everything. Complicating matters are ongoing debates over the future of 340B. After some hospital systems in Virginia and elsewhere were found to have improperly used the program, state and federal lawmakers have spent years exploring reforms to strengthen accountability, restrict how 340B is used and adjust how payments are made. Reaction to the proposals has been mixed, with large pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies, hospital systems and smaller clinics like FQHCs offering competing views on how the program should be changed. Outgoing U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., recently released draft legislation that FQHCs and other smaller clinics say could hurt them by changing reimbursement timelines, though broader reforms have drawn favorable responses from a variety of groups. President Donald Trump’s administration also continues to pursue regulatory changes that would scale back the program. “Because of the drama around the effectiveness of the program, we’re forced to have to make tough decisions,” Douglas said in a recent interview about the service cuts in Southwest Virginia. **The affected schools are:** - ***Northwood Middle School*** - ***Saltville Elementary School*** - ***Chilhowie Elementary School*** - ***Chilhowie Middle/High School*** - ***John S. Battle High School*** - ***Highpoint Elementary School*** - ***Virginia Elementary School*** - ***Virginia High School*** Calling the financial reality “stark,” Douglas said 340B savings had allowed the clinics to absorb the financial losses associated with operating the school-based health centers. Using 340B funds for that purpose, she said, is exactly what the program was designed to support. Douglas also recently participated in a roundtable discussion with Gov. Abigail Spanberger and representatives from Virginia hospitals, free clinics, state health agencies and health insurers. With expired enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies — though Virginia’s budget will help offset some of the impact for residents [come November](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/07/08/dropped-your-aca-insurance-due-to-spiking-premiums-you-could-qualify-for-a-state-subsidy-this-fall/?ref=down-ballot.info) — and changes to Medicaid and hospital funding included in the federal reconciliation bill [passed last summer](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/10/21/virginia-hospitals-clinics-brace-for-federal-health-care-changes/?ref=down-ballot.info), healthcare providers are warning lawmakers about mounting financial pressures and discussing ways to respond. As thousands of Virginians lose or risk losing health coverage, providers expect greater demand for FQHCs, free clinics and hospital emergency rooms. “What is happening in Virginia is very similar to what we know is happening in other states,” Spanberger said at the roundtable meeting earlier this week. She emphasized that her administration is listening to providers and working to “look at how we can protect our vulnerable neighbors.” [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://virginiamercury.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # The ‘Hub-and-Spoke’ Model for Addiction Treatment in North Carolina by Taylor Sisk, The Daily Yonder July 15, 2026 Holly Warren was recently leafing through one of her old medical school textbooks, trying to recall how much instruction she’d received in addiction medicine – trying to recall, “Did we even talk about this? Was it even on our radar?” “And it really just wasn’t,” Warren said. She received an excellent education two decades ago at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine, then at Duke University for internal medicine. “But we just really didn’t talk about addiction medicine very much.” Today, Warren knows quite a bit about it. She began providing [medications for opioid use disorder](https://harmreduction.org/issues/facts/?ref=down-ballot.info), or MOUD, at a federally qualified health center in rural Greene County, North Carolina, and now serves as medical director of the health department in Lenoir County, likewise a rural county in eastern North Carolina, where her clinical focus is MOUD. She’s found support from the [NC STAR Network](https://ncstarnetwork.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2023, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [lifted a restriction](https://dailyyonder.com/experts-mainstream-addiction-treatment-act-removes-a-roadblock-to-recovery/2023/08/16/?ref=down-ballot.info) on health care providers’ ability to administer buprenorphine, considered a “gold standard” for treating opioid use disorder. Now fully capitalizing on this opportunity, the NC STAR Network is an initiative designed to expand access to addiction treatment for North Carolinians. The network is a partnership of three hubs – the medical schools at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Carolina University, and the Mountain Area Health Education Center, or MAHEC – and health care practices throughout the state. The objective is to train and support primary care providers to administer MOUD. The network has received funding from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts, which cites it as a model of sound investment of funding from the [Rural Health Transformation Program](https://www.cms.gov/priorities/rural-health-transformation-rht-program/overview?ref=down-ballot.info): $50 billion in federal money over the next five years to improve rural health care systems. ### **The Hub-and-Spoke Model** For Claire West, an internist in UNC’s Division of General Medicine and the NC STAR Network’s director, addiction medicine is the “absolute essence of primary care.” “I think I speak for my colleagues in primary care, whether it’s family medicine or internal medicine,” West said, “that we were drawn to this because of our strong belief in whole-person care.” Addiction is a chronic disease, she stresses, and should be treated in the continuum of whole-person care. The NC STAR Network was built using a hub-and-spoke model, inspired by the [approach the state of Vermont takes](https://blueprintforhealth.vermont.gov/about-blueprint/hub-and-spoke?ref=down-ballot.info) to addressing opioid use disorder. The medical schools and MAHEC serve as the hubs, offering a full range of care and training and support for the spokes, while the spokes provide ongoing care in a community setting. The relationship between the hubs and spokes has continued to evolve. “To remove the idea that the hub provides and the spoke receives was really important,” said Gabriela Castro, a family medicine physician in rural Chatham County and the NC STAR Network’s data team lead. “It’s bidirectional communication and learning,” with the community-based practices helping hub staff “understand what’s happening on the ground, what works for their specific community.” The network now reaches into 88 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. From July 2024 to June 2025, the academic hubs provided MOUD to 1,400 patients, while spike sites reported serving well more than 4,000. ### **Every Door Open** The NC STAR Network team believes the primary care environment is ideal for administering addiction medicine for a number of reasons. To begin with, “There’s a longstanding relationship; there’s trust, and there’s continuity,” Castro said. Delivering addiction medicine in the continuum of primary care “helps us frame the treatment of substance use disorder as one of many parts of a complex system of conditions that affect individuals.” Moreover, she said, “Any door should be the right door when somebody wants treatment.” Data indicate that patients who receive MOUD treatment in a primary care setting have [equivalent retention rates](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00952990.2023.2251653?ref=down-ballot.info) as those who receive specialty treatment and often report greater satisfaction with the experience. Embedding addiction medicine into primary care practices also helps destigmatize the treatment, Castro said. “When we separate it from the rest of primary care, it becomes not only difficult to access but shameful for many patients,” she said. In a primary care office, “many patients feel much more comfortable; they’re already being seen for other conditions.” The visit, West said, then offers her an opportunity to say to her patient, “‘I’m going to start giving you pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV. I’m going to screen you and treat you for hepatitis.’ I can do all of these things.” Or, to a patient who’s using methamphetamine, “‘You don’t want to stop using methamphetamines because you’re unhoused and you need to stay awake for your self-protection? I see that. I’m going to work with the case manager to help you find some housing resources.’” ### **Rural Reach** As has been widely reported, rural America has a shortage of most all health care services. This is certainly the case with the [availability of MOUD](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12884708/?ref=down-ballot.info). MAHEC is playing a critical role in addressing that. MAHEC serves largely rural Western North Carolina. A primary objective is to place health care professionals in rural communities and provide them with the resources and training to remain there. Addiction medicine has been folded into that. The [Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts](https://forefdn.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) has invested in MAHEC’s role in the NC STAR Network. Karen Scott, the foundation’s president, said her organization found the network to be a sound investment not only because of its potential reach but the diversity of access points – MAHEC, the academic medical centers, local health departments, federally qualified health centers – allowing primary care practitioners throughout the state to tap into specialist expertise. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/MAHEC-signage3-972x1296.jpg) The Mountain Area Health Education Center provides a full range of health care services throughout largely rural Western North Carolina. (Photo by Taylor Sisk / The Daily Yonder) The MAHEC team, Scott said, has played a critical role in disseminating that expertise across rural Western North Carolina. When Zach White, MAHEC’s opioid dependence treatment program coordinator, first started providing MOUD, a standard question he asked of new patients was, “Do you have a primary care provider?” And the most common response, he said, was, “No, but I’ve been meaning to get one.” “We’ve got such a great opportunity, because, as we know, folks are coming in having used substances sometimes for many years and have not been tending to their health,” White said. Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts program director Ken Shatzkes hopes to see other states looking to the NC STAR Network as a model for investment in the Rural Health Transformation Program funding. While the applications states have submitted for that funding don’t “explicitly say, ‘We need to build hub-and-spoke systems,’” he said, “the elements of what makes this a success are in those applications.” ### **‘Pretty Cool’** Acknowledging the treatment of substance use disorder as a chronic condition, Castro said, has transformed the way her primary practice addresses other conditions. “It really helps us think about meeting the patient where they are,” she said. “We can’t push them too soon; we can’t push them any further than they want to go. We’re here to offer consultation and support and work with the logistical difficulties that they encounter navigating the health care system.” “It absolutely has transformed the way I treat other things,” Castro said, “and I’m a better primary care physician.” The NC STAR Network continues to expand its reach across the state. Sandy Thomas-Montilus is an internist who provides MOUD in the rural southeastern region of the state, is clinical director of the N.C. Department of Adult Correction’s MOUD program, and is an NC STAR community partner. She stresses the importance of networking – networking that she believes can, in addition to expanding access to a critical treatment, help chip away at the stigma around addiction and addiction medicine. “There’s still a lot of stigma amongst my own profession,” Thomas-Montilus said, “the idea that, ‘I don’t want those kinds of people in my practice.’ And to me, that’s very sad.” Having played a role in the overdose crisis – some unaware of the addictive nature of prescription opioids; others through irresponsible prescribing, “I think we owe it to our patients” to be proactive in addressing it, she said. “The profession does.” Holly Wilson says that when she was practicing primary care, her first objective was “for my patients to know that I cared about them. I couldn’t always fix their diabetes or their high blood pressure or various chronic conditions they faced,” she said, “but most importantly, I wanted them to know that I care.” Now in addiction medicine, “I have to say it’s pretty cool,” she said, “to be able to continue to practice that primary objective, and to see lives pretty quickly changed by offering evidence-based care.” “It’s really rewarding to see people heal and recover from a chronic illness.” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/the-hub-and-spoke-model-for-addiction-treatment-in-north-carolina/2026/07/15/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=241298&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # Wildfire Smoke Is Back and Making the Air Unhealthy: Your Guide To Staying Safe in NYC ### Canadian fires are lowering air quality in New York City … again. Here’s what to know. By Kaitlyn Schwanemann, The City Reporter Jul 15 5:00am EDT ![Hot and hazy conditions enveloped the city as wildfire smoke moved across New York while temperatures soared into the upper 90s](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecityreporter.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/071526_hot_and_smokey-3.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) With smoke traveling in from wildfires burning in Minnesota and Ontario, New York is due for a week of hazy skies and possibly poorer air quality. New York City Emergency Management officials [said](https://x.com/nycemergencymgt/status/2077444727331332401?s=20&ref=down-ballot.info) Wednesday the smoke is making air quality “unhealthy” in some parts of the city, coinciding with dangerously high temperatures. They urged New Yorkers to limit outdoor activity, keep windows closed and wear masks when outside. The entire state is under an air quality advisory for fine particulate matter pollution Wednesday due to the wildfire smoke, [according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation](https://x.com/NYSDEC/status/2077399232571453728?s=20&ref=down-ballot.info). https://twitter.com/nycemergencymgt/status/2077444727331332401?s=20 Thursday's forecast was not looking much better: Officials said an air quality advisory for the city would be in effect from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. When smoke from Canadian wildfires engulfed the city in June 2023, the boroughs turned [suddenly orange](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2023/06/27/safety-health-wildfire-smoke/?ref=down-ballot.info), with air quality indices reaching 484 — the highest ever recorded. It may not get quite that bad in the city this time around, but the forecast can change quickly. Experts told The City Reporter the smoke event could last for several days, and the smoke could get thicker and closer to the ground through Thursday — as yet another heat wave sets in. Here’s what else to know. ## Jump to ... - What Is an Air Quality Index, or AQI, and How Is It Measured? - Is It Safe To Walk My Dog During New York’s Air Quality Alert? Is It Harmful To Exercise Outdoors? - Will This Wildfire Smoke Hit New York as Hard as It Did in June 2023? - Is My Indoor Air Safe? Can I Run My Air Conditioner? - When To Stay Home and When To Call a Doctor - Does an N95 Mask Protect Against Wildfire Smoke? - When Will the Wildfire Smoke Leave New York? ## **What Is an Air Quality Index, or AQI, and How Is It Measured?** The air quality index, or AQI, is a metric used by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to gauge how much pollution is in the air, and how concerning it may be to human health. When the AQI is between zero and 50, the air quality poses little or no risk to human health, but the higher the index, the more risk. The DEC and Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene issue air quality health advisories when the AQI exceeds 100, meaning members of sensitive groups may experience adverse health effects. The risk at this point remains low for healthy people, but sensitive people should avoid strenuous and prolonged outdoor activities. Sensitive people may include people with heart or lung conditions, people with weakened immune systems, adults aged 65 or older, pregnant people, infants and children with health conditions, and people with social vulnerabilities, such as limited access to housing, transportation or health care. Healthy individuals aren’t usually affected by air quality until the AQI exceeds 150. https://twitter.com/NYSDEC/status/2077399232571453728?s=20 You can check the AQI in your area by [clicking here](https://www.airnow.gov/?city=New%20York&state=NY&country=USA&ref=down-ballot.info), a government-run air quality site. You can also find an [air pollution map here](https://www.iqair.com/air-quality-map/usa/new-york/new-york?ref=down-ballot.info) maintained by IQAir, a Switzerland-based air quality technology company. Due to ozone pollution unrelated to wildfire smoke, the New York City metro area was under an air quality health advisory on Tuesday. ## **Is It Safe To Walk My Dog During New York’s Air Quality Alert? Is It Harmful To Exercise Outdoors?** Smoke conditions can negatively affect pets the same as humans, according to [guidance](https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/emergencycare/wildfire-smoke-and-animals?ref=down-ballot.info) from the American Veterinary Medical Association. That group suggested that dogs (and cats) only go outside in short bursts to relieve themselves when air quality alerts are active. If animals are experiencing coughing or gagging, difficulty breathing, eye irritation, weakness or other symptoms, you should call your veterinarian, they said. As for taking a walk or exercising at the current AQI — under 150 — for healthy people, it’s safe to walk your dog, exercise outside and more. For sensitive groups and people more sensitive to air pollution, continue to monitor your symptoms, as you may experience heightened symptoms. If the AQI exceeds 150, all New Yorkers should limit strenuous and prolonged outdoor activities. A short walk should be fine for healthy people, but avoid being outside for longer than an hour. If the AQI exceeds 200, all unnecessary outdoor activities should be cancelled or rescheduled, and the same goes for your pets. “If you're sensitive to air quality, don't remain in a space without air conditioning or filtration. And if you're in a population vulnerable to heat — older adults, young children, people with chronic conditions — take the heat seriously, too,” the city's Emergency Management Commissioner Christina Farrell said in a press release Tuesday. “In both cases, you should get to a cool indoor space, and if you don't have one at home, a cooling center is open near you.” To find a city-run cooling center near you, [click here](https://finder.nyc.gov/coolingcenters/?ref=down-ballot.info). ## **Will This Wildfire Smoke Hit New York as Hard as It Did in June 2023?** When Canadian wildfire smoke came to New York three summers ago, flights were grounded, public beaches closed and alternate side of the street parking was suspended. The AQI hit a record high, deeming the air unsafe for all New Yorkers, not just sensitive groups. James Tomasini, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service, told The City Reporter that he’s not expecting it to be as bad — but he’s continuing to monitor the situation. Amanda Lefton, commissioner of the DEC, said in a press conference on Tuesday that rain later in the week could help tamp down the smoke, but the situation is evolving and conditions depend on how well wildfire suppression efforts go in Minnesota and Ontario. ## **Is My Indoor Air Safe? Can I Run My Air Conditioner?** If the AQI becomes dangerous as wildfire smoke makes its way to the city, there’s a few ways you can [protect your apartment](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2023/06/08/how-to-clean-air-smoke-inside-apartment/?ref=down-ballot.info) from it. The first step is to keep doors and windows firmly closed and sealed. You can stuff rags and towels against any cracks in doors or windows to block air and smoke from seeping in. Most air conditioners are safe, because they cool down your apartment by circulating indoor air — not by bringing outdoor air inside. But make sure the filter is functioning properly, and clean. The Environmental Protection Agency has more tips [here](https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/wildfires-and-indoor-air-quality-iaq?ref=down-ballot.info) on using an air conditioner during smoky conditions. Run a [high-quality air purifier](https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/list-carb-certified-air-cleaning-devices?ref=down-ballot.info), if you have one — and if you don’t, you can [make a DIY version](https://www.montanawildfiresmoke.org/diy-fan-filter.html?ref=down-ballot.info) using air filters and a box fan. Some experts recommended purchasing air filters [rated MERV-13](https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating?ref=down-ballot.info) in bulk in advance of smoke events, so they’re ready to go when you need them. When the AQI improves, ventilate your home and replace dirty HVAC and air purifier filters. ## **When To Stay Home and When To Call a Doctor** Every New Yorker has their own sensitivity to smoke and air pollution, but if you experience respiratory distress, seek medical help. If you have asthma, refill prescriptions for inhalers and other medications in advance. [Click here](https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/data-features/cooling-info/?ref=down-ballot.info) for more tips on staying safe from the city’s health department. ## **Does an N95 Mask Protect Against Wildfire Smoke?** Yes, experts say that a tight-fitting, high-quality KN95 or N95 mask is a good defense against the particles distributed by wildfire smoke. [Free masks will be available at public library branches across the city](https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1emajupNxWTcHDXmGeexlKR7NUx4yhww&ll=40.71973509969564%2C-73.90203213&z=9&ref=down-ballot.info), including Brooklyn and Queens Public Library locations, and a few New York Public Library locations: St. George Library Center in Staten Island, the Bronx Library Center in The Bronx and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library in Manhattan. ## **When Will the Wildfire Smoke Leave New York?** Hazy skies were already visible in the city on Tuesday, but smoke was expected to come closer to the ground on Wednesday and Thursday, making visibility worse, Tomasini said. It’s unclear exactly when the smoke will pass through the city as conditions are still evolving. Lefton said this is expected to be a “multi-day event.” *This article was adapted in part from The City Reporter’s previous coverage of wildfire smoke conditions from 2023.* --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/07/Repeated_mg_2.jpg) Gulf Coast communities like Galveston, Texas, are accustomed to destructive storms, and many homes are designed to manage the water, but recovery each time is still expensive and exhausting. Brandon Bell/Getty Images ![](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=81070&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) ## Repeated storms are turning disaster recovery into a way of life, and leaving communities facing disaster fatigue Increasing flash flooding is exhausting communities as they’re hit again and again. By Lee Ann Rawlins Williams, University of North Dakota, The Conversation (The Conversation) Published: July 13, 2026 **By Lee Ann Rawlins Williams, University of North Dakota** Flash flooding has been tearing up communities across the U.S., with [heavy downpours](https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather-news/articles/30-million-across-heartland-northeast-115615200.html?ref=down-ballot.info) sending creeks and rivers rushing over their banks from [Texas](https://apnews.com/article/texas-flooding-evacuations-uvalde-camp-mystic-616ad82c32b5728d8a0f894c5e602b24?ref=down-ballot.info) to [Kentucky](https://kentuckylantern.com/2026/06/27/governor-declares-state-of-emergency-due-to-widespread-flooding-across-kentucky/?ref=down-ballot.info), across the [Midwest](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/07/08/flash-flooding-swamps-austin-forces-closure-interstate-90?ref=down-ballot.info) and into [the Mid-Atlantic states](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzx-XelvnMg&ref=down-ballot.info) and [the Northeast](https://www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/article/ct-power-outages-july-4-storm-22332731.php?ref=down-ballot.info). Texas’ Hill Country was hit hard again when a powerful storm triggered flooding on the Guadalupe and other rivers on July 16, 2026, in the same region where more than 100 people, including young campers, [died in flash flooding on July 4, 2025](https://theconversation.com/why-texas-hill-country-where-a-devastating-flood-killed-more-than-135-people-is-one-of-the-deadliest-places-in-the-us-for-flash-flooding-260555?ref=down-ballot.info). In [Missouri](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/12/flash-flooding-in-missouri-leaves-one-person-dead-as-200-campers-are-rescued?ref=down-ballot.info), floodwater swept away a home, and National Guard helicopters had to rescue and [evacuate dozens of people from a summer camp](https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather-news/articles/missouri-governor-declares-state-emergency-194022081.html?ref=down-ballot.info). If this feels like déjà vu after [two summers of flash flooding](https://theconversation.com/why-2025-became-the-summer-of-flash-flooding-in-america-261650?ref=down-ballot.info) across America, imagine being a community that has had to live through flooding like this again and again. Residents in Cocke County, Tennessee, were still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Helene’s deadly 2024 rush of mountain floodwater when a [new storm turned creeks into raging rivers](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/cocke-county-residents-face-all-too-familiar-devastation-from-flooding/ar-AA24oIaT?ref=down-ballot.info) in June 2026\. Officials in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, had been lobbying the state to [dredge flood-prone streams](https://www.weny.com/news/local/potter-brook-residents-picking-up-the-pieces-after-second-flood-in-2-years/article%5F1feeaf34-4394-4106-907d-1b9210f4cd4b.html?ref=down-ballot.info) before flash flooding in early July 2026 hit the same communities flooded by Hurricane Debby’s remnants two years earlier. As [storms intensify in our warming world](https://theconversation.com/two-key-ingredients-cause-extreme-storms-with-destructive-flooding-why-these-downpours-are-happening-more-often-254123?ref=down-ballot.info), recovery no longer feels permanent in places at risk of disasters. Instead, it’s too often a temporary reprieve before the next disaster hits. Communities are also spending down their savings to rebuild, and they’re finding bank accounts thin when disaster strikes again. This state of repeated disasters is known as [disaster fatigue](https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/definition-and-explanation-of-community-disaster-fatigue?ref=down-ballot.info). As a researcher who [works on disaster planning and recovery](https://campus.und.edu/directory/leeann.williams?ref=down-ballot.info), I’ve seen how this problem has grown for residents and communities at risk of fires, floods, hurricanes or other natural disasters. ## When recovery never really ends The [traditional disaster response model](https://pubadmin.institute/disaster-management/disaster-management-cycle-phases-strategies?ref=down-ballot.info) assumes a sequence of preparedness, response, recovery and, eventually, a return to stability. However, a full recovery from major flooding or a hurricane takes years. Increasingly, communities might not have completed repairs before another damaging storm arrives. At the same time, families rebuilding after a hurricane may confront a housing shortage. Insurance and reconstruction costs rise. Businesses and their workers face economic uncertainty about how soon they can reopen. Farmers recovering from drought may face another season of extreme weather before their livelihoods are restored. The same pattern can be seen beyond weather-related disasters. In Venezuela, powerful [earthquakes in 2026](https://www.paho.org/en/earthquakes-venezuela-2026?ref=down-ballot.info), followed by aftershocks, occurred within a broader context of economic and humanitarian challenges, making recovery even more complex. In many places, recovery is no longer a destination. It has become an ongoing and seemingly unending process. Emergency management scholar [Victoria Ingham](https://resilientready.org/podcasts/episode-32-indicators-of-community-disaster-fatigue-2/?ref=down-ballot.info) and colleagues [define community disaster fatigue](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103831?ref=down-ballot.info) as the deterioration of the community’s ability to function, its well-being and its capacity to recover when disasters repeatedly disrupt daily life and overwhelm the community’s resources. Research examining communities exposed to repeated disasters has found evidence of [fraying social networks](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103831?ref=down-ballot.info) and growing strain on the government and community systems essential for recovery. Related research on [resilience fatigue](https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-15561-290421?ref=down-ballot.info) among residents suggests that repeated exposure to hazards can produce physical and emotional exhaustion, anxiety about future disasters and frustration associated with the constant effort required to return to normal. ## Compounding disasters Part of the challenge is that disasters increasingly do not occur in isolation. Researchers and emergency managers often talk about these risks as [cascading and compounding disasters](https://doi.org/10.1038/s44304-025-00111-5?ref=down-ballot.info). A flood doesn’t just damage roads; it also disrupts healthcare access, [interrupts supply chains](https://theconversation.com/disasters-dont-disappear-when-the-storm-ends-cascading-hazards-from-landslides-to-floods-are-upending-risk-models-259502?ref=down-ballot.info) and creates long-term economic hardship. At the same time, communities may be [dealing with extreme heat](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/race-restore-17m-still-power-hurricane-beryl-forecasters-warn-dangerou-rcna161073?ref=down-ballot.info) and [housing shortages](https://uhero.hawaii.edu/mauis-recovery-1%c2%bd-years-after-the-wildfires/?ref=down-ballot.info). Climate change is contributing to many of these patterns. Heavy precipitation, extreme heat, drought and other weather-related hazards [are occurring more frequently](https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/warming-makes-droughts-extreme-wet-events-more-frequent-intense/?ref=down-ballot.info) in many regions. For communities already trying to manage a recovery, each new event adds another layer of disruption and costs. ## Hidden costs of repeated recovery One of the most important consequences of repeated disasters is the strain [on social cohesion](https://www.comprehensivefamilycare.org/post/the-importance-of-building-strong-community-networks?ref=down-ballot.info) – the [relationships and networks that help communities](https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12674?ref=down-ballot.info) share information, coordinate resources and support one another during difficult times. [Volunteers who repeatedly respond](https://vcla.net/the-psychology-behind-volunteer-burnout-recognition-and-prevention/?ref=down-ballot.info) to emergencies may experience burnout. Research examining disaster fatigue among community leaders found that people [reported feeling exhausted and overwhelmed](https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/media/9528/the-disaster-fatigue-of-community-leaders-a-case-study.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by the many decisions, lack of resources and other challenges associated with managing repeated emergencies over time. Residents, too, can [become exhausted by](https://www.forwardpathway.us/challenges-and-resilience-strategies-for-community-recovery-after-disasters?ref=down-ballot.info) repeated evacuations and rebuilding cycles. Research on mental health after disasters shows that prolonged recovery demands, housing instability and uncertainty about the future can [contribute to anxiety, depression](https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12181812?ref=down-ballot.info) and trauma-related symptoms. Disaster fatigue does not mean weakness or failure. Communities can retain their ability to bounce back while simultaneously experiencing exhaustion. In fact, some of the most resilient communities got that way because they have had to recover from damage repeatedly. ## Rethinking recovery Repeated disasters expose weaknesses in the systems that provide aid and help with recovery, which will still be needed [long after the headlines fade](https://www.kvue.com/article/news/state/texas-news/texas-flood/long-term-flood-recovery-central-texas/269-c6a5789b-c4a9-440c-bcfb-0e839e890a14?ref=down-ballot.info). Communities often receive an immediate outpouring of support, but it can be [disconnected from residents’ actual needs](https://hazards.colorado.edu/news/research-counts/avoiding-the-second-disaster-of-unwanted-donations?ref=down-ballot.info). Following major disasters, donations of clothing and toiletries may arrive in large quantities, yet critical needs such as [housing assistance](https://nlihc.org/disaster-housing-recovery-research-resilience?ref=down-ballot.info), debris removal and [long-term recovery support](https://www.nvoad.org/wp-content/uploads/National-VOAD-LTR-Guide-2023.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) such as [childcare services](https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ohsepr/508%5Fpost%5Fdisaster%5Fchild%5Fcare%5Fplanning%5Fmatrix%5F11mar2016%5Ffinal.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) or [healthcare and social service support](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK316542/?ref=down-ballot.info) may go unmet. Effective recovery depends not only on the generosity of the donations, but also on strategic approaches that can get the type of aid needed to the people who need it. [Long-term recovery planning](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106544?ref=down-ballot.info) and coordinated recovery efforts – combining the strengths of government agencies, nonprofits, faith-based organizations and community groups – can help tap into the funding and types of assistance most needed and help communities quickly determine where the need will be greatest. Recognizing community disaster fatigue is an important step toward building recovery systems that are as enduring as the challenges communities increasingly face. These systems require sustained investments in people, institutions and communities. As disasters become more frequent and [recovery efforts increasingly overlap](https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.911?ref=down-ballot.info) with new floods, storms, heat waves, droughts and other disruptions, strengthening these systems will be crucial for successful, resilient recoveries. *This article, originally published July 13, 2026, has been updated with new flooding in Texas Hill Country.* *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-287147)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Lee Ann Rawlins Williams*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/lee-ann-rawlins-williams-1486589?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-287147)*,* [*University of North Dakota*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-north-dakota-1722?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-287147) **Read more:** - [Millions of Americans are displaced by tornadoes, wildfires and other disasters each year ‑ who they are tells a story of vulnerability and recovery](https://theconversation.com/millions-of-americans-are-displaced-by-tornadoes-wildfires-and-other-disasters-each-year-who-they-are-tells-a-story-of-vulnerability-and-recovery-224904?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-287147) - [4 reasons affordable housing is slow to recover after disasters like hurricanes, and what communities can do about it](https://theconversation.com/4-reasons-affordable-housing-is-slow-to-recover-after-disasters-like-hurricanes-and-what-communities-can-do-about-it-192001?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-287147) - [4 urgent lessons for Jamaica from Puerto Rico’s troubled hurricane recovery – and how the Jamaican diaspora could help after Melissa](https://theconversation.com/4-urgent-lessons-for-jamaica-from-puerto-ricos-troubled-hurricane-recovery-and-how-the-jamaican-diaspora-could-help-after-melissa-268631?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-287147) *Lee Ann Rawlins Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.* --- # NC auditor’s former liaison resigns amid furor over pressuring county elections board on early voting plans by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press July 13, 2026 The day after Anson County election board members chose between early voting plans, Election Director **Neva Helms** and Republican Board Chair **Kelly Newton** received a text from **Dallas Woodhouse**, the state auditor’s liaison with county boards of election. “We are going to have to redo that early voting plan,” he wrote. Woodhouse resigned Monday after a series of his suggestions to county boards became public. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** In late 2024, state [lawmakers](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S382v4.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) transferred the [governor’s power](https://carolinapublicpress.org/69053/governor-nc-influence-republicans-bills/?ref=down-ballot.info) to appoint county election board chairs and State Board of Elections members to the recently elected Republican state auditor, **Dave Boliek**. As a result, each of the state’s election boards [shifted](https://carolinapublicpress.org/70598/boliek-nc-auditor-republican-control-nc-elections-board/?ref=down-ballot.info) from 3-2 Democratic to Republican majorities. Under the new law, most of election boards’ business would remain independent of the auditor’s office, with the exception of the initial appointments and budget oversight. However, since election boards shifted, some feel like the auditor has blurred the lines of his authority. In public records, Woodhouse takes center stage in conversations with county election board members and staff about early voting plans for the 2026 election. Early voting decisions are always ripe for drama, but in the first major election since the election boards’ party shift, tensions have escalated. So far, 18 county boards have disagreed over early voting decisions, compared to 13 nonunanimous plans in the last 2022 midterm election. There is still time to come to an agreement before the July 24 deadline. ### Anson County re-do? In early May, Anson County Election Director Helms got an email from Woodhouse. Woodhouse attached a proposed early voting plan, which would reallocate six Sunday voting hours from the 2022 midterm plan to the first two Saturdays of the early voting period, according to a Carolina Public Press records request. The resolution stated that the move “preserves and enhances voter access while aligning voting opportunities with historically higher-utilization days in Anson County.” However, when the county board met, Helms provided three staff recommendations. The first option did not include any Saturday or Sunday early voting hours, except the legally required last Saturday before Election Day. The second included a Sunday early voting day. The third was Woodhouse’s recommendation, which included two additional Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and no Sundays. During the June 9 meeting, the county board majority voted for the first plan, while the two board Democrats objected. As with all nonunanimous plans, Anson County’s early voting schedule was then sent to the State Board of Elections for a final decision sometime in July or August. The next day, Woodhouse texted Helms and Republican Board Chair **Kelly Newton**. “We are going to have to redo that early voting plan,” he wrote. “We simply can’t cut nearly 60 early voting hours. GOP NCSBE can’t stomach that and really neither can we.” Newton pushed back, asking why the plan wasn’t good enough when it met state law’s minimum requirements. Woodhouse said he thought the plan would not be approved by the State Board of Elections. Later in the conversation, Woodhouse suggested using newly available money discovered in their budget to bring the matter back up for reconsideration. He emphasized the importance of getting to a unanimous decision. Newton and Helms appeared hesitant, and indicated that board Democrats would not change their minds about Sunday early voting. Woodhouse outlined a plan for Helms to approach board Democrats with a deal: we’ll give you extra Saturday hours if you vote for a unanimous plan. “Fact is GOP voters need hours beyond 8-5 and some Saturdays is good,” Woodhouse texted. A few weeks later, on June 26, Woodhouse reminded Newton to revise the early voting plan. Still, Newton was hesitant. She asked whether they could stick with their original plan — “the best option in my humble opinion,” he texted — and have Woodhouse’s plan as a backup. “We need you guys to pass a revised plan,” Woodhouse responded. “No Sundays is fine but we have to have some week day hours extended and Saturday hours. we can then back up a divided plan at the state.” The Anson County board’s Tuesday, July 14, meeting [agenda](https://www.co.anson.nc.us/DocumentCenter/View/1414/TENTATIVE-July-14-2026-Meeting-Agenda---PDF?ref=down-ballot.info) includes reconsideration of the early voting plan. Woodhouse resigned from the auditor’s office effective Monday, July 13. In his resignation letter, he said that early voting decisions are among the most difficult local election officials make, considering every county’s unique features,challenges and expectations. “There is rarely a perfect answer, and reasonable people frequently reach different conclusions,” he wrote. “I am certain that my advice was not always correct. Looking back, there are recommendations I might make differently today. I certainly would have been more precise in my communications at times.” Woodhouse said he made his recommendations with honesty and integrity, with the sole objective of helping county boards follow the law “while improving voter access and strengthening public confidence in our elections.” State Board of Elections spokesperson Pat Gannon said State Board staff do not suggest or recommend one early voting plan over another. Woodhouse worked directly under the State Auditor and was not part of the State Board staff. "Elected officials, candidates, political parties, advocacy groups, and everyday citizens are free to – and often do – provide recommendations about where and when to conduct early voting," Gannon said in a statement. "State Board staff has not and will not do that, aside from informing county officials that they should be guided by principles of ensuring fair access for all voters according to their available resources." ### Auditor’s office weighs in on early voting plans Helms and Newton weren’t the only ones to receive texts, emails and calls from Woodhouse or other representatives of the auditor’s office in recent months about their early voting plans. But not many listened. Drama ensued in [Jackson County](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75822/squabbles-over-early-voting-sites-are-deja-vu-for-several-nc-counties/?ref=down-ballot.info) last month when one Republican election board member resigned in protest before the early voting plan meeting and another voted with Democrats in the face of what they said was pressure from the auditor’s office and other groups to exclude a Western Carolina University campus early voting site. In Columbus County, Woodhouse texted election staff on May 27 advising them to choose three specific early voting sites for the upcoming election, in Whiteville, Chadbourn and Tabor City, according to public records shared with Carolina Public Press. A few weeks before, the county elections chair had floated the idea of dropping from five to one early voting site based on rising costs and low voter participation, with plans to discuss in June. “I agree 5 is overkill, but we can’t go below 3,” Woodhouse texted. “Those are the largest towns and geographically diverse. It matches some other key goals as well.” He did not clarify what those goals were. In a packed meeting, the Columbus County board’s majority ultimately voted for four early voting sites, while the minority insisted on keeping five. The plan will go to the State Board for a final decision. They may pick the majority plan, minority plan or choose one of their own. The auditor’s office made suggestions in other places, too. In Cabarrus County, emails between the county election director and assistant county manager reveal that the auditor wanted an early voting site in Midland. The county is still figuring out its plans. Woodhouse called Alamance County election chair **Kevin Patrick Harrison** after they passed a unanimous plan asking about a potential site in the southern part of the county. The county has not changed its plan. In a phone call, he also told Granville County election board chair **Larue Ulshafer** that the auditor preferred to keep four early voting sites, despite tight county budgets, according to emails between Ulshafer and the county election director. During a June 16 meeting, Ulshafer advocated for moving two early voting sites away from Creedmoor and downtown Oxford, places where Democrats have greater odds of winning, to more rural, northern Stovall and a location five miles south of the city. He also voted to remove another Creedmoor site altogether, which would put the county at three sites. During the discussion, Ulshafer referred to the auditor as “the boss” and said he was working toward a “vision” he heard him describe in a Raleigh meeting. "The boss said, 'my vision is we have free and equal voting across the county' — north, south and central — and that's what we're working towards," Ulshafer said. Ulshafer has since resigned, and did not respond to a request for comment. During a July 15 special meeting, the board will reconsider their early voting plans. In Randolph County, auditor’s office representative **Kirk O’Steen** asked election board chair **Aundrea Azelton** to add a site in Liberty, in the county’s northeastern corner, based on size and population growth. The board declined. Woodhouse suggested exchanging a Sunday early voting day for a Saturday in a text to Pasquotank County chair **Larry Beatty**. If he did so, he would be “adding voting opportunities, saving money and giving staff much needed day off,” Woodhouse wrote. Ultimately, Pasquotank County’s election board disagreed on whether to include two Saturdays or a Saturday and a Sunday, as well as their site location and hours. Their plan will go to the State Board. After news media reports alleging auditor interference proliferated, Woodhouse was reassigned to a different role within the auditor’s office. ### Nonunanimous early voting plans Before **Barbara Hilty** was McDowell County’s election board chair, she helped recruit poll workers for the Republican Party. It was a “really, really, really hard” job, she said. Combined with continued financial recovery needs from Hurricane Helene, Hilty feels it’s best to have only the one statutorily required Saturday of early voting. “Saving a little bit of money right now is important in McDowell County,” she said. Hilty did talk to Woodhouse last fall about his suggestion to add a third early voting site in the northern part of the county. Even though it might benefit Republicans, she said it’s not worth it; the northern region is mountainous and everyone who lives there has to come down to grocery shop or go to the post office anyways. The Democratic minority preferred two or three Saturdays, which means McDowell County’s plan will go to the State Board. Nearly all county-level disagreements involved Saturday or Sunday early voting days. Historically, Democrats have supported Sunday voting more than Republicans. While Democrats may feel that Sunday events like Souls to the Polls benefit voters of their party, Republicans typically cite Sunday as a religious day of rest. While it’s not as pronounced, Democrats also tend to support Saturday voting more on the grounds that it provides more options for working people. Republicans sometimes argue that North Carolina’s two-and-a-half week early voting period and no-excuse absentee voting gives people plenty of opportunity to cast a ballot without weekends. During the 2026 primary election, 13 counties lost a day of Sunday early voting compared to the 2022 primary — six unanimously, seven after a State Board decision. However, there were actually 69 more early voting weekend hours across the state in the 2026 primary compared to the 2022 primary, thanks to several shifts from Sunday to Saturday voting. Iredell County board members also split over weekend hours. Board Democrat **Ginky Torres** said they budgeted for two Saturdays earlier in the year, but plans changed during the actual meeting to discuss early voting plans. Republican **June Reeves** voted against the two-Saturday plan, saying that she preferred just one Saturday based on “fiscal responsibility,” Torres recounted. It left a sour taste in Torres’ mouth, she said. She prefers three Saturdays because of the accessibility for working people, but typically compromises on two for the sake of having a unanimous plan that doesn’t have to go to the state, which doesn’t understand the county’s needs as well as they do. “We put our Democrat or Republican hat at the door,” she said. ### Legislature’s early voting plans All this comes as lawmakers consider cutting North Carolina’s [early voting period](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75881/early-voting-days-nc-lawmakers-could-ax-primary-general-uncertain/?ref=down-ballot.info) from 17 days to 10 or seven. While it’s unlikely that they’ll have time to pass a law cutting early voting before the upcoming general election, legislative leaders have expressed interest in trimming down the primary election early voting period, at the very least. In response, several House Democrats sponsored a [proposed constitutional amendment](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H1240?ref=down-ballot.info) that would lock in a minimum 14-day early voting period permanently, if a majority of voters agreed. One of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. **Rodney Pierce**, D-Halifax, said early voting has become the way North Carolinians prefer to vote, regardless of party affiliation. In 2024, 74% of voters cast their ballots early, for example. “If this is the way that people have chosen to engage in our democracy, then we should try to make sure that we keep it in place and that we protect it, and that's what this amendment does,” Pierce said. The amendment would not require Sunday voting, but would make sure it’s allowed. It would also allow the state legislature to help counties with election costs. “It provides certainty for voters, stability for election administrators and confidence that fundamental access to early voting cannot be dramatically reduced without first asking the people of North Carolina,” Pierce said. *Editor's note: This article has been updated with new information that became available.* This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/76080/nc-auditors-former-liaison-resigns-amid-furor-over-pressuring-county-elections-board-on-early-voting-plans/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=76080) --- # State budget advances plan to reopen Martin County hospital by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News July 13, 2026 **Key Takeaways** - The state budget includes a combined $40 million for a plan by ECU Health to restore emergency department services in Martin County, which has been without a local hospital since 2023. - Under the health system’s proposal, the erstwhile Martin General campus would become North Carolina’s first Rural Emergency Hospital — and the first closed facility in the nation to be reopened through the federal designation. - ECU Health says more investment is needed to fully implement its plan. #### **By Jaymie Baxley** During the prayer that opened[ last week’s meeting](https://www.facebook.com/100064629824687/videos/2256561544885114) of the Martin County Board of Commissioners, chairman Joe Ayers thanked God for guiding local leaders “through the process of trying to reopen health care” in the community. His gratitude stemmed from the state budget [signed into law on July 7 by Gov. Josh Stein.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/07/01/nc-full-budget-reflects-transformed-health-landscape/?ref=down-ballot.info) Listed among the document’s thousands of line items is a $25 million allocation to restore emergency department services in Martin County. The funding represents a major victory in the county’s[ three-year struggle](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/08/12/plan-to-reopen-martin-general/?ref=down-ballot.info) to reopen Martin General Hospital. [Decades of mounting financial losses](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2019/09/30/martin-general-nixes-maternity-ward-services/?ref=down-ballot.info) led to the 42-bed facility’s closure in 2023, leaving residents without local access to life-saving care. Since then, residents have had to travel to other counties for emergency treatment, prompting concerns about longer ambulance trips, delayed care during medical emergencies and the broader economic toll of losing one of the area’s largest employers. Last year, Greenville-based ECU Health approached the county with a[ potential solution](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/06/ecu-martin-hospital-proposal/?ref=down-ballot.info): The state-affiliated hospital system proposed a plan to convert the shuttered campus into a Rural Emergency Hospital — [a federal designation created by Congress](https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/rural-emergency-hospitals?ref=down-ballot.info) to help preserve access to care in communities that can no longer support a traditional hospital. Brian Floyd, chief operating officer for ECU Health, said the money set aside in the state budget gives the project momentum to move forward. “Bringing emergency care to Martin County is our first priority, and this funding helps put us on a path to do that,” he said in an interview with NC Health News. #### **Building a regional system** Unlike a full-service hospital, Rural Emergency Hospitals provide[ round-the-clock emergency care](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/rural-emergency-hospitals-factsheet-september-2024.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) and outpatient services but do not admit patients overnight. Patients who need hospitalization are stabilized before being transferred to another facility. In return, participating hospitals receive higher Medicare reimbursements and a monthly federal facility payment intended to offset the financial challenges of operating in rural communities. ![ECU Health chief operating officer Brian Floyd, a bald, white man wearing eyeglasses and a suit with a patterned red necktie, points to a screen displaying a map of rural hospital closures during the 2026 Rural Summit in Raleigh.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ECU-Martin-General-2-scaled.jpg) Brian Floyd, chief operating officer for ECU Health, points to a screen displaying a map of rural hospital closures during the 2026 Rural Summit in Raleigh. While not designated as a rural emergency hospital, Atrium Health Anson, part of the Atrium Health system, has been [operating in a similar fashion since 2015](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2015/07/31/re-envisioning-the-rural-hospital/?ref=down-ballot.info), replacing an aging facility and preserving access to care in that county. North Carolina, which has a bigger percentage of rural residents than any state except Texas, has yet to see a single hospital adopt the model. More than 50 hospitals [in](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-emergency-hospitals/?ref=down-ballot.info)[ ](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-emergency-hospitals/?ref=down-ballot.info)[other states](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-emergency-hospitals/?ref=down-ballot.info) have converted, but all of them had been open when they made the switch. This means Martin General is poised to become the first closed hospital in the nation to reopen as a Rural Emergency Hospital. For the plan to succeed, Floyd said, emergency services must be paired with more inpatient hospital beds elsewhere in the region. "If we have just an emergency department sitting in Martin County an hour away from the next inpatient capacity, it'll fill itself with inpatients and then not have room for emergencies," he said. To prevent that from happening, ECU Health wants to expand its hospital in neighboring Beaufort County with an inpatient bed tower capable of absorbing patients transferred from Martin County and surrounding communities. The entire project is expected to cost roughly $220 million, a price tag that includes about $70 million to establish the Rural Emergency Hospital in Martin County and approximately $150 million for the Beaufort expansion. With the money from the state budget and $35 million that was previously appropriated through the state's NC Care initiative, the Martin County portion of the project is mostly funded. But lawmakers approved only $15 million toward the Beaufort expansion — enough to begin planning but well short of the amount needed to build the tower. [In a news release issued after the budget’s passage](https://www.ecuhealth.org/martin-county-and-ecu-health-celebrate-progress-toward-re-establishing-essential-health-care-services-in-martin-county/?ref=down-ballot.info), ECU Health noted that additional investment is needed to “fully implement a sustainable regional system of care model needed to improve sustainability and expand inpatient capacity for the surrounding communities.” #### **Long road ahead** ECU Health and Martin County officials are now shifting to the logistical work of resurrecting Martin General. Floyd said the next step is negotiating a formal agreement to let ECU Health operate the county-owned facility. Then engineers and construction teams will assess the building to determine what repairs and upgrades are needed before emergency services can reopen. ![Aerial view of the Martin General campus in Williamston.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Martin-General-campus-.jpg) Aerial view of the Martin General campus in Williamston. A few other hurdles must be cleared. Floyd said North Carolina will need to establish new Medicaid policies for Rural Emergency Hospitals, given that no facility in the state currently operates under the designation. Another challenge will be recruiting people to work at the hospital. Floyd anticipates that some former Martin General employees will apply. "We fully expect there will be people who have worked there and live there who'll be the first ones on the list to say, 'Can we come back to work in this new facility?'" he said. "Obviously, we think that's a great thing." But with so many boxes left to check, Floyd was reluctant to predict when the facility might actually reopen. "I'd like to beat any date that I think we can hit," he said. "We're going to go as fast as we can to try to bring emergency care to Martin County." In a [statement](https://www.ecuhealth.org/martin-county-and-ecu-health-celebrate-progress-toward-re-establishing-essential-health-care-services-in-martin-county/?ref=down-ballot.info), ECU Health CEO Michael Waldrum said the state budget “represents meaningful progress toward a sustainable model of care” for Martin and Beaufort counties, as well as for eastern North Carolina as a whole. “Rural Americans are facing unprecedented challenges that continue to threaten the viability of health care in their communities,” he said. “We are grateful for the support of our state elected leaders for infrastructure funding as we pursue rural health initiatives designed to improve the health and well-being of the most vulnerable communities in North Carolina.” The sentiment was echoed by David "Skip" Gurganus, vice chair of Martin County’s Board of Commissioners. At the end of last week’s meeting, he praised the General Assembly for being “gracious enough to grant us what we need to start the process of reopening the hospital.” Gurganus, like his board chairman, also gave credit to a higher power. “I am a firm believer that God has got his hand on this,” he said. --- This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/07/13/martin-general-funds-budget/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=68717) --- # This county lost its hospital. Bringing it back is easier said than done by Gwen Dilworth, Mississippi Today July 16, 2026 BELZONI — Harmony Ball-Stribling’s path to pregnancy had been turbulent, from an endometriosis diagnosis to an arduous in vitro fertilization process and sky-high blood pressure. But as her due date approached in the summer of 2021, her health improved and those storm clouds seemed to scatter. “It was just too perfect,” said her mother, Shenelle Ball-Green, of those calm, hot weeks. Then, after midnight on July 5, four days shy of her scheduled cesarean section, Ball-Stribling began experiencing complications from preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening blood pressure disorder. Speeding up to 110 mph, her husband drove her to the nearest hospital 25 miles away from their home in Belzoni, a Mississippi Delta town of about 1,900 people. Minutes before reaching the facility, Ball-Stribling suffered a seizure in the passenger seat. Her husband pulled her from the car and performed CPR on the side of the road. It was too late. She and the couple’s unborn daughter, Harper, died on the side of U.S. Route 49. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/21222139/Shenelle-Ball-Burks-8.jpg) Harmony Ball-Stribling poses in an undated photo. The tragedy might have had a different outcome if the hospital in Belzoni, a five-minute drive from Ball-Stribling's home, hadn’t closed 13 years ago. Today, Humphreys County has no hospital, no emergency room, no urgent care clinic, and no county health department. It is one of more than [100 rural hospitals](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-hospital-closures/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the U.S. that have fully closed since 2005. In Belzoni, self-proclaimed “The Heart of the Delta,” and its surrounding area, communities are close-knit, and Harmony’s story is well known. Now, her death has galvanized local and state leaders determined to bring a hospital back to the county that has suffered without one. “It was a tremendous eye-opener for this community,” said state Rep. Timaka James-Jones, a Democrat who represents the district that includes Belzoni and is Ball-Stribling’s aunt. “It brought to light how we are so without.” Poverty often shapes the health disparities Humphreys County residents experience. Approximately [1 in 7 Humphreys County residents](https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/health-data/community-conditions/health-infrastructure/clinical-care/uninsured?year=2025&county=28053&ref=down-ballot.info) under age 65 lack health insurance coverage, compared with about 1 in 11 people nationwide. Humphreys County also has the [highest rate of Medicaid enrollment](https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2025/02/06/medicaid-coverage-in-mississippi-counties-2023/?ref=down-ballot.info) of any Mississippi county, reflecting the economic challenges many residents face. These disparities are evident in the county’s infant mortality rate, which is [among the highest in the state](https://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/index.cfm/29,21453,299,pdf/Infant%5FMortality%5FReport%5F2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) at roughly 15 deaths for every 1,000 births. James-Jones has watched these circumstances influence the lives — and deaths — of her loved ones. She said she wants to see a hospital reestablished before her four-year term is up in early 2028. But that may be easier said than done. In Belzoni, local leaders hoping to restore healthcare services face a tangled web of policy challenges that are especially demanding for a small town with limited resources. Its story reflects what many [healthcare policy experts warn](https://mississippitoday.org/2023/02/08/mississippi-rural-hospital-closure-report/?ref=down-ballot.info): Once a rural community loses a hospital, bringing it back can be nearly impossible. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/25145211/Belzoni-7.jpg) Signage welcoming motorists to Belzoni, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. ### **Humphreys County’s healthcare losses** Humphreys County Memorial Hospital opened in Belzoni in 1951 as part of a nationwide hospital building boom fueled by a Truman-era law called the Hill-Burton Act. The legislation provided billions of dollars in grants and loans to build and modernize healthcare facilities. At the time, [roughly 40% of all U.S. counties](https://www.ruralhealth.us/nationalruralhealth/media/documents/advocacy/2026/nrha-access-to-capital-policy-paper.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) had no hospital. When the building boom began to subside by 1970, [all but seven counties](https://msdh.ms.gov/phs/old%5Fbulletins/bul1970.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in Mississippi had at least one hospital. But by the 2000s, many rural hospitals in the U.S. confronted financial difficulties. Low patient volumes, an increase in outpatient care, and meager revenues left many on precarious footing. Many had high rates of uninsured patients or those covered through government programs such as Medicaid, which typically reimburse providers at lower rates than commercial insurers. Humphreys County’s hospital was among those struggling facilities. It was burdened with [millions of dollars in debts](https://publichealthwatch.org/2024/01/22/mississippi-delta-hospital-medicaid-expansion/?ref=down-ballot.info), and county officials sold it in 2008 to a private company. It was renamed the Patients’ Choice Medical Center. The hospital shut down five years later after Ray Shoemaker, the company’s CEO, was convicted on healthcare fraud charges related to another hospital he owned. “I do hope they reopen,” Shoemaker wrote in a recent text message to Mississippi Today. “The community needs a hospital.” He said he stepped down from the company before going to prison in 2012. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/25145256/Belzoni-4.jpg) The G.A. Carmichael Family Health Center, located at 16463 US-49W, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Belzoni. In 2017, the University of Mississippi Medical Center partnered with the county supervisors and U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat whose district includes Humphreys County, to secure a [nearly $1 million grant](https://umc.edu/news/News%5FArticles/2017/June/Federal-grant-to-support-Belzoni-after-hours-clinic.html?ref=down-ballot.info) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open an after-hours acute care clinic in Belzoni. The clinic shut down in 2020, and UMMC officials declined to say why. G.A. Carmichael Family Health Center, a Canton-based federally qualified health center with five other locations in Mississippi, took it over but did not maintain the extended hours, again leaving Humphreys County residents without after-hours care. Other public health services in the county have closed outright. Three years ago, the county’s health department stopped providing clinical services, said Greg Flynn, a spokesperson for the Mississippi State Department of Health. The county department closed entirely last year, citing staffing shortages and low patient volumes. In the years since the hospital closed, the county has lost a fourth of its population, falling to 7,000 people, [according to census data](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/humphreyscountymississippi,US/POP010210?ref=down-ballot.info). James-Jones said she does not believe the community can experience growth until healthcare services are reestablished. “I don’t know how I can see us growing any other way,” she said. ### **‘Something’s way better than nothing’** Months after losing her daughter and unborn granddaughter, Ball-Green climbed the steps of the stately, tan, brick Humphreys County Courthouse to attend a crowded Board of Supervisors meeting. She stood at the dais and urged the supervisors to reestablish emergency healthcare services in the county to protect other residents from the fates of her loved ones. “I wanted to let them know at any given moment, that could be your child, your mother,” she said. “We’re a small town. Everyone knows everyone.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/25145140/Belzoni-9.jpg) The Humphreys County Courthouse, located at 102 Castleman Street, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Belzoni. She remembered the disappointment she felt when the supervisors told her there was nothing they could do. But when the board’s makeup changed after the 2023 elections, she said, she saw these attitudes shift. Among the newly elected officials was Reggie Pinkston, who is now the president of the board and previously worked as an EMT when the hospital was open. His own family has suffered the consequences of limited healthcare access. A cousin living in Louise, a town about 20 miles south of Belzoni in the county, had a stroke in 2021 and waited an hour for an ambulance to arrive. She died two days later. Pinkston said witnessing residents’ delays in care has made expanding access to healthcare services one of his priorities. “We’re losing too many people in our county because of lack of healthcare,” Pinkston said. The board enlisted several consultants to develop a strategy for expanding healthcare access and identifying funding sources to support these efforts. In late 2025, Thompson secured [approximately $1 million](https://www.congress.gov/119/crec/2025/11/09/171/189/CREC-2025-11-09-senate.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) for Humphreys County through the congressional Community Project Funding process, which allows lawmakers to request federal support for specific projects. The funds will be used to expand services at G.A. Carmichael’s Belzoni location in a county-owned building on U.S. Route 49, Pinkston said. Expansion plans include extending its hours of operation overnight to 5 a.m., purchasing equipment, and a possible renovation of the facility. It could begin its expanded operations by September, said James Coleman Jr., the health center’s CEO. Establishing an after-hours urgent care clinic is a starting point toward reestablishing emergency care services or a hospital, James-Jones said. “Something’s way better than nothing,” she said. ### **‘Not for the faint of heart’** Despite that encouraging first step, Humphreys County faces steep obstacles to opening a hospital. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, George Pink is a senior research fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and [tracks rural hospital closures](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-hospital-closures/?ref=down-ballot.info) across the U.S. He said he’s aware of only a few communities that have successfully reopened a hospital after it closed. “I can count that on one hand,” said Pink, who knows of roughly five such examples. Communities face significant hurdles to reestablishing a hospital, including securing financing for construction or renovation, recruiting qualified staff, and covering substantial operating expenses during the licensing process before the facility can treat patients and generate revenue, said Brock Slabach, the National Rural Health Association’s chief operations officer and a former rural hospital administrator in southwestern Mississippi. “Reopening a hospital is not for the faint of heart,” Slabach said. “Once they close, it’s very difficult to reopen them.” To finance a potential hospital project in Humphreys County, local and state leaders said they plan to seek funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, a federal initiative that will distribute $50 billion to states over five years. The federal government allocated Mississippi [nearly $206 million](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/30/mississippi-fed-fund-rural-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) in December for the program’s first year. The program is meant to offset budget cuts passed into law last summer that could harm rural hospitals. Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act [will cut the federal government’s](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/allocating-cbos-estimates-of-federal-medicaid-spending-reductions-across-the-states-enacted-reconciliation-package/?ref=down-ballot.info) Medicaid spending by $911 billion over 10 years and increase the number of uninsured people by 10 million, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. Mississippi hospitals are [projected to lose roughly $160 million annually](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/10/08/500m-rural-health-mississippi-governor-spending/?ref=down-ballot.info) beginning in 2029, according to Cindy Bradshaw, executive director of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid. But [according to federal guidelines](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/rural-health-transformation-frequently-asked-questions.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), the program’s funding cannot be used for construction or major building expansions. Officials said the county will instead consider applying for funds through the program to support the recruitment of healthcare professionals. The federal Rural Emergency Hospital designation is another way rural communities can keep emergency and outpatient services. Hospitals in that program receive over $3 million annually from the federal government and a higher Medicare reimbursement rate, but they [cannot offer inpatient care](https://mississippitoday.org/2024/08/07/mississippi-has-more-rural-emergency-hospitals-than-any-other-state/?ref=down-ballot.info). Research by Pink’s team shows that many hospitals that converted to the model, which was established in 2023, saw an [increase in profitability](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/product/an-early-look-at-profitability-before-and-after-conversion-to-rural-emergency-hospital/?ref=down-ballot.info). But there’s a catch. To receive the designation, a hospital must have been open in 2020, making Humphreys County ineligible. Mississippi’s junior U.S. senator, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith, introduced legislation in 2024 to [extend the cutoff](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4201?ref=down-ballot.info) to 2014, a threshold that would have still excluded Humphreys County. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/07/14175404/Belzoni-21.jpg) Rep. Timaka James-Jones, D-Belzoni, near the G.A. Carmichael Family Health Center, Tuesday, June 23, 2026, in Belzoni. James-Jones is one of the community leaders spearheading an effort to reestablish a hospital in Humphreys County. James-Jones said county leaders have urged Hyde-Smith to amend the proposed legislation so Humphreys County could qualify. Hyde-Smith did not respond to a request for comment for this article. For county leaders, the path to widening healthcare access means navigating a thicket of state and federal policies, funding streams, and regulatory hurdles. Some recent state-level policy changes have created [new opportunities](http://opportunities.in/?ref=down-ballot.info) for healthcare expansion in Humphreys County. In March, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves [signed legislation](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/24/governor-program-rural-hospitals/?ref=down-ballot.info) exempting Humphreys County from Mississippi’s certificate of need requirements, which are meant to prevent unnecessary healthcare expansions. The exemption could make the county more attractive to prospective healthcare providers. But the financial challenges that contributed to the closure of Patients’ Choice Medical Center in 2013 remain, and Mississippi lawmakers have continued to reject Medicaid expansion, limiting a potential source of reimbursement for rural hospitals and clinics. Industry officials expect hospitals’ financial pressures to intensify as Medicaid funding cuts take effect. The latest challenge is predicting how these cuts will affect the bottom lines of these facilities and whether additional cuts will come in the future, said Richard Roberson, president and CEO of the Mississippi Hospital Association. “If someone’s trying to run a business, they’ve got to be able to know what those numbers look like,” Roberson said. “And it’s really hard to try to project that out right now.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/21222135/Shenelle-Ball-Burks-3.jpg) Shenelle Ball-Green talks about the lack of emergency services in Humphreys County, Monday, June 1, 2026 in Canton. Ball-Green lost her daughter Harmony and unborn grandchild due to a medical emergency. ### **‘Now I understand’** For Ball-Green, giving in to these obstacles would be a disservice to the Humphreys County residents who face health emergencies similar to the one her daughter experienced. It has been five years since the funeral, but Ball-Green remembers it clearly. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/21222139/Shenelle-Ball-Burks-7.jpg) Harmony Ball-Stribling in a 2021 photograph. The day was stormy, but attendees brightened the gathering by wearing yellow, Ball-Stribling’s favorite color. As friends and family gathered to pay their respects, her mother thought back on a relative’s funeral four months earlier. At that service, Ball-Stribling sang the gospel classic “You Are My Strength” to a roomful of mourners. “She was singing, and she looked at me,” Ball-Green said, describing a peaceful but eerie expression on her daughter’s face in that moment — a sign of something to come, though she didn’t yet know what. “She turned around, and it was just that look, you know?” Months later, as she sat at her daughter’s funeral, she began to interpret the foreboding glance differently. She came to believe it was a sign that Ball-Stribling’s gift for helping others by sharing her story would not end with her death. That purpose had taken shape years earlier in her work as a teacher and continued as she shared [candid social media posts](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DuMMJTXcF/) about her fertility struggles and IVF journey in the final months of her life. Ball-Green said the community became deeply invested in her and Harper’s story. In the years since, this gift has endured, she said. Ball-Stribling’s story has continued to resonate throughout Humphreys County, serving as a reminder of what residents stand to lose if they do not reopen the hospital. “I think back on when she looked back at me,” Ball Green said. “Now I understand.” ***This story was produced in collaboration with KFF Health News.*** ***KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.*** This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/07/16/county-lost-hospital/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223401/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1183642&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Advocates, elected officials call for statewide siren system after 14 tornadoes touch down near New Orleans by Halle Parker, Verite News New Orleans July 15, 2026 New Orleans officials joined a coalition of community-based organizations to call for the installation of emergency siren systems across the state weeks after [14 tornadoes](https://www.nola.com/news/weather/new-orleans-tornadoes-arthur-14/article%5F4b56974c-4016-4874-a327-b2dfb1265f86.html?ref=down-ballot.info) touched down in the greater New Orleans area from Tropical Storm Arthur. The coalition, Louisiana Grassroots United, also asked for more tornado education as [research suggests](https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/apme/63/6/JAMC-D-23-0143.1.xml?ref=down-ballot.info) Tornado Alley — historically stretching across the Great Plains region — has shifted farther eastward than it has historically to now include Louisiana. The advocates and elected officials said while residents understand hurricanes, there’s a gap in knowledge when it comes to tornado safety. “ At least a hurricane, you kinda have a heads up that it's on the way and it may be powerful, but a tornado is something altogether different,” said Debra Campbell, president of A Community Voice, a statewide grassroots nonprofit based in New Orleans. Campbell and [A Community Voice](https://www.acommunityvoice.org/about/?ref=down-ballot.info) have pushed for siren systems in southeast Louisiana, alongside other groups, since 2022 to alert residents of emergencies, from tornadoes to flash flooding to chemical releases. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/15155544/20260715_CZB_SirenPresser_10.jpg) Debra Campbell of A Community Voice listens during a press conference calling for the installation of a siren system for tornadoes and other emergencies on July 15, 2026\. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America New Orleans Councilmember-at-large Matthew Willard was part of the task force that first recommended sirens to the state about four years ago, when he served in the state house. During Wednesday’s (July 15) news conference, Willard said alerts sent through phones are limited in reach and efficacy. He lived near the trail of one of the tornadoes that touched down on June 23, and he said he didn’t receive an emergency notification until 15 to 20 minutes after the tornado passed. “ I heard it, and it was very scary, and I got the alert on my phone a few minutes later. So we have to do more,” Willard said. Campbell said some people lack access to technology, don’t sign up for alerts or live with disabilities that make it harder to use such technology. She believed sirens would reach residents more effectively. Willard said he plans to ask the local and state Offices of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to collaborate to find money for a siren system in New Orleans once they receive a cost estimate. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/15155855/20260715_CZB_SirenPresser_06.jpg) Councilmember-at-large Matthew Willard speaks at a press conference calling for the installation of a siren system for tornadoes and other emergencies on July 15, 2026\. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America In 2025, [Verite News](https://veritenews.org/2025/08/18/louisiana-tornadoes-sirens-emergency-management/?ref=down-ballot.info) found that some companies charge $30,000 to $50,000 per siren. Councilmember Aimee McCarron, who chairs the council’s Climate and Sustainability Committee, said she will bring the discussion to her committee and explore funding options as well. “ As climate changes, the weather patterns get more disruptive, leaving us all vulnerable to new threats,” said McCarron. “Our emergency preparedness plans should reflect this reality.” The links between tornadoes and climate change are still being studied, but [evidence suggests](https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/clim/29/14/jcli-d-15-0623.1.xml?ref=down-ballot.info) there could be the potential for more tornadoes outside of the traditional season for severe weather. Regardless of the cause, [the data suggests](https://www.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2023-10/Tornadoes%5FClimate%5FOnePager%5FJuly2023.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the number of large tornado outbreaks and tornadoes per day have increased since 1950\. Many of the tornadoes that have occurred in the New Orleans area in recent years have occurred while it’s still dark, making them [more likely](https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/2026-03-09-tornado-night-nighttime-deadly-south?ref=down-ballot.info) to be deadly. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/15160058/20221214_CZB_Tornado_0091_1.jpg) People survey damage on a street in Aribi after a tornado struck Southeast Louisiana on Dec. 14 2022\. Credit: Christiana Botic Campbell called for the city to consider public education campaigns such as inserts in utility bills to teach residents the difference between tornado watches and warnings, as well as where to go in their homes to stay safe. Many New Orleans homes aren’t equipped for tornadoes due to the prevalence of windows and lack of a basement. Advocates in other parishes have spoken to their state and local representatives. Tish Taylor, program manager for the environmental group Concerned Citizens of St. John, said the sirens also could help warn her parish when dangerous flash flooding occurs. “ Every one of our communities should have alerts. It shouldn't be specific to anyone when we are all inundated with this extreme weather. And it's not gonna stop, it's only gonna get worse,” Taylor said at the news conference. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/07/15/advocates-elected-officials-call-for-statewide-siren-system-after-14-tornadoes-touch-down-near-new-orleans/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=32114&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ### Climate change could double household water costs in some cities, study finds URL: https://down-ballot.info/climate-change-could-double-household-water-costs-in-some-cities-study-finds/ Last updated: 2026-07-15T09:00:10.000Z By Kevin Hardy (Stateline) Published: July 9, 2026 Household water costs could nearly double in some American cities, new research suggests, as climate change further stresses municipal water systems. Researchers at Stanford University and other institutions studied how a hotter, drier climate is poised to spike water bills for residents of Santa Cruz, California, in a peer-reviewed [study](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-026-01890-z?ref=down-ballot.info) published this week in the journal Nature Sustainability. While the study focused on that coastal city, the outlook is similar for many cities that will be forced to make costly upgrades to water systems as climate change intensifies, said lead author Jennifer Skerker, who worked on the research while studying for her doctorate in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford. Without significant government funding, the costs of new water transport systems, desalination plants and sewage water reuse systems are likely to be borne by individual water systems, which are expected to pass them onto consumers through water bills. “So this really pits water affordability against water reliability, when in reality we need both of these to have safe, accessible and affordable water for everyone,” said Skerker, who now works for a local water utility. Though low-income residents use significantly less water, they will be hit hard by rising rates, which force them to spend a larger share of their resources, she said. Water rates have increased at three times the rate of inflation over the past two decades, as water providers updated aging infrastructure and addressed deferred maintenance backlogs. > [Nitrate contaminates the drinking water of millions of Americans, study finds](https://stateline.org/2026/04/23/nitrate-contaminates-the-drinking-water-of-millions-of-americans-study-finds/?ref=down-ballot.info) The research comes as many Americans are already struggling with high energy bills: One in six American households are [behind on utility bills](https://neada.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/NEADA-CEPC-Summer-Cooling-Update.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association. While rising electric prices have [sparked outrage ](https://stateline.org/2025/12/10/rising-electricity-bills-lead-to-state-scrutiny-but-little-relief-for-residents/?ref=down-ballot.info)among ratepayers, regulators and state lawmakers, relatively cheaper water has not always received the same level of attention. “I think water affordability definitely needs to be part of the conversation with energy affordability,” Skerker said. “…On the water side, households might be using less water than is healthy, or we can even see households making tradeoffs between paying for water or energy, or paying for groceries or medical bills.” Like other Western cities, Santa Cruz has implemented many water conservation practices: By 2021, locals had cut water use by [nearly two-thirds](https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/santa-cruz-water-utility-grapples-with-a-paradox-what-to-do-when-conservation-becomes-bad-for-business/?ref=down-ballot.info) over two decades. That leaves few low-cost options to increase water supplies in an area entirely reliant on surface water. The study lays out several potential scenarios for local water bills depending on climate conditions and water investments. In one of the driest scenarios, researchers predict median water bills for the poorest residents could rise from about $60 to $111 per month (in 2026 dollars) by the middle of the century. That means more than one-third of households in Santa Cruz could struggle to afford water. The study acknowledges that cities with larger reservoirs, more interconnected systems or access to lower-cost water sources may not experience the same acceleration in water bills. But it does envision “water affordability hotspots” across the country as more areas struggle to source and treat enough drinking water. “It does seem unsustainable,” Skenker said, “and I think cities really need more help from the state and federal government.” *Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at* *khardy@stateline.org* *.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Prince William supervisors reject Dulles Cloud South data center proposal URL: https://down-ballot.info/prince-william-supervisors-reject-dulles-cloud-south-data-center-proposal/ Last updated: 2026-07-13T09:00:45.000Z By Shannon Heckt (Virginia Mercury) Published: July 9, 2026 Prince William County supervisors voted against a rezoning proposal for the Dulles Cloud South data center project Tuesday, less than a week after developers retreated from a legal battle over building the 1,760-acre Digital Gateway data center complex in the county. The Dulles Cloud South project would have been the largest in county history, topping out at nearly 2,000 acres allowing 43 million square feet of floor space for data centers. The local decisions to halt both data center projects “will have statewide ramifications,” Sen. Danica Roem, D-Manassas, said in a call after the vote. Developers asked to amend the county’s comprehensive plan to rezone the acreage bordering Loudoun County from mostly agricultural and residential to industrial to build the project. The county has a technology overlay district that is already zoned for developments like data centers, but some applications have been approved outside of those zones. Prince William is home to over 40 data centers, with dozens more on the way. The Coalition to Protect Prince William county — a group comprising residents and data center opponents —rallied outside the supervisors meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The group was also one of the foremost detractors of the Digital Gateway project. Similarly to their concerns about that proposal, representatives of the group questioned the potential transmission infrastructure needed for Dulles South, its power and water demands, and how the loss of the agricultural land it would require would impact the area’s rural character. The Digital Gateway project was slated to span 22 million square feet near the Manassas National Battlefield Park, space reserved for data centers. The related rezoning appeal had been a point of contention since it was proposed in 2022. Citizens argued in the lawsuit they lodged against the county that leaders [unfairly sped up the zoning process](https://virginiamercury.com/briefs/va-court-of-appeals-stops-major-data-center-development-in-prince-william-county/?ref=down-ballot.info) and limited public input on establishing a technology overlay district for data center development. “We are sick and tired of having to show up here and fight for a quality of life to protect our grid, to protect our property, this needs to end today,” said Elena Schlossberg, the executive director of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County on Tuesday. County leaders said after they reviewed the proposed rezoning for Dulles South and the change to the comprehensive plan it would require, they recommended against allowing the project to move forward. The supervisors’ report stated: “Although this change would substantially increase the amount of the commercial tax base and increase employment opportunities, the request raises substantial concerns regarding infrastructure adequacy, environmental and rural character impacts, and land use compatibility with surrounding (zones).” Dozens of people spoke for and against the Dulles South project. Those in support of the project told supervisors in the multi-hour meeting on Tuesday that the tax revenue would be beneficial to the county and that development is inevitable in the area. Michael Slater, a resident of the Four Seasons neighborhood who is pushing back against nearby data center proposals, said the county has allowed enough of this kind of development. “We have enough data centers to fuel the whole world. What do you want more for?” Slater said. The board, which has welcomed data center development in the past, was united in their vote against the rezoning, which would have been the first step in the process to begin applications for data centers in that area. “I don’t believe that data centers are the answer to all of our problems, and I am very worried that we’re putting all of our eggs in one basket, and I’m worried about the opportunity cost of voting for every data center that comes before us,” Board Chair Deshundra Jefferson said during the meeting. The board voted against the rezoning 8-0. Roem said the blocking of the Digital Gateway and Dulles South projects represents a “paradigm shift” in the county, where historically, there has been support for the facilities that bring millions in local tax revenue, like much of Northern Virginia. The senator added that the action in Prince William could prompt the General Assembly to pass more legislation to help localities with solving siting issues and meeting their goals to preserve agricultural spaces and access to land for housing developments. “The two counties with the most data centers are telegraphing to the industry that ‘Hey this is too much,’” Roem said. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://virginiamercury.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Arrests of immigrant parents create mental health crisis for children URL: https://down-ballot.info/arrests-of-immigrant-parents-create-mental-health-crisis-for-children/ Last updated: 2026-07-10T09:00:29.000Z **It's Friday July 10, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Arrests of immigrant parents create mental health crisis for children, New Mexico regulators announce 16 community solar projects are online, generating power, A Mom Called 911 For an Ambulance. NYPD Sent Handcuffs, Therapy in a tent: The healthcare many homeless Californians need but aren’t getting, New Orleans Haitian community reeling in the wake of U.S. Supreme Court ruling, How The Death Penalty At 50 Is Far More Broken Than We Knew, Can guaranteed income help people leaving incarceration? Two NC local governments are testing it. **Media outlets and others featured:** Minnesota Reformer, Source New Mexico, MindSite News, CalMatters, Verite News, The Marshall Project, North Carolina Health News. **Charlotte's Documenters, powered by Charlotte Journalism Collaborative, has launched and I'm one of multiple people that will be providing coverage of under-reported public meetings in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.*[ *City Bureau*](https://www.citybureau.org/?ref=down-ballot.info#who-we-are) *in Chicago runs the Documenters program. -- Ben Ledbetter, Editor of Down Ballot* [Charlotte Documenters ](https://charlotte-nc.documenters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## Arrests of immigrant parents create mental health crisis for children By Claudia Boyd-Barrett, KFF Health News (Minnesota Reformer) Published: June 24, 2026 *This* [*article*](https://kffhealthnews.org/mental-health/immigrant-parents-ice-detention-deportation-children-mental-health-california/?ref=down-ballot.info) *first appeared on* [*KFF Health News.*](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) LOS ANGELES — Damian Zermeño, 15, sensed something was wrong the moment he got home from school. His aunt sat at the dining table, sobbing. His father, who’d walked him to the bus stop that morning and promised to take him to dinner when he got back, wasn’t there. Saúl Zermeño, a 45-year-old single dad, had gone to a routine check-in appointment at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office that morning, a requirement he’d complied with for years. The father had deferred action that allowed him to stay and work in the U.S., according to his attorney. But that day, Oct. 3, officers deported him to Mexico, where he hadn’t lived since he was 9 years old. Zermeño had been Damian’s sole caregiver since he was a baby because his mother chose not to be involved in the boy’s life, the family said. Suddenly, Damian, who was born in the U.S., found himself separated from his father by thousands of miles and a heavily guarded border. The previously cheerful 10th grader, who doesn’t have a driver’s license and can make a few basic dishes but isn’t used to cooking for himself, faced navigating his teenage years alone, his dad’s presence reduced to a two-dimensional image on his phone. “I thought it wasn’t true,” Damian said. “I just went to my room. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t even want to eat.” Damian is among an estimated [hundreds of thousands of children](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-administration-has-detained-400000-immigrants-what-do-we-know-about-their-children/?ref=down-ballot.info), most of them U.S. citizens, separated from a parent by the Trump administration’s deportation policies. Their mothers and fathers have been deported or locked for months inside detention centers, often [miles away](https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2025-09-26/faster-more-frequent-transfers-of-immigrant-ice-detainees-sow-fear-and-cut-off-resources?ref=down-ballot.info) from where their families live. These children are separated, [sometimes violently](https://time.com/7332405/ice-arrest-toddler-la-video/?ref=down-ballot.info), from the adults they depend on. Parents have been arrested while [dropping kids off at school](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2025/08/06/the-learning-curve-another-ice-arrest-near-a-school/?ref=down-ballot.info), [inside their homes](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ring-camera-shows-ice-raid-minnesota-home-us-citizens-scared-4-arreste-rcna248189?ref=down-ballot.info), and at immigration check-ins with their children present. Most people detained have [no criminal conviction](https://tracreports.org/immigration/quickfacts/?ref=down-ballot.info). (Being in the U.S. without authorization is typically a civil offense). With their parents gone, kids’ lives are plunged into fear and uncertainty. As a result, a generation of children from immigrant families are exhibiting mental health problems that could [affect them for years](https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/early-mental-illness-accelerates-aging-process?ref=down-ballot.info). Parents, therapists, and others who work with immigrant families said they’ve already encountered preschoolers with speech delays, elementary school children who talk of suicide, and teenagers too anxious to leave the house. Research has shown repeatedly that separating children from their parents [harms their health and development](https://www.srcd.org/briefs-fact-sheets/the-science-is-clear?ref=down-ballot.info). The stress of losing a primary caregiver creates havoc in a child’s brain and body, increasing their risk for mental and physical health problems, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, a weakened immune system, and developmental delays. “You can just see it in their faces; it’s almost like the light has been dimmed in their eyes,” said the Rev. Tanya Lopez, a pastor at Downey Memorial Christian Church who regularly visits immigrant families as part of a [support organization](https://www.cluejustice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) made up of Los Angeles-area religious leaders. The health risks from this stress response are long-term. People who experience parental separation and other traumatic events as children are [more likely to have](https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/key-health-implications-of-separation-of-families-at-the-border/?ref=down-ballot.info) heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and other chronic conditions as adults. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE does not separate families, and that parents are asked if they want to be removed from the country with their children or to designate a safe person for them to stay with in the U.S. However, [a report](https://phr.org/our-work/resources/what-about-my-children-family-separation-among-parents-deported-to-honduras/?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights found that many parents aren’t given that choice, and that ICE often doesn’t ask detainees if they have children or take steps to ensure that children left behind are safe. Saúl Zermeño said ICE officers didn’t ask about his son or check on Damian’s well-being when he was deported. For days after his father’s deportation, Damian didn’t want to leave his room, eat, or go to school. He stopped talking to his friends. He stopped playing his favorite video game, *Fears To Fathom*. When he returned to school a week later, the teenager would cry in class or walk out overwhelmed with sadness. Even his favorite subject — English — lost its appeal. Damian and his father were inseparable; family members joked that they never saw one without the other. Zermeño took Damian, who has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and other health conditions, to his medical appointments. He cooked for him and combed his hair. He loved to take Damian to his favorite Thai restaurant or to get boba drinks after school. As much as they joked around and played pranks on each other, Zermeño also taught Damian the importance of work by bringing him along to construction jobs and to find supplies at Home Depot. Damian used to get annoyed with his father’s motivational chats about responsibility. Now they’re one of the things he misses most. “I thank my dad every day for teaching me to be strong before he left,” Damian said. Elsewhere in Los Angeles, Jacob, a shy 9-year-old with cropped, curly hair, skinny limbs, and a serious expression, was missing his mom. On a Saturday in May, he clung tightly to his father’s hand as they walked among homeless people, street peddlers, and the stench of urine that hangs in the air outside the building where they live in a cramped apartment. He hoped his mom would soon be released from immigration detention so that he could hug her again. “If my mom was here, I’d be happy,” he said. “Right now, I’m not.” Jacob is in some ways a typical 9-year-old. He likes playing *Roblox* and *Street Fighter*. He dreams of becoming a police officer and of owning a guard dog, “because you can train them and they defend you.” But he also endured a harrowing journey, even before being separated from his mom in January. Jacob’s family fled their home country of Colombia in 2024 because members of a paramilitary group threatened to kill them, his father, Andreis, said. During their journey to the United States, Jacob saw dead bodies while trekking through the jungle, was kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint with his parents, witnessed a rape, and had to sell candy and beg for money, his dad said. *KFF Health News* is not using the father’s or son’s real name because the family fears it would jeopardize their asylum cases. After the family arrived in Los Angeles, Jacob suffered from nightmares and an intense fear of being alone. He started to recover once he began attending school and got connected to therapy through the school district, his dad said. For a short while, the family felt they had found peace. Then, immigration officers detained Jacob’s mother at a check-in appointment while he and Andreis sat in the waiting room. The mother has a pending asylum application and no criminal record, Andreis said. The father said he and his son broke down when officers informed them of his wife’s detention, handing them a bag with her wallet and cellphone. They returned home without her, leaving Jacob inconsolable. “He was terrified,” the father said, fighting back tears, his voice growing quiet as he recounted that moment. “He was crying with rage.” After that, Jacob didn’t want to eat or go to school. When he went to school at his dad’s insistence, his teacher called home to ask why he was crying in class. Jacob couldn’t sleep. He acted out. He blamed his dad. “When will my mom come back?” he asked his dad. “Why do they have my mom? I miss my mom.” At the same time, Andreis said, he was going through his own crisis, trying in vain to console his son while wrestling with grief, worry, and desperation over what happened to his wife. He stopped his work as a laborer for two weeks to take care of Jacob, but that created financial stress and meant he sometimes couldn’t afford to fund his wife’s commissary account so she could buy better food and make phone calls. Jacob lived for those phone calls. Jacob listed all the things he missed about his mom, including her cooking (rice with meat, corn cakes with egg), visiting the park together, and her taking him to get his hair cut, treating him to McDonald’s on the weekend, and bringing him to church. Most of all, he missed being close to her. “I would lie down with her, and I’d watch videos with her,” he said. “My mom would hug me and I’d hug her.” Sometimes he sprayed her perfume on himself so he could smell her. After almost five months at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, Jacob’s mother was released based on a [habeas corpus petition](https://kffhealthnews.org/courts/ice-immigration-detention-medical-care-neglect-court-records-ap-investigation/?ref=down-ballot.info) in May. The family is still living in fear of detention or deportation. The father worries he too could be detained, and what that would mean for Jacob. Andreis is currently appealing a removal order for the two of them. A [recent analysis](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-administration-has-detained-400000-immigrants-what-do-we-know-about-their-children/?ref=down-ballot.info) published by the Brookings Institution estimates that over 200,000 children — including 145,000 U.S. citizen children — have likely had at least one parent detained since President Donald Trump returned to office. About a third of those children are under age 6\. The number of children with detained parents is expected to grow as the federal government pours over $200 billion into immigration enforcement, including funding from the GOP’s [One Big Beautiful Bill Act](https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-funding-trump-congress-republicans-c395a434f47fa41a7131369847091910?ref=down-ballot.info) and a [$70 billion](https://apnews.com/article/trump-immigration-enforcement-dhs-ice-deportation-9eef2e24fede3e4d593be462cbcf31f2?ref=down-ballot.info) appropriation Trump signed this month. More than 4.6 million U.S. citizen children live with a parent at risk of deportation, according to the report. ## Families broken Noemi, a Guatemalan mother and asylum seeker, stood in the parking lot at an ICE office north of Los Angeles, her three children wailing and clinging to her, glass from the family’s car scattered at their feet. Moments earlier, immigration agents had smashed a window and forced her partner out of the car while he waited for Noemi and the kids to finish a check-in appointment. While they were inside, officers tried to separate Noemi from the couple’s children, ages 9, 7, and 1, but gave up after the kids started screaming, Noemi said. Meanwhile, her partner, a Mexican national who’s lived in the U.S. for almost 20 years, was sent to the ICE detention center in Adelanto. “It was something tragic, something inexplicable that happened that day,” said Noemi, who asked to withhold her full name because she fears government retaliation for sharing her story. “It’s something that marks you for your whole life. My family was broken.” Located in the Mojave Desert, the privately run Adelanto ICE Processing Center is the immigration detention center closest to Los Angeles and [one of the largest](https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-sounds-alarm-inhumane-conditions-adelanto-detention?ref=down-ballot.info) in the U.S. It held a daily average of [over 1,700 people](https://tracreports.org/immigration/detentionstats/facilities.html?ref=down-ballot.info) as of April, and a facility next door called the Desert View Annex held an additional 426. Since her partner’s detention in December, Noemi said, their children haven’t been the same. > [How one Minnesota family is managing life after deportation](https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/06/15/how-one-minnesota-family-is-managing-life-after-deportation/?ref=down-ballot.info) Her 7-year-old daughter, till then usually happy and smiling, became depressed and refused to eat. Her once-high grades plummeted, and she forgot the names of letters and numbers in both English and Spanish. She and her 9-year-old brother struggled to sleep and asked constantly about their dad, wondering if he was taken because they’d done something wrong. “Why is this happening to us?” they asked her. “We’re good. We’re studying.” Noemi’s youngest daughter went back to crawling for three months, even though she’d already learned to walk before her father was taken. The little girl would cry out in her sleep, “Pa! Pa!” Sofia Mendoza, a therapist who works with immigrant families at a community clinic in Los Angeles County, said separated children can experience a form of grief. It’s hard for them to come to terms with their parent’s absence because the parent is still alive, but not with them. This can disrupt the child’s bond with that parent and their ability to form trusting relationships in the future, she said. Many children also become extremely anxious, angry, and fearful, Mendoza said. Young children often complain of physical symptoms such as stomachaches, develop separation anxiety, and regress to earlier behaviors like bed-wetting. Older children may have panic attacks, nightmares, and difficulty focusing, Mendoza said. Caregiver loss is also associated with [increased risk of suicide](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2762642?ref=down-ballot.info) and substance use in children. Norma Gómez, a project manager for the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project in Oxnard, said after immigration raids shook the community last summer, her 9-year-old daughter refused to go to school for a week and was afraid to leave her mom and dad, even though they’re legal U.S. residents. She’d seen other kids at school crying because family members had been detained. Gómez showed her daughter their U.S. residency documents to reassure her. The child asked to make copies for her classmates, hoping they would protect them too. ## ‘Time to be an adult’ Back in East Los Angeles, Damian is living with one of his aunts and struggling to adapt to not having his father around. He said his grades have dropped because he can’t focus in school. He no longer wants to do things he used to enjoy with his dad, such as going out to eat. “Fun is over,” he said. “It’s time to be an adult right now.” Being without his father has forced Damian to become more independent, he and his aunt Claudia Zermeño said. Before, his dad did almost everything for him. Now, Damian does his own laundry, helps with housework, and styles his own hair. He’s protective of his aunts, who are both devastated by their brother’s absence; he hugs them frequently and tells jokes to try to cheer them up. He doesn’t want to upset them more by showing his own sadness. Damian receives therapy both in and outside of school. He said he’s learned breathing exercises that have helped, but he still feels sad and worried a lot of the time. Sometimes he feels angry. “I try my hardest to think, to stay focused,” he said. “But with everything that’s going on, I can’t keep the facade of ‘everything’s normal’ when I feel heartbroken.” Saúl Zermeño, now living in Guadalajara, said he’s worried about his son’s health. Damian has a genetic condition called [neurofibromatosis Type 1](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/neurofibromatosis-type-1/symptoms-causes/syc-20350490?ref=down-ballot.info), which causes tumors to grow on nerve tissue in his body, including one in his head that, if not checked regularly by a doctor and monitored by his family, could interfere with his brain. He also suffers from epilepsy and was born with only one kidney, which means he tires easily and doesn’t play sports. Saúl is afraid his son won’t get the care he needs without him there. As Damian’s legal guardian, Claudia Zermeño is doing everything she can for him, but she has two children of her own and is also caring for her mother, who has neurological problems from a stroke. Damian talks with his dad as often as he can. He hopes to visit his father in Mexico, but he doesn’t have a passport and, as a minor under 16, there are more requirements to get one without his dad present. Saúl is working with an attorney to get permission to legally return to the U.S., but the process is complicated and uncertain. So, for now, Damian’s hanging on to hope that his dad will be allowed to return and is trying to become the man he believes he should be. He’s making plans to get his driver’s license when he turns 16 this month. He’s given up his goal of going to college and instead wants to get a job right after high school to help his aunts and send money to his dad. He still cries, but only when he’s alone in his room. [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* --- ## New Mexico regulators announce 16 community solar projects are online, generating power By Joshua Bowling (Source New Mexico) Published: July 8, 2026 ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/07/New_mg_0.jpg) A worker walks through rows of solar panels at the Cuidando Los Niños Community Solar Project in Belen, which lets PNM customers access solar energy without installing panels on their property. (Courtesy of Affordable Solar) The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission on Wednesday announced that more than one-third of its planned 47 community solar power projects are operational. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://sourcenm.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) When fully built out, the community solar program is expected to deliver 200 megawatts of renewable energy in areas serviced by Public Service Company of New Mexico, Southwestern Public Service Company and El Paso Electric, the PRC announced. As of Wednesday, 16 projects are online — stretching from Clovis to Santa Fe — and collectively generating about 71 megawatts of power. The community solar program, which consists of large, shared installations that several customers can draw power from, is aimed at business owners, renters and people who’d prefer not to install rooftop panels, the PRC noted in a Wednesday news release. While the current project has yet to reach its full goal of delivering 200 megawatts across 47 developments, the PRC in 2024 approved a 300-megawatt expansion, which has yet to be scheduled. The projects currently online include the Cuidando Los Niños Community Solar Project and Central New Mexico Community College Community Solar Project in Belen; the Pino solar project in Las Vegas; Global Give a Book Community Solar Project in Los Lunas; Bent Bow Solar, LLC in Salem; SLT Las Cruces and Wings for Life Community Solar Project in Las Cruces; Curry Road North and Clovis Concrete North in Clovis; Locker 505 Community Solar Project in Rio Rancho; Reynolds in Tularosa; WESST Project and Ben Thomas in Roswell; SLT Hidalgo in Lordsburg; Rockhound Sol Community Solar Garden in Deming and Juniper Sol Community Solar Garden in Santa Fe. Trina Jellison, CEO of the anti-child homelessness nonprofit Cuidando Los Niños, told Source NM she was excited to see the project come online. Although the site is in Belen, PNM customers in Albuquerque can sign up to receive energy from it. Jellison said it overlaps with her nonprofit’s goal of addressing youth homelessness in large part because a portion of the energy is dedicated to low-income residents. “Not everybody can afford to put solar on their house,” she said. The PRC’s community solar website, [csnewmexico.com](https://csnewmexico.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), has instructions on how residents can join the program. While the state’s efforts continue to build community solar projects, federal funding for residential solar projects is currently under litigation. The federal government [has cut more than $177 million in grant funding to New Mexico](https://sourcenm.com/briefs/trump-admin-has-cut-177m-in-federal-grants-for-new-mexico-state-agencies-new-report-says/?ref=down-ballot.info) since President Donald Trump took office in early 2025, and the lion’s share of those cuts were to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “Solar for All” program, according to a recent New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration [report](https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/ZFFSS%20062926%20Item%203%20DFA%20Fed%20Funds%20Tracking.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). About $156 million of those cuts were to the solar program, which sought to help [install solar panels in low-income communities](https://sourcenm.com/briefs/new-mexico-gets-massive-156m-boost-for-solar-equity/?ref=down-ballot.info). New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez [signed onto a multi-state lawsuit](https://ncdoj.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/FINAL-CFC-Complaint-Solar-for-All.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in October to challenge the cuts. As of Wednesday, the case is still pending in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. --- # A Mom Called 911 For an Ambulance. NYPD Sent Handcuffs by Abigail Kramer, MindSite News July 7, 2026 ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06133333/070626_nypd_mental_health_flushing_family-6-1-1024x683.jpg) In 2024, NYPD officers arrested Steven (right) and his brother Genaro in their family's Flushing home while he was suffering a schizophrenic episode. His mother, Gloria, has devoted her days to protecting Steven. Photographed July 6, 2026\. Ben Fracktenberg/The City Reporter *This story was produced as part of a collaboration between MindSite News and The City Reporter, New York City’s digital independent journalism site. Sign up for the The City Scoop newsletter* [*here*](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/the-scoop/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* Genaro watched as [four police officers](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/category/nypd/?ref=down-ballot.info) crowded out of the elevator, their boots thudding through the narrow hallway of the apartment building where he lives with his parents and brother, in Flushing, Queens. The officer in front carried a shield that blocked her from head to knees, as though she were facing down a riot, though Genaro was alone. He tried to explain that this wasn't what his family needed. He'd called 911 to ask for an ambulance for his older brother Steven, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Steven had been agitated and moody for weeks, not sleeping and smoking too much marijuana. Earlier that evening, he'd started an argument with their father, yelling and pounding on a kitchen cabinet. When things like this had happened before, Genaro, who was 20 years old when the police came, tried to lay low in his room and focus on his homework. But that night, in October 2024, he felt fed up. He walked into the kitchen and told Steven not to disrespect their father. Steven got angrier and knocked over the family's TV, which shattered on the floor. Genaro’s temper snapped, and he punched Steven in the face. Their mother, Gloria, who barely comes to Steven's shoulder, stepped between her sons and told Genaro to do what doctors and social workers had always instructed if Steven was [in a crisis](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/tag/mental-health/?ref=down-ballot.info): Call 911 and ask for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. (Gloria asked to be identified by her first name to protect the family’s privacy. Genaro and Steven are middle names.) By the time Genaro led the police into the apartment, Steven was sitting on the sofa, sobbing like a child. His parents assumed that soon, someone would lead him downstairs to an ambulance. But that's not what happened. Instead, a police supervisor from the 109th Precinct showed up and started asking questions — not about whether Steven was okay, but who had done what to whom; who had broken what. “He had like a really bad attitude. Everything just got escalated,” Genaro said. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06134206/070626_nypd_mental_health_flushing_family-2-1024x683.jpg) Steven and his family had symbols of faith in their Flushing apartment, July 6, 2026\. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/TheCity Reporter The supervisor told his officers to put Genaro and Steven in handcuffs. They were both under arrest — Genaro for assault; Steven because of the broken TV. Genaro remembers the officer nearest him asking if they could do the handcuffing outside, where Gloria wouldn't have to watch. The supervisor said no. Gloria started to scream and bang on the table, “like her heart was breaking,” Genaro said. Gloria, who doesn’t speak fluent English, remembers pleading with a Spanish-speaking officer. Genaro was such a good kid; he’d never been in trouble. And Steven, her vulnerable, unpredictable son — what would happen to him [in jail](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/category/jails-and-prisons/?ref=down-ballot.info)? “How is it possible that this is happening right now?” she asked. “We were asking for help. We were not asking for the police to come.” ## Broken Promises The New York Police Department responds to upwards of 149,000 mental health emergency calls each year. In the worst-case scenarios — the ones that make news — the person in crisis ends up dead, as has happened at least [24 times since 2015](https://www.nylpi.org/resource/ccit-nyc-see-their-faces-say-their-names/?ref=down-ballot.info). But even when everything goes according to plan, police encounters can cause irreparable harm. People in crisis end up in jail. They regularly get handcuffed, forced onto gurneys, strapped down and injected with sedatives against their will. Many describe it as like being kidnapped: Their dignity is snatched away, their autonomy erased. They feel degraded. They are terrified that it will happen again. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06134348/footage1-1024x684.png) NYPD officers approach the Queens home of Jabez Chakraborty after his sister called 911, Jan. 26, 2026\. Credit: Via NYPD body camera footage It is hard to find an expert who argues that sending cops or hauling people to ERs is a good way to respond to most mental health emergencies. Police are not trained as mental health providers; hospital psychiatric units are usually full and admissions criteria are narrow. Once people in crisis get to the hospital, they are nearly always sent away with a referral to an outpatient clinic — which will also likely be full, with a waitlist. Researchers consistently find that sending mental health teams to respond to emergencies is [safer](https://www.nylpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FINAL%5FMental-Health-Crisis-Response-Report.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), [cheaper](https://ed.stanford.edu/news/groundbreaking-study-gse-scholars-shows-benefits-reinventing-responses-nonviolent-911-calls?ref=down-ballot.info) and[ more effective](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10900-023-01299-1?ref=down-ballot.info) than sending police. For years, officials across the city and state have promised to build better, more humane ways to respond to people in crisis. For years, however, those promises have been broken. Gov. [Kathy Hochul](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/category/kathy-hochul/?ref=down-ballot.info) said in 2022 she would [fund intensive, street-based programs](https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-and-mayor-adams-announce-major-actions-keep-subways-safe-and-address-transit?ref=down-ballot.info) to work with people at highest risk of landing in hospitals or jails. Those programs have [waitlists of hundreds](https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-council-press-officials-to-cut-wait-times-for-mobile-mental-health-teams?ref=down-ballot.info). A succession of New York City mayors promised to [deploy mobile crisis teams](http://mentalhealth.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Thrive-Roadmap.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to deescalate emergencies. The teams are so underfunded and understaffed that [families sometimes wait days for them to show up](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/23/police-mental-health-system-failed-jabez-chakraborty/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2021, the city launched B-HEARD, a pilot program that sends mental health workers and EMTs, instead of police, to respond to 911 calls. Each mayor since has promised to expand the program across the city. And yet, five years after its launch, B-HEARD teams respond to fewer than 7% of citywide mental health emergency calls made to 911. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06134447/Mamdani-1024x672.png) Mayor Zohran Mamdani announces at City Hall Renita Francois will lead the newly formed Mayoral Office ofCommunity Safety, March 19, 2026\. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/The City Reporter The current mayor, [Zohran Mamdani](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/category/zohran-mamdani/?ref=down-ballot.info), has made even bigger promises than his predecessors, [campaigning on a plan](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a7ejjSZWWIAcxfcWnkYaqvnjihTb0LAOQkj8g10-npg/edit?tab=t.0&ref=down-ballot.info) to triple the size of the mobile crisis program, grow B-HEARD so big that many neighborhoods have multiple teams, and create a new, $1.1 billion city agency to oversee an “[unprecedented City investment in mental health services.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a7ejjSZWWIAcxfcWnkYaqvnjihTb0LAOQkj8g10-npg/edit?tab=t.0&ref=down-ballot.info#heading=h.3at9u9s4e0vp)” > Six months into the Mamdani administration, however, those reforms are nowhere to be seen. After [police shot 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/23/police-mental-health-system-failed-jabez-chakraborty/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=SCOOP%5F022326&utm%5Fsource=1&utm%5Fsource=ActiveCampaign&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcontent=A%20blockbuster%20blizzard%20-%20and%20how%20to%20handle%20it&utm%5Fcampaign=SCOOP%5F022326), who was holding a knife during a mental health crisis in January, Mamdani took the comparatively small step of opening a new Office of Community Safety, with a budget of only $260 million, to oversee not only B-HEARD but violence prevention, domestic violence and other programs. The city budget, adopted June 30, includes no new money for B-HEARD. "The Mamdani administration is committed to strengthening and expanding B-HEARD,” wrote Mamdani spokesperson Sam Raskin in an emailed statement. “When New Yorkers are experiencing behavioral health crises, they should be met with trained health professionals who can respond appropriately and connect them to ongoing care.” ## ‘We’re Alone’ After Steven and Genaro were arrested, police locked them in holding cells at their local precinct. Steven’s stomach hurt so badly from anxiety that he was transferred to Queens Hospital Center, where he spent the night shackled to a bed with a police officer watching him. Hospital staff prescribed medicine for his stomach pain but no one gave him a psychiatric evaluation or treatment. His parents, worried sick, brought his psychiatric medication to the precinct, but officers turned them away. By the time he was arraigned and released, two days after his arrest, Steven was exhausted, afraid and confused. At home, the fear only closed in tighter. Growing up, it had seemed to Steven that his horizons were infinite. He was a soccer player, tall and handsome with close-cropped black hair and big, gentle eyes. At 19, he was recruited to play for a professional team in the Dominican Republic, the Delfinas del Este. But while he was there, his luck broke. His best friend died, and he had knee surgery and was cut from the team. After he came home, it was like his life had snapped shut. He felt like a failure, and it seemed like other people were looking at him and thinking the same thing. Steven started hearing voices. He couldn't relax, couldn't sleep, couldn't go outside. He smoked weed to slow down his mind but it made him irritable and aggressive. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06134549/070626_nypd_mental_health_flushing_family-4-1024x683.jpg) Steven says NYPD officers arrested him in his Flushing family home while he was suffering a schizophrenic episode, July 6, 2026\. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/The City Reporter His parents, contending with the relentless, stagnant grief of watching their child disappear inside a stranger, rearranged their lives so that Steven would never be left alone. Gloria quit her job as a home health attendant so she could go with him to his psychiatry and therapy appointments. But after the arrest, Steven stopped wanting to leave the apartment at all. News footage played over and over in his mind of people being killed by police. He was scared when the doorbell rang. It seemed that police cars were slowing down when they drove past. He couldn’t shake the dislocating feeling of not really being a person — at least not in the eyes of the police or the people at the hospital or the arraignment court. Steven locked himself in his bedroom, “just constantly thinking, ‘Is it really worth the risk, going outside or going to the store?’” he said. Meanwhile, in the living room, his family circled around what had become an impossible question: What would they do next time Steven ended up in crisis? They knew they’d never call 911 again, but there seemed to be nowhere else to turn. “We’re searching, searching, searching," Steven’s father said, but “we’re alone.” Which is why Gloria was surprised, a few weeks after her sons’ arrest, to get a call with an unsolicited offer of help from an activist named Peggy Herrera. ## Unheard Peggy became an unexpectedly public figure in the world of mental health advocacy in 2019, after she called 911 to ask for an ambulance. Her 21-year-old son, Justin, was having a ferocious panic attack, breaking things and threatening to kill himself. By the time cops arrived, Peggy was locked out of her apartment and Justin — terrified of being arrested — refused to come outside. Police wanted to break down the door, but Peggy stood in front of it. Body camera footage, which aired on local news at the time, shows what happened next: Three cops push Peggy to her knees and cuff her hands behind her back. When Justin comes outside to help his mom, they take him face-down on the sidewalk before EMTs strap him to a gurney. Peggy’s voice is raw, screaming, “Leave my son alone!” In 2021, Justin filed a complaint against the city that, over several years, grew into an ongoing class-action lawsuit with the potential to fundamentally change how New York responds to mental health emergencies. Peggy became an activist, working to keep other people with mental health problems away from cops and out of jail. "People have an illness or they have trauma and what we do is criminalize them and put them in handcuffs," she said. "They deserve to be treated like human beings." ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06134635/070626_herrera_1-1024x683.jpg) Not Another Child Program Manager Peggy Herrera lost her son to gun violence, June 29, 2026\. Peggy Herrera helped Steven and Genaro get their cases dismissed after they were arrested when the family called 911 for help during a 2024 mental health emergency. Credit: Alex Krales/The City Reporter There was a moment when it seemed like city officials — along with much of the rest of the country — were listening. In September 2020, amid nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, outrage erupted in Rochester, New York, over body camera footage of a Black man named Daniel Prude, who was forcibly hooded and pinned to the ground by police after his family called 911 for help during an episode of psychosis. He asphyxiated and later died. “I placed a phone call to get my brother help, not to have my brother lynched,” Daniel’s brother Joe Prude [told the press](https://subscribe.democratandchronicle.com/restricted?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.democratandchronicle.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2F2020%2F09%2F02%2Fdaniel-prude-rochester-ny-police-died-march-2020-after-officers-restrained-him%2F5682948002%2F&gps-source=CPROADBLOCKDH&itm%5Fsource=roadblock&itm%5Fmedium=onsite&itm%5Fcampaign=premiumroadblock&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z118475e003800v118475b0094xxd119465&gca-ft=113&gca-ds=sophi&theme=twentyfour&hideGrid=true&gnt-eid=control&ref=down-ballot.info). As activists called to defund the police, dozens of cities sent delegates to study a 30-year-old program called [CAHOOTS, in Eugene, Oregon](https://mindsitenews.org/2021/09/29/enlisting-mental-health-workers-not-cops-in-mobile-crisis-response/?ref=down-ballot.info), that trained EMTs and crisis workers — most of whom had experienced mental illness themselves — to respond to emergencies. Until the program lost funding in 2025, CAHOOTS teams [handled about 20%](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/10/874339977/cahoots-how-social-workers-and-police-share-responsibilities-in-eugene-oregon?ref=down-ballot.info) of Eugene’s 911 calls, saving the city millions of dollars a year without a serious injury or fatality. After Prude’s death, [nearly 100 new alternative crisis response programs](https://policingequity.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CPE-ARIG-Data-Brief.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) cropped up across the country. New York City rolled out B-HEARD, starting with a pilot program in three police precincts in Harlem. The goal, [officials said](https://mentalhealth.cityofnewyork.us/bheard-data?ref=down-ballot.info), was to get people into voluntary, community-based services, avoid police encounters, and stop the revolving door of the emergency room. It wasn’t long, however, before political momentum swung back towards policing and forced hospitalizations. As shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic lifted, New Yorkers saw a spike in crime and an increase of visibly mentally ill people on the street. In 2022, a 40-year-old woman named Michelle Go was [pushed to her death](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2022/01/18/used-around-the-world-platform-doors-keep-getting-scratched-off-mta-to-do-list/?ref=down-ballot.info) in front of a subway train by a man with a long history of psychiatric hospitalizations. Then-Mayor Eric Adams instructed police to [take more people to ERs against their will](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2022/11/29/adams-involuntary-commit-mental-illness/?ref=down-ballot.info). Gov. Hochul followed suit, making it easier for hospitals to forcibly commit patients to psychiatric wards. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06144143/012626_nypd_shooting-3-1-1024x581.jpg) Jabez Chakraborty’s mother called 911 to request an ambulance to their Queens home when her son was experiencing a mental health crisis. Credit: Via NYPD Meanwhile the expansion of B-HEARD stalled out. The program currently operates in fewer than 40% of the city’s police precincts, responding during limited hours to a remarkably narrow range of 911 calls. Even if a B-HEARD team had been available in Steven’s neighborhood, he would likely have been found ineligible. Like most cities with similar programs, B-HEARD [screens out incidents involving weapons or violence](https://mentalhealth.cityofnewyork.us/news/announcements/the-mayors-office-of-community-mental-health-announces-increase-in-b-heard-response-rate-further-ensuring-community-based-mental-health-crisis-support?ref=down-ballot.info), according to the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health. In practice, however, dispatchers rely on an unusually broad definition of violence — including yelling or property damage. If a person is “banging on a car or they’re destroying items in the house, that would trigger a police response,” Assistant Chief Ebony Washington testified at a 2024 City Council hearing. To Peggy and other advocates, the failure to expand and invest in B-HEARD is a betrayal. “What’s the point if it doesn’t get to the families who need it?” What people in crisis need, she said, is “trained peers: people who’ve been through it and know how to help you.” So when Peggy heard about a Spanish-speaking mom whose two sons faced criminal charges after a mental health emergency, she decided to help them fight in court. ## ‘Don’t take it!’ Early on the morning of his first hearing, Steven and his parents sat in an underground room of the Queens Criminal Court. Dozens of defendants surrounded them, waiting in a swampy atmosphere of tedium and fear to be called before a judge. Public defenders bustled in and out with stacks of folders, each representing a client they had likely never met. When Steven’s lawyer arrived, she called him into a hallway to explain what was about to happen: He was facing a charge of disorderly conduct, she said, but the prosecutor was willing to offer him an Adjournment in Contemplation of Dismissal. ACDs are common, in part, because they are efficient for lawyers and judges. If Steven stayed out of trouble for 12 months, the charges would be dropped. ACDs can pose liabilities for defendants, though, since their arrests continue to show up in immigration cases. If they are arrested again, they stand to face two sets of charges. Steven’s lawyer didn’t explain that he had the option to fight the charge against him. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06134903/queenscounty-1024x681.png) Queens County Criminal Court in Kew Gardens. Credit: Christine Chung/The City Reporter As Steven and his parents filed back into the courtroom, Gloria texted Peggy, trying to understand what Steven had just agreed to. Peggy — stuck in traffic on the Jackie Robinson Parkway — sent vehement replies: “Don’t take it!” “You are going to fight these charges!” “He did nothing wrong!” Once Peggy arrived, the attorney acknowledged that Steven could ask for a trial instead of accepting the ACD. He was called to the bench, and the judge set a date for another hearing. Genaro’s court date was the following day. Peggy coached him ahead of time to tell his public defender that he wanted a trial — not an ACD or any other deal. But he was called to the bench without even a word with his lawyer. Prosecutor and defender conducted rapid-fire negotiations and, in less than two minutes, Genaro found himself accepting a one-year ACD. "I didn't really know what else to do," he said afterward. ## ‘A Pain in the Ass’ With Steven's next court date coming up and the ACD hanging over Genaro’s head, Peggy didn’t have to go far to find them a legal adviser: Her brother was happy to help. Victor Herrera is small, pointy-featured and argumentative. In the 1980s, he found legal codes and grievance procedures the way some people find religion: inside Attica prison, where he was notorious for filing complaints against guards, he said. People have to listen when you’re “a pain in the ass.” After he got out, Victor ended up in the New York City homeless shelter system, where the atmosphere seemed as despotic and deliberately humiliating as prison. He started filing complaints about drug use and missing property — being a pain in the ass. In response, Victor said in a 2016 lawsuit, shelter staff followed what he characterized as a deliberate practice inside city homeless shelters to silence difficult residents: They called 911 to report him as an “emotionally disturbed person.” ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06134943/062526_victor_herrera-1024x683.jpg) Close Rikers advocate Victor Herrera spoke outside City Hall about his experiences with the NYPD using mental health as a pretext to arrest people, June 25, 2026\. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/The City Reporter Nine times between 2014 and 2016, police and EMTs put Victor in handcuffs and strapped him to a gurney. At least once, officers slammed him against a wall and put him in a chokehold, according to his legal filings. Five times, he was injected with sedatives or antipsychotics against his will. He tried to tell police and doctors that he wasn’t experiencing a mental health crisis, he said, but when someone in a uniform says you’re crazy, nobody else is going to listen to you. “You’re dismissed, you’re dismissed, you’re dismissed,” Victor said. Within a year, New York City paid Victor a financial settlement on behalf of its homeless services agency, public hospitals, the NYPD and the fire department. Two private shelter operators soon followed. The settlements don’t include admissions of guilt but Victor keeps photocopies of the checks. They’re proof, when he needs it, that he got heard. The Department of Social Services did not respond to requests for comment. After the lawsuit, Victor became one of the first clients of a city-funded Intensive Mobile Treatment program, which helped him get an apartment, encouraged him to become an advocate, and provided treatment for his depression and PTSD. A decade later, he still has flashbacks to being strapped down and sedated. “It can happen anywhere,” he said. “I just relive all that.” When it happens, he goes home and climbs into bed with his cats, Boots and Socks. “I start questioning whether I’m still valid to be living,” he said. “The most traumatic, for me, was going to a hospital and not being heard.” What gets him out of bed is the knowledge that people are counting on him. ## ‘We Have to Help Each Other’ By the time Steven had his second court date, in February 2025, the Trump administration had allowed immigration agents into city courthouses. Steven’s father, who isn’t a citizen, stood across the street and waited while Victor accompanied Steven to his hearing. An hour later, they came out with good news: The charges had been dropped and the case was dismissed. Steven’s dad wiped tears from his eyes and shook Victor’s hand. Victor offered to help Genaro contest his ACD. When he called the public defenders’ office, he was told that they never collected evidence — not even body camera footage of the arrest. (Steven, The City Reporter and MindSite News filed a freedom of information request for the footage in Jan. 2025\. As of publication, the NYPD had not provided it, despite multiple appeals. The department also did not respond to requests for comment for this story.) For Peggy and Victor, it was an ugly confirmation that not much had changed. After all the news stories and the promises from officials and politicians, “the system is just not set up for people who struggle with mental health,” Peggy said. “We have to help each other.” Their best hope might lie in [the lawsuit](https://clearinghouse.net/case/43935/?ref=down-ballot.info#document-list) that Peggy’s son Justin set in motion five years ago. The lawsuit now includes 10 named plaintiffs, though Justin is no longer one of them. He was shot and killed in July 2022, at his own 24th birthday party. The grief still feels like a physical obliteration, Peggy said — like a part of her body was ripped off. But the lawsuit, she said, is part of Justin’s legacy: something he left behind to make the world better. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/06135033/070626_nypd_mental_health_flushing_family-3-1024x683.jpg) In 2024, NYPD officers arrested Steven and his brother Genaro in their family’s Flushing home while he was suffering a schizophrenic episode. A brother and sister team of activists helped Steven and Genaro avoid criminal prosecution. Photographed July 6, 2026\. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/The City Reporter In January, city attorneys filed a letter in court indicating that they’re ready to explore a settlement. If that happens, the terms could include a detailed, enforceable plan with a clear timeline to build a citywide, non-police response for New Yorkers in crisis, said Jenny Marashi, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs. “Imagine if we could meet people in their most vulnerable moment with compassion instead of force,” Marashi said. The blueprints exist for a better solution, she continued. “What you need is a number you can call, where people can come right away, with the discernment to know what you need — which is almost never an emergency room. Ideally those people are led by peers with their own experience” of what it’s like to be on the other side of a mental health call. “Then imagine there are places to go for help, where people actually wanted to be, designed by people who use the services,” she said. “Think about the people that you know. How many of them have had at least some moment where they just couldn’t handle this freaking super hard life?” If we imagine we’re creating a system for all of us, it could be a “thread we can follow” — not just to manage emergencies, but toward a reality where New Yorkers treat one another better in the most frightening, vulnerable moments of their lives. “We could actually have a more healing and safe world,” Marashi said. “Let’s dream big.” *Reporting for this story was supported by the O'Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism*. *MindSite News' work in New York City is supported by the van Ameringen Foundation.* This [article](https://mindsitenews.org/2026/07/07/nypd-mental-health-emergency-mamdani-new-york/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MindSite News](https://mindsitenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- ![](https://mindsitenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=17257) # Therapy in a tent: The healthcare many homeless Californians need but aren’t getting By [Marisa Kendall](https://calmatters.org/author/marisa-kendall/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![A woman sits on a couch in her apartment while her dog sits on the floor in front of her.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/070126_Street-Therapy_LBQ3-CM-260.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1) Jessica Scott, 35, and her pitbull, Baby Girl, inside their new apartment in Sacramento on July 1, 2026\. Photo by Louis Bryant III for CalMatters This story was originally published by [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Sign up](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) for their newsletters. Like many people who are or have been homeless, Jessica Scott struggles with debilitating anxiety. When she finally moved from her stepfather’s car into a Sacramento apartment a few weeks ago, she said one thing played a major role in helping her take that step: Therapy. “When you’re panicking so much that you can’t really talk to people, it’s difficult to do anything,” Scott said. That included making – and keeping – the numerous appointments required to find subsidized housing. Scott used to have her therapy sessions with Anthony Villanueva, a clinician with One Community Health, on a park bench because she had nowhere else to go. But her most recent session in early July was on a blowup couch in her new living room. She credits her ability to get this housing — her first in two and a half years — partially to Villanueva teaching her breathing exercises to calm herself down. Media stories, politicians and splashy state-funded mental health initiatives tend to focus on people who live on the street in the grip of psychosis or other severe mental illnesses — a highly visible but statistically uncommon problem. That overlooks a much quieter but more widespread issue: All across California, unhoused people are suffering at alarming rates from less obvious but potentially enervating mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some of those people manage to navigate the healthcare system, find a therapist and make regular trips to a clinic. Most do not. To fill that void, therapists are meeting their patients wherever they are, conducting therapy in a tent, a homeless shelter or a car on the side of the road. ![A woman sits on a couch pointing across the room while speaking with a member of a street medicine team, who listens with a laptop open on their lap inside her apartment.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/070126_Street-Therapy_LBQ3-CM_178-1024x681.jpg) Jessica Scott, 35, gestures to where she used to live when she was pregnant with her now 16 year old son, while speaking with Anthony Villanueva, a behavioral health clinician with One Community Health, during a check-in at her apartment in Sacramento on July 1, 2026\. Photo by Louis Bryant III for CalMatters That care is a major help to people like Scott. But there are far from enough street therapists to see everyone. Recent estimates put California’s homeless population at [nearly 182,000](https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/05/point-in-time-homelessness-report/?ref=down-ballot.info), and a [UCSF study](https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2026-04/CASPEH%5FReport%5F62023%5Fv4.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) of homeless Californians found that 48% of them reported symptoms of serious depression and 51% reported anxiety. Doctors, nurses and clinicians who work with people on the street told CalMatters the numbers are even higher. They estimate between 80% and 90% of their patients have a mental health condition that could benefit from therapy – most commonly depression, anxiety and PTSD. “I have no capacity to see the amount of patients that we have,” said social worker Lisette Carmona, who provides street therapy in Los Angeles with the USC street medicine team. That’s despite the fact that street medicine, which brings basic medical care (sometimes including therapy) directly to homeless people in encampments and shelters, has rapidly expanded over the past few years. What started in the 1990s as a small, grassroots movement has ballooned into at least 70 teams in 34 counties in California, said USC Street Medicine Director Brett Feldman, who is considered one of the founding fathers of the field. In 2022, the state made it easier for those teams to [bill Medi-Cal](https://www.chcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/GameChangerStreetMedicineKeyTakeawaysNewMediCalGuidelinesIB.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), helping them grow even more. But they’re still vastly outnumbered, a problem with broad implications, because therapy isn’t just about making people on the street feel better. Practitioners say it also can be a crucial step to getting them into housing. The housing process is difficult and complicated, requiring people to go to the DMV to replace lost identification, answer a lengthy list of questions to determine their eligibility and apply for multiple waiting lists. It can take months or even years, often with plenty of setbacks along the way. “It’s kind of a daunting process for anybody,” said Joann Bianchi Wojick, associate behavioral health director of LifeLong Medical Care's Trust Health Center, which sends a street medicine team out to encampments in Oakland. “But when you’re feeling anxious or depressed, and you have more difficulty organizing your thoughts and your to-do list and your actions, it can feel so overwhelming." Once someone does get into housing, if they haven’t already learned to regulate their emotions in therapy, they risk lashing out at their landlord or new neighbors. That can be a quick ticket to getting evicted and landing back on the street. That’s why street therapy is “so, so important,” said Dr. Katherine Koh, one of the country’s early pioneers of street psychiatry, who practices in Boston. “It needs to be part of the treatment,” she said. “I really think just meds alone is rarely going to be the solution for anybody. It’s teaching people the skills that hopefully will continue to help maintain and regulate their behavior when they move into housing, because if they don’t have that, they’re just going to end up back on the street.” ## Trauma on the streets leaves mental scars While schizophrenia is what often comes to mind when people talk about mental health and homelessness, other ailments are far more common. The [UCSF study](https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2026-04/CASPEH%5FReport%5F62023%5Fv4.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) of homeless Californians found that while two-thirds reported symptoms of mental health conditions, just 12% experienced hallucinations. Depression and anxiety were much more prevalent. Some of that is caused or exacerbated by childhood trauma. A review by The Lancet Public Health journal of more than two dozen studies [found](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667%2821%2900189-4/fulltext?ref=down-ballot.info) that 90% of homeless adults had been through at least one adverse childhood experience, and more than half had been through four or more. Living on the street is also terrible for people’s mental health. They suffer mental scars left by physical and sexual assaults experienced while homeless, psychological damage from having to maintain a constant state of hypervigilance and the mental anguish of feeling unwanted by society. “It’s just causing a lot of suffering in our patients’ lives,” said Dr. Shane Collins, a psychiatrist on the USC street medicine team. California’s “housing first” system prioritizes getting people into housing above all else, promising mental health care and other services will come once someone moves indoors. But housing is in short supply, and thousands of people are stuck waiting on the street without mental health care. Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom has put a significant focus recently on helping unhoused people with schizophrenia and other acute mental illnesses. He launched [CARE Court](https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2025/12/care-court-homeless/?ref=down-ballot.info), a court-based program that connects people in psychosis with treatment, and backed a 2024 statewide bond to fund [mental health and substance use treatment beds](https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/03/election-result-proposition-1/?ref=down-ballot.info). In addition, some cities, including Los Angeles, have mobile outreach teams dedicated to helping people on the street with severe mental illnesses. But for the thousands of unhoused people dealing with less-obvious mental health conditions, it’s easy to fall through the cracks. ![A person talks on a cellphone while sitting in the front seat of a vehicle, with a laptop open on the dashboard.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/070126_Street-Therapy_LBQ3-CM_43-1024x681.jpg) ****First:** Aubriana Smith, Street Medicine program manager for One Community Health, arranges transportation through Uber Health for patients traveling to health care appointments while conducting outreach in Sacramento on July 1, 2026\. ****Last:** Anthony Villanueva, a behavioral health clinician with One Community Health, explains the care and support the team provides during a visit to the X Street Navigation Center while traveling to the team’s next outreach stop in Sacramento on July 1, 2026\. Photos by Louis Bryant III for CalMatters ![Two people stand at the open trunk of a vehicle, looking through supplies in a parking lot.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/070126_Street-Therapy_LBQ3-CM-74-1024x681.jpg) From left, Anthony Villanueva, a behavioral health clinician, and Aubriana Smith, Street Medicine program manager, retrieve supplies from their vehicle for another patient during a One Community Health outreach visit at the X Street Navigation Center in Sacramento on July 1, 2026\. Photo by Louis Bryant III for CalMatters Terri Roman, 57, has been homeless for 10 years. That’s plenty of time for the day-to-day brutality of life on the street — from drivers leaning on their horns at 4 a.m. just to be cruel and wake her up, to other unhoused people stealing her belongings — to take a toll on her mental health. “The hard thing to cope with is the dislike of homeless people from everybody,” said Roman, who lives in an RV in Oakland with her partner and a dog named Bonehead. “It feels like nobody wants you anywhere.” Like so many unhoused people, she’s also experienced bloodcurdling trauma while homeless. She witnessed a murder and then had to testify in court against the alleged killer — her own ex-boyfriend. Another time, she was grabbed, slapped and kicked by two masked men trying to steal her car at a gas station in the middle of the night. “That’s really damaging,” she said. “Now I’m hyper-vigilant. I go off on people.” She glanced around as she spoke, constantly scanning her surroundings. She could really use someone to talk to and help her process her trauma, Roman said. When she asked her local street medicine team about counseling, they referred her to the Native American Health Center. She went for eight months. But it was hard to get there if she didn’t have money for gas. And she’d lose track of the appointments, with her phone constantly running out of battery and having nowhere to charge it. She missed three appointments, and said the center dropped her as a patient. Now she’s waiting to get back in. It would help immensely if a therapist came to see people on the street instead, she said. “Then homeless people would feel they had someone to turn to,” Roman said. “Or they would feel they’re not alone.” ## Meeting people where they’re at Some lucky street medicine teams have a psychiatrist, but psychiatrists willing to go to homeless encampments are scarce and their time is expensive. That means they often go out on the streets just one day a week, and tend to focus on diagnosing mental health conditions and prescribing medications. That leaves little time for therapy. Collins, the psychiatrist on the USC street medicine team, estimates his team can provide therapy to only about 5% of the patients who could use it. If street medicine teams do provide therapy, it’s usually done by social workers like Carmona, who works alongside Collins. “I am doing therapy anywhere where my patient is at,” she said. “So you can find me on the riverbed, you can find me in a tent…Wherever the patient is comfortable, that’s where I'm conducting their therapy.” ![Two people provide medical care beside a parked vehicle while another person stands nearby holding medical supplies.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/021723-LA-Street-Medicine-Project-LV_CM_37-1024x682.jpg) ****First:** At rear, Corrine Feldman and her street medicine team draw blood from a patient in south Los Angeles on Feb. 14, 2023\. ****Last:** Physician assistant Brett Feldman checks on his patient, Gary Dela Cruz, near Dela Cruz's homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles in November. Feldman is director and co-founder of the Street Medicine program at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Photos by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local Her sessions can last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the patient. She sees some people once a week and others more sporadically. Because her patients can’t escape to a quiet room to be alone when they are upset, or zone out in front of the TV, Carmona thinks up alternative coping strategies for them, such as coloring and journaling. She also does short-notice calls for patients in crisis. For Bert Andernié, 52, therapy helps him deal with the soul-crushing disappointments he experiences on the streets of San Francisco. For example, in May, his caseworker told him he’d gotten a housing placement. Later, he was told that actually, no, there wasn’t a spot for him. He still doesn’t know what happened. “I was so pissed I was crying on the bus,” he said. “I was livid.” Andernié doesn’t have many other people to talk to about his problems, so he hashed out his frustration with the therapist he got matched with after applying for the city’s General Assistance benefits. “It’s nice to have somebody say, ‘yeah, you’re right, that is messed up,’” he said. ## The debate over how to best use scarce therapy resources Not everyone agrees that conducting therapy on the street is a good use of time. Some medical providers prefer to wait until someone is housed, or at least in a shelter. Hollywood 2.0, a mental health team that prioritizes the sickest unhoused people in Los Angeles’ Hollywood neighborhood, doesn’t do traditional therapy on the street. “It’s really hard to catch folks and catch them sober,” said psychiatrist Dr. Chance Cruz. “A lot of times I can't even get a logical answer out of someone because they’re high. So that person couldn’t engage in therapy at that time.” Dr. Chad Koyanagi, one of the national pioneers in street psychiatry who practices in Hawaii, prescribes medication but doesn’t do therapy on the street. “Probably their focus is going to be on finding their next meal, not their relationship with their parents,” he said. “That stuff is going to be dealt with at a later time when their basic needs are taken care of.” Patients in therapy must feel safe before they can recover, and that’s often impossible when living on the street, said Rory Rieger, who oversees the Ritter Center’s behavioral health team in Marin County. “There’s only so many things you can do when a person has that many vulnerabilities and is that stressed,” he said. “Therapy really doesn’t work for someone who is that stressed out.” What his patients really need to make a dent in their mental health is housing. Carmona “vehemently disagrees" with the idea that clinicians can’t do real therapy on the street, and says that idea caters to the comfort of the therapist, not the patient. Carmona has seen patients who seemed hopeless when she met them quickly regain their optimism after starting therapy. The wins aren’t always monumental. Some weeks, it’s small victories, such as when a patient gets upset but refrains from self-harm. Other teams use a both-and approach, such as LifeLong Medical Care in Alameda County. Initially, their street therapy is often crisis management — helping someone cope with losing their belongings in a sweep or get through their depression, said Bianchi Wojick, associate behavioral health director of the LifeLong Medical Care clinic. Once someone gets into a shelter or housing, they can more deeply explore their past trauma. Even without an official therapist, regular medical check-ups on the street can look a lot like therapy. It’s not uncommon for patients to spill their hearts, or even cry, while an empathetic nurse is taking their blood pressure on the sidewalk. ![A healthcare worker treats a person's foot while they sit on the open tailgate of an SUV as several people watch nearby.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/04023-Bakersfield-PROJECT-LV_CM_14-1024x682.jpg) Dr. Mathew Beare treats a patient's foot along the side of the road outside Church Without Walls in Bakersfield on March 16, 2023\. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local For Valerie Campos, gamechanging mental health care didn’t come on the street — it came in a tiny home. She’d grown up homeless and then continued the pattern as an adult in Southern California, ending up getting trafficked and sexually abused. That trauma devastated her mental health. She developed PTSD, as well as depression and anxiety so severe that she couldn’t drive a car on the freeway. “It was just terrible,” said Campos, 49\. “It was hard to live minute by minute sometimes.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, Campos moved into a tiny home transitional housing program in Redondo Beach. All of a sudden she had access to something that had seemed unreachable on the street: counseling. Counselors came to Campos’ tiny home every two weeks and stayed as long as she needed. They didn’t judge her or her past, and so she began to open up, talking about her childhood, her homelessness, and everything she’d been through. They taught her coping skills, the warning signs that could indicate her depression was rearing up again, and how to journal and keep track of her moods. They helped her get medication for depression and anxiety. She learned to recognize, and stop, her self-sabotaging behaviors. “I’m a whole different person,” Campos said. “I’m back on the freeway, driving.” Four years ago, Campos moved from the tiny home into her very own apartment in Gardena, thanks to a federal housing voucher. She isn’t sure how much longer she’ll be able to stay, as the program paying for her apartment — the federal Emergency Housing Vouchers — is [running out of money](https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/rental-assistance-hud-emergency-voucher/?ref=down-ballot.info), and Campos has been told her subsidy will end in December. But she does know that getting mental health support saved her. Without it, she wouldn't have been able to hold down an apartment. And without an apartment, she doesn’t think she would have made it. “I don’t think I would be here right now,” she said, “if it wasn’t for the counseling and the housing.” *This story was reported with support from the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism.* This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2026/07/street-therapy-homelessness/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # New Orleans Haitian community reeling in the wake of U.S. Supreme Court ruling by Cris Seda Chabrier, Verite News New Orleans July 8, 2026 Between French hymns and Kreyòl singing, the fear and outrage at the [recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling ](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-1083%5Ff204.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)that allowed the government to end legal protections for Haitians was palpable among congregants at First Haitian Baptist Church. “Gangs take over businesses, homes,” Pastor Jean Wilfrid Alexis, who leads the congregation, told Verite News after a recent Sunday service. “To go there is to go to die.” The [termination](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/supreme-court-immigration-ruling-tps-asylum-seekers/?ref=down-ballot.info) of temporary protected status (TPS) in Mullin v. Doe is expected to affect roughly 350,000 Haitians and 4,000 Syrians nationwide, leaving them unable to obtain legal employment and live in the United States. Greater New Orleans has a Haitian population of around 2,300, according to the latest [U.S. Census estimates](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B05006?q=louisiana&t=Place+of+Birth&g=310XX00US35380%5FW160000WO2450&ref=down-ballot.info). The ruling will affect approximately 10 people in First Haitian’s congregation, according to church leaders. Naomi, a former TPS holder and congregant, came to the United States with her children, who are now adults, in 2021\. She has been unemployed since February and said, through a translator, that she felt broken by not being able to work. Since 2025, the Trump administration has stripped nationals of [at least eight countries](https://forumtogether.org/article/temporary-protected-status-fact-sheet/?ref=down-ballot.info) of TPS, including Venezuelans and Hondurans, that, with a population of almost 29,000, are the largest group of Latino immigrants in the Greater New Orleans area. The majority of immigrants do not have criminal records, according to [Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse](https://tracreports.org/immigration/quickfacts/detention.html?ref=down-ballot.info) data. Haitians tend to fill [low-paid positions](https://documentedny.com/2026/06/30/haitian-tps-new-york-healthcare-crisis-tps/?ref=down-ballot.info) in healthcare that are chronically understaffed, such as elderly care and nursing home assistants. Nora Ahmed, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, said that the Trump administration has been stripping legal status from documented immigrants to then deport them. “What this administration has largely done since it came to power was identify, I always say, documented people, and then sought to arrest documented people because they know exactly where they are and what they're doing, because by and large they report to ICE,” she said. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/03/21222354/20260308_NoraAhmed_01.jpg) Nora Ahmed, legal director for the ACLU of Louisiana, in New Orleans on March 8, 2026\. Ahmed said that the Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement has changed the type of cases that courts are seeing. Congress created TPS in 1990 to give status and work authorizations for people fleeing war, natural disasters and other “extraordinary and temporary conditions” that prevent migrants from safely returning home. President Donald Trump and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem attempted to end TPS for Syrians and Haitians in June 2025, but were blocked by lower courts. Haiti first received TPS in the wake of a catastrophic [2010 earthquake](https://haitiantimes.com/2026/01/12/remembering-2010-haiti-earthquake/?ref=down-ballot.info). It has been continually renewed for that country because of political instability and other natural disasters. In 2021, the Biden administration extended it due to the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and the subsequent takeover of Port-au-Prince by gangs. “It is temporary protected status based on the country's condition, that is the key,”said Guerline Jozef, the founder and executive director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, a nonprofit that is [co-counsel](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTiT773EZMc/?hl=en&ref=down-ballot.info) on NTPSA v. Noem, another[ legal challenge](https://www.aclunorcal.org/cases/national-tps-alliance-v-noem/?ref=down-ballot.info) to the termination of TPS for Haitians and Venezuelans. In Mullin v. Doe, the Supreme Court held that a provision in the TPS statute barred any lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security secretary’s decision to extend or end TPS on non-constitutional grounds. “The Court said that questions of whether the DHS secretary followed the law cannot be heard by courts in the first place, meaning that in the future even an openly unlawful decision to grant or terminate TPS could be entirely insulated from judicial review,” wrote Aaron Reichlin-Melnick in an [explainer](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/supreme-court-immigration-ruling-tps-asylum-seekers/?ref=down-ballot.info) published by the nonprofit American Immigration Council. The Supreme Court majority determined that President Trump's racist remarks — such as saying that the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio [eats cats and dogs](https://veritenews.org/2024/09/19/haitians-new-orleans-trump-vance-racist/?ref=down-ballot.info) — did not violate the Constitution’s equal protection clause. The justices did not take into consideration [a leak of internal emails](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/16/us/politics/haiti-tps-supreme-court.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that showed DHS moved to terminate the protections without seeking input from the State Department. The ruling follows increasing partisan polarization in the nation's highest court, whose decisions have led to [ample](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/callais-scotus-alito-gaurantee-extreme-polarization-outlasts-trump.html?ref=down-ballot.info) [criticism](https://time.com/article/2026/04/29/the-supreme-court-is-dangerously-broken-here-s-how-to-fix-it/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [plummeting public confidence](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/public-polling-supreme-court?ref=down-ballot.info) as people see the Republican majority supportive of the Trump administration’s agenda. Critics say the ruling is underscored by historic racism and white supremacy. “It is very disturbing, very concerning that in 2026 we still have justices who are willing to fall in line with the anti-Black extreme racist ideology in government, including a Black justice, to show you how deeply ingrained this mentality is, and continues to be,” Jozef said. While TPS was never supposed to provide a clear legal pathway to permanent residency or citizenship, Haitians made their homes in the United States with the legal protections, and now they face deportation to a country beset by gang violence and massacres. In February, four Haitian women deported from Puerto Rico [were found decapitated](https://www.ibtimes.com/four-haitian-women-were-deported-puerto-rico-they-have-now-been-found-decapitated-3796790?ref=down-ballot.info) and thrown into a river within months of arriving in Haiti, according to Leonard Prophil, a Haitian community leader who lives in Puerto Rico. ![A poor neighborhood shows the damage after an earthquake measuring 7 plus on the Richter scale rocked Port au Prince Haiti just before 5 pm yesterday, January 12, 2010.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/07/07170648/Haiti_earthquake_damage.jpg) A poor neighborhood shows the damage after an earthquake measuring 7 plus on the Richter scale rocked Port au Prince Haiti just before 5 pm yesterday, January 12, 2010. The First Haitian Baptist Church congregation is no stranger to this violence. “I have one lady who has her husband in Haiti, who now he cannot go public because he's hiding himself because he had been kidnapped,” said Estaniel J. Pierre, the finance manager of the church who has helped members protected by TPS. “They will not find anything, anywhere, any place to live, any house to live, because the gang members, they took their houses. If they go back, they will be homeless.” There are few avenues for migrants stripped of TPS to legally remain in the U.S., particularly because the Supreme Court decision coincides with a constantly shifting legal landscape. Lawyers representing refugees in New Orleans say they cannot keep up with the changes in law and that they are struggling to reach clients that have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “You have five bases for asylum. The nexus has to be based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, \[particular social group\]. Everybody understands political opinion, right? But membership in a particular social group, like young men who are being recruited to be in gangs (or young women), where the courts are trying to say, ‘Well, that's not really a particular social group,’ and they're trying to make it as difficult as possible for respondents or applicants to meet the standards,” Regine Dupuy, an attorney with [NOLA Diaspora Immigration Law](https://noladiasporalaw.org/regine-dupuy/?ref=down-ballot.info), said. The decision will likely result in family separations and tear away people from communities, according to [advocates](https://www.vera.org/news/supreme-court-delivers-devastating-blow-to-immigrant-families-in-temporary-protected-status-decision-now-congress-must-provide-lasting-security?ref=down-ballot.info). On Sunday, Pastor Alexis displayed a photograph of a congregant — a father taking a selfie with his two young children. The man has been in ICE detention for at least a month. As he displayed the photo, he urged the congregation to support his family. “If you cannot do anything, you cannot work, you don't have anything to eat,” Pierre, the church’s finance manager, told Verite News. “We can support you as a church.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/07/08/us-supreme-court-haitians-tps/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=31987&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # How The Death Penalty At 50 Is Far More Broken Than We Knew The racial disparities, the arbitrary outcomes, the endless waiting and the risk of executing the innocent persist.By [Maurice Chammah](https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/maurice-chammah?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Jill Castellano](https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/jill-castellano?ref=down-ballot.info) Additional data reporting by Steven Rich Graphics by [Jill Castellano](https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/jill-castellano?ref=down-ballot.info) *This article was first published by* [*The Marshall Project*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their* [*newsletters*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info)*, and follow them on* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/marshallproj/?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*TikTok*](https://www.tiktok.com/@marshallproj?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*Reddit*](https://www.reddit.com/user/marshall%5Fproject?ref=down-ballot.info) *and* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/TheMarshallProject.org). Fifty years ago, Americans set out on a polarizing mission: to find a just and fair way to punish the worst of the worst crimes by execution. In some ways, this was a surprising choice. In 1972, a narrow majority of the U.S. Supreme Court had scrapped the country’s entire death penalty system, calling it “morally unacceptable,” “racially discriminatory” and “arbitrary.” It seemed possible that Americans might join our peers in Europe and Latin America, many of whom had ended executions for good. This article was published in partnership with [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us?ref=down-ballot.info). But then Americans, as we often do, went our own way. In the summer of 1976, the Supreme Court issued another landmark decision, Gregg v. Georgia, that brought the death penalty back with a set of attempted fixes intended to make it less arbitrary, including guidance for jurors and automatic appeals. On the 50th anniversary of Gregg v. Georgia, The Marshall Project analyzed more than 9,000 death sentences handed down across the nation since states brought the punishment back. The analysis also coincides with the release of [“The Last 12 Weeks,” The Marshall Project’s new podcast with Serial Productions and The New York Times](https://www.themarshallproject.org/the-last-12-weeks?ref=down-ballot.info). The podcast features a case that has dragged on for more than 30 years, and the data suggests this is typical: People on death row and the families of their victims often have to wait decades for a resolution to their cases. And most of the time, the outcome is not an execution. If one goal of the death penalty is to deter crime, it’s hard to imagine anyone being deterred by a very low chance of being executed decades in the future. Last week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine [called for his state to abolish the death penalty](https://apnews.com/article/death-penalty-ohio-dewine-6210d7fbcecde9fe88657a76521e90fe?ref=down-ballot.info), due to its failure as a deterrent and the emotional cost to victims’ families. “Our system is an epic fail,” said Frank Baumgartner, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor who spent years gathering the data along with researchers from the Death Penalty Information Center. “Every flaw they sought to rectify has been a failure, and now there are new problems that didn’t used to exist.” Black people are still [overrepresented on state death rows](https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-row/overview/demographics?ref=down-ballot.info). And whether someone gets the death penalty still depends more on [where they commit a crime than on the crime itself](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/04/05/death-penalty-for-mass-shooters-depends-on-where-they-strike?ref=down-ballot.info). But the new data also reveals how rarely a death sentence ends as lawmakers intended: Fewer than 1 out of every 5 people sent to death row has been executed. ![](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/NZlRV/full.png) Supporters and opponents of capital punishment can debate who is to blame for this dysfunction, but the new data gives us a window into why the death penalty remains so broken. States passed new laws and started issuing new death sentences in 1972, inviting the Supreme Court to approve these efforts a few years later. Soon after, a network of highly skilled defense lawyers emerged — often with federal funding — to specialize in death row appeals. (We feature several such lawyers in “The Last 12 Weeks” podcast.) These lawyers often [opposed the death penalty as racist and immoral](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/01/26/the-case-that-made-texas-the-death-penalty-capital?ref=down-ballot.info). They dug into trial transcripts and sent out investigators who found all kinds of problems, from [prosecutors making racist statements](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/03/28/a-judge-overturned-a-death-sentence-because-the-prosecutor-compared-a-black-defendant-to-king-kong?ref=down-ballot.info) and [kicking Black people off juries](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/11/02/can-courtroom-prejudice-be-proved?ref=down-ballot.info) to [defense lawyers literally falling asleep at trial](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/04/us/inmate-whose-lawyer-slept-gets-new-trial.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Eventually, defense lawyers convinced the Supreme Court to nix the death penalty for crimes committed before the defendant turned 18 and for people with intellectual disabilities. All of these developments — the failures at trial and the defenses’ successes at finding them — help explain why more than a third of death sentences handed down over the last 50 years have been thrown out by the courts. When that happens, prosecutors can seek a new death sentence, and sometimes they do so multiple times. Curtis Flowers, whose case was made famous [by the podcast “In the Dark](https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/in-the-dark/season-2-of-in-the-dark?ref=down-ballot.info),” faced the death penalty in Mississippi courts six times [before the charges against him were finally dropped](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/04/us/after-6-murder-trials-and-nearly-24-years-charges-dropped-against-curtis-flowers.html?ref=down-ballot.info). But in other cases prosecutors have agreed to let the defendant plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, or jurors refused to give the death penalty again. “It's such an inefficient system, as you're wasting huge amounts of money on capital trials that end up in reversals 20 years later,” Baumgartner said. These trials regularly hit the million-dollar mark to pay for [all the lawyers, investigators, and expert witnesses involved](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2014/12/17/the-slow-death-of-the-death-penalty?ref=down-ballot.info). The 1990s saw the emergence of DNA testing and legal efforts to overturn wrongful convictions, like the Innocence Project. It became more common for judges to free people from death row — 1 out of 50 cases since 1972 — due to evidence of their innocence. But it wasn’t always a court that stepped in to stop an execution: In more than 400 cases, a governor or president has commuted someone’s death sentence. The reasons vary. Sometimes it’s because a state abolishes the death penalty, as 23 have done. Other times, a leader wanted to stop a successor from executing people; President Joe Biden freed 37 men from federal death row before leaving office. (He did not free three men convicted of mass shootings whose commutations would have been especially controversial: Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Robert Bowers.) Another big reason why people are not executed can be boiled down to politics. Support for the death penalty in polls has declined to around 50%. Amid pressure from activists and the public, pharmaceutical companies began refusing to sell their products for lethal injections. Governors like Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas made executions a priority, and their states found new suppliers or alternate methods [like firing squads](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/05/18/executions-firing-squads-federal-death-penalty?ref=down-ballot.info). But others gave up. ![](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/WFHD4/full.png) Meanwhile, some governors oppose the death penalty on paper, but risk political blowback if they go too far. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania both halted executions in their states, but neither has commuted any sentences. The result is that more than 700 people remain on death row in those states — a de facto life sentence that costs far more taxpayer money, given the ongoing appeals. Of the more than 9,000 death sentences over the last half-century, 8% of cases have ended with the condemned person dying by causes other than execution. Some of those ended in suicide. At least one person was [killed by another prisoner](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/06/san-quentin-death-row-inmate-allegedly-killed-by-another-condemned-prisoner?ref=down-ballot.info). Put together complex legal processes and political ambivalence, and the result is a system that takes a very long time to reach unpredictable outcomes. The average person executed last year waited on death row for almost 27 years. Three decades ago, the average wait was only 12 years. The irony is that lawmakers have spent a lot of that time trying to limit appeals and quicken executions. They have evidently failed, while also [increasing the risk of executing innocent people](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2022/05/26/the-1990s-law-that-keeps-people-in-prison-on-technicalities?ref=down-ballot.info), by restricting what kinds of evidence they can bring to court. ![](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/AtN49/full.png) There are now more than 2,000 people on death rows across the country. More than a quarter of them have been there for more than 30 years. “They’re not leaving, so they’re just [going to go into geriatric care](https://theintercept.com/2021/11/20/north-carolina-death-row-health-care-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info),” said Baumgartner. The punishment’s future is anything but clear. Jurors are sending fewer people to death row. At the same time, President Donald Trump is [pushing for a revival](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/09/13/trump-death-penalty-florida-louisiana?ref=down-ballot.info) and talking about bringing back firing squads. But there is little indication that any of the problems that have bedeviled the punishment for the last half century — the racial disparities, the arbitrary outcomes, the endless waiting, the risk of executing the innocent — have been fixed, or whether they can be. --- ![](https://www.themarshallproject.org/p/LvoRRkcseMvwzuvd1EM33Czi) # Can guaranteed income help people leaving incarceration? Two NC local governments are testing it by Rachel Crumpler, North Carolina Health News July 6, 2026 #### **By Rachel Crumpler** James Earquhart, 66, walked out of prison in December. After 15 years behind bars, he suddenly had to find a place to stay, look for work and figure out a way to rebuild his life. “It’s a lot of complications getting out and not having anything to come to,” Earquhart said. About a month later, he got a call with unexpected good news: His name had been drawn in a lottery for a new [pilot program in Durham named ROOTED](https://www.durhamnc.gov/5488/ROOTED?ref=down-ballot.info) (Resources & Opportunities for Ongoing Transition, Empowerment & Dignity). Earquhart is among 107 formerly incarcerated people living in Durham getting monthly financial assistance through the program — $8,400 over the course of a year. Participants must earn no more than 60 percent of area median income, have spent at least nine consecutive months incarcerated and have been released after Jan. 1, 2024. Earquhart has used the money to pay rent at a transitional house, buy clothes and cover other necessities. While working a landscaping job, he said the program’s monthly payments have helped ease the financial strain of starting over. “Without it, right at this point in time, I would probably be out there on the street,” he said. Every year, more than 18,000 people are released from North Carolina state prisons, and thousands of others leave county jails. Many return to their communities without the resources or support needed to rebuild their lives and [face barriers to basic needs such as housing, employment and health care](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/12/19/reentry-simulation-highlights-challenges-after-incarceration/?ref=down-ballot.info). The city of Durham, along with Mecklenburg County, is testing whether guaranteed income can help formerly incarcerated people stabilize their lives and reduce costly cycles of recidivism. An [April 2026 report](https://www.nccourts.gov/assets/documents/publications/2026%20Adult%20Recidivism%20Quick%20Facts%5F2.pdf?VersionId=saiem7MH9qCAChvrsN%5F8jNCHHDSh.JxA&ref=down-ballot.info) from the [North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission](https://www.nccourts.gov/commissions/sentencing-and-policy-advisory-commission?ref=down-ballot.info#about-1196) found that 41 percent of nearly 12,000 people released from North Carolina state prisons in fiscal year 2023 were re-arrested within two years, and 37 percent were sent back to prison. This revolving door into prison has a steep price: Housing one person in a North Carolina prison costs taxpayers [more than $54,000 per year](https://www.dac.nc.gov/information-and-services/publications-data-and-research/cost-corrections?ref=down-ballot.info). With incarceration carrying financial and community costs, Durham and Mecklenburg officials are exploring whether guaranteed income can be a cost-effective way to help people succeed after release and thus reduce the need for future spending. Early outcomes are encouraging, program leaders say, and they’re going to keep tracking the results to help government officials decide whether to keep funding the initiatives. “Our goal is to stabilize, to bring a greater sense of well-being and to ultimately reduce or eliminate recidivism,” said Shannon Delaney from [Durham’s Community Safety Department](https://www.durhamnc.gov/4576/Community-Safety?ref=down-ballot.info), which is overseeing the ROOTED program. **Looking for reentry support?** [**Check out our resource page**](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/reentry-resources/?ref=down-ballot.info)**.** #### **Why guaranteed income?** Guaranteed income programs provide unrestricted, recurring cash payments to people to boost their financial stability. In recent years, local governments across [the nation have launched such programs](https://guaranteedincome.us/?ref=down-ballot.info) with varying payment amounts, duration and populations served, including pregnant women and people experiencing homelessness. While critics question this use of public funds, a [growing body of research](https://www.penncgir.org/publications?ref=down-ballot.info) suggests guaranteed income programs reduce financial stress, improve mental and physical health outcomes and increase housing and food security. Recipients primarily spend the money on groceries, rent and debt reduction. Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein, who studies incarceration and health, is part of a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Duke University [that is evaluating Durham’s ROOTED program](https://wcsj.law.duke.edu/news/duke-university-researchers-launch-interdisciplinary-safe-hope-study-to-evaluate-durham-guaranteed-basic-income-program-for-reentering-community-members/?ref=down-ballot.info). Only a handful of guaranteed income programs, she said, have specifically focused on serving formerly incarcerated people. It’s a population that faces steep economic barriers because many leave incarceration with little or no savings, and their criminal records hurt their chances of finding jobs. Only 37 percent of people released from state prisons in 2024 reported employment within a year after their release date, according to [N.C. Department of Commerce data](https://analytics.nccommerce.com/NC-RORS/?ref=down-ballot.info). Their median wages were just $8,518. “I think it’s particularly important for this population,” Brinkley-Rubinstein said. “The experience of incarceration is so destabilizing, that when people leave, it is very difficult to find a job. “Giving people a small amount of cash, relative to what it takes to survive, I think can go a really long way.” Durham officials aren’t starting the ROOTED program from scratch. In March 2022, the city launched a similar [one-year guaranteed income pilot program called Excel](https://www.stepupdurham.org/excel?ref=down-ballot.info) as part of [Mayors for a Guaranteed Income](https://www.mayorsforagi.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nationwide initiative. The pilot, funded mostly by a [donation from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/12/08/billionaire-jack-dorsey-donates-15-million-to-mayors-testing-out-guaranteed-income-for-residents/?ref=down-ballot.info) and other private donors, provided $600 per month in unconditional cash payments to 109 formerly incarcerated participants. Researchers at the [Center for Guaranteed Income Research](https://www.penncgir.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) at the University of Pennsylvania’s [School of Social Policy & Practice](https://sp2.upenn.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info) evaluated the program. Their 82-page report [published in February 2025](https://upenn.app.box.com/v/CGIR-Report-Durham-NC?ref=down-ballot.info) found recipients were significantly more likely to maintain full-time employment and had higher food security and housing stability, compared with the control group not receiving payments. Recipients also reported less difficulty abstaining from substances, staying away from criminal activity and avoiding probation or parole violations. After seeing those results, Durham City Council members allocated $1 million to launch another one-year guaranteed income program. “Our goal is shared prosperity, and so one way to do that is to make sure people who have the toughest time finding housing and jobs have some support to give them a little bit longer runway to find that,” Durham City Council member Carl Rist told NC Health News. “It’s both to really provide that support for individuals, but also we know, as a community, it’s one way to reduce crime.” While Rist acknowledges there are skeptics of guaranteed income, he argues the investment is worthwhile and cost-effective if one year of supplemental income helps prevent the steeper public cost of reincarceration. ROOTED gives participants a choice between two payment structures: steady monthly payments of $700 or larger payments at the beginning of the program that taper over the course of the year. Researchers hope the comparison will show whether one option is more successful than the other, which could shape future guaranteed income programs. Jesse Lopez, a research scientist at the [Wilson Center for Science and Justice](https://wcsj.law.duke.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info) at Duke Law who is evaluating the ROOTED program, said the payment structures were selected fairly evenly by participants. “Those who chose the larger upfront payment described using it to just get rid of some immediate obstacles, like they needed to repair a vehicle, they needed to reinstate a driver’s license, they needed to put down a down payment or deposit for rent,” Lopez said. “Other people were trying to be very strict and were thinking in terms of a budget and wanting to create stability and plans, so they can avoid overspending and build long-term financial discipline.” At the start of the study, Lopez said a large number of participants were dealing with food, housing and financial instability. Lopez doesn’t expect guaranteed income to eliminate every barrier participants face, but he hopes studying the results will show where the payments make the biggest difference. Researchers will compare participants’ outcomes to those of applicants not selected for the program. #### **Mecklenburg tests the approach** Mecklenburg County, home to North Carolina’s largest jail, is testing a similar initiative. More than 1,000 people returned to the county from state prison in 2025. Sonya Harper, who has led Mecklenburg County’s [Criminal Justice Services](https://cjs.mecknc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) fora decade, said many people seeking reentry assistance arrive with “next to nothing.” “They don’t have housing plans, they don’t have any source of income or job or anything, and that’s our starting point,” Harper said. Criminal Justice Services [launched RAMP Up](https://news.mecknc.gov/countys-pilot-program-has-transformational-impact-reentry-participants?%5Fgl=1%2A10awxyx%2A%5Fga%2AMTU2MzEwMzA5LjE3ODMxNzQ1MDc.%2A%5Fga%5FKP17DB4P19%2AczE3ODMzMDExNjAkbzUkZzEkdDE3ODMzMDEyNTMkajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=down-ballot.info) (Reentry Assistance Mobility Program) in July 2024 after Mecklenburg County commissioners allocated $500,000 for the pilot program. The program provides $600 a month for a year to 60 randomly selected formerly incarcerated Mecklenburg County residents. Program eligibility is narrower than Durham’s program, as RAMP Up excludes people convicted of certain violent felonies, firearm offenses and sexual offenses. Harper said county leaders intentionally adopted narrower eligibility to reduce the likelihood of public pushback. Before receiving their first payment, participants had to complete a financial literacy workshop. They also complete quarterly budgets throughout the year. Harper said those requirements are important because they reinforce that the payments are a temporary boost, not permanent assistance participants should come to rely on. “We settled on it being $600 per month because we wanted it to be enough funding to where it could be impactful and make a change each month, but we didn’t want it to be so much that folks could become dependent on it,” Harper said. Another 60 residents were selected as a comparison group so county leaders could better measure the program’s impact on reentry outcomes. Harper said housing outcomes have been one of the clearest signs of the program’s impact. At enrollment, more than two-thirds of RAMP Up participants were living in transitional or temporary housing. By the end of the year, that number was reversed — 69 percent were living in permanent, stable housing. Harper attributes that improvement to many participants putting their payments toward housing. In contrast, only 47 percent of the comparison group said they had permanent housing at the end of the year, and 13 percent of them said they were homeless. In the first year of the program, only 5 percent of RAMP Up participants had been re-arrested and were back in custody. Before entering the program**,** participants had been arrested an average of 8.7 times and had most recently spent an average 49 months incarcerated. Those initial results convinced county leaders to continue the pilot. The RAMP Up program just started its third cohort July 1, and Harper said data from all three years will be compiled into a report that county commissioners will use to determine whether to make the program permanent with recurring funding. “If you’re able to meet your basic needs, you’re less likely to be out and reoffend,” Harper said. “This is much less expensive than what it would be to keep somebody housed in either a state prison or even in our county jail.” That’s been the experience for Earquhart, who said the monthly supplemental income has put him in a better position to rebuild his life. One of his biggest goals in the coming months is finding an apartment he can afford so he can move out of the congregate transitional housing where he currently pays $175 a week. “I’m not where I want to be, but I’m getting there,” he said. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/07/06/two-nc-local-governments-test-guaranteed-income-formerly-incarcerated/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=68618) --- ### ‘It’s Real:’ Tennessee Department of Tourist Development launches anti-AI campaign URL: https://down-ballot.info/its-real-tennessee-department-of-tourist-development-launches-anti-ai-campaign/ Last updated: 2026-07-08T09:00:10.000Z By Anne Braly (Tennessee Lookout) Published: July 6, 2026 It’s easy to be fooled by AI photos, so in an effort to help Tennessee travelers verify where online photos were taken, the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development has launched its new “It’s Real” campaign. It’s a program that promises that the photos you see on its website – [TNVacation.com](http://tnvacation.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) – are not AI-generated, but the real thing. “It’s a commitment to authenticity and a promise to travelers that, when it comes to Tennessee, what you see is what you get,” says Mark Ezell, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. The campaign does not include filtered pictures that may make sunsets a little more brilliant or autumn leaves a little more colorful. Conversely, AI-generated photos might have a tree in a yard where there is none or a mountain in West Tennessee where the land is pancake-flat. Ezell says it’s up to his department to inspire Tennesseans and others to choose to travel in the Volunteer State and plan their experiences with confidence. “Travelers rely heavily on photos when deciding where to go, and our survey showed that many people struggle to tell the difference between real and AI-generated images,” he says. Tennessee Tourism’s certification includes content credentials and secure metadata to show travelers who, when, where and what the photos they are seeing were captured. This will be done for both new and existing photos on its website. > We want to make sure travelers know when they look at photos on TNVacation.com, they can trust that what they see is a real place captured by a real photographer. > **– Commissioner Mark Ezell, Tennessee Department of Tourist Development** Nancy McCullough of Brentwood, Tenn., travels regularly in the state and has seen pictures of places she’s been to and knows fully well that what she’s seeing is not true to reality. And she thinks the Get Real campaign is one that travelers to the state will appreciate. “It’s a fabulous idea,” she says. “It’s hard enough to trust what you see on the internet these days anyway. But if you know that the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development is following the no-AI rule, then you should be able to know that ‘what you see is what you get.” That’s what Ezell says the Get Real campaign is all about, “Our travelers deserve to know before they go,” he says. Geographically speaking, Tennessee is divided into three “grand divisions” — East, Middle and West — each with distinct landscapes, climates and elevations. “Tennessee is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes, cityscapes and attractions in the country, and we believe that beauty stands on its own,” Ezell says. “We also know it’s getting harder to spot the difference between what’s real and what’s not. We want to make sure travelers know when they look at photos on TNVacation.com, they can trust that what they see is a real place captured by a real photographer.” Jared Kreiss often contributes photos seen on [TNVacation.com](http://tnvacation.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), and while, as a professional photographer, he’s usually able to distinguish between AI and real photos, he knows many people, particularly older people who may be less experienced with newer technology, cannot tell the difference, he says. “I find it incredibly frustrating to see AI-generated images being passed off as photography of real places, and even more frustrating when people believe they’re real. To me, that’s deceptive,” he adds. “It’s becoming harder and harder to tell real from AI. I am incredibly excited about this campaign and to know Tennessee’s tourism department is working to preserve what is real. I think it is more important than ever to protect that. I really value that.” Costs for the Get Real campaign are incorporated into the tourism department’s existing marketing efforts to introduce the certification to travelers through paid promotions. There are no significant new expenditures associated with the program, says Ezell. According to figures released from Tourism Economics and TDTD, 2025 was a banner year for tourism in the state with 147 million visitors spending a record $31.7 billion. That’s a 3.3% year-ver-year increase and 36.6% growth since 2018. “Our job is to market Tennessee and help bring visitors to our state,’ Ezell says. “Giving travelers the confidence in what they see helps support that mission. Using real and authentic photos for our marketing is a priority.” Tennessee is the first state to implement a program like this, and it’s one that Ezell hopes other states will follow. “As travelers and consumers of the internet ourselves, we’ve all experienced moments where we question whether what we’re seeing online is real,” he says. “We saw an opportunity to be proactive and help travelers feel more confident when they choose to travel to Tennessee. Our job is to bring people to Tennessee and show them the beauty of our state, and we rely heavily on photos to do that.” [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://tennesseelookout.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) ### When the helpers ‘feel helpless’: First responders get a boost in mental health support URL: https://down-ballot.info/when-the-helpers-feel-helpless-first-responders-get-a-boost-in-mental-health-support/ Last updated: 2026-07-06T09:00:27.000Z by Amanda Watford, [Stateline](https://stateline.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) May 5, 2026 Ty Wooten didn’t realize the weight of answering his first 911 call — until more than a decade later. A woman had dialed 911 to report that her husband had shot himself in front of her and their 7-year-old son, on the family’s living room couch. It was Wooten’s first call as a dispatcher. “I wasn’t prepared for that, and I didn’t quite realize how difficult that call was for me for several years,” said Wooten, who has worked in the 911 industry for more than 30 years, both taking calls and managing dispatch centers. He is now director of government affairs for the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch, an industry group that helps set standards for emergency dispatch centers. Wooten pushed the experience aside. It wasn’t until about 15 years later, while swapping stories with colleagues, that the details came rushing back — triggering a spiral of anxiety, panic attacks and depression that would take time to fully confront. “I had taken that experience and kind of put it in the corner of my mind, and built a wall around it so I wouldn’t think about it again,” Wooten said. Wooten’s experience reflects a broader reality for first responders, who are routinely exposed to traumatic events but often lack the space — or support — to process them. Across the country, state and local officials are increasingly looking for ways to change that, expanding mental health resources and testing new approaches aimed at reducing stigma and improving access to care for 911 dispatchers, police officers, firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians. [Research](https://news.cuanschutz.edu/emergency-medicine/elevating-first-responder-mental-health-research-and-its-effect-on-communities?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) suggests that first responders face higher rates of trauma-related mental health challenges than the general public, with repeated exposure increasing the risk of post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. That strain has also been linked to burnout, and to higher rates of substance use and suicidal ideation. > [Stigma still keeps police from seeking mental health care, study finds](https://stateline.org/2025/07/28/stigma-still-keeps-police-from-seeking-mental-health-care-study-finds/?ref=down-ballot.info) Some policing experts say untreated trauma and stigma around mental health don’t just harm police officers — they can also ripple outward, influencing split-second decisions on the street and the quality of encounters with the public. “It’s not just a personal and individual tragedy. It’s also potentially going to have a direct consequence for how officers treat those they encounter on duty,” said Heidi Bonner, a criminal justice and criminology professor at East Carolina University. At the same time, rising health care costs and concerns about affordability have made access to mental health services more difficult for many nationwide. Some communities are already experimenting with new approaches for first responders. In Brevard County, Florida, some first responders now have [access](https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2026/01/20/brevard-rethinks-mental-health-support-for-first-responders-firefighters-police-therapy-dogs/88149433007/?ref=down-ballot.info) to therapy dogs, peer-to-peer counseling and confidential hotlines. Florida state officials last year also announced they were [developing](https://www.myfloridacfo.com/news/newsletter/past-issues/news-details/2025/01/06/cfo---state-fire-marshal-jimmy-patronis-requests--3.6-million-for-first-responders'-mental-health-support?ref=down-ballot.info) a more coordinated, statewide mental health program for first responders. In Virginia, Henrico County [firefighters](https://www.12onyourside.com/2026/03/13/henrico-firefighters-get-anonymous-mental-health-app-first-country/?ref=down-ballot.info) gained access to a new app that allows them to seek mental health support anonymously. They are one of the first departments in the country to use the platform. Some experts say anonymity can help reduce barriers tied to stigma and fear of professional consequences. ## Expanding options Even as awareness grows, many first responders still don’t seek help — a gap that policymakers and local agencies are increasingly trying to address. “You’re going to see something horrible, and the expectation is, ‘Yeah, that’s what we do — you just got to deal with it,’” said Alanna Badgley, a paramedic in New York. Badgley also is the EMS external affairs coordinator for the International Association of EMTs and Paramedics. “Bringing up if you were feeling some kind of way might have been seen as a sign of weakness, or that you weren’t cut out for the job, so a lot of people would kind of hide it,” she said, describing what the culture was like when she started in emergency medicine in 2010. She added that there’s now a growing recognition that first responders need to be honest about their mental health and seek support early and often. Quotation > You’re going to see something horrible, and the expectation is, ‘Yeah, that’s what we do — you just got to deal with it.’ > **– Alanna Badgley, paramedic in New York state** Many agencies or departments offer employee assistance programs, or EAPs, which provide confidential counseling and support services for employees dealing with personal or work-related stress, but some first responders may hesitate to use them. “A lot of first responders worry about the potential for their employer to know what’s going on if they go through their EAP,” Badgley said. A 2025 [survey](https://www.nena.org/news/704280/Third-Annual-Pulse-of-9-1-1-Report-Now-Available.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) by the National Emergency Number Association found that nearly 70% of telecommunicators reported feeling stress before every shift, with fatigue and anxiety among the most common symptoms. In recent years, states and municipalities say they’re focusing on reducing barriers to care, including affordability. “We will pay whatever it takes for someone to get help,” said Tom Synan, the police chief of the Newtown Police Department in Ohio. Synan also is a speaker with the nonprofit Law Enforcement Action Partnership. “I think that’s what’s going to help first responders have long careers, better home life and better service to the community,” he added. ## State efforts In New York, state officials [launched](https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/during-first-responder-wellness-week-governor-hochul-announces-new-training-enhance-support?ref=down-ballot.info) an online training program in March to help mental health professionals better understand and support first responders, with a focus on responder culture and barriers to care. New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in January signed into [law](https://www.njleg.gov/bill-search/2024/S2373?ref=down-ballot.info) a measure that provides employment protections for first responders diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, barring retaliation and guaranteeing they can return to their jobs once cleared. The law is already in effect. In Nebraska, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen in April signed into [law](https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view%5Fbill.php?DocumentID=62858&ref=down-ballot.info) a bill that shields peer support conversations from being used in court or disciplinary proceedings. Minnesota legislators are considering a [proposal](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/94/2025/0/HF/2526/?ref=down-ballot.info) to allow first responders to access donated mental health services, including counseling and peer support, without violating state gift laws. And in Missouri, lawmakers have [advanced](https://missouriindependent.com/2026/04/02/missouri-house-passes-bill-to-study-psilocybin-therapy-for-veterans-and-first-responders/?ref=down-ballot.info) [legislation](https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HB%201717&ref=down-ballot.info) to study alternative therapies, including the psychoactive compounds psilocybin and ibogaine, for treating conditions such as depression, substance use and post-traumatic stress, with first responders and military veterans eligible to participate in supervised studies. > [Medicaid cuts could add pressure to already-stressed psychiatric units](https://stateline.org/2026/03/23/medicaid-cuts-could-add-pressure-to-already-stressed-psychiatric-units/?ref=down-ballot.info) Other states have taken similar steps in recent years. Last year, Ohio lawmakers [approved](https://www.ems1.com/legislation-funding/ohio-approves-40m-fund-to-support-first-responders-with-job-related-ptsd?ref=down-ballot.info) $40 million for a PTSD treatment fund, while Texas is [developing](https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/texas-first-responder-police-firefighter-ems-mental-health-peer-support-network/?ref=down-ballot.info) a statewide peer support network for firefighters and EMS personnel. Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Utah and Washington have enacted laws to protect the confidentiality of peer support counseling. Lawmakers in Vermont are considering similar [legislation](https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/H.270?ref=down-ballot.info) this year that would ensure conversations in peer support groups remain confidential for first responders. Still, advocates say access alone does not guarantee use — particularly when providers may not fully understand the realities of the job. “The trauma is so unique,” Badgley said. “It’s hard to feel comfortable confiding in somebody who just really isn’t trauma informed, or doesn’t understand the first responder mentality.” Some first responders say the mental health strain of the job goes beyond exposure to traumatic calls. It’s often shaped just as much by internal and external pressures, including workplace dynamics, public expectations, staffing shortages and required overtime, and stressors from life outside the job. The combination can leave first responders struggling to process their stress. “When you feel helpless — and you’re the person who helps — who do you go to?” said Synan, the Newtown police chief. Synan said his department has worked to create space for those conversations, holding debriefs after difficult calls and encouraging officers to talk through what they experienced without pressure or judgment. ## A culture slow to change When now-retired firefighter Frank Leto joined the New York City Fire Department in 1983, mental health support barely existed. “The mental health support at that point was probably drinks after work,” he said. The expectation was to absorb whatever you saw and move on — until, as Leto put it, “You just stuffed it down until it started taking things from you: your family, your relationships, your health, eventually your job.” That code of silence began to break after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. “There was really no option for the fire department to not address the mental health needs of our firefighters and their families,” Leto said. > [AI therapy chatbots draw new oversight as suicides raise alarm](https://stateline.org/2026/01/15/ai-therapy-chatbots-draw-new-oversight-as-suicides-raise-alarm/?ref=down-ballot.info) He moved off the line to help expand the department’s counseling unit and its early peer support efforts, but their first major idea — embedding clinicians in the hardest-hit firehouses — “was an utter failure.” Firefighters rarely spoke to those experts, and the clinicians were overwhelmed by the scale and immediacy of the trauma. The breakthrough came when the department stopped trying to import help from the outside and instead formalized what had long existed informally. Training firefighters to support one another created a trusted buffer between the rank-and-file and clinical care, and over time that model “became part of the fabric of the department,” he said. The International Association of Fire Fighters, a labor union, recognized how powerful that shift was and helped fund the work in New York City. Today, Leto, who is a member of the IAFF Disaster Response To-Go Team, estimated that roughly 15,000 IAFF members have been trained in peer support — a sign that, in a culture slow to change, attitudes around mental health are beginning to shift. But that progress has been uneven, and many departments — across fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services and 911 dispatch — are still working to build systems in which seeking support is normalized and accessible. “Looking at mental and physical and overall well-being is not one answer with one solution,” said Wooten, the former 911 dispatcher. “These are all things that have to be worked at collectively and multifaceted to make sure that we can hopefully create an opportunity to fix some of these larger systemic problems.” *Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at* *awatford@stateline.org* *.* [YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.SUPPORT](https://stateline.org/donate/?oa%5Freferrer=midstorybox&ref=down-ballot.info) [Stateline](https://stateline.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. ### North Carolina passed a budget URL: https://down-ballot.info/north-carolina-passed-a-budget/ Last updated: 2026-07-03T09:00:54.000Z **It's Friday July 3, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** NC budget agreement finally reached**,** Virginia braces for dangerous heat wave ahead of Fourth of July weekend, Their town burned to the ground. Should they get a pass from California’s new housing laws?, On Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, a community network steps up to increase Vietnamese language access to healthcare, How a solar energy developer lobbied for and won a reduced state permit fee amidst farmer pushback, A Heat Wave is Hitting New York. Know Your Rights Ahead of Soaring Temps, Chemours must cut Ohio River ‘forever chemical’ pollution under new settlement. But a fight over future permit limits looms. **Media outlets and others featured:** Carolina Public Press, Virginia Mercury, CalMatters, North Carolina Health News, Mississippi Today, Investigate Midwest, The City Reporter, Mountain State Spotlight. --- # NC budget agreement finally reached by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press July 1, 2026 By the time the first fireworks go off this Independence Day weekend, Gov. **Josh Stein** will have the long-awaited budget on his desk. Lawmakers are supposed to pass a two-year budget in odd-numbered years, but they weren’t able to come to an agreement in 2025\. That means North Carolina is still running on the [last](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookup/2023/H259?ref=down-ballot.info) budget passed in 2023, more than 1,000 days ago. As a result, state employees and teachers have gone without raises, construction projects are in a holding pattern, various priorities remain unmet and the state hasn’t fully adjusted to the current economic climate amid inflation and recent federal funding cuts. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** For more than a year, Senate Leader **Phil Berger,** R-Rockingham, and House Speaker **Destin Hall**, R-Caldwell, butted heads over tax policy, teacher raises and funding for a children’s hospital. While lawmakers passed a series of [mini-budgets](https://carolinapublicpress.org/71997/bipartisan-support-moves-nc-mini-budget-forward/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2025 to partially fund the state’s Medicaid program and address disaster recovery needs after Tropical Storm Helene and Tropical Depression Chantal, among other priorities, there was no comprehensive spending plan in sight. This May, Berger and Hall finally came to a [loose agreement](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75609/cooking-up-nc-budget-deal-some-ingredients-still-in-dispute/?ref=down-ballot.info) on a few of the bigger issues remaining, including how quickly to reduce the personal income tax rate. There was no physical document, though, until Tuesday morning, when lawmakers dropped the 634-page budget. Wednesday, the House and Senate voted to approve the budget with bipartisan 92-23 and 37-12 votes, respectively. Thursday, they will make a third and final vote before sending it to Stein. Then, the governor will decide whether to sign, veto or allow the budget to take effect without his signature. “This one’s been a long time coming, and it's been a hard-fought battle, but when we started this session, we said that we got to have the right budget, not just any budget,” Hall said on Wednesday. ### Big budget stuff: Taxes, salaries and cuts In all, the budget outlines $34.4 billion in spending over the next year — about a billion more than in the House’s and Senate’s initial proposals. That billion dollars is set aside for future use. Hall told reporters it’s intended to go toward the state’s rainy day fund and other state reserve funds, if not used for future legislative matters. The budget replenishes the state’s rainy day fund, used in case of natural disasters or other emergencies, to the tune of $450 million. That brings the balance up to about $4.2 billion. Rep. **Dean Arp**, R-Union, said years of conservative, fiscal discipline allow lawmakers to spend money while still putting a significant portion into reserves. “This budget funds today's challenge without mortgaging our children's future and our grandchildren's future,” he said. ### Budget for taxes As outlined in the spring, the budget restructures North Carolina’s personal income tax schedule. Back in 2023, lawmakers made a plan to cut the income tax rate from 4.75% to 2.49% by 2030 through various “triggers,” revenue thresholds the state had to meet to cut the rate each year. Amid inflation and federal uncertainty, Hall wanted to change the plan. The House’s original proposal would have effectively paused cuts by raising revenue thresholds high enough that the state wouldn’t reach them for a while. Berger, however, was adamant that they continue moving forward. In the end, they found a compromise with a new schedule that would reduce the rate more slowly, based on years instead of revenue triggers. The income tax rate will drop from 3.99% to 3.49% in 2027, to 3.24% in 2030 and to 2.99% after 2032\. Beyond 2032, there’s still a possibility of lowering it all the way to 2.49%, if the state meets certain revenue thresholds. “Our current tax rates, we felt were not in the best interest of us long term, so we renegotiated those to what we believe is a better and fairer and more equitable tax rate that reduces the tax rate, gives our citizens more of their hard-earned money back into pockets,” said Rep. **Donny Lambeth**, R-Forsyth. There are also a few other tax provisions. When data centers first located in North Carolina, lawmakers offered various tax exemptions as an incentive. They’re now rethinking that. The budget removes data centers’ sales tax exemption for electricity use, while keeping in place some other tax exemptions. Rep. **Pricey Harrison**, D-Guilford, said it’s “past time” lawmakers did that. However, she wishes they also removed the sales tax exemption on data center equipment. The budget also raises taxes on sports wagering operators’ wagering revenue from 18% to 23%, and taxes prediction market operators at 6% of sports-related trading fee revenue earned from North Carolina users. In the bill, lawmakers allow counties to levy up to a half-percent sales tax to be exclusively used for public education, if a majority of voters agree in a referendum and the county does not already take advantage of a separate extra sales tax. ### Salaries and vacant positions One of the most important jobs of a state budget is to pay all the people who work for the government or one of its departments. That includes public school teachers, state employees and law enforcement. Educators are getting an average 8% raise, based on years of experience. Much of the investment, however, is concentrated in the beginning years of teachers’ careers; the budget raises starting salaries to $48,000 before local supplements. It’s the largest average teacher raise since 2006, Hall said. It is not retroactive to 2025, though. Law enforcement officers will receive raises, too. State Bureau of Investigations and Alcohol Law Enforcement will get the most, with average 20% raises, while correctional officers will get an average 15% raise and probation and parole officers will get an average 10% raise. All local law enforcement will receive a one-time $1,750 bonus. “Backing our law enforcement means more than saying thank you,” Rep. **Brenden Jones**, R-Columbus, said. “It means making sure the people who protect our communities, patrol our roads, investigate crimes and keep order in our prisons know that North Carolina stands with them.” State employees will get an across-the-board 3% raise, plus a $1,000 or $1,750 bonus depending on their income. Meanwhile, retirees get a one-time 2.5% cost of living supplement payment. North Carolina State Employees Association Executive Director **Ardis Watkins** said the raise doesn’t even keep up with inflation, much less make up for a year without a raise. “If N.C. is being run like a business, it is a business in terrible financial shape,” Watkins said in a statement. “Cutting the workforce, shutting workers out from any raise only to follow it with peanuts. This is what a business does when it’s in trouble.” Hall said the House would have liked to give retirees more, but they had to compromise. “COLA just costs a lot of money, because of just the huge sum that the state’s paying out to its retirees,” he said. “I think it makes sense to do that at some point.” Finally, the budget cuts hundreds of vacant positions in the Department of Adult Corrections, which has experienced widespread staffing shortages. The department will have to cut up to half of its vacant positions, excluding healthcare-related roles. These cuts won’t impact anyone’s employment, but they will limit the number of people the department can hire in the future. ### Helene North Carolina has caught up with the federal government on Tropical Storm Helene recovery funding, Hall told reporters. Tropical Storm Helene hit North Carolina in September 2024, lawmakers have passed a series of recovery packages totalling over $2.1 billion. They’ve been hesitant to risk granting money that could eventually be provided by the federal government instead, but the federal government has moved slowly. So, they tend to wait for the federal government to take action, then respond in turn. After this budget’s investment, North Carolina has caught up with the federal government on Helene recovery funding, Hall told reporters. The state budget returns $151 million in previously appropriated but unused funds to the state Helene fund, and also appropriates $706 million in new funding for various needs. A majority of the funding, $450 million, is required state match funding to draw down federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for public assistance, hazard mitigation and US Army Corps of Engineers help. The state dedicates $30 million for continued private road and bridge repairs, while implementing policy to streamline design and engineering processes for those projects. Local governments, and specifically volunteer fire departments, will be able to apply for grants to get part of a $65 million pot of money for infrastructure needs ineligible for FEMA relief. Madison County is singled out for local government help, and will get $27 million for infrastructure needs. The local government cashflow loan program is also replenished to the tune of $20 million. Housing is an ongoing project in Western North Carolina. The budget dedicates $40 million to a temporary relocation assistance program for certain people to use while waiting for a long-term solution. It also grants $35 million to active disaster volunteer groups repairing and rebuilding homes. Other Helene recovery money will go toward a dam safety grant program, landslide mapping efforts, tourism development and efforts to reduce wildfire risk. It may not be the end of Helene funding. Hall said after recent talks with US Rep. **Tim Moore** and US Sens. **Ted Budd** and **Thom Tillis**, he’s confident that North Carolina will soon receive “a large, large amount of funds down to continue on with Helene relief.” ### Medicaid, SNAP and healthcare After federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, the state has to fill the gap. Earlier this year, lawmakers [fully funded](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75394/nc-lawmakers-unite-across-aisle-to-advance-medicaid-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info) the Medicaid rebase, or the amount of money required to continue funding current recipients. They did so reluctantly. In a series of legislative meetings, they expressed concern about skyrocketing costs, particularly for applied behavioral analysis therapy, a treatment for patients with autism. They discussed ways to reduce waste, fraud and abuse within the program. Now, the budget includes money to strengthen oversight and use enhanced data analytics technology to root out waste. It also funds continued Medicaid expansion. According to Rep. **Tim Reeder**, R-Pitt, the budget funds 32 positions and allocates $15 million to help take on the additional work of implementing Medicaid work requirements and eligibility redeterminations. The budget maintains Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding after the federal government changed the amount of administrative costs states are required to pay. There’s funding to improve county SNAP operations through extra Department of Health and Human Services support positions and technology enhancements. Additionally, the state will provide $5 million in matching funds to draw down $60 million in federal funding for SUN Bucks, a summer food assistance program for students. In other healthcare news, the budget increases childcare subsidy rates and creates a statewide rate floor using $100 million of federal grant money. Also, A newly established Child Welfare Escalation Team will support county Department of Social Service officers, provide more reviews of abuse and neglect reports and expand training for employees to better identify and respond to abuse and neglect. ### Education Nearly half of all budget spending is dedicated to education, including public schools, community colleges and the University of North Carolina’s various campuses and programs. There are also quite a few policy changes. The budget establishes a pilot program to reduce chronic absenteeism through early intervention in several counties, repeals TeachNC and changes the formula the State Board of Education uses to allocate funds for limited English proficiency students to include all English learners, not just those under a certain proficiency level. It expands an early literacy screener, which identifies students who may need extra reading support, from just grades K-3 to grades 4 and 5 and dedicates $13.8 million for middle school literacy professional development. “We are in this reading crisis,” said Rep. **Tricia Cotham**, R-Mecklenburg. “It's at every level. It starts very young, but we can't give up on our kids.” Mathematics remains a legislative focus, with money set aside for a universal math screener at low-performing schools, training for middle school math teachers, development of a standard curriculum for K-8 students and participation in a program designed to increase the number of college-ready high schoolers using a Khan Academy artificial intelligence tutoring program. In the budget, lawmakers say they’ve identified $35.7 million in savings from students enrolled in private schools using Opportunity Scholarship funds in the past two academic years. Since the state does not have to pay for their public education, and per-pupil funding tends to be greater than an Opportunity Scholarship award, there may be some savings, depending on tuition and household income. Those identified savings will be reinvested into math curriculum, literacy professional development and bonuses for school nutrition and custodial staff. ### Justice and public safety In September 2025, lawmakers passed [Iryna’s Law](https://carolinapublicpress.org/72636/stabbing-response-crime-bill-nc-partisan-divide-death-penalty/?ref=down-ballot.info), a wide-ranging criminal law bill in response to the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee **Iryna Zarutska** on Charlotte’s public transit system. It included various reforms requiring more work for judicial officers. The budget adds funding for 10 new criminal attorneys to address the higher caseload, as well as for 18 assistant district attorneys. The bill also provides $30 million for school safety grants. It funds 24 additional State Bureau of Investigation positions to address drug crimes, violations of vapor product laws and other issues. Under the budget, the Department of Transportation and State Bureau of Investigation could use automatic license plate readers. ### Children’s hospital and NC Innovation One sticking point of budget talks was whether to continue funding a new children’s hospital in the Triangle. Berger said legislative leaders agreed to fund the project in 2023, and needed to finish the job, while Hall wasn’t convinced the need for another Triangle hospital justified the state’s investment. Berger won’t get as much as he wanted, but the budget does include $208.5 million to help build the behavioral health hospital. Hall said he’s still unsure whether the project is viable. Another area of disagreement was over NC Innovation, a nonprofit that provides grants to university researchers to commercialize their work. While lawmakers originally gave NC Innovation $500 million in the 2023 budget, Hall and Berger disagreed over whether to give the program more money or claw it back. In the end, they settled on taking back the $500 million for other purposes. “Ultimately we didn't use the capital from that in this budget, and so it's just sort of left on the table for future legislatures to deal with,” Hall said. ### Other budget loose ends The State Board of Elections got a few wins in the final budget. Lawmakers provided $15 million toward the total overhaul of the State Election Information Management System, (SEIMS), a longstanding priority for the agency. They gave the first $15 million toward the $60 million project in one of last year’s mini-budgets. There’s enough agency funding to pay for about 14 new employees, too. Visitors to coastal North Carolina may soon encounter tolls when they take ferries. The budget requires the Department of Transportation to establish tolls for all ferries. Local residents would be able to buy yearly commuter passes for $150\. The state will invest $133.9 million into the JetZero economic development project at Piedmont Triad International Airport. The Division of Motor Vehicles will see a few changes. They’ll develop an electronic vehicle registration system to eventually eliminate the need for physical registration cards or renewal stickers. Driver license examiners’ starting salaries will increase, four new drivers’ license offices will open and 30 additional oversight positions will become available. Throughout a lengthy debate in the House, Democrats asked whether the year-long wait was worth it. For Rep. **Terry Brown**, D-Mecklenburg, the answer is a resounding no. While lawmakers stalled, life went on for North Carolinians facing rising costs, Democrats said. Teachers, law enforcement and public employees went without raises, and will not get them retroactively. “This budget is a year late and an investment short,” he said. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/76016/nc-budget-agreement-finally-reached/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=76016) --- ## Virginia braces for dangerous heat wave ahead of Fourth of July weekend by Markus Schmidt, [Virginia Mercury](https://virginiamercury.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) July 2, 2026 Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Wednesday urged Virginians to prepare for dangerous heat and humidity expected to blanket much of the commonwealth through the Fourth of July weekend, with forecasters warning heat index values could reach as high as 115 degrees in some areas. The National Weather Service said Virginia is expected to face a [prolonged heat wave](https://www.weather.gov/akq/?ref=down-ballot.info) from Wednesday through Sunday, with the worst conditions likely from Thursday through Saturday. Temperatures across much of the state are expected to climb into the upper 90s and low 100s, combined with heavy humidity. “As Virginia expects record-breaking high temperatures leading up to and throughout the holiday weekend, the safety of all our neighbors is my highest priority,” Spanberger said in a statement Wednesday morning. “I am asking Virginians to do all you can to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Stay hydrated, stay cool, and check on your neighbors.” State officials [urged residents](https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/news/extreme-heat-and-heat-related-illnesses/?ref=down-ballot.info) to avoid strenuous outdoor activities during the hottest hours of the day, drink water regularly and spend time in air-conditioned spaces whenever possible. Officials also warned residents to never leave children or pets inside vehicles, where temperatures can rise rapidly even within minutes. Virginians seeking relief from the heat can use the Virginia Department of Health’s [online cooling center locator](https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/environmental-public-health-tracking/climate-weather/cooling-centers/?ref=down-ballot.info) to find nearby public facilities. The heat wave arrives as large parts of Virginia are already dealing with worsening drought conditions and declining river levels after months of unusually dry weather. Beginning Wednesday, Richmond and neighboring localities including Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico and Powhatan counties implemented voluntary [water-conservation measures ](https://thejamesriver.org/drought-conditions-prompt-water-conservation-advisory/?ref=down-ballot.info)tied to falling flows along the James River basin. Under the region’s James River Regional Flow Management Plan, [voluntary conservation measures begin](https://www.powhatanva.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info) when average river flows fall to 1,700 cubic feet per second for 14 straight days. Regional officials asked residents to voluntarily reduce lawn watering and other non-essential water use while utilities continue to monitor river conditions. Odd-numbered addresses are asked to water lawns only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, while even-numbered addresses are asked to water on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Richmond officials said regional water systems [remain capable](https://www.12onyourside.com/2026/06/26/richmond-region-could-issue-voluntary-water-conservation-advisory-july-1/?ref=down-ballot.info) of meeting drinking water and emergency needs, but warned that continued dry weather west of the city has reduced river flows throughout the watershed. Local officials emphasized that the current conservation measures remain voluntary. The dry conditions extend well beyond Central Virginia. Last month, Spanberger and the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force urged Virginians across the state to voluntarily conserve water, warning Virginia was experiencing [its driest stretch since 1941](https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2026/june-releases/name-1119790-en.html?ref=down-ballot.info). State officials said precipitation totals were running about eight inches below average across much of the commonwealth. Other localities have also warned residents about worsening drought conditions and the possibility of future restrictions. Officials in New Kent County [recently cautioned](https://www.newkent-va.us/322/Drought-Information-Update?ref=down-ballot.info) that prolonged heat and dry weather can place additional strain on water systems and could eventually require stronger conservation measures if conditions continue deteriorating. The combination of prolonged heat and drought has heightened concerns about public health, agriculture and wildfire risks heading into one of the busiest travel weekends of the summer. Virginia has experienced several major droughts and heat waves over the past century. The drought of 1930 devastated farms across Virginia during the Dust Bowl era and caused agricultural losses later estimated [at nearly $1 billion](https://www.loudounhistory.org/history/drought-1930-history/?ref=down-ballot.info) in today’s dollars. Six years later, Richmond [recorded 103 degrees](https://www.weather.gov/media/akq/climateRECORDS/RIC%5FClimate%5FRecords.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) on June 30, 1936 — still among the hottest temperatures ever officially documented in the city. Virginia also endured severe heat and drought during the summer of 1980, when a [nationwide heat wave](https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/07/11/heat-wave?ref=down-ballot.info) contributed to widespread crop damage and thousands of heat-related deaths across the country. Another major heat wave struck Virginia in 2024, when heat index values [exceeded 105 degrees](https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2024/06/21/heat-wave-record-temperatures-virginia-weather?ref=down-ballot.info) in parts of Central Virginia and promoted widespread heat warnings. Federal climate experts have warned that extreme heat events are expected to become more frequent and intense as average temperatures continue rising. State health officials this week encouraged residents to wear lightweight clothing, use sunscreen, avoid heavy outdoor exertion during peak afternoon heat and regularly check on elderly neighbors and vulnerable family members. Officials also urged Virginians to monitor local weather forecasts and use the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s [HeatRisk tool](https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/Applications/HeatRisk/?ref=down-ballot.info) to track heat dangers by zip code. [YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.SUPPORT](https://virginiamercury.com/donate/?oa%5Freferrer=midstorybox&ref=down-ballot.info) [Virginia Mercury](https://virginiamercury.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. --- # Louisiana Supreme Court frees death row prisoner, calling evidence against him ‘scientifically indefensible’ by Richard A. Webster, Verite News New Orleans June 29, 2026 *This article was produced for* [*ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network*](https://www.propublica.org/local-reporting-network?ref=down-ballot.info) *in partnership with Verite News.* [*Sign up for Dispatches*](https://www.propublica.org/newsletters/dispatches?ref=down-ballot.info) *to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.* Former Louisiana death row inmate Jimmie “Chris” Duncan is officially a free man following a unanimous ruling Monday by the Louisiana Supreme Court. In the opinion, justices upheld a lower court’s decision to toss out Duncan’s 1998 conviction for killing his former girlfriend’s toddler, Haley Oliveaux, citing flawed forensics practices used to convict him. Justice Cade R. Cole wrote on behalf of the seven-member court that new evidence presented by Duncan’s legal team left no doubt that his conviction should be overturned. “The post-conviction evidence undermined the core factual premises on which the state depended,” Cole wrote in the official opinion. Two other justices, including Chief Justice John Weimer, issued opinions concurring with Cole. “I am flooded with relief,” said Chris Fabricant, a member of Duncan’s legal team and director of strategic litigation with the Innocence Project in New York, in an interview. “It would have been a moral outrage for the conviction to be reinstated.” The court’s ruling came after a 2025 Verite News and ProPublica investigation [examined the reliability of the key forensic evidence used to convict Duncan](https://www.propublica.org/article/louisiana-jimmie-duncan-bite-mark-analysis-death-row-junk-science?ref=down-ballot.info), now 57\. At the time, he faced the possibility of being put to death as Gov. Jeff Landry, a staunch death penalty advocate, made moves to expedite executions after a 15-year pause. Duncan’s conviction was based largely on now-discredited bite mark evidence presented by forensic dentist Michael West and pathologist Steven Hayne. Their analysis, which was critical to Ouachita Parish prosecutors securing Duncan’s conviction, claimed to match marks on Haley’s body to Duncan’s teeth. But experts have since deemed such evidence, fairly common at the time of Duncan’s 1998 trial, to be junk science. Meanwhile, the longtime partnership between West and Hayne has come under scrutiny from civil rights attorneys, forensic experts and the courts over [concerns about the validity of their techniques](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/11/17/how-the-courts-trap-people-who-were-convicted-by-bad-forensics/?ref=down-ballot.info). In the 28 years since Duncan’s trial, nine other prisoners have been set free after being convicted in part on inaccurate evidence given by West and Hayne. Three of those men were on death row. Duncan was the last person awaiting an execution based on the pair’s work. In his opinion, Cole reexamined the use of supposed bite marks, which were the only physical evidence tying Duncan to the alleged crime. Cole pointed to a video of West’s 1993 examination of Haley, which was not shown to jurors at trial. In that recording, West can be seen taking a mold of Duncan’s teeth and grinding it into and across the girl’s body, seemingly creating bite marks where none previously existed. Referencing previous testimony from a defense expert, Cole wrote that “it was ‘scientifically indefensible’ to identify those marks as having been made by Duncan, and that the angles shown in the West Video were physically impossible for a human bite.” West has[ previously said](https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/who-is-dr-michael-west-from-the-innocence-files?ref=down-ballot.info) he was simply using what he called a “direct comparison” technique — in which he presses a mold of a person’s teeth directly onto the location of suspected bite marks. Weimer wrote in a concurrence that the bite mark evidence used to prosecute Duncan was similar to “trial by water” tests used by witch-hunters in the 17th century, in which suspected witches were bound with rope and lowered into a body of water. If they floated, they were considered guilty of witchcraft, while those who “passed” the test by sinking often drowned. “We now look back at those practices as asinine and absurd, since those who fell victim to those practices often did not survive, regardless of whether they were found guilty or innocent,” Weimer wrote. “The bite mark evidence and the sexual abuse evidence used in the trial against the accused has proven to be similarly specious.” Duncan’s prosecution “demonstrates we cannot be too careful in determining whether the death penalty should be implemented in cases such as this case because of the finality of the sentence and the impossibility of rectification,” Weimer wrote.“Such an irreversible and tragic consequence is inimical and deleterious to our system of justice if carried out based on evidence that is devoid of legitimacy.” ### 'This should be the end of this case' Police arrested Duncan on Dec. 18, 1993\. He was babysitting Haley that day in the home he shared with the girl’s mother in West Monroe. Duncan told law enforcement he had put the child in the bath, then went downstairs to wash dishes. When he heard a noise coming from the bathroom, he rushed upstairs to check on her and found Haley floating face down in the water. She was pronounced dead a few hours later. Duncan was initially booked for negligent homicide, but prosecutors upped the charge to first-degree murder after Hayne and West conducted Haley’s medical exam and claimed they discovered evidence, including the purported bite marks, that she had been sexually assaulted and intentionally drowned. Following two weeks of testimony during the trial in 1998, the jury found Duncan guilty and sentenced him to death. While Duncan awaited an execution date, his new team of postconviction attorneys uncovered evidence that pointed to his innocence, including an expert witness who said that the child’s death was not a homicide but the result of an accidental drowning. In addition, investigators working for Duncan’s legal team interviewed a jailhouse informant who recanted his earlier trial testimony that Duncan had confessed to the crime. Duncan’s conviction [was overturned in April of last year](https://veritenews.org/2025/04/25/jimmie-duncan-murder-conviction-nullified-death-row/?ref=down-ballot.info) by former Ouachita Parish Judge Alvin Sharp. He was [let out of prison on bail in December](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/03/jimmie-duncan-louisiana-death-row-inmate-released/?ref=down-ballot.info), but he continued to await a final decision on his case after prosecutors appealed Sharp’s ruling. Steve Tew, district attorney for Ouachita and Morehouse parishes, has never wavered in his insistence that Duncan was guilty of murder and that he should be put to death. His office appealed Sharp’s decision to the state Supreme Court. During oral arguments in April, Tew said that since Duncan was the only person with Haley at the time of her death, his guilt could not be debated. “We don’t need the bite mark evidence to put Mr. Duncan in the apartment alone with this child,” Tew said. Haley’s mother, [Allison Layton Statham](https://veritenews.org/2025/07/03/jimmie-duncan-michael-west-netflix/?ref=down-ballot.info), has publicly supported Duncan’s release from prison and the overturning of his conviction; so have family members of Haley’s father, Lloyd Donald Oliveaux, who died in 1996\. They have excoriated the state’s tactics, claiming they repeatedly asked for a meeting with prosecutors to express their concerns, but never received a response. Tew, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday, said at the April hearing that should the Supreme Court refuse to reinstate Duncan’s conviction, he would retry him, though he did not say what charge he might pursue. When asked about the prospect of Duncan being retried for murder, Fabricant, the Innocence Project attorney, said, “If there is any sense of fairness and justice left, this should be the end of this case.” In addition to the Innocence Project, Duncan’s legal team includes the Mwalimu Center for Justice in New Orleans and the Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner law firm in Atlanta. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/06/29/state-supreme-court-jimmie-duncan/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=31819&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # Their town burned to the ground. Should they get a pass from California’s new housing laws? By [Ben Christopher](https://calmatters.org/author/ben-christopher/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters This story was originally published by [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Sign up](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) for their newsletters. Altadena may get a reprieve from two of California’s marquee housing laws after a bill to temporarily exempt the fire-torn community sailed through back-to-back Assembly hearings on Wednesday. The two laws being put on hold — [Senate Bill 9](https://calmatters.org/housing/2021/08/california-housing-crisis-zoning-bill/?ref=down-ballot.info) from 2021 and [Senate Bill 1123](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca%5F202320240sb1123?ref=down-ballot.info) from 2024 — legalize the construction of up to 10 small houses on plots otherwise reserved for single-family homes and make it easier to split land into smaller parcels which can be sold off individually. [Senate Bill 1090](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca%5F202520260sb1090?ref=down-ballot.info) by Sen. [Sasha Renée Pérez](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/sasha-renee-perez-187431?ref=down-ballot.info), a Democrat whose district includes Altadena, would exempt the unincorporated town’s single zip code from the two laws through 2030. That’s meant to give Eaton Fire survivors “the time they need to rebuild their community without the overpowering influence of predatory developers looking to take advantage of the devastation and suffering,” Pérez said at a press conference on Wednesday morning. Altadena “shouldn't be a playground for people who want a return on investment,” added the town’s Assemblymember [John Harabedian](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/john-harabedian-187422?ref=down-ballot.info), a fellow Democrat. The bill is “about protecting Altadena and keeping Altadena Altadena.” With the rebuilding effort in Altadena [progressing slowly](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/13/california-leaders-los-angeles-fire-recovery-delays-00867498?ref=down-ballot.info), mired by sluggish insurance payouts, pending litigation and escalating construction costs, only a few dozen permits have been filed that make use of these state laws, either by professional property developers or individual homeowners. Some pro-housing advocates and even some Altadena residents worry that the new bill, which supporters frame as a curb on out-of-town investors, could inadvertently make it harder for some fire survivors to rebuild and remain. The stated purpose of the legislation is “to stop greedy developers from taking advantage of Altadenans, which, of course, we all agree with,” said Caroline Paules, a town resident and founder of a small home construction company, [speaking](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279759?ref=down-ballot.info#t=182&f=e9b19e1d16f6b241b971de4da7a9c3e4) before the Assembly’s housing committee. “I believe what it actually does is prevent Altadenans from housing themselves — and also Altadenans from helping to house each other.” Preventing speculators from profiting from the Los Angeles rebuild without also harming homeowners is a tough balance to strike. Lawmakers are also considering a bill to give the California Coastal Commission more authority over reconstruction projects pursued by anyone who purchased a property after a future disaster. That’s meant to check investor-led redevelopment. It could also make it more [difficult for survivors](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/07/coastal-commission-rebuilding-wildfire-exemptions/?ref=down-ballot.info) to sell their properties should they decide or be forced by necessity not to rebuild. SB 1090 received unanimous support from both the Assembly housing and local government committees, even if some “Yes In My Backyard”-aligned members expressed some apparent discomfort. The debate over the legislation pits California’s longstanding efforts to turbocharge housing construction against the interests of many Altadenans who want to rebuild the community as it was. It also raises questions about who and what gets prioritized when a community is rebuilt after a natural disaster in California. “I don’t think it’s NIMBYism and I don't think it's unreasonable for us to say, ‘We’re still in a state of emergency. Let us recover,’” said Nic Arnzen, chair of Altadena’s Town Council and a supporter of Pérez’s bill. Arguments like these are a fixture of California housing debates. Locals often object to new, denser development, or to the policies promoting it, on the grounds that while more homes may be needed statewide, the conditions specific to a particular town or neighborhood — whether it’s heightened [wildfire risk](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/environmentalists-argue-california-home-developments-create-wildfire-risks?ref=down-ballot.info), [historic significance,](https://sfstandard.com/2025/06/30/sf-historic-neighborhoods-ingleside-terraces/?ref=down-ballot.info) the physical [scale or ](https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-builders-remedy/?ref=down-ballot.info)[demographic make-up](https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-housing-supply/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPeople,impractical%2E%E2%80%9D)[ ](https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-builders-remedy/?ref=down-ballot.info)— argue that it shouldn’t be built *here*. But Arnzen and other supporters of SB 1090 say that the temporary nature of the bill and Altadena’s extraordinarily unusual circumstances make this a legitimately special case. The two housing laws at issue were intended to gradually add density to urban areas as existing homes are periodically sold and as rare vacant parcels are developed, he said. They were “never meant to apply to towns that were two-thirds destroyed.” Before the fire, 95% of all the houses in parts of Altadena touched by fire were single-family homes, [according to a UCLA analysis](https://lewis.ucla.edu/research/the-palisades-and-eaton-fires-neighborhood-data-and-potential-housing-market-effects/?ref=down-ballot.info). Forcing the state laws upon the burn area would “completely reshape the character of the neighborhood,” said Arnzen. ## A lot split as a lifeline Though Pérez’s bill is written to help Altadenans rebuild on their terms, Andrew Post worries it might prevent his parents from rebuilding at all. Post’s parents, retired physicists Jonathan and Christine, lost their house on North Marengo Avenue. They were determined to rebuild from the start, over their son’s initial objections. But an [as-yet uncertain insurance payout](https://calmatters.org/economy/2026/01/insurance-after-los-angeles-fires/?ref=down-ballot.info), the couple’s modest fixed incomes and uncertain construction costs make for a tight reconstruction budget. Unexpected construction delays or a denied insurance claim and “they could be dead broke and have an unfinished house,” said Post. Even if construction goes as planned, the couple will have little left to live off of. In early June the family filed paperwork with the county to see if they could split the parcel, as allowed under the law. The typical Altadena homeowner hoping to rebuild is short $550,000 after accounting for past and expected insurance payouts, according to a [survey](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6792c245599ed84703227b1e/t/69fb99d59526446388bdd51b/1778096597336/Department+of+Angels+Community+Voices+LA+Fire+Recovery+Report+%5F+Q1+April+2026.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by the nonprofit Department of Angels. Splitting up a lot and selling a chunk to a developer, as SB 9 allows, could help many homeowners close that gap, said Azeen Khanmalek, director of the pro-housing advocacy group Abundant Housing LA. These density-boosting state laws should be seen as “potential tools and pathways to help some homeowners come back and rebuild, rather than as threats,” he said. Post, who grew up in Altadena, said he’s sympathetic to concerns about density, historic preservation, parking and traffic — to a point. Altadena prides itself as a historic refuge of relative affordability, [diversity and tolerance](https://www.kqed.org/news/12022057/the-california-wildfires-could-be-leaving-deeper-inequality-in-their-wake?ref=down-ballot.info) in Los Angeles County. The best way to preserve that legacy is to enable more multiplexes and small starter homes, said Post. “The character of the neighborhood is, I think, better preserved by keeping it affordable rather than by keeping the white picket fence architecture,” he said. “I am very focused on the question of whether my parents ever live in Altadena again,” he added. “It’s hard for me to prioritize a preference for the neighborhood character over an ability to be part of that character.” ## SB 9 in Altadena Of the 5,645 parcels with damaged or destroyed homes in Altadena, 52 have active permits that invoke SB 9, according to a data dashboard commissioned by the town council. Of those, 14 are under construction and two are complete. That relatively low number may partly reflect the typical geometry of Altadena parcels, said Devang Shah, a principal with Genesis Builders, which is building single-family homes for fire survivors. “They’re narrow and deep,” he said, which makes it hard to pack in additional units or dice them up for sale. Even so, the handful of submitted plans — and renderings depicting a type of multifamily dwellings largely alien to pre-fire Altadena — have provided [ample fodder](https://www.change.org/p/punahou-street-safety-preservation-petition-altadena-ca-91001?ref=down-ballot.info) for some locals eager to protest denser development and the perceived threat posed by investors and developers capitalizing off the community’s tragedy. John Chan, a Los Angeles architect who has pushed for redeveloping Altadena to be more pedestrian-oriented and who supports the use of density-boosting state laws, said a handful of poorly designed SB 9 projects — “sardine cans for rent extraction,” he said — have soured many locals on the possible upsides of density. “It’s creating a backlash to SB 9 that I think is really going to hurt Altadena,” he said. ## “Altadena not for sale” In both Altadena and the Palisades that backlash began brewing almost as soon as the flames were extinguished. In the summer of 2025, long before hinting at any aspirations for [higher office](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-06-11/spencer-pratt-became-voice-for-l-a-s-disaffected-where-do-his-supporters-go-now?ref=down-ballot.info), former reality TV star Spencer Pratt began posting on social media [assailing SB 9](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=752075921105429) and “opportunistic developers” hoping to make use of the law to rebuild in the Palisades. Responding to that pressure, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued dueling executive orders to nullify the law in areas that fall within state-designated “very high” wildfire hazard severity zones inside Los Angeles county. Newsom’s order only covered a small portion of Altadena. Even after the state [expanded its fire severity maps](https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/calfire-maps-hazard-california/?ref=down-ballot.info), much of the Eaton Fire burn area [did not fall into the “very high” category](https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/more-la-county-land-has-very-high-fire-hazard-severity-under-new-state-maps?ref=down-ballot.info). The order therefore did little to quell anxieties among the residents who saw denser redevelopment not as an opportunity for struggling homeowners, but as a boon to out-of-town developers and speculators. Pérez was hoping to address those concerns when she introduced an earlier version of SB 1090 this spring which would have banned large residential investors from making unsolicited offers to purchase parcels in the burn area. That hyperlocal focus also tapped into a growing national interest in preventing investors from purchasing single-family homes, a remarkably bipartisan cause championed by both [Newsom and President Donald Trump](https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/01/newsom-private-equity-housing/?ref=down-ballot.info). The bill sailed through the California Senate on partisan lines. In mid-June, Perez rewrote the bill to focus on the state density laws. Her office said the bill’s new focus reflects the more pressing concerns of many Altadenans. “What I am not going to allow is for my community to be treated differently than the Palisades or than Malibu,” Pérez said on Wednesday. Arnzen, for one, said he’s less concerned about existing homeowners selling to land speculators. “I don't fault people for selling to the highest bidder,” he said. “If I was selling my property, would I have the wherewithal to make sure it goes into the right hands? I don’t know.” Instead, he wants to see temporary limits on what those new buyers can do with the property once they have it. Arnzen said he moved to Altadena two decades ago because he wanted his young kids to grow up “in a small town, not in a cookie cutter subdivision, not in a city.” After losing their home to the fire, he and his husband are now in the process of relocating to an accessory dwelling unit on their property, which they’ll live in while they rebuild. When construction wraps up, the two plan to move into the new house and rent out the smaller one “to push back on the housing crisis in the state,” he said. “Because I think we should all do our part.” *Jeremia Kimelman contributed the data visualization to this story.* This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/07/altadena-sb9-perez-sb1090/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # Martin County residents keep pressing state officials for funding to reopen hospital by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News June 29, 2026 **Key takeaways:** - Martin County was already among North Carolina's most economically distressed communities before Martin General closed in 2023\. The shutdown only exacerbated economic issues. - ECU Health has proposed converting Martin General into a Rural Emergency Hospital under a federal designation. It would be the first hospital to reopen under the rubric. - To reopen would require about $220 million in state appropriations. It's unknown what the status of the proposal is in Republican lawmakers’ negotiations. #### **By Jaymie Baxley** When Martin General Hospital [closed its doors](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/08/12/plan-to-reopen-martin-general/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2023 after 73 years of service, residents of Martin County in eastern North Carolina were left without a local emergency department. At the time the hope was to get the facility reopened quickly with new management. Three years later, residents still have to travel across county lines to access life-saving care. Given those circumstances, it was no surprise that [a plan proposed](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/06/ecu-martin-hospital-proposal/?ref=down-ballot.info) by ECU Health to reopen the hospital came up repeatedly when state officials visited Williamston, the county’s seat of government, last week. Devdutta Sangvai, head of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, and Lee Lilley, a Martin County native who leads the state’s Department of Commerce, were in town as part of a “listening tour” organized by Gov. Josh Stein’s office. The event, held in a room typically used for school board meetings at [Martin Innovative Early College](https://www.martin.k12.nc.us/o/innovative-ec?ref=down-ballot.info), offered an “opportunity to understand the impact and intersection of community and health care,” according to Sangvai. “As I think about the challenges throughout the state, Martin County is really the exemplar of a community that really wants to solve its health care challenges,” he said. “We know there have been really acute challenges that you've had to face, in particular with the hospital, but the one thing I've seen here is a consistent and persistent interest in ensuring that there's adequate health care resources in Martin County.” ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Listening-Session-crowd-scaled.jpg) A listening session organized by Gov. Josh Stein’s office drew dozens of concerned citizens to Martin Innovative Early College in Williamston. Nearly 50 concerned citizens from Martin and surrounding counties turned out for the hourlong session. More than a dozen attendees shared their thoughts on issues ranging from food insecurity to wastewater infrastructure, but one topic bubbled up more than any other: the fate of Martin General. Tom Franklin, a retired cardiovascular physiologist and former health system administrator who has lived in Martin County for seven years, recalled a recent medical scare involving his wife. He told the officials that her nearest option for care was an emergency department half an hour away in Bertie County. “We need a lot of help,” Franklin said of the situation. “It just doesn't make any sense at all that our EMS folks have to carry emergency patients to adjacent counties, and if we have to be hospitalized, we have to go to adjacent counties too.” #### **A path forward?** ECU Health, the state-affiliated hospital system based in nearby Greenville, has spent the past year promoting a plan to revive Martin General as North Carolina's first Rural Emergency Hospital — a federal designation launched in 2023 as a lifeline for struggling hospitals in rural communities. Facilities that convert to Rural Emergency Hospitals[ are required](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/rural-emergency-hospitals-factsheet-september-2024.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to provide 24/7 emergency care and outpatient services, but they are prohibited from offering inpatient services and must have agreements in place with area trauma centers to accept patients once they’ve stabilized. In exchange, they receive a 5 percent boost to Medicare payments for covered outpatient services, plus monthly payments of about $285,625 from the federal government. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Martin-General-building-scaled.jpg) ECU Health has put forward a plan to reopen Martin General as a Rural Emergency Hospital. While 50 hospitals across the country [have converted](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-emergency-hospitals/?ref=down-ballot.info), all of those facilities were still operational when they made the switch. None of the hospitals are in North Carolina, which has the second largest rural population in the country, next to Texas, and where [10 rural hospitals (and two non-rural hospitals)](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-hospital-closures/?ref=down-ballot.info) have closed since 2005\. Under ECU Health’s plan, Martin General would become the first shuttered hospital in the nation to reopen as a Rural Emergency Hospital. The proposal, unveiled to the Martin County Board of Commissioners in May 2025, asks state lawmakers to appropriate $220 million toward the project. About $70 million would be used to rebuild the emergency hospital on Martin General's old campus in Williamston, with the rest funding a new inpatient bed tower at ECU Beaufort Hospital in neighboring Beaufort County. That funding request has been tied up for months amid prolonged negotiations in Raleigh over the state budget in an environment of reduced federal receipts. The project remains in limbo. Roy Lilley, uncle of Lee Lilley, is the treasurer for Advancing Community Health Together, a nonprofit formed in 2024 to advocate for the hospital's return. During the session, he said his organization has raised $89,000 through two fundraisers and secured a $50,000 grant from the North Carolina Community Foundation. “We are trying to help ourselves, but we need additional assistance from the General Assembly to advance our goals,” Roy Lilley said, adding that he hopes his nephew and Sangvai will “continue to work with the General Assembly to fund the plan put forth by ECU Health.” ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Roy-Lilley-scaled.jpg) Roy Lilley of the nonprofit Advancing Community Health Together. Lee Lilley said that he, Sangvai and Stein have “encouraged” lawmakers to approve the appropriation, and they’re “optimistic that there will be funding” in the budget to relaunch emergency department services in Martin County. At the same time, he acknowledged that getting the money is only the first step. “We stand ready to work with this community on all the work that would be needed to reopen a hospital, as well as to look at the broader health care ecosystem of this area,” he said. “It's not just the emergency room that's critical. The wraparound services and the entirety of the health care ecosystem are \[also\] important to this community, this community's health and well-being and, from my perspective, the community's economic viability going forward.” ![NC DHHS Sec. Devdutta Sangvai speaks during a listening session in Williamston on June 25, 2026.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Devdutta-Sangvai-scaled.jpg) NC DHHS Sec. Devdutta Sangvai speaks during a listening session in Williamston on June 25, 2026. Sangvai, who noted that he was a hospital CEO before taking the reins at NC DHHS, said his department would move quickly on construction and licensing matters if the funding comes through. “We'll be committed to move those things as fast as possible through the department so we don't become something that's slowing things down,” he said, adding that the community has a “quality partner” in ECU Health. “I think we have to really be thankful and not overlook the reality that, when this thing gets to go — and I'm going to continue to remain optimistic about that — you have a partner who really understands what they're doing and isn't here to find a way to make a dollar off of Martin County.” #### **The cost of closure** By most measures, there aren't that many dollars to be made in Martin County. The county, which has a [population](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/martincountynorthcarolina/PST045224?ref=down-ballot.info) of fewer than 22,000, is categorized by the N.C. Department of Commerce as one of the most[ economically distressed](https://www.commerce.nc.gov/grants-incentives/county-distress-rankings-tiers?ref=down-ballot.info) counties in the state. About 20 percent of its residents live in poverty and about 38 percent [receive care through Medicaid](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/reports/dashboards/enrollment-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info). Martin General's closure only compounded those challenges. Opened in 1950, Martin General thrived for decades as Martin County's only hospital. After outgrowing its original two-story building in downtown Williamston, the facility moved in 1973 to a [22-acre campus](https://gis.martincountyncgov.com/PropertyCards//0505015-01.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) on nearby South McCaskey Road. As Martin County's population declined beginning in the 1990s, the hospital's revenues fell with it. Former operator [Quorum Health](https://quorumhealth.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) attempted to cut costs by discontinuing maternity services [in 2019](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2019/09/30/martin-general-nixes-maternity-ward-services/?ref=down-ballot.info) and shuttering the intensive care unit [in 2021](https://www.wnct.com/local-news/martin-general-hospital-suspends-intensive-care-unit/?ref=down-ballot.info). Those changes weren’t enough to keep Martin General afloat. Quorum closed the 43-bed hospital’s doors in August 2023, citing “financial challenges related to declining population and utilization trends.” ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Martin-General-banner-scaled.jpg) A banner that has been posted at the entrance of Martin General since August 2023. During [a conference organized by the NC Rural Center](https://www.ncruralcenter.org/rural-summit/?ref=down-ballot.info) in April, Martin County Manager Dexter Batts said the closure “had a huge impact from an economic development standpoint.” He estimated that the loss of hospital-related labor income alone cost the county $12 million, with total economic activity losses reaching $33.1 million. That’s in line with findings from the UNC Chapel Hill Sheps Center for Health Services Research showing that [when rural hospitals close](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/publications/?ref=down-ballot.info) the local labor force [decreases,](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-6773.13965?ref=down-ballot.info) along with the local population. Meanwhile, Martin County's annual contribution to emergency medical services swelled from $550,000 to $1.4 million as ambulances were forced to make longer runs to neighboring counties — a significant burden for a community with[ a budget](https://cms9files.revize.com/martincountync/Document%20Center/Department/Finance/Budget/FY%202026-2027/Budget%20Message%20FY%202026-2027.pdf?t=202606120947290&t=202606120947290&ref=down-ballot.info) of less than $46 million. “Our budget is so limited that we can barely scrape by in a normal year,” Batts said. Gov. Stein did not attend last week’s public listening session, but he did participate in a roundtable discussion with local leaders before the event. He later told reporters that the state is “working and having conversations with other important players to revive the hospital.” Sangvai closed out the session with a pledge to residents. “We're going to do everything we can to help you find a way to get the hospital up and running again,” he said. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/06/29/martin-hospital-concerns/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=68522) --- # On Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, a community network steps up to increase Vietnamese language access to healthcare by Anna Hu, Mississippi Today June 26, 2026 BILOXI — As a young teen in 1960s Saigon, Vietnam, Coi Nguyen learned English by listening to tape recorders and comparing her speech to the cassette's. When her friends teased that there was no one to practice with, she responded, “I talk to the machine.” Now, Nguyen lives on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, where she volunteers for the local Vietnamese community as a translator and interpreter at doctor’s appointments and legal hearings. Sometimes, Nguyen said, people will give her a tip or take her out to a meal. But for her, the work is not for the money. It’s because of her connection with a community she’s lived in for the past two decades. “Everybody knows me as a friend, a family,” she said. The Coast is home to half the state's [9,000 Vietnamese individuals](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5YSPT2021.B01003?q=vietnamese+population+of+Mississippi&t=048&d=ACS+5-Year+Estimates+Selected+Population+Detailed+Tables&ref=down-ballot.info), who represent one of the largest Asian diasporas in Mississippi. Despite the size of the community, local healthcare workers say there are only a handful of Vietnamese-speaking medical providers in the area, creating challenges for those with limited English proficiency. The persistent language barrier has pushed a network of Vietnamese speakers and volunteers to take matters into their own hands, carving out time to help neighbors navigate the healthcare system. Nguyen, who is semi-retired, describes herself as an easy-going person with the time to help anyone, especially if they’re a good cook. Working in her apartment kitchen under the guiding eye of a lucky cat figurine, she makes calls and scans documents for her neighbors. She records every appointment in her handmade “little book,” which is filled with names, times and addresses scrawled in both English and Vietnamese. Her roster includes those who would otherwise have put off care and some who most potential volunteers didn’t have the patience for. She remembers one woman in particular whose personality neighbors found hard to handle, and who later needed psychiatric care. “I feel like, if I don't drive her, who will? And if I don’t help her, who help?” she said. “It takes me a little more time, but that's okay.” ### **A need for better language access** In the 1970s, large numbers of Vietnamese refugees started arriving in New Orleans, fleeing the fall of Saigon and the conclusion of the Vietnam War. They then gravitated toward Biloxi for work in the seafood industry. By the 2000s, roughly 5,000 Vietnamese people lived in Mississippi, one of the largest such communities in the Deep South, according to data from the U.S. Census. Among those who settled in Biloxi were the parents of Emma To, who co-created the [Gulf Coast Vietnamese Narratives](https://www.mshumanities.org/gulf-coast-vietnamese-narratives-honoring-a-legacy-at-the-mississippi-maritime-and-seafood-industry-museum/?ref=down-ballot.info) museum exhibition to honor Vietnamese contributions to coastal history. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/25223024/FB_IMG_1710679905760.jpg) Emma To sits on her mother’s lap in their Bayou Auguste Housing Projects home, formerly known as Homes for African Americans. After To’s mother started working for the casino industry, they no longer qualified for public housing and moved into a rental home. To’s family lived in public housing surrounded by Vietnamese neighbors. Like many Vietnamese children in the area, she was the bridge between her family and their English-speaking surroundings. “When I was growing up, I was the interpreter,” she said. “I interpreted for my parents. If they had surgery or whatever, I skipped school and went to surgery with them.” It was never a comfortable experience, she said, because relaying medical jargon was difficult as a child. Neither To nor her parents knew specialized medical terms in Vietnamese. The barriers in language access to healthcare that To experienced growing up remain present on the Coast today. The Singing River Health System, a major regional provider, saw over 700 Vietnamese patients in the past year, of whom over 60% likely needed interpretation or translation services, a hospital spokesperson said. Hospitals that receive federal funding are required by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to offer “[meaningful access](https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/laws-regulations-guidance/guidance-federal-financial-assistance-title-vi/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info)” to language assistance, although there is no government enforcement of the policy. Many have third-party services, such as LanguageLine Solutions, to connect healthcare providers with virtual interpreters. However, many Vietnamese-speaking patients prefer to have an in-person interpreter, according to Cynthia Le, a bilingual nurse practitioner at the Singing River Health Medical Clinic in downtown Biloxi. She said she is one of the handful of Vietnamese-speaking healthcare professionals who grew up on the Coast and stayed to serve her community. She uses her Vietnamese daily, and patients are often referred to her because she is fluent in their native tongue. “I still have a good bit of Vietnamese patients that don't have the family support or can't speak the English language at all,” she said. “It's just easier for them to speak directly (to me) than go through another person to translate.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/25222943/Singing-River-Clinic.jpg) The Singing River Medical Clinic in downtown Biloxi has a Vietnamese speaking nurse practitioner and a Vietnamese speaking doctor. June 19, 2026. In her two decades of practice, Le found that speaking to patients in Vietnamese allows them to have more agency in their own care because they understand why their medications are important and are more likely to accept preventive care, such as cancer screenings. “I have a lot of patients that don't want to go do their colonoscopy because they don't have anybody (who speaks Vietnamese) to take them,” she said. ### **A network of volunteers and grassroots organizations step up to fill gaps** Many children, young and adult, accompany their parents to medical appointments as interpreters, multiple healthcare providers said. But as younger generations start their careers and have their own families, some, including Le, have seen the number of family interpreters on the Coast drop. To meet the need for in-person interpretation, volunteers and community health workers step in. Dat Thanh Phung, Nguyen’s grand-nephew, immigrated to Mississippi from Vietnam seven years ago and followed her into the insurance broker business. In between studying for his accounting degree and taking care of his young family, he volunteers to help his insurance clients with their doctor's visits. “They let me know before, one week, and I will fit my schedule to them,” Phung said. Phung is still practicing English himself, so he’ll often call clients to go over their symptoms in advance, making sure he knows how to say those symptoms in English. “I just want to make sure that I understand 100% about the sickness and what medication they need,” he said. For Phung, the motivation to help others stems from his own experiences stumbling through language barriers, like when he took 14 visits to the DMV to fill out permit paperwork. He’s heard his clients talk about not wanting to go to the emergency room because they wouldn’t be able to speak to the workers. Instead, he said, they “absorb the pain.” When he helps interpret, Phung said that he can assuage some of that worry and that clients often invite him to a meal as thanks. Nguyen spends much of her free time helping people who can’t go to the doctor on their own. She said one woman only trusts her to accompany her to physical therapy appointments, and another always asks if she can sleep over at “Ms. Coi's house.” Over the years, she’s gotten to know the personalities of her repeat clients, whom she also sees at church, in the restaurants and local supermarkets. “I get to the point that I know people inside out,” she said. ### **Organizations seek to broaden access** Outside of volunteer efforts, one of the only organizations supporting Vietnamese language access to healthcare in the Gulf Coast area is Boat People SOS. The nonprofit helps community members set up appointments, sends interpreters to doctor’s appointments and connects people with Medicare-covered transportation. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/25222926/BPSOS-Office.jpg) The Biloxi office of the national nonprofit organization Boat People SOS, which helps Vietnamese clients with interpretation and translation across medical, legal, immigration and daily life areas. June 19, 2026. Nguyen worked part-time at Boat People SOS shortly after she moved to Mississippi from Canada, and got connected to other local efforts to improve healthcare access. One instance is when she was tapped by the Mississippi Department of Health in 2021 for their COVID-19 Vietnamese Task Force to lead vaccination outreach for the community. Like many of the people she helps, Nguyen lives alone in Biloxi. Her daughter, Annie, is in nursing school and works in a hospital 90 minutes away. Three years ago, Nguyen lost her son Peter, who was living in Canada at the time. His passing is another reason she finds fulfillment in her volunteer work. “If I am alone and then have nothing to do, I will miss him and I cry all day, you know? But talking to people and helping them fills up my time,” she said. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/06/25223000/Coi-and-Annie.jpg) Coi Nguyen holds a photo of herself and her daughter, Annie, who is in her last year of nursing school. The decision to become a nurse was influenced by her mother and her family’s dedication to helping others, Annie said. June 19, 2026. There are limits to Nguyen’s efforts. While she has heard of others in the community who will offer rides or help with interpretation, most don’t have the dedicated time that she does or the longstanding knowledge of each person’s history. She said she worries about the people she will one day leave behind, especially those that she drives to appointments because they physically cannot drive or don’t own a vehicle. Nguyen added that the number of Vietnamese-speaking providers and volunteers remains limited. She said she wishes for more organized financial support from the city or state to help patients access healthcare through organizations such as Boat People SOS. The low-income Vietnamese community and those who don’t speak English at all are most vulnerable, she said. “I'm 65 years old, I cannot stay here forever,” she said. “But if I'm gone, who help them, you know?” *This story was produced as part of the AAJA VOICES fellowship program, a student journalism project of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).* *This story was produced with support from the Sarah Yelena Haselhorst Fund for Health Journalism.* This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/06/26/mississippi-vietnamese-healthcare/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/uploads/2026/04/21223401/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1181880&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # How a solar energy developer lobbied for and won a reduced state permit fee amidst farmer pushback by Juan Vassallo, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest February 24, 2026 NextEra Energy’s 2,000-acre solar farm under construction in northwest Oklahoma is set to become one of the state’s largest renewable energy developments. Under Oklahoma law, its construction permit carried a $2.5 million fee. But Christopher Banks, project manager for the Skeleton Creek Energy Center, believed the company deserved a major discount. “Although we still have questions about the necessity of a building permit for solar arrays, we are agreeable to pay a fee in this case for the sake of expediency,” Banks wrote to the Oklahoma state fire marshal, who manages the fee, in a May 22, 2025, email, obtained by Investigate Midwest through an open records request. “Skeleton Creek hereby proposes a fee of $15,000.00.” After back-and-forth negotiations, the state attorney general’s office got involved. In an email to NextEra’s attorneys, Alex Pedraza, an assistant attorney general, argued that other states calculate permitting fees based on either a project’s valuation or its kilowatt capacity — approaches that would have resulted in higher fees for NextEra if applied in Oklahoma. Pedraza recommended that NextEra accept the Fire Marshal’s revised proposal of half a million dollars. “I believe you’ll find that both these methodologies as applied to your client’s solar farm projects would result in permitting fees totaling far greater values than OSFM’s self-implemented permitting fee cap,” wrote Pedraza in an Oct. 22, 2025, email. The talks ended in November, when NextEra agreed to pay the reduced fee of $500,000. As electricity demand surges, driven in large part by energy-hungry artificial intelligence infrastructure, rural Oklahoma has become a battleground over land use and power. The state’s wide-open spaces and low costs have attracted a wave of renewable-energy projects and data centers, and some lawmakers, including the governor, have actively courted energy companies to tap into those opportunities. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-2-25-Solar_3-1024x731.jpg) Construction was underway in 2025 of a NextEra solar farm in Garfield County, Oklahoma. photo by Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest But many farmers and ranchers believe these renewable energy developments are disrupting their rural communities. Opponents often cite concerns about falling property values, [environmental and fire risks](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/03/18/why-oklahoma-farmers-are-leery-of-the-energy-storage-facility-next-door/?ref=down-ballot.info), loss of farmland and a lack of transparency. Underlying those fears is a deeper frustration — that powerful out-of-state and foreign companies are rapidly reshaping rural landscapes with little benefit for the people who live there. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/3-2-25-Solar_1-1024x682.jpg) Signs opposing a new solar farm in Garfield County, Oklahoma on March 2, 2025\. photo by Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest Despite the pushback, NextEra Energy, a Florida-based company that is the world’s largest producer of wind and solar power, has continued its aggressive lobbying efforts, seeking to reduce its payments in state fees and [suing](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/business/energy-resource/2017/02/18/nextera-affiliates-sue-hinton-over-town-regulations-on-wind-turbines/60617864007/?ref=down-ballot.info) [local governments](https://www.kgou.org/energy/2025-07-07/solar-farm-company-files-legal-challenge-against-wagoner-county-commissioners?ref=down-ballot.info) that attempt to block its projects, while also spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on campaign donations. “It’s laughable that NextEra would request a reduction from $2.5m (as calculated by state statute) to $15k,” State Rep. Jim Shaw, a Chandler Republican who has been outspoken against the renewable energy sector, wrote in a statement to Investigate Midwest. “This speaks volumes to the disingenuous nature of ‘green energy’ companies who are looking to avoid and divest as much responsibility and obligation as possible.” ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/standalone-logo-1-1.png) #### **How state discretion shaped a $2.5 million permit fee** This story is the result of records requests, careful document review, and months of follow-up reporting. **A $5/month membership helps sustain this work.** Keith Bryant, the Oklahoma state fire marshal — whose office is the only state agency that regulates renewable energy projects in Oklahoma — ultimately used discretion granted under the administrative rule to reduce NextEra’s fee to $500,000\. (The rule allows fees to be “waived or reduced when, in the opinion of the State Fire Marshal, the reduction of fees is in the best interest of both parties.”) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/bryant-keith-853x1024.jpg) Keith Bryant Bryant said the standard square-footage formula produces unusually high fees for large solar projects because of their footprint, even though that footprint does not necessarily reflect the project’s overall scope. The $0.20-per-square-foot rate, he noted, applies to all new construction projects, not just renewable energy facilities. “If I was to apply the 20 cents a square foot to these facilities that are into the thousands of acres, the permit fee would be exorbitant,” Bryant told Investigate Midwest. The Skeleton Creek project is the third solar facility in Oklahoma to have its permit fee capped at $500,000. The other two are TwelveMile III in Johnston County, in the southern part of the state, and Huckleberry Solar in Mayes County, outside Tulsa. Both projects are developed by Texas-based Leeward Renewable Energy. The Huckleberry project has a power purchase agreement with Google to support the company’s AI data centers. The fire marshal could soon decide on similar fees, with NextEra Energy alone planning four additional solar farms and other developers lining up projects as well. As more renewable energy projects come to Oklahoma, lawmakers have increasingly filed bills that could further regulate the industry. Rep. Mike Dobrinski, a Republican whose district includes NextEra’s Skeleton Creek project site, introduced two bills last session — both still alive at the Capitol and expected to be considered again this session — that would directly affect projects like Skeleton Creek. One would establish setback requirements for solar and energy-storage facilities. The other would give the Oklahoma Corporation Commission regulatory authority over renewable-energy projects and require the agency to issue permits. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Dobrinski_Mike_c10e4d4d1d-819x1024.jpg) Rep. Mike Dobrinski “The intent of that bill was never to be restrictive or punitive with cost or anything like that,” said Dobrinski of the latter bill, HB 2155\. “Just to get a mechanism in place for our renewables that is similar to what oil and gas producers and developers have been doing for decades.” Some Garfield County residents opposing the Skeleton Creek project say they contacted Dobrinski, but felt he was strongly supportive of renewable-energy development and dismissive of their concerns. “It’s pretty clear to us who butters his bread,” said Lora Dierksen, an area resident who, along with 29 others, has sued to block the project. Between 2020 and 2024, Dobrinski received $10,000 in campaign contributions from NextEra, according to public records. The company has also made contributions to Reps. Chad Caldwell and John Pfeiffer — two Republicans whose districts include parts of Garfield County — and it has donated $10,000 to Gov. Kevin Stitt. NextEra has also given $15,000 to Turnaround Team PAC, a political action committee with ties to Stitt. In total, NextEra Energy has contributed more than $865,000 to Oklahoma political campaigns between 2015 and 2025, and its former lobbyist, Zachary Swartz, now serves as the USDA’s rural development director for the state. The company employs about 16,000 people, reported roughly $24.7 billion in revenue and about $5.5 billion in net profit in 2025\. It owns Florida Power & Light, the nation’s largest electric utility. In Oklahoma, it currently operates 18 wind farms and four energy storage facilities. NextEra did not reply to several requests for comment. ## Renewable energy pushback grows in rural Oklahoma In their lawsuit, area residents argue NextEra’s Skeleton Creek project is partly on land zoned for agricultural use, not industrial development. “I live in the country for a reason — to get away from industrial-looking things, for peace and quiet,” Dierksen said. “This brings nothing to Waoukomis, Oklahoma.” After a Garfield County judge issued a summary judgment in favor of NextEra, the residents appealed, and the case is now before the Oklahoma Supreme Court. According to NextEra, the Skeleton Creek project is expected to employ eight to 10 permanent workers and generate about $65 million in tax revenue for Garfield County over 30 years. The project has a power purchase agreement with the Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC), a generation and transmission cooperative that provides electric power to parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas and Kansas Critics say projects like Skeleton Creek are being built to feed the surge in artificial intelligence and data centers, not to meet local needs, since Oklahoma already generates nearly three times more power than it consumes. Like many solar and wind farms, data centers have faced strong pushback from local residents in Oklahoma and across the country. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/TURBINE-30-scaled-1-1024x576.jpg) A wind farm in northwest Oklahoma. photo by Zach Lucero, for Investigate Midwest Data centers consume vast amounts of water — often comparable to an entire small or mid-sized town — and have driven up electricity costs in other parts of the country. They typically generate [little long-term employment](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2025/11/12/google-data-center-oklahoma-plans-water-usage/86564280007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=undefined&gca-ft=0&gca-ds=sophi&ref=down-ballot.info) once construction is complete and often [do not pay traditional property taxes](https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2025/11/12/google-data-center-oklahoma-plans-water-usage/86564280007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=undefined&gca-ft=0&gca-ds=sophi&ref=down-ballot.info), instead negotiating payments in lieu of taxes, known as PILOT agreements. The pace at which these projects have appeared in rural Oklahoma in recent years has been striking, contributing to a growing sense of displacement and a loss of local control among residents. According to [Cleanview](https://cleanview.co/public/data-centers/oklahoma?ref=down-ballot.info), a company that tracks large-scale data-center and renewable-energy developments, five data centers are currently operating in Oklahoma, though the number rises into the dozens when smaller facilities are included. An analysis by [The Frontier](https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/oklahomas-data-center-boom-is-about-to-hit-the-grid-and-your-power-bill/?ref=down-ballot.info) found that at least 18 more data-center projects are in the pipeline. Renewable-energy development has expanded even more rapidly. Oklahoma currently has 69 utility-scale wind farms, 15 utility-scale solar farms, and four utility-scale battery-storage facilities in operation. Another 44 wind projects, 78 solar projects, and 108 battery-storage facilities have either secured grid-interconnection agreements or are awaiting approval, according to [interconnection.fyi, a website that tracks grid interconnection data.](https://www.interconnection.fyi/?ref=investigatemidwest.org%3Fref%3D&state=OK&status=Active&type=Solar) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Wind_03-1024x682.jpg) A wind farm in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma. photo by Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest As these projects have multiplied, disputes over where they can be built — and who gets to decide — have increasingly come to the fore. Zoning laws have been at the center of many of these clashes. Last year, in the northeastern Oklahoma town of Oologah, the town board voted against rezoning land that would have allowed a Texas company to build an energy-storage facility. In another case, NextEra [sued](https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx?db=wagoner&number=CV-2025-111&ref=down-ballot.info) the Wagoner County Board of County Commissioners after the county denied a permit for a proposed 4,650-acre solar farm near Porter. Unlike wind farms, solar and battery-storage projects in Oklahoma are not subject to statewide setback requirements. As a result, zoning rules have become one of the few tools available to local governments and residents seeking to influence where these projects are built. For neighbors of the Skeleton Creek project, the consequences of large-scale development are already tangible. The Hofferbers, ranchers who live next to the site, say that in addition to constant noise and disruption for over a year, they have seen wildlife move onto their land and attack their cattle after NextEra cleared nearby crop fields and wooded areas. Lea Smith, who lives with her husband on a 480-acre cattle and grain farm about a mile from the project, worries about changes to drainage. She said NextEra removed terraces that had been built to control water flow across the land. “If the drainage isn’t right, it washes out our crops,” Smith said. “Last year, more water came across and damaged our crops.” This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/02/24/how-a-solar-energy-developer-lobbied-for-and-won-a-reduced-state-permit-fee-amidst-farmer-pushback/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # A Heat Wave is Hitting New York. Know Your Rights Ahead of Soaring Temps. ### New Yorkers have some legal rights when it comes to severe heat. Ahead of the Fourth of July heat wave, here’s how to protect yourself. By Rachel Holliday Smith, The City Reporter Jul 1 5:00am EDT ![A delivery workers cools off in Inwood during an early summer heat wave.](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecityreporter.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/062325_heat_wave.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) Summer in the city is for Coney Island, Central Park and coco-mango-cherry carts. But when the heat becomes dangerous — as it will this holiday weekend — the focus switches to cooling centers, Con Ed and air conditioning. Beginning Wednesday through at least Saturday, a heat wave is hitting New York City, and hard. Feels-like temperatures could soar as high as 109 degrees on Friday. Mayor [Zohran Mamdani](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/category/zohran-mamdani/?ref=down-ballot.info) activated a Heat Emergency Plan on Monday, broadening New Yorkers’ access to cool-down centers, and reminding local agencies of existing rights regarding the heat. The heat is no joke; last year,[ 21 New Yorkers died](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2026/06/18/heat-deaths-stress-exposure-exhaustion/?ref=down-ballot.info) from heat, the highest tally in a decade. Nineteen of those deaths happened as a result of just a four-day heat wave in June. When it comes to staying cool — whether in your home or at your workplace — you have some rights in the city. Here’s what to know about those, how to protect yourself, and what you can do if those rules aren’t being honored: ## **Getting away from heat: Cooling centers (for your pet, too)** Because of Mamdani’s [Heat Emergency Plan](https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/06/mayor-mamdani-activates-unprecedented-heat-emergency-plan?ref=down-ballot.info), a number of services will be available to any New Yorker who needs them, free of charge. The Department for the Aging will operate 280 cooling centers during the week, and 210 during the weekend, the commissioner said on Tuesday. Cooling centers can be found in libraries, community centers, senior centers and NYCHA facilities, and you can [find one near you here](https://finder.nyc.gov/coolingcenters/?ref=down-ballot.info). Cool It! NYC also has a map of spray showers and drinking fountains [available here](https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/health-and-safety-guide/cool-it-nyc?ref=down-ballot.info). ![Subway fan is covered in dust at Union Square station. The exit sign for 14th street and 4th avenue can be seen out of focus in the lower third of the frame.](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/E2A1416-1024x683.jpg) Subway fans blow hot air at Union Square Station. Tuesday, September 23, 2025. In addition, 15 mobile Cooling Outreach On-Location stations, or COOL vans, from NYC Health & Hospitals will distribute water, electrolytes and sunscreen, as well as providing wellness checks, medical care, and transportation to cooling centers or health care facilities. Vans will have a registered nurse or nurse practitioner on board, meals and snacks, and will be dispatched for at-home wellness checks for seniors. The Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene will also operate pop-up cooling stations, complete with water, misting fans and cooling towels. Outdoor workers including street vendors, delivery drivers and laborers are encouraged to use these services. The department will also use Health Action Centers and Overdose Prevention Centers as cooling centers. Anyone is welcome to go to cooling centers, and so are service animals. Some cooling centers allow pets — call each location to find out whether yours does, too — but [all Petco locations](https://corporate.petco.com/2023-07-28-PSA-Petco-Locations-Nationwide-Double-as-Cooling-Centers-to-Help-Pets-Beat-the-Heat-This-Summer?ref=down-ballot.info) in New York City serve as cooling centers for you and your pets. If you’re looking to cool off closer to home, and you’re 18 or older, head to your local firehouse for a spray cap to turn [your fire hydrant into a sprinkler](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2023/07/27/how-to-open-fire-hydrant/?ref=down-ballot.info). Spray caps conserve water in case of an emergency, but still allow you to make your own [Rio Manhattan](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL5%5Fu-Tu9ul/?igsh=cWFoZmFsbXd6OGYz&ref=down-ballot.info). ## **Right to cooling? Not quite on the books** There is no right to cooling in New York City — yet. In December, City Council passed a bill creating a “cooling season” — similar to the winter’s heating season — between June 15 and Sept. 15\. Starting in 2030, landlords must provide tenants with air conditioning capable of maintaining 78 degrees or less in bedrooms, upon request. So for now, if your [apartment is too hot](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2025/06/20/apartment-heatwave-hot-air-conditioning/?ref=down-ballot.info), definitely head to a cooling center. And it’s crucial to check in on your neighbors to make sure they’re OK. [See our guide](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2022/07/22/how-to-check-on-neighbors-during-heat-wave/?ref=down-ballot.info) for specific questions to ask. ## **Con Edison** [Con Ed](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/tag/utilities/?ref=down-ballot.info), the utility behemoth behind your air conditioner (and lights, and possibly your stove) is committed to keeping the power running, it says. Con Ed’s policy — as governed by the state Department of Public Service — is to not disconnect your power the day of, or day before, the heat index is projected to reach 90 degrees or higher at Central Park. And if the heat index exceeds 90, the company will suspend disconnections for the next two days. If you are wrongfully or mistakenly disconnected despite that rule, [contact Con Ed](https://www.coned.com/en/contact-us?ref=down-ballot.info) right away. ![People endure an early heatwave in Lower Manhattan, April 14, 2026.](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/041426_heatwave-3-1024x683.jpg) People endure an early heatwave in Lower Manhattan, April 14, 2026. Still, during heat waves, power grids can be overrun to the point of blackouts, with air conditioners eating up lots of energy. And it wouldn’t be the first time: around the same time last year, more than 10,000 homes were left without power due to a heat wave, primarily in Brooklyn and Queens. If you experience an outage, [report it to Con Ed here](https://www.coned.com/en/services-and-outages/report-track-service-issue/report-outage-status?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=16621244785&gbraid=0AAAAAogNfTxH5m7z1m5MChfYIM63mAUHb&gclid=CjwKCAjw0o3SBhBVEiwAh28-jQrbAHglC0jrQlfIDZOoQ%5FKWIqpPlYvMOg2tD2UPYIAZxfghoma9RhoCJrkQAvD%5FBwE&ref=down-ballot.info). If you get an alert from Con Ed [asking you to limit energy use](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/2023/07/27/con-ed-heat-wave-energy-grid/?ref=down-ballot.info), it’s important to do so. Energy-intensive electric use can strain the aging electric grid, which puts you and your neighbors at risk of power outages. ## **Pause on evictions** The Department of Investigation paused evictions on July 1 and 2\. Evictions must take place on business days, which exclude weekends and holidays, so no one should be evicted during the span of this heat wave. “No city marshal should show up at anyone’s house to evict them,” said Carolyn Norton, interim chief of litigation and advocacy at Legal Services NYC. “That would be a direct violation of their city directive.” In the event a marshal attempts an eviction, the tenant should contact 311 to make a [complaint with the city](https://www.nyc.gov/site/doi/contact/online-complaint-form.page?ref=down-ballot.info), and reach out to a legal services organization, Norton said. There’s no official policy that pauses evictions in the case of extreme heat or other dangerous weather. It’s up to the DOI and the courts to make the call. The city previously suspended evictions on May 19 and 20, when temperatures soared past 95\. But when it was 100 degrees outside on June 12, 55 households got evicted, according to [data](https://data.cityofnewyork.us/City-Government/Evictions/6z8x-wfk4/about%5Fdata?ref=down-ballot.info) from the New York City Marshals. Evictions were not suspended that day. ## **On the job: Worker rights** Through the city’s [protected time off](https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/about/paid-sick-leave-law.page?ref=down-ballot.info) law, most employees are entitled to up to 40 or 56 hours of paid protected time off, for reasons including heat-related illness. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will remind local workplaces of your rights, too: tens of thousands of businesses will be informed of extreme heat guidance and urged to comply with labor laws, the city said. On June 22, Mamdani signed into effect an executive order establishing guidance to prevent heat-related illness in the workplace. For construction workers, the Department of Buildings must review construction safety requirements to ensure they protect against heat-related illness, and for municipal workers, mayoral agencies must develop heat-illness plans for indoor and outdoor workers. Per Department of Labor and federal OSHA laws, employers have a legal responsibility to protect employees from heat-related illness. According to guidance from the labor department, employers should provide each outdoor employee with 32 ounces of cool drinking water per hour at no cost. Employees should be given sufficient time to drink water throughout the work day, and water needs to be available at all times. Federally, all workers — not just outdoor workers — must be provided with potable water throughout the work day. Employers should also provide shade and paid rest as needed when the heat index exceeds 80 degrees, 15 minutes every two hours when the heat index exceeds 90, and 15 minutes an hour when it exceeds 100\. If the heat index exceeds 110, employers should consider rescheduling work, and if that’s not possible, 15 minutes of work with 45 minutes of rest every hour is encouraged. For more information on outdoor workers’ protections, read the Department of Labor’s [full guidance here.](https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2024/08/p198-extreme-heat-8-5-24.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) *Is there something we missed that should have been included in this article? Have a question? Get in touch with our newsroom at ask@thecityreporter.nyc.* --- ![](https://www.thecityreporter.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=80273&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) # Chemours must cut Ohio River ‘forever chemical’ pollution under new settlement. But a fight over future permit limits looms. by Ken Ward Jr., Mountain State Spotlight June 26, 2026 The Chemours Company plant in Wood County must comply with pollution limits for “forever chemicals” and spend millions of dollars for additional upgrades to reduce toxic discharges, [under a settlement with the Trump administration](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28324422-2026-06-24-chemours-settlement/?ref=down-ballot.info). Chemours will also pay a $22.5 million fine. The settlement will be subject to a public comment period, which [has not yet been scheduled](https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees?ref=down-ballot.info). It also needs approval from U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston. But potential battles remain over a renewed water discharge permit for the plant and the Trump Environmental Protection Agency’s moves to rewrite, and likely weaken, legal limits for these chemicals. The company has been violating permitted water pollution limits for years, and the government settlement was prodded along by the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, which filed its own lawsuit and won [a federal court order](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2025/08/07/chemours-forever-chemicals-judge-order/?ref=down-ballot.info) that Chemours halt excessive discharges. Jennie Smith, executive director of the Rivers Coalition, said her organization is “very happy” with the government’s settlement with Chemours. “This settlement secures the infrastructure upgrades needed to safeguard our water resources for now and future generations,” Smith said. The Washington Works facility outside Parkersburg, formerly owned by chemical giant DuPont, has been at the center of a decades-long controversy over emissions of a class of chemicals called PFAS. These chemicals, resistant to heat, water, oil and grease, have been used in making a wide variety of everyday products, from nonstick pans to waterproof clothing to fast food wrappers. But exposure has been linked to serious health conditions, including cancer, liver and kidney damage, developmental problems and immune system disorders. And for years, DuPont [knew about potential health issues](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6560616-2001-03-06-Bilott-Letter-to-EPA/?ref=down-ballot.info), but [did not tell the public.](https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/special%5Freports/dupont-to-pay-3-3-million-for-toxic-reporting-violations/article%5F817fe443-c98a-53ff-bfb2-360a6e664525.html?ref=down-ballot.info) Federal officials [said the new settlement, which also covers operations in New Jersey and North Carolina, totals $450 million](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chemours-agrees-450m-landmark-settlement-agreement-releases-pfas-forever-chemicals-west?ref=down-ballot.info). Much of that is $280 million to supply clean drinking water to residents near the West Virginia and New Jersey plants. It also includes $90 million over 15 years to reduce PFAS emissions and an estimated $60 million to reduce water and air emissions specifically at the West Virginia plant. “This landmark settlement shows the administration’s commitment to protecting the public from harmful water pollution,” [said](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-obtains-over-450-million-penalties-and-relief-agreement-chemours-settle-claims?ref=down-ballot.info) Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division. Chemours reached the settlement with the DOJ, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection. [In a statement](https://www.chemours.com/en/news-media-center/all-news/press-releases/2026/chemours-reaches-agreement-with-us-epa-to-resolve-claims-relating-to-pfas?ref=down-ballot.info), Chemours said the company “continues to focus on responsibly resolving outstanding environmental and regulatory matters with terms that improve site operating certainty and include payment and remediation commitments that are structured over time.” Chemours also noted that the company had settled, for less than $1 million, litigation brought by the West Virginia Rivers Coalition that prompted U.S. Judge Joseph R. Goodwin’s order that excessive pollution at the plant be stopped. Earlier this month, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals [had overturned Goodwin’s ruling](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/06/03/appeals-court-chemours-washington-works-2/?ref=down-ballot.info). And a federal government deal with Chemours would have created significant legal hurdles for the environmental group’s litigation. --- --- During that case, Chemours had warned that a court order could force the Wood County plant to slow production and potentially cost the area much-needed jobs. But Chemours managed to comply with Goodwin’s order, and stopped violations at two of its discharge points, said Jim Hecker, senior environmental attorney at Public Justice, which helped represent the Rivers Coalition. Hecker [said](https://wvrivers.org/2026/06/chemours-to-resolve-federal-law-violations-at-washington-works-plant-following-wv-rivers-coalition-clean-water-act-citizen-suit/?ref=down-ballot.info) the government settlement “builds on that progress and demonstrates the power of citizens coming together to demand accountability through our legal system.” An [EPA press release](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-obtains-over-450-million-penalties-and-relief-agreement-chemours-settle-claims?ref=down-ballot.info) quoted Gov. Patrick Morrisey saying the settlement, “is an encouraging first step, but it addresses only one piece of a much larger issue.” “We remain actively engaged in discussions to reach a comprehensive resolution for the Washington Works facility that protects our citizens and ensures West Virginia’s communities have confidence that these issues are being addressed for the long term.” One key matter unresolved is the exact language for pollution limits in a renewal of the plant’s WVDEP-issued water pollution discharge permit. The industry-friendly Trump administration has also indicated plans to change drinking water standards and industrial plant discharge limits for forever chemicals. The Rivers Coalition said it is closely monitoring these issues. In a statement, the group said, “Citizen enforcement can play an important role in protecting water quality and public health when regulatory processes move too slowly. Environmental compliance and economic stability are not mutually exclusive.” This [article](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/06/26/chemours-forever-chemicals-settlement/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mountain State Spotlight](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-MountainStateSpotlight-Icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=35044&ga4=315690663) --- ### The Appalachian Cities that Never Sleep URL: https://down-ballot.info/the-appalachian-cities-that-never-sleep/ Last updated: 2026-07-01T09:00:05.000Z by Donavyn Coffey, The Daily Yonder June 24, 2026 Mandy Withers was in her late 20s when she first realized she was more than tired. Then, a young mom of three, just out of graduate school, and training for her new position as a pulmonary and sleep medicine nurse practitioner, she thought falling asleep after dinner and foggy mornings were just the price of doing business. But as she stood in the corner of the exam room, and listened to her new boss screen patient after patient for sleep apnea, she silently checked “yes” to most of the symptoms. She wasn’t just busy, she was chronically unrested. A sleep study proved as much. And with the addition of a CPAP machine, she suddenly found she could finish a movie with her family after a day at work. That was 15 years ago, and better sleep changed Withers' life. “But if I hadn’t been working in sleep medicine, I would have had no idea,” Withers said. Sleeplessness is a fixture of Eastern Kentucky, where Whiters and her family live. A groundbreaking [study in 2015](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352721815001096?ref=down-ballot.info) revealed that Appalachia has some of the highest rates of insufficient sleep in the country, and Eastern Kentucky counties fared the worst. But the reasons for the region's chronic unrest have been severely understudied. Now, new research reveals rates of poor sleep are more widespread than first believed. The new [study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2847560?resultClick=3&ref=down-ballot.info) published in JAMA Open Network found that 65% of participants reported clinically significant insomnia, compared to a national average of 10%. And for those living below the poverty line, rates of insomnia surged even higher to 80%. “That is a massive rate of insomnia prevalence,” said Mairead Moloney, lead author on the study. “It's a huge alarm bell that something is going on in this population that needs addressing immediately.” Because sleep is not isolated. Sleep quality has sweeping implications for human health, making Eastern Kentucky’s chronic restlessness a public health crisis. But without more research, without some understanding of what’s driving the phenomenon, it's almost impossible to intervene in a meaningful way. Sleep experts in Appalachia are calling on others to join the investigation. Because if sleep can be restored to Eastern Kentucky, it could be restored anywhere. ### **Out of Control** Almost from the start, the study didn’t go as expected. Moloney’s team set out to pinpoint some of the social factors that could be driving sleep issues in Eastern, Kentucky. They intended to compare six hotspot counties — counties with sleep health well below the national average — to six control counties. The control counties were similar in geography, demographics, and earnings, but believed to have better sleep health. “Spoiler alert, our hypothesis that there would be differences between the hotspot and non-hotspot counties… disproven,” Moloney said. In fact, the results showed the rates in control counties were no better than in the counties believed to have the worse sleep issues. And the rate of sleep disorders in all counties — both hotspots and controls — were significantly higher than researchers expected. More than 50% of respondents reported obstructive sleep apnea, which is a biologically driven condition common in men and people with obesity. Another 65% reported insomnia, which is largely driven by social factors and belief systems. And another 44% reported general insufficient sleep. And these soaring rates, they’re probably still “an underrecognition of the real problem,” said Sunil Sharma, MD, chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine at West Virginia University who also studies sleep disparities in Appalachia. The data for the study were collected digitally, meaning Eastern Kentuckians without broadband access couldn't be included. The issues of sleep health likely go farther than the researchers could measure, Sharma said. Unchecked, this kind of chronic sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on a person’s and a region’s well-being. Lack of sleep has been linked to increased risks of[ ](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10693913/?ref=down-ballot.info)[obesity](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939475325001681?ref=down-ballot.info),[ cardiovascular disease](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2845795/?ref=down-ballot.info), [diabetes](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10693913/?ref=down-ballot.info), [certain types of cancer](https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.34951?ref=down-ballot.info#xd%5Fco%5Ff=ZWM1MWM4MTUtMGE3My00ODk1LTgwY2EtYzM2MjkxNTg5NmE4~), and [all-cause mortality](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-15828-6?ref=down-ballot.info), all conditions for which Eastern Kentuckians [exceed](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/CommitteeDocuments/380/26823/09%2018%202023%203.%20Health%20in%20Kentucky%5F%20Statistics%20%5F%20USAFacts%20Article.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the national averages. Poor sleep is also linked to [mental health challenges](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/CommitteeDocuments/380/26823/09%2018%202023%203.%20Health%20in%20Kentucky%5F%20Statistics%20%5F%20USAFacts%20Article.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), including anxiety, depression, and impaired emotional regulation. But the power of sleep is also a reason for hope, Moloney said. “I have this working hypothesis that if we can improve people's sleep, we can really reduce these negative health outcomes.” ### **Sleep Inequity** And a deeper look at insomnia, showed potential connections to finance challenges. Among the respondents who made $20,000 or less, insomnia rates escalated to almost 83%. “The lack of finances, that brings a lot of stress into people's lives,” Moloney said. And in eastern Kentucky, where an estimated 24% live below the poverty line —$33,000 for a family of four — that leaves a lot of people at risk of wakeful nights. ”If they don't know how they're going to get food on the table or get the next tankful of gas that’s a very, very stressful state to be in, ” Moloney said. Stress then begets things like worry and rumination, fear of the future, and regret about the past — all things that “quite literally keep people up at night,” she said. But money isn’t the only problem. Even respondents who made over $100,000 still had an insomnia rate of 44%, well above the national average. Other social factors, such as low social support, smoking, living alone, and unemployment were predictors of poor sleep health. And trauma history was linked to both sleep apnea and insomnia. “There are very high trauma rates in this population,” Moloney said. For many in Eastern Kentucky, life is already stressful and then a traumatizing event happens: a spouse is lost, a grandchild moves in, thousands were displaced in the 2022 floods. The brain's response to these traumatizing events is often rumination, the process of thinking and thinking about a negative event or a stressor. “It thinks it’s protecting you,” Moloney said of the brain. But in reality, many people are left with a cascade of thoughts they can’t turn off even when they’re tired. ### **A National Appeal** “To me, it's a tragedy that we know these things are happening,” but we don’t have a good explanation for why, Moloney said. “There should be many more of us in the sleep research field and the social behavioral sciences. who are focused on this region, in my opinion.” Sharma agreed. He said that many sleep medicine physicians are shocked to learn that his home of West Virginia, is the most sleep deprived state in the country, not the busy urban centers of coasts. The research in Eastern Kentucky, should have “national appeal,” he said. A better understanding of sleep in Appalachia could change how we understand and treat sleep everywhere. “If we can improve sleep here, that’s a winning lottery ticket for every other place,” he said. According to experts, there’s very much hope. With more information, the right sleep interventions have the potential to be an extremely effective — and low cost — way to offer Eastern Kentuckians relief from sleeplessness and also the host of mental, physical, financial and relational challenges that sleeplessness perpetuates. Already, solutions like app-based cognitive behavioral therapy and in-hospital sleep education have been shown to dramatically improve sleep quality. “I know from my research and from others that if we can improve people's sleep, we can improve their lives, “ Moloney said. “Their stress will go down, and their health will improve. This is my long-term investment and goal for the region is to get more research done so that we have clear answers as to why people aren't sleeping. --- *Donavyn Coffey is a Kentucky-based journalist covering healthcare and technology, with a particular interest in how innovations play out in rural places. Her work has appeared in Wired, TIME, Scientific American, Popular Science, and Vogue, among others.* This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/the-appalachian-cities-that-never-sleep/2026/06/24/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=240630&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) ### Chemours looks to settle federal PFAS case for $450 million. NC wasn’t at the table. URL: https://down-ballot.info/chemours-looks-to-settle-federal-pfas-case-for-450-million-nc-wasnt-at-the-table/ Last updated: 2026-06-29T09:00:46.000Z by Rose Hoban and Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News June 25, 2026 #### **By Rose Hoban and Will Atwater** **Key takeaways:** - The U.S. Department of Justice seeks hundreds of millions from Chemours in a federal complaint over years of PFAS contamination in three states, including North Carolina. - Despite housing the only GenX-producing facility in the U.S., North Carolina may receive little to nothing from the proposed settlement. - Since 2017, North Carolina has pursued enforcement actions against Chemours. It continues to seek accountability. In a surprise move on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a proposed settlement with chemical manufacturer Chemours over the company’s contamination of major waterways in three states, including North Carolina’s Cape Fear River. The proposed settlement agreement, totaling about $450 million, seeks to remediate [what the DOJ called](https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2026-06/chemours-cp.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) “years of historic and ongoing pollution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as PFAS, from the Defendants’ chemical facilities.” “Through this commitment, Chemours will better control PFAS at its plants, allowing the company to continue its manufacturing operations while protecting communities,” read a release from DOJ. “This agreement ensures that the company will manufacture these critical materials in a responsible manner.” Almost immediately, though, in a response sent to the media, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Attorney General Jeff Jackson denounced what they called a “backroom deal” that leaves “virtually nothing for North Carolina.” Jackson said that he only learned of the pending agreement on Tuesday, June 23\. > “This \[U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\], which has already weakened protections against chemicals like GenX, is now allowing polluters to pick and choose how and where they’ll fix their contamination — leaving North Carolina with no guarantees,” Stein said in the release. The settlement was announced from the Southern District of West Virginia, where Chemours operates and “transferred PFAS materials between and among the West Virginia facility and the facilities in New Jersey and North Carolina.” It’s the latest twist in a long-running saga of industrial pollution of waterways in North Carolina — and across the country — and the efforts to hold manufacturers responsible. These efforts have played out over the course of multiple presidential and gubernatorial administrations with varying degrees of force. #### **Drop in the bucket** Announcement of the agreement came on the same day that Stein, along with Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Reid Wilson, had been visiting homes in the Wilmington area where residents have been pushing for action around PFAS remediation for almost a decade. “Forever chemicals like PFAS cause serious health problems, and one out of three North Carolinians currently drink water with PFAS levels that exceed upcoming federal health standards,”Wilson [said in a statement.](https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/06/24/governor-stein-highlights-power-state-investments-provide-clean-water?ref=down-ballot.info) The money flowing to North Carolina as a result of this settlement would amount to a drop in the bucket for water utilities like the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, which provides drinking water for hundreds of thousands of residents in the Wilmington area. Since 2017, the water utility has spent more than $92 million to remove PFAS from drinking water for ratepayers, including the installation of a granular activated carbon system, according to [information provided by the utility](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image0011-copy.png?ref=down-ballot.info). Stein said his administration has pushed for more than $1.6 billion in water infrastructure projects to improve drinking water and wastewater treatment, and to mitigate PFAS contamination. That’s after the Cooper administration and the state legislature [funnelled more than $1.5 billion of American Rescue Plan Act dollars](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/09/23/n-c-communities-set-to-get-relief-from-water-and-sewer-woes-but-is-the-money-being-appropriated-fairly/?ref=down-ballot.info) to water and sewer projects across the state. In Stein and Jackson’s joint [release](https://mailchi.mp/ncdoj/gov-stein-and-ag-jackson-denounce-epa-chemours-backroom-pfas-deal?e=eba9d3871f&ref=down-ballot.info), they criticized the amount of money that will come to North Carolina as a result of Wednesday’s settlement. In their statement, they noted that, “Chemours will get to propose the projects it will fund, without any input from North Carolina or its residents. If any of the states require Chemours to do any additional PFAS cleanup or mitigation, the money that Chemours spends can get credited against this $90 million pool. Chemours doesn’t have to make any commitments to spending any of this money in North Carolina.” The $90 million sum, if divided by three states over a 15-year period, would amount to roughly $2 million annually for each state. The dollars are minuscule compared with the amount already spent on studying and mitigating PFAS contamination statewide. [N.C. State epidemiologist Jane Hoppin](https://jahoppin.wordpress.ncsu.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info), principal investigator of the [GenX Exposure Study](https://genxstudy.ncsu.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info), told NC Health News that since 2017, she has raised about $11.5 million in funding to support her research project, which includes collecting blood and other biological samples from 1,200 people and examining it. Hoppin said she will continue to rely on research money to fund the project for years to come. Though Kemp Burdette, executive director of the Wilmington-based environmental advocacy group [Cape Fear River Watch](https://capefearriverwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), couldn't put a number on how much money the organization has spent collecting water samples, paying for lab tests and helping to enforce the 2019[ consent order](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2019/02/20/deq-files-action-address-pfas-pollution-cleanup?ref=down-ballot.info) established between Chemours, Cape Fear River Watch and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, he told NC Health News it's a lot — and the work continues. Kemp said he and his staff continue to inform the public on PFAS-related environmental issues and contribute to proposed policy and PFAS litigation. The[ North Carolina Collaboratory](https://collaboratory.unc.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info), a General Assembly initiative that coordinates research across the UNC System to support state and local government decision-making, has received approximately $54million from the North Carolina General Assembly since 2018 to support PFAS research, Steve Wall, the senior research advisor, shared in an email to NC Health News. “$450 million dollars sounds like a lot, but when you’re trying to divide up $450 million between three states over 15 years, it’s a drop in the bucket for the amount of money needed to remove PFAS,” said Beth Kline-Markesino, founder of [Stop GenX in our Water](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1698237630205667/), a former nonprofit advocacy group. “This doesn’t include the thousands of well owners in our state with detectable PFAS limits from Chemours,” she continued. “The $450 million dollars is a start to help struggling utilities install filters, what our country needs is enforceable PFAS limits in drinking water. #### **Decades of pollution** Since the [first detections of PFAS pollution in the Ohio River Valley](https://www.amazon.com/Exposure-Poisoned-Corporate-Lawyers-Twenty-Year-ebook/dp/B07THDQD28?ref=down-ballot.info) in the early 2000s, research has been underway to track the health effects of the chemicals, known for their persistence in the environment. Since then researchers have found possible links between PFAS and several [health effects,](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas?ref=down-ballot.info) such as low birth rates, certain forms of cancer, weakened immune systems, thyroid disease, and liver and kidney damage. The Cape Fear River pollution was revealed in [a 2017 Wilmington Star-News exposé](https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/environment/2017/06/07/toxin-taints-cfpua-drinking-water/20684831007/?ref=down-ballot.info) revealing that the chemical GenX and other, older, forms of PFAS had been found in riverwater downstream from Chemours’ [Fayetteville Works plant](https://www.chemours.com/en/about-chemours/global-reach/fayetteville-works?ref=down-ballot.info) on the Bladen County border. At first, local utilities and the state, which had been alerted to the problem by NC State University water quality scientist Detlef Knappe, did not publicize the findings. ![shows low level satellite photo of a dam feeding into a river, surrounded by trees](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/GenX_USACE_Lock_and_Dam_1_Cape_Fear_River.jpeg) The Cape Fear River winds over 200 miles through central and eastern North Carolina. It is a source of water for industry and public drinking water systems and in the summer of 2016, it was found to contain the chemical contaminant GenX. This aerial view captures Lock and Dam No. above Wilmington. The facility, which produces industrial gas, plastics and resin chemicals, had been improperly storing chemicals on its property. The settlement documents also note that the company had allowed PFAS-tainted effluent to flow into the Cape Fear River. “From 2004 to 2022, Old Dupont and Chemours surface water sampling downstream of Fayetteville Works detected PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (Perfluorooctane Sulfonic Acid) discharges to the Cape Fear River, with PFOA concentrations of 42,000 - 49,000 \[parts per trillion\] and PFOS concentrations of 40,000 - 44,000 \[parts per trillion\] in 2021,” the settlement reads. Subsequent studies of the surrounding area found contamination of soil and drinking water wells from PFAS, ostensibly emitted out of the chemical facility’s smokestacks and carried by the winds to surrounding areas. Monitoring had also detected other stormwater discharges from 2019 to 2021 that totaled about 1.8 million parts per trillion for PFOA. In 2020, a report from the NCDEQ found [“staggering” amounts of PFAS pollution in discharges](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2020/02/03/new-deq-data-show-high-levels-of-pfas-in-cape-fear-river-basin/?ref=down-ballot.info) into the Deep River, a tributary of the Cape Fear, that measured 1,000 parts per trillion of PFOS, far less than the concentrations released by Chemours. In 2019, the state [reached a consent agreement with Chemours](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2019/02/26/judge-approves-revised-consent-order-against-chemours/?ref=down-ballot.info) that fined the company $12 million and required it to speed up actions to remove contaminants from the air, groundwater and the river water. After the initial contamination event in Ohio and West Virginia, Chemours’ precursor company, DuPont, paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to study the effects of the chemicals, remediate the pollution and compensate victims. *The proposed consent decree, lodged in the Southern District of West Virginia is subject to a 30-day comment period and final court approval. Information on submitting comment and access to the settlement agreement is available on the* [*Justice Department’s Proposed Consent Decree webpage*](http://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees?ref=down-ballot.info)*,” according to information provided by the EP*A. #### **Multiple claims against Chemours:** Wednesday’s agreement details years of issues with how Chemours handled its hazardous waste at plants in all three states. According to the findings, in North Carolina, Chemours: - Discharged tainted water without the [correct federal permits](https://www.epa.gov/npdes?ref=down-ballot.info) - Failed to include relevant information about chemicals created by its processes as it started to release GenX in 2008, including failure to include all information “to the extent known or reasonably ascertainable, about worker exposure to GenX and environmental releases.” - Failed to document compliance with restrictions around how much GenX was being released into the environment. - Unlawful manufacture and processing of hexafluoropropylene oxide at Fayetteville Works as part of the PFAS production process. - Unlawful manufacture and processing of carbooxohalide, a PFAS precursor chemical, at Fayetteville Works. - Unauthorized acceptance of GenX waste shipped from Chemours facilities in the Netherlands for long term storage in North Carolina. In addition, the complaint notes that Chemours storage of hazardous waste in unauthorized containers were improperly labeled. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/06/25/chemours-pfas-settlement-nc-excluded/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=68473) ### U.S. Homes Show Three-Decade Decline in Indoor Water Use URL: https://down-ballot.info/u-s-homes-show-three-decade-decline-in-indoor-water-use/ Last updated: 2026-06-29T09:00:09.000Z by Brett Walton, Circle of Blue June 21, 2026 Decades ago, before it was much of a concern, water moved through the average U.S. home in enormous quantities. Toilets pulled 3.5 gallons per flush or more. Washing machines filled like tiny swimming pools. Water flowed and flowed. Things have tightened considerably since then. New data shows that U.S. homes are becoming ever more efficient in their water use. Between 1999, when the first residential end-use study was released, to the [third edition](https://www.waterrf.org/research/projects/residential-end-uses-water-version-3-single-family-and-multi-family-study?ref=down-ballot.info), which was published last week, indoor water use dropped by 43 percent. The tightening of indoor water use has allowed cities to grow despite mounting concerns about water availability, especially in the western states. Peter Mayer, who led all three studies, attributes the three-decade decline not to behavioral changes but to federal policies, codes, and standards that required water-efficient designs. “It’s almost entirely due to technological changes in fixtures and appliances,” said Mayer, principal engineer at Water DM. “There are some behavioral components but they are quite small. The real impact has been the fact that when you flush the toilet it uses much, much less water today than it used to. And when you run a load of clothes, those machines use half the water they used back in the 1990s.” The main contributors to indoor water use, the study found, are toilets and showers, which combine for about 60 percent of the total. Faucets, which rank third, are another 23 percent. Per person indoor use, according to data from individual homes, was 38.5 gallons per day for single-family homes and 39.8 gallons for multi-family buildings. **Past and Future Water Use** The catalyst for these water-use changes was the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The act dramatically tightened the water-use standards for toilets, showers, and faucets. Later, the Department of Energy mandated that clothes washers use less water. Then in 2006, the EPA launched WaterSense, a voluntary program to label the most water-efficient options available in the marketplace. The Trump administration has attacked those same path-breaking policies. In a May 2025 [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/rescission-of-useless-water-pressure-standards/?ref=down-ballot.info) calling for the repeal of federal water-efficiency standards, Trump labelled water conservation policies as part of the “unnecessary radical green agenda.” Water sector representatives see it differently. Conservation has helped cities grow while using less water. In Santa Fe, for instance, water use per person has dropped by 42 percent since the mid-1990s while total water use in the city is the same as the mid-1980s. In the wetter Seattle metro area, water use is about the same today as the 1950s. “Studies like this can help utilities with planning, conservation, and infrastructure,” said Kenan Ozekin, the chief research officer for the Water Research Foundation, which sponsored the study. The data informs the correct size for treatment plants and how much water might be needed for future growth. Even with the three-decade decline, there is still room for improvement. The federal standard for toilets is 1.6 gallons per flush. Yet more efficient models are on the market. California and Colorado – two states where water supply is a policy priority – have adopted the WaterSense standard of 1.28 gallons per flush as their own. Local governments are displaying even more ambition. Castle Rock, a high-growth city on Colorado’s Front Range some 30 miles south of Denver, passed an [ordinance](https://www.crgov.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2824?ref=down-ballot.info) last year that all new homes and apartments must install ultra-high efficiency toilets that use 0.8 gallons per flush. The Cambria Community Services District, in southern California, [requires](https://www.cambriacsd.org/retrofit-program?ref=down-ballot.info#docaccess-1199ff2629270a6723dbee1e7c9862097a3921d168e201085b4db6f4f24c0710) high-efficiency appliances and fixtures to be installed when an existing home is sold. In light of the water-conservation success indoors, the biggest savings to come will be outdoors, Mayer said. In dry western regions, lawn irrigation and landscaping can account for half or more of a city’s water use. The study drew from several data sources. Forty-eight utilities provided data on residential water use in their service areas. Nearly 60,000 households responded to a water-use survey. And nearly 70,000 in-home readings were provided by Flume, a company that makes a water-use sensor. Because homes with a Flume device might be more attuned to their water use, the researchers attempted to select homes that matched regional consumption patterns. No study is perfect, but the results show an unmistakable trend line for indoor water use: down. “It’s important in the context of the Colorado River and the water crisis in America to understand that the residential sector has really been doing its part,” Mayer said. “The residential sector has worked hard and there’s been concerted effort to reduce consumption. And it’s been successful.” *Lead image: U.S. households are using less water thanks to more efficient fixtures and appliances. Photo @ J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue* This [article](https://www.circleofblue.org/2026/supply/u-s-homes-show-three-decade-decline-in-indoor-water-use/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Circle of Blue](https://www.circleofblue.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.circleofblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/cropped-CoB.logo_.circle.gradient.trans_.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.circleofblue.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=144924&ga4=G-NG75SZY8CX) ### Haiti jersey ban echoes campaign to discredit its revolution URL: https://down-ballot.info/haiti-jersey-ban-echoes-campaign-to-discredit-its-revolution/ Last updated: 2026-06-26T09:08:14.000Z **It's Friday June 26, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** FIFA’s Haiti jersey ban echoes the long campaign to discredit and downplay the Haitian Revolution**,** Key NC Senate budget writer offers glimpse at Helene relief numbers in state budget**,** Rural Tennessee needs family doctors. Can $200,000 lure them to the state’s small towns?, Top court orders disclosures in NJ cops’ use of facial recognition technology, Federal judge blocks key pillars of current U.S. president's executive order restricting mail voting in 2026 election, A Pipeline Company Says It Will Protect the Environment in North Carolina. Its Record in Tennessee Says Otherwise, Reducing harm: This New Orleans nonprofit can help you pay for medication, food, rent and more, Stepping back from brink of financial disaster in Rocky Mount. **Media outlets and others featured:** The Conversation, NC Newsline, Tennessee Lookout, New Jersey Monitor, Votebeat, Inside Climate News, Verite News, Capitol News Illinois, Carolina Public Press. [Support Down Ballot ](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/give/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/007b6fd8-920e-4ee2-8293-1cbd5d2cb152.jpg) ## FIFA’s Haiti jersey ban echoes the long campaign to discredit and downplay the Haitian Revolution The move is part of a longer history of obscuring and demonizing the Haitian Revolution and its leader, Jean-Jacques Dessalines. **By Julia Gaffield, William & Mary (The Conversation)** Published: June 15, 2026 Ahead of its first match in the 2026 World Cup, the Haitian national soccer team was forced to make a last-minute change. But it didn’t have anything to do with its roster or travel plans. It was the team’s jersey. FIFA, the sport’s global governing body, said the jersey design violated its rules, which [ban political slogans or imagery](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/%5F/id/49029805/fifa-forces-haiti-remove-political-imagery-world-cup-jersey?ref=down-ballot.info). FIFA didn’t elaborate on which components of the jersey were problematic. But the issue almost certainly stemmed from the small image of a group of people holding the Haitian flag that appeared on the right hip of the jersey. After the decision was made, a spokesperson [for the team confirmed](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7350495/2026/06/11/haiti-world-cup-kit-change-fifa/?ref=down-ballot.info) that the original jersey included “an image depicting the [Battle of Vertières](https://haitiantimes.com/2025/11/18/battle-of-vertieres-haiti-independence-day-in-history/?ref=down-ballot.info) and some independence heroes raising the Haitian flag.” The commemoration was doubly symbolic since [Haiti officially qualified for the World Cup](https://theconversation.com/haiti-at-the-world-cup-is-more-than-an-underdog-tale-it-is-the-story-of-global-migration-283039?ref=down-ballot.info) for just the second time in the men’s tournament’s history on Nov. 18, 2025, which also marked the 222nd anniversary of the famous 1803 battle that secured Haiti’s victory over France in its war for independence. While the spokesperson for the team described the image as including “some independence heroes,” I think it’s safe to assume that [Jean-Jacques Dessalines](https://theconversation.com/jean-jacques-dessalines-reassessing-the-haitian-revolutionary-leaders-legacy-266326?ref=down-ballot.info), who led the Haitian revolutionaries during the Battle of Vertières, is the central figure of the vignette. The subject of my 2025 book, “[I Have Avenged America](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300255478/i-have-avenged-america/?ref=down-ballot.info),” Dessalines was the man who declared Haiti’s independence from France, and he was Haiti’s first head of state. ***Read more:*** [***Jean-Jacques Dessalines: Reassessing the Haitian revolutionary leader’s legacy***](https://theconversation.com/jean-jacques-dessalines-reassessing-the-haitian-revolutionary-leaders-legacy-266326?ref=down-ballot.info) But because of his radical and violent fight for freedom, Dessalines’ enemies often [described him as ferocious and barbaric](https://theconversation.com/meet-haitis-founding-father-whose-black-revolution-was-too-radical-for-thomas-jefferson-101963?ref=down-ballot.info), both during his lifetime and in the centuries after his death. They sought to undermine his leadership and undermine Haiti as a country, depicting him as a figure whose sole purpose was violence for violence’s sake, rather than a revolutionary driven by any ideological or political commitments. ## A successful slave revolution In the late 17th century, France had colonized the western third of Hispaniola, the island that Haiti now shares with the Dominican Republic. By forcing enslaved men, women and children to work on sugar and coffee plantations, the French turned the colony, [which they called Saint-Domingue](https://www.britannica.com/place/Saint-Domingue?ref=down-ballot.info), into [one of the wealthiest in the world](https://slaveryandremembrance.org/articles/article/?id=A0111&ref=down-ballot.info). In August 1791, enslaved men and women rose up in revolution. It was the world’s first and only successful slave revolution: Within two years, they forced the French to abolish slavery. The Haitian Revolution – as the event is known today – became a war for independence only when the French tried to reinstitute slavery in 1802\. Dessalines declared Haitian independence on Jan. 1, 1804, and Haiti became the [first nation to permanently ban slavery](https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/07/12/haiti-was-first-nation-permanently-ban-slavery/?ref=down-ballot.info). ## The ‘silencing’ of the revolution The effort to discredit the Haitian Revolution by targeting Dessalines began during the war for independence against the French. Criticism only intensified after the Declaration of Independence. That year, French propagandist Louis Dubroca, a mouthpiece of the Napoleonic government, published a slanted, factually incorrect biography of Dessalines. Even though the book got some basic facts wrong, such as claiming that Dessalines was born in Africa, its impact has been indelible. “Cunning and hypocritical,” Dubroca wrote, Dessalines “is also brutal, impetuous, and violently excessive. He inspires a kind of terror in all around him.” [An image that accompanied an 1806 Spanish translation](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:General%5FJean-Jacques%5FDessalines%5Fholding%5Fa%5Fmutiliated%5Fwhite%5Fwoman%27s%5Fhead.046.jpg?ref=down-ballot.info) of the book still haunts the memory of the Haitian Revolution: It depicts Dessalines hoisting a sword in one hand and holding the severed head of a white woman in the other In the decades after the revolution, opponents of the young nation [routinely claimed that Dessalines](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300292152/i-have-avenged-america/?ref=down-ballot.info) had massacred the entire white population on the island after declaring independence. Yes, in the context of ongoing war with France, Dessalines executed some French citizens, including those who had participated in Napoleon Bonaparte’s bloody campaign from 1802 to 1803 to regain control over the colony and reintroduce slavery. After 1804, however, hundreds of white French people remained in Haiti and were naturalized as Haitian citizens, securing equal rights [under Dessalines’ 1805 Haitian constitution](https://haitidoi.com/constitutions/1805-2/?ref=down-ballot.info). But the facts didn’t matter. The hyperbolic narrative of unmitigated violence served to discredit and undermine the revolution’s successes. Thomas Jefferson became so worried that enslaved people in the United States would be inspired by the Haitians [that in his correspondence](https://www.monticello.org/encyclopedia/st-domingue-haiti/?ref=down-ballot.info) he frequently depicted the Haitian Revolution as a violent upheaval rather than a struggle for freedom. Jefferson went on to ban trade with Haiti in 1806, and the U.S. did not formally recognize Haiti’s independence [until 1862](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1784-1800/haitian-rev?ref=down-ballot.info). The strategy of denying Haiti’s success became so effective that the Haitian anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot called it the “[silencing](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/246609/silencing-the-past-by-michel-rolph-trouillot/?ref=down-ballot.info)” of the Haitian Revolution. ## A pattern emerges The World Cup jersey ban marks Haiti’s second sartorial controversy of 2026. In early 2026, the International Olympic Committee required Haiti’s Winter Olympics team to [modify its opening ceremony outfit](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/13/haiti-winter-olympics-ski-uniform-redesigned-ioc-guidelines?ref=down-ballot.info) for similar reasons. The garments, designed by Stella Jean, a Haitian Italian fashion designer, [featured a painting](https://haitianartsociety.org/edouard-duval-carrie-toussaint-louverture-2007?ref=down-ballot.info) of the Haitian revolutionary [Toussaint Louverture](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Toussaint-Louverture?ref=down-ballot.info), Dessalines’ fellow revolutionary. Once again, the design was deemed political. Dessalines and Louverture fought together throughout the revolution, but they are often portrayed as opposites. Louverture, in this framing, is strategic, diplomatic, rational and reasonable. In contrast, [Dessalines is typically described](https://www.publicbooks.org/independence-and-abolition-went-hand-in-hand-julia-gaffield-on-jean-jacques-dessalines-and-the-haitian-revolution/?ref=down-ballot.info) as violent, unthinking, emotional and heartless. But there’s a noteworthy distinction between the Olympic ban and the current one imposed by FIFA. For the Olympics opening ceremony, the banned outfits depicted a single, specific person: Louverture. In the case of the World Cup jerseys, the mere implication of Dessalines, standing alongside his fellow revolutionaries, was enough to elicit a backlash. Ever since the Haitian revolutionaries first rebelled against the French in 1791, the proslavery and imperialist powers of Europe and the Americas had a special interest in ensuring that Haiti failed. Both then and now, targeting revolutionaries like Dessalines has supported that goal. The irony is that more people may be learning about Haiti’s revolutionary history in the process. Saeta, the company that designed the controversial jersey, [has announced on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZgIQulgWID/?hl=en&img%5Findex=1&ref=down-ballot.info) that it will restock it. The jersey has become a fan favorite. *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-285218)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Julia Gaffield*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/julia-gaffield-539357?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-285218)*,* [*William & Mary*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/william-and-mary-2421?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-285218) **Read more:** - [Haiti at the World Cup is more than an underdog tale – it is the story of global migration](https://theconversation.com/haiti-at-the-world-cup-is-more-than-an-underdog-tale-it-is-the-story-of-global-migration-283039?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-285218) - [Meet Haiti’s founding father, whose black revolution was too radical for Thomas Jefferson](https://theconversation.com/meet-haitis-founding-father-whose-black-revolution-was-too-radical-for-thomas-jefferson-101963?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-285218) - [For Iran’s diaspora, a tough World Cup call: To support the national team or protest – or both?](https://theconversation.com/for-irans-diaspora-a-tough-world-cup-call-to-support-the-national-team-or-protest-or-both-284277?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-285218) *Julia Gaffield does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.* ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/007b6fd8-920e-4ee2-8293-1cbd5d2cb152.jpg) ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/007b6fd8-920e-4ee2-8293-1cbd5d2cb152.jpg) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/06/Key_mg_0.jpg) A single family home is completed in Black Mountain, N.C., after Hurricane Helene. Through state and federally funded efforts, the state has repaired or rebuilt more than 1,000 homes, with more than 2,800 others in process. (Photo: Renew NC) ## Key NC Senate budget writer offers glimpse at Helene relief numbers in state budget By Clayton Henkel (North Carolina Newsline) Published: June 22, 2026 For many residents of western North Carolina affected by Hurricane Helene, it’s been 20 long months of waiting and wondering — when will things get back to normal? And just how much more funding is coming from the government? Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) told members of the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Western North Carolina Recovery Monday that legislators are working to finalize the state budget, but the exact appropriation for Hurricane Helene relief has yet to be settled on. “I have no idea if that’s going to be a separate bill or if that’s going to be built into the budget as we come out with that,” said Hise. “But the biggest portion of it is obviously the state match for the federal government. I think that’s about $450 million to this point.” Hise, a co-chair on the Senate Appropriations Committee, calls that a “continuing number” that is likely to rise as more federal money comes in. The state is required to earmark a percentage of matching funds. Hise said one of the biggest challenges for budget writers is trying to get their hands around FEMA’s funding process and which local issues and rebuilding projects will qualify for federal funding. “The risk is when we’ve heard nothing from FEMA on a lot of these projects, even water and sewer and those kinds of things,” said Hise. “If you put state money towards them and they’re ultimately awarded in the FEMA process, FEMA will reduce whatever the state gets.” Hise said in cases where local governments are assured a project may not meet federal guidelines and may be denied, legislators have been receptive to allowing them to request state funds to shorten the wait time on critical projects. Sen. Kevin Corbin (R-Cherokee) says about $2.4 billion in state money has directly been spent on Helene recovery with an additional $2 billion redirected from state agencies to assist in rebuilding. Nonprofit and philanthropic partners have contributed $1.4 billion. The federal government has provided just over $9 billion in recovery funds. Still, Corbin says more federal funding is critically needed. He traveled to Washington with Governor Josh Stein earlier this month to encourage the state’s congressional delegation to push for $10 billion in additional funding for western North Carolina. The bulk of the request — more than $3 billion — is needed to repair and rebuild damaged homes and recover lost housing stock. The federal funding request also included $300 million for private roads and bridges to restore access to homes and emergency services. More than 3,000 eligible applications have been submitted to the state’s private roads and bridges program, overwhelming the pool of money that was initially set aside. > [Helene recovery once again takes center stage as NC legislators return to Raleigh](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/04/20/helene-recovery-once-again-takes-center-stage-as-nc-legislators-return-to-raleigh/?ref=down-ballot.info) “I think we’re possibly looking at putting another $100 million into private roads and bridges from state funding,” said Corbin. That figure would match what Stein requested from the legislature back in March for the third phase of Hurricane Helene recovery funding. Another critical part of the ongoing recovery is improving communication. Major Kevin Owens with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Monday they are hoping the upcoming state budget will include funding for 31 additional towers for the Voice Interoperability Plan for Emergency Responders network, commonly called the[ VIPER](https://www.ncshp.gov/our-organization/viper?ref=down-ballot.info) system. VIPER is North Carolina’s statewide public safety communications system that provides reliable and secure digital voice communications to first responders, law enforcement and partner agencies. Owens says the VIPER network was the only way communication got through in the first few weeks after Helene. Seventy-five percent of cell sites in the Helene-affected counties were out of service; 200,000 wire or land line subscribers were also left without a way to communicate. More than 1,700 miles of fiber were damaged or destroyed, according to the Land of Sky Regional Council. Owen said the additional towers and planned upgrades to allow automatic data traffic rerouting would mean zero downtime on VIPER in a future emergency. “The robustness of the network would be even greater in the readiness of any future natural disaster that we may experience,” said Owens. The Governor’s Advisory Committee on Western North Carolina Recovery meets again July 17\. Members are hoping by then they may have more clarity on the latest federal funding request, as well as what state legislators have agreed to fund. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/06/Rural_mg_0.jpg) Dr. Ty Webb, who has been practicing medicine in Sparta, Tennessee, for nearly 30 years, is nearing retirement and has fears about how health care needs will be met in rural Tennessee as fewer physicians move to small communities. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout) ## Rural Tennessee needs family doctors. Can $200,000 lure them to the state’s small towns? By Jamie McGee (Tennessee Lookout) Published: June 22, 2026 In a small clinic room in Sparta, Tenn., Dr. Ty Webb moved his chair near his 70-year-old patient and encouraged her progress with weight loss and smoking. His wife, Janet Webb, a pharmacist and scribe, helped consolidate more than a dozen medication bottles and discard those no longer needed. When his patient shared fears about her new heart condition, he offered tissues and assured her that she would be able to navigate the necessary care. “Stress is going to make you feel like you can’t keep anything straight,” Webb said. Turning to the many pill containers, he added, “We’ll try to simplify.” Webb explained next steps and upcoming blood tests, before moving on to his next patient down the hall, counseling once again on cigarettes and commending improved blood sugar levels. It’s a familiar routine, one he has fulfilled for nearly three decades as a family physician, often serving the same families he met when he first moved to the town of 5,000\. But as his retirement and those of other family physicians draw nearer, he carries with him concerns and questions about what that will mean for the rural communities they serve. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://tennesseelookout.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) “Finding physicians to do what I do and take my place — I’ve been looking for 15 years and can’t find somebody,” Webb, 59, said. “There is no one coming in to replace the doctors like me out there and we are five to seven years from retirement. There is about to be a really big problem.” Webb is among a shrinking pool of family medicine doctors in rural Tennessee. Young family doctors must navigate a more complicated medical landscape for independent practice than in previous decades, and aspiring physicians are often drawn to higher salaries in more specialized fields or to positions in urban areas. That leaves many rural counties in Tennessee with a shortage of doctors. The number of family physicians in rural areas in the South fell by 14% in the seven years through 2023, according to a recent Annals of Family Medicine study. Tennessee’s urban counties, including Davidson, Williamson and Knox, have ratios of fewer than 1,100 residents to one primary care physician, while nearly 30 rural counties have ratios that exceed 4,000 to one, according to 2022 data from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. Tennessee has ranked among the least healthy states for decades. About one in three Tennesseans live in rural areas, where life expectancy and incomes are lower and reliance on public health insurance and health risks are higher, according to a [2025 state report](https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/TN%5FRHTF%5FApplication%5FFull%5FDocument.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). “We have a dearth of physicians practicing in areas of our state that need it most,” said Dave Chaney, executive director of the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians. “When family doctors are in communities, people live longer, are healthier and the overall cost of care goes down.” To help address these rural health care needs, Tennessee lawmakers, led by Republican state Sen. Rusty Crowe of Johnson City, approved a [loan repayment program](https://tnafp.org/fmloanrepayment/%29?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2023 to encourage family physicians to work in underserved areas. The Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, which developed the program, began selecting recipients this year who will receive as much as $200,000 in loan repayment dollars during five-year commitments. The new family physician loan repayment program is part of a broader focus in Tennessee to boost health care outcomes in rural parts of the state. Gov. Bill Lee launched a rural health care taskforce in 2022 and the state was awarded $207 million in federal funds in 2025 to be allocated through a five-year [Rural Health Transformation Program](https://www.tn.gov/health/news/2026/5/15/tennessee-to-release-1st-grant-funding-opportunity-of-rural-health-transformation-program.html?ref=down-ballot.info). #### ‘A degradation of care’ For Webb, moving to a town heavy in Bluegrass music, grain silos and cattle farms felt like a natural step for him after completing his medical residency. Sparta, located 90 miles east of Nashville, was a departure from his years studying medicine in Memphis and growing up in Indianapolis, but he knew he could use his broad medical specializations in a smaller town, he said. He joined a practice with three other family medicine doctors, delivered babies, offered psychiatric care, performed colonoscopies and did rounds at the local hospital. He and Janet raised three kids on a 50-acre farm, where they now host grandchildren and care for their three dogs. His home, his clinic, his grocery store, his kids’ schools, his church and city hall are all within a short drive. “It’s fabulous. The cost of living is low, people are great,” Webb said. “It’s just the pace of life is different. I enjoy the smaller community.” Most of Webb’s patients live in White County, but some drive from two or three counties away, having built relationships with him and his team that now consists of three nurse practitioners and a physician assistant. He no longer sees hospital patients, but at his Sparta clinic and at a smaller office in Spencer, his team sees about 12,000 patients and he works 12- to 14-hour days to fit them all in. His clinic gets multiple calls a day from people seeking to establish primary care, openings that do not exist. “We can’t accommodate that. We’re full,” Webb said. Other rural Tennessee doctors describe similar demands. Dr. Katherine Hall, 47, is a family physician in Athens, Tenn., often with a two-month waiting period for new patients. She tries not to turn people away, but that makes it more difficult to see her existing patients when they are sick. On a typical morning, she has fed her horses and made hospital rounds before her clinic opens at 8 a.m. “It is really hard to be available for acute needs when I’m spending all my time catching up and managing the refills and the labs and the other management of patients,” she said. “I see 24 to 27 in a day. You can’t really squeeze more in than that.” Dr. Wm. Ryan Bartz, 47, who works in Selmer in West Tennessee, has a full clinic for 10 hours on weekdays, sees acute care patients and makes regular house calls. He has been compensated or thanked with plates of cookies, fresh chicken eggs and beef donations, even soup deliveries when he has been sick. “I love my job,” he said. “It’s not a clock-in, clock-out job.” > [Rural Tennessee is bleeding independent physicians, new report finds](https://tennesseelookout.com/briefs/rural-tennessee-is-bleeding-independent-physicians-new-report-finds/?ref=down-ballot.info) As an independent physician, Webb believes he is better positioned to care for patients than those working at hospitals, where longevity is also uncertain. Seventeen hospitals have closed in rural parts of Tennessee since 2012, and as of 2022, more than 20 rural hospitals were at risk of closure, according to annual state health reports. But, being an independent family medicine doctor comes with its own bureaucratic and billing challenges, and Webb said he understands why young doctors are often discouraged from following course. Many seek more defined hours, which is hard to make work financially and to meet patients’ needs in a rural private practice, he said. Dealing with insurers reluctant to cover costs is increasingly adding to his work load, along with keeping up with ever-evolving regulation. Webb is less certain that he will be working into his 70s, as he had long envisioned. “I love medicine. I would keep doing this for a very long time,” he said. “The problem is the bureaucracy of medicine and it’s killing me.” More than half of non-metro doctors in Tennessee were older than 65 in 2022, compared to a third in metro areas, according to data from Rural Health Information Hub, illustrating the upcoming pressures on rural communities. Meanwhile, Tennessee lost 42 percent of independent physicians in rural areas in the five years through 2024, according to a [Physicians Advocacy Institute report.](https://tennesseelookout.com/briefs/rural-tennessee-is-bleeding-independent-physicians-new-report-finds/%29?ref=down-ballot.info) A further reduced physician presence in rural areas in the coming years will mean patients with less access to comprehensive, preventative care, Webb forecast. Patients will have to rely more on nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who are knowledgeable and skilled but whose training is meant to accompany doctors’ roles, he said. Patients will also likely turn more to urgent care clinics or to emergency centers farther away when heart disease, blood pressure or other issues reach crisis levels, adding more costs to the system and to patients. “It’s going to be a degradation of care,” Webb said. #### Financial pressures weigh on specialty and location decisions For many in their residency, their looming medical school debt forces them to seek more lucrative specialties or positions in urban areas that include more patients relying on private insurers. Medical students graduating in 2025 with education debt owed on average more than $220,000, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. “The financial fear is real,” Webb said, adding car payments, house payments and childcare costs to the tally. “Their entire life has been put on hold until they can start work and they are starting that way behind the eight ball financially.” The state’s new loan program helps alleviate at least the medical school debt pressures, which is significant, and Webb said he is hopeful it can draw more candidates to his practice and others facing similar staffing needs. “There is still a hurdle there, but it is a much more achievable hurdle to overcome,” he said. “That’s going to be helpful.” The Tennessee family physician group’s foundation awarded five recipients in April out of about 300 Tennessee family medicine resident doctors training at a dozen programs across the state. The annual cost to the state is forecast to reach $520,000. While other existing loan repayment programs in the state target rural health practitioners more generally, the new initiative only goes toward family medicine doctors. The family medicine program also requires a longer time commitment and a greater repayment level, with the hope that doctors will develop stronger ties to the community and will be more likely to stay beyond the five-year period. Even placing two or three doctors through the loan repayment program can make a meaningful difference, Chaney said. “No other type of doctor is equipped to go into one of these rural areas and provide the type of comprehensive care that these communities need,” he said. “Let’s invest in primary care on the front end, let’s keep people well, improve public health status and, in the long-run, reduce overall costs.” [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://tennesseelookout.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## Top court orders disclosures in NJ cops’ use of facial recognition technology Critics of facial recognition technology say misidentifications can lead to wrongful arrests. To ensure fair trials, New Jersey's top court ordered more disclosure. By Dana DiFilippo (New Jersey Monitor) Published: June 24, 2026 As police increasingly rely on a controversial investigative tool called facial recognition technology to identify crime suspects, New Jersey’s top court gave defense attorneys a win Wednesday, ordering prosecutors to more fully explain how they used the technology in a Jersey City murder case. New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Douglas Fasciale, in a unanimous [ruling](https://www.njcourts.gov/system/files/court-opinions/2026/a%5F41%5F24.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), wrote that prosecutors were wrong to deny Tybear Miles’ discovery demand for details on what facial recognition software investigators relied on to arrest him for the June 2021 shooting death of Ahmad McPherson and how exactly they used it. The technology is controversial because misidentifications have resulted in at least eight wrongful arrests nationally, with research showing it most often fails at identifying people of color, women, children, and elderly people. It also has gone [largely unregulated](https://newjerseymonitor.com/2022/02/25/a-g-mulls-statewide-policy-on-facial-recognition-technology/?ref=down-ballot.info) both in New Jersey and nationally, alarming civil rights advocates. Wednesday’s ruling builds upon a 2023 state appellate decision that required prosecutors to fork over 13 items related to the facial recognition software police used to charge [Francisco Arteaga](https://newjerseymonitor.com/2024/08/21/a-hollow-victory-in-fight-to-bring-transparency-to-cops-use-of-facial-recognition-technology/?ref=down-ballot.info) in a West New York armed robbery case. Fasciale rejected any “mechanical application” of the Arteaga decision to other cases involving facial recognition technology, saying judges must decide such challenges based on case specifics. Still, he said, fairness demands that defendants be able to scrutinize what tools police used to criminally charge them both to challenge the tools’ reliability and to determine how police identified them as a suspect, examine whether the investigation was thorough, and demonstrate the possibility of another culprit. “Although we reject a rigid checklist for (facial recognition technology) discovery, we note that such basic information will, in most cases, constitute the minimum necessary to safeguard a defendant’s right to a fair trial,” Fasciale wrote. Attorney Dillon Reisman, who had argued before the court on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, called the decision “a really big win against the use of secret, opaque technology by law enforcement.” “It’s a really positive sign that our court takes really seriously that new technologies are subject to constitutional safeguards,” Reisman said. Tamar Lerer, deputy of the state Office of the Public Defender’s forensic science unit, had argued the case in court too and also applauded the ruling. “Facial recognition technology may be novel, but the ability of people accused of crimes to find out how and why they were investigated is not,” Lerer said. In Miles’ case, none of the crime’s eyewitnesses identified him as the shooter or even placed him at the scene, according to the ruling. Instead, police identified him as a suspect after showing a confidential informant footage that surveillance cameras caught of six Black men seen nearby. That informant, who wasn’t at the scene and didn’t see the slaying, identified Miles on the footage by his nickname (“Fat Daddy”) and Instagram handle, according to the ruling. Miles’ sister and ex-girlfriend also identified him as one of the men caught on camera. Police then ran two facial recognition technology searches using Miles’ Instagram profile picture, according to the ruling. One search returned 10 possible matches and listed Miles as the eighth likeliest match, while another search also produced 10 possible matches, the first five of which pictured Miles, the decision says. After defense attorneys demanded more details about the facial recognition technology investigators used, a trial judge ordered prosecutors to turn over the same 13 items the appellate panel in Arteaga’s case specified. Prosecutors appealed, a state appellate court denied their motion, and the Supreme Court agreed to consider the case. Quotation Facial recognition technology may be novel, but the ability of people accused of crimes to find out how and why they were investigated is not. **– Tamar Lerer, deputy of the state Office of the Public Defender's forensic science unit** Fasciale upheld most of the lower court rulings, ordering prosecutors to hand over “basic information,” including the name and manufacturer of the software police used to search for suspects and its performance metrics including error rates. He also directed prosecutors to provide “straightforward items” related to how investigators used the technology, including the original photograph police used as the “probe photograph,” edited copies of that probe photograph, and the photographs the technology identified as matches. He reversed one particular part of the lower court rulings, though, rejecting the defense’s request for proprietary information including the software’s source code. Miles’ attorneys hadn’t proven a need for that information, Fasciale said. But if they do as the case progresses, the court can reconsider that request then, he added. Lerer cheered that part of the ruling too, saying it recognizes that “commercial concerns must yield to constitutional rights.” Reisman noted that New Jersey still has not regulated facial recognition technology more than four years since the Attorney General’s Office [solicited](https://newjerseymonitor.com/2022/02/25/a-g-mulls-statewide-policy-on-facial-recognition-technology/?ref=down-ballot.info) public input as a first step toward shaping statewide policy on its use by law enforcement. Former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in 2020 barred agencies from using one specific facial recognition technology app, Clearview AI, but little is known about how many of the state’s 500-some law enforcement agencies use the technology and how. Dan Prochilo, a spokesman for Attorney General Jen Davenport, called facial recognition technology “a valuable tool for investigating and solving crimes.” “We welcome today’s Supreme Court ruling, which thoughtfully accounts for constitutional rights while confirming that defendants are not automatically entitled to unnecessarily burdensome, proprietary information that would short-circuit vital, well-conducted investigations and prosecutions that make New Jerseyans safer every day,” Prochilo said. In Miles’ case, officers used a facial recognition system that’s part of a multiagency initiative to crack down on illegal drugs in New Jersey and New York. That effort, known as a [high intensity drug trafficking area](https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/high-intensity-drug-trafficking-area?ref=down-ballot.info) task force, involves officers from federal, state, county, and local agencies in New Jersey and New York. Those multiple jurisdictions and diffused investigations have made it tough for people arrested through the task force’s efforts to understand how they became criminal defendants, Reisman said. “We still don’t even really know what government agency is ultimately responsible for the facial recognition system,” he said. “We don’t know anything about it, and because of that, we can’t even hold it accountable.” [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://newjerseymonitor.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) --- This article was [originally published](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/06/25/trump-election-overhaul-mail-voting-executive-order-blocked-talwani-usps-dhs/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [Votebeat](https://www.votebeat.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. # Federal judge blocks key pillars of Trump executive order restricting mail voting in 2026 election Dion Nissenbaum, Votebeat Jun 25, 2026 at 2:04pm EDT *Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for* [*our free weekly newsletter*](https://votebe.at/nationalnewsletter?ref=down-ballot.info) *to get the latest.* *Update, June 25, 2:05 p.m.: This story has been updated to include comments responding to the ruling.* A federal judge on Thursday blocked key pillars of President Donald Trump’s efforts to overhaul the 2026 elections, declaring unconstitutional his attempts to create centralized lists of adult citizens and giving the U.S. Postal Service unprecedented authority over who can vote by mail. The [37-page ruling](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.298518/gov.uscourts.mad.298518.191.0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani concluded that the president did not have the constitutional authority to regulate state elections as he tried to do in [a March executive order](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/03/31/donald-trump-2026-midterm-election-executive-order-absentee-mail-ballots-postal-service-citizenship-list/?ref=down-ballot.info). The executive order directed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration to create a nationwide list of verified U.S. citizens over 18, and thus presumably eligible to vote in federal elections. It also called on the U.S. Postal Service to create a system to handle and accept mail-in ballots only from voters on preapproved lists. Talwani’s decision came one day after the head of the Postal Service said the agency would [refuse to deliver mail-in ballots to voters](https://abcnews.com/Politics/postal-service-deliver-ballots-states-refuse-turn-voter/story?id=134185698&ref=down-ballot.info) that were not on lists approved by the federal government, making explicit what the agency’s [proposed new rules](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/05/29/usps-mail-ballot-rules-trump-executive-order/?ref=down-ballot.info) had previously implied. In her ruling, Talwani said that the federal government could not use the postal system to regulate who gets ballots. “No law enacted by Congress delegates authority to control mail-in voting to USPS,” Talwani wrote. Talwani issued an injunction specifically preventing the federal government from enforcing those provisions of the order against the 24 jurisdictions (23 states and the District of Columbia) whose [attorneys general and governors brought the lawsuit](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/04/03/donald-trump-2026-midterm-election-executive-order-state-lawsuit-mail-ballots-josh-shapiro/?ref=down-ballot.info). The list includes most Democratic-led and swing states, including Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. However, the injunction applies only to this year’s elections. Talwani granted the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ legal challenges to the executive order as not yet ripe when it comes to future elections. The White House implied that it would appeal the ruling. In a statement, Abigail Jackson, a spokeswoman, said the administration is “confident that we will ultimately prevail.” The U.S. Postal Service didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Some Democratic secretaries of state who brought the case hailed the ruling as a major victory for voters. “Trump will not be able to use the Postal Service to control which voters receive a mail ballot, and cannot use the DOJ to intimidate election officials into following his unlawful order,” said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. “The Constitution is clear: States run elections, not Trump. This is a major victory for American democracy.” The ruling is the latest in a [series of judicial rebukes](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/06/22/judge-rules-against-trump-overhaul-save-database-noncitizen-voters/?ref=down-ballot.info) to Trump’s efforts to [impose federal control over American elections](https://www.votebeat.org/2026/02/09/donald-trump-dan-bongino-nationalize-take-over-voting-2026-election/?ref=down-ballot.info), something that the Constitution leaves to Congress and the states. The executive order is the second election-related one issued by Trump. The first one, [issued in March 2025](https://www.votebeat.org/2025/03/26/trump-executive-order-elections-mail-ballots-proof-of-citizenship/?ref=down-ballot.info), sought to require prospective voters to prove their citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections and impose restrictions on states accepting mail-in ballots after Election Day. Federal courts have so far [blocked major portions](https://www.votebeat.org/2026/01/13/trump-ruling-latest-defeat-election-executive-order/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the first executive order, including the effort to require documented proof of citizenship when registering to vote. During the hearing in the case over the second order, in early June, Talwani expressed concerns about the executive order. “What’s the harm if I say no one can use this list for the November election?” [​Talwani asked](https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2026-06-02/boston-judge-to-weigh-blocking-trumps-mail-in-voting-executive-order?ref=down-ballot.info). The Trump administration has cast the president’s efforts as an attempt to compel federal agencies to enforce existing laws barring noncitizens from voting in elections. Trump has consistently targeted America’s electoral system and, without evidence, accused Democrats across the nation of “rigging” elections. The president has repeatedly claimed that he was cheated out of the presidency in 2020 when he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, even though federal judges, state elections officials, and independent investigations have repeatedly debunked those allegations. Before Thursday’s ruling, the Trump administration had been forging ahead with implementing the executive order. A different federal judge [declined in late May to block major parts of the executive order](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/05/28/trump-executive-order-mail-ballots-midterm-elections-carl-nichols/?ref=down-ballot.info), arguing that the issue was premature because the U.S. Postal Service had yet to take any steps to set up the new system. The following day, [the Postal Service unveiled its proposed rules](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/05/29/usps-mail-ballot-rules-trump-executive-order/?ref=down-ballot.info), which would give the agency the power to block delivery of mail-in ballots to Americans across the nation unless they were on a verified list of voters. And in early June, the Trump administration said that it was [taking steps](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/06/15/trump-election-rules-face-legal-logistical-hurdles/?ref=down-ballot.info) to create a new nationwide mechanism aimed at verifying voter citizenship, per the executive order. *Dion Nissenbaum is Votebeat’s senior national reporter and is based in Houston. Contact Dion at* *dnissenbaum@votebeat.org* *.* Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters [here](https://votebeat.org/newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # A Pipeline Company Says It Will Protect the Environment in North Carolina. Its Record in Tennessee Says Otherwise. ### Damaged wetlands and streams, spills of drilling mud and a federal stop-work order have plagued the Ridgeline Expansion Project in Tennessee. By Lisa Sorg June 25, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25062026/enbridge-tennessee-ridgeline-expansion-project/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* PITTSBORO, N.C.— An 85-year-old widow stood before a panel of Enbridge Gas representatives perched above her on a stage at the Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center. She had fire in her eyes. “I’m usually a courteous person but you bring out the worst in me,” she said. “I’m going to fight you to the death.” In mid-June she and hundreds of Chatham County residents attended two community meetings, hosted by Enbridge, to voice their opposition to a proposed 28-mile natural gas pipeline that would stretch from Siler City to Moncure in southern Chatham County. Construction could begin as soon as fall 2027, with a service date of spring 2028\. Enbridge has not announced the final route, but as company surveyors begin canvassing private properties along the general corridor, residents are analyzing maps that show the pipeline could not only rob them of land through eminent domain, but also cut through forests, wetlands, streams, rivers and a historic Black cemetery. [Company documents](https://www.enbridgegas.com/-/media/Extranet-Pages/about-us/Projects/chatham-county-system-expansion-project/faq-en.pdf?la=en&rev=b38202e9b00a46bc9a3d31103e4479b2&hash=52F72030264962A3A9F54DC0C103C4C4&ref=down-ballot.info) maintain that Enbridge has a “proven safety track record” and is “committed to being a good steward of natural resources, selecting a route that reduces potential impacts on the environment and following all permit specifications.” But federal records show Chatham residents’ concerns about Enbridge’s environmental performance are valid. Over the past seven months, an Enbridge subsidiary has amassed a dozen non-compliance events related to its Ridgeline Expansion Project in central Tennessee, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Enbridge’s East Tennessee Natural Gas is building the 122-mile Ridgeline project to supply natural gas to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Gas plant, scheduled to open late next year. Kingston, which is west of Knoxville and 115 miles west of the Tennessee-North Carolina line, currently burns coal. It’s the same plant where, in 2008, [a containment wall breached](https://www.selc.org/news/kingston-coal-ash-disaster-still-reverberates-10-years-later/?ref=down-ballot.info) and dumped 1 billion gallons of coal ash sludge into the Clinch and Emory rivers. During the pipeline construction, East Tennessee Natural Gas contractors [damaged wetlands ](https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/28315986-20260123-3056-ridgeline-weekly-summary-report-dec-28-to-jan-3/?embed=1&ref=down-ballot.info)and streams after driving heavy equipment across stream beds and outside [a “designated travel lane](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28315985-20251217-3104/?ref=down-ballot.info),” FERC found. They encroached on private property. Contractors spilled more than[ 3,000 gallons of drilling ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28315994-20260303-5093-03032026-ridgeline-bi-weekly-status-report-17/?ref=down-ballot.info)mud, known as an “inadvertent return,” while boring beneath waterways, FERC records show. [Erosion controls repeatedly failed](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28315980-20260319-3013-cp23-516-ridgeline-weekly-summary-report-feb-22-to-28-2/?ref=down-ballot.info) after heavy rains, sending dirt into wetlands and the Little Emory River. In another instance, contractors pushed heavily sediment-laden water from a large puddle over the erosion controls and into the stream, according to FERC records. East Tennessee Natural Gas told FERC it has corrected the violations and, in some cases, required contractors to undergo additional training, according to federal documents. The Southern Environmental Law Center [asked FERC on May 13](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28315988-20260514-5029-2026-05-13-joint-letter-to-ferc-on-ridgeline-project-construction-cos/?ref=down-ballot.info) to suspend work on the entire project. “Impacts already documented can have long-lasting adverse effects on the local environment,” SELC said. FERC did not respond to the letter, an SELC spokesperson said. Yet a week after the SELC’s letter, East Tennessee Natural Gas incurred its most serious known violation since construction began. On May 20, federally designated biologists arrived at a site along the Emory River to conduct mussel surveys and to relocate endangered and threatened species before East Tennessee Natural Gas built an equipment bridge. But East Tennessee Natural Gas contractors had already built the bridge, according to a [letter from FERC](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28315978-20260611-3070-cp23-516-ridgeline-serious-violation/?ref=down-ballot.info) to the company. By installing bridge supports in the river, the contractors jeopardized endangered species habitat in that segment of the project and violated a legal agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, FERC said. On May 29, FERC’s compliance monitor issued a stop-work order for the project. The commission also required East Tennessee Natural Gas to provide extensive documentation about the decision to prematurely build the bridge. The company attributed the violation to “a communication and interpretation gap on the requirements,” [according to company correspondence](https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/28315987-20260618-5176-etng-ridgeline-emory-river-response-final/?embed=1&ref=down-ballot.info) with FERC dated June 18\. Since then, East Tennessee Natural Gas has retrained workers, installed additional signage and fencing and implemented a communication plan. The stop-work order is still in effect, but only at that one location while Enbridge complies with federal requirements, said Enbridge spokesperson Michael Barnes. The Emory River incident is the second time East Tennessee Natural Gas has violated its federal agreements. The company acknowledged [to FERC](https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/28315987-20260618-5176-etng-ridgeline-emory-river-response-final?ref=down-ballot.info) in June that in a review of other sensitive areas, it found a “similar situation occurred at Hurricane Creek” in February. East Tennessee Natural Gas is investigating the incident, the letter said. As for the less-serious incidents, “East Tennessee Natural Gas is cooperating with the applicable state and federal officials,” Barnes wrote in an email to Inside Climate News. “We have taken appropriate actions to avoid further impact. Internally, we are reviewing our processes to reinforce the protocols at these and any sensitive resource areas.” He added, “We remain committed to protecting both people and the environment during the construction of this important energy project.” The Chatham County corridor in North Carolina includes the Rocky River Subbasin, where, like the sensitive habitats along the Tennessee pipeline route, many endangered, threatened and other species of concern live. “It’s considered a globally significant aquatic diversity hotspot,” wrote John Alderman, a retired endangered species and conservation biologist, in a letter to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein., There are 200 sites in the subbasin where many endangered, threatened and other species have been found, according to state wildlife data. The pipeline corridor runs through rugged terrain, where the construction would be more complex. Many residents noted at the Agriculture & Conference Center meeting that Enbridge’s proposed corridor circumvents land owned by Tim Sweeney, the billionaire founder and CEO of Epic Games, which developed Fortnite, one of the world’s most popular video games. Sweeney is a land conservationist who has donated tens of thousands of acres in North Carolina to nonprofits and the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect sensitive habitats. He owns more than 270 parcels in Chatham County, which he’s placed into conservation. When a utility company tried to run high-voltage power lines through the Box Creek Wilderness Area in the North Carolina mountains, Sweeney bought the property for $15 million, won a court case and donated the [conservation easement](https://conservationeasement.us/what-is-a-conservation-easement/?ref=down-ballot.info) to the Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent the new line from going through. But Sweeney isn’t trying to dodge the Enbridge pipeline, according to his attorney. He and his attorney have been advocating “for a route that minimizes new disturbance by following existing utility easements wherever possible.” “I’m happy to provide easements through my \[Chatham County\] land following the large power transmission corridor that goes through my conservation land for several miles,” Sweeney told Inside Climate News in an email, “which seems like an ideal route for many reasons.” Enbridge spokesperson Persida Montanez told Inside Climate News that when practical, the company considers routing new pipelines alongside existing rights-of-way to minimize environmental impacts. However, that’s not feasible for the Chatham County project, Montanez wrote in an email. First, Enbridge doesn’t have its own existing right-of-way in the area that could be used for the project, she said. And second, “Following the existing electric transmission easement in its entirety would have impacted more landowners and disturbed additional environmentally sensitive areas not otherwise presently affected,” Montanez wrote in the email. Alderman, who has mapped the potentially affected properties—including his own—said some landowners with existing transmission easements could lose as much as 40 percent of their land if Enbridge builds alongside those rights-of-way. “For people who have only a few acres, the power line easement is a true burden,” Alderman said. --- # Reducing harm: This New Orleans nonprofit can help you pay for medication, food, rent and more by Halle Parker, Verite News New Orleans June 22, 2026 Sitting on blankets near Bayou St. John, eight volunteers packaged blue tourniquets, cookers, antibacterial wipes and tiny cotton balls into “work kits” aimed at making intravenous drug use safer. They work with [Below Sea Level Aid](https://belowsealevelaid.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit organization focused on providing mutual aid and reducing harm to some of Southeast Louisiana’s most vulnerable. The group was surrounded by boxes filled with other medical and hygiene products to make other kits. “ I don't care if people use drugs, but I do care that they use it safely, and they know what they're using,” said Jack Waguespack-Slooijer, 26, who founded the New Orleans-based nonprofit. ![Jack Slooijer, founder of Below Sea Level Aid, a community-driven harm reduction organization, poses for a portrait along Bayou St. John on May 28, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/06/21222005/20260528_CZB_BelowSeaLevel_151_2.jpg) Jack Slooijer, founder of Below Sea Level Aid, a community-driven harm reduction organization, poses for a portrait along Bayou St. John on May 28, 2026. ![Kosi Ifeji volunteers with Below Sea Level Aid to pack up harm reduction kits along Bayou St. John on May 28, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/06/21222003/20260528_CZB_BelowSeaLevel_136.jpg) Kosi Ifeji volunteers with Below Sea Level Aid to pack up harm reduction kits along Bayou St. John on May 28, 2026. The volunteers packed Narcan to prevent overdose, test strips to make sure drugs aren’t contaminated, condoms for safe sex and mini shampoos for bathing, among other items. They hand out the kits on the street and in response to calls for mutual aid. The organization started from humble beginnings. In 2023, Slooijer, who uses they/them pronouns, started handing out meals and clothing to people without housing under the city’s overpasses and posting on Instagram. After six months, people started volunteering to help. After a year, Slooijer was awarded their first grant. “It snowballed so quickly,” they said. Slooijer realized they had a knack for grantwriting, and the money kept coming. But no one on the nonprofit’s 8-person staff receives a salary. All the grant money, aside from some small stipends, goes into buying supplies, providing aid and hosting events. On top of distributing kits, the nonprofit runs several other initiatives. Its latest — a medication assistance program — launched in May. ![Brianna Harris, center, volunteers with Below Sea Level Aid to pack up hygiene kits along Bayou St. John on May 28, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/06/21222003/20260528_CZB_BelowSeaLevel_008.jpg) Brianna Harris, center, volunteers with Below Sea Level Aid to pack up hygiene kits along Bayou St. John on May 28, 2026. Slooijer works as a patient navigator at a clinic in New Orleans. They noticed their patients often had to pay out of pocket for their medications at the pharmacy. “ I knew that a lot of them, because they couldn't afford, they just weren't gonna take their meds,” said Slooijer. With the new medication assistance program, patients like Slooijer’s can be referred by a clinician to receive money to offset the cost. Some clinics, such as Crescent Care, St. Thomas Community Health Center and Ochsner Health Center, have in-house pharmacies that can directly partner with the group and bill directly to a business card. Otherwise, patients can ask their providers, case managers or pharmacists to fill out a referral. Slooijer said they want the program to be easy to access and they keep the patients anonymous by not requiring the referrals to include names. Instead, the group requests the recipients’ demographics to help them receive more grant money. Currently, the program is funded in part by AIDS United and the New Moon Network. The program provides $20 toward each medication, though Slooijer said they make exceptions depending on the need. In one case, a patient’s insurance didn’t cover Suboxone, a medicine that eases opioid withdrawal symptoms and can cost hundreds of dollars out of pocket. Without the medicine, a person trying to abstain from opioids could turn back to the substance or to the black market for relief. “ I'd rather us pay for it than you try and get it off the street,” Slooijer said. ![Annika Vanderspek, who provides administrative and logistic support at Below Sea Level Aid, explains how to pack harm reduction kits on May 28, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/06/21222003/20260528_CZB_BelowSeaLevel_091.jpg) Annika Vanderspek, who provides administrative and logistic support at Below Sea Level Aid, explains how to pack harm reduction kits on May 28, 2026. In addition, Below Sea Level Aid provides a wide range of other programs. It provides direct cash from their mutual aid fund to help pay for other needs, including rent, utilities, food, gas and health insurance. They’ll also organize crowdfunding for specific needs that require more than $250, such as a full month’s rent. It also has a specific fund for sex workers from the city or surrounding parishes. “ I really like getting into St. Bernard and St. Charles and Plaquemines where these services are a lot less accessible,” Slooijer said. Twice a month, the nonprofit hosts rapid testing events for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections where they can connect people to medication that drastically reduces the risk of contracting HIV. Though the group has roots in serving people without housing and those who use substances, the mission has evolved to use mutual aid to reach as many people as possible. Slooijer said they provide school supplies, help incarcerated people with re-entry and operate a mutual aid hotline. ![Below Sea Level Aid, a community-driven harm reduction organization, packs up hygiene, safe injection and naloxone kits along Bayou St. John on May 28, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2026/06/21222003/20260528_CZB_BelowSeaLevel_059.jpg) Below Sea Level Aid, a community-driven harm reduction organization, packs up hygiene, safe injection and naloxone kits along Bayou St. John on May 28, 2026. Although the term [harm reduction](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2022/what-is-harm-reduction?ref=down-ballot.info) is often associated with substance use, Slooijer has adopted the broader definition of the public health philosophy. Harm reduction practices date back to the 1960s, but the rise of modern movement is attributed to the response to the HIV epidemic in the 1980s to reduce transmission [through syringe exchanges](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5530540/?ref=down-ballot.info) provided without stigma. The aim isn’t to completely stop the risky behavior but reduce the harm associated with it. Since then, some health care professionals, like Slooijer, have adopted that principle to apply to other behaviors beyond substance use, from safe sex education to promoting bike helmets, as part of preventative care. “ Harm reduction is not just substances. Harm reduction is even just wearing your seatbelt when you're driving. It's reducing harm in any way, so whether that's food insecurity, housing or mental health,” said Slooijer. Residents across the Greater New Orleans area can call Below Sea Level Aid’s mutual aid hotline at (504) 408-1888 for help. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/06/22/reducing-harm-new-orleans-nonprofit-helps-pay-for-medication-food-more/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/uploads/2022/05/21230447/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=31591&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # A growing community of recovering gamblers lifts each other up as formal resources lag **How a podcast and 12-step network are doing the work the state can’t, and where it falls short** by Maggie Dougherty and Casey Toner, Capitol News Illinois June 24, 2026 ***This story is a collaboration between*** [***Capitol News Illinois***](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [***Illinois Answers Project***](https://illinoisanswers.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)***.*** **Editor’s note:* Some individuals in this story are identified only by first name and last initial at their request to allow them to speak openly about their addiction without fear of reprisal for actions taken when gambling.* At his worst, Jimmy M. was a rough-and-tumble bar fighter. But he can also be a major mama’s boy. He’s got an easy, warm Little Italy charm that lent itself well to manipulating people just long enough to finance his gambling. Like most gamblers, he grapples with an ego that can make him feel invincible. He’s a softy, a quick crier, a man of big emotions. And now, though only 45, he’s considered one of the tough-love “elders” in Chicago’s Gamblers Anonymous rooms, an image he says he’s tried to reform with a gentler tone in recent years. Gamblers Anonymous, or GA, is a 12-step program founded in the 1950s, following in the footsteps of Alcoholics Anonymous. And for many, talking with other people addicted to gambling at GA helps them keep from stumbling back into their addiction. It can also serve as a much-needed source of light, especially for those early in their recovery. “A lot of people are looking for hope … they feel helpless,” said recovering gambler Dave K., a resident of Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. “I see people coming in the room who are suicidal, who are on the verge of divorce or getting divorced, about to be evicted. You see that happen to a lot of people and then it’s amazing to see, if people stick with the program for a year, two years, just how different a person they are, and how different their lives are.” ### **Becoming the resource** In 2021, Jimmy began looking for additional gambling recovery resources to supplement his GA attendance. “Whenever I would even type in the word gambling, you would see all these podcasts come up about the other side of it, which is how to win in gambling,” Jimmy said. The few podcasts he found devoted to prevention released episodes only sporadically. So, he decided he’d do it himself. In February 2025, Jimmy launched the podcast, “[Gambling Recovery: Taking Back Your Life](https://open.spotify.com/show/7gJxD08VBZCnzV7rDnIkhT?ref=down-ballot.info)” with Sam Sherman, an internationally-certified gambling counselor who edits the podcast in his free time. On the show, which airs every other week, Jimmy interviews compulsive gamblers in recovery, gamblers’ family members, addiction counselors, journalists and lawmakers including Massachusetts state Sen. John F. Keenan. The target audience is anyone in recovery or looking to better understand gambling addiction. The podcast, which generates over 2,000 monthly downloads, is in many ways a project by and for the Chicagoland GA community, featuring interviews with many local compulsive gamblers. Before the podcast began, Jimmy only expected friends, family, and GA community members to listen. He now has listeners in 90 countries and receives messages from strangers thanking him. Some of those messages are from people contemplating self-harm or suicide, reaching out to say the podcast had made them hopeful. Jaime L., a local GA member who requested to be identified using an alias due to outstanding legal concerns, spends much of the day in her car driving to work. When gambling, she would duck into a gas station or liquor store to purchase Lottery scratch offs and spend hours scratching tickets in her car. She found Jimmy’s podcast early on in her recovery and says it saved her life. Now, whenever temptation strikes while she’s driving, Jaime now hits play on Jimmy’s podcast instead. Unlike gambling, Jaime said there’s no chance for bad odds when she tunes in to the show. “You’re not playing Russian roulette with the podcast; you’re playing Wheel of Fortune,” she said. ### **GA deserts** For all its good, most members recognize GA as only one piece in a larger puzzle of recovery resources. The 3 to 5 minutes of speaking time allotted to each member per meeting, called “therapies,” is not always enough to address their individual challenges. Many GA members supplement group meetings with individual counseling, though [gambling-certified therapists in the state are limited](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/addicted-to-gambling-in-illinois-someone-has-decided-they-can-make-money-off-you/?ref=down-ballot.info), and insurance does not cover most treatment without the compulsive gambler having an alcohol or drug use disorder, too. While an AA meeting may be found nearly every hour of the day somewhere in Chicago, there is at most one GA meeting a day within city limits, except on Wednesdays when there are two. Major swaths of the city don’t have GA meetings nearby, especially in poor South and West side neighborhoods. [**Open map in new tab**](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/29164940/?ref=down-ballot.info) ![map visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/29164940/thumbnail) --- Part of the problem is a lack of awareness about gambling addiction, much less the existence of GA as a resource to treat it, according to counselors in the communities where it’s missing. “Gambling is sort of a social norm with a certain segment of the Black community, and it’s not viewed as an addiction. It’s viewed as a way to make money, perhaps hit a jackpot and really, enhance one’s financial standing,” said Kenneth Smith, a certified alcohol and drug counselor who has worked in several South Side neighborhoods. “It’s at crisis level with some people as far as being an addiction, but it’s not viewed that way by the people who play it on a regular basis.” Often, some of the poorest areas spend the most on gambling. For example, The Chicago Reporter found nearly two decades ago that players in the South Side’s 60619 zip code area spent [more on lottery tickets](https://www.chicagoreporter.com/illinois-lottery-poor-play-more/?ref=down-ballot.info) than any other ZIP code in the state, purchasing more than $23 million worth of tickets. The population in the 60619 area, which includes much of the predominantly Black neighborhoods of Chatham, Avalon Park, Burnside and Calumet Park, declined by over 15% between 2000 and 2020, but ticket sales have not slowed. According to Illinois Lottery data, players there purchased the most tickets of any ZIP code in the state last year, totaling over $35 million in sales for a population where one in four people live below the poverty line, according to [U.S. Census data](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST5Y2024.S1701?g=860XX00US60619&ref=down-ballot.info). In some communities, gambling is part of the culture, and tackling gambling addiction can face off against a stigma that’s hard to overcome. For example, in Chicago’s Chinatown where mahjong reigns — a tile-based game originating in China — going to the casino provides a place for older residents to socialize and carries the promise of providing for their family, according to Mimi Tsang, who oversees substance use and gambling prevention programs at the Midwest Asian Health Association. “It also kind of goes into the hustle culture of, ‘I need to make money in order for my family to survive back home, or for me to bring them here, so then they can have a better life,’” Tsang said. Casinos have targeted the city’s Asian population with expressway billboards in written Chinese characters and by chartering more than 10,000 bus shuttles a year between Chinatown and Bally’s Casino and another 2,000 between Chinatown and Wind Creek Casino in East Hazel Crest. But there are no GA meetings in Chinatown. Meetings outside the Chicagoland area are even harder to come by. Beyond the small clusters of meetings around major cities, compulsive gamblers in much of the state are lucky if they have [one meeting a week](https://gamblersanonymous.org/usa-meetings/?ref=down-ballot.info) within an hour’s drive. Zoom meetings offer a virtual outlet, but many GA members say it doesn’t fully replicate meeting in person. Though compulsive gamblers almost universally agree that recovery is a lifelong and difficult road, gambling addiction counselors say effective treatment is possible with the right tools, and GA members swear by the program’s tenets and the role of community support. “After doing this for so long … I don’t feel like I’m ever 100% in the safe zone,” Jimmy said. But, he added, “it does get easier over time.” *If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling, help is available. Contact the Illinois helpline by calling 1-800-GAMBLER or texting "GAMB" to 833234.* --- **Read more:** [**Addicted to gambling in Illinois: ‘Someone has decided they can make money off you’**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/addicted-to-gambling-in-illinois-someone-has-decided-they-can-make-money-off-you/?ref=down-ballot.info) **COVER IMAGE:* Jimmy M., a compulsive gambler in recovery, hosts a podcast where he interviews other compulsive gamblers, their family members, addiction counselors and lawmakers. (Credit: Victor Hilitski for Illinois Answers Project)* This [article](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/a-growing-community-of-recovering-gamblers-lifts-each-other-up-as-formal-resources-lag/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Capitol News Illinois](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-Captiol-News-Illinois.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=122851&ga4=G-FVW3LFD82K) --- # Stepping back from brink of financial disaster in Rocky Mount by Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press June 23, 2026 While not out of the woods yet, the city of Rocky Mount has reported making “steady” progress on getting its finances back on track at a NC Local Government Commission meeting this month. The city has been in hot water since a scathing [report](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74908/rocky-mount-seeks-to-recover-after-scathing-nc-audit-finds-serious-financial-mistakes/?ref=down-ballot.info) from State Auditor **Dave Boliek** was released in March, detailing a lack of oversight that arguably led to the mismanagement of millions of dollars in city funds. The LGC warned the city in April that no further budget slip-ups would be tolerated, or else the city would risk a [financial takeover](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75407/no-more-slip-ups-rocky-mount-trying-to-avoid-a-full-lgc-financial-takeover/?ref=down-ballot.info). ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Since the audit, Rocky Mount has been working diligently to rectify its finances. At the city’s latest LGC [meeting](http://youtube.com/watch?v=UzCzigDGt74&feature=youtu.be&ref=down-ballot.info) appearance on June 9, city officials said they recently submitted their fiscal year 2025 audit and drafted a budget for fiscal year 2027, which was just awaiting a vote. While the outcome on Monday night was close, the council approved the budget 4-3. **Cornelius Jordan**, assistant city manager and public information officer for the city of Rocky Mount, told Carolina Public Press that the city has made “significant progress” in stabilizing its finances, though keeping that momentum will require “continued focus, discipline and sound financial management.” The city’s work has not gone unnoticed by LGC members, who said during their meeting that the city’s progress is “tracking and trending in the right direction.” **Denise Canada**, secretary of the LGC and deputy treasurer of the State and Local Government Finance Division, said she hopes Rocky Mount can serve as an example to other struggling municipalities working to remedy their financial situations. ### Progress made in Rocky Mount The city recently submitted its fiscal year 2025 audit on May 22, according to LGC [audit submission records](https://lgcportal.nctreasurer.com/AnnualAuditReports/?ref=down-ballot.info). In May, city officials announced during the [LGC meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okuqhrjshc0&ref=down-ballot.info) that coming out of April, they were reconciled and up-to-date on all of their accounts, putting their summer month projections at $1.7 million. In June, they reported having exceeded their own expectations, finding themselves $8 million above their projections at the close of May. **Elton Daniels**, city manager for Rocky Mount, said in May that while the city’s biggest issue is still cash flow, and its accounts need to continue being closely monitored, the fiscal year 2027 budget is looking promising. Once passed, the fiscal year 2027 budget would reduce spending by roughly $16 million compared to last year’s revised fiscal budget, Jordan said last month, prior to the budget’s passage this week. Daniels had previously described the city as taking an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to solving the city’s financial troubles, saying all ideas were being considered no matter who or where they came from, CPP previously reported. **Kimberly Leonard**, the city’s new chief budget and strategy officer hired in April, has played a crucial role in helping the city get back on its feet. Her input on the city’s finances has been valuable, Jordan said. “Since joining the City, her impact has been particularly valuable in strengthening revenue forecasting, which is critical to aligning expenditures with anticipated revenues, identifying potential financial challenges early, and supporting informed budget decisions,” Jordan said. “Her extensive experience in local government budgeting and operational performance has provided additional expertise as the city continues implementing corrective actions and building a more sustainable financial foundation.” Help also came from the North Carolina League of Municipalities, which Jordan said has provided training opportunities for staff and city officials at next to no cost or no cost at all. At one point the city had been expected to run out of money as early as next month, but due to measures including less spending, operational adjustments and more oversight, projections show that finances will stay afloat through the end of the calendar year, Jordan said. “Just as important, the city has shifted its focus toward aligning recurring expenditures with sustainable revenues and rebuilding a stronger financial foundation for the future,” Jordan said. In addition to regular updates to the LGC, all of these efforts have been instrumental in stabilizing the city’s financial footing and improving its long-term financial management, Jordan said. Canada said the LGC is “pleased” that current city staff have recognized the challenges that were carried over from the former administration and noted the city’s cash position has also improved since March. ### Difficult decisions Getting to this point hasn’t been easy though. Difficult decisions have been made to help get the city back on track, including getting rid of “nonessential” programs, one of which was a summer camp for community kids, Daniels said in this month’s meeting. “From a financial standpoint and operating standpoint, it was just money that we were not seeing the best return on with regard to a balance sheet, things that are very important to the community,” he said. “But you all charged us with making difficult decisions, and so that’s some of the difficult decisions that we had to do.” Other difficult choices included getting rid of and freezing vacant positions, suspending certain employee benefits, reducing travel and operational expenses and more, Jordan said. However, Daniels told the LGC in May that the city has been able to avoid pay cuts for employees. While Daniels didn’t recommend any pay raises in the new budget, he said in May that he’d like to resume the city’s merit program for employees at some point, which rewards them with pay increases based on an annual performance review. “I don’t want to go too many years without reimplementing that program, as well as some type of form of longevity, because you have to reward employees, because the inflationary costs around us continue to go up,” Daniels said. “Even if we remain static, if prices outside go up, in essence, we are losing money.” Despite the reduction in the workforce, the city is still providing its core services. But maintaining the same level of service as before has meant longer working hours for the city’s remaining employees, which Daniels said they think is “something we have to do before we start adding back.” ### Remaining issues for Rocky Mount One remaining issue that was brought up in May and in this month’s LGC meeting was the negative balance in the transit fund, which city officials reported as having a $3 million deficit in May. But the city has plans to address that issue, Daniels said. “We are looking at multiple ways to offer that service, possibly change routes, reduce in some areas, but because federal funds are tied to those, we can’t make those decisions unilaterally,” Daniels said. “We have to reach out to the federal government and our state partners, but we’re also looking at adjusting rates and fees as well, so a combination of different things, but we do plan to address that in the near future.” Daniels pointed out that transit isn’t really profitable anywhere. “It’s one of those quality-of-life things that you deal with,” Daniels said. “It’s so similar to parks and recreation, it’s something that you put in and you don’t expect to have a full return.” Even so, Jordan said the city is not considering getting rid of transit services, since many residents rely on them. Another possible challenge is [Senate Bill 1076](https://dashboard.ncleg.gov/api/Services/BillSummary/2025/S1076-SMTQ-121%28e2%29-v-3?ref=down-ballot.info), which has the potential to restrict the city’s financial flexibility when it comes to transfers between the city’s electric and general funds, Jordan said. The measure would apply to just two cities, Rocky Mount and Louisburg. **Sandy Roberson**, mayor of Rocky Mount, said during this month’s meeting that the bill has passed the Senate and is currently waiting in the House, though it could also face a veto from the governor. If it became law, the new legislation would essentially prevent the city from transferring funds from its electric and gas funds to other municipal funds “as a reasonable return on the city’s investment in these utility operations,” even though these kinds of transfers are currently allowed under state law and other municipalities do them, Jordan said. These restrictions would make the city’s recovery efforts more challenging as they take away a “critical financial management tool,” and would be like “pouring salt into an open wound,” Jordan said. “The city supports accountability, transparency, and responsible utility management. However, major policy decisions affecting local governments should be based on complete financial analysis, operational realities, and direct engagement with local leadership,” Jordan said. “The city remains concerned that the legislation does not fully recognize the corrective actions already underway and could create unintended consequences for long-term planning, infrastructure investment, and municipal services.” The city stopped electric fund transfers after December and the new budget doesn’t rely on them for any general fund operations, Jordan said. ### Next steps One of the city’s top priorities is implementing its fiscal year 2027 budget once it passes. While reductions in spending and other operational adjustments have been worked in, other changes by the City Council are possible during the review process, Jordan said. The city’s fiscal year 2026 audit is still in the “early stages,” with the end of the fiscal year coming up on June 30\. After that date, the city will proceed with its year-end financial closing process and other preparations, as the audit will be due on Dec. 31, Jordan said. The LGC previously told CPP that the city is in its current predicament partly due to overspending. When CPP asked how the city would ensure this doesn’t happen again moving forward, Jordan said certain measures are already underway. “These efforts include enhanced financial reporting, operational efficiency initiatives, strengthened budget development practices, increased management review of expenditures, and continued focus on aligning recurring expenditures with sustainable revenues,” Jordan said. “The city has also expanded financial leadership capacity, and established reporting practices that provide greater visibility into the city’s financial position. These measures are intended to support better decision-making and long-term financial stability.” In May, Daniels told the LGC that it would likely be months before the city could move out of crisis mode. Once the new budget was adopted, he could give a better timeline, he said at that time. “I do feel like from a financial standpoint, it’ll be years before we can build back the amount of fund balance that we previously had, because I think we were north of $80 million, so we can’t do that over the course of one or two fiscal years,” Daniels told the LGC. “But I think that the path that we are on, we will be out of crisis mode within the next … 24 months, even sooner depending on the next couple of months.” City officials have been asked to return in July to update the LGC on city finances and what the budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 looks like, Canada said. She and the rest of the commission wanted to see that it’s “balanced without any use of fund balance in any fund” and “has reduced many of the revenue budgets that historically had been budgeted unrealistically high.” Canada said she hopes that the lesson other local governments take away from Rocky Mount’s situation is that financial crises “are almost always fixable.” “Although we’ve received many requests from citizens that we take over Rocky Mount’s finances, the LGC assuming financial control is rarely warranted,” Canada said. “The same tools that are available to us are available to local leaders. Locals just need to be willing to make the hard choices necessary to right the ship.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75955/stepping-back-from-brink-of-financial-disaster-in-rocky-mount/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=75955) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1180828&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) ### Telehealth access to abortion pill is lifesaving for domestic violence survivors, some say URL: https://down-ballot.info/telehealth-access-to-abortion-pill-is-lifesaving-for-domestic-violence-survivors-some-say/ Last updated: 2026-06-24T09:00:26.000Z By Kelcie Moseley-Morris (Stateline) Published: June 5, 2026 Carrie Frail was in the process of leaving an abusive relationship when she discovered she was pregnant. Her partner told her he could hit her in the stomach until she had a miscarriage, and it would save some money. “I firmly believe he would have killed me at some point, whether accidentally or intentionally,” Frail said. She had a medication abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2008 while serving in the U.S. Air Force. She was relieved to have the option of using medication instead of a procedure, and it let her take less time off work. It wasn’t an easy decision, she said, but she knew if she hadn’t done it, she never would have been able to get away from that partner. “I was too wrapped up mentally and emotionally in my life with him that … I needed to be able to leave without giving him a phone number or letting him know where I was,” Frail said. “I still believe that an abortion saved my life.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/06/Telehealth_mg_1.jpg) Carrie Frail, a U.S. Air Force veteran who lives in Missouri, had a medication abortion in 2008 that she said saved her life when she was still with a partner she said was abusive. (Courtesy of Carrie Frail) Access to telehealth prescriptions of mifepristone, one of two drugs used to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester or to treat miscarriages, is threatened by an ongoing lawsuit in Louisiana. That state government has sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, trying to strike down the agency’s 2023 rule allowing the medication to be dispensed without an in-person visit. Researchers, advocates and survivors of domestic violence say it’s vital to keep telehealth access available for people in abusive relationships who need discreet abortion options. The Louisiana lawsuit, however, argues in part that mifepristone has been weaponized against pregnant women in abusive relationships and shouldn’t be available by telehealth. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the FDA’s 2023 rule in early May, making in-person visits required for mifepristone prescriptions for two days before the U.S. Supreme Court paused that decision on emergency appeal. The court, with the exceptions of Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas,[ decided to keep the rule in place](https://stateline.org/2026/05/14/us-supreme-court-rules-telehealth-abortion-can-resume-while-lawsuit-continues/?ref=down-ballot.info) while the appeals case proceeds. But the rule could still be struck down again later, and the full case may end up in front of the Supreme Court. Data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey[ from 2023-24](https://www.cdc.gov/nisvs/media/pdfs/intimatepartnerviolence-brief.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) showed about 34% of women and 17% of men experienced physical or sexual violence or stalking by an intimate partner. Those figures could be higher because of hesitance to report incidents of abuse. States with high rates of violence include many with near-total abortion bans, including Arkansas, Indiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia — meaning residents who are victims of reproductive coercion have less access to abortion medication. Pregnancy is a time of heightened risk in a relationship with domestic abuse, according to research, and intimate partner violence is a leading non-obstetric related [cause](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2512078?ref=down-ballot.info) of death among pregnant and postpartum women. Those risks are highest among Black and Indigenous people in the United States. #### Reproductive coercion The lawsuit over mifepristone access includes Louisiana resident Rosalie Markezich as a plaintiff, who says the availability of the drug without an in-clinic visit allowed her boyfriend to order the pills in 2023 and pressure her to take them. In her written statement in the case, Markezich said the pressure caused ongoing trauma, and that if she’d had to see a doctor beforehand, she could have told the provider she didn’t want an abortion and the pills would never have been prescribed. Anti-abortion groups, including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and Family Research Council, submitted amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court about the type of coercion Markezich said she experienced. The telehealth option prevents in-person screenings for coercion, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said, and the in-person requirement provided “a line of defense” against reproductive coercion. Family Research Council also argued that because the FDA’s initial approval of the telehealth provision did not include a thorough study of how it could be used for coercion, it should be struck down. > [US Supreme Court rules telehealth abortion can resume while lawsuit continues](https://stateline.org/2026/05/14/us-supreme-court-rules-telehealth-abortion-can-resume-while-lawsuit-continues/?ref=down-ballot.info) Liz Tobin-Tyler, professor of health services, policy and practice at the Brown University School of Public Health, said people in abusive relationships very commonly experience what researchers call reproductive coercion. According to the[ American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists](https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/committee-opinion/articles/2013/02/reproductive-and-sexual-coercion?ref=down-ballot.info), that includes situations in which a partner tries to control when and how pregnancy occurs, either by intentionally causing a pregnancy or forcing someone to end it, as with Markezich. Coercion can also occur when a partner interferes with contraceptive methods, such as trying to force the use of a certain method or intentionally failing to use contraception. Tobin-Tyler said sometimes the abusive partner attends medical appointments to try to influence decisions related to birth control and other medical care discussions. “It all comes back to that aspect of control,” she said. Robin Turner, Montana director at gender equity organization Legal Voice, said what happened to Markezich was terrible, but that Louisiana could prosecute Markezich’s partner under existing laws, including harm induced by drugs. She said reinstating the in-person requirement for mifepristone would harm many other people because it would apply nationwide. “It’s not a reasonable or proportional way to address what happened to the client,” Turner said. “We have to take what happened to the plaintiff seriously — and understand that taking that (access) away is not effective.” Turner co-authored a[ brief](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25A1208/408332/20260507165533264%5FLegal%20Voice%20Amicus.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) for Legal Voice submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court during the emergency appeal proceedings that centered on the importance of access to mifepristone for people in relationships marked by domestic violence. “A lot of what being in these relationships is about is your world getting smaller, and we don’t want our systems to imitate the dynamics of abuse. But that’s what happens when the government takes away the access to the healthcare that they need,” Turner told Stateline. #### Safety planning for hotline callers Kaelah Oberdorf, 24, said she was on birth control when she discovered she was pregnant in 2023 in upstate New York. She was in an emotionally abusive relationship, struggling financially and still recovering from the postpartum depression she experienced after having her first child when she was 20, despite thinking that she couldn’t get pregnant because of a medical condition. The depression was so severe she had to be hospitalized. She decided that ending the pregnancy was the right thing to do for her mental health and the daughter she already had. > [Unpacking the fight over telehealth access to abortion medication](https://stateline.org/2026/05/07/unpacking-the-fight-over-telehealth-access-to-abortion-medication/?ref=down-ballot.info) “I didn’t want to be tied to him for life, I didn’t want my daughter, or any of my children, to be tied to him for life,” said Oberdorf, who now lives in Georgia. “I already had a living child who did not need to be kept in that situation, and if I’d had another one, even if I left him, I mentally would not have been able to handle it.” Research also shows that pregnant and postpartum women in rural areas[ experience higher rates of intimate partner violence](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-6773.14212?ref=down-ballot.info), possibly because they’re farther from in-person medical care, which could contribute to lower rates of preventive screenings for abuse. Elizabeth Ling, associate director of legal services at nonprofit hotline If/When/How, which offers reproductive legal aid, estimated the hotline receives between five and 10 calls a week from people who talk about experiencing intimate partner violence, whether it’s physical, emotional or some form of coercion. She said callers in rural communities are some of those who need access to medication abortion by telehealth and via mail because they are often the furthest away from a clinic and can’t travel because a partner is actively watching their movements. If/When/How talks callers through their legal options and counsels them about legal risks, which Ling said is a top concern for people in abusive relationships. It’s common for them to be fearful of their partner reporting them for having an abortion, which can bring unwanted attention from police and investigations even if it doesn’t result in charges. The hotline also helps people make a safety plan for receiving abortion medication, talking through steps such as where medication will be mailed, who has access to that mailbox and how to navigate a situation with a partner tracking their movements. “Abortion pills really are a lifeline for those who call and share their experiences with us,” Ling said. Frail, who still lives in Missouri, now has a daughter and a son who are in their 20s. She has left many voicemail messages recently for Republican U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, who have advocated for the withdrawal of FDA approval for mifepristone and called for federal investigations into drug manufacturers. In her messages, she says that being able to choose when she had her children made her a better parent. “I know if I had not had an abortion, I would not have ever been able to get away from that abusive partner,” Frail said. *Stateline reporter Kelcie Moseley-Morris can be reached at* *kmoseley@stateline.org*. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Embezzlement probe in small NC town continues as leaders seek to move forward URL: https://down-ballot.info/embezzlement-probe-in-small-nc-town-continues-as-leaders-seek-to-move-forward/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T09:00:20.000Z by Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press June 12, 2026 With the former town manager of Pilot Mountain facing felony charges for [embezzlement](https://carolinapublicpress.org/54987/nc-town-set-to-cease-existence-as-state-treasurer-calls-for-criminal-charges/?ref=down-ballot.info) following the release of a state audit last month, town leaders are working to move forward while the investigation continues. **James Michael Boaz**, the former town manager of Pilot Mountain, was the subject of a [state audit](https://www.auditor.nc.gov/documents/reports/investigative/inv-2026-pilot-mountain/open?ref=down-ballot.info) in May after the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor received an allegation that he was misusing a town [credit card](https://carolinapublicpress.org/27696/nc-counties-policies-financial-misconduct/?ref=down-ballot.info), the report said. **Donna Kiger**, the mayor of Pilot Mountain, told [Carolina Public Press](https://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) that Boaz served as the town manager from November 2015 until December 2024\. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** The state auditor ultimately found that the former town manager used the town credit card for numerous personal purchases and violated town policies, the report said. **Chad Flowers**, public information director for the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, said the Pilot Mountain Police Department and the District Attorney’s office reached out to the SBI in December 2024 to investigate the matter. ### The report on Pilot Mountain The state auditor examined almost 800 transactions from credit card statements between January 2022 and November 2024, totaling more than $317,000 spent by the former town manager, the report said. The purpose of the audit was to determine whether the former town manager misused his town credit card, violated the town’s travel and purchase policies and more. What auditors uncovered was $2,300 in Visa gift card purchases, more than $14,000 total spent on food or food-related items and services — including $1,500 spent on DoorDash orders — in addition to money spent on Apple products, non-work-related hotel stays and even alcohol, the purchase of which with town resources is against town policy, the report said. There were also questionable check reimbursements. The state auditor reviewed reimbursements to the former town manager between Jan. 1, 2022, and Nov. 30, 2024, finding that he submitted reimbursement for more than $500 in August 2022 going toward prepaid hotel reservations scheduled for that October. The state auditor couldn’t find how this was business-related after contacting the town and the hotel, the report said. In June 2023, the state auditor also found reimbursements totaling $750 for hotel and meal costs from a conference that the town nor the hotel hosting the conference could confirm that the former town manager even attended, the report said. The report also highlighted overall poor financial management by the former town manager. The former town manager allegedly had a stamp with the former mayor’s signature that he used to sign checks, removing the need for a second signature other than his own. He also distributed bonus payments to several part-time police officers that weren’t processed through the town’s payroll system, the report said. Boaz also engaged in consulting practices with another municipality, which was technically allowed under his contract, but became an issue when it potentially interfered with his responsibilities to Pilot Mountain. He also used his town vehicle while consulting, which should only be used for town business matters, the report said. When CPP asked Kiger whether the state auditor’s findings came as a surprise to the town or whether they already had certain suspicions about Boaz, Kiger said: “What matters most right now is making sure the Town of Pilot Mountain moves forward. The findings in the report are serious, and we are committed to addressing them responsibly and transparently while allowing the investigative process to run its course.” ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1000002652-scaled.jpg) A look down a portion of Main Street in Pilot Mountain around 6 p.m. on June 11, 2026\. Frank Taylor / Carolina Public Press Aside from the former town manager, the state auditor also noted that the town’s travel policy allowed him to approve his own travel payments, the report said. When asked how the town’s travel policy allowed this, Kiger told CPP again that what matters most right now is ensuring the town moves forward. “The findings in the report are serious, and we are committed to addressing them responsibly and transparently,” she said. ### The charges and next steps On May 11, a Surry County grand jury indicted Boaz on felony embezzlement charges. “The spending that happened under the guise of leadership in Pilot Mountain is an insult to that entire community,” State Auditor Dave Boliek said in a [press release](https://www.auditor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/05/11/pilot-mountain-investigation-leads-indictment-former-town-manager?ref=down-ballot.info) that day. “The indictment handed down today in Surry County, North Carolina, should serve as a warning to all who would steal taxpayer money that we will hold you accountable.” A notice of appearance was filed on June 9, informing the court that **Robert B. Laws** would be representing Boaz as his attorney, according to court records. CPP reached out to Laws for comment, but he did not respond prior to publication. CPP also reached out to the office of **Tim Watson**, district attorney for the 23rd prosecutorial district of North Carolina, which covers Surry County, but was told the district attorney doesn’t comment on pending cases. **Brianna Kraemer**, deputy director of communications for the state auditor, said the inclusion of artificial intelligence by the state auditor’s office improved efficiency while investigating. “OSA is actively integrating artificial intelligence across data, audit and operational workflows,” Kraemer said in a statement to CPP. “For the Pilot Mountain report, AI-powered document processing allowed OSA to extract and structure data from bank statements, invoices and PDFs, making large-scale financial review more efficient while maintaining human oversight.” The state auditor listed its recommendations for the town in its report, which included additional review of credit card and check transactions by the former town manager and improved independent oversight by town officials of credit card activity and payments, the report said. Kiger said the town appreciates the state auditor’s work and is taking the findings seriously. “Our focus is on implementing improvements, and ensuring the Town operates with the level of accountability and transparency our citizens expect and deserve,” she told CPP in a statement. Those improvements and changes are already underway, Kiger said. “The town has already begun reviewing and strengthening financial oversight procedures, including reimbursement approvals, documentation requirements, and internal review processes,” Kiger said. “We are also evaluating additional safeguards and policy updates. Most importantly, we want our citizens to know that this board is committed to responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars and rebuilding trust through openness, professionalism, and accountability.” Boaz’s next appearance in court is a disposition hearing scheduled for Monday. Flowers said the investigation into Boaz is still ongoing and more charges could be filed at a later date. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/1000002673-scaled.jpg) The isolated domed peak of Pilot Mountain that gives its name to the eastern Surry County town can be seen in the distance from the back of the town hall parking lot on June 11, 2026\. Frank Taylor / Carolina Public Press Pilot Mountain is a town of just under 1,500 residents in eastern Surry County, about 25 miles northwest of Winston-Salem and 20 miles south of the Virginia line. The town takes its name from the distinctive nearby isolated domed rocky hill that rises 2,400 feet about sea level, but is southeast of the Blue Ridge Mountains that make up part of Surry's western boundary. Neither the town of Pilot Mountain nor the peak are actually part of North Carolina's mountain region. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75858/pilot-mountain-seeks-way-forward-embezzlement-probe-ongoing/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=75858) ### NM investment in mental health has yet to create an impact URL: https://down-ballot.info/nm-investment-in-mental-health-has-yet-to-create-an-impact/ Last updated: 2026-06-19T09:00:28.000Z **It's Friday June 19, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** NM spent nearly $844M on behavioral health, but ‘investment is not yet matching the outcome’, Oregon governor declares state of emergency over wildfire threat, FBI probe of Ohio voting rights group expands to include an affiliated national advocacy network, Union urges Maryland university board to reconsider decision to lay off employees, Massachusetts court blocks high-stakes income tax cut question from the November ballot, Record crowds, hot stadiums: Extreme heat could be a player during this summer’s World Cup, Broke and On Their Own: Small Water Systems Lose Ground as Federal Support Wavers. **Media outlets and others featured:** Source New Mexico, Idaho Capital Sun, Votebeat, Maryland Matters, CommonWealth Beacon, North Carolina Health News, Circle of Blue. [Support Down Ballot](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/give/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## NM spent nearly $844M on behavioral health, but ‘investment is not yet matching the outcome’ By Joshua Bowling (Source New Mexico) Published: June 18, 2026 New Mexico has spent $843.5 million since 2022 to rebuild the state’s behavioral health system, but some residents still face issues scheduling behavioral health appointments and New Mexico was one of just seven states to see an increase in overdose deaths last year, according to a new state [report](https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/ALFC%20061626%20Item%209%20LFC%20Behavioral%20Health%20Investments%20Update.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). State analysts in a Legislative Finance Committee report wrote that the investments are paramount as New Mexicans, particularly youth and teenagers, report [some of the poorest life outcomes in the nation](https://sourcenm.com/2026/06/16/new-mexico-lawmakers-eye-really-robust-childrens-cabinet-under-next-governor/?ref=down-ballot.info). From 2024 to 2025, overdose deaths nationally fell by nearly 14%, while they rose in New Mexico by nearly 22%, the report says. LFC analysts presented their findings alongside officials from the Administrative Office of the Courts and the state Health Care Authority’s Behavioral Health Services Division before a panel of lawmakers in Ruidoso Thursday morning. “There are a number of concerning areas that may merit additional, really strong legislative guidance,” Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces), who chairs the interim Legislative Finance Committee, said during Thursday’s hearing. “I think across a wide range of areas, the investment is not yet matching the outcome.” Many behavioral health providers pulled out of New Mexico more than 10 years ago after former Republican Gov. Susana Martinez accused several of fraud and froze their Medicaid payments. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in 2025 signed the [Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act](https://www.nmlegis.gov/Legislation/Legislation?Chamber=S&LegType=B&LegNo=3&year=25&ref=down-ballot.info), which sought to rebuild the system and established into law 13 “behavioral health regions” across the state. Leaders in each of the 13 regions are tasked with identifying the behavioral health needs in their communities and submitting plans to address those to the state. The districts have until June 30 to submit those plans. As of Thursday, regions 1 and 2 — which represent Rio Arriba and Santa Fe counties and Bernalillo County, respectively — have already submitted and finalized their plans. Five others have submitted draft plans to the state but have yet to finalize them. Two have requested extensions beyond the June 30 deadline, according to the LFC report. While the law establishing the behavioral health regions was intended to give local leaders control over issues unique to their counties, tribes and Pueblos, by creating their own behavioral health plans, the lack of uniformity has become something of an issue, Administrative Office of the Courts Deputy Director Sarah Jacobs said at Thursday’s hearing. “The behavioral health investment and reform act does not outline any sort of governance structure for the regions themselves, so we have a lot of varying politics at the local level,” she said. Rep. Rebecca Dow (R-Truth or Consequences) said she was dismayed at the level of progress since passing the Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act in 2025. “I guess I was under the impression that we’d be further along than we are,” she said. Nick Boukas, director of the Health Care Authority’s Behavioral Health Services Division, responded that regional behavioral health plans, in particular, are actually [moving along on schedule](https://sourcenm.com/briefs/nm-mental-health-reform-committee-approves-project-timeline/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- ## Sign up for Down Ballot The best state and local government news Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/06/Oregon_mg_0.jpg) A helicopter drops flame retardant on the Cow Valley Fire in eastern Oregon on July 12, 2024\. Scientists expect wildfires to continue to intensify with climate change. (Photo by Matt Fisher of Umatilla Task Force/Northwest Interagency Coordination Center) ## Oregon governor declares state of emergency over wildfire threat By Alex Baumhardt (Idaho Capital Sun) Published: June 18, 2026 While Oregon’s first 2026 heatwave was winding down Tuesday, heat and drought are expected to worsen through the summer and will heighten wildfire risks across Oregon, spurring Gov. Tina Kotek to declare a state of emergency. Kotek made the declaration Tuesday in an [executive order](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28266710-eo-26-10/?ref=down-ballot.info), which will make it easier for local and state fire authorities to access “all available resources” including various firefighting crews, aerial support, ground resources, and emergency personnel to prevent and respond to fires. The emergency will last until the end of the year or the end of the fire season, which is expected to [last through October](https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/2026/05/05/oregon-faces-longer-fire-season-due-to-historic-heat-drought-fire-experts-warn/?ref=down-ballot.info). > [Idaho Gov. Little says state is preparing for challenging wildfire season as fund drops to $0](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/06/16/idaho-gov-little-says-state-is-preparing-for-challenging-wildfire-season-as-fund-drops-to-0/?ref=down-ballot.info) Sign up [here](http://web.govpress.oregon.gov/mail/util.cfm?mailaction=clickthru&gpiv=2100169720.3775.716&gen=1&mailing%5Flinkid=4347&ref=down-ballot.info) to receive email and text emergency alerts, including evacuation orders. “Increasing heat, dry vegetation and shifting winds continue to align and create dangerous conditions that demand immediate action,” Kotek said in a statement. “Throughout the summer, it will get hotter and drier. Oregon has record-setting low snowpack and nearly half of our counties are facing persistent drought conditions. On average, 70% of wildfires in Oregon are human-caused. Prevention starts with every Oregonian — at home, at work and out and about enjoying our great state.” Kotek also advised Oregonians to sign up for the statewide emergency alert system OR-Alert, to have an evacuation plan and to have an emergency “go kit” ready. Since March, Kotek has [declared drought](https://apps.wrd.state.or.us/apps/wr/wr%5Fdrought/declaration%5Fstatus%5Freport.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info) in 17 of Oregon’s 36 counties, mostly in southern and eastern Oregon. More than 400 wildfires so far this year have burned more than 8,000 acres, and several caused temporary evacuations. The declaration directs state agencies and the National Guard to collaborate on wildfire response and prevention by sharing personnel, equipment and resources. It also directs those agencies and Guard troops to meet requests coming from the state’s primary fire agencies — the Oregon Department of Forestry and the State Fire Marshal — and local and tribal governments. [*Oregon Capital Chronicle,*](https://oregoncapitalchronicle.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) *like the Idaho Capital Sun, is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Shumway for questions:* *info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com* *.* --- This article was [originally published](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/06/17/fbi-probe-into-ohio-organizing-collective-expands-nationally-america-votes/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [Votebeat](https://www.votebeat.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. # FBI probe of Ohio voting rights group expands to include an affiliated national advocacy network Dion Nissenbaum, Votebeat Jun 17, 2026 at 6:55pm EDT *Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for* [*our free weekly newsletter*](https://votebe.at/nationalnewsletter?ref=down-ballot.info) *to get the latest.* **Update, June 17, 6:55 p.m.:* This story has been updated with a statement from America Votes.* Federal officials have served a subpoena on one of the nation’s leading nonprofit voter outreach groups, which [has financially supported](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/264568349/202501339349302530/full?ref=down-ballot.info) the Ohio election advocacy group at the center of a deepening investigation by the Trump administration, according to a source familiar with the probe. The FBI served the subpoena on America Votes, a Washington-based organization founded by prominent Democratic leaders that works to turn out voters nationwide, the sources said. America Votes, which has given the Ohio Organizing Collaborative at least $500,000 in recent years, according to its tax filings, issued a statement Wednesday confirming it had received a subpoena “asking for basic records related to funding of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. We have been informed America Votes is not a target of the investigation.” The subpoena signals a broader FBI investigation into the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a statewide nonprofit group founded in 2007 that works on voting rights efforts. The Ohio Organizing Collaborative’s sister organization, Ohio Organizing Campaign, said it registered nearly 160,000 Ohio voters in 2024, describing the effort as the largest independent voter registration program in the country. Prentiss Haney, an Ohio Organizing Collaborative board member and former director of the group, said the FBI appeared to be seeking information from America Votes and other voting rights groups that worked with his organization. “This is very far reaching,” he said. “They seem to be fishing for any- and everything related to civil rights and voting rights infrastructure.” The FBI and Justice Department did not respond to emails seeking comment. Last week, FBI special agents searched the Ohio Organizing Collaborative’s offices and questioned staff members and volunteers about potential voter registration fraud, according to Haney and others familiar with the investigation. Haney said he did not know the full extent of the FBI investigation. The FBI probe comes amid rising concerns ahead of the November midterm election about Trump administration efforts to question the legitimacy of voting in America. Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that voter fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election. Most recently, he accused Democrats, again without evidence, of rigging results in the California primary earlier this month. FBI agents have seized ballots from the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County, Georgia, and secured election records in Maricopa County, Arizona. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, has been at the forefront of efforts among elections officials to scrutinize potential voter fraud. Last year, LaRose [referred more than 1,200 cases ](https://www.ohiosos.gov/office/media-center/categories/press-releases/2025-10-28?ref=down-ballot.info)to the Justice Department for criminal investigation, largely related to alleged unlawful voter registration of voting activity. LaRose said he found more than 1,000 noncitizens who had registered to vote, including 167 noncitizens who appeared to have voted in federal elections between 2018 and 2024. But the figures represent allegations, not yet proven cases. Previous batches of LaRose voter-fraud referrals have produced few prosecutions: [AP reported](https://apnews.com/article/noncitizen-voting-republicans-prosecutions-2024-election-ohio-ae9dafeeb47ea8941bf82f5988b269ef?ref=down-ballot.info) that of 621 criminal referrals sent to Ohio’s attorney general, prosecutors secured indictments against only nine people for voting as noncitizens over a decade. Voter fraud is [exceedingly rare](https://www.vpm.org/npr-news/npr-news/2024-10-11/how-we-know-voter-fraud-is-very-rare-in-u-s-elections?ref=down-ballot.info) across the country and [studies](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/debunking-voter-fraud-myth?ref=down-ballot.info), [audits](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12107110/?ref=down-ballot.info), and [court cases](https://judicature.duke.edu/articles/2020-election-litigation-the-courts-held/?ref=down-ballot.info) have found no evidence that it occurs at anything close to the scale needed to alter modern statewide or federal election outcomes except in [very unusual cases](https://apnews.com/article/e79854eb724b483a9a2ebbc2672d06d8?ref=down-ballot.info). *Dion Nissenbaum is Votebeat’s senior national reporter and is based in Houston. Contact Dion at* *dnissenbaum@votebeat.org* *.* Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters [here](https://votebeat.org/newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/06/Union_mg_0.jpg) AFSCME members stand and hold signs while AFSCME Council 3 President Patrick Moran speaks before the University System of Maryland Board of Regents on Friday, calling on the board to reverse recent layoffs at state campuses. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters) ## Union urges university board to reconsider decision to lay off employees Members of the state’s largest public employees union rallied at the University System of Maryland Board of Regents meeting Friday, calling on it to reverse more than 100 layoffs announced recently as state campuses struggle with tight budgets and higher costs. By William J. Ford (Maryland Matters) Published: June 13, 2026 Members from the state’s largest public employees union had a message Friday for University System of Maryland leadership: Rescind the employee layoffs. More than 100 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) rallied in support of workers at the University of Maryland, College Park, where 73 union members were recently laid off, and at Bowie State University, where 21 members lost jobs. And the union said at least one layoff notice was issued from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. The rally was held about a week after College Park officials announced layoffs during a “[period of uncertainty](https://marylandmatters.org/2026/06/04/umd-lays-off-84-employees-amongst-period-of-uncertainty/?ref=down-ballot.info).” “I’m not sure why we’re being laid off when there’s other options that they could have explored, and we’re really angry about it,” said Emily Leak. She worked as an integrated care specialist the University of Maryland, College Park, to help keep students from committing suicide. “We’re worried about the safety of our students at the University Health Center in College Park because we need more mental health services,” [Leak said](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZfChabDm7E/?img%5Findex=3&ref=down-ballot.info) at the rally. “I had no opportunity to transition services, very unethical from a licensed perspective. I am just appalled that UMD would treat their dedicated employees like this.” The union rallied 30 minutes before Friday’s meeting of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, which oversees academic and financial operations and crafts policy for the 12 institutions and three regional higher education centers that are part of the university system. UMCP, Bowie State and UMBC fall under the regents’ umbrella. Union members were joined at their rally Friday at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, by Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City). Ferguson noted that voters will be able to vote on a referendum question during the Nov. 3 general election that he said would ensure a layoff like the latest one “doesn’t happen in the near future.” It’s based on the [Arbitration Reform for State Employees Act](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/SB0028/?ys=2026rs&ref=down-ballot.info) of 2026, approved during this year’s legislative session. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Cory McCray (D-Baltimore City), would require, that “a neutral arbitrator” be selected in labor-management disputes with state workers, if the measure is approved by voters this fall. Ferguson also said money was approved in the fiscal 2027 budget for the university system that would provide raises, cost-of-living and merit increases. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://marylandmatters.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) The system agrees that a 1.5% cost-of-living increase was provided for all 40,000 system employees, but “no additional funds were provided for merit pay for any employees, including those covered under the AFSCME contract,” USM spokesperson Michael Sandler said in a statement Friday afternoon. He added merit pay is awarded only if it is funded by the state. Sandler said institutions in the system “are facing budget challenges for a number of reasons.” “First, our base funding from the state is 10% lower because of cuts from the previous two budget cycles,” he said. “Furthermore, when you factor the impact of inflation and changes in federal policies that have affected research funding, we are seeing reduced funding at our institutions while also experiencing higher costs. All of that is contributing to greater budget challenges.” A representative from the University of Maryland, College Park, deferred to the system’s statement. In a [campus message](https://president.umd.edu/news/an-update-on-actions-in-response-to-budget-reductions?ref=down-ballot.info) dated June 4, College Park leaders announced that about 84 state-funded employees were being laid off. A statement from Bowie State University echoed the system’s remarks. The university’s statement also added that about 23 employees were laid off to address budget challenges. “At the same time, we recognize that these decisions have had a real and deeply personal impact on members of our campus community,” the Bowie statement says. “We are especially mindful of the employees and families directly affected by the layoffs, and we extend our sincere concern and appreciation for their service to Bowie State.” But union leaders such as AFSCME Council 3 President Patrick Moran said the university system, UMD and Bowie State have large endowments. In addition, Moran asked during the Board of Regents meeting why system and college leaders didn’t assess any “costly contracts you have with vendors?” “Would you cut the basketball coaches or the football coaches pay after you have a contract? So, why are you taking it out on the backs of working people? Shame on you,” he said. Before union members left the meeting, the continued fight to rescind those layoffs was declared in a [chant](https://www.instagram.com/p/DZfHRl5OrvC/?ref=down-ballot.info): “USM, do what’s right! Maryland staff are ready to fight!” --- # Massachusetts court blocks high-stakes income tax cut question from the November ballot by Chris Lisinski and Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon June 18, 2026 **VOTERS WILL NOT** have a $5 billion question to answer after all. The state’s highest court on Thursday tossed a measure seeking to trim the income tax rate by one-fifth from the November ballot, stopping in its tracks a bruising, months-long political fight that would have carried major implications for both household budgets and public services. Justices on the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the attorney general’s office erred in its summary of the question, rendering the measure ineligible to appear before voters in November. It’s a massive decision that cuts the fuse of a revenue bomb that had top Democrats in the House, Senate, and corner office sweating. Independent analysts estimated that reducing the income tax rate from 5 percent to 4 percent, once fully implemented, would trim more than $5 billion from the state’s coffers, likely forcing cuts to public spending. Justice Serge Georges, Jr., [writing for a unanimous court](https://www.mass.gov/doc/finfer-v-attorney-general-sjc-p13885/download?ref=down-ballot.info), said the official summary produced by Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s team “misstates the petition’s impact” by incorrectly stating the rate cut would not impact taxes on long-term capital gains. “The summary’s contrary statement is not a minor imprecision. It is significantly misleading and likely to influence voters,” Georges wrote, concluding that the AG’s office therefore did not provide a sufficiently “fair” summary. A business-backed coalition led by the Massachusetts High Technology Council, the Pioneer Institute, and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership pitched the question as a way to relieve residents from the state’s high cost of living and stem the long-running flow of outmigration. The coalition is also behind a separate ballot question that would overhaul a tax-cap law, often known as Chapter 62F, to make it much more likely that Beacon Hill needs to refund money to taxpayers at the end of each budget cycle. That measure did not face a legal challenge and remains on track to be decided by voters this fall. Colin Reed, a spokesman for one of the proponent groups, the Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance, called the decision an “unprecedented ruling” that “prevents Massachusetts voters from weighing in on a popular proposal to address the state’s cost-of-living crisis.” “It does not change the underlying reality: Massachusetts remains one of the most expensive states in the nation, with too many residents leaving in search of greater opportunity and a lower cost of living,” Reed said in a statement. “Today’s court decision does not eliminate the urgent need for action.” Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute, lamented that an error by the attorney general’s office, not the campaign itself, proved fatal. “The larger issue is whether voters should lose the opportunity to decide an important economic question because of a drafting error in a government-prepared summary,” Stergios said in a statement. “No ballot question has ever been removed due to a minor drafting mistake. Today’s decision means that a technical defect in a summary prepared by the government can prevent voters from considering a question that otherwise qualified for the ballot.” Labor groups who opposed the measure — and who four years ago led the successful charge to impose a surtax on wealthy households, to the chagrin of some business groups like the Massachusetts High Technology Council — cheered the decision. “This tax cut campaign was never about delivering real relief for working class families facing an affordability crisis,” said Harris Gruman, chair of the opposition campaign and executive director of the SEIU Massachusetts State Council. “Even the income tax cut they proposed was about sneaking through a tax break for ultra-rich investors. And their true goal all along was to leverage the initiative into a deal to secure more tax breaks for ultra-rich investors and wealthy heirs, along with massive giveaways to profitable corporations.” The benefits from the question would be far more significant for high-earning taxpayers. Households with incomes between $75,000 and $200,000 would receive an average tax cut of $1,267, while those that make more than $1 million would get an average cut of $37,421, [according to the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University](https://cspa.tufts.edu/sites/g/files/lrezom361/files/2026-03/cSPA%5F5.1billion%5Fdollar%5Fquestion%5Fvoters%5F0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), which neither supported nor opposed the measure. Opponents, including lawmakers and the plaintiffs who brough the matter to the high court, argued that reducing state tax revenues by billions of dollars would [force cuts to social services](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/ballot-questions/lawmakers-offer-mixed-messages-on-income-tax-ballot-question/?ref=down-ballot.info) so severe they would offset the benefits for most residents except the wealthy. For a time, nervous legislators were content to bash the ballot initiative while holding out hope that the SJC would take the matter [off their plates](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/ballot-questions/fate-of-potential-5-billion-hit-to-state-budget-heads-to-court/?ref=down-ballot.info). Lawmakers will no longer face pressure to negotiate with proponents on more modest tax cut alternatives to the ballot question, and top Democrats get to avoid spending the coming months campaigning against lowering taxes, achieving the outcome they want while keeping their hands more or less clean. Plus, the potentially record field of ballot initiatives — many of which are united by an undercurrent of frustration with legislative inertia — shrinks again. “A $5 billion annual loss in state revenue would’ve meant significant cuts to services and programs that Massachusetts residents rely on, while doing little to bolster competitiveness and address the affordability challenges facing the Commonwealth,” House Speaker Ron Mariano said in a statement. “I’m grateful that this irresponsible initiative petition won’t appear on the ballot in November.” The decision came less than two weeks before the Secretary of State’s office needs to have certified signatures in hand to begin printing out the ballot question guide for voters. At oral arguments before the SJC in May, Justice Scott Kafker said the summary was “bothersome to me, because my reading of that is capital gains is not included. It’s not just a material omission, in \[the plaintiff’s\] view, it’s a material misrepresentation.” The court used almost that exact language in its final decision. In a statement after the ruling, a spokesperson for the AG's office said, “we respect the SJC’s decision and will continue to work diligently to ensure that ballot initiatives are summarized fairly and transparently.” There seemed to be little dispute before the high court that the written description was inaccurate, though the measure’s proponents argued that the attorney general is not required to describe every downstream effect of a ballot measure in its summary. One option — to force a correction to the summary and have the campaign collect the tens of thousands of signatures all over again — was dispensed with quickly by justices. Constitutionally set timeframes for submitting the bulk of signatures had already passed, they noted. Those fighting the measure, and even the attorney general's office defending its work, agreed that the entire thing should be struck from the ballot if the summary is “so unfair to the voters,” as the AG’s office put it. “Allowing a new summary at this stage would create a different constitutional sequence from the one \[the state Constitution\] prescribes,” Georges wrote. “It would also call into question the validity of the more than 85,000 signatures already gathered on forms bearing the unfair summary.” Not all legal minds agreed that this was the best course of action. Robert Cordy, a retired associate justice of the SJC, [wrote in an op-ed for *CommonWealth Beacon*](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/opinion/sjc-should-let-tax-cut-question-stay-on-the-ballot/?ref=down-ballot.info) that the high court should keep the question on the ballot. “Removing the initiative from the ballot just because critics object to the phrasing of a summary could undermine public confidence in the initiative process itself,” he warned. The high court last Friday [gave the green light](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/courts/sjc-keeps-recreational-marijuana-repeal-in-the-mix-for-november/?ref=down-ballot.info) to a dark money-backed ballot measure seeking to roll back recreational cannabis legalization. In its decision, the unanimous SJC said the measure could proceed to the ballot despite complaints about the attorney general’s summary. The summary did not introduce a clear error and “is not the only source of information for voters,” the court wrote in that ruling. Just six days later, the SJC declared the summary error for the income tax ballot question essentially unfixable. Campaign materials could not “cure” the error, Georges wrote, nor could the already published "yes" and "no" statements from the Secretary of State’s office describing what a vote for or against would do. The statements do not mention capital gains. And the way voters would encounter the summary along with the actual text of the measure would make things even more confusing. “A voter reading the petition and the summary together would see a summary that expressly excludes capital gain income and a petition that says nothing to contradict that statement,” Georges wrote. The decision trims the field of ballot questions remaining in the mix for November from 11 to 10, which would set a record. That could change soon: The court is still [weighing legal challenges](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/ballot-questions/mass-voters-might-face-11-ballot-questions-this-fall-heres-where-each-measure-stands/?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=22748394202&gbraid=0AAAAA9SMjitIM-38KYbH23x%5FhRTmvaQ9Z&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrs7RBhDuARIsAIVfBD1umyRvJZ6aLwFOihd13csHrDNnKgw6AqkAN91bA09z7Be7KkAagckaAqRyEALw%5FwcB&ref=down-ballot.info) to two other ballot questions, one seeking to revive rent control with a strict statewide cap, and the other to replace partisan primary elections with a single, “all-party” primary featuring every candidate regardless of party. Those decisions are expected to arrive in the coming days. This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/ballot-questions/massachusetts-court-blocks-high-stakes-income-tax-cut-question-from-the-november-ballot/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=316901&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) --- # Record crowds, hot stadiums: Extreme heat could be a player during this summer’s World Cup by Anne Blythe, North Carolina Health News June 12, 2026 #### **By Anne Blythe** As the largest FIFA World Cup in history kicks off across North America, the most menacing wild card for the 48 competing countries might be the stifling summer heat. Over the monthlong marathon leading up to the [July 19 championship match](https://www.metlifestadium.com/events/detail/fifa-world-cup-2026-final?ref=down-ballot.info) in New Jersey, relentlessly high temperatures and humidity will put millions of soccer enthusiasts at risk. While elite athletes endure at least 90 minutes on the pitch, spectators, match officials and workers in many of the 16 stadiums across the U.S., Mexico and Canada could be highly vulnerable to heat-related illness and exacerbation of chronic health conditions. Teams from Norway, Scotland and Germany have gotten a taste of the “wet blanket” extreme heat here at their base camps and training sites in Greensboro, Charlotte and Winston-Salem. When Norway opened its practice to the public on June 10 at the UNC Greensboro soccer stadium, temperatures climbed close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit that afternoon. The next day, the National Weather Service [issued a heat advisory](https://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=NCZ022&warncounty=NCC081&firewxzone=NCZ022&local%5Fplace1=Greensboro%20NC&product1=Hazardous+Weather+Outlook&lat=36.0789&lon=-79.8269&ref=down-ballot.info), which is based primarily on the heat index, or the “feels-like” temperature that takes humidity into account too. ![Norwegian players take a water break at Team Norway’s FIFA World Cup practice at UNC-Greensboro on June 10, 2026. Extreme heat could be a player in the North American tournament.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jabrownphotos-norway-13-scaled.jpg) Norwegian players drink water during a water break at Team Norway’s World Cup practice at UNC-Greensboro on June 10, 2026. As Ashley Ward, director of the [Heat Policy Innovation Hub](http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/project/heat-policy-innovation-hub?ref=down-ballot.info) at the Duke University [Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability,](http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info) will tell you, though, there’s a lot more than the number on an analog thermometer and humidity level to consider when thinking about heat safety. For years, Ward has been advocating for use of the [wet bulb globe temperature](https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/project/heat-policy-innovation-hub/heat-safety/what-is-wet-bulb-globe-temperature-wbgt?ref=down-ballot.info), developed and used by the military for decades, as the standard measure for public heat safety. “It incorporates not only air temperature and humidity, but also wind speed and solar radiation, and because of that it gives us a better predictor of when conditions outside are particularly dangerous to humans,” Ward told NC Health News. “It’s not just about getting hot. It’s also about how humid it is. Is the wind blowing or not blowing? Are there clouds in the sky, not in the sky? Are we standing on asphalt? Or are we standing on grass, and so forth?” #### **Is FIFA’s heat policy adequate?** [FIFA, the worldwide governing organization for soccer](https://www.fifa.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) (or football as most countries call the sport), uses wet bulb globe temperature to set parameters for postponing matches. Delays are considered when the wet bulb temperature hits 32 degrees Celsius, or 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit — a threshold that’s caused controversy among some scientists and players’ unions. [In an open letter to FIFA on May 13](https://www.newweather.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Open-Letter-to-FIFA-on-Heat-Stress-Player-Welfare-Fossil-Fuel-Conflicts-of-Interest.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), 21 doctors, climate researchers and scientists from universities and research institutes here and abroad said FIFA’s heat safety protocols were highly inadequate and put players and spectators at severe risk. They wrote that science had shown more accurate wet bulb globe safety thresholds to be 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) for high exertion, 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit) for moderate exertion, 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) for light work and 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at rest. FIFA protocols also rely on two mandatory three-minute hydration breaks midway through each half, but the scientists contend that neither that nor a wet bulb protocol that entrusts match postponement decisions to competition organizers are sufficient protections. The scientists acknowledged that though professional athletes are likely to have “higher resilience compared to the baseline population,” it still “is impossible to justify” FIFA’s heat policy as adequate for health safety. “We respectfully urge FIFA to adopt heat-management protocols that prioritize prevention over response, and that align with contemporary exercise physiology, occupational health principles, and duty-of-care standards expected in elite sport,” the scientists wrote. The hydration breaks aren’t long enough, they contend, to sufficiently cool core body temperatures and therefore “the risk of exertional heat illness increases sharply.” “Player health and safety must remain the non-negotiable foundation of football governance, and the heat risks for the upcoming World Cup make this question more urgent than ever,” the scientists added. Although FIFA did not respond directly to the scientists’ letter, [according to *The New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/climate/world-cup-heat.html?ref=down-ballot.info), a spokesperson wrote in a statement the organization is “committed to protecting the health and safety of all players, referees, fans, volunteers and staff.” ![NC Courage forward Ally Schlegel (35) celebrates her goal with forward Evelyn Ijeh (10) during a match between the NC Courage and Chicago Stars FC in Week 8 of the 2026 NWSL regular season at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC - Saturday, May 16, 2026. The Courage launched the Courageously Cool Summer Initiative in 2025 to keep fans safer during extreme heat.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/CAROLINACOURAGE3-scaled.jpg) NC Courage forward Ally Schlegel (35) celebrates her goal with forward Evelyn Ijeh (10) during a match between the NC Courage and Chicago Stars FC in Week 8 of the 2026 NWSL regular season at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC - Saturday, May 16, 2026. #### **‘Lean into it’** [Ralph Vuono,](https://www.nccourage.com/front-office?ref=down-ballot.info) chief business officer for the [North Carolina Courage](https://www.nccourage.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), the [National Women’s Soccer League](https://www.nwslsoccer.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) professional team based at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, knows firsthand what it’s like to have to address extreme heat issues from the spectator side. When Vuono moved to North Carolina from New Jersey about four years ago, he hadn’t yet started working for the Courage. But he quickly heard about the recent years’ record-setting extreme heat. “All my neighbors, and the folks that I met when we moved down here, all said the same thing: ‘It’s ridiculously hot here in the summer,’” Vuono said. “It’s beautiful in the spring. It’s awesome in the fall. We get a little bit of a winter for about a month or so, but then the summer is really hot. “So that narrative, that seed, was planted with me pretty early on.” When he started working for the Courage about a year later, people in the organization had the same message: “It gets really hot here during the summer,” they told him. “Our stadium,” he said, “we don’t have the traditional canopies that you see at other soccer facilities. We don’t have concourses and things like that. So having shade and things like that was a bit of a challenge.” Instead of acknowledging what everybody knew during his first full season in 2024 — that some game days would be scorchers — the organization avoided that narrative. That didn’t work. “We ended up having not a great summer in attendance perspective,” Vuono said. “We had a really good spring. We came out strong. Then summer happened and we fell off a cliff. Then we had a rally, and we ended up having a really strong fall.” Things had to change, though, and [Steve Malik, the Courage owner](https://www.nccourage.com/ownership?ref=down-ballot.info), made a suggestion that would launch a new course. “His message to me was we’ve got to stop hiding from it because it’s never not going to be hot in the summer in North Carolina,” Vuono recalled. “We’re always going to have games in the summer; there’s not going to be a time when we don’t have games in the summer.” Even if the team were to move into new facilities, they wouldn’t have a dome like five of the 2026 World Cup stadiums have. Players and fans would inevitably be exposed to the heat and elements. So Vuono turned to a different kind of venue for tips. His family visits Disney World multiple times a year, he said, and one of the weeks they typically go is in mid-June. “Orlando’s hot in the summer, but the parks are packed.” While summer visitors might save money by not going during peak periods, Disney offers other amenities too — free access to a water park at hotel check-in and cooling merchandise like freezable neck rings that can make a stay more comfortable. “They do all these little things to not hide from it, to lean into it,” Vuono said. That lesson played into the launch of the [Courageously Cool Summer initiative](https://www.nccourage.com/news/north-carolina-courage-announce-courageously-cool-summer?ref=down-ballot.info), which leans into the obvious. “It is hot and we know that, but we can’t let the weather or the temperature dictate when we support these players,” Vuono said. “If we’re going to support this team — if we’re going to be on the forefront of advancing women’s sports — it can’t be contingent on everything’s got to be perfect. “Rain or shine, 95 degrees or 65 degrees, we’re showing up and supporting this team,” Vuono added. In addition to developing different ticket bundles, the organization provided shade cooling zones and misting zones around the stadium. They allow fans to bring empty water bottles and fill them free of charge at hydration stations. They sell Courage-branded cooling merchandise and hold special events like Margaritaville Night and summer-themed halftime shows with dunking games. “We did that last year, and we ended up having the largest attended summer in club history,” Vuono said. FIFA didn’t ask the Courage for advice, but had the organization reached out, Vuono would have told them: “Don’t try to hide from it. There is an advantage that the games are played at world class venues and stadiums that have canopies over a lot of the sections. There’s shaded concourse areas. There’s a lot of advantages that they have that we don’t necessarily have at the current venue, but lean into it.” #### **Get more people talking** Ward, whose research at Duke focuses on the health impacts of climate extremes and community resilience, said it will be important for FIFA to make sure the athletes and conditions for play are safe. It also will be paramount to give as much attention to the safety of support staff and the fans, she added. “Those are people who are not, in fact, at their physical peak, most likely. “They also have maybe been consuming alcohol at the match, which makes them more vulnerable,” she said. “They are not in a position where they have access to perhaps shade and other kinds of structures that mitigate heat exposure.” Given that extreme weather driven by climate change has become more common, Ward said, “you’re seeing more and more different types of athletics facilities that are building in things like big fans that keep wind moving. They’re paying attention to artificial shade. And they have water stations everywhere to make sure people are continuing to be hydrated.” There’s been more awareness about climate extremes recently in part because of record hot years and media attention to that, Ward said, but also because sports venues and other institutions have had to adapt to keep fan numbers from dropping. Still, there’s room for improvement, she said. “I wish more institutions, like our sports institutions, would be much more out front about heat safety and delivering heat safety messaging and even have things like posters and making announcements during the game — you know, ‘Don’t forget, it’s hot outside and if you’re not feeling well you can go here,’” she said. “And when more people are talking about it, it normalizes it as part of what everybody thinks about. “It’s a great thing when you have an organization that has such a large following that’s thinking about heat, talking about it and hopefully raising awareness among their fan base.” This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/06/12/extreme-heat-could-be-a-player-during-2026-summers-world-cup/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=68322) --- # Broke and On Their Own: Small Water Systems Lose Ground as Federal Support Wavers by Brett Walton, Circle of Blue June 11, 2026 The country’s most severe drinking water problems, from high levels of contaminants and foul-smelling water to pipe breaks, low water pressure, and expensive rates, are generally found in the thousands of small systems that serve dozens of people up to a few thousand. These systems are public health crises waiting to emerge, said Denise Schmidt, director of water at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center, a group that works with water utilities on infrastructure funding. Though some are perpetually struggling, small water systems, especially those serving low-income communities, are encountering a fresh set of economic and political hurdles in their quest for safe drinking water. In recent industry surveys, small utilities report that accessing financing to repair and upgrade their systems is becoming increasingly difficult. Their credit ratings are deteriorating, making borrowing more expensive. The rates they charge customers are not covering the cost of providing water service, thus digging a long-term financial hole. Extreme weather is burdening them with [unexpected and daunting repairs](https://www.circleofblue.org/2026/supply/water-management/infrastructure/climate-emergencies-are-breaking-water-utilities-customers-are-paying/?ref=down-ballot.info) to their reservoirs, treatment plants, and pipe networks. Federal water quality mandates for PFAS and lead pipe replacements, though both providing public health benefits, are an added cost. Small systems, in effect, are walking a precarious path. They are trying to survive today while also staring at a gathering wave of necessary replacements to aging pipes and treatment plants. The Trump administration and Republican allies in Congress, meanwhile, are casting more obstacles. The White House’s tariffs have increased the price of equipment and materials. And the House’s fiscal year 2027 budget would cut the main federal water infrastructure program by about a quarter. “I don't think people realize how big this wave is and how much it's going to cost,” said Blake Anderson, president and founder of Mogollon Water Management, a company that operates and maintains 11 small water systems in northeast Arizona. “The utilities that were built in 1970 now are 56 years old. There was a lot of development that happened back then. And all of these waves are going to start crashing.” **Negative Outlook** Crashing sounds are gaining strength. Last year, for the first time, S&P Global, a credit rating agency, lowered the financial outlook for small water and wastewater utilities from stable to negative. Large and medium utilities remained stable. The increased pessimism for small water utilities is due to stiffening financial headwinds, said Malcolm D’Silva, an associate director at S&P, which rates roughly 1,700 water and wastewater utilities. Ninety-one percent of the agency’s credit downgrades last year were for small systems, he said. Credit downgrades increase the cost of borrowing. D’Silva narrated a story in two parts. One is the “expense squeeze.” Costs are rising across the board. First from the post-Covid inflation and supply chain shortages, and now from the Trump administration’s tariffs. Half of the utilities that responded to the American Water Works Association’s [annual survey](https://www.awwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026-SOTWI-Full-Report.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) said that tariffs had “moderate or considerable” pressure on equipment and materials costs. At the same time, revenue is not keeping up. In the same survey, only 43 percent of utilities said they charged customers enough to fully cover service costs. The second part is managerial. Small systems typically do not have the technical expertise, staff, or budget to analyze their infrastructure and apply for funding in the way that larger utilities do. Some might keep only paper records of their pipe networks. The smallest systems have volunteer board members or staff that might also oversee the fire department and run a business. The positive news is that last year might have been the bottom for small systems, D’Silva said. S&P is seeing some improvement in the first half of 2026, with the rate of downgrades slowing. More utilities have instituted rate increases to fill budget holes, D’Silva said. **Federal Question Mark** Just as one hole is closing, however, another might be opening. Every year the White House lobs a spending plan toward Capitol Hill and members of Congress decide whether those numbers are a good idea. For fiscal year 2027, the Trump administration proposed a roughly 90 percent cut to the two state revolving funds, the main federal sources of water infrastructure funding. Congress usually sustains the state revolving funds, which have broad support. But this budget cycle could be different. A House [spending bill](https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/fy27-interior-environment-and-related-agencies-subcommittee-mark.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) cuts the revolving funds by about 24 percent combined. The House Appropriations Committee approved the bill on June 3. The bill provides $1.2 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (27 percent cut) and $911 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (19 percent cut). The Senate has not yet introduced its version. ![](https://www.circleofblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2016-04-Michigan-Infrastructure-TVC-JCGanter_3691-Edit-2500-1030x758.jpg) Jeff Dietlin, director of utilities for Cadillac, Michigan, stands inside a new pump house built as part of the city’s East 44 Road well field project. The city received a $9.8 million low-interest loan from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to finance the project. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue The Environmental Policy Innovation Center, or EPIC, tracks state revolving fund expenditures and project proposals in 15 states. At Circle of Blue’s request, EPIC analyzed small system and very small system requests for drinking water funding. By EPA’s definition, small systems serve fewer than 10,000 people and very small systems fewer than 3,300. The [data indicate](https://www.policyinnovation.org/insights/small-systems-epics-dwsrf-funding-tracker-analysis?ref=down-ballot.info) high demand from these systems. Some 61 percent of projects seeking drinking water funding were small or very small. However, only about a third of these proposed projects advanced to the next step in the funding process. This “highlights significant unmet infrastructure needs,” EPIC analysts wrote. Water infrastructure funding needs and the status of the revolving funds were a point of discussion during a House Energy and Commerce Committee [hearing](https://www.youtube.com/live/yfsCjxR6ViE?si=dYn10jSt-o0VLB1s&t=3840&ref=down-ballot.info) on May 20. Jessica Kramer, the head of the EPA Office of Water, defended the administration’s proposed cuts. Her justification: the states have $14.8 billion in uncommitted state revolving funds, those sitting in coffers for more than a year without being allocated. That money should be distributed first, she argued. “It doesn’t do any good to get the money to the states if the states aren’t actually getting it out to the communities that need it,” Kramer said. Schmidt, the EPIC water director, had a different view. Two issues are being wrapped into one, she said. If state administrative capacity to review and approve applications is the problem, then focus on that. But don’t use it to rationalize disinvestment in an otherwise successful decades-long infrastructure program. “Uncommitted does not mean unneeded,” Schmidt said. “Cutting moves us farther from the solution.” **The View from Arizona** The financial pressures that populate D’Silva’s and Schmidt’s spreadsheets are the on-the-ground reality for Blake Anderson. Anderson is the president and founder of Mogollon Water Management, a company that operates and maintains 11 small water systems in the White Mountains of northeastern Arizona. Mogollon oversees the smallest of the small – systems ranging in size from 29 service connections to roughly 1,100. These are not the sophisticated, professionally managed systems that you would see in Phoenix or Flagstaff. “They're volunteer board members and they're aware that there's some sort of money for water out there but they don't know where it is, or if they do know, they aren’t sure how to go about applying and accessing it,” Anderson said, describing the challenges for small systems in securing grants and loans. “Most of them have never done a capital improvement project over $50,000,” he added. “And so there is not institutional knowledge in how do you manage a federally funded program or a state funded program? How do you go about securing engineers or contractors? What are the proper procurement practices?” One school of thought for solving the small systems problem is that there should be fewer of them. By connecting with larger systems or forming regional partnerships, small utilities could grow into medium-sized utilities with favorable economics: more customers to cover expensive infrastructure costs, better credit ratings, money to hire knowledgeable staff. Research from Manny Teodoro at the University of Wisconsin [indicates](https://mannyteodoro.com/the-sweet-spot/?ref=down-ballot.info) that the target size for utility consolidations should be about 20,000 service connections, or about 60,000 people. At that point the most serious water quality violations become far less common and operating costs become more reasonable. Where might funding for consolidations come from? States like California have dedicated programs, though even those are facing [funding shortfalls](https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-06-10/california-drinking-water-funding?ref=down-ballot.info). Another source is federal: the state revolving funds that House Republicans want to cut. *Lead image: Kevin Sonnichsen, water commissioner, right, and Alan Novacek, backup operator and sewer commissioner, left, gaze into the Creighton water treatment facility in this file photo from 2021\. Built in 1993, the facility uses reverse osmosis to remove nitrate. Creighton was the first community in Nebraska to use reverse osmosis to remove nitrate in drinking water. Photo © J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue* This [article](https://www.circleofblue.org/2026/supply/water-management/infrastructure/broke-and-on-their-own-small-water-systems-lose-ground-as-federal-support-wavers/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Circle of Blue](https://www.circleofblue.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.circleofblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/cropped-CoB.logo_.circle.gradient.trans_.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.circleofblue.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=144830&ga4=G-NG75SZY8CX) --- ![](https://planetdetroit.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=30598&ga4=G-5QQJ9SVV07) ### Spartanburg County Council to meet Monday regarding data centers URL: https://down-ballot.info/spartanburg-county-council-to-meet-monday-regarding-data-centers/ Last updated: 2026-06-18T22:52:12.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** Spartanburg County Council called a special meeting for Monday, June 22 at 9:00 am to possibly give a first reading of a data center moratorium ordinance, according to the [agenda](https://www.spartanburgcounty.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/%5F06222026-2029?ref=down-ballot.info). ### Tennessee health department warns parents their children will be reported to immigration officials URL: https://down-ballot.info/tennessee-health-department-warns-parents-their-children-will-be-reported-to-immigration-officials/ Last updated: 2026-06-17T09:00:42.000Z By Anita Wadhwani (Tennessee Lookout) Published: June 11, 2026 Pediatricians and public health care providers on Wednesday said they feared life-threatening consequences for children with critical illnesses who rely on a specialized public health care program as Tennessee moves forward with a directive to verify and report their immigration status. Letters sent by the Tennessee Department of Health warn parents that children without legal status who opt to continue to receive care through the Children’s Special Services program after June 30 will be reported to the Tennessee Department of Safety’s Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division, which shares data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The program, accessed through local public health departments, serves as a last-resort public health insurance program for low-income kids with disabilities, kids on ventilators and kids with life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer, spina bifida, congestive heart disease and terminal illnesses. For decades, the program has served children in Tennessee regardless of immigration status. > [Tennessee to report disabled immigrant kids getting public healthcare to ICE, advocates say](https://tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/09/tennessee-to-report-disabled-immigrant-kids-getting-public-healthcare-to-ice-advocates-say/?ref=down-ballot.info) “This letter is to inform you that based on our records, due to the current immigration status of your child…if the Children’s Special Services program keeps paying for healthcare after June 30, 2026, the Tennessee Department of Health will share your child’s information to the Tennessee Department of Safety, as required by new law,” reads a template of the letter obtained by the Tennessee Lookout. The letter is signed by John Dunn, interim commissioner of the health department. The letters will reach at least 90 families in Nashville who rely on the program for healthcare, wheelchairs, in-school support and medications for their child. More families could be affected in the weeks ahead as their files are reviewed, according to Dr. Sanmi Areola, director of the Metro Nashville Public Health Department. Areola said he and his staff are “concerned and worried” about the impact of the state directive on the vulnerable children they serve. “There is no way to look at this positively on the health of participants, and obviously broadly on the health of our residents,” Dr. Areola said Wednesday. “These are some of the kids with the highest health needs, and if they don’t have access to care or if they don’t have access to medications, conceptually no good outcome will come from that.” Statewide, 4,640 children participated in the program in the 2024 fiscal year at a cost of $2.9 million, [according to a state annual report](https://mchb.tvisdata.hrsa.gov/Admin/FileUpload/DownloadStateUploadedPdf?filetype=PrintVersion&state=TN&year=2026&ref=down-ballot.info). The Tennessee Department of Health has not publicly disclosed how many of these children may be impacted by new immigration verification requirements. The state health department has not responded to multiple requests from the Lookout for further details. In its letter to parents — and in a separate letter sent to healthcare providers — Dunn cited [a 2026 state law](https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/114/pub/pc1106.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that requires immigration verification of those seeking public benefits in Tennessee. [2026.06.02\_CSS Letter to Patient Parents](https://tennesseelookout.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026.06.02%5FCSS-Letter-to-Patient-Parents.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee May 22, requires applicants for public benefits to provide proof of citizenship or legal immigration status only if they are at least 18 years old. The law also includes language requiring local health departments to “report individuals and all identifying information about such individuals who are not lawfully present” who receive public benefits to the state’s Centralized Immigration Enforcement Bureau. Failure to report comes with criminal penalties for public employees under the new law. Katie Richards, president and CEO of the faith-based primary healthcare provider, Siloam Health, said the directive forces parents to make an agonizing choice: keeping their children on the program risks making families an immigration enforcement target. Forgoing care to avoid a child’s information being shared with immigration enforcement officials could put their children’s lives at risk. “You are putting parents in a position where they’re having to deal with unimaginable decisions,” Richards said. “They face the risk of deportation, or risk their children’s lifesaving care.” Siloam Health, a nonprofit provider of primary healthcare that primarily serves immigrant families, refers between 20 and 50 children each year to the program, Richards said. The children Siloam have referred to the program have included those who require feeding tubes, oxygen, cancer treatments, complex seizure management and wheelchairs due to severe neuromuscular disease, she said. “For some of these children, loss of life is not a hyperbolic outcome in this scenario,” she said. Quotation You are putting parents in a position where they’re having to deal with unimaginable decisions. They face the risk of deportation, or risk their children’s lifesaving care. **– Katie Richards, Siloam Health Care** Dr. Jill Obremsky, a pediatrician who formerly served as medical director for rural public health clinics at the state health department, said the impact of the Children’s Special Services program goes beyond life-saving medication therapies, hospital and doctor care. “Over my 30 years of practicing in different arenas, the coordinated care like Children’s Special Services provides has really changed the trajectory of kids’ lives, allowing them to grow into adults that contribute to a community,” she said. “This has been a big shock and surprise,” she said. Staff at the Nashville public health department have been working frantically to find alternatives for families who might be impacted with little advance notice from the state about the new immigration-check directive, said Dr. Morgan McDonald, a pediatrician and internist who serves on the Nashville Board of Health. The options are limited, however. The Children’s Special Services program is a last-resort option for low-income families without Medicaid or private insurance coverage for their children’s healthcare needs. “I was on the phone with a provider over the last couple days and they were looking for home ventilators for some of these families,” said McDonald, formerly a deputy commissioner at the state health department. “There has not been much of a runway but people have been scrambling to do what they can for these kids.” McDonald also questioned the health department’s interpretation of new state law as applying to children. “I don’t think anyone wants this,” she said. “I don’t think this was the intent of the legislature. I mean, the (legislation) clearly says it applies to ‘over 18,’” she said. Efforts Wednesday to reach the Republican authors of the legislation about their intent were unsuccessful. The legislation’s sponors — Rep. Dennis Powers of Jacksboro and Sen. Ed Jackson of Jackson — did not respond to inquiries Wednesday. A spokesperson for Gov. Bill Lee did not respond to questions. McDonald noted the program, which relies on a combination of state dollars and funding from the federal government’s Maternal and Child Health block grant, is also subject to federal rules that do not require children’s immigration status to be verified. “Tennesseans don’t want this outcome,” she said. “The state health department doesn’t want this outcome. The legislature, who thought they had exempted kids from this legislation, didn’t want this outcome. These are children, many with significant medical problems, who rely on a program that’s been really the emblem of the Volunteer State for a hundred years and this can be fixed. It needs to be fixed immediately.” #### Tennessee Department of Health letter to healthcare providers [2026.06.02\_CSS Letter to Providers](https://tennesseelookout.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026.06.02%5FCSS-Letter-to-Providers.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://tennesseelookout.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### In prisons and jails, a lack of sleep may harm health and safety URL: https://down-ballot.info/in-prisons-and-jails-a-lack-of-sleep-may-harm-health-and-safety/ Last updated: 2026-06-15T09:00:42.000Z By Amanda Watford (Stateline) Published: June 11, 2026 For many incarcerated people, getting a full night’s sleep is almost impossible. Bright lights, loud noise, overnight head counts, early morning meals and other routine features of prison and jail operations can make restorative sleep nearly impossible, according to a new [report](https://utexas.app.box.com/v/SleepinCustody?ref=down-ballot.info) from researchers at the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. The report’s authors argue that chronic sleep disruption is a widespread but often overlooked feature of incarceration that may affect physical and mental health, increase tensions inside facilities and create challenges that persist long after release. Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to increased risks of cardiovascular disease, weakened immune function, depression, anxiety and cognitive impairment. But a lack of sleep isn’t just a question of the health and comfort of people who are incarcerated; sleep loss also may contribute to interpersonal conflict and behavioral problems, increasing the risks for prison staff. “People who are chronically exhausted are more likely to struggle emotionally, physically and behaviorally,” Michele Deitch, director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab and co-author of the report, said in a news release. “If corrections leaders want safer and more stable facilities, finding ways to improve sleep conditions must become part of the conversation.” Many of the conditions that interfere with sleep are avoidable, according to the researchers, and could be addressed through changes in policy and operations that local or state corrections systems may want to consider. > [Extreme heat in prisons brings more legal challenges, pressure on states](https://stateline.org/2025/08/20/extreme-heat-in-prisons-brings-more-legal-challenges-pressure-on-states/?ref=down-ballot.info) Among the recommendations in the report are reducing unnecessary nighttime disruptions, redesigning overnight count procedures to avoid waking people, improving mattresses and bedding, reducing noise and excessive lighting, maintaining more stable temperatures and increasing opportunities for daytime activity that support healthier sleep cycles. The report also suggests providing eye masks and ear plugs, improving meal timing and keeping people more active during the day to help regulate sleep patterns. “Sleep is a basic biological necessity, not a luxury,” Alycia Welch, associate director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab and lead author of the report, said in a news release. “Yet in prisons and jails across the country, people are routinely subjected to conditions that make restorative sleep nearly impossible.” The report draws on scientific research, reports from correctional oversight bodies, and accounts from currently and formerly incarcerated people and corrections officials to examine how institutional routines shape sleep in custody. The report’s authors found that sleep is often interrupted by a combination of environmental conditions and operational practices. Thin mattresses, constant lighting, uncomfortable temperatures and persistent noise can make it difficult to fall or stay asleep. Routine activities such as medication distribution and early wake-up schedules can further fragment rest. In some facilities, incarcerated people reported receiving medication as early as 2:30 a.m. and breakfast around 4 a.m., according to the report. The researchers also found that limited access to exercise, programming, social interaction and outdoor time can disrupt healthy sleep-wake cycles. Stress and anxiety, researchers say, can further prevent restorative sleep even when opportunities to rest exist. > [Prison abuse, deaths and escapes prompt calls for more oversight](https://stateline.org/2025/01/13/prison-abuse-deaths-and-escapes-prompt-calls-for-more-oversight/?ref=down-ballot.info) Certain groups of people, including older adults, women and people with physical or mental health conditions, may be especially vulnerable and affected in different ways. Formerly incarcerated people interviewed for the report also described ongoing sleep problems and difficulties reestablishing healthy sleep patterns after returning to their communities. The authors argue that because many sleep-disrupting conditions stem from operational choices, they could be adjusted without compromising safety and security — a point they say may be of interest to state and local corrections agencies considering facility changes or cost-saving measures that could also reduce instability and tension, and promote healthier incarcerated populations. *Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at* *awatford@stateline.org* *.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Alaska resident defends run for U.S. Senate against state investigation URL: https://down-ballot.info/alaska-resident-defends-run-for-u-s-senate-against-state-investigation/ Last updated: 2026-06-12T09:00:29.000Z **It's Friday June 12, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Dan Sullivan of Petersburg defends run for Alaska’s U.S. Senate against state investigation**,** They spent years in solitary confinement in Mississippi despite suicide risk**,** Stringent FDA regulations made one of the most effective drugs for treatment-resistent schizophrenia difficult to access, North Carolina Sues Chemical Company for Polluting a Nearby Creek, Minnesota woman with large ovarian cyst released from ICE detention in El Paso, New Orleans public defender, deputy constable both out of a job after allegedly soliciting cash to fix traffic ticket. **Media outlets and others featured:** Alaska Beacon, Mississippi Today and The Marshall Project, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, Inside Climate News, El Paso Matters, Verite News. [Support Down Ballot](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/give/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## Dan Sullivan of Petersburg defends run for Alaska’s U.S. Senate against state investigation By Corinne Smith (Alaska Beacon) Published: June 11, 2026 The Alaska lieutenant governor’s office, which oversees state elections, announced an investigation into the validity of a U.S. Senate candidate from Petersburg following complaints from Alaska’s incumbent senator with the same name, Dan Sullivan. Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg formally [responded](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28228218-lt-gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) to the state’s challenge on Wednesday, calling it an affront to his rights. He maintains his candidacy for U.S. Senate is authentic, and said he’s running to challenge the Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan to represent Alaskans. On Monday Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican, announced the investigation into the candidacy of Sullivan of Petersburg and [sent him](https://files.constantcontact.com/40a57e32901/2d115c1b-ab1e-4c73-aec8-41455bdbe62a.pdf?rdr=true&ref=down-ballot.info) a list of questions to answer under sworn affidavit. She noted that false statements carry the penalty of perjury. She said the results of the investigation would determine whether he may appear on the August 18 primary ballot. Republican incumbent Sen. Sullivan has served two terms in the U.S. Senate. The two Sullivans are among [16 candidates](https://alaskabeacon.com/briefs/in-alaskas-u-s-senate-race-its-mary-peltola-two-dan-sullivans-and-12-others/?ref=down-ballot.info) for the U.S. Senate for a six-year term. Sen. Sullivan has complained that Sullivan from Petersburg is a “sham candidate” and [says](https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/07/politics/dan-sullivan-alaska-senate-ballot?ref=down-ballot.info) his challenger is intentionally misleading voters to benefit a ranked-choice vote for Democratic candidate and former Alaska U.S. House Representative, Mary Peltola. The Alaska seat is the focus of both Republicans and Democrats nationally, as it could be key for Democrats to win back control of the U.S Senate this November. In a prepared statement announcing the investigation, Dahlstrom questioned Sullivan’s candidacy and said there are “credible allegations” that the Petersburg Sullivan filed to run with the same name and party affiliation as the incumbent “with the deliberate intent to confuse voters.” Dahlstrom said the Alaska Division of Elections has a responsibility to protect the integrity of elections. “Serious allegations have been raised concerning this filing in the race for U.S. Senate, and the people of Alaska deserve a thorough and transparent investigation to ensure that the election is carried out properly and without deception,” she wrote. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/06/Dan_mg_2-1.jpg) U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 24, 2025\. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon) Dahlstrom and officials with her office declined interview requests on Tuesday and Wednesday. In response to a request that the lieutenant governor’s office explain the legal basis for Dahlstrom’s actions, her chief of staff said officials in the office were unable to comment because the issue remains under active investigation. A spokesperson with the Alaska Division of Elections declined to comment, referring questions back to Dahlstrom’s office. A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Law declined to say which law Sullivan may have violated with his candidacy, citing the ongoing civil matter of the inquiry. The spokesperson pointed to Alaska criminal law regarding perjury — where the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person knowingly made a false sworn statement — which is a class B felony. Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher and resident of Petersburg for nearly 50 years, [announced his candidacy](https://www.sullivanforsenate.com/press?ref=down-ballot.info) for the U.S. Senate on May 29, [sparking](https://apnews.com/article/alaska-senate-dan-sullivan-name-ballot-peltola-5d807b1c828c338ac3e94b342f47c3ec?ref=down-ballot.info) national interest, questions, and criticism from the incumbent. He said he’s running to benefit Alaskans, that he was surprised at the incumbent’s criticisms and the state’s announcement, which he learned about via a text from a reporter on Monday evening. “My name is my name. The ballot belongs to the people and not to the incumbent,” he said in an interview Tuesday. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://alaskabeacon.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) “Our names would be listed on the ballot different, our websites — I don’t look like the senator, he doesn’t look like me — they’re not identical,” he said. “I’m not sure how that would fool someone. If you went to my website and thought that I was the senator, that would be rather absurd.” Dahlstrom gave Sullivan a deadline of noon on Wednesday to respond to a series of questions regarding his affiliation with the Republican Party, names he has used to register to vote, design decisions on his campaign website and logo and whether he has coordinated with the Democratic Party. Alaska Democratic Party executive director Jenny-Marie Stryker said by email Tuesday her organization “is in no way affiliated with either Dan Sullivan.” A spokesperson for the Peltola campaign did not respond to a request for comment. Dahlstrom also asked Sullivan if he would object to his name appearing on the ballot at “Sullivan, Daniel James Jr. (non-incumbent)” and without a Republican party designation. Sen. Sullivan’s campaign applauded the state’s action. “We welcome the Lieutenant Governor’s investigation and have full confidence the facts will speak for themselves. Alaskans deserve to know exactly how this candidacy came about — who recruited it, who’s paying for it, and who benefits from it. The answer to that last question is Mary Peltola,” said Sullivan’s campaign manager Billy Mackey, by email on Wednesday. Sen. Sullivan and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which works to elect Republicans to the U.S. Senate, have spoken out against the Petersburg Sullivan’s candidacy. It isn’t clear why the lieutenant governor is investigating Sullivan of Petersburg. Candidates in other races have had similar iconography and names. In 2022, Republican state House candidate Forrest Wolfe [used iconography and advertising](https://thealaskacurrent.com/2022/11/11/a-wolfe-in-democrats-clothing/?ref=down-ballot.info) similar to that used by Democratic U.S. House candidate Forrest Dunbar, drawing complaints from progressives. Two years ago, Democrats in some legislative races said they believed candidates [registered as Democratic under false pretenses](https://alaskabeacon.com/2024/08/08/in-eagle-river-a-five-way-race-could-be-a-factor-in-control-of-the-state-senate/?ref=down-ballot.info) in order to take votes away from coalition-minded Republicans. No investigations took place at that time. It also isn’t clear why Dahlstrom is suggesting a different listing on the ballot for Sullivan Petersburg. State regulation [already prescribes](https://www.akleg.gov/basis/aac.asp?ref=down-ballot.info#6.25.300) what should happen if two identically named candidates appear on the same ballot. “For example, under the ‘S’ placement, ‘Smith, John A.’ will appear before ‘Smith, Walter W.’ and ‘Smith, John A.’ will appear before ‘Smith, John L.’,” it states. Sullivan, from Petersburg, said he will continue to defend his candidacy, and submitted a [strongly-worded letter](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28228218-lt-gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) responding to the Lt. Gov. on Wednesday. “The law forbids your office from denying me access to the ballot just because Senator Sullivan and the NRSC would prefer I not be allowed to run. This investigation by your office – and coordination of it with the press – is an unprecedented affront to my rights as a candidate and the rights of Alaska voters to select their own representation in the U.S. Senate,” he wrote. In an interview Tuesday, he said he’s confident in Alaska voters, and doesn’t think the similar names will cause confusion. “I would hope that everyone who enters the voting booth knows who’s running for office and knows why they want to vote for someone,” he said. Sullivan said he was a life-long registered Independent, but since the Alaska Independence Party disbanded last year, he registered as a Republican. He said he considered himself a centrist, an old school Republican like his father and grandfather, and one who can work across party lines for the benefit of Alaskans, like U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowksi. Sullivan said he’s seen quality of life decline in his home town of Petersburg, with a lack of improvements in ferries, healthcare, housing, schools and cost of living rising — and decided to run to attempt to improve those things for Alaskans. He said his name gives him an “instant megaphone” and said Sen. Sullivan is part of the problems he sees at home. “He’s been there 12 years, and what do we have to show for it? And if we elect him again, that’s for another six more years, 18 years of stagnation. So that’s where I thought the problem was, and that’s where I figured I might as well make my stand,” he said. He said he’s disappointed in the senator’s response and had expected Sullivan to run his incumbent campaign based on his own record and merits. “It’s really as simple as if there’s enough people out there that, you know, feel the same way as I do, they’re going to vote for me, and if there’re people who feel like the senator is doing a great job, then they’ll vote for him,” he said. Mackey, campaign manager for Sen. Sullivan, said the candidate is entitled to his views. “Senator Sullivan is happy to debate his record of delivering for Alaska: record infrastructure investment, energy projects, and support for our fisheries and military communities — against anyone, anywhere in the state,” he said. “What Alaskans won’t tolerate is a scheme designed to confuse voters and manipulate the outcome of a Senate election. If this candidacy is as authentic as he claims, the investigation should be welcome news to him too.” Sullivan from Petersburg said he’ll comply with the state’s investigation and continue to defend his candidacy. He said if the state decides he’s not qualified he can go back to fishing, but he’s going to stick with it as long as he can. “I think it’s really important, not even just for me, but for future elections that they don’t limit people just because an incumbent senator is concerned that I’m going to eat into his vote count, that’s really absurd,” he said. “It kind of boggles my mind, so you know, we’ll see where it goes.” *James Brooks contributed to this story from Juneau.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://alaskabeacon.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # They spent years in solitary confinement in Mississippi despite suicide risk by Mina Corpuz, Daja E. Henry, The Marshall Project and Grant McLaughlin, Mississippi Today June 9, 2026 Danny Austin has been out of prison for over a decade. These days, he focuses on life with his wife in north Mississippi and his work as a commercial truck driver. It’s not often that he reflects on his incarceration — especially the four years he spent in solitary confinement. That was a bleak time at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility. He still remembers the view looking outside his single cell. The noises of other incarcerated menmates, sometimes in crisis, banging on their doors. The smell of cells that were hardly ever cleaned. “I’'m not bitter about it anymore,” said the Corinth resident, who was released from prison after he left solitary. Restrictive housing, as state corrections officials call it, exists across the Mississippi prison system, and the use of solitary confinement has persisted across multiple administrations for decades. A [2024 investigation](https://mississippitoday.org/2024/02/28/justice-department-slams-unconstitutional-conditions-at-mississippi-prisons/?ref=down-ballot.info) by the U.S. Department of Justice called the torturous conditions inside the state’s restrictive housing units “breeding grounds for suicide, self-inflicted injury, fires, and assaults.” At least [47 people died by suicide](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/06/08/mississippi-prisoners-begged-help-died-in-solitary/?ref=down-ballot.info) while in restrictive housing in Mississippi prisons in the past decade, records from the Department of Corrections and the State Medical Examiner’s Office show. An investigation by Mississippi Today, The Marshall Project-Jackson and the Clarion Ledger found that a majority of the suicide deaths occurred in solitary confinement, despite evidence that it intensifies mental illness and heightens the risk of suicide. **READ MORE:** [**Even on death row, not all things are equal**](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/14/on-death-row-not-all-things-are-equal/?ref=down-ballot.info) And despite calls to end solitary confinement, and the growing research about its negative effects and fatalities, the Department of Corrections regularly holds incarcerated people in isolation for weeks, months, and, in some cases, years at a time. “I don’t think I should have been in that long, and I don’t think we should have been treated like that,” said Austin, who was incarcerated for home burglary. Spokesperson Kate Head said MDOC uses restrictive housing in at least four prisons, but she did not indicate how long the practice has been going on. In a statement, she said it is used “as a last resort for housing an inmate who poses a threat to themselves, property, staff, other inmates, and/or the operation of the facility.” The department did not comment on specific cases of suicide in solitary confinement, nor on the experiences of formerly and currently incarcerated men in solitary. ### Developing suicidal thoughts years into incarceration Quintez Hodges entered Unit 32 of the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman in 2001, days before his 21st birthday. He was on death row, convicted of capital murder and kidnapping. At the time, Unit 32 was a solitary confinement unit. More than 1,000 people were there, ranging from those on death row to those with mental illnesses and people with lesser charges who had gotten a disciplinary violation. In 2002, the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the staggering conditions of that unit: People lived in profound isolation with malfunctioning toilets that exposed them to human waste from other cells, mosquito infestation, punishing summer heat that would raise the heat indexes in the cells to more than 130 degrees, all underscored by the constant screams of people with severe mental illnesses. "Suicides and attempted suicides occurred with alarming frequency," according to the suit. As one judge described it, Unit 32 was “a tinderbox about to explode." The ACLU’s lawsuit closed down Unit 32, and a majority of its inhabitants were reclassified and transferred from solitary confinement. Hodges was sent to Unit 29, where death row was housed until as recently as last year. In 2010, a federal district court judge vacated Hodges’ death sentence based on poor legal representation and inaccurate testimony. He began looking forward to seeing and touching his family again, said [Joesph Patri Brown](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/02/27/death-row-author-image/?ref=down-ballot.info), who has been on death row for more than 30 years and met Hodges there. Things had started to look up. But, Brown said, in his view, the state still killed Hodges. Just shy of 20 years in prison, Hodges died by hanging on Feb. 27, 2021\. He was found in his cell with a bedsheet around his neck. His cause of death was ruled undetermined. Despite his change in status, he had remained in solitary confinement. A winter storm had swept through Mississippi in the weeks leading up to Hodges’ death. Unit 29, which contained multiple buildings of restrictive housing, was without water and electricity. Incarcerated people and their families drew attention from the media. Soon after, officials turned the heat on in the unit. Brown said he believes the heat was turned to the extreme in retaliation for drawing media attention. MDOC logs during the time period leading up to Hodges’ death showed the temperature reached a high of 145 degrees and averaged around 128 degrees. “I had to chew on a pen cap to make saliva,” Brown said. Hodges complained about the heat repeatedly. He had asthma, and it got to be unbearable, Brown said. According to the Justice Department’s investigation into Parchman, Hodges expressed suicidal thoughts for the first time in his 20-year incarceration. No suicide risk assessment was completed. Two weeks later, he was dead. “This is not a f—ing suicide. They were killing this man,” Brown said in an interview. “Even though he may have put that rope around his neck, MDOC hung that man with that rope. All they had to do was turn that f—ing heat down.” MDOC did not respond to findings about Hodges’s death in the DOJ report. In a statement, Head, the department spokesperson, said prison staff receive ongoing training for suicide prevention, including verbal cues, behavioral warning signs and environmental risk factors. “Security staff will ensure that more frequent observations are conducted for suicidal inmates,” she said in the statement. ### Limited ways to pass time in solitary Austin, the formerly incarcerated man, entered the prison system about a year after Hodges, and not long into his sentence, he was in restrictive housing. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/23125003/IMG_1568_Original-1.jpg) Danny Austin spent four years in solitary confinement in the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility before his release a decade ago. In 2004, he was sent to Parchman’s Unit 29 for 18 months because he got into a fight with other prisoners. Austin was released from solitary in 2006 and sent to the Marshall County Correctional Facility, but he wasn’t there long. He stabbed another person during a brawl, and his punishment was a transfer into solitary confinement at the Wilkinson County prison, which is over 300 miles south. Head, the MDOC spokesperson, said that before someone is placed in restrictive housing, medical staff employed by the department’s mental and medical healthcare provider evaluate them to ensure they're suitable for restrictive housing. In the statement, she did not define what makes someone suitable for solitary confinement or the criteria that medical staff use to allow someone to be placed there. On his own in solitary, Austin said he didn’t have much to do. His solution was to use blood pressure medication to help him sleep through most of the day. Other men would pass him the pills when they were on cleaning duty in the dorm. “I slept most of the time because I couldn't read. I didn't have books and I didn't have a pen or paper, and I couldn't use the phone,” Austin said. “So, it was just like standing at the bars, listening and talking or sleeping and just thinking about, you know, going home.” MDOC policies say Austin, who was released in 2010, should have been placed in solitary for a specified amount of time, but Austin said he was not told how long he would be in restricted housing. He remained there four years until his release. MDOC policies also state that people are not supposed to be released from prison directly from restricted housing. For the first two months and then at least every 30 days afterward, a classification committee or authorized staff group is supposed to evaluate anyone in solitary every seven days to determine whether the person should remain in restrictive housing, according to policy. But Austin said he didn’t receive an evaluation until two years into his isolation. A lieutenant and two women he said he didn’t recognize asked him questions about why he did what he did to end up in restricted housing. They said they would see about getting him out, but Austin said nothing happened. While Austin found a way to cope with the isolation, he said that not everyone did. He remembers seeing others call for the prison guards, yell and kick the doors. Some were shackled and taken somewhere else and returned calmer. “Sometimes … they would leave, and you wouldn't see them (again),” Austin said. He experienced similar problems as those in solitary confinement today, including limited time outside of his cell and outside in recreational areas. Austin also reported not receiving information about how long he was supposed to stay in restrictive housing and when his placement there would be reviewed. “Everybody deserves to get a shower every day and eat regular meals and at least have some pen and paper or a book to read,” he said. ### ‘Mama, don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay' Olander Dedeaux has been in solitary confinement at the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility Unit 1D since Dec. 18 and is expected to be there for months more, if not longer. Having already spent more than a decade in prison, a third of his 30-year sentence, he found a routine to communicate with his family. That’s why his mother Laurie Saucier sensed something was wrong when he didn’t call on Christmas and New Year’s Day.She reached out to a prison advocate, and both women began their search for Dedeaux. His family and supporters were able to find him through a victim services platform that listed a location change. Dedeaux was unable to tell them where he was because he was not allowed to use the phone during his first three weeks in solitary. Saucier, who lives on the Gulf Coast, remembers seeing online posts about prison deaths around the time she lost contact with her son. She said her anxiety spiked and she prayed Dedeaux was alive. Months later, she is able to speak with him, but Saucier has noticed how Dedeaux tries to shield her from what he’s experiencing in solitary confinement. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/26140256/3X0A0489.jpg) Laurie Saucier, the mother of Olander Dedeaux, outside her home in Pass Christian on Wednesday, March 25, 2026\. Saucier lost contact with her son in December 2025\. Dedeaux's family was able to find him through a victim services platform that listed a location change, indicating his move to solitary confinement. “He said, ‘Mama, don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay,” Saucier said. “... ‘Baby,’ I said, ‘No, I'm gonna always worry.’” A spokesperson from MDOC did not respond to whether or not family members are informed when a loved one is moved into solitary confinement. Dedeaux remains in a single-person cell for all but four hours a week, which is when he’s let out to shower. On those days, he exercises. The rest of his days are spent sleeping. Infrequently, he and other men are taken outside in cages to get some fresh air. “It's almost unbearable when you’re awake,” his advocate, Nicole Montagano, said he told her. Dedeaux, who was convicted of second-degree murder and possession of a controlled substance, says it’s hard to sleep in a unit where the lights are on for up to 23 hours a day. Since arriving in solitary, he said his mental state has worsened and doctors have increased the anxiety medication his mother said he has been on since he was a child and taken more consistently since his incarceration. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/26140328/3X0A0579.jpg) Laurie Saucier showss a photo of her son, Olander Dedeaux on Wednesday, March 25, 2026\. Dedeaux has been in solitary confinement at the Walnut Grove Correctional Facility Unit 1D since December 2025 and is expected to remain there for a year or more. “Whenever I see officers that have keys, my heart rate goes up. I don’t know if they’re coming for me again,” Dedeaux said in a recorded phone call with Montagano from March that she shared with the news team. Montagano, executive director of Hope Dealers Prison Reform, said she can hear it in Dedeaux’s voice that he’s not doing well. Head, the MDOC spokesperson, said inmates in restrictive housing receive additional screenings, behavioral health assessments from a qualified healthcare professional in line with their mental health needs. She added that medical services are available to those in restrictive housing on a scheduled and unscheduled basis, at the request of an inmate or staff member. Dedeaux said being transferred across the state from north Mississippi was confusing, and he still questions how he ended up in solitary. Once Dedeaux arrived at Walnut Grove, prison staff gave him paperwork showing he was in a “Security Threat Group management unit,” a 270-day program with three levels and 90-day stints. In order to leave restrictive housing, he will need to “satisfactorily complete” various educational courses, according to the paperwork shared with the reporting team. Such management units are meant for people who pose a security threat and have security threat group status, which generally means gang affiliation. Commissioner Burl Cain has used Walnut Grove as a place to house gang leaders and prisoners with serious behavior issues, including extortion. Prison officials said Dedeaux was relocated and placed in solitary confinement because of a rules violation accusing him of taking part in gang activity and acting as a gang leader. A Rules Violation Report from Dec. 18 said Dedeaux held a state rank with the Gangster Disciples, which MDOC considers a security threat group. The violation came nearly a week after he went to his barber class at the Marshall County Correctional Facility, where prison investigators said Dedeaux workedwith another inmate. Video of the Dec. 12 barber class shared with Mississippi Today shows Dedeaux walk in and take a seat. As the class fills up, a prisoner named Robert Fisher sits next to him and occasionally they chat as others cut hair, have their hair cut or observe. People come in and out of the classroom for haircuts, including prison Superintendent Frank Caswell. After his haircut, Fisher gets the superintendent's attention and briefly speaks with him. Occasionally, Dedeaux is seen looking in their direction or nodding his head. The superintendent leaves after the conversation is over. No audio accompanies the video, but it was enough for both men to be issued a Rules Violation Report for “involvement in disruptive, assaultive or criminal gang activity.” Fisher and Dedeaux, ended up in solitary confinement at Walnut Grove. A spokesperson for MDOC did not comment about Dedeaux’s placement in solitary and the alleged gang membership and activity that served as the basis of the rules violation report. Dedeaux has denied being in a gang and coordinating with Fisher that day in barber class. Fisher, who prison investigators have also accused of being a gang member, wrote in a March affidavit that Dedeaux and another man had nothing to do with his interaction with Caswell, which he described as asking a question. Earlier in his incarceration, Dedeaux was in a gang, but Montagano said he has taken efforts to renounce affiliation. An October 2024 completion certification shared with the news team shows Dedeaux completed the Moral Compass Program, which is part of efforts by MDOC to reduce the gang population. Dedeaux said he used to feel like he was working toward rehabilitation, and the barber class was a chance to learn a skill that could be useful once he left prison. Now he’s in restrictive housing where he only has access to courses he can complete on his own inside his cell. “It’s supposed to be rehabilitation, but it’s all a trap,” Dedeaux said about solitary confinement. “And it’s more than me going through it.” Montagano, Dedeaux’s advocate, questions whether the rules violation is valid. Since January, she has reached out to prison officials requesting more information, including the justification for Dedeaux’s confinement. Montagano traded a few emails with the prison’s Office of Constituent Services, but no answers came. Dedeaux gave Montagano power of attorney so she could talk with MDOC on his behalf, but the department won’t, citing medical information privacy protections. “We appreciate your persistence,” MDOC’s constituent services office wrote in a Feb. 13 email to Montagano, three weeks after her first email. “This office has no additional information to provide. Therefore, we will not be able to respond to further correspondence regarding this matter. We appreciate your understanding.” By April, Montagano spoke with Caswell, the Marshall County prison superintendent. She explained that she wanted a better understanding about what happened with Dedeaux because the little information she and his mother had received was vague. Caswell said he wished he could tell her more and reiterated that she doesn’t have the complete picture of the situation. Over the course of two calls he did not share additional information about why Dedeaux was still in solitary confinement. *Grant McLaughlin, who now works for Lagniappe Daily, has continued working on this project since he was a reporter at the Clarion Ledger.* *This story was published in partnership with* [*Mississippi Today*](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*The Marshall Project - Jackson*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit news team covering Mississippi’s criminal justice systems, and the* [*Clarion Ledger*](https://www.clarionledger.com/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/06/09/mississippi-prison-solitary-confinement-suicide/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20134822/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1179899&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Treatment Interrupted *Stringent FDA regulations made one of the most effective drugs for treatment-resistent schizophrenia difficult to access. Despite reforms, clozapine remains out of reach for hundreds of thousands who could benefit.* by Alexandra Markovich, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting June 8, 2026 Panicked calls flooded the 911 dispatch center in Amarillo, Texas around 9 a.m. on March 21, 2023\. Witnesses described a man in overalls and a green T-shirt pointing a rifle at motorists southwest of downtown. Within minutes, dispatchers fielded more than a dozen calls from the scene, a commercial strip with fast food joints, dive bars and loan shops. Two patrol cars raced to the area. In front of a budget motel, police found Kevin Langemeier. He was white, balding and middle-aged, with a thick beard and a hulking physique. Despite the 49-degree weather, he was barefoot. Police said Langemeier was aiming a weapon at a van pulling into the parking lot, and when ordered to drop it, he raised it at one of the officers instead. Police opened fire, killing him. The man’s family released a lengthy [statement](https://www.amarillo.com/story/news/2023/03/24/family-of-man-killed-in-officer-involved-shooting-releases-statement/70046992007/?ref=down-ballot.info) in a local news outlet three days later. Langemeier had severe mental illness, they explained, and had been abruptly cut off from clozapine—the medication that kept his delusions in check—after his refill was denied because his lab results failed to reach the pharmacy. Within days, Langemeier spiraled into psychosis. On the morning of his death, he left home on foot, clutching his brother’s BB gun. If he hadn’t been denied his medication, his family believed, the man who loved Hot Wheels and making people laugh would still be alive. “We don’t blame the police,” the family’s statement concluded. “We believe this story is primarily about the failing of the mental health system.” ![Kevin Langemeier, shown here with young relatives. Photo courtesy of the Langemeier family](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/60D4AA42-54BD-43D3-AEE7-0C4357B0FAFE-edited.jpeg) Kevin Langemeier (with glasses) sits with his siblings at their home in Omaha, Nebraska in the 1990s. Photos courtesy of Judi Robles, Langemeier's mother ![Kevin Langemeier walks his sister, NAME, down the isle for her wedding in XXXX.](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/A2E4D4B7-550E-42AA-B227-05868A3A3C18-edited.jpeg) Langemeier walks his sister, Linda, down the aisle during her wedding in 2001. Clozapine is widely considered the most effective treatment for patients with schizophrenia who do not respond to other drugs. But across the U.S., people repeatedly lost access to it because of a federal monitoring system that could block prescriptions over missed or delayed blood tests. Such interruptions can trigger rapid relapse into psychosis, sometimes with fatal consequences. The system was meant to guard against a rare but dangerous drop in white blood cells called neutropenia. Federal regulators, however, have acknowledged they don’t know whether the clozapine Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program, known as REMS, worked as intended. Families, doctors and advocates have argued that the harms caused by the system outweighed its protections. A few days after Langemeier’s story circulated online, a mental health activist named Rachel Streiff awoke around midnight in her Phoenix area home and reached for her phone. She’d been tagged in a social media post with an article about Langemeier and immediately recognized his circumstances. Other mothers were already weighing in. “This should never happen,” wrote one. Another prayed Langemeier’s death would be “the catalyst to fast track the urgent change” needed. “Why such a life-saving medication is not easier to access and available is just not acceptable,” added a third. Streiff replied: “We are trying.” For years, Streiff had organized with parents, patients and clinicians to expand access to the drug. She started by trading advice with caregivers on a [clozapine support Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/groups/www.teamdanielrunningforrecover.org), then helped found The Angry Moms, which focused on lobbying the FDA to end or at least modify the restrictive clozapine regulations. The members’ personal stories amplified concerns that researchers had raised for years. Although persistent stigma and misconceptions about its safety persist, clozapine outperforms other medications in clinical trials for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. It remains the only FDA-approved medication for these patients, and for reducing suicidal behavior. Today, the average dose of clozapine costs around $3 per day, but it’s prescribed to just 150,000 of the roughly 1 million people who could benefit from it, according to the FDA. The blood monitoring system—and years of warnings about clozapine’s risks—helped deter psychiatrists from prescribing the drug, which already required careful dosage and monitoring for other serious side effects like heart inflammation and bowel obstructions. Advocates say the result is a legacy of confusion and caution that still limits access today. For Streiff, Langemeier’s death was not an isolated tragedy. It was the predictable result of a system that, in trying to protect patients, was putting them in danger. --- In late November 2024, Streiff and dozens of Angry Moms members converged on the leafy suburb of Silver Spring, Md., the day before an FDA advisory committee was scheduled to reconsider clozapine’s blood monitoring regulations. They were parents of children with severe schizophrenia, patients who had stabilized on the drug, and advocates who had spent years pressing regulators. Streiff and two other moms from Arizona spent the day searching for an affordable group dinner spot and visiting four stores to buy red nail polish, part of the Angry Moms’ signature look. In the afternoon, Streiff sat at the dining table, extending her hand as another mom applied the first coat. “These aren’t glossy enough,” Frances Musgrove complained, cocking her head in disapproval. Musgrove lives for months at a time in Streiff’s spare bedroom in Tempe, while caring for her adult son with schizophrenia at a nearby psychiatric residential facility. He’d previously spent years living under freeway overpasses in Austin, Texas, and endured more than 70 psychiatric hospitalizations. Streiff is green-eyed and brusque, with the intensity of a former collegiate athlete who meets emotion with action. Like most of the Angry Moms, Streiff became an advocate after a relative developed psychosis. When he got better, Streiff turned her attention outward, helping dozens of people get on clozapine and sharing information about it with hundreds more. “There’s two things that help people with schizophrenia: doctors and lawyers,” she explains. “If you want to help your kid, you need to know medicine and the law.” > "There’s two things that help people with schizophrenia: doctors and lawyers. If you want to help your kid, you need to know medicine and the law." > > Rachel Streiff The activists gathered that evening in a corporate hotel meeting room, swapping stories over salad and flatbread. Some had lost children to the disease before finding clozapine. When the plates were nearly empty, Streiff stood and the room grew quiet. For 35 years, she said, the FDA's “cruel, barbaric” monitoring system had allowed pharmacies to block patients from receiving a medication that often worked when nothing else did. Countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand and China frequently prescribed clozapine, so why did so few people in the U.S. have access to it? “So, tell me this. Why is some random mom who’s pissed off in Arizona bringing this up?” she demanded. “I mean, where has everyone been for 35 years? Why is it taking mothers to do anything?” Around the room, heads nodded. Streiff ceded the floor to Angela Brisbin, an activist from Missouri with soft eyes and big curly hair. Mothers closed their eyes as Brisbin offered a prayer. “The FDA seems like this giant that cannot be conquered,” she said. “But, Lord, I know that, just as David killed Goliath with just a little pebble and a slingshot, that we can bring this mountain down with your help.” ![](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/FDA-Hearing-1024x551.jpg) FDA advisory committee members discuss the clozapine Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program at a public hearing in November 2024\. Photo by Alexandra Markovich | AZCIR The following morning, the Angry Moms arrived at FDA headquarters in matching red manicures and black T-shirts that read: “Clozapine is the safest antipsychotic in the world.” Streiff found a seat in the third row of an oversized conference hall as other mothers filled the chairs behind her. By day’s end, the advisory committee members taking their seats would vote on a central question: Were the FDA’s blood monitoring requirements necessary for the safe use of clozapine? Dr. Tiffany Farchione, the FDA’s silver-haired psychiatry chief, opened the meeting with a startling admission: The agency was not sure whether its blood testing program was actually effective in detecting severe neutropenia, the disorder it was designed to catch. “We don’t know whether the REMS program is meeting its goal,” Farchione said. “We are also aware that there are concerns about the burden the REMS may have on stakeholders and patient access.” A 2021 overhaul of the system had inadvertently disrupted clozapine access nationwide, prompting complaints from caregivers, criticism from Congress, at least one lawsuit from a psychiatrist and repeated calls for reform. Yet the monitoring framework remained largely intact. Next up were pharmaceutical leaders and medical experts, who agreed clozapine had unique benefits and was underused. They differed, though, on how much they thought the monitoring program was to blame. The afternoon was devoted to public comment. Ten mothers, four people with schizophrenia, and more than a dozen doctors and psychiatrists testified to the consequences of losing access to clozapine—or not having it at all. ![Lisa Maria Castellanos, whose son had his first trial of clozapine while incarcerated, speaks during the public comment period at the FDA advisory committee meeting. Photo by Alexandra Markovich | AZCIR](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Lisa-Castellanos-1024x700.jpg) Lisa Maria Castellanos, whose son had his first trial of clozapine while incarcerated, speaks during the public comment period at the FDA advisory committee meeting. Photo by Alexandra Markovich | AZCIR When it was Streiff's turn, she spoke of the thousands of patients who’d had their refills blocked by mistake during the REMS overhaul. "Did anyone investigate those outcomes?" she asked. "Are they dead, jailed, institutionalized? How many completed suicide?" Analisa Chase, a 32-year-old behavioral interventionist from Washington state, explained how missing a single blood draw led to a five-week psychiatric hospitalization. “I now live in fear that a logistical problem or misinformed pharmacist will block my clozapine prescription,” she said. Another woman read a statement from her daughter, Joni Martin, who could not attend because she was still recovering from a clozapine interruption nearly three years earlier. “For two decades, I was well, and now I’ve lost all of that,” Martin wrote. “One five-day loss of clozapine has ruined my life.” > "For two decades, I was well, and now I’ve lost all of that. One five-day loss of clozapine has ruined my life.” > > Joni Martin, clozapine patient Other speakers recounted repeated suicide attempts, years of homelessness and dozens of psychiatric hospitalizations. One woman said her son was stabilized on clozapine to stand trial, only to lose any chance of early release when the drug was discontinued in prison and his psychosis returned. Many testimonies ended with the same refrain: “The greatest risk of clozapine is not getting clozapine.” As committee members listened, several looked shaken, raising their eyebrows or wiping away tears. One, a psychiatrist, said he had been persuaded to abolish the REMS program by the "intensity of suffering" described by patients and families. The meeting chairperson called the system "not tenable." Then came the vote. Within seconds, the tally appeared on the screen: 14 of 15 members thought the clozapine REMS was unnecessary. The lone dissenter, a psychiatry professor from California, said he preferred a scaled-back version of the program. In the halls of the FDA, the Angry Moms hugged and posed for a group picture before heading into downtown Silver Springs to celebrate. The FDA would spend the next few months deliberating in private, deciding whether to keep the monitoring program, modify it or abolish it. --- Long before mothers took on the FDA, schizophrenia was considered untreatable. Early therapies offered little more than gruesome trial and error. Patients were subjected to extreme medical interventions ranging from castration to the removal of other organs. In the 1940s and ‘50s, doctors performed lobotomies that left tens of thousands with permanent brain damage. Admissions to psychiatric hospitals swelled, with little hope for recovery. A breakthrough came in 1952 with chlorpromazine, commonly known by its brand name Thorazine, the first drug to quiet psychosis. Though the new medication wasn’t a cure, it softened the intensity of delusions. Still, many were left with little relief. Clozapine, introduced in the 1970s, was the first drug to control psychosis without causing the repetitive movements that had become part of the illness’s public face. Its emergence challenged the prevailing understanding of schizophrenia and raised the possibility of recovery for more patients. But its promise vanished almost as quickly as it appeared. In 1975, a cluster of clozapine patients in southern Finland developed a rare blood disorder, and eight died from infections. Clozapine trials were immediately halted, and the drug was pulled from the market. ![Gil Honigfeld, known as the “Godfather of Clozapine” shown in his office in 1990. Photo courtesy Gil Honigfeld](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Gil-Hnigfeld.jpg) Gil Honigfeld, known as the “Godfather of Clozapine” shown in his office in 1990\. Photo courtesy Gil Honigfeld In the United States, a researcher named Gil Honigfeld shut down his clinical trial but kept a small number of the sickest patients on clozapine through a compassionate-use program. Years later, Honigfeld returned to the half-completed trial and found that clozapine had outperformed Thorazine—the first sign that anything could. A [landmark double-blind study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/494368?ref=down-ballot.info) followed, and in 1989, the FDA approved clozapine. Now 91, Honigfeld still gets emotional about his work. In a public library near his home in Princeton, the “Godfather of Clozapine” took off his glasses and wiped away tears as he reflected on that landmark study. “That was the one where we were apparently dead in the water,” he said. “As it turned out, we ended up in the resurrection business.” FDA approval came with stringent protocols. Fearing a repeat of the Finnish fatalities, regulators required weekly blood monitoring and mandated a black box warning, the FDA’s strictest labeling. Still, clozapine patients did remarkably well. They were less likely to be hospitalized or attempt suicide. In a disease where half of people with schizophrenia will make such an attempt in their lifetime, only [7%](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12511175/?ref=down-ballot.info) of those on clozapine did over two years. The risk of severe neutropenia also turned out to be relatively rare. Only [12 of 100,000](https://www.psychiatrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/16909%5Freducing-clozapine-related-morbidity-mortality-years.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) people taking the drug over five years died of the disorder. Despite its success, clozapine was never widely adopted. Newer antipsychotics were easier to prescribe and heavily marketed, even if they didn’t work as well for the sickest patients. Without a champion, clozapine remained a drug of last resort. ![Rachel Streiff works in a shared Phoenix office for Arizona Mad Moms on May 27, 2026. Photo by Caitlin O'Hara, special to AZCIR](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260526_AZCIR_Rachel449-1024x683.jpg) Rachel Streiff, who helps patients and families navigate access to clozapine, works from a Phoenix office on May 27, 2026\. Photo by Caitlin O’Hara, special to AZCIR After the FDA hearing, Streiff returned to Psych ZenHealth, a small mental health clinic in midtown Phoenix where she helped clinicians a few hours a week to facilitate access to clozapine. One afternoon in January 2025, in an office lit by fluorescent overhead lights, Streiff tightened a blood pressure cuff around the arm of a 14-year-old boy while his little sister, 9, swiveled in an office chair. Jimmy and Bella, a pair of adopted children, were the day’s first clozapine patients—and by far the youngest. Jimmy was diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychosis at age 5\. He’d been talking to a “scary nurse,” then started begging his mother, Michelle Smet, for a gun and running into oncoming traffic. The family tried multiple medications over seven years that sedated him but failed to control his psychosis. A psychiatrist told Smet about clozapine—but refused to prescribe it. When Smet contacted Psych ZenHealth, Streiff called back right away. Clozapine stopped Jimmy’s violent outbursts and broke his cycle of hospitalizations. He started playing with friends again and learned to read. When Bella started having visual and auditory hallucinations at age 7, Smet “didn’t skip a beat.” She called Streiff and asked to put Bella on clozapine. “It’s the only thing that helped (Jimmy). I’m not having her lose her childhood over it.” Streiff had built much of her work around cases like this, connecting desperate caregivers to treatment, fielding calls when prescriptions fell through and helping troubleshoot access. She quit her engineering job two years earlier to get finger-stick devices that test for the rare blood disorder into homes and clinics. Soon, the next patient would arrive at the clinic. “I need more time. I need a clone,” Streiff said, before ushering Bella to her appointment. She has seen firsthand the burden placed on mothers when the mental health system fails. “Mothers are the new asylums,” she often says. Five weeks later, Streiff entered the PsychZen office and saw her phone light up with a message. “Congrats,” the text read. It was from Gordon Lavigne, the head of Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance, one of the nonprofits that helped lead the push to overhaul REMS alongside the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Lavigne told her the FDA had made an announcement: The REMS program was eliminated. Streiff’s eyes welled with tears. “It was kind of a speechless moment,” she recalled. She opened the FDA website to see the announcement herself: “Although the risk of severe neutropenia with clozapine still exists, FDA has determined that the REMS program for clozapine is no longer necessary to ensure the benefits of the medicine outweigh that risk.” The change, the FDA said, aimed to increase access to the medication. Streiff posted the announcement on the support Facebook page. “Breaking,” she wrote. “FDA ends the Clozapine REMS.” The page immediately lit up with celebration and thanks. “Our voices are a powerful tool for change. This proves it,” one mother wrote. “Goosebumps that won’t stop coming,” wrote another. For a moment, they could dream about what else was possible: expanding clozapine access globally, developing a better schizophrenia drug without the side effects—maybe even finding a cure. But right away, mothers began reporting that pharmacists didn’t understand the new rules, or weren’t complying. “There’s been mass confusion at pharmacies,” Streiff said later. “It’s a typical, confusing FDA rollout.” In April, Streiff got a call from a hospital whose pharmacy was refusing to dispense clozapine to a 32-year-old woman—Streiff’s legal ward—because they couldn’t find a blood test. Exasperated, Streiff interrogated the pharmacist, explaining the FDA decision and threatening to file a grievance. She tracked down the missing blood test and complained to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid agency. The woman missed just one dose. “It’s still acceptable to torture a patient with schizophrenia by withholding their clozapine just for the sake of a routine blood test—still,” Streiff said. By summer, reports of denials slowed. Pharmacies no longer had to register with the REMS, and more of them started stocking clozapine. But with one barrier gone, another surfaced: Many doctors continued to mandate blood tests to get a prescription refill. The drug’s package insert still recommended the strict monitoring regimen REMS had required, leaving providers exposed to liability if they chose to deviate from it. Others declined to prescribe the drug at all, deterred by complex dosing and side-effect management. No one had fixed the training gap that left as many as 40% of psychiatry residents uncomfortable with the drug in the first place. “It’s not one thing,” said Deanna Kelly, a psychiatry professor specializing in clozapine research. “It’s lack of education. It’s lack of confidence in our patients getting their blood draws. It’s a system that's broken. It’s reimbursement rates that don’t help people get paid for complex care.” Clozapine utilization rates haven’t budged since the REMS program ended, according to experts. Kelly said she would like to see the U.S. develop treatment guidelines for clozapine—similar to what was issued in Europe last year—and a national training program for clinicians to increase prescription rates. In the meantime, Streiff went back to work advocating for the drug and coaching mothers to educate providers about the FDA’s updated guidance. “No one understands the risk-benefit math,” Streiff said. “Failing to use clozapine is so much more deadly than the risks of the drug itself.” ![Gina Huskey holds a photo of her mom and son, Richard Valenzuela, on May 12, 2026. Photo by Caitlin O'Hara, special to AZCIR](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260512_AZCIR_Gina112-1024x683.jpg) Gina Huskey holds a photo of her mom and son, Richard Valenzuela, on May 12, 2026\. Photo by Caitlin O'Hara, special to AZCIR On the morning of Dec. 22, 2025, 10 months after the FDA’s decision, a deputy was responding to a vehicle collision in Mesa when he heard a woman screaming. He drove toward the sound and stopped just north of a budget motel, where he found Gina Huskey crouched at the edge of a 5-foot drop to an overgrown drainage canal. “He’s dead,” she shouted. “He’s dead.” At the bottom of the canal lay Huskey’s son, Richard Valenzuela. He had closely cropped hair, a mustache and goatee, and wore socks with no shoes. His body was bent into a fetal position with an Arizona Cardinals hoodie beside him. The medical examiner determined that Valenzuela, 30, died from an overdose of meth and fentanyl. Valenzuela, who went by Richy, had schizophrenia, and had used drugs to cope. Months earlier, Valenzuela had been prescribed clozapine in a residential treatment program. His condition improved. After he was discharged, his grandmother thought he finally seemed happier, able to relax on the couch with the family’s two chihuahuas. But his outpatient clinic, Copa Health, made him visit twice a week to get the pills. The rides the clinic coordinated were unreliable, Huskey said, and Valenzuela found it all too much to manage. He asked to be switched to a less burdensome medication. The provider agreed, and he deteriorated again. Darwyn Chern, Copa Health’s chief medical officer, said he understood the frustration of families like Huskey’s. He believes providers have a moral imperative to consider clozapine for treatment-resistant patients and supported ending the federal monitoring program to give the clinic more flexibility to skip blood draws. But he defended some level of monitoring as medically necessary. “There’s risk in everything we do,” Chern said. “We have to somehow still learn how to negotiate and make acceptable compromises without endangering the patients’ lives. And listening to patients is also important.” On the day her son went missing, Huskey texted Streiff for help. “Hi my name is Gina—sorry it’s late,” she wrote. “Is there a special protocol to get the police to find my son?” Streiff helped Huskey make a plan to call a crisis hotline and contact the clinic. Streiff would make a missing person poster. The next morning, Huskey and her mother drove around the neighborhood looking for Valenzuela. Her mother spotted one of his sandals near the edge of the canal. By the time Streiff called Huskey that morning to check in, she had already found her son’s body. “Anger is not even the right word,” Streiff said. “Rage. Outrage.” ![Gina Huskey holds a photo of her mom and her son Richard after his death in December 2025. Photo by Caitlin O'Hara for AZCIR](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260512_AZCIR_Gina106-1024x683.jpg) Gina Huskey holds a photo of her mom and son, Richard Valenzuela, near the canal where he died in December 2025\. Photo by Caitlin O'Hara, special to AZCIR ![](https://azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/20260512_AZCIR_Gina073-1024x683.jpg) Gina Huskey holds a necklace containing the ashes of her son, Richard Valenzuela. Photo by Caitlin O’Hara, special to AZCIR. In the days after Valenzuela’s death, Streiff helped draft Arizona Senate Bill 1716, also known as Richard’s Law, named after Valenzuela. The law would give patients the right to waive clozapine’s blood monitoring requirements and prohibit withholding the medication over a missing blood test. Streiff hoped the bill would improve access for people in Arizona, where more than 21,000 of those insured by the state’s Medicaid agency had a schizophrenia diagnosis as of summer 2025\. Among them, just 1,180 were prescribed clozapine. She found a willing lawmaker in Sen. Lauren Kuby, a Democrat representing parts of Maricopa County. But Kuby’s bill failed to get a hearing, despite being assigned to multiple committees. Kuby said she intends to try again next session. The clozapine revival Streiff had hoped for hardly felt any closer. On the Facebook page, mothers continued posting when doctors required a blood test or said they wouldn’t prescribe the medication. “I keep going in between hope for the future and despair,” Streiff said. “Today, it’s despair.” ## In Crisis? National suicide prevention: **call or text 988** National substance use and treatment hotline: **1-800-662-HELP (4357)** Arizona statewide crisis line: **call 1-844-534-HOPE (4673) or text 4HOPE (44673)** Services available by [county and tribal community](https://www.azahcccs.gov/BehavioralHealth/crisis.html?ref=down-ballot.info) **Support groups and advocacy organizations:** - [Team Daniel on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1391168074364218/): advice and mutual aid about clozapine - [Arizona Mad Moms](https://arizonamadmoms.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) - [Angry Moms](https://www.theangrymoms.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) - Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance: [resources](https://sczaction.org/resourceline/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [peer support](https://sczaction.org/peer-support-groups/?ref=down-ballot.info) - [National Alliance for Mental Illness](https://www.nami.org/find-your-local-nami/?ref=down-ballot.info)in [Arizona](https://www.nami.org/find-your-local-nami/arizona/?ref=down-ballot.info) This [article](https://azcir.org/news/2026/06/08/fda-clozapine-regulations-limit-patient-access-severe-schizophrenia/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting](https://azcir.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/AZCIR_LOGO_SQUARE.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://azcir.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=37269) --- # North Carolina Sues Chemical Company for Polluting a Nearby Creek ### Since 2023, the city of Durham has fined Brenntag $157,000 for violations related to water contamination. By Lisa Sorg June 10, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10062026/north-carolina-sues-brenntag-for-water-contamination/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* DURHAM, N.C.—Acetone and ethanol, 1,4-dioxane and “mucilaginous goo.” [For decades](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13082025/north-carolina-brenntag-water-contamination-environmental-justice/?ref=down-ballot.info), state regulatory documents show, a chemical repackaging and distribution company in Durham has discharged high levels of toxic chemicals, as well as other unknown substances, into a neighborhood creek that flows behind an elementary school, through a public park in a predominantly Black neighborhood, and into a major drinking water supply. Now, the North Carolina attorney general is suing Brenntag Mid-South on behalf of state regulators over the alleged illegal releases, according to a [complaint filed Monday](https://ncdoj.sharefile.com/share/view/sa14c16a14a5342648b1d3762a1b21a6d?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) in Durham Superior Court. The complaint alleges that Brenntag is violating North Carolina’s water quality laws. The state is asking the court to require the company to submit a plan to eliminate the discharge and clean up previous contamination within 30 days. “I’m thrilled that the attorney general is intervening in this longstanding environmental injustice in Durham,” said City Councilman Nate Baker. “The residents living around Burton Park and further downstream have suffered too long from the negligence of a large corporate neighbor, and it is time the harms rendered be repaired.” A company spokesperson told Inside Climate News that Brenntag does not generally comment on ongoing litigation. Earlier this year the spokesperson provided a statement: “Brenntag Mid-South is committed to collaboration in this investigative process and continues to expend internal and external resources and expertise in coordination with local authorities.” Brenntag Mid-South is a subsidiary of a global chemical company based in Germany. That company, Brenntag, reported $1 billion in gross profits in the first quarter of the year, according to [public financial documents](https://corporate.brenntag.com/en/media/news/brenntag-reports-q1-2026-financial-results.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Brenntag purchased the Durham property and its corporate owner, Southchem, in 2001. Over the last year the state Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, has repeatedly cited Brenntag for multiple violations related to water quality and reporting. Yet the company has failed to improve on both counts, according to the complaint. It has yet to file several required documents, including a plan to eliminate the discharge, the state said. Instead, the company has asked for extensions and then blown those deadlines, the complaint said. “Residents of Durham, and across this state, deserve clean water,” DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson said in a prepared statement. “It’s our job as the state environmental agency to ensure that companies are following the law, and today we take another step toward ensuring that for those living downstream of this facility.” Based on testing data, state and city officials believe the groundwater is the source of the contamination, which then discharges into the creek through a pipe at the property line. Groundwater monitoring conducted in March by a Brenntag contractor showed that levels of more than a half-dozen chemicals exceeded state standards, including known carcinogens benzene and trichloroethene, also called TCE. Brenntag has long known about groundwater contamination at the site. The property at 2000 E. Pettigrew St. is a former cotton mill, which operated from the late 1800s through the 1930s and had its own lagoon. A Brenntag spokesperson told Inside Climate News last year that the issues affecting the creek “are complex and may be the result of multiple sources that are not yet known with certainty. Brenntag has taken numerous steps in close coordination with the City of Durham to help address these issues.” Some of the polluting groundwater leaving the Brenntag site could originate from previous industrial processes. However, the plant has a long history of poor housekeeping: State records show inspectors have repeatedly found leaking and rusted barrels of chemicals, including as recently as November. Regardless of the source, the company is still responsible for keeping contaminants from leaving the property. Since the city issued a no-discharge order in 2023, Brenntag has collected and shipped its water off-site and installed a remediation system to treat the groundwater. However, the company shut off the system two years ago without explanation, [state records show](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27714271-brenntag-novintenttoenforcefrom-dwr/?ref=down-ballot.info). “There is stuff buried under there,” Durham stormwater quality manager Michelle Woolfolk told the City Council last month. She said city officials had required Brenntag to test and identify a black material found in the creek, which the company had yet to do. Since 2023, the city of Durham has fined Brenntag $157,000 for various violations but has yet to collect the penalties in hopes the company would fix the problem. But Brenntag hasn’t done so, according to Woolfolk’s presentation to the City Council last month. “The contamination is getting worse,” Haw Riverkeeper Emily Sutton, who routinely samples the creek, told the City Council. “It’s an ongoing public health and environmental crisis. It’s time to collect the penalties and accrue new ones until the discharge stops.” Testing conducted by Brenntag contractors in April showed levels of acetone at 19,400 parts per billion, nearly 10 times the state surface water standard. Concentrations of ethanol have ranged from 25,000 to 144,000 parts per billion—five to almost 30 times the maximum allowed in surface water. The chemical 1,4-dioxane, which the Environmental Protection Agency concluded has the potential to cause cancer, consistently exceeded the agency’s health advisory goals. “These are not historical readings,” Sutton said. “It’s what’s in the water right now.” In [August 2023](https://www.durhamnc.gov/5131/Burton-Park-Water-Quality-Notice?ref=down-ballot.info), the city fenced off the creek after Brenntag contractors detected high levels of acetone, toluene and ethanol in water at its property edge a half-mile upstream. City officials also collected what Woolfolk described as a ropy, brown “mucilaginous goo” from the creek. Since then, the creek, which runs through Durham’s oldest and largest public housing community, has been off-limits. However, there are gaps in the plastic fencing, and it is easy to get into the creek. “I played in creeks all the time growing up,” said City Councilwoman Javiera Caballero. “What are the kids in the neighborhood doing? It’s hot. People will play in the creek.” The contamination problem has persisted since at least the mid-1990s, state records show, when high levels of at least a dozen chemicals were detected in the groundwater and in stormwater runoff at the property. At times the creek has reeked so badly, a state environmental specialist [wrote](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26044994-2004-dead-body-smell/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2004, that “Durham police have been called in to look for dead bodies.” Brenntag owns two other facilities in North Carolina, in Greensboro and Charlotte. The Greensboro plant has a groundwater remediation system, installed by a previous owner, to treat contamination caused by spills and leaks that occurred before Brenntag purchased the property as part of a merger in 2000. DEQ has fined the Charlotte plant $83,000 since 2022 for improperly storing hazardous waste, failing to have an adequate evacuation plan and incomplete recordkeeping. --- # Minnesota woman with large ovarian cyst released from ICE detention in El Paso by Robert Moore and Cindy Ramirez, El Paso Matters June 4, 2026 After nearly four months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in El Paso while in need of surgery for an ovarian cyst, a 23-year-old Minnesota woman originally from Guatemala has been released. Andrea Pedro Francisco said ICE officials told her Wednesday that she would be freed, then released her later that day. “It was a shock, it surprised me greatly. I was finishing eating when they told me I had to have a meeting. Suddenly, ICE told me that today I was going to be released, and I asked them, ‘Why, where am I going?’ They told me I was going home,” she said in a statement provided to El Paso Matters on Thursday by her attorney, Ruby Powers of Houston. “And I was just stunned because I truly did not know that yesterday I was going to be released. I didn't know what to do. I thought it was like a joke because I wasn't expecting it. “Now that I know I'm going home, I think first of my family, of seeing my family again. And of my (musical) instruments, because they are like a part of my life. And also, since they told me I will need surgery, I am preparing myself for that." ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Andrea-closeup-1024x803.jpg) Andrea Pedro Francisco, 23, has been held in El Paso Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers since Feb. 5\. (Photo courtesy of her family) Pedro Francisco, from Burnsville, a suburb in the Twin Cities, was arrested Feb. 5 during Operation Metro Surge – the sweeping ICE raids in Minnesota that saw more than 4,000 federal agents deployed and led to more than 3,000 arrests. She was immediately flown to El Paso for detention, where she was held until she was freed Wednesday, said Powers, who is representing Pedro Francisco in her asylum case. The release was a surprise, Powers said, and she was still trying to piece together the conditions of the release. “I think she was starting to lose hope, and I mean, the timing of this is …” the attorney said, and began sobbing. “We really needed this right now, because her hearing was going to be moved until the end of July, and I wasn't really sure if she's going to make it,” Powers said in a phone interview with El Paso Matters. “I know she'll be emotionally sustained when she sees her family, and then I'm going to keep pushing her, like anyone who cares about someone, making sure she schedules her medical treatment.” Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota, reached out last week to a senior Trump administration official to request that she be released, said Smith’s spokesperson, Charlotte Hoffman. She wouldn’t publicly identify the administration official, but Hoffman said the senator was informed shortly before Pedro Francisco was released Wednesday that she was being freed. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security didn't respond to questions from El Paso Matters about why ICE had released Pedro Francisco after previously denying her requests. The spokesperson instead provided details of treatments and medication she was provided while in custody. ICE had previously denied Pedro Francisco’s request for [humanitarian parole](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/05/05/ice-denies-parole-minnesota-woman-ovarian-cyst-el-paso-detention/?ref=down-ballot.info), and an El Paso federal judge had denied her habeas corpus petition seeking release. Minnesota officials who had sought Pedro Francisco’s release celebrated Thursday. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Sen.-Tina-Smith.jpg) Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota “Her ovarian cyst presents potentially life-threatening complications if left untreated, and she was in incredible pain,” said Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota. “Now she will be able to get the lifesaving medical care she should have been able to receive back in February.” [**LEARN MORE**: ‘I am scared to be here’: Lawsuit seeks to halt ICE’s Camp East Montana operations over alleged standards violations](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/05/30/aclu-files-lawsuit-ice-camp-east-montana-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss/?ref=down-ballot.info) Rep. Angie Craig, also a Minnesota Democrat, who visited Pedro Francisco in El Paso last month, said she was “beyond happy and relieved” to hear of her release. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CB_AngieCraig-3-1024x683.jpg) U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., speaks about the case of Andrea Pedro Francisco after touring the Camp East Montana detention center, May 4, 2026\. Pedro Francisco, 23, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota just before a scheduled surgery for an ovarian cyst. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) “Andrea didn’t deserve to be detained in the first place, and she certainly didn’t deserve to be denied the care that she desperately needed for months,” Craig said in a statement. “Andrea’s perseverance and courage in the face of such inhumanity has inspired me — and so many in our community — to continue our work together to hold ICE accountable for their cruel and lawless enforcement operations in Minnesota. Her release is proof that when Minnesotans come together to resist this administration, we prevail.” A donor has arranged for Pedro Francisco to fly home to Minnesota, Powers said, but she didn’t want to provide details to protect her client’s privacy. She was sent Feb. 5 from Minnesota to ICE’s East Montana Detention Facility, known as [Camp East Montana](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/05/30/aclu-files-lawsuit-ice-camp-east-montana-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss/?ref=down-ballot.info), and became ill two days later. She was hospitalized, and a doctor confirmed she needed surgery. She was prescribed pain medications but never received them, her attorneys have said. She was returned to [Camp East Montana](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/04/02/ice-el-paso-texas-camp-east-montana-inspection-finds-violations-detention-standards/?ref=down-ballot.info) and later transferred to the ICE [El Paso Service Processing Center](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/05/14/el-paso-ice-detention-center-human-rights-violations-amnesty-international/?ref=down-ballot.info) near the airport. Powers has described her client’s cyst as being the size of a tennis ball. [**SEE ALSO**: Nearly 180 ICE detainees quarantined at Camp East Montana for possible measles exposure](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/06/03/measles-quarantine-ice-detention-camp-east-montana-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss/?ref=down-ballot.info) Pedro Francisco came to the United States with her mother at age 16 in 2019\. They were fleeing violence and discrimination against Indigenous people in her native Guatemala, Powers has said. The two had been living in Minnesota, working as house cleaners, and were pursuing asylum claims. She was denied humanitarian parole May 4. Her case has garnered international attention with human rights groups such as Amnesty International calling for her release. *1 p.m. Friday, June 5: This story has been updated with information on the Department of Homeland Security's response to El Paso Matters' questions about why Immigration and Customs Enforcment decided to release Andrea Pedro Francisco.* *An earlier version of this story incorrectly suggested that Andrea Pedro Francisco had ovarian cancer. She is being treated for an ovarian cyst.* This [article](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/06/04/minnesota-ice-detainee-el-paso-andrea-pedro-francisco-released-ovarian-cyst/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [El Paso Matters](https://elpasomatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # New Orleans public defender, deputy constable both out of a job after allegedly soliciting cash to fix traffic ticket by Katie Jane Fernelius, Verite News New Orleans June 10, 2026 A New Orleans public defender and a deputy constable with New Orleans First City Court are both out of a job after alleged misconduct — brought to the offices’ attention by Verite News — involving a source who claimed that the lawyer, Lawrence J. Galle, and the deputy constable, Charles Culpepper, attempted to solicit payment from her in return for help in fixing a traffic ticket. On Tuesday (June 9), Lauren Barron went to the [New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court](https://mtcourt.nola.gov/home/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the hopes of contesting a speeding ticket she had gotten earlier this year. But when she entered the court building on South Broad Street, paper ticket in hand, a deputy constable — one of a pair working that day — approached her and asked to see her ticket. According to Barron, the deputy constable then claimed that if she contested the ticket and lost, she could owe potentially as much as $1,600\. He also suggested that her car insurance might increase if she simply paid the fine outright, costing her in the long-term. She said that the deputy constable then offered to call his friend, a lawyer he referred to as “Galle,” who could get it taken off her record — for only $400\. Barron said she told the deputy constable she only had $300 in cash on her, which she had brought in case she needed to pay court fines or fees. The deputy constable told her that she could use Zelle or CashApp to pay the lawyer his fee, since she didn’t have the full amount on hand. “I was like, ‘OK, like I want to be done with this,’” Barron said. “I wanted to contest it and show them my evidence and be done with it and stop having to miss work.” About 15 minutes later, the lawyer appeared, Barron said. He took Barron’s speeding ticket, then said he would take care of the matter and get back in touch with her later that day so she could pay him. “I left thinking, ‘That is not right, but I'm going to go ahead and leave,’” Barron said. Barron left the court and went to work. When she recounted the story to her colleagues, they immediately raised alarm bells over the interaction, saying it sounded fishy. They urged her to go online and pay her speeding ticket there. When she went online, she saw that the total cost of the ticket was approximately $161, so she decided to pay it right then. Later that day, she received a call from the deputy constable, who initially pretended to be the lawyer, Galle. Barron said she already paid her ticket — and that the deputy constable did not sound like Galle. The deputy constable then changed course and said that “his guy,” Galle, took care of the matter and would call her. Shortly after that, Galle called Barron and said that he was responsible for the fact that her ticket ultimately cost so little. She said that he also told her that she had other citations on her record, which Barron was unaware of. He threatened to have her charges reinstated if she did not pay him. Barron said that if he provided paperwork, like a contract or proof that he had done what he said he had done, she would be happy to pay him. Galle then ended the call. Barron shared the two phone numbers that called her with Verite News. One of them — the second number that called her — matched Galle’s listed phone number on the directories for the Louisiana State Bar Association and the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board. It was also associated with a CashApp account under the name Lawrence Galle. The other phone number matched a CashApp account under the name Charles Culpepper. Galle is listed on the [Orleans Public Defenders](https://www.opdla.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) website as a staff attorney for the Municipal and Traffic Court. Public defenders provide free legal service to low-income defendants facing criminal charges. Galle also is a member of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board after being [appointed last year](https://cityofno.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view%5Fid=7&clip%5Fid=5092&meta%5Fid=736701&ref=down-ballot.info). When shown an image of Galle, retrieved from a 2025 City Council meeting where he was appointed to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Barron confirmed that he strongly resembled the lawyer who approached her. Culpepper is an employee of the [First City Court Constable’s Office](https://www.orleansconstable.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). The Constable’s Office provides security at the Municipal and Traffic Court. “We are aware of the concerns,” said Lindsey Hortenstine, the communications director for the Orleans Public Defenders office, when contacted by Verite News. “Mr. Galle no longer works for OPD … as of today.” After being contacted by Verite News and notified about the allegation, Lambert Boissiere Jr., the Constable of First City Court, initially said that Culpepper had been put on administrative leave and that his office would be investigating the matter. Bossiere confirmed that deputy constables are not allowed to engage in cash transactions at traffic court. Boissierre later called Verite News to say that Culpepper had been "terminated for unethical behavior." Monique Boissiere, the judicial administrator for the court, did not immediately respond to Verite News when contacted. Culpepper and Galle also did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by phone. A Verite News reporter visited the court on Wednesday (June 10), the day after Barron’s encounter, and approached Culpepper, who was wearing a badge identifying himself. When asked about the allegations, he and another deputy initially denied knowing anything about the matter. Culpepper eventually said that he may occasionally give recommendations, when asked, for lawyers that people can use to contest traffic tickets. A man who appeared to be Galle joined the conversation at one point. When asked by Verite News about the allegations, he denied that he was Galle, before briskly walking away. In retrospect, Barron felt that Culpepper and Galle were targeting people who looked like they might have cash on hand. She observed other people — including a woman with a nice handbag — being approached by Culpepper. “So often it feels like we accept the hand that’s been dealt us in New Orleans — like inexplicably high gas bills or corrupt courts,” Barron said. “This experience has shown me that people can expose wrongdoing and powerful people can be held accountable when we speak up. I hope this changes something for good and results in meaningful change for the people in this city.” *This story has been updated to reflect Charles Culpepper’s termination from the First City Court Constable’s Office.* *If you have been solicited for money at New Orleans Municipal & Traffic Court in return for help with a ticket, we want to hear from you. Please contact reporter Katie Jane Fernelius at* *kfernelius@veritenews.org* *.* This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/06/10/new-orleans-lawyer-constable-traffic-court/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=31353&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) ### Top NC Democrats want more information about GOP threats over a campus voting site URL: https://down-ballot.info/top-nc-democrats-want-more-information-about-gop-threats-over-a-campus-voting-site/ Last updated: 2026-06-10T09:00:25.000Z By Lynn Bonner (North Carolina Newsline) Published: June 3, 2026 North Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton and N.C. House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said Wednesday the public needs to know who pressured the Republicans on the Jackson County Board of Elections to oppose a campus early voting site. The pressure on Republican board members to vote against an early voting site at Western Carolina University this fall burst into public view this week. Both GOP Board Chairman Bill Thompson and member Jay Pavey said at the Jackson board meeting Tuesday that Republicans in Raleigh told them to oppose it. Pavey said he was told he’d be removed from the county board [if he didn’t vote the way the party wanted.](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/06/03/a-gop-county-elections-board-member-said-he-was-warned-against-voting-for-a-campus-polling-site/?ref=down-ballot.info) The unusual public disclosure of party coercion had Reives (D-Chatham) seeking more information, and asking whether Republicans in other counties faced similar pressure. “It is troubling to hear that members of the Jackson County Board of Elections are receiving pressure and apparently threats of removal if they do not vote in lockstep with how Republicans in Raleigh tell them,” Reives said in a statement**.** “Taking these claims at face value, North Carolinians deserve to know who communicated these ‘orders’ and under what authority, and whether this is happening in other counties as well.” > [A GOP county elections board member said he was warned against voting for a campus polling site](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/06/03/a-gop-county-elections-board-member-said-he-was-warned-against-voting-for-a-campus-polling-site/?ref=down-ballot.info) Despite the pressure, Pavey voted with the board’s two Democrats to approve the campus site. Thompson was the sole vote in opposition. Wes Hanemayer, the board’s third Republican member, also supported the WCU site. He resigned last week. Pavey said at the meeting that both he and Hanemayer had been called before the Republican Party Executive Committee to justify their support for the campus polling location. On Tuesday, Democratic Jackson County Elections Board member Roy Osborn challenged Thompson to say he’d received a mandate from the state Auditor Dave Boliek’s office to vote for an alternative to WCU. “I will state that. Let’s get it out,” Thompson said. “Let’s get it out and on the record. I’m going to vote for the rec center.” Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch condemned Boliek’s involvement in local elections, calling it a “ridiculous idea.” “To have political pressure put on you when you’re supposed to be impartial is absolutely scandalous, scandalous,” Batch, a Wake Democrat, told reporters late Wednesday. #### State elections chair: ‘Both Republicans and Democrats’ pressure elections board members Republican state Board of Elections Chairman Francis De Luca told NC Newsline Wednesday he did not know the details of the Jackson County decision, but that **“**the parties on both sides put pressure on local members to do what they want. Both Republicans and Democrats.” Boliek appointed De Luca to the elections board after Republicans in the legislature decided to strip the governor of his appointment powers. The state board switched from Democratic to Republican control. De Luca told Newsline earlier this year that [he generally doesn’t like campus voting sites](https://ncnewsline.com/briefs/nc-college-students-sue-over-lack-of-campus-early-voting-sites/?ref=down-ballot.info) because it’s too hard to find parking. He said Wednesday that he was not expected to, nor was it implied, that he would vote against campus polling locations when Boliek appointed him. “There was never any discussion of that,” De Luca said. “The only thing the Auditor said to me, he wanted me to try and bring accountability and make sure the law was applied evenly, and that’s what we’ve been doing.” In a statement, N.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Anderson Clayton said Democrats on elections boards are acting on voters’ behalf. “We don’t have to threaten Democratic board members to keep polling locations open longer, allow for campus voting sites, and extended early voting, ” Clayton said. “That’s what the public is asking for at these meetings.” “Meanwhile, Republicans like Dave Boliek are actively threatening their own members not to listen to the majority of those who are showing up at these meetings,” she added. “Now that Dave Boliek and Dallas Woodhouse have been caught, it’s time for them to be transparent about what other demands they’ve made to limit access to ballot boxes across the state.” Woodhouse is a former Republican operative whom Boliek hired to work with county elections boards. Republicans are more likely to oppose campus voting locations, while Democrats tend to support them. > [Amid protests, NC elections board rejects campus voting sites and Sunday voting in several counties](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/01/13/amid-protests-nc-elections-board-rejects-campus-voting-sites-and-sunday-voting-in-several-counties/?ref=down-ballot.info) The Republican majority on the state board rejected proposals for early voting sites on four campuses for the March primary. College Democrats of North Carolina and students who sued unsuccessfully to reverse that decision were represented by lawyers with the Elias Law Group, a Democratic law firm that specializes in voting and redistricting cases. On Wednesday, Thompson told NC Newsline in an interview that his main objection to the WCU site is parking. The parking lot is confusing, he said, and older people may find it difficult to make it up an incline to the Health and Human Services Building. “Ease of access is the main thing,” Thompson said. “I’ve got a half-dozen friends with replacement parts.” Thompson said he also heard concerns that the county would be using WCU’s Health and Human Sciences Building for the first time, a location that voters weren’t used to. Before this year’s primary, WCU had had a polling place at its university center since 2016 that had been used in five general elections and four primaries. Thompson also believes the campus site favors Democrats. “You don’t have to think too hard,” he said. “Look at the voter registration on campus.” Though he did not bring up threats at Tuesday’s meeting, Thompson said Wednesday he knows he, too, can be removed if he crosses the GOP. “It’s just part of the party,” he said. “And I’m the Republican chair, so I’ve got to listen to what the party says a little bit. I serve at their pleasure a little bit. They can do away with me. It is a part of it. It’s like the Democrats — they listen to their party. That’s just politics.” ### ‘If it ain’t broke.’ Bladen halts change that could have diluted Black votes. URL: https://down-ballot.info/if-it-aint-broke-bladen-halts-change-that-could-have-diluted-black-votes/ Last updated: 2026-06-08T09:00:09.000Z by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press June 3, 2026 Bladen County’s Black residents aren’t having it. They showed up in droves to a Monday board of commissioners meeting in Elizabethtown to object to a proposed election change that some feared would have reduced minority representation. The commissioners never voted on the proposal, though. Board chairman **Cameron McGill**, also a pastor of a local congregation, announced his intention to let the idea go in a speech befitting a Sunday sermon. The issue arose during a mid-May meeting, when McGill announced that he had been praying. For years, he’s wondered why the relatively small Bladen County is one of four counties with nine commissioners, while the majority of counties have five, he said. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** During a tough budget season, that incongruity stood out more. “It's hypocritical for us to tell our county and our department heads and our employees, ‘You all need to learn to do more with less manpower,’ and yet we're so disproportionate when you consider the size of our county compared to others,” McGill said during the May meeting. So, he proposed a change: moving from nine to five commissioners. It would save the county about $75,000 a year. In November, voters would have decided whether they approved the change, and if a majority did, Bladen County commissioners would have asked state lawmakers to change the law. Monday night, McGill said he had no idea just how unpopular that idea would be. ### Voting Rights Act led to current system In Bladen County, six commissioners are elected from three districts, with two advancing from each. The other three are elected at large on a limited voting basis, meaning that every voter in the county votes the at-large candidates and the top three win a seat. The system is designed to protect minority representation by allowing each subset of the county to elect its preferred candidate, instead of allowing the majority to decide everything. As a result, three Black commissioners on the nine-member board, which is proportional to the Black population, which makes up about [32%](https://datausa.io/profile/geo/bladen-county-nc?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Bladen%20County%2C%20NC%20is%20home,country%20%281.12k%20people%29.) of the county. Before 1988, though, there had only been one Black commissioner, who was originally appointed to fill a vacancy, according to court documents. The system was set up differently, with five commissioners elected on an at-large basis. In 1987, a group of Black citizens sued under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, claiming in [Harry v. Bladen County](http://www.protectcivilrights.org/pdf/voting/NorthCarolinaVRA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that the five-member, at-large system diluted minority voting power. The following year, the county settled the case and agreed to the current election system. “This was part of a broader strategy of activists and civil rights attorneys to basically ensure fair representation for Black and brown voters throughout the South at the county level,” said **Hilary Klein**, Southern Coalition for Social Justice senior counsel for voting rights. “So there were grossly unfair methods of elections, including in Bladen County.” ### Bladen proposal followed court ruling In late April, the US Supreme Court weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The majority ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that to successfully sue under Section 2 of the VRA, plaintiffs cannot just show a discriminatory racial effect of an election law or map; they also must show discriminatory intent. The ruling set off a series of last-minute congressional map [redraws](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74496/thousands-gather-for-faith-based-push-with-barber-against-gerrymandering/?ref=down-ballot.info) across the country, but Klein said the impact may also touch local communities. While the *Callais* ruling does not require communities to undo efforts to increase minority representation, it removes any requirement to keep those efforts in place. “The only reason you want to change it is if you're trying to weaponize theCallais decision from the Supreme Court, in my view,” she said. “... I think the timing of when this proposal is being made makes it very clear that this proposal is a result of the Callais decision that gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.” During the meeting, McGill said the timing had nothing to do with the Supreme Court case; it was entirely related to Bladen County's budget. McGill did not settle on a specific configuration for his five-member commission proposal. During the May meeting, commissioners floated the idea of electing all five commissioners at-large, or having three elected from the current districts and two elected at-large. In McGill’s estimation, the latter option would have resulted in about the same racial and partisan makeup, he told attendees Monday night. “My intent was not to silence anybody,” he said. “My intent was not to alienate anybody.” Black commissioner **Ophelia Munn-Goins** disagreed. She said she thought the change would have a negative impact on representation. **Prentis Benston**, Bladen County’s first Black sheriff, said taxpayers expect to have someone to talk to about their community’s issues. Removing a representative would make the remaining representative less accessible. He said in his 38 years since the court settlement, he hasn’t heard anyone say the current system isn’t fair. Benston said there’s other issues to address, like high taxes, water problems and uncleaned roadside ditches. “I don’t think as a county commission you should create problems for citizens, but you should be in the business of trying to solve problems for the citizens of the county,” he said. About 200 attendees, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in pews at the county courthouse, felt similarly. As McGill implored them to trust him, they expressed doubt. “I’m not up here trying to pander to you all, I’m not up here trying to get myself out of a hot seat,” McGill told them. “Yes, you are,” several members of the crowd responded in unison. During the public comment period, **Herman Lewis** said he understood where Bladen commissioners were coming from with their budget concerns, but advised them to “keep people in mind when you’re making these decisions.” ### ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ Before the Callais ruling came down, two state lawmakers presented a bill that would have made similar changes in Jacksonville. [House Bill 1038](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H1038?ref=down-ballot.info) would have shifted the city council from four councilmembers elected from districts and two elected at-large to an all at-large council. Rep. **Wyatt Gable,** R-Onslow, told [WITN](https://www.witn.com/2026/05/08/jacksonville-council-members-push-back-proposed-voting-bill/?ref=down-ballot.info) that some districts had way fewer people than others, and the goal was to even that out. City council members strongly objected to the idea, which they did not request. They said it would dilute minority voting power. The bill has not moved forward since. In the two days before Monday night’s meeting, McGill received a similar level of outcry in his email inbox. He wasn’t expecting it. He listened. At the end of his speech, McGill abandoned his proposal. “Basically, forget it,” he said. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Word spread about the proposal in churches and through the grapevine. Some attendees were satisfied with the turnaround after the meeting. “I think if we hadn't showed up, they may have went through with it, but with him standing up and saying what he did, it made me feel a lot better,” **Sherry Lewis** said. **Dennis Rigans** said he still trusts the commissioners. “For some reason, I think they were more honest than ever before, so I have a little more confidence in them,” he said. Others weren’t convinced that the change was sincere. **Mary McMillion** doesn’t trust the commissioners “at all.” She doesn’t feel like they’ve done enough for the Black community, and wants any changes to go through the community first. Bladen County Democratic Chair **Ted Singletary** said it was a “convenient” shift. “You don't show up to anything, things don't change,” he said. “As long as someone is showing up and showing their displeasure and showing their point of view, then you have to rethink your motives, what direction you want to go, because you are trying to save your budget.” At the meeting, several public speakers asked the commissioners to spread the message to other counties that might consider making changes after *Callais*: the community will not stand for it. If they catch even a whiff of voter suppression, they’ll be there to fight it, said NAACP President **Debra Maxwell**. “You changed what you said, and I appreciate that, and I appreciate every member, friend and ally that came out tonight, but we are vigilant,” she said. “We have gone through too much this year and the past year, and we will not take it anymore.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75783/if-it-aint-broke-bladen-halts-change-that-could-have-diluted-black-votes/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=75783) ### Recycling batteries is as simple as stopping in for a latte URL: https://down-ballot.info/recycling-batteries-is-as-simple-as-stopping-in-for-a-latte/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T09:00:29.000Z **It's Friday June 5, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** From Coffee to Current: For one Charlotte café, recycling batteries is as simple as stopping in for a latte, Living in legal limbo. Woman living in Canada for years asks NC to rethink criminal charges, Young survivors of gun violence find therapy helps. But will California do more?, As Omni project advances, hospitality workers express doubts, As Seas Rise, Louisiana Faces a Choice: Plan for Movement or Let Crisis Decide, Illinois Session slog ends in $56B budget, new taxes on social media companies, crypto, fantasy sports, Massachusetts’s slow adoption of EV chargers through federal program is ‘mystifying’ to transit advocates, In Marshall, North Carolina, a Group of Ballad Singers Reflects on how Hurricane Helene Affected Their Tradition. **Media outlets and others featured:** Queens University News Service, Carolina Public Press, CalMatters, Verite News, Inside Climate News, Capitol News Illinois, CommonWealth Beacon, The Daily Yonder. [Support Down Ballot](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/give/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## From Coffee to Current: For one Charlotte café, recycling batteries is as simple as stopping in for a latte Allison Chipps (Queens University News Service) Published: June 1, 2026 At Not Just Coffee, the usual rhythm of espresso drinks, laptop work sessions and café conversation plays out as expected. But near the counter, tucked into an unassuming corner, sits something slightly out of place: a battery drop box. It is not part of the typical coffee shop experience, yet it represents a growing effort to make sustainability more accessible in everyday spaces. [Not Just Coffee](https://www.notjust.coffee/?ref=down-ballot.info), a family-founded business established in 2011, has expanded into multiple locations across Charlotte, along with a sister brand that includes its roastery, Night Swim Coffee. But beyond its role in the city’s coffee scene, the business has taken on a quieter environmental initiative. In an email interview, the woman behind these drop boxes, Miracle Yoder, said the idea came from her youngest son, Adrian. “Years ago, he wanted to start a project that was beneficial to the environment and involved the community.” Yoder said her son has always been passionate about the environment. What began as a personal project, the battery drop box idea grew into something customers could participate in, with placements located at Not Just Coffee’s Jay Street location and another at Atherton Mill in South End. While batteries are small, their environmental impact can be significant. Many household batteries contain materials like lithium, lead and cadmium. When thrown in the trash, they can end up in landfills where they can leak chemicals into soil and groundwater. There are also safety concerns. Lithium-ion batteries, commonly used in electronics, can spark fires if damaged or improperly disposed of in waste systems. Despite these risks, battery recycling is often overlooked. Unlike paper or plastic, many people are unsure where or how to properly dispose of used batteries. That is where small-scale efforts like the one at Not Just Coffee come in – offering a convenient, visible option for customers who might not otherwise recycle them. According to Yoder, the battery drop box did not immediately gain traction and took some time to catch on, but once it did both locations have become popular for recycling patrons. “Both fill up very quickly these days,” she said. The Jay Street location, in particular, tends to fill faster. Yoder attributes that, in part, to the coworking space located in the same building, which brings in a steady flow of people throughout the day. At the Atherton Mill location, the process is slower, but still consistent. Overall, Yoder said it is difficult to tell whether customers come specifically to recycle batteries or simply use the drop box while already visiting the café. She thinks it is a combination of both. The boxes themselves require minimal upkeep, typically needing to be emptied every two to three months. For customers interested in participating, the process is simple. Small household batteries – such as AA, AAA, and many rechargeable batteries – can be placed directly into designated drop boxes like the one at Not Just Coffee. Experts recommend storing batteries safely before recycling, including taping the ends of certain types like lithium batteries to prevent sparks. Damaged batteries should be handled carefully and kept separate. Most importantly, batteries should not be thrown loosely into the trash, where they can pose both environmental and safety risks. Larger batteries require a different approach. Items like car batteries, laptop batteries and e-bike batteries should not be placed in small drop boxes and instead need to be taken to specialized recycling locations. > In Charlotte, several options are available: > [AutoZone](https://www.autozone.com/lp/recycle?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Advance Auto Parts](https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/o/batterybounty?ref=down-ballot.info) accept car batteries and may offer store credit in exchange > [Mecklenburg County Solid Waste](https://wipeoutwaste.mecknc.gov/services/household-hazardous-waste-disposal?ref=down-ballot.info) provides full-service recycling centers for a wider range of materials. Checking ahead for specific guidelines is recommended, as accepted battery types can vary by location. Yoder acknowledged that the impact of the battery drop box may seem limited on its own. “I’m sure it’s a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things,” she said. “But every little bit helps when it comes down to the planet.” Still, she believes the initiative is worthwhile, especially when viewed as part of a broader collective effort. “If everyone picks one thing to try to make a small difference – together we can make a big difference,” she said. Back at Not Just Coffee, the battery drop box continues to fill up. It may not change the world overnight, but it offers a simple, practical way for Charlotte residents to take part in sustainability – right alongside their daily coffee routine. [*Queens University News Service*](https://queensnewsservice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *stories are prepared by students in the James L. Knight School of Communication with supervision and editing from faculty and staff. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte provides the news service in support of local community news.* --- # Living in legal limbo. Woman living in Canada for years asks NC to rethink criminal charges. by Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press June 2, 2026 A former North Carolina resident is asking the state to reconsider criminal charges against her that have been hanging over her head for the past decade. **Joanne McDowell**, previously a resident of Hendersonville for roughly five years, reached out to the North Carolina Department of Justice on May 11 by email to submit an official request for review of criminal prosecutions against her from more than 10 years ago. Court records show that charges for obstruction of justice and child abduction were issued against McDowell after she took her young son with her and moved to Canada, despite having a shared custody agreement with her son’s father, **Dr.** **Steven Buchman** of Georgia. McDowell said she believed her child was suffering abuse by his father. But the state’s courts ultimately found there was a lack of evidence that proved any wrongdoing on Buchman’s part and ordered continued visitation with his father. McDowell took her child and fled to Canada, where she’s also a citizen. The charges against her followed over the next few years. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** [Carolina Public Press](https://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) reached out to Buchman for comment, but he did not respond prior to publication. He did speak to CPP in 2017 for an [earlier article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/26417/state-look-handling-child-abuse-allegations-divided-courts/?ref=down-ballot.info) about the situation, at which time he denied the allegations of abuse. While North Carolina’s court system views McDowell as a fugitive, the Canadian courts see her in a different light. After she arrived in Canada in December 2012, according to Canada Border Services Agency travel records, the Canadian courts found that McDowell was simply trying to protect her child by leaving the United States, according to Canadian court documents. Now, more than 10 years later, there continues to be an international stand-off between the North Carolina and Canadian courts. Canada sees her as a mother concerned for her child’s safety, but North Carolina sees her as a fugitive, even though authorities aren’t actively pursuing her, she said in her letter. Meanwhile, McDowell is left trying to navigate the state of limbo the differing court opinions have left her in. While she told CPP recently that she has no desire to return to the US permanently, the prosecutions hanging over her head have made her life difficult. In her letter, she also questioned the purpose these charges serve now if she’s not being actively pursued. By requesting a review of the case by North Carolina authorities, she hopes the charges could be dismissed once and for all. ### The original case As previously reported by CPP, McDowell and Buchman were in a six-month relationship in 2009 after meeting online. McDowell is originally from Canada but was teaching at an elementary school in Flat Rock at the time, while Buchman was teaching and practicing medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, where he still works today. Their son was born in April 2010 and they came to an initial custody agreement the following March since they weren’t married, McDowell said in her recent letter to the NCDOJ. The custody arrangement allowed Buchman unsupervised overnight visits with his son, CPP previously reported, but these were suspended in September 2011 due to a protection order that was issued when “evidence” was presented alleging “sedation, abuse, and child-safety concerns” during the child’s visits with his father, McDowell said in her letter. The protection order was dissolved in November 2011, at which point the child’s doctor, Dr. **Charlotte Riddle**, reported concerns to social services. During an investigation by the Buncombe County Department of Social Services, a USB drive with audio and video materials that McDowell had given to the agency as “evidence” was reportedly lost and the investigator on the case, **Brandon Townsend**, left the agency, McDowell said in her letter. At this point, after speaking with others at social services, McDowell said she was informed that the case had been closed. She was not informed whether Townsend had been the one to close it or whether the agency simply closed along part of his outstanding caseload when he left the agency. She did not know whether the agency found her claims to be unsubstantiated. Nor did she know the whereabouts of the USB drive she had turned in. McDowell said her last contact with DSS was in September 2012, about a month before her custody hearing began, CPP reported in 2017. When CPP questioned Buncombe DSS officials about the handling of the case in 2017, they declined to answer, citing confidentiality laws governing communications about child protective services cases. After the case was heard in court over multiple days in October and November 2012, a judge ruled that there was “insufficient evidence” at the time to determine who sedated the child and granted joint legal custody of him to his parents, McDowell said in her letter. Despite the ruling, McDowell said she was still concerned for her child after a custody exchange in December when he seemed to be experiencing “acute distress,” she said in her letter to the Department of Justice. She left for Canada with him soon after, arriving on Dec. 17, 2012, according to CBSA travel records and Canadian court documents. Following her departure, Buchman sought an ex-parte order from the North Carolina court, which granted him sole custody of their son and found McDowell to be in criminal contempt, according to Canadian court documents. McDowell’s first charge of obstruction of justice was filed against her in February 2013, according to court records. In June 2015, the Canadian courts issued an initial endorsement of motions to protect McDowell after she said she received notice in 2014 that Buchman may pursue a Hague motion, which would essentially force Canadian authorities to uphold the decision of the North Carolina courts. Justice **Carolyn Horkins** in Toronto took issue with what happened in North Carolina and considered the complaints “a serious and urgent matter involving a 5-year-old,” CPP previously reported. In this endorsement, Canada superseded the ex-parte order from North Carolina and issued a restraining order against Buchman, preventing him from having any contact with McDowell and their son, according to Canadian court documents. Buchman was given the opportunity to respond to the claims against him by July 20, 2015, or else McDowell could move forward with an “uncontested trial.” Buchman ultimately failed to respond by the deadline, failed to pursue a Hague motion and never made any other effort to enforce the ex-parte order he sought in January 2013, even though he knew where McDowell lived, according to Canadian court documents. In December 2015, the Canadian courts made the restraining order against Buchman permanent and granted McDowell sole custody of the child, according to Canadian court documents. ### Requests for review McDowell’s most recent request for review, which she submitted to Criminal Bureau Chief **Boz Zellinger** at the North Carolina Department of Justice by email on May 11, is based primarily on a “chronology discrepancy” between North Carolina and Canadian records, as well as “previously unreviewed” video materials, according to her letter. CBSA travel records and Canadian court documents show McDowell having entered Canada on Dec. 17, 2012, while the related North Carolina charges for obstruction of justice and child abduction show offense dates in January 2013\. The “previously unreviewed” video materials were from her son’s therapy session in 2019, but McDowell didn’t identify them until this year, she said in her letter. While living in Canada, McDowell has repeatedly made requests to North Carolina authorities to review her case, but so far most of them haven’t been fruitful. Her first effort was reaching out to the authorities in Henderson County in April 2016\. She said she never heard back from them, but learned the following month that the Henderson County DA was adding a felony child abduction charge against her, in addition to the existing felony obstruction of justice charge, McDowell said. NC DHHS was willing to communicate with McDowell after CPP made certain inquiries to the agency, and they told her they would review the case, CPP reported. That review was conducted in February 2017 and sent to her by Section Chief **Kevin Kelley** later that month, and it stated, “the reviewers agree with the case decision of Services Not Recommended.” But McDowell took issue with the one-page review because it didn’t mention any interviews being conducted, and McDowell said she, her family, her son’s medical providers and the court-appointed psychiatrist were never contacted as part of the review. There also wasn’t an explanation for why the case was never officially closed with a letter, she said. Unsatisfied with the review done by social services, McDowell attempted a factual review of her case based on the “chronology discrepancy” regarding her arrival in Canada and the offense dates for her charges in North Carolina. However, McDowell’s motion was denied by the judge due to “procedural barriers,” and it was argued that she wouldn’t be able to prove that she left the United States in December 2012, she said in her letter to NCDOJ. In 2021, McDowell said in her letter that the case was transferred to the North Carolina Department of Justice following the [removal](https://carolinapublicpress.org/44906/judge-removes-district-attorney-greg-newman-from-office/?ref=down-ballot.info) of District Attorney **Greg Newman** from office. A group of families collectively filed a motion to have him removed due to “an alleged pattern of willful misconduct,” and were ultimately successful in April 2021. NCDOJ has allegedly been aware of the “certified chronology-discrepancy evidence” since at least 2022, McDowell claimed in her letter. Throughout all of this, McDowell said in her letter that no efforts have been made by North Carolina authorities to extradite her from Canada. Then, in June 2025, she discovered her cases were dismissed with leave, but the arrest warrants were still active, McDowell told CPP. **Andrew Murray**, district attorney for the 42nd prosecutorial district of North Carolina, said McDowell’s case is specifically under the “voluntary leave” category. “There’s a lot of people that don’t show up that disappear, and I go back a couple years, and if they still haven’t been found, they haven’t been arrested, then it’s just sitting on the books,” Murray said. “So I just put voluntary leave, which takes them out of the active inventory, but they’re still there, they’re still in the clerk’s office, there’s still an order for arrest out. As soon as the order for arrest is served, then that case is reinstated.” When asked why there hasn’t been more of an effort to extradite and arrest McDowell, Murray told CPP, “that’s completely above my pay grade.” A former US attorney for Western North Carolina who was selected to replace Newman after his removal, Murray said he’s only been district attorney since 2021, so he hasn’t had much interaction with the case overall. “This case had a lot of history, never was really on my radar,” Murray said. “(McDowell) asked me to review it, I reviewed it. She did not like the answers, so then she asked it to go to the Attorney General’s office, and I complied and asked the Attorney General’s office if they would take it and take a review, because she thought she wasn’t getting a fair shot because of whatever reason, and so the Attorney General got it, and they have the case now.” He also doesn’t know whether any North Carolina agencies consulted the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the case, Murray said. After roughly two weeks with no response from NCDOJ regarding her most recent request, McDowell followed up by email on May 26\. She still has yet to hear back from them, she said. ### McDowell living in limbo “Due to my son’s trauma, I’ve had to be home,” McDowell said. Her son is now in 10th grade. She’s homeschooled him since halfway through the first grade, after he tried to attend a regular school but found it difficult being there on his own. While some private schools may be an option for him, the financial hurdles make it difficult, she said. “If I can’t work, I can’t afford to do that,” McDowell said. “The criminal prosecutions of me, first of all, the financial devastation has been enormous, simply in legal fees alone. It’s been hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees in the family law on the civil side, and then also on the criminal side, so that’s been devastating for me and for my family.” The prosecutions against her have also made finding work difficult, she said. “I used to be in sales and marketing,” McDowell said. “I cannot pursue any type of job like that, because it might involve travel, and I cannot travel because of my outstanding criminal charges.” She also has to inform any potential employers about the prosecutions against her. Fortunately, because of her current legal status in Canada and the Canadian courts superseding the rulings of the North Carolina courts, her prosecutions didn’t prevent her from applying for a teaching certificate through the Ontario Certification of Teachers Board in 2023, she said. “Essentially, in Canada, that process has been relatively smooth, because I have legal standing here in Canada,” McDowell said. “The problem is, teaching does not pay that much more here than it does in the States.” Over the years, McDowell said they’ve received financial support from her mother and social support from Canada. Now, McDowell still homeschools her son during the day, but has been tutoring other kids in the evenings as her form of income since 2023\. At that point, when her son was 13, she said she felt safe to leave him home alone in the evenings, and the tutoring company she works for is aware of her background, she said. Aside from the logistical challenges, McDowell said the charges hanging over her in North Carolina have been hard for her psychologically. “I’m perfectly safe here and legal, but it’s humiliating,” McDowell said. “It’s been a huge blow to my reputation. It’s been a blow to my life professionally. It’s devastating to have to let people know this.” *Editor's note: This article has been updated due to new information that became available.* This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75773/living-in-legal-limbo-woman-living-in-canada-for-years-asks-nc-to-rethink-criminal-charges/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=75773) --- # Young survivors of gun violence find therapy helps. But will California do more? By [Ana B. Ibarra](https://calmatters.org/author/anaibarra/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![A person with orange hair tied in a bun looks off to the side while standing outdoors near a white wall. The person wears a striped tank top, layered necklaces and multiple facial piercings, including a septum ring and nose studs, while sunlight softly illuminates the face and shoulders.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/052426_Youth-Gun-Violence_SBM_CM_39.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1) Jazelle Eastman, 18, a shooting survivor in Oakland on May 24, 2026\. Photo by Sarahbeth Maney for CalMatters This story was originally published by [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Sign up](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) for their newsletters. When Jazelle Eastman was 16 she was shot in the face by a boy she thought was a friend. She doesn’t remember feeling much, but next thing she knew there was blood dripping from her chin. That was two years ago. She still has a hard time trusting people. “PTSD is so real, I feel like I'm always looking over my shoulder,” she said. During her hospital stay, a social worker connected Eastman to a mental health counselor. She was hesitant at first; therapy is not something she would have sought on her own. Now she sees the benefit: “Talking to someone made it a lot better,” she said. That, however, is not every young survivor’s experience. Nationally, just 37% of children received mental health services within six months after a firearm injury, according to a [2023 study](https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/152/1/e2023061241/191475/Timing-of-Mental-Health-Service-Use-After-a?ref=down-ballot.info) published in the American Academy of Pediatrics. For some young survivors, help never arrives at all. California lawmakers want to change that. [Assembly Bill 2247 would require ](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca%5F202520260ab2247?ref=down-ballot.info)counties and the state to provide and pay for mental health and counseling services for youth survivors of gun violence, regardless of their insurance situation. ![A close-up shows a person’s forearm with butterfly tattoos and a red-and-green silicone bracelet that reads “STOP THE KILLING.” The person’s hands rest together in sunlight, with part of a striped shirt visible at the edge of the frame.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/052426_Youth-Gun-Violence_SBM_CM_26-819x1024.jpg) Jazelle Eastman, 18, a shooting survivor, shows a bracelet she received at a survivors event in Oakland on May 24, 2026\. Photo by Sarahbeth Maney for CalMatters The bill would establish a pilot program in Alameda, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Solano counties, funded by state grants. Any young person touched by gun violence — whether they were shot, saw a shooting happen, or lost a family member — would qualify for free services up to age 25\. Eastman had invited a group of friends for a sleepover at her Vallejo home. She recalls being on her phone when a boy got up from the living room floor where he'd been sleeping. She doesn't know exactly why he shot her; she thinks it was on purpose, that he'd gotten upset at her for being too loud that morning. He claimed it was an accident. "I never thought that me trying to have a little get-together with my friends would result in something so bad happening," she said. ## **The gap in care** In 2020 firearms surpassed motor vehicle accidents [as the leading cause of death](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2600445?ref=down-ballot.info) among children and teens nationally. Researchers estimate that for every fatality, there are [at least two survivors](https://www.kff.org/mental-health/child-and-adolescent-firearm-deaths-national-trends-and-variation-by-demographics-and-states/?ref=down-ballot.info) of firearm injuries. In California, about [2,000 youth](https://skylab4.cdph.ca.gov/epicenter/%5Fw%5F51d4771d/?Hospitalizations&ref=down-ballot.info) 25 and younger died or were hospitalized from firearm injuries annually since 2016, according to the California Department of Public Health. This includes suicides. Still, California has [the fifth lowest](https://www.kff.org/mental-health/child-and-adolescent-firearm-deaths-national-trends-and-variation-by-demographics-and-states/?ref=down-ballot.info) youth firearm death rate in the country. “It's very clear that violence, and gun violence in particular, is salient in young people's lives,” said Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, an associate professor with the Centers for Violence Prevention at UC Davis. Research shows that the trauma of firearm violence can be especially disruptive for young people who are still developing mentally and emotionally, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, hypervigilance, sleep disruption, grief, substance use and suicidal thoughts. Yet many survivors and their families go without timely help. Some people mistrust the health system. Others may not even know where to start. Getting connected to mental health care isn’t straightforward even for those who try. People with medical coverage have reported having to wait months to find a therapist that works for them, and those without coverage may not even try because they can’t afford counseling. Tinisch Hollins, executive director at Californians for Safety and Justice, an advocacy organization sponsoring the bill, said this “made a lot of families kind of give up on the process.” In California, victims of violence may be eligible for state compensation they can use to reimburse therapy costs, but navigating that system is tricky and not all victims qualify. Eastman has applied twice and has never heard back. Hollins said the latest bill aims to remove cost and insurance barriers. It would also push counties to standardize how they connect victims to services and promote counseling more widely to victims and their families. Hollins said the legislation is also a direct response to the disproportionate impact of gun violence on Black and Hispanic communities. In California, 78% of youth who were killed or hospitalized due to firearm injuries between 2016 and 2024 were Black or Hispanic, state data show. ## **A bill, but no funding** Hospitals, counties and other care providers have no consistent standard for connecting young survivors to mental health care after a shooting. Handing a person a referral for counseling and expecting them to follow through while in survival mode is not enough, said Kravitz-Wirtz. “Services for young people impacted by firearm violence are too often fragmented,” she said. “Young people often leave the hospital after a shooting with their physical injuries treated … but without a clear pathway into ongoing mental health.” Some hospitals do have intervention and trauma recovery models in place, but they’re not universally or consistently available. Youth Alive!, the organization that provided Eastman free therapy, is one. Rhea Corson-Higgs, a mental health counselor there, works with youth who have experienced violent trauma in the Bay Area. In the group’s model, a social worker connects youth to a counselor before they are discharged from the hospital. That counselor goes to their home and provides trauma-informed therapy, prioritizing safety and trust. But her program always has a waitlist, she said. Even if the legislation were to pass, one key challenge remains: There’s no money behind it. Ashley Anderson, a spokesperson for [Assemblymember Sade Elhawary](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/sade-elhawary-187428?ref=down-ballot.info), a Los Angeles Democrat who authored the bill, said her office is still trying to find a funding source. An analysis of the bill estimates it will cost $7,800 per person per year to provide grants to counties. The Assembly’s fiscal committee scaled back the scope of the bill, replacing its statewide requirement with a four-county pilot project. On Tuesday, the Assembly approved the legislation and it now heads for discussion in the Senate. ## **Finding help and ‘freedom’** Earlier this month Eastman traveled to Sacramento to advocate for the bill, joining dozens of survivors and families of those who were killed. After a brief march, attendees gathered at Capitol Park where around a stage they placed poster boards and banners with victims’ photos and messages: “Never forgotten” and “Forever 18.” Today, Eastman is able to share her story publicly in large part because of therapy. Bridgett Montoya was also there. She grew up in Pacoima, in the San Fernando Valley; a decade or more ago, gang activity there was commonplace. When she was 21 she was struck by two bullets — one in the head and one in the hip. She was in a coma for about a week and hospitalized for 28 days. A bullet remains lodged on the right back side of her head. Fragments from the hip shot impair her walking. Two years passed before she saw a therapist. She wants others to have an easier path. “Going to therapy gave me a sense of relief and a sense of freedom,” she said. James Michael, 20, was shot in the leg while attending an Oakland house party two years ago. At the hospital, before he could even see a doctor, he said law enforcement questioned him aggressively, as if he had something to do with the shooting. He recalls feeling really angry. He thought twice about therapy, but decided to give it a try. That’s where he met Corson-Higgs at Youth Alive!, who he credits with helping him work through his anger. As he re-trained his left leg to walk, he also regained his confidence. Therapy, he said, “showed me that life is still beautiful, no matter what you go through.” *Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.* This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2026/05/youth-guns-mental-health-grants/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. ![](https://www.ednc.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=288339&ga4=G-1STG7SWBWE) --- # As Omni project advances, hospitality workers express doubts by Jasmine Robinson, Verite News New Orleans June 3, 2026 The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans is working on securing hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives for its incoming headquarters hotel — a new Omni hotel worth $600 million. Officials say the hotel is key to the long term success of tourism in New Orleans and could strengthen the hospitality community. They also hope it will improve competitiveness in the convention industry and bring larger events to the city. Recently, Convention Center officials hit a snag in getting approval on a major tax incentive for the hotel. They are seeking state approval for a tax rebate plan worth an estimated $265 million over 45 years. Under the plan, the state would send certain sales taxes generated from the Omni to the developers, subsidizing the hotel’s operations. But the size of the proposed public subsidy has [reportedly created “angst”](https://www.nola.com/news/business/omni-hotel-vote-state-sales-tax-rebate-vote-delayed-again/article%5Fcbaf9550-1a1c-4ac9-ac49-8ef10385e4a7.html?ref=down-ballot.info#tncms-source=business-featured) among state legislators with the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. On Sunday (May 31) the committee deferred a vote on the rebate, the second such deferral since April. Concerns from the state legislature echo criticisms coming from local hospitality workers, whose labor would support a boost in tourism. Unionized hospitality workers have been at the forefront of opposing the publicly subsidized hotel and are part of a [labor coalition](https://unitehere.app.box.com/s/5n4e53kyd0siopq19j4uk49fksbri0lp?ref=down-ballot.info) demanding guaranteed benefits to taxpayers. “I think it's disrespectful and a slap in the face to not only just the hospitality workers, but as a whole to the workers here in the state or the city,” said Monicka Bolling, a banquet captain at the Convention Center. Expected to open in 2030, the new Omni hotel would be the fifth largest hotel in New Orleans with about 1,000 rooms. A hotel of this size hasn’t been built in the city in more than 40 years. The hotel is critical for the city’s bid to host the Super Bowl in 2031\. According to [Fox 8](https://www.fox8live.com/2026/03/17/potential-new-hotel-seen-crucial-new-orleans-2031-super-bowl-bid/?ref=down-ballot.info), the NFL told officials that if New Orleans wants to host the game, “it needs new hotels like the Omni.” “This is a project born of a strategic competitive need, and not born out of just a willingness for a shiny new hotel. This is about us continuing to remain competitive against cities who have continued to build at a rate far faster than we have,” Convention Center president and CEO Jim Cook said during the center’s May 13 board of commissioners meeting. In a statement Cook said the Omni is projected to have an annual economic impact of $213.6 million by the fourth year of operation and generate over $15.2 million in new taxes for the city and state. But generating that kind of impact is going to cost taxpayers. A 2025 report by the [Bureau of Governmental Research](https://www.bgr.org/wp-content/uploads/bgr-convention-center-hotel-subsidies-new-orleans.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) estimated the gross public investment in the project will be over $940 million in the span of 45 years. The hotel will net about $669 million in public subsidies after rent payments to the Convention Center, which is a state entity. Along with the state tax rebates, the hotel is also seeking a heavy discount on local property taxes, through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal, or a PILOT, that would allow Omni to skip regular property taxes in place of smaller, annual payments. The PILOT, like the sales tax rebates, would last 45 years and could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. There’s no publicly known timeline for the public review process or City Council approval of the deal. Officials have said the public-private nature of the project will make the hotel financially feasible. “The \[45-year\] term is necessary to meet the return that enables the developer to invest over $550 million in capital necessary to build this hotel without more of a direct public contribution,” Cook said. But BGR found in its report that Omni will only need the subsidies to reach its profit target for 11 years. By the 12th year, subsidies wouldn’t be necessary. **Impact to the hospitality industry** For some hospitality workers in New Orleans, the prospect of their tax dollars subsidizing the Omni hotel project is discomforting. Rising costs of living have made things dire for workers in the tourism industry, who historically have earned low wages. It’s common for workers in the hospitality and service industry to work multiple jobs, said Bunny White, who's been working at the Caesar's Superdome for nine years as a cashier. Three years ago, White was 65 years old working four jobs at once to support herself. She was working one of her jobs when she had a stroke. The moment was a wakeup call for her. “A lot of people are suffering. This economy is devastating to a lot of families.” White said. Bolling works as a banquet captain at the Convention Center. She has two adult sons who work in hospitality, including one who also works at the Convention Center. Due to rising costs of living, low pay in the hospitality industry and inconsistent work, she said they had to move back home with her. “If you're not working consistently …folks cannot afford to just live on their own,” Bolling said. Work in hospitality is inconsistent — marked by up and down seasons, she added. White and Bolling, both members of the UNITE HERE Local 23 hospitality workers union, expressed concern that businesses across the industry are understaffed and workers underpaid because business hasn’t fully rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic. “You have hotels here that you cannot supply the workers for, that you won’t hire people for because you’re trying to keep your numbers down to benefit your pocket,” White said. Officials are expecting the Omni to bring 1,400 new permanent jobs. But Bolling said that job creation alone isn’t enough to support a workforce that is critical to a growing tourism economy. “People need to be adequately paid to be in these spaces and they still have not proven or said how this will be beneficial. … \[You\] say you're going to have X amount of jobs, but how much are you paying these people? We don’t know enough yet,” Bolling said. While the addition of new jobs would theoretically alleviate labor shortages in the industry, it’s a factor that could exacerbate labor shortages at individual hotels. “With a brand new shiny hotel opening up, I think the labor force will shift towards that new hotel. So you could experience a labor shortage at some older, smaller properties,” said Chantal Wu, senior director of hospitality marketing analytics with CoStar. White and Bolling say they fear a new hotel could draw business away from existing hotels, which would leave less available work at those hotels. Or, it could also lead to workers being overworked while underpaid. In New Orleans, hotel occupancy averaged 69% from 2015 through 2019, according to data from CoStar. Post-pandemic, occupancy averaged 60% from 2022 to 2025\. That’s in line with what’s happening nationally. According to Wu, the hotel industry has not fully recovered since the pandemic. She said it’s partially because lower income households are deprioritizing travel. Meanwhile, she says affluent travelers are spending big and rates charged at hotels are accelerating. And hotel owners are taking notice. “Basically, hoteliers are trading volume for more pricing power.” Wu said. In New Orleans, Convention Center officials [say](https://advantagenola.com/faq/?ref=down-ballot.info) the addition of the hotel would impact nearby existing hotels by increasing demand for rooms and increasing rates. An [analysis](https://www.hospitalitynet.org/report/4131906/looking-toward-the-normalization-of-the-new-orleans-hotel-market?ref=down-ballot.info) by HVS Consultants, which did consulting for the Convention Center’s headquarters hotel, said that the addition of a new hotel wouldn’t bear much impact on occupancy levels, but presents opportunities for rate growth and higher revenue. **Recent developments with the Omni** Convention Center officials still must obtain zoning approvals to begin construction in late 2026. In May, the City Planning Commission approved the sale of public land to accommodate design plans for the hotel. The commission authorized the sale of one block of John Churchill Chase Street and a small portion of Mississippi Heritage Park to hotel developers. The economic development district overseeing the hotel’s development, whose members are the Convention Center’s board of commissioners, approved in May an additional 2% in sales and hotel taxes at the site of the hotel. The Bureau of Governmental Research [estimates](https://www.bgr.org/wp-content/uploads/bgr-convention-center-hotel-subsidies-new-orleans.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) it will generate $127 million in revenue for the Omni. The hotel is planned at the site of The Sugar Mill in between Convention Center Boulevard and South Peters Street, next to Mississippi Heritage Park. Later this month, the New Orleans City Council is expected to vote on proposed changes to the city zoning ordinance which would remove building height regulations for the hotel. The City Planning Commission recommended approval for the changes. “The way the city council votes is going to also show who they really are siding with, who they really care about — whether it's the residents of the city or if it's developers,” Bolling said. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/06/03/as-omni-project-advances-hospitality-workers-express-doubts/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=31232&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # As Seas Rise, Louisiana Faces a Choice: Plan for Movement or Let Crisis Decide ### Coastal Louisiana may be ground zero for climate migration in the U.S., but a new study argues that planning now could turn displacement into agency. By Avery Schuyler Nunn May 30, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/30052026/louisiana-sea-level-rise-climate-migration/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* The shoreline of Louisiana has never been still or fixed, though recent generations have treated it as such. Since the last ice age [roughly 20,000 years ago, around when people arrived in what is now the United States, sea levels have repeatedly reshaped aspects of the Gulf Coast. ](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/2021-11/1%20Glacial-Interglacial%20Cycles-Final-OCT%202021.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)But today, human-caused warming is accelerating that ancient process, pushing Louisiana’s dynamic shoreline into conflict with cities, roads, ports and levees built to contain and stabilize nature. A new study in [*Nature Sustainability*](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-026-01820-z?ref=down-ballot.info) argues that this history is a guide to what comes next. Coastal Louisiana, the authors write, is ground zero for coastal climate adaptation: a place where rising seas and sinking land are already reshaping where people live, and where planning for movement could offer more agency than crisis-driven displacement. “We have got to remember that when people first came to North America 20,000 years ago, there had already been a lot of climate change,” said Jesse Keenan, a co-author of the paper and professor of sustainable real estate and urban planning at Tulane University. “There’s been a lot of sea level rise in the region, and Indigenous populations have always moved with that shoreline.” In geologic time, he added, “New Orleans has been there for just a blip. We’ve got to get it out of our heads that this is terra firma.” The physical stakes are still stark. Southern Louisiana is facing a convergence of rising seas, wetland erosion, stronger storms and land subsidence, much of it worsened by decades of oil and gas canals cut through the coast. The state contains what the[IPCC has identified as the world’s most exposed coastal zone](https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/ccp2/?ref=down-ballot.info), where the shoreline is [projected to move more than 30 miles inland of New Orleans](https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/louisianas-shrinking-coast-offers-narrowing-window-managed-retreat?ref=down-ballot.info). By comparing today’s warming trajectory with the last interglacial period roughly 125,000 years ago, when global temperatures were similar and seas were much higher, the new study estimates that [the region could eventually face three to seven meters of sea-level rise and lose as much as three-quarters of its remaining coastal wetlands.](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-026-01820-z?ref=down-ballot.info) Keenan emphasizes that the point is not to forecast a sudden disappearance, but to widen the planning lens: if the coast is already moving, Louisiana has a chance to decide how people, infrastructure and economies move with it. The danger is assuming everyone has the same ability to act on that choice. Social mobility, he said, depends on financial mobility— which means adaptation cannot simply tell people to move to safer ground. It has to move opportunity, too: jobs, industries, schools and affordable housing beyond the form of voluntary buyouts, a common managed-retreat tool in which governments purchase flood-prone homes and return the land to open space. “Outmigration is often framed as tragedy or failure, but in some cases it signals agency,” said Brianna Castro, a co-author of the paper, who highlights that this is a chance to plan around choices people are already making. Nearly all of Louisiana’s coastal zone has lost residents since 2000, and since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, about a quarter of Orleans Parish’s population has left the area, while more than half of rural Cameron Parish has relocated. “If you build jobs and you build homes, specifically affordable homes, \[on\] safer ground, people will come,” said Castro, who is a professor of urban sustainability at Yale University’s School of the Environment. The opportunity, she argues, is to make those moves possible before crisis forces them on harsher terms—with schools, housing and work in places where communities can carry culture forward rather than be scattered by disaster. New Orleans at its core, she said, is not confined to its current footprint. “We’re not going to ‘lose’ New Orleans,” she said. “New Orleans has an incredibly rich local culture, and that will carry across the lake.” What must change, she argued, is the assumption that a moving coast can be met with immovable systems. That idea resonates beyond Louisiana. Vivek Shandas, a professor of earth, environment and society at Portland State University who was not involved in the study, said the paper widens the frame from emergency response to long-term adaptation. “We’ve been resettling for hundreds of thousands of years as a species,” Shandas said. “I think we’ve gotten really complacent with thinking that once we’ve set up a place and invested in it that it has to be like that forever. But the Earth is a very dynamic and incredibly fluid system.” For that reason, he said, Louisiana is a “bellwether” for the rest of the country—a place where planners, policymakers and communities can study what adaptation strategies work before the same pressures intensify elsewhere. “It’s super important for people to recognize that what we’re ultimately calling for in this paper is a public, private, and civic engagement with adaptation policy, planning and practice,” said Keenan. The study points to immediate action projects, including reviving the canceled Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion—a $3-billion coastal restoration project designed to reconnect the Mississippi River with the Barataria Basin, the rapidly disappearing wetland area on the west bank of the river south of New Orleans—and advancing the Breton diversion on the other side of the Mississippi River. Unlike dredging, which moves sediment once and deposits it in place, river diversions are designed to restore a more continuous flow of sediment into wetlands, mimicking the processes that built the delta over thousands of years. Dredged material can create land, Keenan said, but it does not sustain the same root systems and ecological processes as a living riverine system. “We’ve got a big challenge here, but this isn’t about the challenge. This is about the opportunity,” he said. “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. There is so much economic opportunity to engage with people and to build things. Data centers won’t give people more jobs, but adapting to climate change just might.” --- # Session slog ends in $56B budget, new taxes on social media companies, crypto, fantasy sports by Ben Szalinski, Capitol News Illinois June 1, 2026 ### **Article Summary** - Democrats largely joined together to support the Fiscal Year 2027 budget as Republicans warned the plan will harm the state’s financial picture. - The budget totals about $56.9 billion and is just slightly less than what Gov. JB Pritzker proposed in February, though it incorporates key taxes and revenue changes he proposed. - The spending plan is the largest in state history and includes funding for local governments along with full funding of the state’s K-12 Evidence-Based Funding formula. - New taxes would be implemented on social media companies based on the number of users in the state, along with prediction markets, fantasy sports and digital assets. - Republicans bashed the plan’s hasty passage while Democrats defended the new taxes and spending, citing the Trump administration’s cuts. *This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.* SPRINGFIELD — Illinois lawmakers approved the state budget early Monday morning after slogging through the night, enacting new taxes on businesses and authorizing less spending than what Gov. JB Pritzker proposed in February. “It’s allowed us to be prepared for the great reality we face today,” Senate Democrats budget leader Elgie Sims, of Chicago, said during debate. “The reality of federal cuts. The reality of chaos coming from Washington ... We are not placing blame. We are prepared. We are not acting on fear. We are acting responsibly.” [](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260601-SIMS-JN-0265.jpg?ref=down-ballot.info) --- The budget totals $55.9 billion, supported by a similar amount of revenue. The spending plan included an $830 million supplemental current-year spending plan, meaning the upcoming fiscal year 2027 budget is essentially flat. To get it across the finish line, Democrats — especially progressives — had to temper their expectations. Many had called for new progressive revenue measures throughout the session, including taxes on big corporations and billionaires and for Illinois to untie itself from parts of the federal tax code. Instead, the measure freezes corporate net operating loss and enacts taxes on social media companies, digital assets, fantasy sports, tobacco and sports betting on prediction market websites. Democrats also sought to include at least a few measures that address affordability. It freezes the 1.3-cent gas tax increase that’s slated for July 1, pushing it to January. It also creates a sales tax holiday on school supplies from Aug. 7-16. Republicans, meanwhile, said the relief didn’t go nearly far enough. “We're not going to raise the gas tax in July, we're just going to wait a couple more months, so we can raise it at the end of the year after election time,” Rep. Joe Sosnowski, R-Rockford, said, adding sarcastically that there was a “lot of courage coming out of that side of the aisle and the governor.” ### **Path to passage** Its passage comes after an spring session thrust further into unpredictability by the war in Iran and federal policy changes. Budget analysts for the General Assembly and governor’s office tempered revenue expectations just weeks ago, citing growing pessimism over the economy. The 3,700-page spending plan and associated implementation bill were introduced late Saturday evening and about 200 additional pages were added around 2 a.m. on Monday. But other components of the budget, including the capital and revenue bills, were not filed until mid-afternoon on Saturday. [](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260601-BALKEMA-JN-0178.jpg?ref=down-ballot.info) --- “Thirteen million people expect us to do our jobs in the openness of daylight within the months and weeks leading up to a May 31 deadline each year, not in the final few hours of darkness,” Sen. Chris Balkema, R-Channahon, said as the Senate took up the spending bill around 2:30 a.m. “It's highly embarrassing to the 13 million people.” No Republicans voted for the plan, though some House lawmakers said they were at least more involved in budget negotiations than in recent years. “It’s been very recent communication, but it’s certainly better than no communication at all, which has been, of course, the status quo for many years,” Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, told reporters. The spending measure, [House Bill 111](https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?GAID=18&DocNum=111&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=155787&SessionID=114&ref=down-ballot.info), passed the Senate 37-21 after 3 a.m. Monday morning. The House followed around 4:15 a.m. with a 76-39vote, followed by the budget implementation bill, House Bill 2949\. The revenue and tax changes, Senate Bill 3019, passed the House around 11:15 p.m. on a 73-41 vote, followed by the Senate around 12:30 a.m. with only Democratic votes as well. ### **Tax increases and revenue maneuvers** The budget also calls for transferring $150 million in sales tax revenue from gas to the General Revenue Fund once public transportation is fully funded, opening that revenue up to be spent on any purpose. [](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260601-SPAIN-JN-0986.jpg?ref=down-ballot.info) --- "If you’re a driver who is irritated by the high price of gas that you’re paying, you should be extra irritated when you where the funds are going,” Spain said. Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, aired similar concerns earlier on Sunday during committee. “We ought to be suspending the sales tax on motor fuel right now – not diverting it to the General Revenue Fund, and not diverting it, oddly to the exact same dollar amount that we got for illegal immigrants and welcoming centers,” he said. That state plans to spend $143 million on a healthcare program for undocumented immigrant seniors and another $4 million on welcoming centers that provide services to immigrants arriving in Illinois. Lawmakers incorporated a pair of the tax changes that Pritzker had proposed in February. One would lower the cap on corporate net operating loss deductions for business. Another would impose a tax on social media companies based on the number of users the platform has in Illinois. Combined, those would generate $500 million in new revenue. [](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260601-ROSE-JN-0252.jpg?ref=down-ballot.info) --- Social media companies would be taxed on a progressive scale starting with platforms with 100,000 to 499,999 users paying 10 cents per month for each user all the way up to platforms with at least 1 million users paying a $165,000 fee plus 50 cents for each user each month. A [similar tax](https://news.wttw.com/2026/03/13/tech-group-sues-chicago-over-first-nation-social-media-tax?ref=down-ballot.info) in Chicago is already tied up in court. New taxes on digital asset sales and fantasy sports are expected to generate $65 million. The state would create a licensing structure for fantasy sports operators and impose a 15% tax on each business — something Rep. Curtis Tarver, D-Chicago, said the industry themselves requested. Consumers purchasing tires will also see a 50-cent increase in a tax on those purchases, which primarily funds a waste disposal fund. Sports bets on prediction markets and remote tobacco retailers would also be taxed under the plan. “This state is addicted to spending money it doesn't have,” Rep. Blaine Wilhour, R-Beecher City. “It’s addicted to creating programs that it can't afford. It's addicted to making promises it can't keep, and it's addicted to coming back to the taxpayers constantly, constantly to clean up the mess.” [](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260531-WILHOUR-JN-0078.jpg?ref=down-ballot.info) --- The revenue package also creates a Targeted Advertising Services Tax, which is more commonly known as a digital ad tax. However, lawmakers expect the tax will also face legal challenges and are not planning to gather revenue from it in FY27\. Tarver said the goal was to create a framework to implement the tax later if it’s held up in court. Keith Staats, president of the Illinois Taxpayers Federation, told a House committee the tax likely violates federal internet freedom laws. The budget package does not eliminate tax incentives for data centers, despite Pritzker calling for it in his budget. Other spending in the budget appears to rely on numerous fund sweeps that redirect money from one program to another or to the state’s General Revenue Fund. One of those sweeps includes transferring $70 million from the BRIDGE program — created last year to allow Pritzker to allocate funding to programs that fall short in funding because of federal cuts ­— to the Fund for Illinois’ Future for infrastructure projects and other grants. Money in that fund is typically earmarked for specific projects in Democratic legislative districts. However, the spending bill stipulates that $70 million from the BRIDGE Fund should go to a new program to fill gaps in food assistance programs, which led to some confusion among lawmakers debating the bill in the House. ### **Spending** Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, said the budget includes about $65 million in reductions for government operations, a relatively small cut in the budget. She said no government staff would be laid off. “Most important in this moment, this budget is not balanced on the backs of working families,” Gabel said. “That means no taxes on working people, and no severe cuts to critical services they depend on.” The budget would establish a program to help people who have lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits as the [federal government institutes new restrictions on eligibility](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/150000-illinois-households-may-lose-federal-food-assistance-beginning-may-1/?ref=down-ballot.info). Under the new Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger, or FRESH Program, people who have lost or seen their SNAP benefits reduced would be eligible for a one-time $400 payment. The program is scheduled to last just one year and is estimated to cost about $70 million. [](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/260601-BLAIR-SHERLOCK-JN-0009.jpg?ref=down-ballot.info) --- Following Wilhour’s address, Rep. Diane Blair-Sherlock, D-Villa Park, pointed a finger at the federal government. “I will not be lectured about excessive state spending at a time when I am watching billion- dollar ballrooms being built, private jets being flown around by staff to go to their girlfriend's concerts, while SNAP benefits are cut, while Medicaid is cut, while Medicare is cut, while people are desperately trying to get health care,” she said. “We as a state are trying to fill in gaps created by the federal government.” Funding for local governments will increase. Lawmakers allowed the percentage of the income tax that they receive to stay flat at 6.47%. Because of natural income tax growth, their total dollar amount received will grow — Pritzker had proposed reducing the percentage. Mayors vigorously lobbied lawmakers this spring not to cut the percentage and Sims told reporters on Sunday morning that senators agreed. Illinois lawmakers are also in line for a roughly 3% pay raise, which will bring their base salaries to $101,450\. State law indexes their pay each year to the rate of inflation. The bill also fully funds pensions and the state’s Evidence-Based Funding model for K-12 education, including a property tax relief component. However, districts receiving those grants will need to forgo property tax increases for three years, rather than two as current law requires. Higher education will only receive a 1% increase next year — the second year in a row new funding was below the rate of inflation. Direct service providers will receive a 60-cent wage increase, half of what is recommended. The budget also does not include any increase in the “rainy day” fund. [*Capitol News Illinois*](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.* This [article](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/session-slog-ends-in-56b-budget-new-taxes-on-social-media-companies-crypto-fantasy-sports/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Capitol News Illinois](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-Captiol-News-Illinois.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=119125&ga4=G-FVW3LFD82K) --- # Massachusetts’s slow adoption of EV chargers through federal program is ‘mystifying’ to transit advocates by Jordan Wolman, CommonWealth Beacon June 3, 2026 **FOR ALL THE** concern about lost federal funding courtesy of the Republican trifecta in Washington, Massachusetts still has not deployed a single electric vehicle charger through a Biden-era program that President Trump has left intact. The Bay State is sitting on the roughly $64 million it was awarded through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, a $5 billion federal initiative authorized through the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law meant to strategically dot the nation’s major highways with charging infrastructure that would make it easier for EV drivers to reliably travel greater distances. Two years ago, Massachusetts [selected three vendors](https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-announces-vendors-selected-to-advance-the-national-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-nevi-program-in-massachusetts?ref=down-ballot.info) to identify locations for NEVI charging stations and then build and maintain them. Only contracts with two of those companies, however — Applegreen and Global Partners — are signed, the state’s Department of Transportation confirmed to *CommonWealth Beacon*, leaving open questions about the viability of the third vendor, Weston & Sampson. Now, nearly four years after receiving federal approvals, no EV chargers on Massachusetts’s major roadways through NEVI are up and running, MassDOT also confirmed. It’s not clear what exactly is causing the holdup. *CommonWealth Beacon* filed a public records request to view the contracts with the two companies to ascertain whether there are deadlines associated with charger installations, but MassDOT did not provide those contracts in time for publication. “The slowness of adoption here is mystifying,” said Jim Aloisi, a former state transportation secretary who now lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and serves on the board of the advocacy group TransitMatters. “If your approach to transportation sector decarbonization is largely about the transition to EVs, then you should be spending a fair amount of effort accelerating the process of getting people to adopt EVs, and one way to do that is obviously to roll out the NEVI initiative. That's the disconnect.” MassDOT didn’t respond to questions about why the pace of NEVI work has been so slow. The department’s “conservative” projections in 2022 [found that NEVI funding](https://www.mass.gov/doc/massdot-nevi-plan/download?ref=down-ballot.info) would be sufficient for building 92 charging ports. Some officials serving on the state’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Coordinating Council, which was established in 2022 to help create an equitable and reliable charging network, also appear to be in the dark. Eric Bourassa, who is a member of the group and serves as the director of transportation for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, said that he’s “not privy to the details of what’s holding it up,” but that “everyone would agree that the pace of NEVI deployment in Massachusetts has been disappointing.” So far, the two signed NEVI vendors have spent close to $4 million, according to Marshall Hook, a MassDOT spokesperson, all of which are for “development-focused” activities like engineering, permitting, and procurement. There have been signs of progress. Applegreen has placed an order for EV charging equipment for locations in Greenfield and Newburyport and are targeting late July to begin construction, Hook said. Global Partners, meanwhile, has been approved to place orders on equipment and is finalizing plans to install chargers in Lancaster, Wrentham, and Raynham. James Cater, senior director for sustainability strategy and innovation at Global Partners, said in a statement that the company is “happy” to be working on Massachusetts’s NEVI program and is beginning the procurement process for contractors for their initial charging sites “soon.” Applegreen and Weston & Sampson did not respond to requests for comment. Yet [the slow adoption rate](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/massachusetts-ev-charging-plans-continue-to-take-hit/?ref=down-ballot.info) through NEVI continues to bewilder transit advocates given the state’s relatively small size and political embrace of EVs. Neighboring states like Rhode Island, New York, and Vermont [boast a significant stock](https://evstates.org/awards-dashboard/?ref=down-ballot.info) of NEVI chargers, in addition to more sprawling red states like Utah and Ohio. “We should be capitalizing on every opportunity that we have available to us,” said Anna Vanderspek, electric vehicle program director at the Green Energy Consumers Alliance. “MassDOT should explain why it's taken so long and what timetable we can expect now.” The uptake on NEVI has been slow nationwide: [Just 19 states](https://evstates.org/awards-dashboard/?ref=down-ballot.info) have at least one operating EV charger funded through the program, according to the National Association of State Energy Officials. Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro who specializes in infrastructure policy, said that [poor capacity](https://www.niskanencenter.org/ev-charging-nevi-state-capacity/?ref=down-ballot.info) more broadly across states has stifled their ability to quickly implement the program as they wrangle procurement processes, permitting, and electrical grid transmission complications. "There were plenty of ingredients here to have paralysis by analysis,” Tomer said. “Government officials are naturally going to be risk averse, especially with newer programs, and officials needed to learn on the fly. NEVI hits all those sweet spots, so it’s not terribly surprising that deployments are coming along slower than initially hoped." The data around Massachusetts’s EV push offers a mixed bag. On one hand, the state’s slow crawl on NEVI is contrasted by its relative success deploying EV chargers in general. State data show the Commonwealth ranking [fourth in the country](https://www.mass.gov/info-details/second-assessment-of-the-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-coordinating-council-evicc?ref=down-ballot.info) for charging ports per capita after a sharp increase in installments over the past few years. Yet, Massachusetts still has about 2,000 charging ports less than what it estimates it needs, according to the most recent [state climate report card.](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/mass-falling-short-of-key-climate-targets-with-some-bright-spots-after-one-year-of-trump-attacks/?ref=down-ballot.info) The state also remains significantly behind its targets for registered electric cars and trucks as it races to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in half compared to 1990 levels by 2030\. There are just 735 medium-and-heavy-duty EVs on the road, a sliver of the 3,200 called for by the end of 2025. On light-duty EVs and plug-in hybrids, Massachusetts has about 166,000 such cars, short of the 200,000 needed by last year. Last year, the Healey administration also [delayed an EV sales](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/dep-delays-electric-vehicle-sales-requirements-for-two-years/?ref=down-ballot.info) requirement. Part of convincing consumers to purchase generally more expensive electric cars involves easing “range anxiety,” the worry of EV drivers about whether they’ll make it to their destination or the next charging station — one of the core functions of the NEVI program. Notably, Massachusetts has also placed its NEVI bet on two companies that have been at intense odds with each other in the past year. Applegreen and Global Partners — the two vendors with signed contracts with the state for NEVI work — have been at the center of a bitter dispute over the state’s efforts to redevelop 18 highway service plazas. MassDOT awarded Applegreen that major contract last year, but the company backed out after losing bidder Global Partners sued the state and fought to block the deal over allegations that the process was unfair. MassDOT is now preparing to rebid the whole project, and the state inspector general [ridiculed the agency](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/03/03/inspector-general-report-applegreen-massachusetts-highway-service-plaza-contract?ref=down-ballot.info) for having “too many flaws” in its process that has attracted the ire of Beacon Hill. The bad blood between Applegreen and Global Partners may not spill over into how fast the companies can deploy chargers on the state’s major highways since they will be responsible for separate individual sites, minimizing the necessity for direct collaboration. But the situation speaks to the challenges of complicated procurements and the fragility of the private market to perform this sort of work, when a small pool of companies competes for similar supplies and subcontractors and could be vulnerable to price spikes. “The word ‘irony’ is a good one,” Aloisi said. “It may be that there's just not a lot of good competition in this area. What does that landscape look like, and who wants to play in that sandbox? And it may be that the unfortunate answer is not too many players, so you're stuck with the same.” This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/massachusettss-slow-adoption-of-ev-chargers-through-federal-program-is-mystifying-to-transit-advocates/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=316383&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) --- # In Marshall, North Carolina, a Group of Ballad Singers Reflects on how Hurricane Helene Affected Their Tradition by Sarah Alexander Melotte, The Daily Yonder May 28, 2026 During a rainy summer afternoon at Zadie’s Market, a restaurant housed in what used to be the jail in Marshall, North Carolina, a group of 11 people sat on the patio in front of a dinner crowd, taking turns singing ballads. Ballads are songs that tell stories, [typically sung without musical accompaniment](https://balladofamerica.org/unaccompanied-singing-traditions-of-southern-appalachia/?ref=down-ballot.info). The earliest songs were rarely written down, so they varied between singers or families. Many of these ballads were brought to Appalachia by settlers from the British Isles. They often recount tales of heroes, betrayal, doomed romance, and even murder. Some can even be a bit raunchy, as ballad singer Donna Ray Norton explained to the crowd. “Bawdy ballads are like the dirty ballads,” said Norton, standing at the mic. Norton is an eighth generation ballad singer from Sodom Laurel, North Carolina, a small community in Madison County. “Are there any kids here right now? I know that there was one that just left.” After making sure the coast was clear, Norton launched into a bawdy ballad called “The Darby’s Ram.” The song cheekily tells the story of an absurdlylarge ram, with lyrics like: > This Ram had such a long tool, it drug upon the ground > > It dug a ditch six feet wide, from London to Darby's town The audience responded to the lyrics with laughter, joining Norton on the lines that repeated after every verse. The song goes on, line after line, describing the sheer enormity of the ram: > The legs on this ram were spread so far apart > > Every soul in Darby dreaded to hear him fart Traditionally, ballads were sung in private, among family. Over time, singers began performing them in public. At the ballad swap, singers took turns stepping up to the mic, from oldest to youngest. Their voices made a haunting, plaintive sound, cutting through the noises of the lively audience. Norton co-founded the Marshall ballad swap in 2023 with her aunt, renowned ballad singer [Sheila Kay Adams](https://sheilakayadams.com/?ref=down-ballot.info). Adams has earned national recognition for her musical tradition, including a[ 2013 National Heritage Fellowship](https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/sheila-kay-adams?ref=down-ballot.info) from the National Endowment for the Arts. “I’ve always idolized her, and she just sounds like home to me,” Norton said. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/image-26-1296x972.jpeg) Eighth-generation ballad singer Donna Ray Norton MC’d the ballad swap at Zadie’s Market. (Photo by Sarah Melotte / Daily Yonder) Since 2023, the ballad swap has become an important opportunity for these singers to share their tradition with others. But when Hurricane Helene hit North Carolina in 2024, bringing what some described as a “[1,000-year flood](https://avlwatchdog.org/answer-man-was-helene-a-1000-year-storm-did-we-have-tornadoes-in-the-mountains/?ref=down-ballot.info),” the future of the event became uncertain. The Old Marshall Jail, the home of Zadie’s Market, was full of mud and water. Norton was concerned about how the building’s destruction might hurt the ballad swap. “The ballad swap’s sort of like my baby, you know?” Norton said. “What if we don’t have the same momentum that we had going before?” We know all too well how natural disasters physically impact communities by destroying property, devastating the landscape, and claiming lives. But what might be less obvious is how a community’s cultural practices are affected.[ Experts say](https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5144216/climate-change-hurricane-helene?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Hurricane%20Helene%20eventually%20unleashed%20more,change%2C%20the%20WWA%20analysis%20found.) climate change likely made Hurricane Helene more dangerous, reflecting a broader pattern in which warmer global temperatures are fueling more intense storms and extreme flooding. In the aftermath of Helene, amidst all the uncertainty, Norton found comfort in singing ballads. “I really leaned into the ballads during that time as a way to connect with myself and my people,” Norton said. But not every ballad was a comfort. Many of these traditional songs touch on themes of land and loss. Darci DeWulf is a ballad singer who lives in Marshall. She said that right after the flood, emotions were still too raw to tackle songs with those themes. “We did avoid for a long time any songs about rivers or waters rising,” DeWulf said. “I mean, it was like, you think, ‘Oh, I'll sing this.’ And you get to about the second verse, and it's like, ‘The river's gonna flood.’ No, I can't, you know, too soon. Too soon. I can't do this.” ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/image-25-1296x972.jpeg) The patio of Zadie’s Market sits right on the banks of the French Broad River, which flooded Marshall during Hurricane Helene in September of 2024\. (Photo by Sarah Melotte / The Daily Yonder) But with time came the desire to return to some of those ballads. Helene wasn’t the first historic storm that afflicted western North Carolina. [In 1916, another flood](https://www.ourstate.com/flood-of-1916/?ref=down-ballot.info) swept through the Blue Ridge Mountains, changing the course of rivers and killing around 80 people. A ballad was written about this storm, called “The Flood of 1916.” A few months after Helene, ballad singer Sarah Elizabeth Burkey of Jackson County, North Carolina, decided to learn this song, but she had a hard time with it at first. “My brain resisted absorbing it and memorizing that song, because the story is such a hard one,” Burkey said. Eventually, she did learn the song: > In the month of July, in the year sixteen > > The most terrible storm you ever did see > > Made its way from the ocean wide > > And struck with force > > On the mountainside The ballad singers leaned into their tradition in other ways, too. While the Old Marshall Jail was being restored, the group took their show on the road. For them, it was a chance to be together doing something they loved, while also raising awareness about the storm’s impact on their home. Norton said the group performed sold-out shows in places like Charleston, South Carolina; Asheville, North Carolina; and Floyd, Virginia. “Just all these different things have blown my mind. It's just been crazy,” Norton said. Attendance boomed when the ballad swap returned to Marshall after its time on the road. Locals showed up in droves to support ballad night, along with tourists and people who came to see how the town had fared since the storm. But in a region where scientists say climate change is making extreme floods more likely, Helene may not be a once-in-a-generation event. For the ballad singers, the effort to sustain their tradition is now unfolding against a future where floods like Helene could happen again. “I think it was just sort of an eye opener for a lot of people,” Norton said. “Just about how special things are and how fragile everything is.” For these singers, the storm has deepened their commitment to sustaining ballad singing for future generations. “It’s not just about the songs,” Norton said. “It’s about the stories and how they were passed down, or why. I hope that people are just still curious about them and want to keep learning them and continue to pass them down, and that younger generations continue to be interested in them somehow.” This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/in-marshall-north-carolina-a-group-of-ballad-singers-reflects-on-how-hurricane-helene-affected-their-tradition/2026/05/28/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=240469&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- ### Kentucky company purchases 9 weeklies in Western NC and North Georgia URL: https://down-ballot.info/kentucky-company-purchases-9-weeklies-in-western-nc-and-north-georgia/ Last updated: 2026-06-03T21:49:46.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** Kentucky-based [Paxton Media Group](https://www.paxtonmedia.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) purchased nine newspapers from Georgia-based [Community Newspapers, Inc](https://www.cninewspapers.com/?ref=down-ballot.info). The [weekly publications](https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/paxton-media-group-acquires-nine-titles-from-community-newspapers-inc,260931?ref=down-ballot.info) included in the sale are The Franklin Press (NC), The Highlander (NC), Mitchell News-Journal (NC), Smoky Mountain Times (NC), Clay County Progress (NC), Cherokee Scout (NC), The Graham Star (NC), The News Observer (GA), and Times-Courier (GA). According to a [news release from the North Carolina Press Association](https://ncpress.com/stories/new-publisher-over-8-newspapers,2952?ref=down-ballot.info), Rachel Hoskins, longtime publisher of the *Franklin Press*, has been named the regional publisher over Paxton's newspapers in Bryson City, Franklin, Hayesville, Highlands, Murphy and Robbinsville in North Carolina as well as the two publications in Georgia. ### NCDEQ awards $25 million in community recycling infrastructure grants for Hurricane Helene recovery URL: https://down-ballot.info/ncdeq-awards-25-million-in-community-recycling-infrastructure-grants-for-hurricane-helene-recovery/ Last updated: 2026-06-03T21:34:39.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** **MCDOWELL COUNTY –** North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality announced grants for 16 projects in western North Carolina designed to improve waste reduction infrastructure and debris management through the Helene Recovery Recycling Infrastructure grant program. According to a [news release](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/419fb51?ref=down-ballot.info) from the agency, personnel announced the funding awards in the Western North Carolina county that borders Buncombe. The program awarded $25 million to local governments to repair and develop recycling infrastructure and strengthen organic debris management systems to ensure long-term resilience against future storms. “After Helene, communities across western North Carolina are dealing with damaged recycling facilities and enormous amounts of storm debris scattered throughout the region,” **said Governor Josh Stein.** “Western North Carolinians have worked hard to recover over the past 20 months, but communities are still rebuilding critical infrastructure. These grants will help local governments better manage waste and prepare for future storms.” From the 2024 federal disaster recovery legislation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $25 million to DEQ’s Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service for the HRRI program. DEACS received 45 applications for HRRI funding totaling $145 million, leaving almost $100 million in unmet needs after factoring in local matching funds. **Helene Recovery Recycling Infrastructure Grant Recipients** The following local governments were selected for funding: 1. **Alleghany County ($2,800,000)** will expand recycling services, rebuild Helene-damaged infrastructure at its transfer station, and make operational improvements for long-term resilience. 2. **Ashe County ($3,000,000)** will replace aged and damaged buildings, equipment, and infrastructure used to handle household recyclables, vegetative debris, appliances, and hazardous waste. 3. **Avery County ($544,000)** will purchase a horizontal grinder and replace damaged asphalt and concrete at recycling centers. 4. **Town of Black Mountain ($525,000)** will rebuild key elements of the Buncombe County town’s curbside sanitation infrastructure with the goal of collecting more recyclable material and creating long-term resiliency. 5. **Buncombe County ($3,500,000)** will build construction and demolition waste diversion infrastructure and increase revenue generated from these materials. 6. **Graham County ($1,400,000)** will make site improvements and equipment purchases to modernize its recycling program. 7. **Haywood County ($2,514,500)** will replace curbside carts lost during Hurricane Helene and relocate a convenience center out of the flood plain. 8. **Jackson County ($3,000,000)** will construct an additional transfer station in the Cashiers area, which is frequently cut off due to landslides during storms. This facility will improve access to recycling services throughout the county. 9. **Macon County ($2,750,000)** will rebuild its damaged Recycling Processing Center and make other improvements through new equipment investments. 10. **Town of Marshall ($356,000)** will replace damaged collection equipment and establish a curbside recycling program for the Madison County town. 11. **McDowell County ($580,000)** will purchase equipment to increase capacity, reduce maintenance-related downtime, and significantly decrease the number of trips required for material transport. 12. **Mitchell County ($380,000)** will restore and expand its recycling center. 13. **Rutherford County ($1,500,000)** will enhance vegetative debris recycling and divert construction and demolition debris from landfill disposal. 14. **Watauga County ($280,000)** will replace containers lost in Helene and purchase new equipment to improve metals and white goods collections. 15. **Wilkes County ($570,000)** will replace recycling trucks and collection equipment damaged during Hurricane Helene. 16. **Yancey County ($1,300,000)** will rebuild storm-damaged recycling infrastructure and improve efficiency by adding equipment for in-house hauling and processing. ### More cities are pressing pause on data centers as local backlash grows URL: https://down-ballot.info/more-cities-are-pressing-pause-on-data-centers-as-local-backlash-grows/ Last updated: 2026-06-03T09:00:07.000Z By Robbie Sequeira (Stateline) Published: May 28, 2026 Hearing backlash from residents, cities and counties across the country in recent weeks have blocked planned data centers amid concerns over rising electricity prices and environmental harms. The local actions come as state lawmakers also are looking to [limit or repeal ](https://stateline.org/2026/02/24/data-center-tax-breaks-are-on-the-chopping-block-in-some-states/?ref=down-ballot.info)the incentives for the centers, which are sprawling campuses of computer servers that store and transmit the data behind apps and websites. Supporters of the pauses say cities need rules before projects arrive, especially to answer residential concerns about electricity use, energy costs and nuisance issues. Industry supporters argue data centers bring jobs and tax revenue and are an essential part of the nation’s digital infrastructure. They warn that communities that block data centers are sacrificing those benefits. The Denver City Council this month [unanimously approved](https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/local-politics/denver-may-ban-new-data-centers/73-fb9e16ad-30ab-4271-9cf2-4628749d76d5?ref=down-ballot.info) a one-year moratorium on data centers, halting new zoning permits and site development plans while the city drafts rules for future projects. In April, [Oklahoma City](https://www.okc.gov/News-articles/Oklahoma-City-Council-approves-moratorium-on-new-data-centers?utm%5Fsource) approved a similar moratorium that will be in effect until the end of this year, or until the city updates its zoning code. Tulsa, Oklahoma, also [approved a temporary stop](https://tulsaflyer.org/2026/03/25/government/post/tulsa-will-pause-new-data-center-construction-for-9-months-after-council-vote/?utm%5Fsource) on new data center construction, though major projects already in the pipeline will be allowed to proceed. Smaller communities are taking similar steps. In Illinois, both [Bloomington](https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-05-26/bloomington-approves-6-month-moratorium-on-data-centers?utm%5Fsource) and [Normal](https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2026-05-18/bloomington-city-council-members-signal-support-for-6-month-data-center-moratorium?ref=down-ballot.info) earlier this month approved six-month moratoriums, and Morgan County [took the same ](https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/morgan-county-data-center-moratorium-22228392.php?ref=down-ballot.info)action in April. In Michigan, Huron County this week [approved](https://www.michigansthumb.com/news/article/huron-county-data-center-moratorium-22278673.php?utm%5Fsourc&ref=down-ballot.info) a three-year moratorium, joining roughly 20 other Michigan communities that have paused data center construction. In Georgia,[ Camden County](https://thecurrentga.org/2026/05/02/camden-set-to-vote-on-data-center-moratorium-amid-kingsland-rezone-vote/?utm%5Fsource) enacted a six-month moratorium earlier this month, becoming the first community on the state’s coast to do so. And a cluster of counties in North Carolina have hit pause, including [Chatham County](https://www.chathamcountync.gov/Home/Components/News/News/17295/5394?arch=1&utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) in February and [Orange County](https://www.bpr.org/2026-04-22/orange-county-moratorium-data-centers?ref=down-ballot.info) (which includes Chapel Hill) in April. But not all cities are souring on data centers: Cheyenne, Wyoming, this week [opted not to proceed](https://wyofile.com/cheyenne-rejects-moratorium-on-data-centers/?ref=down-ballot.info) with a one-year moratorium after a lengthy public hearing. A study released at the end of 2024 by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [estimated U.S. data centers](https://eta-publications.lbl.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/lbnl-2024-united-states-data-center-energy-usage-report.pdf?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm&ref=down-ballot.info) used about 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023, with projected use rising to between 6.7% and 12% by 2028. A [March Gallup poll](https://news.gallup.com/poll/709772/americans-oppose-data-centers-area.aspx?utm%5Fsource) found that seven in 10 Americans would oppose the nearby construction of data centers for artificial intelligence (AI), higher than the 53% of respondents who said they would oppose living near a nuclear power plant. *Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached a* *rsequeira@stateline.org* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### USDA Extends Pause on Loans for Controversial Digesters That Turn Manure Into Biogas URL: https://down-ballot.info/usda-extends-pause-on-loans-for-controversial-digesters-that-turn-manure-into-biogas/ Last updated: 2026-06-01T09:01:02.000Z By Steven Rodas, Lisa Sorg May 25, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25052026/usda-biogas-digester-loan-pause/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* The federal government’s pause on new loans for anaerobic digesters, the controversial method of converting animal manure from large-scale feeding operations into biogas, will now extend through the end of the year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture explained the move in financial terms, saying digester projects had “significant delinquency rates and realized losses.” Digesters are intended to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The Trump administration has targeted climate efforts across the federal government—but unlike many initiatives pitched as climate-friendly, digesters are popular with the agricultural industry and viewed with concern by environmentalists. Digesters cover open-air manure pits with massive black tarps that expand as they trap gas—made up mostly of methane and carbon dioxide. The gas, intended to be burned for energy, [can be captured via tanks](https://www.epa.gov/anaerobic-digestion/types-anaerobic-digesters?ref=down-ballot.info) too. > Hundreds of these projects operate on large-scale concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, in the United States, particularly in California, North Carolina, Idaho and Iowa. Often located in communities of color, the digesters can both directly and indirectly fuel pollution. “We see them as both an economic and environmental liability for Californians, especially Californians living near large dairy operations that have digesters,” said Phoebe Seaton, co-executive director for the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, noting hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on them by the state. In North Carolina, one company, Legacy Biogas, received a federal loan in 2018 during the first Trump administration to supplement its $5 million digester investment at [White Oaks Farm](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04022026/north-carolina-hog-farm-violations/?ref=down-ballot.info), but the operation subsequently had a series of environmental violations. Then the digester cover at the farm breached and discharged 10,000 gallons of waste into a nearby swamp in 2022\. Legacy Biogas subsequently sold the farm at public auction in 2024 and went into foreclosure. The farm’s new owners haven’t restarted the digester. The USDA’s decision to extend its pause on digester loans “was based on the Trump administration’s commitment to being prudent stewards of taxpayer dollars,” an agency spokesperson wrote in a statement to Inside Climate News. Supporting “high risk” digester projects “threatens the long-term stability of the program and its capacity to fulfill its mission,” wrote J.R. Claeys, administrator of the USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service, which manages the loan guarantees for digester projects. Industry players are skeptical. The [American Biogas Council](https://americanbiogascouncil.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a group promoting digesters, thinks federal staffing cuts are at the heart of it, not delinquencies. “The more we learn about what actually happened with these projects, the more surprised we are that there’s a pause in the first place, and the more surprised we are that it was even extended,” said Patrick Serfass, the council’s executive director. Asked for details on delinquent digester loans, a USDA spokesperson pointed to [public lender data](https://www.rd.usda.gov/rural-data-gateway/onerd-investments?ref=down-ballot.info) available online. An Inside Climate News review of the USDA lender data—last updated at the end of March—showed that of the 746 project lenders nationwide, 11 percent were considered [over 90 days delinquent](https://www.rd.usda.gov/rural-data-gateway/onerd-loan-portfolio?ref=down-ballot.info). The American Biogas Council says only a few digesters are seriously delinquent and argues that new projects should not be delayed. ## **“A Lot of Community Concerns”** The USDA directive from April extended a [January pause](https://d12v9rtnomnebu.cloudfront.net/diveimages/Temporary%5FAdministrative%5FPause%5Fon%5FBiodigesters%5F.pdf?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email). It came on the heels of rallies by [several groups](https://foe.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-14-REAP-Digester-Petition%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), including a half dozen from North Carolina, petitioning for loans under the Rural Energy for America Program to no longer go toward large-scale farms. The loans have encouraged the continued use of digesters and the expansion of CAFOs, environmental groups say. “These are touted as climate solutions,” Andrew deCoriolis, executive director of [Farm Forward](https://www.farmforward.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit dedicated to ending factory farming, told Inside Climate News. But “increasingly, the evidence is showing that this is driving expansion in factory farms,” driving more pollution, “and totally changes the economics of the farm. In most cases, the gas is not worth anything; it’s all the public subsidies and carbon credits associated with the gas.” Nearly 400 manure-based digesters were operating nationwide as of the most recent federal [estimate in June 2024](https://www.epa.gov/agstar/agstar-data-and-trends?ref=down-ballot.info), up from roughly 41 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recorded two decades earlier. Another 73 were under construction across the country, the EPA reported. Many are in California, which has more than 160 digesters operating at dairy farms and dozens of others under construction, according [to experts](https://agriculturedashboard.stanford.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [industry groups](https://www.dairycares.com/dairy-digesters?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=California%20is%20a%20leader%20in,%E2%80%8B). California is the [top producer of milk](https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oars/research/livestock%5Fand%5Fdairy%5Fresearch/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the nation. As dairies grow, communities in the state are concerned about digesters, said Tarah Heinzen, legal director at the nonprofit [Food & Water Watch](https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Digesters leak and they also can increase emissions of other pollutants that are really harmful at the community level, like ammonia,” said Heinzen, who also pointed to worries about water pollution and the digestion process making nutrients in animal waste more soluble and thus prone to runoff. Her group is part of a coalition challenging the ways that California’s low carbon fuel standard can incentivize digesters. Joan Casey, an environmental epidemiologist at Columbia University, published a [review in 2015](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40572-015-0061-0?ref=down-ballot.info) of health harms CAFOs inflict on people living nearby. Families near CAFOs experience stress, cognitive problems, asthma and impaired lung function, among other health issues, she found. Research shows the dairy industry in California creates [about half of the state’s](https://news.ucmerced.edu/news/2022/research-reveals-easy-way-dairy-farmers-can-dramatically-reduce-their-climate-impact?fbclid=IwY2xjawRwdJtleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEwZDlQbVJKNzlRV0J3ekV0c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHiO4qcjZm%5FPMJvcT4X30ZZw5KzlOPKOQb4xytAjfooqTmX-VqJj3QH75df%5F2%5Faem%5FRNc5K2X-NAWTrj5gD5LrYg&ref=down-ballot.info) emissions of methane, a significant climate pollutant. The state [has spent nearly $300 million in grants](https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2021-06/draft-2030-dairy-livestock-ch4-analysis.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to cut down on dairy methane emissions and is also raising money to fund digesters with climate policies that make companies pay for their pollution. The state views manure digesters as an effective greenhouse gas emission reduction tool, said Dave Clegern, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board. Manure management reduced methane emissions from livestock to 9.9 million metric tons in 2023 from a peak of 12 million metric tons in 2012, the agency said. “If you don’t build a biogas system, how much of that methane and carbon dioxide goes into the air?” asked Serfass, of the American Biogas Council. “100 percent, right?” Nicole Ayache, the chief sustainability officer for the [National Milk Producers Federation](https://www.nmpf.org/team/nicole-ayache/?ref=down-ballot.info), pointed to [a study](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c00367?ref=down-ballot.info) in the journal Environmental Science and Technology that showed anaerobic digesters may reduce manure systems’ greenhouse gas emissions in a big way—58 percent to nearly 80 percent, depending on the region. Ayache said the National Milk Producers Federation has been in touch with the USDA on the loan pause and the government’s ongoing review of delinquency rates. “We hope that that’s done as efficiently and as soon as practical so that farmers who are depending on this program aren’t waiting,” Ayache said. But Heinzen, of Food & Water Watch, pointed to [a new study](https://dho.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/digesters.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from researchers at Stanford University and other major institutions that found digester incentives are spurring CAFOs to get bigger because biogas sales are making manure profitable. Farm Forward recently [released a report](https://www.farmforward.com/news/factory-farm-gas-an-attempt-to-lock-animals-into-factory-farming-for-a-generation/?ref=down-ballot.info) on the effect of an Iowa law lifting the cap on the number of animals raised on farms with digesters. Animal numbers at permitted sites increased by 23 percent, the group found. “We’re entrenching this really harmful model of livestock production,” Heinzen said. ### S.C. early voting starts with high turnout URL: https://down-ballot.info/s-c-early-voting-starts-with-high-turnout/ Last updated: 2026-05-29T09:00:07.000Z **It's Friday, May 29, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** SC early voting begins with record-breaking turnout. Many voters say redistricting is why, Budget cuts, looming deadlines put family caregivers in a ‘complete tailspin', Federal rural health fund meets healthcare desert in eastern NC, Lawmakers target hospitals – and Atrium Health in particular – in reform bills, Union group wants to bolster KC’s affordable housing by investing pension money, Rights for sexual assault survivors at stake in proposed NC legislation, Bayer promises to suspend ‘unfair provisions’ in seed contracts for several years, federal government announces, As Sarah T. Reed High School shutters, teachers worry that school closures will become the new normal. **Media outlets and others featured:** South Carolina Daily Gazette, Maryland Matters, KFF Health News, North Carolina Health News, The Beacon, Carolina Public Press, Investigate Midwest, Verite News. [Support Down Ballot](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/give/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## SC early voting begins with record-breaking turnout. Many voters say redistricting is why. By Skylar Laird (South Carolina Daily Gazette) Published: May 26, 2026 ORANGEBURG — A record number of people cast their ballots Tuesday, the first day of early voting for South Carolina’s party primaries, with many saying they hoped to reduce the chances of a bill redrawing the state’s congressional maps becoming law. Those voters got their wish. Senators [effectively killed](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/05/26/effort-to-redraw-sc-voting-lines-ends-amid-record-start-to-early-voting/?ref=down-ballot.info) the redistricting bill Tuesday afternoon, ending a GOP [mad dash](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/05/19/lawsuit-attempts-to-pause-gop-push-to-redraw-scs-voting-lines/?ref=down-ballot.info) to draw new lines following a U.S. Supreme Court decision about Louisiana’s map. Some Republicans who changed their positions pointed to the number of early votes for congressional candidates they would have to throw out as the reason why. As of 3 p.m., 44,600 people had voted in-person, nearly doubling the previous record for a single day of early voting in a primary election. Just over 23,000 people cast their ballots on the final day of early voting in June 2024, according to the State Election Commission. In addition, the agency had received nearly 4,200 mailed absentee ballots as of Tuesday. [Polling places](https://scvotes.gov/voters/early-voting/?ref=down-ballot.info) are open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday through June 5\. Election day is June 9. Among those casting their ballots Tuesday at the Orangeburg County Voter Registration Office was U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state’s only Democrat in South Carolina’s congressional delegation. The safely blue seat Clyburn has held since his first election in 1992 was at the center of the redistricting debate, as a map endorsed by the White House aimed to send seven Republicans to Washington — an effort some warned could make some races more competitive. [The proposed map](https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/5038d75a13834168ab2502e7215603f1?ref=down-ballot.info#data%5Fs=id%3Awidget%5F3%5Foutput%5Fconfig%5Fdefault%5Fgeocode%5F0%5F0%3A0) would have drawn Clyburn’s home in Santee out of the 6th District and into the 2nd, potentially setting up a general election contest with U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, who’s held that seat since 2001\. Clyburn said he would file to represent whatever district his Orangeburg County home fell into. Clyburn lambasted the effort Tuesday. He accused Republican legislators who voted “yes” of bowing to the White House instead of doing what’s best for the people of South Carolina. He also thanked the Republican senators who stayed steadfastly opposed. “Nothing has made me more incensed than to see this kind of imposition on the people of South Carolina,” Clyburn told reporters soon after he voted, which was hours before senators ended the debate. The 86-year-old said he normally votes early — that the timing wasn’t due to the redistricting debate — and he encouraged other voters to do the same. From a practical standpoint, he said, no one knows what sort of catastrophe might strike the day of the election to keep a person from voting. “But it took on an added meaning this time,” Clyburn said. Clyburn [echoed the pleas](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/05/23/redistricting-fight-prompts-something-new-for-sc-legislators-meeting-on-a-sunday/?ref=down-ballot.info) of Statehouse Democrats last week: “Vote early. Make them throw your vote out,” as Clyburn put it. That message seemed to reach voters. More than a dozen of the hundreds of people who showed up to vote in Orangeburg, St. Matthews, West Columbia and Columbia on Tuesday told the SC Daily Gazette that’s the reason they came to the polls early. #### Orangeburg Rev. Derrick Cattenhead, a pastor at North Orangeburg United Methodist Church, got in line to vote just after 10 a.m. He wanted to get his ballot cast before the Senate gaveled in at 11 a.m. to discuss the redistricting bill, he said. “I believe if we get out and vote in droves, we can still make a difference,” the 53-year-old said. “That’s the only way I think that we can really make a difference, especially in this climate, at this stage of trying to steal our votes and steal our rights and have no voice.” ### **Early voting** > **Hours:** 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through Friday, June 5 > **Locations:** Each county has between one and six early voting centers. Pick the location most convenient to you in the county where you’re registered. [Click here](https://scvotes.gov/voters/early-voting/?ref=down-ballot.info) for a list of options by county. > **Your sample ballot:** To preview the choices on your ballot, [click here](https://vrems.scvotes.sc.gov/Voter/Login?PageMode=Sampleballot&ref=down-ballot.info), provide your information, then select which party’s ballot you want to see. Cattenhead voted early in previous years, but he made sure to show up earlier than usual Tuesday to “to let (legislators) know that, ‘Hey, we are here. We’re here, and we’re watching, and we’re listening.'” Chris Samuelson, a 66-year-old retired nurse from Branchville, has voted early, absentee and on Election Day, but Tuesday marked the first time she’d come to the polls on opening day, she said. She, too, wanted to get her vote in before the Senate returned to the Statehouse, in the hopes of swaying Tuesday’s decision. “Votes have already been cast,” Samuelson said. “Ballots have already been sent out, and votes have been received back. So, the election has started. I just feel like it’s wrong for them to disregard all of that and start it all over.” Redoing the congressional election in August, as the bill would have done, would likely cause mass confusion among people who had already cast their ballot in that race, said Lacella Williams, a retired South Carolina State University administrator. She wasn’t sure whether she would return for a second primary if that did happen, she said. “Once I put my vote in, I think that should be enough,” the 78-year-old said. #### West Columbia More than 200 people had cast ballots before 11 a.m. at the West Columbia early voting center, located in Lexington County, a GOP stronghold and home to Wilson. “I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about redistricting, and it made me a little nervous,” said Katie Mixon, a 46-year-old high school teacher from Cayce. “I didn’t quite understand why this was necessary,” Mixon added. “So, I wanted to come out and see if there was any chance that my voting today could help make that not happen.” The redistricting debate certainly motivated Ellen White and Nora Murray to turn out for early voting in West Columbia. “I’m out because I want to see a change in politics. I would like to see more Democrats in this area,” said White, an 82-year-old retired human resources professional from Cayce. The same was true for Murray, whose son, Joe Madge, is running as a Democrat to challenge Republican state Rep. Micah Caskey for the Statehouse seat he’s held since 2017. Murray, an 80-year-old retired psychologist from Cayce, said South Carolina has long been a state known for its independence. “It’s not what the people want. We know it’s all political,” she said of the redistricting push. #### Columbia At the Columbia Place Mall, home of Richland County’s elections office, a line of cars stretched half the length of the mall with voters waiting for curbside voting. Others clustered under umbrellas waiting to vote inside despite the rain. Several said redistricting wasn’t the only reason they showed up Tuesday, but it often made the list. Thomas and Donna Harris, retirees living in Columbia, said their biggest concerns were rising prices for groceries and gas, but they didn’t like the redistricting effort much, either. “We just want to exercise our rights,” 73-year-old Thomas Harris said, adding that he would be happy to see any Democrat elected. For Columbia-based therapist Michelle Clay, casting her ballot is an important civic duty. Black women like her fought for decades to guarantee their rights to vote, she said. Redistricting only added to her sense of urgency. > [Effort to redraw SC voting lines fails amid record start to early voting](https://scdailygazette.com/2026/05/26/effort-to-redraw-sc-voting-lines-ends-amid-record-start-to-early-voting/?ref=down-ballot.info) “It’s incumbent upon me to make sure I vote every time there’s an opportunity to vote to honor” those who fought for voting rights, Clay said. The proposed map divided Richland County, a Democratic stronghold, into three districts, the most splits of any county. It’s currently split between the 2nd and 6th districts. Other voters showed up Tuesday for scheduling reasons. Sean Hall, who recently graduated from Winthrop University with a degree in psychology, didn’t really keep up with the redistricting debate because he was busy with school, he said. Hall knows voting is important, though, and Tuesday was the only day he could make it to the polls. “That’s what brought me out here, so I can make sure who I want is there when it’s time to vote” in the November general election, Hall said. When that day comes, Clyburn said, he hopes to see people voting in the same numbers and with the same enthusiasm they had Tuesday. “The key to all of this is not just to turn out votes on election day but to sustain them, and I think that is what’s going to tell the story this year,” Clyburn said. *Senior reporter Jessica Holdman contributed to this report.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://scdailygazette.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/05/Budget_mg_0.jpg) Hundreds of Marylanders rally against cuts to services for those with developmental disabilities during the 2026 legislative session. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) ## Budget cuts, looming deadlines put family caregivers in a ‘complete tailspin’ By Danielle J. Brown (Maryland Matters) Published: May 26, 2026 Advocates for people with developmental disabilities warn that upcoming rule changes and wage cuts this summer will be detrimental – particularly for those who self-direct their Medicaid services and have family members help with care. “The entire self-directed community right now is in a complete tailspin and are overwhelmed,” according to Carin Smith of the Concerned Citizens for Self-Direction Advocacy Group. “Stressed, anxiety — they don’t know what they’re going to do.” Smith’s comments follow several webinars hosted by the Maryland Department of Health this month seeking public input on how the state can better implement new restrictions and wage reductions required under the state budget approved this year. That budget includes broad rate reductions and wage cuts across the board. But he self-directed community feels that new restrictions on how family members can provide care for their loved ones with developmental disabilities will be particularly challenging, especially as the workforce for these services faces a shortage. That’s the worry for Tracie Feron, a Baltimore County resident who testified against the budget cuts this session with her son, Connor. “When these wages are cut, who is going to be there besides family as staff?” Feron said. “We can’t just hire anybody to come in with his complex needs, and with the cuts from last year, it is already a strain on this community to find qualified people.” With many of these changes taking place over the summer, advocates worry that there will not be enough time to comply, according to a Friday statement from the Self-Directed Advocacy Network of Maryland, Inc. “SDAN is deeply concerned that the short implementation timeline does not provide enough time for providers and participants to successfully complete the required process and maintain uninterrupted services,” the statement said. “As a result, many individuals risk losing critical supports beginning July 1. “SDAN is urging the State of Maryland to consider the severity and real-life impact of these sudden changes on people with developmental disabilities who depend on stable, uninterrupted services every day,” the statement said. It’s the second year in a row that the Moore administration and lawmakers slashed DDA funding to offset what state officials say is unsustainable cost growth at the agency. Last year, the state cut $164 million from the DDA budget. The General Assembly this year cut $126 million in state funding to the DDA, which oversees the Medicaid waiver that helps provide services to people with significant medical or behavioral needs due to their disabilities. Once federal matching dollars are factored in, the cuts total more than $250 million. People with the Medicaid waiver, or a designated guardian, are able to “self-direct” their care, hiring and firing their own support staff, rather than joining a community provider. About 3,900 people in Maryland self-direct their Medicaid services. Right now, people self-directing their care can hire family members to provide services just as they would someone outside the family – and pay the same wage. But family members who are employed under the Medicaid waiver will be particularly affected by some of the cuts. There is also a process called “wage exceptions” which let people in certain circumstances pay their staff more. For example, one of categories of services, called “personal support,” currently has a maximum wage of $32.45 per hour, but that can grow to $37.01 an hour with a wage exception. Providers in certain counties can get an additional wage boost. The new budget eliminates the wage exception process, capping pay for personal supports at $30 an hour for non-relatives, and $24.14 an hour for family members working as “personal supports.” Those wage reductions and others will begin July 1. Advocates worry that the wage cuts for nonrelatives will lead to people leaving the field entirely, at a time when support services already face a workforce shortage. That would mean that more family members would have to step in for less pay – except the new budget also restricts the hours family members can get paid for their services. Under the new rule, an individual family member taking care of a loved one could only be paid for 40 hours a week, and the maximum number that all family members could be paid for is 60 hours a week. That new rule, if approved by federal officials, will take effect on Sept. 1. How those hours are distributed is up to the waiver recipient. It could split between two family members who work 30 hours each, three members who work 20 hours a week, one parent who works 40 hours while the other works 20, and so on. Nonrelative providers will need to make up the difference, which will be hard if more workers choose to leave disabilities services for a job that pays more. “We are jeopardizing the health and safety of these individuals by allocating dollars, state and federal match dollars based on their need – and then not giving them the services to support the need,” Feron said. The new restriction will need approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, along with other changes under the proposed waiver amendment that will usher in the budget cuts. Shari Dexter, also with Concerned Citizens for Self-Direction, said that advocates are contacting CMS as well as state officials to urge a reconsideration of the cuts, noting that family members who provide self-directed services have made significant life decisions based on the current wages. “There are parents who gave up their jobs,” Dexter said. “And now they’re taking a pay cut. And especially when you have a participant who lives with you — you’re not getting payment for your house, you’re not getting payment for electricity. People still have real daily needs of supporting the participant with clothing, with food … all those things. “Regardless of whether you’re shopping at Target or you’re going to the gas pump, all of these things have gotten more expensive,” she said. But even after hearing public comments from the self-directed community, state health officials stand by the need to cut from the DDA, to contain “unsustainable” program growth. “Costs for this federal Medicaid waiver program have grown by over $920 million in State General Funds over the last five years, representing an increase of more than 144%,” the Maryland Department of Health said in a written statement Friday. “The FY 2027 budget passed by the Maryland General Assembly includes sustainability measures to slow cost growth and align Maryland’s program more closely with federal guidance and best practices. “DDA is committed to working with participants and families, providers, case managers, and advocates to ensure all needed, eligible services are available for participants,” the statement said. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://marylandmatters.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Trump’s $50B Rural Health Bet Meets a Healthcare Desert in North Carolina By Sarah Jane Tribble and Amanda Seitz May 22, 2026 ![A photo of a sign that reads,](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/05/Martin_General_01.jpg) A weathered sign hangs across the drive to the shuttered Martin General Hospital in Williamston, North Carolina. The hospital, the only one in Martin County, closed abruptly in August 2023\. (Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News) WILLIAMSTON, N.C. — Two years after her brother’s death, Debra Pierce still wonders whether the 50-year-old would have survived his heart attack if her local hospital hadn’t closed. “The sad thing is we’ll never know if he could have been saved that night or not, because we don’t have a higher level of care in this county,” Pierce said as she stood outside the mobile home where she last hugged her brother. Emergency crews from a neighboring town worked on Stanley Sears for a half hour but couldn’t revive him for the long drive to the closest hospital, records show. In the tall grass — which would be mowed if Sears were still alive — Pierce swiped through the photos on her phone. She stopped at a picture that showed Sears smiling. Pierce chuckled and then sighed: “Bless him.” ![A man takes a selfie, smiling. His sister is behind him.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/05/Stanley_Sears.jpg?w=750) Stanley Sears and sister Debra Pierce at a Walmart. Sears died after a heart attack in North Carolina’s Martin County the year after the 2023 closure of Martin General Hospital. (Stanley Sears) The local hospital had closed a year before Sears’ death, leaving behind a gutted healthcare system. Martin County does not have paramedics on its ambulances, and it can be 20 miles or more to the closest — and often overcrowded — emergency rooms. The healthcare gaps in Martin County illustrate the finite reach of a $50 billion rural health fund that Republicans crafted to strengthen support for President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending measure, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, last year. Though the cash has not been doled out, Republican candidates in competitive midterm elections — including the closely watched battle for the congressional district that encompasses Martin County — are casting the fund as a lifeline that will shore up critical rural health services across America. The money has been highly anticipated in North Carolina, where most residents live in rural counties. Pierce, a Republican who blames county officials for the hospital closure, said she has faith Trump will help them. “Old man’s doing his job up in there,” she said. On paper, Martin County — home to about 22,000 people — looks like a top contender to receive at least some of the $213 million that’s been earmarked for North Carolina. Yet County Manager Drew Batts said it won’t be the answer for his residents. “The $50 billion is not something that is specifically going to help our situation,” Batts said as he walked into the shuttered hospital in April. “It’s not going to help us get this place reopened.” Martin County won’t get direct relief from Trump’s rural health fund — because its hospital isn’t open. North Carolina is distributing the money among existing health and social service organizations. Plus, federal regulators [set limits](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28059045-cms-rht-26-001-final/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p18/a2813553) on how much can be spent on construction and building renovations. ![A man stands indoors. He stands next to a decorated bulletin board. It reads, "Meet your MGH surgical crew." Below it are sets of photos of hospital staff. The man points with a pen to a photo of a woman.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/05/Drew_Batts.jpg?w=1270) Martin County Manager Drew Batts stands inside the shuttered Martin General Hospital in Williamston, North Carolina, and points to a picture of his wife, who worked there as operating room nurse manager. (Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News) **‘We Can Only Pray’** Martin General Hospital closed abruptly in 2023, surprising employees and shocking patients, who had to be wheeled out on stretchers and transported elsewhere to finish treatment. The closure even stunned local elected leaders, who say the company operating the county-owned hospital, Quorum Health, did not notify them it intended to shut down operations and file for bankruptcy. Quorum spokesperson Lisa Anderson said the company had told county commissioners of the hospital’s ongoing financial challenges. Politicians have spent the years since trying to reopen the hospital, with county taxpayers pouring an estimated $2.9 million into maintenance, utilities, and other costs in the hopes of resuming operations, Batts said. The county is now considering spending at least $1.5 million, he said, to create two higher-level paramedic units with quick-response vehicles, specially equipped with electrocardiogram equipment or other “advanced lifesaving support.” Pierce said she is praying the county can add paramedics and reopen the hospital. “There’s some answered prayers happening every day,” she said. “So, we can only pray and hope, you know?” ![A woman holds up her phone, showing work being done on a mobile home.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/05/Debra_Pierce.jpg?w=1270) Debra Pierce holds up a picture of Stanley Sears, her brother, while standing in the yard of the mobile home he was renovating before his death in 2024\. Pierce believes North Carolina’s Martin County needs higher-level emergency services and a hospital. (Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News) **‘They Just Want To Not Die’** With its nine hospitals, the region’s largest health system is ECU Health, connected to East Carolina University. The system has become a de facto safety net for 29 counties. Batts and Brian Floyd, the Greenville-based system’s chief operating officer, have lobbied state and federal lawmakers, walking them through the shuttered hospital and asking for help. “It’s a real healthcare crisis that has already proven itself to have lost lives that perhaps didn’t have to be lost,” Floyd said. “They just want to not die because there’s nowhere to go when you have an emergency.” Eleisa Ann Evans drove 2½ hours from a small town near the Outer Banks on a recent evening so her aunt could get care at an ECU Health ER in Greenville. Once there, Evans said, staff told her to leave her 79-year-old aunt in the waiting room and wait outside because of capacity issues. Evans said she was outraged at the way the staff treated her. She said she had been standing behind her aunt’s wheelchair while inside and “wasn’t using nobody’s chair.” With Martin General gone, all the surrounding counties are “also in jeopardy,” Floyd said. “No one knows what to do” with that large of a healthcare “desert,” he said. ![In North Carolina, a Healthcare 'Desert' After Hospital Closure (Locator map)](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/i36EW/full.png) What healthcare is left in the county includes one urgent care center, run by a private company, and a nonprofit health clinic, operated by Agape Health Services, which accepts patients from five counties and plans to build another primary care clinic to meet demand. ECU Health signed a letter of intent [last year](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28066926-fully-executed-loi-between-ecu-health-and-martin-county/?ref=down-ballot.info) to reopen Martin General as a rural emergency hospital that would provide outpatient care as well as an ER. Under the terms of the deal, Martin County would pay to refurbish the hospital, and the North Carolina General Assembly would have to give ECU Health $210 million, of which $150 million would pay for the construction of a new inpatient tower at ECU’s Beaufort Hospital. The health system, through its affiliate [Access East](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/561949493/202532049349300043/full?ref=down-ballot.info), won a portion of North Carolina’s $213 million first-year payout from the rural fund. But the federal money can’t be used to reopen Martin General, Floyd said. The five-year Rural Health Transformation Program is slated to be delivered in $10 billion annual increments to states, which applied and competed for the money. North Carolina’s plan creates a [hub-and-spoke model](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2026/05/01/ncdhhs-selects-nc-roots-hub-leads-strengthen-rural-health-care-across-north-carolina?ref=down-ballot.info) that allots money to six large regional leads, including nonprofits such as Access East. Those hubs will distribute money to local entities and coordinate broad initiatives such as improving primary care and fortifying the healthcare workforce, as well as developing “digital solutions,” according to the state’s [hub application](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28067132-rfa-2026-ncroots-hub-lead-entity-final/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p40/a2814671). **An Election Issue** The lack of emergency care in the region has emerged as a top talking point in a close U.S. House race between Rep. Don Davis, a Democrat who represented the district when Martin General closed and is seeking his third term, and Republican Laurie Buckhout. The rural health fund was added at the last minute in 2025 to win votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $900 billion over a decade — cuts that are projected to hit rural hospitals and clinics especially hard. Rural health executives say the fund won’t come close to offsetting those losses. Matt Mercer, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Republican Party, called the rural fund a “once in-a-generation opportunity” for the state. But U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, who was one of three Republican senators to vote against the bill — and who announced shortly before the final vote that he planned to retire from Congress — warned of devastating consequences ahead for healthcare in his state. Buckhout, who declined an interview, plans to attack Davis — a vulnerable incumbent whose district was recently redrawn to favor GOP candidates — for voting against the bill. “Martin County lost its hospital on his watch, and he still opposed the funding meant to help communities like it,” Buckhout campaign spokesperson Stephen Gallagher said in a statement to KFF Health News. The campaign did not respond to additional queries about her plans for healthcare access, if elected. ![A shot of empty chairs lining two walls indoors.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/05/Martin_General_02.jpg?w=1270) An empty waiting room inside the shuttered Martin General Hospital. The hospital’s closure in 2023 surprised employees and patients, who had to be wheeled out on stretchers and transported elsewhere to finish treatment. (Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News) Davis, who signed [a letter](https://dondavis.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/dondavis.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2025.12.16-nc-rhtp-letter-of-support.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from lawmakers in support of North Carolina’s rural health fund application, said the money “is essentially putting a band-aid on a much, much broader situation that needs dire help.” He has [introduced legislation](https://dondavis.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-don-davis-announces-bill-help-reopen-martin-general-hospital?ref=down-ballot.info) that would increase Medicaid reimbursements for rural hospitals, though it has not moved forward. During recent testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington, ECU Health CEO Michael Waldrum said his system expects to lose a billion dollars over the next 10 years from the looming Medicaid cuts. **Overnight Waits for Emergency Care** The region’s emergency rooms offer a stark glimpse of a healthcare system in crisis. Martin General’s ER treated [about 11,000 patients](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28096444-2022-facility-ed/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p52/a2815024) annually before it closed, according to state data. A sign still hangs in the staff break room showing that 23 patients were seen in the ER the day it closed. ECU Health, which owns all but one of the rural hospitals around Martin General, reported a 132% increase in its daily ER visits since the hospital’s closure. The company's nearly 1,000-bed hospital in Greenville, about 40 minutes from Williamston, is the state’s only Level 1 trauma center east of Raleigh. ![Where Martin County Residents Now Go for Emergency Care (Line chart)](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/qYVHm/full.png) The Greenville hospital’s median patient ER wait and treatment time was nearly 4½ hours, according to the most [recent federal data](https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/dataset/yv7e-xc69?ref=down-ballot.info). That’s longer than 96% of thousands of hospitals reporting nationwide. The wait times “don’t reflect poor care,” ECU Health spokesperson Brian Wudkwych said in an emailed statement. He said the system’s ERs treat nearly 300,000 patients annually. While the system has seen an increase in Martin County patients, the wait times primarily stem from shortages of inpatient and behavioral health beds, Wudkwych said. Floyd, the ECU Health chief operating officer, said many rural patients who arrive at the system’s ERs have multiple chronic conditions that require longer visits. Often doctors start treating one problem and then find the patient’s “blood sugar is out of control, your hypertension is far out of control,” he said. ECU staff encourage people who are not too sick to skip Greenville and, instead, seek care at one of the system’s community hospitals, which aren’t as busy, Floyd said. A security officer guarded the Greenville emergency department’s doors on two nights in April. The “capacity notice” sign near the entrance meant family members of patients had to wait in cars or on benches outside. “We’ve only been here six hours,” Tonya Miles said after bringing her mother for a potential blood clot in her leg. The family had left the day before after waiting for two hours, because her mom “wasn’t prepared” for such a delay in treatment, Miles said. ![Two women sit on a bench outside. A man sits between them.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/05/Tonya_Miles.jpg?w=1270) Tonya Miles (right) sits with family outside ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville, North Carolina. Miles said they had “only been here six hours” after bringing her mother to the emergency room for a potential blood clot in her leg. (Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News) On another evening, Olivia Lewis said she had brought her mother two nights previously and left without care after their wait stretched from 10:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. “She tore off her hospital bracelet and said: ‘I’m out. I’m done,’” she said. Now, they were back. On a recent Friday in Martin County, Vannessa Little was sitting at a McDonald’s with her kids just down the street from the closed hospital. Little pointed to one of her girls and wondered how her care would have been different if the hospital had been open. Her daughter, then 6, suffered severe burns over 30% of her body in 2024, and the journey to treatment was “just crazy,” Little said. An ambulance arrived at her Williamston home from neighboring Bertie County to transport them to ECU’s Greenville ER. “That was a long time,” Little said of the 30-mile drive. The girl was ultimately airlifted more than 100 miles to Chapel Hill. Little said she hadn’t heard of Trump’s rural health investment. “The only changes that people are making is they’re taking away everything.” She voted against Trump in 2024 and said she didn’t think she would vote this year. “It’s a waste of my time.” [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* This [article](https://kffhealthnews.org/rural-health/rural-health-fund-hospital-closures-north-carolina-martin-general/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150) ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=2236968&ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0) --- # Lawmakers target hospitals – and Atrium Health in particular – in reform bills by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News May 22, 2026 #### **By Michelle Crouch** Co-published with [The Charlotte Ledger](https://www.thecharlotteledger.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) Atrium Health would have to add four local elected officials to its board under a North Carolina state Senate bill — one of several proposals this session taking aim at the growing power of large hospital systems. The bill, [SB 961](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/S961?ref=down-ballot.info), would also require any meeting of county hospital authority board members to comply with North Carolina open meetings laws, a provision that appears to address concerns that Atrium Health conducts much of its substantive business behind closed doors. Atrium operates both as part of Advocate Health, a $39 billion multistate nonprofit hospital giant, and as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, a public body. Legislative interest in Atrium has intensified in the wake of its [proposed combination with Raleigh-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/05/01/charlotte-based-atrium-health-targets-wakemed-in-proposed-combination/?ref=down-ballot.info), a deal that has [drawn scrutiny](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/05/04/state-officials-lawmakers-press-for-delay-on-wakemed-atrium-deal/?ref=down-ballot.info) from state leaders. Atrium is one of only two county hospital authorities in the state. The other is CarolinaEast, a small system in eastern North Carolina. Sen. Jim Burgin (R-Angier), who sponsored the bill and co-chairs the Senate Health Care Committee, said he is concerned that hospital authorities enjoy the benefits of a public entity — such as tax exemptions and eminent domain powers — without enough public accountability. It’s an issue [previously examined by The Ledger/NC Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/02/05/atrium-health-a-unit-of-local-government-like-no-other/?ref=down-ballot.info). “I talked to a number of people about how authorities are set up, and I think one of the problems is: Are they really governing? Who's on \[the board\], and are they really taking that position seriously and asking the tough questions?” Burgin said. “I think there needs to be some different people on there — people who represent local government, citizens and everybody — so that it's not a closed system.” A second legislative proposal, [SB 978](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/S978?ref=down-ballot.info), would give the state auditor, attorney general and state treasurer new authority to review and potentially challenge major hospital transactions. It would also add whistleblower protections for healthcare workers, limit hospital noncompete clauses and cap nonprofit hospital CEO pay at 400 times the lowest-paid full-time worker’s compensation. Atrium did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the bills. A spokeswoman for the North Carolina Healthcare Association, which represents hospitals, said their group is reviewing both bills. In an email, she said, “Given the significant challenges facing North Carolina hospitals, particularly those serving rural and underserved communities, our hope is that policymakers will support solutions that strengthen hospitals’ ability to care for North Carolinians rather than create additional barriers to delivering that care.” The measures may face a tough road during this year’s short legislative session, especially since they would need approval by the House of Representatives, which has historically been more aligned with hospital interests. But their introduction is a sign that lawmakers are more willing than before to challenge hospitals. “Healthcare is one of our most expensive and fastest-growing costs,” Burgin said. “We’ve got to do something about it.” #### **Questions about closed-door meetings** The Charlotte Ledger/NC Health News [has raised questions about](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/02/05/atrium-health-a-unit-of-local-government-like-no-other/?ref=down-ballot.info) whether Atrium meets the spirit of North Carolina’s open meetings laws, as it is required to do as a public entity. Although the hospital authority’s quarterly board meetings are open to the public by statute, the board does not allow the public to attend committee meetings — where most substantive discussion occurs. The hospital has long argued that its committee meetings are not “official meetings” that must be open to the public, an interpretation some open government experts dispute. Amanda Martin, supervising attorney at the [Duke University School of Law First Amendment Clinic](https://law.duke.edu/firstamendment?ref=down-ballot.info), said the proposed wording in the bill — requiring “any meeting of the commissioners” to be open — would strengthen the argument that committees composed of commissioners would have to be open to the public. Burgin said public entities should conduct as much business as possible in the open and use closed sessions only in limited circumstances. He said he was concerned when he heard that Atrium had planned [an unusually long four-hour closed session](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/29/public-hospital-private-talks/?ref=down-ballot.info) for April 29\. “There were multiple hours of discussion in closed session,” he said. “Closed session is not intended for that. That's open discussion. It’s very narrow the things that they can do in a closed session.” A Ledger/NC Health News reporter attended the April 29 meeting in a conference room at The Pearl, Atrium’s new medical innovation district near uptown Charlotte. It began in open session, as required by law, before the public was ushered out for the closed session. Speakers during the open portion referenced topics to be covered that did not obviously fall under the statutory exceptions cited for closing the meeting. For example, the board chair, Angelique Vincent, told members that the meeting would cover “items you all have raised questions about, or asked for additional information on.” She added, “We have built in time so that we can have a conversation and a dialogue, versus you all just hearing lectures from our speakers.” Another speaker said, "You’ve heard about all the virtual care. We’re going to talk about that today.” Atrium has stressed that it is complying with the law. #### **Standoff on Atrium board nominees** There has also been[ growing tension in Charlotte over the makeup of Atrium’s board](https://www.thecharlotteledger.com/p/county-commissioners-chair-rejects?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcontent=share&action=share). Under[ current law](https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/BySection/Chapter%5F131E/GS%5F131E-18.pdf??ref=down-ballot.info), the only direct authority local government officials have over the hospital authority is that the chair of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners, Mark Jerrell, must approve nominees to its board. For the most part, chairs of the board have routinely approved Atrium’s nominees. But earlier this year, in a rare rebuke, [Jerrell rejected Atrium’s proposed slate](https://www.thecharlotteledger.com/p/county-commissioners-chair-rejects?utm%5Fsource=substack&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcontent=share&action=share), the first such rejection in decades. Jerrell said at the time he wanted broader representation, particularly voices tied to low-income and underserved communities. Atrium did not try to find candidates that addressed Jerrell’s concerns but instead opted to continue operating with the existing board members. When asked about that decision, an Atrium lawyer cited a state law that allows board members to remain in office until successors are appointed and qualified. #### **A proposal to cap CEO pay** Burgin said the hospital CEO compensation cap is aimed at nonprofit hospitals that pay their executives like large private corporations. “Not-for-profits, I think they’ve got to control it,” Burgin said. “I think when a hospital CEO gets to a certain point, people need to say, ‘Wait a minute, you're not-for-profit.” Advocate Health CEO Gene Woods [took home $25.8 million](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/28/gene-woods-ceo-atrium-advocate-49-perecnt-pay-boost/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2024\. Advocate’s hourly minimum wage is $18.85/hour, so a bill capping compensation at 400 times that amount could potentially cap Woods’ compensation at about $15.7 million annually — a 39 percent pay cut. Last week, the intergovernmental committee of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners discussed the hospital authority bill. Although the committee did not take a formal vote, six commissioners said they would support including the bill on the county’s legislative agenda. “The power here is incredible, and it’s very disturbing,” said commissioner Susan Rodriguez-McDowell. “In my view, this is the most profitable nonprofit, and there are no reins to the power.” *NC Health News reporter Ashley Fredde contributed to this story.* *This article is part of a partnership between The Charlotte Ledger and North Carolina Health News to produce* [*original health care reporting*](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/10/04/2-n-c-news-outlets-partner-to-enhance-charlotte-area-health-care-coverage/?ref=down-ballot.info)*. You can support this effort with* [*a tax-deductible donation.*](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/donate%5Fclt/?ref=down-ballot.info) This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/05/22/lawmakers-target-hospitals-and-atrium-health-in-particular-in-reform-bills/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=67953) --- # Union group wants to bolster KC’s affordable housing by investing pension money by Thomas White, Beacon: Kansas City May 19, 2026 Cameron Seip describes his job as being a connector. As the executive director of [Mo-Kan LECET](https://www.workwithliuna.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) — the Western Missouri and Kansas Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust — he tries to make “connections that make sense” among union workers, contractors, developers and governments. All so the union members and contractors he represents are able to create more work opportunities. Many of the people he deals with in Kansas City are increasingly focused on the area’s lack of affordable housing. Seip has a possible solution in mind. “The thing I want to focus on — that I feel we can bring opportunity to — is to create the affordable housing that the city keeps talking about,” Seip said. “And do it in a way that we can help people find careers and opportunity that has longevity.” So for the past couple of years he’s been trying to make a surprising connection that he says may help solve several pieces of the [affordable housing puzzle](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2026/02/19/affordable-housing-kansas-city-energy-efficiency-codes/?ref=down-ballot.info). He’s been trying to introduce Kansas City builders to union pension investors. “It’s basically to introduce all the various investors that we have for our (union) pensions … to developers and people who want to build projects,” he said. “But do it in a way that we can ensure that the project can be used for workforce development for the community at the same time.” Takeaways 1. A Kansas City labor leader pitches union pension investments as a new funding source for affordable housing projects. 2. The proposal would require union labor on related projects while creating apprenticeship and workforce training opportunities for local residents. 3. The Kansas City Housing Authority has had early-stage discussions about whether the model could support its $2.6 billion redevelopment plan. This has been done in cities across the country for decades, but would be unique in Kansas City. Union pensions can be harnessed to finance hard-to-fund affordable housing projects. A developer or agency owns and oversees the project, the construction crews swinging hammers are trained from within the community and earn union wages. When the building is completed, rents pay back loans or bonds, community members have learned a valuable trade, and the pension — supported by hours worked on projects — is a little healthier than before. Seip says he’s floated the idea to several parties, but one is known to have shown early interest. The Kansas City Housing Authority has started early discussions exploring a potential partnership to train community members, fund and work on its ambitious 10-year, [$2.6 billion housing development plan](https://www.hakc.org/utility/openPDF/kchamo/HAKC%5FDevelopment%5FPlan.pdf?alt=media&ref=down-ballot.info). The talks with organized labor were first acknowledged publicly May 1\. Mayor-appointed Housing Authority Commissioner Tate Williams — also a community housing banker for the Central Bank of Kansas City — described discussions during a Greater Kansas City Regional Housing Partnership [forum](https://www.marc.org/event/building-housing-construction-workforce-strategies-develop-talent-pipeline-meet-demand-kansas?ref=down-ballot.info). “The Housing Authority has begun forming a relationship with the laborers union,” Williams said. “It’s a really creative partnership that we’re discussing … possibly even financing through pension investments, some of the projects that the laborers union would then construct. And as part of that, would develop a workforce partnership with the residents of the complex in which they’re working.” Nothing is set in stone. A handful of preliminary conversations, by Seip’s account, do not add up to a deal. But they do present an intriguing possibility that could address several community needs. Kansas City needs affordable housing, it needs funding for affordable housing, and it will need more trades workers as [construction booms locally](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2026/03/18/kansas-city-data-centers-ai-job-security/?ref=down-ballot.info). Pension funds tied to organized labor have helped fill funding gaps — in exchange for union labor working on the projects they fund — for affordable housing in cities like Boston, Chicago and St. Louis. The projects trained locals in the trades, and the workers left with union benefits including [higher wages](https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/labor-unions-and-the-us-economy?ref=down-ballot.info), healthcare and a pension. Here’s how it might work in Kansas City. ![A crew of construction workers in hard hats and high-visibility vests pour concrete from an overhead pump onto a rebar-reinforced deck, with steel framing for a building rising in the background under a blue sky.](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-16-1024x576.png) Union laborers pour and finish a concrete deck on a Kansas City-area construction site. (Courtesy photo) ## Size of the problem(s) The local affordable housing need is well documented. The Mid-America Regional Council estimated that the region was short 63,828 affordable rental units in 2023\. The Kansas City Housing Authority reported 14,347 applications on its public housing waitlist and 27,523 on its housing voucher waitlist in their [2026 annual plan](https://www.hakc.org/utility/openPDF/kchamo/2026%5FAnnual%5FPlan%5FDraft%5F.pdf?alt=media&ref=down-ballot.info). Meanwhile, the money to chip away at that shortage lags well behind the need. Because financing for affordable housing is difficult to find, Kansas City voters approved an additional [$50 million for the city’s Housing Trust Fund](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2022/11/02/kansas-city-ballot-question-2-election-2022/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2022\. Since 2021, it has helped finance the construction or preservation of more than 2,000 units — a small fraction of the local shortfall. At a February Keystone housing forum, Local Initiatives Support Corp. Greater Kansas City Executive Director Geoff Jolley put the gap between that funding and the demand in stark relief. “The city has received over $1 billion dollars in requests for the Housing Trust Fund for $75 million worth of funding,” Jolley said. “The need is out there.” The question of who would build all that housing is its own problem. Nate Zier, executive director at the National Institute for Construction Excellence, was blunt about it at a May 1 housing forum put on by the Greater Kansas City Regional Housing Partnership. “The biggest constraint right now isn’t land. It’s not materials — though the prices of materials are certainly cause for concern at times,” Zier said. “A big part of it, if you ask around, it’s the workforce.” Citing national data, Zier said about 41% of construction workers are set to retire by 2031\. He noted that while there are now some strong programs to bring young workers into the fold, the pipeline of qualified professionals behind those about to retire isn't keeping pace. “It’s not just a shortage,” he said. “It’s a mismatch between the skills we need and the pipeline that we’ve built.” The structure of the housing construction industry also doesn’t help. Residential construction is fragmented compared to commercial construction. Small businesses, subcontractors and independent crews stitch residential jobs together, which means people doing the work have less stability and less access to things like healthcare, retirement and formal training pathways. “Workforce development isn’t just about keeping people in or getting people in,” Zier said. “It’s about creating a system where they can stay employed and stay active.” Seip is pitching the union pension funding solution to address all three challenges — a lack of affordable housing, the need for funding and a high demand for a workforce to build it — at the same time. ## How union pension-funded housing works To understand how Seip’s proposal could work, look at South Boston. [Old Colony](http://www.bostonplans.org/projects/development-projects/old-colony-phase-4-and-5?ref=down-ballot.info), originally built in 1940, was one of the Boston Housing Authority’s largest properties, spanning 16 acres and 22 buildings. When the city went to rebuild it, conventional financing wasn’t enough. Starting in 2010, the Boston Housing Authority partnered with the state housing finance agency and a private developer to redevelop the site in phases. The financing they leaned on came in large part from the [AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust](https://www.aflcio-hit.com/project/old-colony/?ref=down-ballot.info). The trust pools portions of union member pensions and public employee retirement plans across the country and invests in housing construction. The AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust has put more than [$240 million](https://www.aflcio-hit.com/project/old-colony-phases-four-and-five/?ref=down-ballot.info) into redeveloping hundreds of housing units in the [Old Colony](https://www.thehomesatoldcolonybc.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) project so far. [Since the trust began](https://www.aflcio-hit.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/AFLCIO-HIT-Project-Impacts-1Q26.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in 1984, it has helped finance 632 projects that produced 248,600 jobs and 217 million hours worked nationwide. “Cities across our country face an affordability crisis only made worse by the pandemic. In Boston, union capital and union labor are proactively addressing that need,” said AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust Chief Executive Officer Chang Suh in a [2023 release.](https://www.aflcio-hit.com/news/the-city-of-boston-and-union-investment-a-conversation-with-the-ceo-of-the-afl-cio-hit/?ref=down-ballot.info) The money came with one condition: Every project funded by union pensions had to be built by 100% union labor. Over the course of the project nearly 2.4 million hours of union labor went into the project. “If our (union pension) money is involved in any way, then part of that agreement is that the work will be done with signatory contractors who participate in our apprenticeship and employ our members,” Seip said. There are [currently 31 projects](https://www.aflcio-hit.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/AFLCIO-HIT-Construction-Report-2026-03-31.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) under construction funded in part by the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust nationwide, totaling just under $1 billion dollars from union pensions. Due east down Interstate 70 in St. Louis, the housing investment trust has [invested $614.2 million in 32 projects](https://www.aflcio-hit.com/st-louis/?ref=down-ballot.info) over 30 years. Seip told The Beacon that his [group of laborers](https://www.mkldc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) unions could tap pension funds beyond the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust to fund housing projects in Kansas City. He said there are also the Laborers International Union of North America’s pensions, largely [held by Fengate Capital](https://issuu.com/fengatemktg/docs/fengate%5Flabour%5Fimpact%5Freport%5F2025-cad?fr=sNzNkNzg0NzMyMTg&ref=down-ballot.info), and a series of smaller diversified funds from varied union trades and regions. He says the exact funding source that could be used would depend on the specific project. “Imagine the Mississippi, it’s a huge river and that’s the main source but you also have lots of little rivers flowing into it,” Seip said. “We do these things collectively and that’s how we find these opportunities of strength.” ![Two young men sit at a folding table reviewing paperwork and using a calculator during a construction trades classroom session, with notebooks and a tape measure spread across the table.](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-17-1024x576.png) Two apprentices work through coursework during a construction trades training session. (Courtesy photo) ## Workforce development engine Those investments don’t just build housing. Boston paired the construction with a nonprofit pre-apprenticeship workforce development program that gave Old Colony residents a path into the construction trades. Residents were also given the first crack at the jobs rebuilding their neighborhoods. The structure of the workforce pipeline associated with a union pension-funded project in Kansas City hasn’t been finalized, but there are options. In addition to other training programs, East High School is expected to have classes mirroring those of the laborers union’s training center starting this fall. Those classes would allow graduates to enter the union’s apprenticeship at a more advanced stage, not too differently than taking college credits while in high school. While pre-apprenticeship does not have a union requirement, the next step of apprenticeship would require signing on with a union contractor to work on pension-funded projects. Seip said that is partially because training is paid for by signatory contractors based on the number of hours worked. The same is also true for the union’s healthcare and the pension itself. “If we’re the funding device, we’re priming our own pump,” Seip said. “And there’s good reason for (developers) to be interested in that, because the quality of work, the workforce development we do for the community, the way that we combine with the community, it’s really just a lot of upside.” The Kansas City International Airport is a glimpse of what that training and support could look like. A three-week pre-apprenticeship training program run with construction trades and paid for by the project’s developer [graduated about 200 students across 10 classes](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2023/02/16/airport-construction-jobs/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com). About 65% were people of color and roughly 70% remained in construction after they graduated. Seip stressed that the union was open to everyone, and they would seek to have as many local residents working on these proposed projects as possible. “The point of hiring local is so that locals can feel the employment,” Seip said. “When you have people that live here, get their paychecks from contractors here, buy their groceries here, you actually feel it within the economy, you feel it through income taxes, it helps the school system, it helps it all.” ![A portrait of Rita Johnson and Jennifer Hart in front of the construction site.](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Hartline-Canva-1024x576.jpg) After graduating from the workforce training program to work on the KCI project, Rita Johnson (left) began working as a laborer for Hartline Construction, where her boss is Jennifer Hart. (Chase Castor/The Beacon) ## Could a partnership in Kansas City work? “We’re looking at all relationships everywhere,” Seip said. “If somebody wants to meet with us and learn about what our pension investors need for us to all strike a deal, then I welcome all conversations.” While they are the first to be tied publicly to the idea — at least in early discussions — the Kansas City Housing Authority did not reply to requests for comment. A partnership could make sense given the housing authority’s stated goals and desire to find unconventional solutions for the ambitious set of projects. In November, housing authority commissioners [approved a $2.6 billion plan](https://www.hakc.org/news-archives/housing-authority-of-kansas-city-mo-announces-26-billion-development-plan-to-redefine-affordable-housing-and-economic-opportunity?ref=down-ballot.info) to redevelop all of the city’s existing public housing over 10 years. The multiphase project would result in 7,159 units of new and rehabilitated mixed-income housing. For a project that size, the housing authority’s Executive Director Nona C. Eath [said in an interview with LISC in March](https://www.lisc.org/kansas-city/regional-stories/building-beyond-housing-how-kansas-citys-housing-authority-is-driving-community-transformation/?ref=down-ballot.info) that it would take some creative partnerships. “It is going to take everybody. It’s not just a specific group. We anticipate partnering with local, state and federal agencies,” Eath said. “We’re looking at development partners locally, businesses and entrepreneurial groups to see what opportunities exist. We’re talking to resident groups and neighborhoods. We’re talking with financial partners. So, it’s everybody.” Two other things about the housing authority’s situation make Seip’s pitch line up more closely than it might first appear. The first is wage law. The housing authority’s federally subsidized projects will almost certainly be bound by the [Davis-Bacon act](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/government-contracts/construction?ref=down-ballot.info), which requires workers on such projects to be paid prevailing wage. The cost premium often associated with fully union jobsites is negated when prevailing wage is already required by federal law. Hiring law also points to alignment of ideas. Federally funded projects have mandated hiring preferences for low-income workers and residents of public housing. Seip has described this as key to the union’s mission to invest in the community. “The idea is to look at the communities within Kansas City, find the ones that would benefit from the most opportunity,” Seip said. “And figuring out a way to inject wages as the opportunity into the community.” ## Limitations and unknowns The first limitation is that the idea is in its infancy in Kansas City, with only conversations and no flagship deals or details just yet. “This would look like something that we haven’t seen before,” Seip said. “So we have to be ready to pivot in the moment.” Another challenge is likely to be the 100% union requirement on pension-funded projects. Even setting aside anti-union bias, there is no formal homebuilders’ union in Kansas City. The pool of union signatory contractors in general is also not as deep as in cities like Boston or Chicago. Spreading awareness of the potential opportunity to local contractors and people interested in the trades is a high priority. “Our membership should have a wide variety of all of the people who are interested in being builders,” Seip said. “We are certainly not gatekeepers. And the only thing that we ask is show up with readiness to join in.” Political headwinds may also be building as President Donald Trump has proposed [a $10.7 billion cut](https://bipartisanpolicy.org/article/president-trumps-fy2027-budget-overview-of-housing-programs/?ref=down-ballot.info) to federal housing programs, including Community Development Block Grants and rental assistance. What happens next depends on someone, a developer or agency, taking the leap. Seip has a handful of possibilities, but no firm commitments just yet. For now, the work is focused mostly on introductions — the meetings, the explanations, making the case for a model that has built tens of thousands of homes elsewhere and none in Kansas City. Whether any of it results in concrete and steel will come down to a decision made by a developer or agency. That choice has not yet been made. But the pieces are in place to make it possible. Pension capital is sitting in trusts that already invest in housing, just not here. A workforce pipeline is being assembled while a housing crisis is deepening by the year. And a man whose job is to make introductions keeps walking into rooms in Kansas City, looking for the person willing to be first. “To me, it’s the builders of our community trying to solve the problems that we hear everybody talk about, and very few coming to the table with solutions,” Seip said. “The reason that we’re at the table trying to make sure that these projects happen is because everyone benefits when the whole community has the basic needs for what this life requires.” This [article](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2026/05/19/union-kc-affordable-housing-investing-pension/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Beacon: Kansas City](https://thebeaconnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/iconbeacon-150x150.png?crop=1) ![](https://thebeaconnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=33376) --- # Rights for sexual assault survivors at stake in proposed NC legislation by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press May 28, 2026 *Editor’s note: This article mentions sexual assault.* **Witlee Ethan** may finally get some semblance of justice. Next week, the state Senate may take up a bill that includes certain rights for sexual assault survivors. It’s taken Ethan years to get this far. Ethan reported in 2021 that she had been raped in 2020, according to the Cornelius Police Department incident report. But when she went to the Cornelius Police Department, they didn’t seem to believe her, she told [Carolina Public Press](https://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). Local police took 110 days — 65 days past the legal deadline — to send her sexual assault evidence collection kit, commonly referred to as a rape kit, to the State Crime Laboratory, she said. By the time the state lab found male DNA in her rape [kit](https://carolinapublicpress.org/56185/as-ncs-decades-old-rape-kits-are-tested-new-dna-evidence-emerges/?ref=down-ballot.info), Ethan was told her case had been closed. Police would not bring her perpetrator in for questioning, and they would not get his DNA for a comparison. A day later, she decided to write a bill. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** The Cornelius Police Department did not respond to questions about the case prior to publication. If approved, the [bill](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/hb308?ref=down-ballot.info) would allow sexual assault survivors to request information about the location and testing status of their rape kit. They would also be able to request written notice 60 days before their rape kit is set to be destroyed and have the right to ask to preserve the evidence longer. Survivors would be allowed to have an advocate or support person to accompany them during court proceedings. Finally, the attorney general would have to publish a clear list of victims’ rights online and distribute it to [hospitals](https://carolinapublicpress.org/41683/rape-victims-need-help-from-specialized-nurses-but-no-one-in-nc-keeps-track-of-them/?ref=down-ballot.info). It’s not everything Ethan wanted; it’s not even close. But over the course of the past six years, Ethan has made scores of phone calls to attorneys, the police, lawmakers and anyone who might be able to help. She’s heard “no” more often than not. To finally hear a “yes” would send a message to her perpetrator: “You didn’t win.” ### Witlee’s story Ethan says she was sexually assaulted at a location in Cornelius over a period of more than 10 hours on Jan. 6, 2020, according to the police report. She told CPP that the attacker was a man she had met on a dating site, who held her hostage and assaulted her many times. Shortly after the man released Ethan, she got an examination. While the police had her rape kit, she was in survival mode and wasn’t ready to file a police report. “I knew it would automatically be ‘he said, she said,’ and I just still wasn't in a state where I could be interrogated and made to be like this is somehow your fault,” Ethan said. In November 2021, she did officially file a police report. Ethan said police told her that when they spoke with the man about the accusations, he lawyered up and was not brought in for questioning. By April 2023, the Cornelius police got her tested rape kit back from the state lab. Male DNA was found inside. Still, Ethan’s case would not move forward. The Cornelius PD chose to close it, and the Mecklenburg County district attorney’s office did not take it up. Ethan felt like law enforcement assumed she was lying, and didn’t take her seriously. “I don't think that the police are getting the [proper training](https://carolinapublicpress.org/28869/understanding-trauma-surivivors-transforms-police-training-for-rape-cases/?ref=down-ballot.info) on how to interact with victims and survivors,” she said. ### Legislative hurdles Ethan knows she will likely not ever get full justice in her case. Nonetheless, she’s fought tooth-and-nail for the past two years for a small piece of justice, not only for her, but for millions of other sexual assault survivors. In mid-2024, Ethan got in contact with **Skye David**, staff attorney for the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault. It was too late in the year to file a bill for the 2024 session, so with the help of David, Ethan focused on getting meetings with lawmakers across the aisle and chambers to drum up support for the 2025 legislative session. Eventually, Rep. **Allen Buansi**, D-Orange, agreed to draft the bill. At first, it was much broader. Under the original bill, when someone reported a sexual assault, they would be assigned a victim advocate to work with law enforcement on their behalf and accompany them to court proceedings. Suspects would immediately be brought in for questioning and law enforcement would collect a DNA sample from them, by warrant or a district attorney order, if necessary. Law enforcement officers dealing with sexual assault cases would have to undergo trauma-informed sensitivity training on how to interact with victims. It would have required further review before accused perpetrators could file defamation suits against victims to try and protect victims from retaliation. It would also bar survivors’ medical, mental health and sexual history from being used to discredit them during these proceedings. Finally, it included several provisions dealing with rape kits. Buansi brought several stakeholders to the table, including CASA, the North Carolina Department of Justice, the Conference of District Attorneys, rape crisis centers and sexual assault nurse examiners. What resulted from those conversations was a series of sexual assault victim rights: - Victims can request information about the location of their rape kit, and whether it has been tested; - Victims can request written notice of the destruction of their rape kit at least 60 days in advance; - Victims can request that their rape kit be preserved longer as evidence; - Victims may have an advocate or support person present during court proceedings; and - The attorney general must publish a “plain-language” list of victims’ rights online and distribute it to hospitals. “They stripped it bare, pretty much,” Ethan said. Buansi told Carolina Public Press that if he had it his way, the bill would include much more. “One thing that I've said at the outset of that process is that the bill itself, it's a start,” he said. “It's not the end of what all needs to be done to empower survivors and victims to bring people to justice who commit these sorts of crimes.” He can’t quite remember what the opposition was to some of the abandoned provisions. Ethan recalled concerns over violating the due process rights of perpetrators, and the amount of work it would take to implement some of the changes. “I was like, can we at least give them something, because I know I had to keep calling, and I had to keep trying to wait for answers,” she said. “I even called the State Crime Lab, and they're like, we can't talk to you, you have to talk to the police, and it's like, well, what do you do if the police won't talk to you?” Eventually, the sexual assault victims’ rights provisions were added to a bill, [House Bill 771](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/h771?ref=down-ballot.info). In April 2025, it passed the House easily, in a 111-3 vote. Then, it got stuck in the Senate Rules Committee for a year. ### Awaiting hope for sexual assault survivors Ethan’s bill wasn’t a priority, she was told. It wasn’t going to make it in the 2025 session, and the 2026 session would be mostly focused on the budget and amendments. There probably wouldn’t be interest in moving her bill forward. “I think there's a larger issue with bills that are good ideas that are passed by the House that are not moving,” Buansi said. “And then, on the flip side, on the Senate side, I know that there have been some good bills passed on the Senate side that haven't moved on the House side.” So, Ethan decided to focus on drumming up support for her original bill, which she is now calling the HOPE Act, to refile in 2027\. In a twist of fate, things changed last month. Her bill was added to a different bill, [House Bill 308](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/hb308?ref=down-ballot.info), which passed the House last year and is now in the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee approved the bill, which also includes a series of other criminal law provisions. Ethan said she’s been told lawmakers will vote on it next week. Still, nothing is guaranteed. Before she can celebrate, she has to jump over a few more legislative hurdles. First, the Senate has to actually vote to pass the bill. Then, the state House must approve the changes made to the bill since the last time its members voted on it, including the sexual assault victims’ rights provisions. If they do, the bill will go to Gov. **Josh Stein**’s desk to sign. If they cannot agree, a small group of lawmakers from each chamber will get together behind closed doors to negotiate a final version, which may or may not include the sexual assault victims’ rights provision. This is a stepping stone for Ethan. Whether she succeeds or not, she plans to fight for her bill again next session. “I'm just hoping and praying that my story will help do that — protect and save as many lives as possible — because then it just makes it a lot easier to accept that this happens,” she said. “Because the wrongs have been righted and something good came from something so bad.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75726/rights-for-sexual-assault-survivors-at-stake-in-proposed-nc-legislation/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=75726) --- # Bayer promises to suspend ‘unfair provisions’ in seed contracts for several years, Trump administration announces by Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest May 22, 2026 Loyalty programs have been part of the seed and chemical industry — typically, the seeds and pesticides required to grow commodity crops [are sold together](https://investigatemidwest.org/2020/12/04/buy-it-or-else-inside-monsanto-and-basfs-moves-to-force-dicamba-on-farmers/?ref=down-ballot.info) — for decades. Some have termed them “[velvet handcuffs](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/04/01/in-tough-times-they-sold-farmers-cheaper-fungicides-a-top-manufacturer-syngenta-intervened/?ref=down-ballot.info)” that are designed to fend off generic competitors, which sell cheaper options to resellers. Major seed and chemical companies have argued they spend years and millions of dollars producing their products and then the patent ends. When that happens, generics can undercut their profits. Companies have also sued generic companies when they try to enter the market, alleging copyright infringement. Bayer has agreed to suspend for seven years pillars of its loyalty programs, which Trump administration officials called “unfair provisions” that “pose a danger to competition,” the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday. The agreement relates to how Bayer sells the seeds it produces through years of research and development. Bayer sells corn and soybean seeds to middlemen who then sell to farmers. To maintain the middlemen’s loyalty, Bayer implemented incentives that prevented resellers from seeking out potentially cheaper alternatives, according to the DOJ. Loyalty programs in the chemical and seed industries have led to higher prices for farmers, federal authorities have said. The DOJ did not immediately respond when asked why the agreement was for seven years. Bayer did not respond when asked by Investigate Midwest if it planned to reinstate the provisions after the agreement ended, but the company said in a general statement that it accepted the agreement because it believes “these changes made sense” for Bayer and its resellers. With few specifics of the agreement public, it’s hard to judge how effective the deal will be at lowering prices for farmers, said Bill Freese, the science director at the Center for Food Safety, which has [studied](https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/files/cfsmonsantovsfarmerreport11305.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the effect of seed industry concentration on farmers. “While vigorous antitrust actions are needed in the seed-pesticide sphere,” he said, “these modest agreements with Bayer do not go nearly far enough to help American farmers suffering from Trump’s anti-farmers policies.” The DOJ [said](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antitrust-division-secures-seed-tying-and-loyalty-program-commitments-bayer?ref=down-ballot.info) Bayer’s loyalty program was a “key subject” of the department’s Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation into the corn and soybean seed markets. Under the program, Bayer required resellers to meet sales targets for both corn and soybean to qualify for discounts from Bayer. This arrangement “raised concerns that Bayer was anticompetitively tying corn seed and soybean seed,” the DOJ said in its announcement. The company dropped the connection for the 2025 planting year, according to the DOJ. Another aspect of Bayer’s loyalty program involved incentives that the DOJ said might limit resellers’ willingness to purchase seeds from Bayer’s competitors. The incentives are not detailed in the DOJ’s announcement, and the DOJ did not respond to a request for comment asking what they were. Loyalty programs have been part of the seed and chemical industry — typically, the seeds and pesticides required to grow commodity crops [are sold together](https://investigatemidwest.org/2020/12/04/buy-it-or-else-inside-monsanto-and-basfs-moves-to-force-dicamba-on-farmers/?ref=down-ballot.info) — for decades. Some have termed them “[velvet handcuffs](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/04/01/in-tough-times-they-sold-farmers-cheaper-fungicides-a-top-manufacturer-syngenta-intervened/?ref=down-ballot.info)” that are designed to fend off generic competitors, which sell cheaper options to resellers. Major seed and chemical companies have argued they spend years and millions of dollars producing their products and then the patent ends. When that happens, generics can undercut their profits. Companies have also sued generic companies when they try to enter the market, alleging copyright infringement. The seed and chemical industry is highly concentrated. The first Trump administration oversaw three mergers, including Bayer’s purchase of Monsanto, that further consolidated the marketplace. [Just two companies](https://investigatemidwest.org/2023/10/18/graphic-two-companies-control-more-than-half-of-the-corn-soybean-and-cotton-markets/?ref=down-ballot.info), Bayer and Corteva, sell more than half of all corn and soybean seeds in the U.S., according to 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture research. The companies also own the vast majority of [patents](https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/12/16/graphic-bayer-corteva-control-vast-majority-of-gmo-seed-patents/?ref=down-ballot.info) related to corn and soybeans. When the Biden administration took over in 2021, officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture [created](https://www.ams.usda.gov/press-release/usda-launches-interagency-working-group-competition-and-intellectual-property-seeds?ref=down-ballot.info) a working group — along with the U.S. Patent Office, the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ — to address the industry’s concentration. A USDA spokesperson said the working group’s “activities have wound down,” but the department “continues to coordinate” with the patent office on “seed and plant variety protection issues.” Part of the Biden administration’s initiative was [creating](https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/11/13/trumps-victory-throws-new-usda-framework-on-seed-industry-into-question/?ref=down-ballot.info) a new Farmer Seed Liaison to receive complaints from farmers about potentially anti-competitive practices. The [complaint page](https://www.usda.gov/farmerfairness?ref=down-ballot.info) is still on the USDA’s website. In 2025, Trump officials at the USDA and the DOJ signed a [memo](https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2025-09-29-doj-usda-mou-farm-inputs.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) stating they would maintain their “cooperative relationship” to protect farmers from high input costs. The DOJ’s announcement said the agreement with Bayer partly grew out of this relationship. Also under Biden, the FTC sued two major industry players, Corteva and Syngenta, over their loyalty programs related to pesticide sales. The FTC [alleged](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc%5Fgov/pdf/0149-2023-10-05-Lesser-Redacted-Amended-Complaint-%28PursuanttoSept28Order148%29.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the programs limited competition, which then raised chemical prices for farmers. The FTC cited internal emails from Corteva employees where they discuss preventing sales from other companies. “Our team truly has done an A+ job blocking generics,” one email read. The FTC’s lawsuit is ongoing. A class-action lawsuit with similar allegations is also ongoing. Bayer is not a subject of either lawsuit. Both Trump administrations have generally been lenient with corporations who faced government investigations over alleged wrongdoing. In his first term, the USDA [hamstrung](https://investigatemidwest.org/2022/08/04/congress-could-beef-up-meatpacking-oversight-this-fall-but-obstacles-to-enforcement-remain/?ref=down-ballot.info) an independent agency tasked with investigating unfair market practices in the meat industry. Since taking office again, the administration has canceled enforcement actions against 153 companies, [according to Public Citizen](https://www.citizen.org/article/canceled-corporate-enforcement-trump-first-year-second-term/?ref=down-ballot.info). The DOJ’s antitrust division has also [lost hundreds of attorneys](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/03/31/trump-promised-to-investigate-meatpacking-antitrust-staff-gutted/?ref=down-ballot.info) and employees that could help build cases against industry behemoths. This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/05/22/bayer-doj-loyalty-programs-antitrust/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=759494&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- # As Sarah T. Reed High School shutters, teachers worry that school closures will become the new normal by Safura Syed, Verite News New Orleans May 26, 2026 Teacher Younne Reid learned that his school would be closing while watching the news. Rumors that Sarah T. Reed High School would close had been swirling for months by the time the board of Einstein Charter Schools, the nonprofit that operates Reed, [voted in November](https://www.wwno.org/education/2025-11-16/new-orleans-east-charter-to-close-sarah-t-reed-merge-other-schools?ref=down-ballot.info) to close it at the end of the school year. But until he saw the news report, Reid had given those rumors little credence. After the word was out, Reid, who teaches physical and environmental science and is the school’s head track coach, said he saw the school community change as the reality of the impending closure sank in. “You could see the sadness on the kids’ faces,” Reid said. “I probably felt the pain from the students point of view, because … you don’t want to put students in a situation where they have to think about relocation. Everybody understands how devastating it was to relocate from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, so it's the same situation.” The board [cited](https://953277bc-047f-4c75-86dd-2a43a6ce9578.filesusr.com/ugd/4d01de%5Ffef4e0eb51df477d8ef7906302da2206.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) declining enrollment, below-average academic performance and poor facilities for the decision to close Reed. At the same November meeting Einstein board members also voted to consolidate three of its primary schools into one campus, a move that would bring all of its K-8 students into one facility. Though the vote took him by surprise, Reid said he was grateful for the timing of the announcement, which would give teachers enough time to plan for the future and find other jobs. While the decision originated with Einstein, the NOLA Public Schools district — which regulates the dozens of nonprofit charter operators that make up the city’s educational landscape — has encouraged those groups to [consider closing and consolidating ](https://www.wwno.org/education/2025-11-16/new-orleans-east-charter-to-close-sarah-t-reed-merge-other-schools?ref=down-ballot.info)their schools as the city’s population declines, and fewer children fill seats in classrooms. But the Einstein vote left parents and students with questions, and teachers with the reality of having to find new jobs. Einstein, shrinking its footprint from four schools to one, planned to lay off 81 employees, [according to a notice](https://www.laworks.net/Downloads/WFD/WarnNotices2026.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) it submitted to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. Reed has around 50 employees, and around 25 of them are teachers, said principal D’Lacie Monk. Monk was a principal at the school between 2019 and 2024 before briefly moving to Einstein’s central office. She was brought back to Reed earlier this school year to oversee the school’s transition. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/22104308/20260520_CZB_REEDlastday_141.jpg) Moving boxes lean against stacked chairs in an emptied out classroom at Sarah T. Reed High School in New Orleans East on the students’ final day in the building. “It was hard, it really was, to know that for one, the school is closing and people will be without jobs, but that’s education now,” Monk said. “The money’s not going to education the way it's supposed to be. And that’s just how it is now, it's so unfortunate.” Enrollment decline in public school is a [nationwide problem](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/declining-public-school-enrollment/?ref=down-ballot.info), according to experts like Josh Bleiberg, an assistant professor of education policy at the University of Pittsburgh. “Almost every school district is dealing with this challenge, or at least considering, whether or not schools need to be closed, and it’s a very complicated one to solve,” Bleiberg said. “I think it’d be pretty tricky for anyone to know with confidence today whether that choice is right, even though there are probably a lot of places where it is the right choice.” The New Orleans charter system relies on school closure for its accountability system to function. Low-performing schools are closed for poor academic performance or for otherwise failing to live up to the obligations outlined in their charter contracts. But recently, more schools have chosen to voluntarily relinquish their charters. In nearby Jefferson Parish, [Black and Hispanic students](https://hechingerreport.org/a-school-closure-cliff-is-coming-black-and-hispanic-students-are-likely-to-bear-the-brunt/?ref=down-ballot.info) were most likely to be affected by school closures when the district elected to close 6 schools in 2023\. Nationwide, school closures are more likely to affect students of color, as they are often placed in under-resourced schools due to racial inequity and disinvestment. The same is true in New Orleans, where the overwhelming majority of public school students are Black while less than one in 10 are white. In the city, 60% of youth under 20 are Black, 23% are white and 12% are Hispanic, according to [The Data Center](https://www.datacenterresearch.org/data-resources/new-orleans-youth-dashboard/?ref=down-ballot.info). But students at New Orleans public schools are 74% Black, 9% white and 13% Hispanic, according to the most recent state counts. The five schools with the highest proportion of white students all have “A” [performance scores](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/20/new-orleans-schools-letter-grades-performance-scores/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the state and are therefore likely safe from a district-imposed closure. But this year saw one high-rated majority-Black school close voluntarily. In March, KIPP New Orleans announced that [Frederick A. Douglass High School,](https://veritenews.org/2026/03/18/kipp-new-orleans-frederick-douglass-closing/?ref=down-ballot.info) an A-rated school, would be absorbed by John F. Kennedy High School. English teacher Brad Arsenaux is working through his second school closure in the past three years. He was working at Grace King High School when it was closed by Jefferson Parish three years ago, before coming to Reed. He said dealing with closures is going to be the new normal in education. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/22104448/20260520_CZB_REEDlastday_212.jpg) Brad Arsenaux, an english teacher, stands in the doorway of his empty classroom on the students’ final day at Sarah T. Reed High School's Michoud Boulevard campus. “There was a lot of sleepless nights where I was like, ‘What the hell am I going to do now?’” Arsenaux said. “It took me this long to find this job. Now I got to go find another job in a system where jobs are shrinking daily?” Even with the teacher shortage in Louisiana, Arsenaux said many open positions might not be attractive to those seeking employment. He’s been working in schools for the past 15 years, and has a pension plan through the Teachers' Retirement System of Louisiana, which many charter schools in the city don’t offer. Collegiate Academies, the charter system that operates Livingston High School — which will take on Sarah T. Reed’s name next fall — doesn’t offer TRSL. Einstein, its current operator, does. That creates a difficult choice even for those Reed educators interested in preserving their school’s legacy. Arsenaux wasn’t alone in his anxiety about the future. Meeting minutes from a board meeting last November, when members voted to shrink Einstein, noted, “Teachers reported concerns about job security, benefits/retirement implications, and the need for clearer timelines and transition guidance; the committee noted increased anxiety and uncertainty among staff.” ### **‘Never given a chance’** Despite the school’s deteriorating conditions, teachers that Verite News spoke with lamented the closure, saying that Reed had potential to grow. The decision to close the school came weeks before school performance scores for the previous school year were released. Reed received a “C,” a bump from a previous “D.” “I believe that we were doing a phenomenal job as teachers and educators in terms of what was given to us to work with,” Reid said. “When you're in a situation where you have diverse kids, \[English learner\] kids — kids from different countries that doesn't speak English — it takes a little while for you to get going with them.” The school’s diversity is what attracted some of the teachers that Verite News spoke with to the school, along with its tight knit sense of community. It's different from other New Orleans schools, said math teacher Thai Nguyen, who has worked at Reed since it opened under Einstein in 2016\. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/22104859/20260520_CZB_REEDlastday_363.jpg) Doris Molizone, a cook at Sarah T. Reed High School, hugs a teacher goodbye on the students final day of school. “I’m gonna miss feeding the babies,” Molizone said. “It is truly a neighborhood school, because we have \[Einstein’s Village De L'Est Elementary\] right down the street, the elementary, we have middle school upstairs, high school downstairs, so we actually get to see the siblings and the family,” Nguyen said. “They walk to school, the students, the kids, they live right around the corner, we know the parents and the family, so that's what makes Reed unique.” Close to half of the students at Reed and Village De L'Est Elementary are Hispanic. And the schools have among the highest percentages of English learners in the city — with 30 and 45 percent of their total enrollment, respectively, having limited English proficiency. The closure exacerbated instability in students’ and parents’ lives at a time when many were already dealing with [anxiety surrounding immigration crackdowns](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/22/new-orleans-immigration-sweeps-students/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the area, said Christen Fields-Carr, a teacher of English learners at Sarah T. Reed, who mostly teaches underclassmen. Many children stopped coming to school altogether. “They tried their best with everything that was going on, because first they're freshmen, then you had the closure of the school, then you had ICE on top of it, so I feel like they did amazing,” Fields-Carr said. Fields-Carr said she had to help students navigate through emotions and tangible threats to their livelihoods during the “[Catahoula Crunch](https://veritenews.org/tag/catahoula-crunch/?ref=down-ballot.info)” immigration crackdown in the city late last year. She expressed frustration at how the planned closure was having an outsize effect on children who are already vulnerable. Her students have extreme potential, she said, but suffer from a lack of investment in their schools and surrounding neighborhood in New Orleans East. Although the East has a [high population of school-aged children](https://data.nolapublicschools.com/maps/?ref=down-ballot.info) relative to the rest of the city, its schools are more likely to be [underenrolled](https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/meetings/TempFolder/Meetings/April%20Board%202026%20Board%20Presentation%20final%20sp%5F56617kpdxfne0h4yfs22zyxnevhw3.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Reed hasn’t had major upgrades since Hurricane Katrina, according to reporting from [WWNO](https://www.wwno.org/education/2025-11-16/new-orleans-east-charter-to-close-sarah-t-reed-merge-other-schools?ref=down-ballot.info). It opened in 1988, and after the storm was taken over by the state-operated Recovery School District. The school closed in 2014 for poor academic performance, then reopened under Einstein Charter in 2016\. Teachers said that lots of work needed to be done to fix up the campus. Fields-Carr said she was shocked when she entered the school for the first time and didn’t see any smart boards in classrooms. Other teachers said the school lacked textbooks, and that some resources only started coming in as the school was gearing to close. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/22105409/20260520_CZB_REEDlastday_108.jpg) Christen Fields-Carr, a teacher of English learners at Sarah T. Reed High School, talks to a student on her last day in the school building. Over the past three years, the district has spent almost [$900,000 for two capital improvements](https://simbli.eboardsolutions.com/meetings/TempFolder/Meetings/April%20Board%202026%20Board%20Presentation%20final%20sp%5F56617kpdxfne0h4yfs22zyxnevhw3.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) at Reed — roof and boiler replacement and exterior door replacement. But that wasn’t enough for some teachers. “It got a really bad paint job, and that's about it,” Arsenaux said. “We've got ports in the classrooms that don't work. Reed, to me, reminds me of New Orleans. New Orleans has a saying, it's the ‘city that care forgot,’ and Reed is the school that New Orleans forgot.” Fields-Carr believed that the school could have fixed some of its enrollment and academic problems had administrators listened to teachers. Both Fields-Carr and Arsenaux described lack of consistency and care in leadership at the school. Einstein Charter has had [three CEOs](https://thelensnola.org/2022/07/18/einstein-charter-school-graduation-problems-appear-similar-to-2019-kennedy-hs-scandal/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the past four years, and Reed has had three principals just this school year, Arsenaux said. The school, teachers said, needed investments to uplift its diverse population, increase scores and bring more students through the doors. The school was “never given a chance,” said Fields-Carr. Monk said she couldn’t speak to those claims as she has only been back at the school for a short while. As for administrators not listening to teachers, “that didn’t happen,” Monk told Verite News. Monks said Einstein’s interim CEO, Nicholas Bijou, had been guiding the school well through the transition — a sentiment echoed by some Reed teachers interviewed by Verite News. Fields-Carr said she felt more “at peace” under Bijou’s leadership. Despite Reed’s problems, it was care for the students that brought teachers back every day, said Nguyen. “The students, their energy, their positivity, their joy, their happiness … That's why we keep coming back,” Nguyen said. “Well, that's why I come back every day, just like, ‘The next day is gonna be better.’” With the school closing, many members of the community that made it will scatter. A couple of teachers are moving from Reed to Livingston, Monk said, along with most of the school’s English learner population. But Reid said students will lose culture and camaraderie when they leave the building on Michoud Boulevard, which first opened in the late 1980s. and that history will be lost when the school closes. School leaders at Einstein and Collegiate Academies, as well as the NOLA Public Schools district, insist that the legacy will continue. Along with changing the name of the school operating within it, Collegiate Academies has asked to [rename](https://www.instagram.com/p/DYfourDGQDG/?img%5Findex=1&ref=down-ballot.info) Livingston’s district-owned building from the Milton J. Becnel facility, named after the founding principal of George Washington Carver High School, to Sarah T. Reed High School. The renaming would come after a public engagement process. Irajuan Cooley, treasurer of the Sarah T. Reed alumni association, who graduated from the high school in 2023, believes that the transition of Sarah T. Reed to Collegiate will be a positive for the school’s name and its students. “We want to make sure that our kids have access to everything that Collegiate has to offer,” Cooley said. Stacy Martin, the president of Collegiate Academies, asked the Orleans Parish School Board to consider renaming the facility during a board meeting last month. The name change would drive stability and enrollment, Martin said, while carrying on a “living” legacy of the name of Sarah Towles Reed, who “dedicated her life to the teaching of Black children.” In her appeal to the board, Martin did not mention what [Sarah Towles Reed](https://64parishes.org/entry/sarah-towles-reed?ref=down-ballot.info) is probably most well-known for: organizing the city’s first teachers union, and labor rights advocacy for Black and white teachers that drew the ire of district leaders at the time. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/22105617/20260520_CZB_REEDlastday_085.jpg) Thai Nguyen, math teacher at Sarah T. Reed High School, takes down decorations in his classroom on the students’ last day in the building. Nguyen has taught at Reed for 10 years. But in the process of passing the torch, many teachers are left out, Arsenaux said. For Nguyen, the change signals a shifting chapter in the history of Sarah T. Reed, which had been so tied with the neighborhood that surrounded it, like public schools had been before Hurricane Katrina. Nguyen will move to Livingston this fall to support his students through the transition. “Some of these students and kids, they’ve been on Michoud all their life,” Nguyen said. “I'm going over there to help, just kind of bring a little comfort and familiarity for them.” Wednesday (May 20) was the last day of school for Reed students. Faculty members ended their school year on Friday (May 22). *Christiana Botic contributed reporting.* This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/05/26/sarah-t-read-high-school-teachers/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=30998&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ### As Funding Declines, Charlotte’s Arts Community Turns to Public Support URL: https://down-ballot.info/as-funding-declines-charlottes-arts-community-turns-to-public-support/ Last updated: 2026-05-27T08:59:59.000Z By Penelope Goldstein (Queens University News Service) Published: May 18, 2026 As public funding for nonprofits shifts at the local and national level, arts organizations across Charlotte are beginning to feel the effects through tighter budgets, reduced programming and growing uncertainty about what comes next. The arts play a vital role in shaping Charlotte’s cultural identity. Artists create spaces for storytelling, reflection and connection, while also contributing to the local economy by drawing audiences to performances, exhibitions and events. [A](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cae170c184ca4a9bb6c887e5615acd65?ref=down-ballot.info)[ ](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cae170c184ca4a9bb6c887e5615acd65?ref=down-ballot.info)[recent](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cae170c184ca4a9bb6c887e5615acd65?ref=down-ballot.info)[ ](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cae170c184ca4a9bb6c887e5615acd65?ref=down-ballot.info)[report](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cae170c184ca4a9bb6c887e5615acd65?ref=down-ballot.info) found that approximately 30% of Charlotte-area nonprofits lost public funding in 2025, with an average loss of 29% of their annual support. While these figures reflect the sector as a whole, arts organizations, many of which already operate with limited financial margins, are particularly vulnerable to these changes. For arts nonprofits, public funding often plays a foundational role. It helps sustain productions, educational programming and outreach initiatives that make the arts accessible to a broader community. Without consistent funding, organizations may be forced to reevaluate priorities, reduce offerings or even delay planned projects. “In general, the arts sector has always struggled for funding,” said Mitchell Dudas, president of the board of directors for Charlotte Center for the Arts, via email. “In particular, we are now seeing cuts at the national level which inevitably trickles down to the local level.” Dudas said that many organizations have had to make serious changes. “For us, this mostly limits our ability to add programming and reach new audiences with our efforts, but so many of our peer organizations have had to cut existing programs and significantly reduce their operations as we see historical available funding being stripped away,” he said. The impact of funding cuts can be both immediate and far-reaching. Productions may be postponed or canceled, and classes or workshops may be offered less frequently. Community outreach programs, especially those designed to serve schools, youth and underserved populations, can become more difficult to maintain without stable financial support. In many cases, community-based arts education initiatives are also at risk of being reduced or eliminated altogether as funding becomes less reliable. Smaller organizations often face the greatest challenges. Unlike larger institutions, they may not have substantial financial reserves or large donor bases to rely on during periods of instability. As a result, even modest reductions in funding can have significant consequences for their ability to operate and share their work with the community. “Our avant garde performance series was recently NEA-funded, and it's not happening this year,” said Amy Bagwell, director of Goodyear Arts, in an email. “That said, we're small and very fortunate to have operating support from the City of Charlotte. I do worry about our colleagues in the arts.” Even if funding is restored at the national level, Bagwell worries what we, as a community, will have lost. Beyond individual organizations, these changes affect the broader Charlotte creative community. Artists, educators and administrators who depend on nonprofit work may encounter fewer opportunities for employment, collaboration and creative development. Teaching artists may see fewer classes offered, while administrators and support staff may be asked to take on expanded roles as organizations acclimate to limited resources. For many, this can mean increased instability within an already competitive professional field. Audiences, in turn, may find fewer accessible entry points into the arts, whether through live performances, exhibitions or community-based programming. Arts & Science Council launched the [Community Connector Grant](https://artsandscience.org/cc-grants-nonprofits/?ref=down-ballot.info) earlier this year to specifically broaden participation in arts and cultural experiences and remove barriers to engagement across the community. Grants were available for nonprofits and invidual artists. Grant awardee announcements are expected soon. Charlotte arts organizations are also actively adapting to the challenges. Some are increasing their focus on fundraising efforts, while others are forming partnerships or seeking alternative sources of revenue. These strategies often require additional time and resources, making it more difficult for organizations to sustain their core programs. As public funding becomes less predictable, community support is taking on a more central role. Support from local residents has never been more important, whether it be from direct contributions and volunteering, or attendance at performances and ticket purchases. For many organizations, increased attendance alone can make a meaningful difference. The demonstrated value from ticket sells or registrations can be an important factor in future funding decisions and to advocacy groups. Small, consistent actions play a critical role in sustaining the arts, especially during times of financial uncertainty. Choosing to see a show, enrolling in a class or sharing an event directly supports the organizations and artists behind these experiences. As arts organizations continue to navigate these changes, the relationship between the community and the arts may become more important than ever. That relationship will help determine which programs, performances, and creative opportunities remain part of Charlotte’s cultural landscape. [*Queens University News Service*](https://queensnewsservice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *stories are prepared by students in the James L. Knight School of Communication with supervision and editing from faculty and staff. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte provides the news service in support of local community news.* ### Southern, midsized cities lead population gains between 2024 and 2025 URL: https://down-ballot.info/southern-midsized-cities-lead-population-gains-between-2024-and-2025/ Last updated: 2026-05-25T09:00:40.000Z By Tim Henderson (Stateline), Published: May 14, 2026 Large, immigrant-rich cities saw population fall back between mid-2024 and mid-2025 after nation-leading increases the year before. Mid-sized cities led the pack in U.S. Census Bureau estimates to be released May 14\. The largest numeric increases for the year were in Charlotte, North Carolina (up 20,731); Fort Worth, Texas (up 19,512); the Dallas suburb of Celina, Texas (up 12,710); and Seattle (up 11,572). Charlotte has been emphasizing affordable housing in recent years, including a city-sponsored [72-unit building](https://www.charlottenc.gov/CS-Prep/City-News/Ribbon-Cutting-for-Evoke-Living-Marks-Eastland-Yard%E2%80%99s-First-Milestone?ref=down-ballot.info) on the site of a former mall, opening in late 2024\. It was designed for older adults, people with incomes from 30% to 80% of the area’s median income, [about $82,000](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/charlottecitynorthcarolina/POP060210?ref=down-ballot.info) at the time. Morgan Dunn, 26, moved to Charlotte in 2024 for a banking job after growing up in California and living in Georgia and Utah. He and his wife are expecting their first child in September, and he said he likes having an affordable house with a half-acre lot where his four dogs can run. “It’s a great city for the younger generations for the sake of job opportunities combined with the cost of living,” Dunn said in a message to Stateline. New York City, which led the nation in growth between mid-2023 and mid-2024 with 162,991 more people, fell to dead last in population change — a decrease of 12,196 last year. Also near the bottom were Memphis, Tennessee (losing 4,575 people); Los Angeles, down 3,621; St. Louis, down 2,301, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, down 2,290\. Like New York City, Los Angeles ranked high the year before with an increase of 24,421, seventh-highest in the nation before falling to third-to-last. Part of the reason for New York City’s fast-changing population shifts is that population growth was revised up for 2022-2024 to reflect more immigration, especially from asylum seekers, some of whom were bused from Texas. Parts of Queens had some of the largest influxes in the nation from asylum seekers, especially from Ecuador, according to a [Stateline analysis](https://stateline.org/2026/04/08/immigrants-who-sought-asylum-during-border-surge-under-increasing-pressure/?ref=down-ballot.info). But immigration fell off in late 2024 and early 2025 as both the Biden and Trump administrations sought to put a lid on asylum seekers. Between 2024 and 2024 immigration “retreated from recent historical highs to more typical levels experienced before the pandemic,” according to a [March report](https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/dcp/assets/files/pdf/data-tools/population/population-estimates/new-york-city-population-estimates-and-trends-march-2026.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by New York City. Of the city’s five boroughs, only the Bronx and Staten Island gained population. > [Immigration drops shift population, political power to Texas and Florida](https://stateline.org/2026/01/27/immigration-drops-shift-population-political-power-to-texas-and-florida/?ref=down-ballot.info) “Big-city growth slowed significantly between 2024 and 2025, with some major hubs even seeing small declines,” Matt Erickson, a statistician in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, said in a statement. “In contrast, midsized cities found a ‘Goldilocks zone’ where domestic and international migration, paired with new housing, helped prevent the sluggish growth seen in small towns and larger metropolitan centers.” In some states smaller cities had the big increases, such as the contrast between New York City’s decline and an increase of 2,933 in suburban Kiryas Joel village, a Hasidic Jewish enclave in Orange County, or New Mexico, where Albuquerque lost population but its suburb Rio Rancho gained 1,972\. Louisiana’s Baton Rouge gained while New Orleans lost, as did Everett, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb that grew as the city lost population. Some urban areas did well anyway: Atlanta had the biggest increase in Georgia, as did Chicago in Illinois, Detroit in Michigan, Kansas City in Missouri, and Newark in New Jersey. Other milestones: Austin, Texas, became the 12th city with more than a million residents, and Raleigh, North Carolina, became the 39th city of more than 500,000\. The South had 11 of the top 12 numeric gains. *Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at* *thenderson@stateline.org*. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### Affordability a larger issue for Georgia voters URL: https://down-ballot.info/affordability-a-larger-part-of-life-for-georgia-voters/ Last updated: 2026-05-22T09:00:25.000Z **It's Friday, May 22, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Affordability is more than a political buzzword for many Georgia voters**,** Mississippi Democrats fear big losses in Legislature from redistricting, vow to organize**,** A Utility Mega-Merger Is All About Data Centers**,** NC families with disabled children press lawmakers to maintain funding as federal Medicaid cuts loom, Florida entrepreneur’s job promises for NC mountains looking like a mirage, Can you trust that post about Tom Steyer? How paid influencers are flooding into the California governor’s race, Ex-residents of Chicago apartment building targeted in massive immigration raid seek millions in damages, Louisiana parish president sparks free speech fight after shutting down ‘Cancer Alley’ film screening, Fundraising effort saves patch of state-managed forest in western WA from logging. **Media outlets and others featured:** Georgia Recorder, Mississippi Today, Inside Climate News, North Carolina Health News, Carolina Public Press, CalMatters, Capitol News Illinois, Verite News, Washington State Standard. [Support Down Ballot](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/give/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## Affordability is more than a political buzzword for many Georgia voters By Ross Williams, Maya Homan, Alander Rocha (Georgia Recorder) Published: May 18, 2026 Everything is more expensive these days, and Georgia voters across the state say the cost of living is shaping how they vote. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices in April had climbed 2.9% since the same time last year. A pound of ground beef that would have cost you $6 a year ago would set you back $6.92 today, and that same pound of chuck would only cost $4.34 in April 2020. Overall, the Consumer Price Index, a measure for the cost of consumer goods, has increased nearly 30% since April 2020. The cost crunch has been compounded in recent months by a spike in fuel costs. The average Georgia motorist today is paying $60.24 to fill up their 15-gallon gas tank with regular gas, up from $43.98 this time last year, according to data from the American Automobile Association. And higher gas prices means higher prices for all other goods. #### Voters feeling the squeeze Gwinnett County resident Hunter Harsh, a recent college graduate, said that he hasn’t been able to buy a car after having to dip into his savings to afford housing and food. “I’m starting my first job next week, and I won’t have a car to go there. So I’m going to have to ride a bike to work every day, as I can save up money,” Harsh said. “Thankfully, it’s not too far so for my situation kind of works out, but like a lot of people, if I ended up having to work somewhere further away, I would be in a tough situation.” Voters like Harsh have been casting ballots during early voting ahead of the May 19 primary election, where Democratic and Republican nominees are selected to face off in November. At stake will be positions ranging from one of Georgia’s two U.S. Senate seats and governorship down to every seat in the state House of Representatives and local offices. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.](https://georgiarecorder.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) Many indicated that for them, “affordability” was more than a buzzword. Voters reported having to readjust their shopping habits to either only buying essentials or opting for less healthy foods, as well as having to pick between necessities. “You have to check on your medicine, you have to say, ‘well I can get this, or I can get gas.’ You have to eliminate places you can go because you don’t have the money to fuel up. You can’t really buy the stuff you really want. The healthy foods you want cost so much more now, so you really have to demand it on just the cheap foods to survive,” said Rockdale County resident Debbie Mitchell. Other voters indicated they’re cutting back on groceries as well as on non-essentials, like going out to eat in restaurants and traveling. “As far as going out to the movies, eating out, that’s not an option because that’s just too expensive right about now,” said another Rockdale County voter, Raquel McDaniel. For many, frustration over high prices is showing up at the ballot box. A recent [Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll](https://www.ajc.com/business/2026/05/ajc-poll-georgians-concerned-about-inflation-economy-as-midterms-loom/?ref=down-ballot.info) found economic concerns among the top issues voters say Georgia is facing today. The poll found 31% of Democratic primary voters listed inflation and cost of living as their top issue, with 17% of Republican primary voters agreeing. “Everything has tripled in prices,” said Michelle Hayes, a resident of Stephens County in northeast Georgia who cast her ballot in Toccoa. “They may say they’re doing it for the long run, but people got to survive through it to get to that point, and it’s not feasible. So I do not vote the way that I did a couple of years ago.” Hayes described herself as a “very strong” Republican voter, but she said she drew a Democratic ballot for the first time in this month’s primary election largely because of the cost of living, but also after seeing images of violent immigration raids. “People are getting kicked out and beat on and jerked out of their cars, and the violence is just chaotic, and I don’t agree with all the violence I’m seeing and the way people are being treated,” she said. Yvonne Chrimes, a 75-year-old retired university administrator who lives in Fulton County, said she’s doing all right financially, but worries about having to make repairs on her house with tariffs driving up the cost of lumber and other supplies. “I’ve got some savings, but in the long run, I worry more about what would happen if our country continues on the path that’s going on under the current administration,” she said. She said she also worries about the cost of healthcare for those with less financial security than she has. Though she used to vote for candidates of both parties, “in the last couple of years, there’s no way I’m going to vote for a Republican,” she said. “The current administration lost my vote several years ago.” Georgia’s economic pain is not evenly distributed, said Sherrell Byrd, founder and executive director of SOWEGA Rising, a nonprofit aimed at revitalizing southwest Georgia. “We’re already in a community that’s economically depressed,” she said. “We’re in a community that’s already two or three times higher than the national average when it comes to poverty rates. We don’t have a lot of jobs here that pay living in wages and we’ve had a lot of major corporations and manufacturers that have left the area, so people are already feeling the weight of not having enough money to pay their bills, but it’s even more compounded now that gas is higher, food costs and groceries are higher, rents are increasing.” Byrd said there’s a vicious cycle where people leave the area in search of jobs, decreasing tax revenue and pressuring municipalities to institute new taxes to help pay for services like police and fire protection. Byrd said a Dougherty County ballot initiative for a Floating Local Option Sales Tax, or [FLOST](https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/02/04/bill-making-property-tax-increase-cap-mandatory-passes-georgia-senate/?ref=down-ballot.info), a 1% sales tax to take pressure off local property taxes, is likely to draw more voters to the polls this month. Byrd said when SOWEGA activists approach voters about the FLOST, they often hear people’s opinions about prices and the federal government. “People are very aware of what is happening with this current administration,” she said. “I know that there’s a lot of correlation that we’re hearing from voters between the current war and how that’s impacting the price of gas, and things like tariffs. We’re hearing voters talk about these things at the doors and how that’s having a trickle down effect to all of the reasons why everything else is so expensive right now and so unaffordable.” #### Some loyal Republicans urge patience Many Georgia voters placed the blame for high prices on Republicans in power, and specifically on President Donald Trump, citing the war in Iran and the tariff policy favored by the president. But Republican voters interviewed during early voting predicted the current pain at the pump would ultimately be just a blip. Hugh Holley, a 79-year-old retiree, said he is trusting the plan, even as he is cutting back on luxuries. Holley, who cast his ballot in Alpharetta for Derek Dooley in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate race and Chris Carr for governor, said he’s concerned about rising costs, but he sees the spike in oil prices as a necessary step in order to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. “To me, it’s a short term thing we have to live with,” he said. Holley and his wife have been choosing to save money by cutting back on travel and splitting an entree at restaurants rather than ordering two dishes. “We haven’t given it up,” he said. “But in our case we split meals, so you reduce the total cost of the eating out by doing that.” Lauren Shera, a retired radiologic technologist from Martin, a small town in northeast Georgia, voted in the Republican primary and cast her ballot for Mike Collins in the U.S. Senate race and Rick Jackson for governor earlier this month. For her, the most important issues were combating child trafficking, securing the U.S.-Mexico border and promoting oil independence. The cost of living was further down her list of concerns. “It’s a factor, but I’m a wait-and-see sort of person,” she said. “As soon as all this crap is over in Iran, I think we’re going to level out and it’s going to be better than what it was before. Now that everybody’s griping about the gas prices going up, well, I’ll take a little bit higher gas prices for a couple more months opposed to Iran nuking us, you know what I’m saying? I like my safety more than paying a couple bucks extra for gas for right now.” Roger Goodwin, a retiree from Homer, which is about 75 miles northeast of Atlanta, voted for Derek Dooley and Jackson. He said he’s as perturbed at the pump as anyone. “I’m on Social Security, so I’m on a fixed income,” he said. “I don’t like paying $4 and some odd cents for gas. I won’t say it’s a total hindrance, but it’s definitely a concern and it makes things a little bit tighter.” But Goodwin said he’s also confident in the economy long-term. “I think what we’re seeing now is a result of when the strait (of Hormuz) was completely closed, and this is kind of the after effect, and I’m suspecting that prices for gas, for example, will come down,” he said. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://georgiarecorder.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Mississippi Democrats fear big losses in Legislature from redistricting, vow to organize by Michael Goldberg, Mississippi Today May 19, 2026 One estimate shows Democrats could lose as many as 24 seats in the Mississippi Legislature from GOP-led gerrymandering, the state party chairman said Tuesday. At a news conference in Jackson, Rep. Cheikh Taylor, Democratic Party chairman, said he has reviewed maps Republicans might adopt in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais ruling, which gutted part of the Voting Rights Act. Taylor said he fears Democrats could lose as many as 17 seats in the House and 7 seats in the Senate. He also cited a [report](https://blackvotersmatterfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/The-Southern-State-Legislature-Effect-2.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) published last fall in anticipation of the Callais decision by voting rights organizations Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter. The report said nearly half of the state’s Black-majority districts, 29, could be eliminated if Republicans adopt an aggressive redistricting strategy encouraged by some in the majority party. The impact of the Supreme Court decision is almost certain to trickle down to the state and local level, as the decision significantly narrows how courts can require states to account for race in redistricting. And in Mississippi and across the Deep South, race and party affiliation are intertwined. The majority-white, Republican-dominated Mississippi Legislature has already [formed special committees](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/05/06/redistricting-jason-white-house/?ref=down-ballot.info) in both chambers to consider redistricting ahead of the 2027 legislative session. Taylor's remarks came a day after the U.S. Supreme Court [reversed](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/05/18/legislative-redistricting-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info) a lower federal court’s ruling that determined Mississippi lawmakers unlawfully diluted Black voting strength when it redrew the state’s legislative districts in 2022\. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/19115037/3X0A8841.jpg) Rep. Cheikh Taylor, chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party. Republicans already hold near supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature, but several state officials have urged the Legislature to draw maps to cement even stronger majorities. Many Republicans in Mississippi have also said the state should redraw its congressional maps to oust U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the lone Democrat and lone Black member of the state's delegation. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves [called off a special session](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/05/13/judicial-redistricting-mississippi-session/?ref=down-ballot.info) he initially ordered to redraw state Supreme Court districts in light of the Callais decision. But in a radio interview, Reeves said it was only a matter of time before Republicans moved to target Thompson. “The tenure of Congressman Bennie Thompson reigning terror on the 2nd Congressional District is over,” Reeves said. “It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when.” On Tuesday, Taylor condemned Reeves' remarks as "dog whistles," and said Republicans were poised to target Black representation across Mississippi's political system. He also said moves by Mississippi Republicans to redraw maps would likely be met with litigation. "When people say race no longer matters, while simultaneously redrawing districts, weakening protections and targeting Black voting power, we must call it what it is: hypocrisy, moral decay and political cowardice disguised as constitutional principle," Taylor said. "The same forces framing America as suddenly colorblind are the same forces that continue manipulating systems to dilute Black voices and Black communities working together to make sure that their issues are heard." Taylor also vowed Democrats would mobilize to counter Republicans' "power grab." On Wednesday, voting rights advocates are set to host a rally at the Jackson Convention Center in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's recent rulings and subsequent calls to redraw Mississippi's electoral maps. Attendees scheduled to appear include Thompson, NAACP President Derrick Johnson, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Scott Colom and the daughter of the late Medgar Evers, Reena Evers-Everette. "We will continue organizing, we will continue educating, mobilizing and building leadership in every corner of Mississippi, from the Delta to the Coast, from Jackson to the smallest rural community. Every church house and every college campus," Taylor said. "Our fight is not over, and in many ways it's just the beginning." This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/05/19/redistricting-legislature-mississippi-democrats/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20134822/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) --- # A Utility Mega-Merger Is All About Data Centers ### NextEra’s blockbuster deal with Dominion means the largest electricity company stands to benefit even more from AI growth. But what does it mean for ratepayers? By Dan Gearino, Amy Green, Charles Paullin May 18, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18052026/nextera-dominion-utility-mega-merger/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* A proposed merger of the largest utility in the country by market value, NextEra Energy, with the sixth-largest, Dominion, would create a megacompany at a time when data centers and rapid increases in electricity demand are reshaping the industry. The proposal, [announced Monday morning](https://newsroom.nexteraenergy.com/2026-05-18-NextEra-Energy-and-Dominion-Energy-to-Combine,-Creating-the-Worlds-Largest-Regulated-Electric-Utility-Business-and-North-Americas-Premier-Energy-Infrastructure-Platform-Benefiting-Customers?l=12&ref=down-ballot.info) and contingent on state and federal regulatory approval, would result in a company that leads in nearly every aspect of the U.S. power and utility industry, including overall electricity generation, natural gas generation and renewables. The $67 billion deal combines NextEra’s size and reach with Dominion’s positioning as the local utility for the world’s largest concentration of data centers in [northern Virginia](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26102025/virginia-data-center-capital-ai-boom/?ref=down-ballot.info). But the results are likely bad for consumers and the environment, creating a company with enormous financial and political strength that will be difficult to effectively regulate, according to consumer advocates and analysts. For perspective, only Exxon Mobil and Chevron would be larger based on market value among U.S.-based energy companies. “Mergers are not about consumers; they’re about shareholders,” said Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School. “For the Dominion shareholders, they are selling their shares at a premium. The executives are getting massive payouts for facilitating this, assuming it all goes through, and obviously NextEra believes the transaction is going to add value to the company. Ratepayers are all an afterthought.” The deal makes financial sense for both companies, said Andrew Bischof, an equity analyst for Morningstar. “We view the transaction as allowing NextEra to accelerate its data center ambitions, which had trailed those of its regulated peers, by using Dominion’s expertise and relationships to expedite NextEra’s data center hub plans,” he said in a note to clients. [![](https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/UpchargeBug600x400px.png)](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/upcharge/?ref=down-ballot.info) NextEra, based in Juno Beach, Florida, includes Florida Power & Light, the largest regulated electricity utility in the state, and NextEra Energy Resources, a wholesale electricity supplier that owns power plants across the nation. Dominion, based in Richmond, Virginia, includes regulated utilities serving much of Virginia, parts of North Carolina and South Carolina and other assets across the country. The company would be called NextEra Energy and NextEra CEO John W. Ketchum would serve in the same role after the deal closes. Robert M. Blue, Dominion’s CEO, would be the CEO for regulated utilities for the merged company. The parties said they expect regulatory approvals to take 12 to 18 months. NextEra shareholders would own 74.5 percent and Dominion shareholders would own 25.5 percent, respectively, of the combined company in the all-stock transaction. “We are bringing NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy together because scale matters more than ever— not for the sake of size, but because scale translates into capital and operating efficiencies,” Ketchum said in a statement. ## **“Adding to the Pollution Problem”** The post-merger NextEra would be the leader in so many categories in the U.S. utility sector that it’s easier to list the ones where it wouldn’t be on top. It would rank second in nuclear power generating capacity and in the number of regulated utility customers, trailing Exelon Corp. of Chicago in both. NextEra and Dominion both have substantial carbon emissions, but neither was among the top five utility companies in the country in 2024, according to the most recent edition of the [Benchmarking Air Emissions report](https://www.erm.com/insights/benchmarking-air-emissions-100-largest-us-power-producers/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the Natural Resources Defense Council. NextEra ranked sixth and Dominion ranked 11th, and their sum was less than that of each of the leaders, Vistra Energy and Duke Energy. But those are still massive emissions from a company that stands to gain more clout because of its size. “If we continue to add dangerous climate pollution into the mix, then people who are already suffering and are typically hurt first and worst will suffer even more,” said Susan Glickman, vice president of policy and partnerships at the CLEO Institute, a Florida-based nonprofit dedicated to climate education and advocacy. She noted that those with the fewest resources often are the most affected by disasters like hurricanes, which are intensifying as fossil fuel emissions warm the global climate. “They’re going to continue to be at the short end of the stick, while these companies build more methane gas plants to provide additional power for data centers, and adding to the problem of pollution that is warming our climate.” ## **Consumers Stand to Lose** In a conference call Monday morning, company officials said the agreement will lead to economies of scale, providing savings that will benefit ratepayers. The deal includes $2.25 billion in bill credits for Dominion customers, spread over two years. But utility mergers do not have a track record of delivering long-term benefits to consumers, said Marissa Paslick Gillett, who served as chair of the Connecticut Public Utilities Commission from 2019 to 2025\. She resigned following clashes with utilities in the state and now is a senior fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project, a think tank that works to limit the concentration of corporate power. “I continue to be sort of flabbergasted by the tone deafness,” she said. “I’m not sure that any of us could point to a major utility merger acquisition that’s happened in the past decade … where that merger acquisition has definitively provided the synergies that they told their commissions were going to come out.” Gillett’s experience includes work as a staff member at the Maryland Public Service Commission during the 2012 merger of Exelon with Maryland-based Constellation Energy, which was one of the largest U.S. utility mergers ever. One of the main problems that arises from a utility merger is that it creates a company that is difficult to regulate because of its complexity, she said. “We know how this goes, and the real, tangible problems of having to regulate a behemoth like this,” she said. Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said the merger could be a good thing if NextEra is responsible to customers and continues to expand its renewable energy portfolio. He noted NextEra’s status as the largest renewable energy developer in the country, but he also had concerns about the growing weight of the utility’s political influence, especially in Florida. ”You’re making a very large utility that has a tremendous amount of financial resources, a tremendous amount of political power, and that does not always bode well for ratepayers,” he said. “The more political power that a utility has, the more probable it is that they will use that power to the disadvantage of ratepayers.” Smith cautioned that the merger should not be viewed as a done deal. NextEra has attempted to acquire other utilities in the past and failed, including [aborted talks with Duke Energy](https://www.utilitydive.com/news/nextera-60b-duke-merger-proposal-has-some-strong-upsides-but-significant/586213/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2020. “Their track record in acquisitions is not really that great,” he said. ## **Virginia’s Laws Would Still Apply** Despite those worries, Dominion and its out-of-state parent company would still need to follow Virginia’s laws and regulations, said William Shobe, a research professor emeritus of public policy at the University of Virginia. “The regulations don’t mention Dominion, they mention the utility that covers Dominion’s footprint, whatever its name is,” he said. Those laws include the Virginia Clean Economy Act, the state’s 2020 law seeking to decarbonize its grid by 2050, and the recently passed legislation increasing Dominion’s battery storage [development targets](https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB895?ref=down-ballot.info). If anything, NextEra’s track record as a leader in solar and wind power could “bleed” into the Dominion culture that “has not been super aggressive about adding non-emitting technology,” Shobe said. Acquiring Dominion is appealing to NextEra Energy, he said, because Virginia has a friendly policy environment to build grid infrastructure, a strong profit margin and a booming data center market. NextEra said the merger creates a pipeline of 130 gigawatts worth of demand from data centers, which critics say are speculative, and a chance to more than double generation capacity to 225 gigawatts by 2032. Florida regulators in November approved a $7 billion rate hike for Florida Power & Light. Consumer groups characterized the rate hike, which faces a legal challenge in state court, as the largest in U.S. history. Bradley Marshall, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, said the rate hike positioned NextEra financially to pursue the merger. “In the past, when we see utilities become even more powerful, we’ve seen bills go up even further,” he said. “Consumers need to be informed about what’s happening and ensure that keeping bills from going up is a priority.” --- # NC families with disabled children press lawmakers to maintain funding as federal Medicaid cuts loom by Rose Hoban, North Carolina Health News May 18, 2026 #### By Rose Hoban Finley Thomas is an 11-year-old girl who’s got a morning makeup and skin care routine. She loves Halloween, dressing up, her older brothers and cheering with her squad. She also uses a wheelchair, has a tracheostomy tube that gets hooked up to a ventilator at night, receives tube feedings for much of her nutrition, and has multiple therapy sessions each week—all the result of a neurological condition she was born with that has recently required a couple of surgeries. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_8374-450x450.jpg) Just don’t tell Finley that any of those things are going to slow her down. When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, she quickly responds “a princess.” Or a makeup artist. Or a hairdresser. Her mom, Jennifer Thomas, says Finley is her “social butterfly.” In a N.C. Legislative Building atrium in Raleigh on May 12, Finley was surrounded by a cortége of admirers. She chatted and laughed with the adults in her circle. “Her personality is huge,” Jennifer said. “She does cheerleading, you know, she has friends. We go on adventures. We take her places, parks, play dates, you know, just making sure she's getting out into the community.” All this activity is possible through the state’s Medicaid [Community Alternatives Program for Children](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/capc?ref=down-ballot.info), or CAP/C. The home- and community-based services program provides the Thomas family with round-the-clock nursing care to help with all of Finley’s needs. The Thomases took part in an advocacy day at the legislature to give lawmakers a better understanding of the kinds of services and personal care that more than 58,000 people receive in various community-based programs that help them stay in their homes with their families. These services can be expensive. An in-home nurse costs the state’s CAP-C program about $123,965 a year on average. While that number might seem eye-popping, it could cost closer to $200,000 a year for a child like Finley to live in a skilled nursing facility. Then take into account the psychological toll that living in an institution would have on such a gregarious, bubbly little girl. For people with greater needs, the facility costs, on average, could be closer to $311,000 annually. “Obviously a facility would not be an option for us,” Jennifer said. “She’s so social.” But the [One Big Beautiful Bill Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text?ref=down-ballot.info), (also known as H.R. 1), the federal budget plan passed by Congress last year, contains close to a trillion dollars in cuts to Medicaid over the coming decade. Passage of the bill sent a chill through families like Finley’s. Their fear is that you can’t slice that kind of money out of the nation’s Medicaid system and expect kids like Finley not to be affected. And while many of those cuts are aimed at ostensibly so-called able-bodied adults who receive benefits on the program, families like the Thomases know that in a challenging budget environment, a cut’s a cut and the services keeping their families intact are at risk. #### **Wages not keeping up** About 58,000 people in the state rely on Medicaid for nursing or home health aide services that allow them to remain in the community with their families. One of the challenges, for the Thomases and other families, is that the wages paid through Medicaid to professionals in vital, physically demanding and often emotionally challenging caregiving jobs have not kept up with the wider employment market. Home care aides, the least-skilled care providers, earn, on average, $15.30 an hour. Working at an Amazon warehouse pays about $23 an hour. “You know, you can work in retail, making more money and less stress,” said Lee Dobson, one of the leaders of [BAYADA Hearts for Home Care](https://www.bayada.com/advocacy?ref=down-ballot.info), an advocacy group that supports families who need care at home. Home care agencies have more needs than their current workforce can meet. About 20 percent of home care aide positions go unfilled at any given time. “And then the turnover, just churn,” Dobson added, runs between 50 percent and 80 percent. “You're just always trying to recruit staff.” Those people who provide Medicaid-reimbursed personal care services received a bump in pay near the end of the pandemic. That helped retention, but advocates are afraid that those dollars could go away as North Carolina’s Medicaid budget will be under increased pressure this budget cycle. Dobson said [several](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H1147?ref=down-ballot.info) [bills](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/S366?ref=down-ballot.info) have been introduced that would fund all these services, plus supply $120 million to increase salaries for personal care service providers. None of those bills have moved past the introductory stage. There’s an additional request from advocates to bump up the private duty nursing rate; that would require a $20 million investment. Nonetheless, that wouldn’t get nurses who provide this care up to the pay level that hospitals offer. And it still would be much less than [what home care nurses earn in surrounding states](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/10/04/nc-home-nursing-shortage/?ref=down-ballot.info). “I think, fundamentally, what we want this year is we want to make sure that Medicaid gets funded,” Dobson said. She said they want to maintain services, even though they will cost more than they did last year. “The industry cannot go back to what happened in October,” Dobson said, referring to [cuts made to the Medicaid budget last fall](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/29/medicaid-rate-standoff/?ref=down-ballot.info) when the legislature had not completely funded all of Medicaid’s annual needs. Despite the steep price tags, Dobson argues that these home-based services save taxpayer dollars. The1991 [Americans with Disabilities Act](https://www.ada.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the subsequent [1999 Supreme Court *Olmstead* decision](https://archive.ada.gov/olmstead/olmstead%5Fabout.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) affirm the right for people with disabilities to be integrated into the community, but home-based Medicaid services are still optional under federal law. Dobson said the home care industry estimates that North Carolina will need 186,000 aides by 2028, but will likely be about 22,000 people shy of that number. It could be even more difficult to keep nurses interested in working in community-based care programs. There’s already a projected shortage of as many as 12,500 nurses by the end of the decade. As demand for their services grows in other parts of the health care system, which traditionally have offered higher pay, the prospect of nurses making $25 to $27 an hour could be a long-term deterrent. #### **NC Medicaid programs for medically fragile and disabled people** - [Community Alternatives Program for Children](https://ncliftss.acentra.com/cap-c/?ref=down-ballot.info) (CAP/C): available to people younger than 21, provides in-home services for medically fragile children as an alternative to hospital or institutional-based care. Recipients go through a needs assessment and annual updates. **4,125 current recipients.** - [Community Alternatives Program for Disabled Adults](https://ncliftss.acentra.com/cap-da/?ref=down-ballot.info) (CAP/DA): available to adults 18 and older, also provides in-home services for people who are medically fragile and at risk of being institutionalized for their care. The program is intended to supplement, rather than replace paid and family-provided services available in the community (for example, family supports). **9,033 current recipients.** - [Community Alternatives Program - Choice](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/documents/providers/programs-services/capc/cap-consumer-direction-overview-82017/open?ref=down-ballot.info) (CAP-Choice): Allows the disabled person or their caregiver to act as the "employer of record," giving them direct control over who provides care and how services are scheduled. The person or their caregiver is responsible for hiring, training, scheduling and supervising their care assistants. **3,566 current recipients.** - [Innovations Waiver](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/beneficiaries/nc-innovations-waiver?ref=down-ballot.info): The Innovations Waiver allows for enhanced community services, such as job coaching, crisis services, services for caregivers, home modifications and assistive devices, without taking into account family income or other typical Medicaid eligibility requirements. Currently, 11,695 people receive Innovations services, while 20,893 are [on a waiting list for the program](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/inclusion-connects/innovations-waitlist-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info). The wait time for receiving a slot in the program is as much as 20 years. - [Personal Care Services](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/providers/programs-and-services/long-term-care/personal-care-services-pcs?ref=down-ballot.info): Helps people with daily tasks like eating, getting dressed, taking a bath, using the bathroom, etc. Recipients must have a medical condition, disability or cognitive impairment to qualify and be able to demonstrate unmet needs. **Currently, 42,059 recipients.** #### **Lifelong needs** Not all recipients of the Community Alternatives Programs are children. Kids with disabilities age, and they become adults with disabilities for whom much of the care continues to fall on their parents. That’s the story for Janet Schmitt, whose son Kevin is 30 and is profoundly disabled as a result of daily seizures — sometimes more than one. “He has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old,” Schmitt said. She also said Kevin is on the autism spectrum and has had brain injuries from frequent seizure-related falls. “We have severe cognitive decline, functioning,” Schmitt said at the advocacy day. “He's had two brain surgeries. We attempted three others that were not successful.” “I have gone way above and beyond even some not-so-conventional methods to keep him with us,” Schmitt added. “That's why we're here, because he thrives in the home environment. If he were to be taken out of that environment — just like anytime we're hospitalized with his medication regimen, it's always mixed up, confused in the hospital. It takes us about three months to rebound from that. Then seizures are manifest even more frequent because it's a different environment.” Because Kevin has qualified for Medicaid’s Innovations Waiver, Medicaid pays Schmitt an hourly rate to be Kevin’s caregiver. Medicaid also pays for help from an outside caregiver two days a week. That’s when Schmitt crams in errands like shopping and all of her medical appointments — she was diagnosed with leukemia several years ago. Part of Schmitt’s “above and beyond” included returning to school when she was 42 to become a nurse so she could better care for Kevin and navigate the health care system. Twenty years later, she’s retired from nursing work and is hoping her husband can retire later this year to help with Kevin’s care. She’s worried about what happens “after,” especially since her diagnosis and a medical crisis a couple years ago when she was told she had only weeks to live. “I do honestly think Kevin will outlive me,” she said. “In the event that that does happen, you know the care is gonna fall on my husband, and for one person, you know, it's a lot, without the assistance and being able to, you know, even have the break.” #### **No one expects these disabilities** Jennifer Thomas said right now, they’re feeling lucky with the people who care for Finley. “We've had the same nurses for a while. Our night nurse we've had for 10 years; she works Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday nights,” Jennifer said. ![Shows a little girl with pale foundation makeup and red streaks on her face looking straight at the camera. Having home care help allows her to participate in trick or treating](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_9397-338x450.jpg) Finley Thomas loves Halloween. Her mom, Jennifer Thomas, says the holiday at their house is "next level." Last year, Finley dressed as a "creepy clown," showing off her wry sense of humor. She decorated the house and her wheelchair. “Then our other night nurse, he's been with us for seven years, and Sandra's been with us for four years,” she said, gesturing to the nurse standing in the group surrounding Finley. That wasn’t easy, though. Jennifer estimated the family cycled through 50 nurses during Finley’s first decade. Even once they found reliable, skillful help, there are still holes. “Nurses do take vacations. We had times where we'd go a week without having overnight nursing care,” she said. “It was really hard on our older children, you know, it was really hard on us. It was hard on our marriage, it was just hard on any relationships that we have when you're not sleeping.” Although some who are unfamiliar with what these families go through still consider home-based care optional, the advocates at the General Assembly hope to persuade legislators that it’s not only necessary, but a cost-saver over institutional care. Medicaid reductions from H.R. 1 will start hitting state budgets in the coming year, compelling lawmakers to make decisions about what to cut. Thomas and the other advocates believe they have a strong case to make, but other states — Nebraska, Idaho, Colorado and Missouri — are contemplating cutting services, even to those families with profoundly disabled members. Maryland has [already decided to move ahead with them](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-medicaid-cuts-threaten-caregivers-disabled-family-members-rcna344930?ref=down-ballot.info). Thomas and her husband run a small business that employs 20 people, they’ve been able to grow it, even as they’ve had to cope with their family’s medical challenges. Her husband is the business lead, Jennifer is the administrator. Cutting their Medicaid would affect their ability to be contributing members of society, something she and her husband don’t want to have happen. “I don't think anybody expects to have a medical crisis or have a child with disabilities,” she said. “But it happens, and it's important to have support out there. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/05/18/nc-families-disabled-children-lawmakers-funding-medicaid-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Florida entrepreneur’s job promises for NC mountains looking like a mirage by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press May 18, 2026 In February of 2025, just months after Tropical Storm Helene devastated the North Carolina mountains and destroyed entire livelihoods, **Chris McKendree** stood in front of a congregation at the Burnsville Town Center and made a promise to “put jobs in the community” and “money in the banks,” with his latest business venture, Paradigm Energy and Storage. Wearing khaki shorts and a University of Florida football hoodie, McKendree presented himself as a down-to-Earth businessman from Fernandina Beach, Fla. — a son of a shrimper and an entrepreneur interested in clean energy that would “change the world.” In 2024, prior to Helene, he came to the Yancey County Board of Commissioners with a proposition to build a headquarters and manufacturing facility in Burnsville for Florida-based Paradigm. McKendree said the project would involve a $175 million investment and create 150 good-paying jobs by the end of 2027 in one of North Carolina’s most remote mountain counties. County commissioners were convinced by the proposal, and in turn they agreed to give McKendree a 84.5-acre parcel of land to build on, valued at $2.6 million, for free. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** A bevy of regional media reports and press releases celebrated the deal as a major economic victory for the rural county. More than a year later, no construction has been done and no jobs have been created. Paradigm Energy and Storage appears to exist only on paper, and it isn’t clear that McKendree ever had the resources, or even the intention, to follow through on the project. Paradigm doesn’t have any online presence or legitimate contact information. Its listed addresses are a private residence in Fernandina Beach and a private mailbox at a UPS Store in Burnsville. Not only has the company defaulted on its agreement with Yancey County, but it also owes more than $16,800 in [unpaid](https://secure.webtaxpay.com/bisbill.php?bill=202542601:000089898:2025&ref=down-ballot.info) property taxes and is more than a month late on filing the annual report required to keep the company active in North Carolina. McKendree even appears to have changed his personal phone number through which [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) attempted to contact him for this story. Adding a further complication to the matter, Paradigm sold a small portion of the land deeded to it by the county in September to a third party, seemingly without the legal authority to do so. While residents are left to wonder what happened, multiple stakeholders involved in bringing Paradigm to Burnsville have said very little, if anything, publicly about where the project stands now. Yancey County officials did not respond to CPP’s multiple phone calls and email inquiries asking whether the county was still in active communication with Paradigm or McKendree, or whether it intended to pursue legal action to recoup the land and unpaid property taxes. The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, a public-private [nonprofit](https://edpnc.com/who-we-are/?ref=down-ballot.info) which recruits new businesses to the state, and which played a role in connecting Paradigm to Yancey County, also declined to answer a CPP inquiry for an update on the project. “We don't have any comment for this one,” EDPNC spokesperson **Evan Hoopfer** said. ### ‘A lot of promises’ for Paradigm On Feb. 5 of last year, Yancey announced its agreement with Paradigm to a sizable audience at an event center in Burnsville. It wasn’t just a local crowd. Staffers from the offices of U.S. Senator **Thom Tillis** and Congressman **Chuck Edwards** were among the attendees. Yancey County Manager **Lynn Austin** also thanked representatives from EDPNC, the Town of Burnsville and Mayland Community College for their roles in bringing the project together. Austin had previously hinted that a major economic development announcement was in the works at a Dec. 30 special meeting of the county commissioners, but she said she couldn't divulge the identity of the interested company because of a nondisclosure agreement. So instead, the county referred to it as “Project Gator.” Project Gator, which was later revealed to be Paradigm Energy and Storage, wanted to build on a parcel of land that the county purchased in 2022 using federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, better known as ARPA. Yancey County bought that land with the intention of turning it into an industrial park, and, with the help of the state, had it certified as a shovel-ready industrial site. The county jumped on the opportunity when McKendree approached them about developing it, and they were relieved, Austin said, when he doubled down on his interest after Helene. With an agreement between the two parties reached, McKendree had the opportunity at that February meeting to introduce himself and sell the community on his vision for Paradigm. However, the introductory speech he gave, captured in a YouTube [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaq8x9g87KM&ref=down-ballot.info), lacked specifics and concerned several Yancey residents who spoke with CPP. McKendree emphasized his Christian faith and humble upbringing, as well as his desire to bring prosperity to Yancey County in the aftermath of Helene. However, he said little about what Paradigm would actually do at the planned $175 million facility, instead painting an ambitious picture that bordered on hyperbole. [![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Spring-CTA-5-18-and-5-19.png)](https://carolinapublicpress.fundjournalism.org/donate/?amount=15&campaign=701VH00000twrttYAA&frequency=monthly&ref=down-ballot.info) “Paradigm is going to become a global corporation,” McKendree said. “We're going to be building energy systems all over the world. We're going to teach our children the robotics that move the energy. We're going to teach our children how to manufacture solar modules. We're going to teach them how to build everything and anything that's energy that makes sense and there's a market for.” When asked by Commission Chairman **Jeff Whitson** to explain to the audience the products that Paradigm would manufacture, McKendree described nonflammable, transportable batteries which could provide power to facilities like schools and hospitals during power outages. **Landon Beaver**, a community activist and chair of the Democratic Party in heavily Republican Yancey County, attended that meeting and said he was skeptical of the project almost immediately. “It was a lot of promises,” Beaver said. “In a lot of ways it felt more like church for a few minutes there, with a prayer and everything, and (McKendree) was not very professional looking either.” Yancey resident and small business owner **Tal Galton** was equally suspicious of Paradigm after Google searches turned up very little information about the company or its operations. “From the get-go I was like, this can't be real,” Galton said, “and it's baffling to me that our county government had the wool pulled over their eyes somehow.” ### Paradigm documents littered with red flags CPP discovered multiple false and misleading information on Paradigm’s North Carolina [business registration](https://sosnc.gov/online%5Fservices/search/profile%5Ffilings/23151780?ref=down-ballot.info), which was filed 10 days after the announcement in Burnsville. First, McKendree listed a Florida attorney’s cellphone number as Paradigm’s principal office number. When contacted by CPP, that attorney said he had done legal work for McKendree in the past but was not associated with Paradigm. The same attorney provided CPP with what he believed to be McKendree’s personal cell number, which turned out to have been deactivated. Further, the registered agent listed on Paradigm’s business registration is a Burke County woman who died in December. The address listed as her office is a Linville Falls restaurant, owned and operated by that woman’s relatives, who denied any association with Paradigm and called the information in the document “fraudulent.” Paradigm’s 11-page development plan, which was attached to its [contract](https://search.yanceydeeds.com/view%5Fimage.php?key=5ad6dd49d717f16e2af4adb85b9460e5&type=pdf&ref=down-ballot.info) with the county, also had multiple instances of contradicting statements and vague descriptions of the company’s operations. In the first paragraph, it described Paradigm as an “upcoming unlaunched business” but also claimed to have 75 employees. CPP found no credible sources to suggest that Paradigm had any employees other than McKendree. That same document claimed Paradigm’s “core offerings” were smart-grid technology, battery storage systems, demand response programs and peak-load management strategies, but did not explain what those were or how it fit into the company’s operations. During his speech, McKendree also said Paradigm would manufacture solar panels, even announcing a partnership with Mayland Community College that would train students for that task, but Paradigm’s development plan didn’t mention solar manufacturing or the training program at all. **John Boyd**, who leads Mayland Community College’s business partnerships, was present at the February 2025 announcement but did not speak about the proposed training program. Boyd did not respond to CPP’s requests for comment about the current status of that program. ### An uncertain future for industrial site It wasn’t until more than a year after the initial announcement that Yancey County gave a public update about the Paradigm project. At the end of a March 9 county commissioners meeting, Whitson addressed the project after a group of citizens voiced their concerns about the legitimacy of the operation and the lack of work being done at the industrial site. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GIS-map-1.png) The outline from the Yancey County GIS map shows the parcel north of US 19 in Burnsville that the county gave to Paradigm to develop. Provided / Yancey County Whitson said Paradigm had been declared in default of its agreement with the county in December, and that the 84.5 acres deeded to them would return to the county as a result. Whitson and Lynn further discussed the future of the industrial site in a Facebook [video](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=848683784896742) posted on March 13\. In that video, Whitson referred to the situation as a “touchy subject” and said he wanted to put the topic “to rest,” emphasizing again that the county maintains control of the land given to Paradigm. Public land records from the register of [deeds](https://search.yanceydeeds.com/index.php?ref=down-ballot.info) and county [GIS](https://gis.yanceycountync.org/maps/?ref=down-ballot.info) data do not, as of the publication of this story, corroborate that claim. Both indicate that Paradigm still owns that parcel of land, except for a 0.44-acre section that the company [sold](https://search.yanceydeeds.com/view%5Fimage.php?key=6546f28720102393817d93321ceb85a8&type=pdf&ref=down-ballot.info) for $10 to the owner of a local trucking company in September. The man who bought that portion of the industrial site declined to speak with CPP for this story. County officials did not respond to CPP’s request for them to clarify the status of the default agreement with Paradigm, nor did they respond to questions about what might happen with the land the company sold. Despite everything, Whitson’s video statement alluded to the possibility that Paradigm still might proceed with the project, although he added that the county is interested in recruiting other businesses to the site. “The business that is looking at it right now, Paradigm ... is still able to come,” he said. “It’s up to them on how we move forward.” Beaver said there’s still hope that the county can find a different suitor for the industrial site and bring a needed boost to its economy, but he was dismayed at the time lost by dealing with Paradigm. “We do need good paying jobs, and that's kind of what was promised with this project,” he said. “Beyond jobs, they were going to partner with Mayland Community College to provide education with it, so there’s a lot of let down with what was promised with this project versus what we got.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75626/florida-entrepreneurs-job-promises-for-nc-mountains-looking-like-a-mirage/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Can you trust that post about Tom Steyer? How paid influencers are flooding into the governor’s race By [Jeanne Kuang](https://calmatters.org/author/jeanne-kuang/?ref=down-ballot.info), [Yue Stella Yu](https://calmatters.org/author/yue-yu/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Maya C. Miller](https://calmatters.org/author/maya-miller/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![A speaker stands at a podium and points outward while speaking into microphones against a dark background. The close-up image captures the speaker mid-speech with an outstretched hand gesture.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/022126_DemConvention-JK_CM_58.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1) California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer on Feb. 21, 2026\. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters *This story was originally published by* [*CalMatters*](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [*Sign up*](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) *for their newsletters.* Jaz Roche, also known to nearly 11,000 Tiktok followers as @spo0kymom, hawks facial cleansing bars, baby wagons and AI tools in short social media videos. On a website where clients can pay her to post videos about their products, she says she’s based in Pennsylvania. Yet the content creator has taken an interest in the [California governor’s race](https://calmatters.org/tag/california-governor-2026-election/?ref=down-ballot.info) lately. Tiktok and Instagram accounts linked to Roche have posted 34 times in the past 10 days to boost the campaign of billionaire [Tom Steyer](https://calmatters.org/tag/tom-steyer/?ref=down-ballot.info) or to criticize his main Democratic opponent, [Xavier Becerra](https://calmatters.org/tag/xavier-becerra/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Hear me out, I have something to admit,” she says in the first video, posted May 8, on an account where she describes herself as a “so-cal girlypop.” “I did not expect the most progressive governor candidate to be a billionaire. But look at the policies, you guys.” What she didn’t say was that Steyer’s campaign is paying her to say it. Steyer, who has poured nearly $200 million into the [most expensive primary campaign in state history](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/04/california-governor-race-financials/?ref=down-ballot.info), is under scrutiny for using paid social media influencers to post favorable things about him. Is that legal? Gov. Gavin Newsom three years ago [signed a law](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca%5F202320240sb678?ref=down-ballot.info#bill[]=ca%5F202320240sb678) meant to bring transparency to the increasingly intertwined world of politics and content creators, enacting a law requiring influencers to be upfront in their posts about being paid by a political campaign. In one of the first tests of the law, regulators have opened an investigation into one of the Steyer influencer videos. But experts and transparency advocates aren’t optimistic: The law was intentionally designed with no real penalties, and the agency responsible for enforcing it [sometimes takes years](https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/10/campaign-finance-california-fppc-enforcement/?ref=down-ballot.info) to resolve investigations. “This is where the ‘Wild West’ analogy becomes useful,” said Dan Schnur, a political science professor and former chair of the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission. ## **‘Inundate the internet’** Campaign finance filings from January through April 18 show Steyer has paid over $123,400 to at least eight influencers. [The New York Times reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/16/business/media/influencers-political-financing-disclosure.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that includes $100,000 to Texas-based Latino mega-influencer Carlos Eduardo Espina, whose 14.3 million Tiktok followers are a coveted target for Democrats and who has endorsed Steyer. The campaign is also paying over $870,000 to a digital media agency, Group Project Digital, that solicits creators to post daily videos about Steyer. The listing initially offered $10 per video; it was amended last week to offer $1,000 a month and now includes a sentence telling creators they need to disclose the payments. The state investigation covers just one of the influencer videos, in which content creator Isaiah Washington (known as @zaydante) did not disclose that Steyer’s campaign paid him $10,000 for a now-deleted video. It was sparked by a complaint from a pair of political social media influencers who post frequently in support of Becerra. On Tuesday, they filed another complaint alleging numerous additional paid, undisclosed posts, including from accounts in other countries. “What he’s done is inundate the Internet in every way, shape and form to try and create an echo chamber,” said Beatrice Gomberg, one of the complainants. Among the accounts they’ve recently highlighted: @foosgonewild, which has posted memes, content about Southern California street culture and, on May 5, an interview with Steyer talking about his opposition to ICE. The account has 3.3 million followers on Instagram and 1 million on Tiktok. The Tiktok video has no disclosures. On Instagram, at the bottom of the video description, the account notes it’s a partner with California-based social video firm Flighthouse. Neither the content creator nor Flighthouse responded to requests for comment. The Steyer campaign would not disclose how much it paid the firm. Steyer has defended soliciting influencers, saying they deserve to be paid for their work. Spokesperson Kevin Liao called Gomberg’s first complaint “baseless” and said the campaign specified in its contracts with all third-party content firms that they needed to include payment disclosures, satisfying the campaign’s legal obligations under the state transparency law. The campaign doesn’t review posts in advance, he said. Asked why the campaign had paid some creators who don’t live in California, he said, “I don’t see why that’s an issue.” “Content creators, wherever they’re based, have followers in California,” he said. ## **‘Politics is all content now’** The blowback reveals the rising power and profitability of content creators in politics. One in five Americans [regularly gets news on TikTok](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/09/25/1-in-5-americans-now-regularly-get-news-on-tiktok-up-sharply-from-2020/?ref=down-ballot.info), rising to more than two in five for those under age 30\. With traditional television hemorrhaging viewership and Americans hooked on the infinite scroll, campaigns are increasingly chasing posts. They regularly hold events to court paid and unpaid influencers and sit for video interviews, aided by a new crop of talent agencies and digital media firms that represent influencers and solicit their content. The relationship has contributed to at least one politician’s downfall: After attending a creator meeting for [then-gubernatorial hopeful Eric Swalwell](https://www.cjr.org/laurels-and-darts/confronting-eric-swalwell-reporters-content-creators-arielle-fodor-cheyenne-hunt.php?ref=down-ballot.info) last fall, political influencer Arielle Fodor (aka @mrs.frazzled) received a flurry of messages warning her to stay away from him. It prompted her to post videos discussing rumors of his sexual misconduct, she has said. He [quit the race](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/04/california-governor-swalwell-out/?ref=down-ballot.info) after reporters covered several allegations of harassment and assault. “Politics is all content now,” said Alex Stack, a Democratic consultant and former communications staffer for Gov. Gavin Newsom. “Candidates need to be content creators and they need a little online army behind them to get traction.” Roche’s videos about Steyer — some featuring her talking, some simply showing text praising Steyer over mundane videos of her life — have gotten no more than 1,100 views each. They’re posted on accounts with fewer than two dozen followers, a far cry from the millions of Californians Steyer’s TV ad spending blitz is reaching. But they provide something critical for the billionaire candidate who’s funding his own campaign: the impression of grassroots support. In a briefing memo for creators obtained by CalMatters, the campaign’s digital firm tells Tiktokers and Instagrammers that the “title of billionaire is his biggest sticking point,” and that the campaign wants to reach California women, Latinos and African Americans. The Sacramento Bee first [reported on the memo](https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article315718825.html?ref=down-ballot.info). ## **Organic content?** Advertisers covet creators regardless of audience size for their ability to portray a product endorsement as an organic recommendation from a friend. Candidates courting voters are no different. For example, an organization representing California lawyers is paying influencers to promote a ballot measure targeting Uber's responsibility for sexual assaults by its drivers. Matt Mahan’s campaign for governor has also [paid influencers](https://www.instagram.com/p/DYaNpkRn8VN/?ref=down-ballot.info) and meme accounts for content boosting him. Instagram users see disclosures on those videos’ descriptions. In the Los Angeles mayor’s race, Karen Bass’ challenger Spencer Pratt is [offering money](https://docs.google.com/document/d/16--ZCiw-3LoQrAG5tMqgmXfnsFdZX0Rio1rCP-fHkNk/edit?tab=t.0&ref=down-ballot.info) on social media gig platforms to make videos featuring viral-friendly soundbites of him. > “Whether or not they believe in Tom Steyer, they’re going to post those videos.” content creator Serabeth Mullaney Serabeth Mullaney, a part-time San Francisco content creator promoting cat treats and AI tools, turned down an offer to make videos boosting Steyer’s campaign because of her opposition to billionaires in politics. The 29-year-old said she gets most of her news from social media so she’s concerned about the seep of paid political ads into influencer content. “Anyone desperate to make that (money), they’re going to do the campaign,” she said. “Whether or not they believe in Tom Steyer, they’re going to post those videos.” The concern mirrors the state [Fair Political Practices Commission’s rationale](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billAnalysisClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202320240SB678&ref=down-ballot.info) for proposing the 2024 transparency law. Before that, campaigns only needed to disclose payment for ads they posted directly; paid content on third-party platforms was largely unregulated. But the agency primarily relies on complaints to launch investigations, and violations of the law come with few consequences — no fines or criminal charges for creators or campaigns. The only thing the agency can do is ask a court to force an influencer to disclose payments, but experts say that's an expensive and time-consuming effort for a fleeting video. Sen. [Tom Umberg](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/thomas-umberg-165043?ref=down-ballot.info), a Santa Ana Democrat who authored the law, said paid influencers in politics are more prevalent than three years ago and lawmakers should make the requirements more enforceable. “Transparency is like whack-a-mole,” Umberg said. “Every year there’s a new modality, and so there’s a new way to get around stuff.” ## Becerra's online army Now the gubernatorial candidates and their supporters are engaged in a mass scrutiny of all the posts boosting each others’ campaigns. Critics have also questioned the relationship between Becerra and numerous creators who have boosted his campaign since Swalwell dropped out. The Becerra campaign has insisted it has never paid any content creator for a post. ![A person in a black suit gestures with their hands as they stand on a stage in front an audience. Other panelists can be seen in the background, along with a banner that reads “Affordability and Rural California.”](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/040126_Fresno-State-Gov-Forum_LV_CM_14-1024x682.jpg) Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra on April 1, 2026\. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters The campaign seeks relationships with creators who are willing to post for free as a blend of campaign volunteer and reporter, said digital strategist Alf Lamont. “Paid influencer campaigns don’t carry the kind of punch that organizing does,” Lamont said. “We want to make sure we’re getting folks who truly believe in it so we don’t face the second-guesses and the ‘paid by’ and the feeling you’re looking at something that’s insincere.” Jordan “Jay” Gonzalez’s posts included lifestyle content, Latino advocacy and even [salmon DNA facials](https://www.instagram.com/p/DVhWei6ASFg/?ref=down-ballot.info) before he started creating pro-Becerra videos on multiple platforms in March, a month before the campaign hired him as a full-time social media strategist. Gonzalez has recently been amending his posts with disclosures that he is paid by the campaign, “out of extreme caution so as not to seem disingenuous to my audience.” Opponents point out Gonzalez and another creator who has posted numerous times in Becerra’s favor, Maggie Reed or @mermaidmamamaggie, have previously charged for content. Antonio Villaraigosa’s campaign solicited unpaid videos from both of them in the spring, and received quotes from each influencer’s agent of $7,000 to $16,500, emails shared with CalMatters show. The Villaraigosa campaign confirmed the exchanges. On Tuesday, Steyer’s campaign filed a complaint alleging both influencers’ videos were paid for by Becerra’s campaign with no disclosure. Becerra’s campaign has not reported any payments to Reed in campaign finance filings, and Lamont denied paying either creator for content. Gonzalez, in an email, said that he had previously declined a paid offer from the Villaraigosa campaign. Reed did not respond to a request for comment. ## **‘A SoCal girl’** Gomberg and Kaitlyn Hennessy, friends who met at a Becerra rally, have both posted frequently in favor of his campaign — for free, they say. The pair began sleuthing online in early May, eventually filing a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission last week alleging Steyer’s campaign hired Roche, Washington and several other content creators to post on his behalf without disclosing it. Posing as another, unnamed campaign, they emailed creators offering paid political content work to prompt them to talk about posting for Steyer’s campaign. One account, @isabel.speakss, purported to belong to a “so cal girl sharing her thoughts” named Isabel Mendoza and has exclusively posted about Steyer since May 9\. The woman in the videos appears identical to Jade Johnson, a Florida-based influencer. Another account, @jess.votes, is linked to another Florida content creator. Since the complaint was filed, Roche and the other creators have included disclaimers in their posts. None of them responded to inquiries from CalMatters asking if they knew about the campaign disclosure law. After a CalMatters reporter asked Johnson whether she was asked to pose as a California voter, the @isabel.speakss account on Monday afternoon removed the “so cal” description from its profile. None of those creators are listed in Steyer’s latest campaign finance filings as subcontractors of any digital strategy firm. Steyer spokesperson Liao said they will appear in the next filing. CalMatters reached out to all the creators listed in the filings; none agreed to an interview. They include lifestyle influencers, comedians and musicians whom Steyer paid between $1,500 and $10,000, mostly through another firm, to post video interviews with Steyer or talk about his platform. One of them labeled her video a “paid partnership;” others did not disclose campaign payments or have since deleted their videos. This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/05/california-governor-race-influencers/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # Ex-residents of apartment building targeted in massive immigration raid seek millions in damages by Hannah Meisel, Capitol News Illinois May 15, 2026 ### **Article Summary** - Immigrant rights groups have filed federal tort claims against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over the Sept. 30, 2025, immigration raid on an apartment complex in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. - Roughly 300 immigration agents stormed the building in a middle-of-the-night raid in the early weeks of “Operation Midway Blitz” this past fall, ultimately arresting 37 people allegedly without warrants. - The 18 former residents who filed claims this week are seeking $5 million each in damages for agents’ alleged actions, including marching them outside in various states of undress and restraining them with zip ties. Those zip-tied outside the building for hours included undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens alike — allegedly including children, though DHS denies that. - After the raid, the building’s already-poor condition deteriorated further, leaving residents essentially homeless when a Cook County judge deemed the apartment complex uninhabitable in November. *This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.* CHICAGO — In a series of federal tort claims filed this week, immigrant rights groups took the first step in suing the Trump administration on behalf of 18 former residents of a Chicago apartment building that became the site of a surreal middle-of-the-night military-style immigration raid in September. The raid, which began after midnight on Sept. 30, 2025, unfolded in dramatic fashion as immigration agents rappelled down from a Black Hawk helicopter onto the building’s roof in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. Some of the roughly 300 total agents who orchestrated the raid deployed flashbang grenades and broke down doors [without warrants](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/court-scrutiny-of-ice-mounts-as-judge-rules-warrantless-arrests-violated-order/?ref=down-ballot.info), allegedly holding residents at gunpoint or using other types of force to march them outside in their pajamas or various states of undress. By dawn, dozens of residents — children and adults, undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens alike — shivered in the parking lot, their wrists and, in some cases, ankles restrained with zip ties. The Department of Homeland Security denies children were “handcuffed or restrained” during the raid but acknowledged some juveniles were taken into custody “for their own safety” to ensure they “were not being trafficked, abused, or otherwise exploited.” The former residents, which include two U.S. citizens, are seeking millions of dollars in damages for federal agents’ actions during the raid. The [legal filings](https://immigrantjustice.org/for-attorneys/cases/federal-tort-claims-on-behalf-of-south-shore-chicago-residents-targeted-in-2025-immigration-raids/?ref=down-ballot.info), made public on Wednesday, describe residents’ screams in both fear and pain — including one man who suffered multiple dog bites from a K9 agent. The filings also detailed residents’ embarrassment at being filmed by a professional camera crew despite not being fully dressed. The footage would ultimately become [highly produced promotional video for DHS](https://www.instagram.com/p/DPZTrp0CXdc/?ref=down-ballot.info) used [on social media](https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1973796727615598738?ref=down-ballot.info). “The U.S. government has no right to inflict this level of emotional distress and property damage and then just walk away — seeking compensatory damages is a necessary step toward righting the wrong these members of our communities, including families with young children, experienced that night,” said Allena Martin, senior litigation attorney at the Chicago-based National Immigrant Justice Center. **Read more:** [**The real story behind the midnight immigration raid on a Chicago apartment building**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/the-real-story-behind-the-midnight-immigration-raid-on-a-chicago-apartment-building/?ref=down-ballot.info) **|** [**‘I lost everything’: Venezuelans were rounded up in a dramatic midnight raid but never charged with a crime**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/i-lost-everything-venezuelans-were-rounded-up-in-a-dramatic-midnight-raid-but-never-charged-with-a-crime/?ref=down-ballot.info) The chaotic night, just a few weeks into “Operation Midway Blitz,” marked a major flashpoint in the mass deportation campaign. Top White House immigration policy advisor [Stephen Miller justified the raid claiming](https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1975344700346540376?ref=down-ballot.info) the building was a “Tren de Aragua complex filled with TdA terrorists,” referring to the violent Venezuelan gang. But not one of the 37 residents arrested in the raid has been charged with a crime, despite the Trump administration’s claims that two of the arrestees were “confirmed” members of Tren de Aragua. Instead, the 18 residents who filed claims this week — one of whom was detained outside the building a week prior to the raid — claim they and their neighbors were “targeted based on race and ethnicity.” In the aftermath, many of the 37 people arrested remained in immigration detention for weeks or months. A number of them have been deported or have asked for voluntary departure. In response to a request for comment, DHS sent the same statement it’s issued for months, saying the raid “was performed in full compliance of the law,” and touting the arrests of immigrants with criminal records. Two of those arrested, including a U.S. citizen, allegedly had active warrants out for them. In addition to the NIJC, three other major immigrant rights groups are behind the effort, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the University of Chicago Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and the Chicago-based MacArthur Justice Center. “We should not live in a country where the federal government can use violations of the Constitution as propaganda and get away with it,” Jonathan Manes, senior counsel at MacArthur Justice Center, said. “This raid was a nightmare turned into reality. It put federal agents’ abuse of power on full display while leaving the Chicago community traumatized.” ### **A traumatic night** Though civilians can sue state and local law enforcement officers for alleged civil rights violations, federal law enforcement officers are exempt. Instead, those who believe they were harmed by federal agents or other employees can file complaints under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows for compensation for death, injury, property damage or emotional distress. The 18 former residents are seeking $5 million each, plus property damages. The federal government has six months to respond or settle a claim within six months. If an agency does neither — or denies a tort claim — filers can then sue in federal court, where individual officers can be deposed and internal government records subpoenaed. The claims name DHS and subsidiary agencies U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Border Patrol. It also names the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, both of which fall under the U.S. Department of Justice. The legal filings paint a picture of how agents stormed the 130-unit building shortly before 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30\. [The account of one man](https://immigrantjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/FTCA-CLAIM-1-J.Andrades-Jimenez.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), Johandry José Andrades Jiménez, describes how his wife woke him up after hearing helicopters outside and other noises from within the building. Within minutes, agents were outside their unit, yelling for them to “Open the door! Get out! Get out!” according to the filing. When Andrades Jiménez did not open the door, agents allegedly hit it forcefully enough for them to breach the apartment. Four “heavily armed” agents entered and “pointed their weapons” at him. “The agents ... ordered Mr. Andrades Jiménez to get on the floor ‘or I’ll kill you,’” the filing states. “Agents struck Mr. Andrades Jiménez in the head with a rifle and threw him to the floor. They did this in front of his wife and children, who were crying.” He was then zip-tied and asked whether he was a member of Tren de Aragua, which he denied. Still shirtless, he was eventually forced into a van with 15 other male residents who’d been arrested and taken to the ICE processing facility in Chicago's near-western suburb of Broadview. There, he was allegedly held in crowded conditions and “deprived of adequate basic necessities, including water.” **Read more:** [**Judge orders ICE to clean up conditions in Broadview facility that’s ‘become a prison’**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/judge-orders-ice-to-clean-up-conditions-in-broadview-facility-thats-become-a-prison/?ref=down-ballot.info) **|** [**Judge calls alleged conditions at Broadview ICE facility ‘unnecessarily cruel’ after day of testimony**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/judge-calls-alleged-conditions-at-broadview-ice-facility-unnecessarily-cruel-after-day-of-testimony/?ref=down-ballot.info) Over the next two months, he was transferred to several ICE facilities in multiple states and eventually deported in December, [according to reporting from ProPublica](https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-raid-landlord-tren-de-aragua?ref=down-ballot.info), separating him from his wife and three daughters, the youngest of whom was six months old at the time of the raid. Other claimants’ filings, the majority of which are for members of three separate families, described children’s reactions to the raid. In [one family’s account](https://immigrantjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/FTCA-CLAIM-8-Client%5FRedacted.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), the father feared agents would break down their door and hurt their four children, so instead he opened the door. When he did, he saw “agents pointing guns into his apartment” right at his family. The couple “huddled with their children as the children screamed and cried in terror,” according to the filing. Agents restrained the father with zip ties and then yelled at the family in English, pushing all six of them out of their apartment in their pajamas, with the father and mother held at gunpoint, according to the filing. As they walked through the hall, “the family saw agents break down their neighbors' doors. children became increasingly distressed and started crying even harder than they already were.” Once outside, agents lined up the family with dozens of other residents and took pictures of each person in line. When agents separated the father, their children became even more upset. “Her children were crying and screaming, except for D.J.D.L., who was having a panic attack — he could not speak or move,” according to the mother’s claim, referring to her 9-year-old son by his initials. ### **Landlord coordination** In January, the Illinois Department of Human Rights opened an investigation into the building’s former landlords, who coordinated with DHS prior to the raid claiming the complex was becoming overrun by Tren de Aragua. According to [February legal filings that cite two arrest records from the raid](https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-raid-landlord-tren-de-aragua?ref=down-ballot.info), agents attested to having received “owner/manager’s verbal and written consent.” Arrest records also stated the raid was planned “based on intelligence that there were illegal aliens unlawfully occupying apartments.” The Department of Human Rights’ official housing discrimination charge alleges building management “unlawfully discriminated against their tenants” both by neglecting maintenance requests and then tipping off DHS. **Read more:** [**State investigating landlord of Chicago apartments raided by immigration agents**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/apartment-raid-investigation/?ref=down-ballot.info) In addition to many longtime residents, most of whom were Black U.S. citizens, the building was home to many Venezuelan migrants who arrived in Chicago in the latter half of the Biden administration. Republican governors sent thousands of migrants in busses from states like Texas to “sanctuary” cities run by Democrats, including Chicago. Some living in the complex were squatters, and [reporting by ProPublica found](https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-fbi-raids-no-criminal-charges?ref=down-ballot.info) there had been drug dealing and prostitution in the building. In June, one Venezuelan resident allegedly [executed his neighbor](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/22/ice-lodges-arrest-detainer-venezuelan-criminal-illegal-alien-who-brutally-murdered?ref=down-ballot.info), another Venezuelan national, after he and two others forced their way into the victim’s apartment. A [recently published report](https://ilac.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/ilac/documents/final-report/inv-briefs/IAC-South-Shore-Investigation-Brief.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by a state commission charged with memorializing alleged abuses during Operation Midway Blitz cited an [internal CBP report](https://loevyandloevy.wetransfer.com/previews/834909f42b6f94af4e3e20bf9462e72720260209181837/0193d8?itemId=6d271c75e7e06fcceb51339dc1dc863820260209181902&ref=down-ballot.info) on the raid that pointed to federal law enforcement intelligence as the basis for the operation. According to the report, the feds had intelligence “indicating that TdA (Tren de Aragua) members and other suspected criminals had ‘seized control of approximately 30 vacant apartments’ in the building and that ATF had conducted several undercover operations to purchase illicit firearms in the apartment complex.” **Read more:** [**Accountability Commission refers federal agents for investigation, possible prosecution for conduct last fall**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/accountability-commission-refers-federal-agents-for-investigation-possible-prosecution-for-conduct-last-fall/?ref=down-ballot.info) **|** [**State commission finds agent abuses were ‘greenlit by Washington’ for Operation Midway Blitz**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/state-commission-finds-agent-abuses-were-greenlit-by-washington-for-operation-midway-blitz/?ref=down-ballot.info) The building, which had been deteriorating for years according to r[eporting by the Chicago Tribune](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/19/ice-chicago-apartment-raid/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Block Club Chicago](https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/24/south-shore-residents-made-thousands-of-distress-calls-to-city-before-massive-federal-raid/?ref=down-ballot.info), was left in shambles after the raid. In November, remaining residents were forced out of the building after a Cook County judge deemed it uninhabitable and [ordered the property vacated](https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/07/all-residents-to-leave-as-court-takes-control-of-south-shore-building-raided-by-feds/?ref=down-ballot.info) for safety reasons. The state Department of Human Rights’ January filing alleges building management “blamed Venezuelan tenants for their own (management's) failure to provide needed locks and security service, as well as other needed maintenance and repairs, and perpetuated stereotypes” so that all Venezuelan nationals living in the building would be associated with Tren de Aragua. [*Capitol News Illinois*](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.* This [article](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/ex-residents-of-apartment-building-targeted-in-massive-immigration-raid-seek-millions-in-damages/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Capitol News Illinois](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-Captiol-News-Illinois.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) --- # Louisiana parish president sparks free speech fight after shutting down ‘Cancer Alley’ film screening by Tristan Baurick, Verite News New Orleans May 14, 2026 **Update: On Friday, May 15, St. John the Baptist Parish President Jaclyn Hotard emailed Verite News to deny that she was responsible for cancelling the screening of “The Big Sea.” In a phone call, she indicated that the St. John Threatre manager Amy Wombles and theatre board president Judge Sterling Snowdy “should set the record straight” and had put the parish in “potential liability.”** **Verite has contacted Wombles and Snowdy to inform them about Hotard’s claim and request a response.** --- A documentary centered on a small Mississippi River parish had been racking up awards, earning prizes at film festivals in San Francisco, London and Milan. But when residents of St. John the Baptist Parish tried to screen “[The Big Sea](https://thebigsea.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)” at a publicly owned theater during Black History Month, Parish President Jaclyn Hotard intervened, shutting down the event without explanation. Organizers and legal experts say the cancellation in late February was discriminatory and appeared intended to silence viewpoints critical of St. John’s large petrochemical industry. Produced by British filmmakers, the documentary explores the link between the global surfing industry and air pollution in Reserve, a mostly poor, Black community in St. John. Until its [closure last year](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/13/louisiana-denka-plant-cancer-alley?ref=down-ballot.info), the Denka chemical plant between Reserve and LaPlace was the nation’s only producer of chloroprene, a key ingredient used to make neoprene for wetsuits worn by surfers worldwide. “The Big Sea” takes aim at Denka, a company that federal regulators said posed a substantial cancer risk to St. John residents, and the wider industrial corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge — an area known as Cancer Alley. “This is important stuff for us to get to the public,” said Robert Taylor, president of [Concerned Citizens of St. John](https://www.concernedcitizensofstjohn.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a community group that organized the screening at the St. John Theatre, a parish-owned theater in Reserve. “But the power of the petrochemical industry runs deep in Louisiana.” Hotard has previously tussled with community groups over industrial projects. In 2024, court filings revealed she had used [violent language](https://veritenews.org/2024/12/10/st-john-the-baptist-parish-president-faces-perjury-allegation/?ref=down-ballot.info) against activists opposing a now-defunct grain terminal project. Evidence shown in federal court also showed her family [stood to make money](https://lailluminator.com/2025/01/29/hotard-greenfield/?ref=down-ballot.info) from a land deal related to the project, which would have been built atop the graves of enslaved people. Last year, a jury [cleared Hotard](https://lailluminator.com/2025/01/29/jury-rules-in-favor-of-st-john-parish-officials-in-case-involving-environmental-advocate/?ref=down-ballot.info) of allegations that she had restricted the speech of environmental justice activists during parish meetings. Tulane University law professor Bruce Hamilton, who directs the school’s First Amendment Clinic, said Hotard's cancellation of the documentary screening is “very clearly a First Amendment violation.” “The St. John Theatre is a public forum,” he added. “Because the parish government allows other uses, they can’t discriminate against this documentary in particular.” The 95-year-old former movie house was purchased and renovated by St. John Parish in 1980\. Run by a [nonprofit group](https://www.stjohntheatre.com/aboutus?ref=down-ballot.info) that leases it from the parish, the theater is regularly rented out for community events. Members of Concerned Citizens say they booked the theatre in December and received assurances from the theater’s manager, Amy Wombles, that the screening was approved by the venue’s board. Concerned Citizens secured insurance and were finalizing food-service plans for the screening when Wombles abruptly announced the show was canceled. “We regret that we must inform you that Parish President Jaclyn Hotard has vetoed the screening of The Big Sea documentary at St. John Theatre,” Wombles wrote in an email on Jan. 23\. “The Parish President and the Sheriff have the authority to close any event at St. John Theatre for a variety of reasons.” Sixteen weeks later, no reason has been given, Taylor said. “We’d done a lot of work putting it together,” he said. “But after they’d given us access, they canceled. And we still don’t know why.” Hotard and Wombles did not respond to requests for comment. First elected parish president in 2019, Hotard was a strong supporter of Denka, praising its contributions to the local economy, which she estimated last year contributed about 250 jobs and $2 million in annual sales tax revenue. She blamed the plant’s closure on federal regulators and legal actions backed by environmental activists. “I believe some of the pressures placed on this facility were particularly aggressive, and at times lacked the balance needed to account for economic and workforce reality,” she [told WVUE](https://www.fox8live.com/2025/05/13/denka-citing-extraordinary-losses-suspends-operations-laplace-chloroprene-rubber-plant/?ref=down-ballot.info) last year. ### 'We’re certainly thinking about litigation' In 2023, President Joe Biden’s administration [sued Denka](https://apnews.com/article/epa-chloroprene-cancer-lawsuit-louisiana-1a57d0402a144bfa4da5d939b34ae6ea?ref=down-ballot.info), alleging that the plant posed “an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and welfare.” The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said the company hadn’t moved fast enough to reduce emissions that posed cancer risks and imperiled children. An elementary school, which has also closed, was a half-mile from the plant. President Donald Trump’s administration dropped the lawsuit early last year, but the plant was already shutting down. In May 2025, Denka [suspended production](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/13/louisiana-denka-plant-cancer-alley?ref=down-ballot.info), citing toughening regulations and a “slowdown” in global demand for neoprene. “The Big Sea” premiered last year amid the tumult. It quickly racked up [more than a dozen awards](https://thebigsea.org/media-awards/?ref=down-ballot.info) at several film festivals and attracted coverage in [Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/how-can-we-make-people-care-about-sustainable-fashion-climate-change?ref=down-ballot.info), [Surfer Magazine](https://www.surfer.com/news/new-documentary-addresses-toxicity-of-neoprene-wetsuits?ref=down-ballot.info) and [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/16/perfect-wetsuit-surfers-swimmers-neoprene-carcinogenic-recycling-harm-planet-natural-rubber?ref=down-ballot.info). The 75-minute documentary was filmed in California, Spain, Australia and other regions where surfing is popular, but its core narrative is rooted in St. John, a parish of about 40,000 people that straddles the Mississippi about 20 miles west of New Orleans. St. John was once dominated by plantations but its farm fields have mostly given way to industrial facilities. After Denka’s closure, the parish still has [10 facilities that the EPA says release large amounts of toxic chemicals](https://enviro.epa.gov/triexplorer/tri%5Ffactsheet.factsheet?pParent=TRIQ1&pDataset=TRIQ1&pstate=LA&pcounty=St.%20John%20the%20Baptist%20Parish&pFips=22095&pyear=2023&ref=down-ballot.info). “They’d shown the documentary all over the world, but it needed to be shown here because it’s about us,” Taylor said. “And we wanted to show it in the only theater in the dog-gone parish.” The theater advertises itself as a venue for school plays, dance recitals and beauty pageants. Its schedule of events is fairly light. In May, for instance, the only performances the theater’s website is promoting are a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band and a play based on the Disney movie “Aladdin.” “The theater doesn’t have that much going on, so they can’t say they were too busy,” Taylor said. Concerned Citizens has enlisted legal help from Hamilton at the First Amendment Clinic. The clinic has sent letters to Hotard and other parish officials seeking an explanation and reconsideration of the cancellation. Several public records requests seeking emails and other communications about the screening’s denial have yielded no documents, Hamilton said. While Hotard has so far avoided serious consequences from her disputes with community groups, Hamilton said the parish is likely bearing a financial burden in the form of legal fees. He warned that more legal trouble may be coming. “We’re certainly thinking about litigation,” Hamilton said. “But that seems like an expensive and difficult solution to a problem that could simply be solved by allowing the film to show.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/05/14/documentary-pollution-first-amendment/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=30576&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/05/Fundraising_mg_0.jpg) Members of the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition walk on a trail near the state-managed Sadie Creek Campground near the Northern Olympic Coast. (Photo by Scott McGee/Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition) ## Fundraising effort saves patch of state-managed forest in western WA from logging By Aspen Ford (Washington State Standard) Published: May 12, 2026 Environmental activists have raised the $32,000 needed [to spare the trees surrounding a campground](https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/05/01/time-running-out-to-stop-logging-of-northwest-washington-campground/?ref=down-ballot.info) on the northern end of the Olympic Peninsula from logging. In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind agreement, the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition paid Webster Logging to halt the cutting of a two-acre state-managed parcel around the Sadie Creek campground. Webster paid the Department of Natural Resources half of those funds, which will be divided between the agency and county beneficiaries. “I honestly never dreamed we would raise that money so quickly,” said WendyRae Johnson, member of the coalition. “If we raised $32,000 in four days? Hello. People really said yes to it.” Activists raised the money online with a [GoFundMe campaign](https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-sadie-creek-legacy-forests?ref=down-ballot.info). The agreement took place without approval from the Department of Natural Resources. Without an official conservation agreement involving the state, the land, theoretically, could be put up for sale again for logging. Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove supports the idea of conservation leases and recently started an internal work group to begin developing policies, but said it was too early to take action at the Sadie Creek Campground. “At the surface, it sounds easy: two acres, just write your check,” Upthegrove told the Standard. “But really, what we’re doing is establishing a new legal process at the agency.” Any conservation easement that would happen in the future would need to be approved by the Board of Natural Resources, he added. The Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition says its work isn’t done yet. The two acres that were saved comprise one of six units in the Doc Holliday timber sale. The coalition hopes to save another larger unit, according to Elizabeth Dunne, an attorney with Earth Law Center who coordinated the Sadie Creek agreement. The 29-acre area contains so-called legacy forests — trees that aren’t quite old growth, but will be in the coming years if left standing. Bruce Webster, the owner of the logging company, said he will log the area around July. “The hope is that we could swap out that acreage for other acreage that would be non-legacy forest, like monocrop plantation acreage,” said Dunne. Because the timber is worth more than $1 million, a swap is really the only viable option, she said, explaining that fundraising that amount would be unrealistic. Over a year and a half ago, the group sent a proposal to the Department of Natural Resources to swap out the land for another parcel that’s part of a timber sale called Double Down. The agency didn’t respond. To make a swap, the Department of Natural Resources would have to identify replacement timber and amend its existing contract with Webster Logging. Even if that doesn’t happen and the other 29 acres are cut, the Sadie Creek Campground agreement “could be the start of something,” Johnson said. In the future, the group hopes that the public will be able to bid on timber sales, not just loggers. If the agency allowed the public to bid on timber sales under the same conditions as logging companies, groups like the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition could pay 10% down on a timber sale at time of sale and then have three years to come up with the rest of the money. “We have opportunities to manage lands in a way that reflects their value beyond timber,” said Dunne. **Editor’s note:* This story has been updated to clarify that the Department of Natural Resources did not respond to Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition’s proposal to swap other land for the 29 acres in the Doc Holliday timber sale. A previous version of the article said the agency had rejected the proposal.* --- ### Where Decisions Take Shape: Understanding Charlotte’s City Council Committee Structure URL: https://down-ballot.info/where-decisions-take-shape-understanding-charlottes-city-council-committee-structure/ Last updated: 2026-05-20T09:00:52.000Z By Allison Chipps (Queens University News Service) Published: April 14, 2026 In Charlotte, the most important decisions aren’t always made under the bright lights of a full council vote. Instead, they begin in quieter rooms — inside committees of the Charlotte City Council — where fewer people are watching and even fewer know how to speak up. The debate surrounding 1-77 brought new attention to the often-overlooked part of city government. As criticism grew over both the decisions and the process behind it, Councilmember Ed Driggs acknowledged that earlier public input might have led to a different outcome. His comment pointed to a larger issue: many residents don’t know where — or when — to make their voices heard. Council committees are designed to handle the details. In them, City Council members review proposals, hear from city staff and work through the complexities of issues like transportation, housing and public safety. Each committee focuses on a specific area, meeting regularly and forwarding recommendations to the full council. Those recommendations carry weight and by the time an issue reaches a full vote, its direction is often already set. [Committees](https://www.charlottenc.gov/City-Government/Leadership/City-Council/Council-Committees?ref=down-ballot.info) meet on the first Monday of each month, with agendas posted in advance. Meetings are open to the public, but unless residents are actively tracking them, it’s easy to miss when key issues first appear. The I-77 debate exposed that timing gap. #### **The Committees Behind the City** **Budget, Governance & Intergovernmental Relations Committee** This committee shapes the city’s financial and political foundation. It oversees the budget, monitors spending and manages how Charlotte works with the North Carolina state government and federal partners. As Charlotte continues to grow rapidly, the committee has been navigating difficult trade-offs — how to divide funding among housing, infrastructure and public safety while keeping up with rising demand. **Transportation, Planning & Development Committee** If an issue involves roads, transit or development, it likely starts here. This committee also focus on striking a balance between sustainability and growth, ensuring the city adheres to its [Strategic Energy Action Plan](https://www.charlottenc.gov/City-Government/Initiatives-and-Involvement/The-Office-of-Sustainability-and-Resilience/SEAP?ref=down-ballot.info). This committee plays a central role in shaping how Charlotte moves and grows, making it especially relevant to projects like I-77. Recent discussions have focused on transit expansion, infrastructure funding and the challenges of managing congestion in an expanding city. **Housing Committee** This committee focuses on one of Charlotte’s most pressing issues: affordability. It handles housing policy, homelessness and programs designed to support residents struggling to find or keep stable housing. As the city grows, conversations here often center on how to increase affordable housing while balancing developmental pressures and limited funding. **Safety Committee** This committee oversees public safety and emergency response across the city. It works closely with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, as well as fire and emergency services. They focus on crime trends, policing strategies, and how to build trust between the community and law enforcement. Discussions are often framed around how to ensure crime rates do not expand at the same rate as the city’s population. **Economic Development & Workforce Committee** This committee focuses on growing Charlotte’s economy, from recruiting new businesses to supporting workforce development. It’s [Skilled to Build program](https://www.charlottenc.gov/Growth-and-Development/Skilled-to-Build?ref=down-ballot.info) works to train and develop talent in alignment with city projects. Recent debates have centered on incentives for companies’ relocation to the city and whether public funding should support private development. #### **Finding a Way In** While committee meetings are open to the public, participation often depends on knowing how the system works. Residents can attend meetings in person, sign up to speak during public forums and submit feedback directly to council members. [Agendas](https://www.charlottenc.gov/City-Government/Council-Meetings/Agendas-Past-Present?ref=down-ballot.info) are published ahead of time, making it possible to track when specific issues will be discussed. Individuals interested in speaking in person must sign up via the Office of the City Clerk by 1 p.m. the day of the meetings, or at the meeting prior to discussion of the agenda item. Additionally, an online application is available for those interested in speaking virtually. To give feedback directly to a council member, residents may email members directly with the contact information available on the City of Charlotte website. But timing is everything. Speaking up after an issue reaches the full council may be too late to shape the outcome. ## **A System in the Spotlight** The I-77 debate didn’t just highlight disagreements over transportation. It reveals how much of Charlotte’s decision-making happens before most people are paying attention. Committees are meant to make government more efficient, allowing smaller groups to focus on complex issues. But that efficiency can also make the process harder to see — and harder to access. As Charlotte continues to grow, so does the importance of understanding how decisions are made. For residents who want a voice, the path is there — but it starts earlier than many realize. And increasingly, it starts inside committee rooms. [*Queens University News Service*](https://queensnewsservice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *stories are prepared by students in the James L. Knight School of Communication with supervision and editing from faculty and staff. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte provides the news service in support of local community news.* ### BRIEFS: N.C. DEQ announces $1.2M for flood resilience projects in Swannanoa and Rosman URL: https://down-ballot.info/briefs-n-c-deq-announces-1-2m-for-flood-resilience-projects-in-swannanoa-and-rosman/ Last updated: 2026-05-19T20:10:47.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Flood Resiliency Blueprint has [awarded](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/41801cd?ref=down-ballot.info) more than $1.2 million for two flood resilience projects in Swannanoa and Rosman. The projects will create nearly 9 million gallons (or 27 acre-feet, the amount of water that would cover 27 acres at a depth of one foot) of flood water storage, restore 3,000 feet of tributary streams and three acres of wetlands, stabilize stream banks, and install natural stormwater infrastructure. “Rebuilding more resiliently in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene continues to be an urgent priority,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “These projects will make downstream communities less vulnerable to damage during future floods.” The Flood Resiliency Blueprint previously funded more than $8.8 million for 16 projects dedicated to long-term flood resilience in the French Broad River Basin. The two projects announced today are located in communities that have not yet received Blueprint funding, expanding the impact of the program across the French Broad River Basin. Overall, the Blueprint has now funded 84 projects in six river basins totaling more than $43 million, including the projects announced today. In Swannanoa, the Flood Resiliency Blueprint is awarding $822,780 to RiverLink, a regional nonprofit, to lead a flood resilience project on a 4.45-acre parcel along the Swannanoa River that was severely damaged by Hurricane Helene. The project will slow flood waters and create 1.6 million gallons (five acre-feet) of flood storage to reduce flood risk along Old Highway 70 and in downstream areas. The project will use natural stormwater infrastructure like plants to capture and filter polluted runoff while stabilizing a small tributary stream of the Swannanoa River. The project will also provide economic, recreational and educational benefits to Swannanoa, which experienced some of the most destructive flooding from Hurricane Helene. The project site was identified as an opportunity for restoration and increased community resilience during field investigations for the [2025 Middle Swannanoa River Damage Assessment.](https://riverlink.org/projects/middle-swannanoa-river-restoration-plan/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) In Rosman, the Flood Resiliency Blueprint is awarding $450,000 to [Conserving Carolina](https://conservingcarolina.org/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery), a nonprofit land trust, to lead a flood resilience project on 30 acres of former agricultural fields near the headwaters of the French Broad River. The project will slow flood waters, restore floodplains and create 7.1 million gallons (22 acre-feet) of floodplain storage along the French Broad River. This project will reduce flood risk and protect the downstream Rosman Community Park, wastewater treatment plant, and other infrastructure and properties. In addition, this project will restore 3,000 feet of tributary streams and three acres of wetlands, which will enhance water quality and ecosystem functions in the French Broad River. The site was identified as a high priority for floodplain and wetland restoration in the [2023 Upper French Broad River Basin Restoration Plan](https://conservingcarolina.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Upper-French-Broad-River-Watershed-Restoration-Plan-Final.pdf?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). To reduce regional flood risk, these projects will construct “flood benches,” which slow and spread out flood waters. This approach reduces the volume and velocity of flood waters in the main river channel, thus decreasing the potential impacts of flood events. “We’re excited to partner on these much-needed projects, which will complement ongoing recovery efforts, build resilience and help reduce the costs and disruptions caused by future floods,” said Flood Resiliency Blueprint Program Manager Stuart Brown. ## Mecklenburg County's point-in-time count found 2,018 experiencing homelessness On Jan. 21, 2026, there were a total of 2,018 people experiencing homelessness across sheltered and unsheltered locations in Mecklenburg County. Those are the findings of the [2026 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count](https://news.mecknc.gov/point-time-count-reveals-faces-homelessness-charlotte-mecklenburg?ct=YTo2OntzOjY6InNvdXJjZSI7YToyOntpOjA7czo1OiJlbWFpbCI7aToxO2k6MTk5OTt9czo1OiJlbWFpbCI7aToxOTk5O3M6NDoic3RhdCI7czoyMjoiNmEwYjNiYjk2NzYzOTAzMzM1ODY3OSI7czo5OiJzZW50X3RpbWUiO2k6MTc3OTEyMTA4MTtzOjQ6ImxlYWQiO3M6ODoiMTc3ODY3MzIiO3M6NzoiY2hhbm5lbCI7YToxOntzOjU6ImVtYWlsIjtpOjE5OTk7fX0%3D&ref=down-ballot.info), when nearly 200 volunteers, outreach workers, providers, public sector partners, and others spread across the Mecklenburg County during that day and night to ensure unhoused residents were counted, acknowledged and heard. The results demonstrate that the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in the community has increased notably, fueling a greater need for services while resources continue to shrink. **Unsheltered Homelessness** The unsheltered count during the Point-in-Time Count focuses on people living in locations not intended for human habitation such as streets, cars, parks, and encampments. Volunteers and police officers canvassed Mecklenburg County to locate, identify, and engage individuals who were living unsheltered, and gather U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-required demographic information. The survey revealed 499 people were experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the night of the Point-in-Time Count, an increase of about 12%. Of the 499 people, 125 were newly identified this year. Nearly all were single adults, 29 were unaccompanied youth, and 25 were veterans. **Sheltered Homelessness** Thirty-two publicly and privately operated emergency shelter, transitional housing, and safe haven programs from 15 agencies participated in the Point-in-Time Count. The survey revealed 1,519 people were experiencing sheltered homelessness, about 8% fewer people than last year. This decrease is largely due to the unavailability of emergency shelter beds. Since last year, two small emergency shelter programs closed, and one larger program decreased its capacity due to funding constraints. Of the people identified in the sheltered homeless census, 257 people were children under the age of 18\. [More details about the 2026 findings](https://mecklenburghousingdata.org/frontpage-article/2026-point-in-time-count-what-the-data-reveal-about-homelessness-in-charlotte-mecklenburg/?ct=YTo2OntzOjY6InNvdXJjZSI7YToyOntpOjA7czo1OiJlbWFpbCI7aToxO2k6MTk5MDt9czo1OiJlbWFpbCI7aToxOTkwO3M6NDoic3RhdCI7czoyMjoiNjlmYzdlMTMwZmY3YzQ4MjAyNjc4NCI7czo5OiJzZW50X3RpbWUiO2k6MTc3ODE1NTAyNztzOjQ6ImxlYWQiO3M6NToiMTA1NjYiO3M6NzoiY2hhbm5lbCI7YToxOntzOjU6ImVtYWlsIjtpOjE5OTA7fX0%3D&ref=down-ballot.info) are available at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing and Homelessness Dashboard. The Point-in-Time Count, coordinated nationally by the HUD, is conducted each year across the United States to gather data on homelessness. It takes place on a single night in January each year and provides a snapshot of homelessness. The key objectives of the PIT Count are to estimate the number of people experiencing homelessness and to understand their demographic characteristics and living situations. ### A New Enbridge Pipeline Spurs Opposition in Central North Carolina URL: https://down-ballot.info/a-new-enbridge-pipeline-spurs-opposition-in-central-north-carolina/ Last updated: 2026-05-18T09:00:57.000Z By Lisa Sorg May 7, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07052026/duke-energy-north-carolina-enbridge-pipeline-opposition/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* SILER CITY, N.C.—John Alderman opened the letter, sent by certified mail from an attorney in New Orleans. This is trouble, Alderman thought. It can’t be good news. In late April Enbridge, a Canadian company, announced its plans to build a [new 28-mile natural gas pipeline](https://www.enbridgegas.com/chathamcountysystemexpansion?ref=down-ballot.info) through Chatham County, from Siler City to Moncure. As contractors survey potential routes, they want access to Alderman’s land. “I resent a letter like that,” said Alderman, who lives in western Chatham County. “We are informed, without asking, that someone is planning to trespass on our land. Everything in it is an affront.” Company spokeswoman Persida Montanez told Inside Climate News the pipeline will serve the broader regional energy needs in fast-growing Chatham and Lee counties, and not specific projects, such as data centers. Preliminary routing shows the pipeline would connect to Enbridge’s existing system near Siler City, head southeast and end near Moncure. The pipeline would bypass Pittsboro, but could potentially cross several creeks that feed the Deep River, as well as traverse other main waterways, the Rocky and the Haw. Construction could begin in fall 2027, with a service date of spring 2028\. Total project costs have not yet been determined, Montanez said. Enbridge will have to apply for, and receive, various state permits for the project; if the pipeline crosses waterways, it will need a federal water quality permit as well. This is Enbridge’s second major pipeline project in the state since 2024, when it bought Dominion Energy’s natural gas business in North Carolina. The first is the T15 pipeline, which will run 45 miles from Eden, in Rockingham County, to Duke Energy’s two new natural gas plants near Roxboro, in Person County. These projects are part of the state’s immense natural gas buildout that, if completed, will emit hundreds of tons of planet-heating greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants into the air each year. Natural gas companies and Duke Energy say the projects are necessary to meet the growing power demands, especially of data centers. Critics, including environmental groups, consumer advocates and the Public Staff of the N.C. Utilities Commission, counter that those demand projections are inflated. The result, they say, will be hefty profits for fossil fuel interests and higher customer rates, a hotter planet and habitat destruction. Alderman is 72, of Viking stock and tall with deep-set brown eyes and short white hair. He lives with his wife of 52 years, Gloria, off the grid in a spacious, solar-powered, modern stucco house in a 195-acre woods that once belonged to International Paper. The couple grow their own fruits and vegetables. In 2023 they received a federal grant to sequester carbon in their forest; within two years, it could store as much as 100,000 tons. “We’re carbon negative,” Alderman said. He drove his Ford Lightning, an electric pickup truck, charged with solar panels, down an old farm road and over a 550 million-year-old fault line that is now his gravel driveway. “Everything we’ve done has been geared toward combating climate change. And here we have the irony of ironies—a stinking gas line going through our property.” ## **A Threat to Three Rivers** John and Gloria Alderman met as undergraduates in ecology class in 1974\. Both became biologists, and he specialized in endangered species, including mussels, fish and snails. Throughout his long career, Alderman has witnessed species on the brink of extinction—and beyond. He was the last person to see many types of mussels alive in a four-state area. He waded, swam or dove in highly polluted waterways, including wading in radioactive water and mud up to his chest near the Savannah River nuclear site to search for rare mussels. Inside the Aldermans’ home is a wall of framed newspaper cartoons. One shows Alderman staring down bulldozers that threaten sensitive habitats. In another, his feet are trapped in hardened concrete, as special interests threaten to push him off a pier. “John’s seen so much,” Gloria said, with admiration in her voice. She is petite, with shoulder-length light hair and kind eyes. “His work was fighting. John is not shy.” When the Aldermans bought the land six years ago, they knew Duke Energy had a permanent easement toward the front of the property, where the utility runs a high-voltage transmission line. But they couldn’t have known that some day a pipeline could plow through their land and some of the most pristine habitat in Chatham County. “I think with maps,” Alderman said, projecting the proposed route, overlaid with other geographical features, on his wide-screen TV. He pointed to the route of a new water main, part of an expansion by regional water utility TriRiver, as the first domino to fall. No one conducted environmental impact studies for the infrastructure project, whose original purpose was for emergency backup. Instead, Alderman said, it has sparked new subdivisions and development throughout western Chatham County. And now here comes the Enbridge pipeline. “The water line was the catalyst,” Alderman said. “Everything is connected.” The Rocky and the Deep rivers run through this part of the county and flow into the Cape Fear River Basin, which is besieged by [PFAS](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/forever-war/?ref=down-ballot.info), 1,4-dioxane and other contaminants. These waterways are ecologically significant, but because of pollution and habitat loss, extensive portions appear on the federally impaired waters list. The Atlantic pigtoe, a native mussel not seen since the 1970s, has been extirpated from these waters, Alderman said. If the Enbridge pipeline crosses the waterways, more aquatic life could be displaced or even lost, he fears. “I’ve seen the tremendous effects of climate change on small streams and rivers,” Alderman said. “These rivers are under the gun. If we ever want to restore the Cape Fear River, it’s because we saved the Rocky and the Deep.” ## **The Triangle Innovation Point** The pipeline would run through a portion of County Commission District 2, represented by Amanda Robertson. She spent years fighting a different project, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would have traversed 150 miles through eastern North Carolina. After intense public opposition, project co-owners Dominion and Duke canceled it in July 2020—but not before hundreds of acres of private land had been irreparably destroyed. “Now we’ve got yet another pipeline, and I will do everything in my power to find a way to stop that from happening,” Robertson said. “It’ll be a fight.” About 800 people live in Moncure, an unincorporated town in far southeast Chatham County. Although rural, the area also lies along an economic development corridor that includes long-time industries: Arauco, which manufactures and laminates composite wood panels; two brick factories; a quarry; and Duke Energy’s former coal-fired power plant, now a coal ash recycling facility. Robertson served on the county planning board when, with the help of a contractor, it developed a “small-area” growth plan for Moncure. She felt delighted that two-thirds of the area would remain as agriculture, woods, parks and conservation. But over the past four years, new projects have encroached on the town. The Enbridge pipeline would terminate at the nearby Triangle Innovation Point (TIP), where more than 1,000 acres of forest were clear-cut for the Vietnamese electric vehicle company VinFast to build a factory. The project is four years behind; construction hasn’t begun, but the habitat has been destroyed. A 750-megawatt data center is also proposed for the TIP, but that venture is in litigation with the county over a moratorium commissioners enacted in February. “What we’ve seen throughout North Carolina is that where the gas goes, the data centers follow, and vice versa,” said Emily Sutton, the Haw riverkeeper. “There’s an inflated energy projection because of the proposed data centers, and so if we don’t get a handle on data center expansion, we’re going to continue to see more and more of these fossil fuel projects.” ## **“Surviving Climate Change”** The blueberry bushes are blossoming in the Aldermans’ garden. Swaths of clay soil had been tilled in preparation for a summer garden. The sugar snap peas were sown and now just need some rain. Gloria worked with an architect to design the Aldermans’ home, with precise measurements that align with the Earth’s revolution around the sun. To capture maximum sunlight, the house and its solar panels face due south, aligned with the South Pole. Two porch pillars signify where the sun rises on the summer and winter solstices. The house is fireproof. The walls are 9 inches thick. Concrete floors keep the inside cool, even on 90-degree days. “Surviving climate change, that’s the key to what we’re doing,” Alderman said. “And the pipeline flies in the face of everything we’re trying to do here.” Eminent domain is a power usually reserved for the government to take private property to build public projects, such as roads. However, the law allows private companies to use the authority as long as the project is in the public interest. In both cases, the landowners must be fairly compensated for the property. [Landowners can go to court ](https://ncnewsline.com/briefs/breaking-federal-judge-rules-in-favor-of-two-landowners-in-atlantic-coast-pipeline-case/?ref=down-ballot.info)if the parties can’t agree on a price.[ ](https://ncnewsline.com/briefs/breaking-federal-judge-rules-in-favor-of-two-landowners-in-atlantic-coast-pipeline-case/?ref=down-ballot.info) Alderman sent a certified letter back to the attorneys representing Enbridge. “I told them in no uncertain terms, ‘You can’t do this. Explore the alternatives,’” he said. “Stay off my property.” ### Report: Free prison, jail calls linked to better outcomes URL: https://down-ballot.info/report-free-prison-jail-calls-linked-to-better-outcomes/ Last updated: 2026-05-15T09:00:16.000Z [Support Down Ballot ](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/give?ref=down-ballot.info) **It's Friday, May 15, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Free prison, jail calls linked to lower costs, better outcomes in new report**,** N.O. council votes to appoint interim court clerk, call special election despite warning from state Attorney General, One Year After a Loss, Leaders in San Francisco’s Tenderloin Are Creating the Addiction Services They Wished For, In hard hats and picket lines, Dems woo union workers in US Senate primary, The Supreme Court’s voting rights decision could reshape local government across Texas, xAI now has 46 gas turbines without air permits. State officials are ‘evaluating the situation’, Rent Freeze No Sure Thing in First Vote By Mamdani-Majority Board, Pittsburgh residents call for action on rising costs. **Media outlets and others featured:** Stateline, Verite News, MindSite News, North Carolina Health News, Bridge Michigan, Votebeat, Mississippi Today, THE CITY, Pittsburgh's Public Source. --- ## Free prison, jail calls linked to lower costs, better outcomes in new report By Amanda Watford (Stateline) Published: May 13, 2026 A growing number of incarcerated people across the country now have access to free phone calls and other communication services, a shift some advocates say is strengthening family connections, improving prison conditions and easing reentry after release. A new [report](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/699fccba12bdc435eea40214/t/69fcc52f0c98ef392de9380e/1778173231911/2026+-+Critical+Connections+-+The+Power+of+Free+Communication+in+Prisons+and+Jails+-+Report+-+FINAL+-+Site.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from Worth Rises, a nonprofit that advocates in opposition to the prison industry, found that an estimated 330,000 incarcerated people nationwide now have access to free prison or jail communication services, including phone calls, video calls and electronic messaging in some jurisdictions. For decades, incarcerated people and their families often paid steep rates for phone calls and other communication services through contracts between correctional facilities and private telecom providers. In recent years, several states and local governments have moved to make those services free, arguing that regular family contact can improve rehabilitation and reduce recidivism. > [FCC allows prisons, jails to charge more for phone and video calls](https://stateline.org/2025/11/11/fcc-allows-prisons-jails-to-charge-more-for-phone-and-video-calls/?ref=down-ballot.info) > The group examined six prison systems — California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and the federal prison system — along with more than a dozen county jail systems, including facilities in Los Angeles, New York City and across Massachusetts. The researchers found that the free communication policies reduced average costs by about 62% for state prison systems and 68% for jails after agencies negotiated contracts directly with providers. The report’s authors argue that finding could make free calls an appealing cost-saving strategy for states and local governments. The free communication policies have generated nearly 600 million additional phone calls and 6.4 billion more minutes of connection between incarcerated people and their loved ones, according to the group’s estimates. In prisons included in the study, average daily call use per person increased from about 25 minutes to nearly 45 minutes after communication became free. In jails, daily usage more than doubled, from roughly 27 minutes to nearly 57 minutes a day. The report also found the policies have saved incarcerated people and their families more than $622 million to date. Most of those savings flowed to Black and brown families, who are disproportionately affected by incarceration, according to the report. Correctional staff at the facilities included in the study broadly supported the changes, according to the report, describing free communication as a tool that reduced tensions inside facilities and improved safety for both staff and incarcerated people. The report also found that removing the cost of calls changed the nature of communication between incarcerated people and their families. Instead of limiting conversations to urgent or financial matters, people were more able to maintain regular contact, help care for children, coordinate housing and employment plans, and prepare for release. *Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at* *awatford@stateline.org* *.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # N.O. council votes to appoint interim court clerk, call special election despite warning from state Attorney General by Katie Jane Fernelius, Verite News New Orleans May 11, 2026 Responding to a [new state law](https://veritenews.org/2026/04/29/calvin-duncan-landry-hb256-court-clerk/?ref=down-ballot.info) that resulted in the removal of Calvin Duncan from the office of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court clerk, the New Orleans City Council on Monday (May 11) voted to appoint retired Judge Calvin Johnson as interim clerk of court for Orleans Parish and called a special election to fill the position on a permanent basis. The latter council resolution would set a primary election for Nov. 3 and a runoff on Dec. 12\. But it’s not clear that they will be allowed to take place. The council’s votes came in spite of a warning from [Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill](https://www.ag.state.la.us/Files/Article/514/Documents/NOLACityCouncilLetter.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), who, in a letter, said the clerk’s position has already been filled. According to Murrill, under the newly passed law — which abolished the position Duncan was elected to last year and consolidated the city’s two court clerk offices into one — the incumbent Clerk of Civil District Court Chelsey Richard Napoleon is now the Orleans Parish clerk of court and will remain so for a full four-year term. In her May 8 letter, Murrill said the council’s actions would be “not only legally misguided but also irresponsible,” and warned that she would take legal action to prevent Johnson from taking office and the special election from being held. “I will certainly be required to act … to prevent the Council and its purported appointee from interfering with the lawful officeholder’s exercise of her duties,” Murrill wrote. “I am prepared to carry out my duties to ensure the continued functioning of the Clerk’s office.” Contacted by phone, Johnson — who served for nearly two decades as an Orleans Parish Criminal District Court judge and [continues to work in the local justice system](https://www.nola.com/entertainment%5Flife/judge-calvin-johnson-encore/article%5F6c71727e-d06d-48f9-aa01-ce11c0afe0b6.html?ref=down-ballot.info) — was not immediately available for comment. The new state law abolishing the criminal court clerk’s office,. which passed the state legislature and was signed by Gov. Jeff Landry over intense opposition from New Orleans-based lawmakers, has been criticized as an attempt to disenfranchise mostly Democratic voters in the majority-Black city. Duncan has [filed a civil rights suit](https://veritenews.org/2026/04/30/calvin-duncan-sues-state/?ref=down-ballot.info) to overturn the law — Act 15, formerly Senate Bill 256 — and was briefly allowed to serve after a federal district judge issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the state from enforcing it. However, on the morning of his first day of work, a federal appeals court [stayed the judge’s order](https://veritenews.org/2026/05/04/calvin-duncan-court-clerk-law-landry/?ref=down-ballot.info), allowing the law to take effect. Since the appeals court order, Napoleon has been serving as the consolidated clerk. But Mayor Helena Moreno, along with most members of the council and Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, maintain that Napoleon has no right to simply assume the office. Despite the language in Act 15, the council appointment resolution notes, the state constitution requires that clerks of court “shall be elected” to their positions. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/11154220/20260511_CZB_ClerkCouncilMeeting_147.jpg) The New Orleans City Council hears public comment from a Calvin Duncan supporter before voting to hold a special election to elect an Orleans Parish clerk on May 11, 2026\. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America Duncan and Napoleon won their positions during municipal elections last year as criminal and civil clerk, respectively, but there was no election for the consolidated Orleans clerk of court as the role did not exist at the time. Council President JP Morrell defended the council’s decision to act, saying that the council was dealing with a “conflict of law” when dealing with the new Clerk of Court position. "The item before the council today deals with whether there was ambiguity in the law that was passed, whether a new office was created, and whether there should be an election for said office,” Morrell said. "This is not something that the council wanted to do. We received a variety of unsolicited legal opinions on both sides of this issue.” State law provides that parish and municipal governments can appoint clerks of court when a vacancy occurs. “This measure is not about installing a certain person as a permanent clerk of court, it's about the council taking the steps to allow the people of the city of New Orleans to make that determination for themselves,” said Council Vice President Matthew Willard. The question here is whether there is a real vacancy. According to Murrill, there isn’t. “Whether a vacancy exists is determined by the manner in which the Legislature exercises its power. And here, Act 15 does not create a new office – it simply transfers duties from one to another. No vacancy exists because it did not create a new office,” she wrote in the letter. Duncan, who had won the criminal clerk’s race with[ 68% of the vote](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/16/calvin-duncan-wins-orleans-clerk-race/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was set to take office last week, sued the state in federal court, alleging that Landry and Murrill engaged in a “coordinated conspiracy” to block him from serving. Though a federal judge[ initially blocked the law](https://veritenews.org/2026/05/04/calvin-duncan-court-clerk-law-landry/?ref=down-ballot.info) as unconstitutional, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the order, allowing Act 15 to take effect. Napoleon, who was present alongside her attorney at Monday’s meeting, defended her position as the new clerk. “This is an illegal proposition that is before you all today; There is no vacancy,” Napoleon said. “And as I stand before you today, the clerk’s office is fully functional.” Councilmember Lesli Harris, who was one of two votes against the two resolutions alongside Councilmember Eugene Green, said that she could not vote for either of the resolutions while litigation over the clerk position continued. Harris said her opposition did not indicate that she agrees with Murrill that Act 15 was legal. "By calling a special election, we are getting rid of a duly elected Black woman's position and forcing two Black elected officials to run against each other… playing into the hands of Baton Rouge,” Harris said. “I believe that calling a special election, the council is agreeing with the legislature and ultimately saying that there is only one Clerk of Court." But others disagreed. “The courts are going to tell us whether this law is constitutional or not — there's a lot of judges and a lot of lawyers working on that — but until they figure out whether this bill is constitutional, the responsibility of the parish, and particularly our leadership, is to figure out how do we move forward in the way that the law requires as we implement this bill,” said Emily Ratner, one of the co-chairs of Duncan’s transition team. “And I'm really proud that we have a city government that is refusing to be coerced by the state government into doing things that are not legal.” Duncan released a statement following the meeting, echoing Ratner’s remarks. “We’re grateful to City Council for fulfilling its duty today,” the statement read. “They did what was legal and what was right to protect our right to vote.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/05/11/council-vote-clerk-calvin-duncan-murrill/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=30511&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # One Year After a Loss, Leaders in San Francisco’s Tenderloin Are Creating the Addiction Services They Wished For by Laura Wenus, MindSite News May 7, 2026 ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/07111350/Screenshot-2026-05-07-at-1.13.33-PM-1024x615.png) Brothers Against Drug Deaths board member John Jeffrey, co-founder Theris Coats Sr., and co-founder Richard Beal. Photo: Laura Wenus *This* *story was originally published by the* [*Tenderloin Voice*](https://www.tlvoice.org/year-loss-san-francisco-tenderloin-leaders-addiction-services/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a newsroom serving San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.* Theris Coats Sr. and Richard Beal like to say they’re turning “pain into purpose” — and both men have experienced pain in profound excess. But on a sunny late April afternoon in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood, they were celebrating. It was the one-year anniversary party for their organization, [Brothers Against Drug Deaths](https://www.badd-sf.org/?ref=tlvoice.org), formed to support people battling addiction. They were also marking the grand opening of their small ground-floor office on Eddy Street, which was filled with proud, grinning allies, many of them high-ranking city officials. Seeing what the co-founders have built “reminds me of the strength we can find in adversity,” said Matt Dorsey, the elected city supervisor for District 6, the district adjacent to the Tenderloin neighborhood. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/68/84/68844268-e8f9-49bd-8061-85c801fd10ed/content/images/2026/05/IMG_9844.JPG) Matt Dorsey, the elected Supervisor for San Francisco's District 6, left, makes remarks at the BADD one-year anniversary celebration. Photo: Laura Wenus Coats acknowledged that he would not be doing this work were it not for his son’s death. Theris Lee “TC” Coats II had long struggled with both mental illness and drug addiction. In March of 2025, Coats was on the cusp of finally getting help to his son. But then TC suffered a fatal overdose while in custody in a San Francisco jail. He was 33 years old. TC’s devastated father sprang into action. Barely a month after his death, Coats and Beal founded Brothers Against Drug Deaths, or BADD, in honor of TC. They offer services to people facing addiction and mental illness. And through many approaches, including policy advocacy, they seek to support families trying to help their loved ones access treatment. “It’s not enough to just have services offered, we need to help them go through that system to recovery,” said San Francisco Health Director Daniel Tsai. In Beal, Coats has a co-founder who knows his way around the world of addiction services and treatment in San Francisco, and who is intimately familiar with the grave dangers posed by addiction. Beal himself is in recovery. He has lost two brothers to overdoses, as well as his first wife — who also happened to be Coats’ younger sister. Beal has earned more than half a dozen certifications in the substance-use support field, racked up countless awards and commendations, and is the director of recovery services for Tenderloin Housing Clinic. He has also published a book about his experiences, [*Recovering From The Game*](https://www.amazon.com/Recovering-Game-Richard-Beal/dp/B0FBY5PMTV/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?sr=8-1&ref=tlvoice.org). And because he has been involved in policy work, he knows some major players in the political scene. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/68/84/68844268-e8f9-49bd-8061-85c801fd10ed/content/images/2026/05/IMG_9804.JPG) Daniel Tsai, director of San Francisco's Department of Public Health. Photo: Laura Wenus BADD’s focus is on Black and underserved communities. San Francisco’s overdose statistics have long shown deep racial disparities. Tsai said the rate of overdose deaths among Black San Franciscans is 5.5 times higher than that of the general population. “That disparity hasn’t decreased along with the decrease in deaths,” he noted. So it’s meaningful that the leaders of this organization are two Black men directly affected by the overdose crisis. “Seeing this led by individuals rooted in our community is special,” said Theo Ellington, executive director of the Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House and a candidate for District 10 supervisor in the November election. “The harsh reality is that Black people are at the top of the list of \[those affected by\] every social ill in San Francisco. Simultaneously, the first programs to be cut are those that serve Black people.” And of course, the Tenderloin is at the heart of the crisis. While neither of the co-founders live in the city, they both have deep roots here. Beal has decades of experience in the community — both providing and receiving services. That informs his policy stances, which favor an approach that prioritizes abstinence. “I truly believe abstinence is the purest form of harm reduction,” Beal said. “You can’t reduce the harm no more than stopping.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/68/84/68844268-e8f9-49bd-8061-85c801fd10ed/content/images/2026/05/IMG_9817.JPG) Rev. Dr. Gina Fromer, CEO and President of GLIDE Foundation, talks with Richard Beal and others at BADD's office in the Tenderloin. Photo: Laura Wenus Since founding the organization, the brothers-in-law have moved at lightning speed. Before their first year was out, they applied for and were granted federal nonprofit status. They led the production of an original theatrical play with a plot inspired by TC’s death and the systems that failed him, and filled the Ruth Williams Bayview Opera House for two performances. They connected with community members and partner organizations at [Recovery Day](https://www.thclinic.org/en/2023/08/21/annual-recovery-day-celebrates-healing-and-community/?ref=tlvoice.org), an annual event celebrating recovery from addiction and offering attendees information and resources. They inked an agreement with the Department of Public Health to provide HIV, Hepatitis C, and other screenings, as well as information sessions. And they worked with the staff of a state legislator to draft what they have dubbed [Theris’ Law](https://www.badd-sf.org/theris-law/?ref=tlvoice.org), a proposal to enable family members of someone incapacitated by drug use and mental illness to obtain a temporary, crisis-related conservatorship. The proposed legislation is what Coats Sr. says would have allowed his family to save his son. Now that Theris’ Law is drafted, BADD is seeking a sponsor to shepherd it through the state Legislature. BADD’s second year is shaping up to be no less ambitious. In addition to pushing for Theris’ Law, the pair also intends to bring the play back for a second round of shows. They have set a goal of distributing 800 recovery kits — small packages with hygiene essentials, fentanyl test strips, and the overdose reversal drug Narcan. They are launching Voices Unmuted, which will serve as a support group, mutual-education circle, and safe place for young men age 18 to 35\. Its first sessions will be virtual, and are slated to begin this summer. And BADD will offer direct help to families searching for loved ones languishing on the streets of San Francisco. Their soon-to-launch app, Lifeline SF, will allow a family member to submit the name and some photos of the person they’re concerned about. Coats, Beal, and their allies will look for the person and encourage them to get in touch with their family. Even without the app, BADD has already reconnected three people from other parts of the country with loved ones who were in active addiction on local streets.But most importantly, they are rolling up their sleeves to fundraise. “They’ve been doing this work without the money,” Ellington said. Funding is the biggest need among addiction-service providers right now, according to DeNay Ramsey. He is the president and CEO of Pathway Humanity, which runs both residential and outpatient recovery facilities in the East Bay. “You could open 100 more facilities and it still wouldn’t be enough,” Ramsey said. Government cutbacks are worsening an already dire situation, slashing support for not just African American but immigrant populations, Ramsey added. “Oakland is a larger version of the Tenderloin,” he said. “The resources just aren’t there.” Small grants and in-kind donations have helped Coats and Beal keep up the momentum. “We’ve been scraping, scrimping, making ends meet so we can do some real work,” Coats said. Support from allies has buoyed him in his mission to help others avoid tragedy. “It takes a whole community. Together, we can stop some of this from happening,” he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/68/84/68844268-e8f9-49bd-8061-85c801fd10ed/content/images/2026/05/IMG_9879.JPG) The **Tenderloin Voice* shares office space with Brothers Against Drug Deaths. Photo: Laura Wenus This [article](https://mindsitenews.org/2026/05/07/brothers-against-drug-deaths-turning-grief-into-purpose/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MindSite News](https://mindsitenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # Northampton residents win 32‑month pause on data centers by Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News May 8, 2026 #### **By Will Atwater** Earlier this month, Northampton County joined a growing list of North Carolina communities that are adopting data center moratoriums. Commissioners approved a 32-month pause, but getting to that unanimous vote wasn’t easy. Before the monthly meeting on May 4, word began to circulate that the meeting documents showed commissioners planned to vote on a proposed 12‑month ban, rather than first hearing residents’ push for a longer pause during the public comment portion of the meeting. That suspicion was confirmed when County Attorney [A. Scott McKellar ](https://www.northamptonnc.com/directory.aspx?EID=78&ref=down-ballot.info)read the proposal aloud. Northampton County resident and community activist Belinda Joyner pressed the commissioners on that point during the public comment period. “Why are you saying you’re having a public hearing when you’ve already made your decision?” Joyner asked. “So what we say doesn’t make any difference.” By the end of the evening, commissioners had come around to the community’s point of view that a longer pause was necessary. In Northampton County, the vote capped a volunteer effort that culminated in Joyner delivering a pro-moratorium petition with about 300 local signatures to commissioners at the May 4 meeting. Many county residents say they have repeatedly been kept in the dark about major industrial projects and incentive deals. Now they’re watching to see whether commissioners follow through on promises of transparency — or repeat past mistakes made behind closed doors. Northampton’s moratorium vote mirrors [what’s happening across North Carolina](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/03/25/nc-communities-push-back-ai-data-centers-project-delta-lawsuit/?ref=down-ballot.info) — and [across the country.](https://www.datacenterbans.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) Residents from counties as disparate as Stokes, Chatham, Durham — and now Northampton — are pressing local officials for more say over where data centers go, how much water and power they consume, and what communities get in return. #### **Transparency issues** Once commissioners opened the floor for public input, [Southern Environmental Law Center](https://www.selc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) attorney Kasey Moraveck told officials that a moratorium would give the county time to amend the zoning code to address data centers and to study their impacts and write rules that are “fair, transparent and aligned with community values.” ![A woman stands at a podiums at a packed Northampton County commissioners meeting, urging officials to use a data center moratorium to study impacts and write rules that are fair, transparent and aligned with community values. Some audience members look at the speaker as she speaks.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Kasey-M.--scaled.jpg) Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Kasey Moraveck speaks at a packed May 4 Northampton County commissioners meeting, urging officials to use a data center moratorium to study impacts and write rules that are fair, transparent and aligned with community values. Moraveck pushed commissioners to require special‑use permits and to limit data centers to heavy industrial districts so residents and local officials, not developers, decide whether projects go forward and to ensure continuous noise, heavy resource use and warehouse‑style buildings don’t reshape rural or residential areas. “This will help to isolate their impacts from Northampton County residents and will prevent the data centers’ massive warehouse buildings from transforming landscapes that are rural, agricultural or residential in nature,” she said. Another speaker, retired judge Alfred Kwasikpui, said the idea of a community advisory board was welcome, but noted it had already been approved once and never created. “This is why people have problems with transparency,” Kwasikpui said. “The Planning Board on March 11 approved a motion for a committee to be created to assist in the development of a data center ordinance.” He added that by the April 18 meeting, the committee still didn’t exist, yet the planning director and a board member had already drafted ordinances “favorable toward the data center developers” and “not strong on protections for our county.” Kwasikpui said those drafts would allow clusters of data centers that could overwhelm local electrical substations and aquifers and envisioned a community benefits committee made up only of county officials, without citizen seats or independent experts. That approach, he said, would turn what should be firm, upfront standards into last‑minute deals to smooth over public anger. Commissioner [Melvetta Broadnax Taylor](https://www.northamptonnc.com/directory.aspx?eid=76&ref=down-ballot.info) responded the moratorium “reads well” but questioned who would make sure the county actually carries it out this time. She reminded colleagues that during an earlier moratorium on solar development, “we didn’t do due diligence,” and asked, “Who’s going to be in charge of making sure that this is implemented? I don’t want any gray areas.” [Keedra Whitaker](https://www.northamptonnc.com/directory.aspx?eid=106&ref=down-ballot.info), another commissioner, acknowledged [missteps by public officials](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/07/local-activists-seek-greater-resident-involvement-in-solar-project-decisions/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the past that have contributed to residents’ distrust. She said she would not vote for a 12‑month moratorium and argued that commissioners should give people the longer pause they had asked for. “I don't see the point in agreeing to a year \[moratorium\] that we’ll have to go back and extend,” Whitaker said. “I just believe in sticking to your word and listening to our citizens. “We've had committees where our stakeholders weren't at the table. We dropped the ball, and we can't continue to do that,” she added. #### **Looking ahead** After the meeting ended, Whitaker explained why she pushed for a longer moratorium instead of the initially proposed 12‑month pause. “I'm very in tune with the citizens that we serve, and so as I hear their concerns, I do my research,” she said. “The reason I felt that \[the moratorium\] needed to be extended is because we have to show our commitment, our trust, our transparency to the community that we serve in showing them that we are not wanting to bring any harmful industry to an area that is already distressed.” Northampton County residents leaving the meeting applauded the commissioners’ vote and their pledge to establish an advisory committee that will include residents along with public officials during the moratorium. They expressed hope that the group will learn more about data centers and help draft guidelines that will benefit the community if and when an agreement to host a facility is reached. “There's this question about, will these data centers be viable down the road?” Kwasikpui said after the 32‑month moratorium was approved. “What's going to be the impact on the community?” He said he was pleased with the extended pause, “but we’ve gotta work during that time.” Part of that work will involve rebuilding trust between the community and public officials, residents said. They’ve voiced disappointment over past decisions involving the county’s economic development office and the kinds of industry Northampton has attracted, including a solar farm project. Several said nondisclosure agreements left them feeling shut out of negotiations between industry and the county. It’s a tall order for rural counties to attract environmentally friendly employers that offer more than a handful of decent‑paying jobs that don’t require advanced degrees. Northampton County Economic Development Director Derrick Bennett, who has held the post since 2023, said by email that some negotiations with potential industry partners must remain confidential under state law. He noted nondisclosure agreements are meant to protect companies’ proprietary information and incentive offers so they can compete, not to hide deals from the public. From the county’s perspective, he added, sharing too many details too early could scare off potential investments and jobs, which is why state law allows some economic development talks to happen behind closed doors. “While a non-disclosure agreement may be misconstrued as a lack of transparency, its main purpose from the county’s perspective is to safeguard competitive offerings to attract capital investment and job creation,” Bennett wrote. He noted that economic development contracts and agreements must ultimately be discussed and approved in open session, and that citizens can offer comments during public hearings before the board votes. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/05/08/northampton-data-center-moratorium/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # In hard hats and picket lines, Dems woo union workers in US Senate primary by Lauren Gibbons, Bridge Michigan May 8, 2026 - **Less than three months out, many influential unions haven’t endorsed in Michigan’s heavily contested US Senate Democratic primary** - **Haley Stevens, Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed have all voiced support for the labor movement, courted endorsements** - **Union influence has waned some in recent years, and members have bucked party leadership in some races** --- Michigan’s labor movement has long played an outsize role in shaping Democratic politics, with backing from key union groups among candidates’ most coveted endorsements. But with less than three months left before Michigan’s marquee 2026 Democratic primary — the three-way US Senate battle pundits say could shape the future of the party — union workers may be just as divided as everyone else. Many of the state’s most influential unions haven’t yet backed a candidate in the Democratic race, where US Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed are locked in a tight race. Politicians must “earn” the right “to have our endorsements now,” United Auto Workers Region 1 Director LaShawn English said earlier this year during [a forum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFdSOQ80sy4&ref=down-ballot.info) in which all three Democrats took member questions on issues like worker benefits and wages, artificial intelligence regulation and preserving union manufacturing jobs. “If we don’t fight, we will continue to see workers get trampled on, we will continue to see rights be disregarded, violated, attacked,” English said. ![All three Democratic on a stage at a forum,](https://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/US-Senate-trio-1024x570.png) All three Democratic candidates for US Senate participated in a forum at the United Auto Workers’ community action program conference in Washington, DC in February, taking questions from members on issues like worker benefits and wages, artificial intelligence regulation and preserving union manufacturing jobs. (Screenshot courtesy of UAW livestream) While the powerful union hasn’t formally weighed in on the race yet, UAW officials said in February that electing a candidate prepared to go to bat for workers’ rights is of utmost importance in 2026 as well-paying union jobs and labor protections come under threat. In at least one instance, different branches of the same union have already reached different conclusions on who the best person for the job would be. The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation (SMART) Workers Transportation Division [endorsed McMorrow](https://www.mcmorrowformichigan.com/news/smart-endorses-mallory-mcmorrow?ref=down-ballot.info) because “she has consistently stood with railroad workers and supported our priorities.” Meanwhile, SMART’s Local 292 chapter in metro Detroit [picked Stevens](https://haleyformi.com/news/sheet-metal-air-rail-and-transportation-workers-local-292-endorses-haley-stevens-for-u-s-senate/?ref=down-ballot.info), citing her support in Congress for union jobs, workforce training and fair wages and benefits. **Related:** - [**Medicare for All divides Democrats in Michigan’s US Senate race**](https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/medicare-for-all-divides-democrats-in-michigans-us-senate-race/?ref=down-ballot.info) - [**For Michigan Dems, a millennial showdown in Senate primary**](https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/for-democrats-a-millennial-showdown-in-michigans-high-stakes-us-senate-race/?ref=down-ballot.info) - [**6 major issues in Michigan’s US Senate race**](https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/6-major-issues-in-michigans-us-senate-race/?ref=down-ballot.info) “I think it would be a mistake to view the labor movement as monolithic,” said pollster Richard Czuba, whose recent poll for the [Detroit Regional Chamber](https://www.detroitchamber.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-DEMOCRATIC-PRIMARY-SURVEY-REPORT.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) found nearly 40% of union-affiliated likely Democratic voters remain undecided. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination is expected to face Republican Mike Rogers, who narrowly lost a 2024 US Senate bid and is facing little competition in the GOP primary. He was invited but did not participate in the UAW forum, which union members repeatedly noted at the event. Union endorsements don’t guarantee victory or unequivocal support from rank-and-file members. Republican President Donald Trump has [directly appealed to the working class](https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/fact-check-trump-promised-michigan-miracle-now-comes-hard-part/?ref=down-ballot.info) when unions endorsed his Democratic opponents. More recently, Michigan attorney general candidate Karen McDonald [lost the Democratic nomination](https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/michigan-dems-back-garlin-gilchrist-and-eli-savit-oust-u-ms-jordan-acker/?ref=down-ballot.info) to Eli Savit at last month’s party convention despite picking up endorsements from nearly every major statewide union. Michigan’s Democratic US Senate candidates are courting union voters and touting their support for the labor movement. But in a divisive statewide primary expected to come down to the wire, it’s unlikely any candidate can count on support from a fully united union voting bloc, observers told Bridge Michigan. ## **‘Meeting the moment’** While all three Democrats have picked up some labor endorsements, Stevens has leaned most heavily into the union vote, eschewing the large rallies and public Q&A sessions preferred by her opponents in favor of private meet-and-greets and tours of union shops. Her campaign estimates she’s visited roughly 200 manufacturing businesses across the state. She has endorsements from 11 Michigan unions so far, including Teamsters Local 243, whose president Scott Quenneville said in a statement that Stevens doesn’t just talk when it comes to Michigan workers — “she shows up and gets results.” During one April stop at the CRH Asphalt plant in Wixom, Stevens donned a hard hat and construction vest to sift through aggregates in the facility’s lab, climb into heavy machinery and speak to employees about how their work helps build Michigan roads and infrastructure. “It begins with the rocks!” she joked with one employee as he demonstrated how the company’s material is tested. The plant is staffed by workers from Operating Engineers Local 324, which later [endorsed Stevens](https://haleyformi.com/news/operating-engineers-324-endorses-haley-stevens-for-u-s-senate/?ref=down-ballot.info). William Miller, the union’s political director, said she has a “proven track record” of protecting Michigan’s manufacturing industry and supporting “policies that grow Michigan’s economy.” The fourth-term Birmingham Democrat, who has deep connections in the automotive industry and served in the Obama administration as chief of staff to the US Auto Rescue Task Force, said her campaign’s heavy focus on meeting workers where they’re at is by design. “I want to make sure that they know that I'm listening to them,” she said, later adding, “I'm going to keep showing up on job sites, keep meeting the moment for hardworking people who need to make sure and need to know that someone like me has their back in the halls of Congress.” On the campaign trail, Stevens has [criticized her opponents’ manufacturing stances](https://www.axios.com/2026/01/14/haley-stevens-michigan-senate-mcmorrow-el-sayed?ref=down-ballot.info), arguing that El-Sayed’s [past tweets](https://web.archive.org/web/20191006115957/https://twitter.com/AbdulElSayed/status/1096904052493803520) in support of the Green New Deal insinuated that Michigan manufacturing is a “dying industry” and that McMorrow’s [push for a more diversified economy](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/hive-mind-michigan-senate-candidate-keeps-talking-beekeeping-campaign-rcna237361?ref=down-ballot.info) is “[out of touch with what our state is all about](https://x.com/HaleyforMI/status/2050954541823107387?ref=down-ballot.info).” Czuba, the pollster, said Stevens does “extremely well” with skilled trades and manufacturing groups, but he noted wide differences remain between different elements of the trade movement. Teacher unions like the Michigan Education Association could become an important player in the race if they choose to endorse, he said. His latest poll found 26% of union-affiliated respondents support Stevens, with El-Sayed close behind at 23.7% and McMorrow at 10.7%. Still, everything could change once candidates begin airing television ads in earnest, Czuba said, calling the current state of the race “campaign purgatory.” ## **The progressive pitch** El-Sayed, a former public health official widely considered the most progressive candidate in the race, has frequently highlighted his history as a union member on the campaign trail and believes his message of removing corporate influence on politics appeals to the labor movement. “They want somebody who's unabashed about the role that management has played in crushing all of their movements,” El-Sayed said of union workers. “I’ve already told folks I’m on the side of working people.” ![Abdul El-Sayed speaks into a microphone. Supporters are watching him.](https://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/20260503_Abdul-El-Sayed_LG-1024x683.jpg) Democratic US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, pictured at a May 3 rally, has touted his experience as a union member on the campaign trail and believes his message of removing corporate influence on politics appeals to the labor movement. (Lauren Gibbons/Bridge Michigan) On the campaign trail, he’s argued every worker deserves the right to join a union and earn a fair wage. His policy platforms include investing in research and technology to build more economic opportunity in Michigan, as well as further regulation of artificial intelligence to protect workers from losing work to automated systems. During a recent rally with US Sen. Bernie Sanders in Detroit, the campaign invited several local union leaders to speak, including Detroit Federation of Teachers President Lakia Wilson-Lumpkins, Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass and National Nurses United President Jamie Brown. In her address to the crowd, Wilson-Lumpkins said teachers work around the clock planning, sacrificing, supporting their students and fighting against cuts to public education. “There is a coordinated attack, not only on public education, but on the middle class and the essential services that we provide,” she said, adding that candidates like El-Sayed “understand the struggle of workers against the billionaire class.” Carolyn Clemons, a nurse and Teamsters Local 332 member involved in a months-long strike at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc Township, told Bridge she’s supporting El-Sayed because “he’s been on the line with us” and she believes his commitment to protecting politics from corporate influence will ultimately save lives. “America is falling slowly but surely by the wayside,” she said. “My kids, my grandkids … are going to have to try to rebuild slowly after this. Abdul is going to be the first person that we need to get in there that is able to help us get started in the right direction.” El-Sayed’s messaging went over well at the recent Democratic state convention, where he received a standing ovation from a crowd that swelled with progressive activists. Labor commentator Jake Altman, who recently [opined on the convention’s shift left](https://www.city-journal.org/article/michigan-democrats-labor-unions?ref=down-ballot.info), said cultural fissures between different types of workers in the labor movement are on full display this election cycle. Whether unity under the Democratic Party umbrella is possible remains to be seen, he said. “It's a fractious house right now,” he said, adding the progressive agenda pushed by some union groups “may or may not gel well with what more traditional unions and their members are advocating.” ## **On the picket line** Outside of Corewell Health’s Troy hospital campus Thursday, McMorrow joined members of Teamsters Local 2024, who were picketing ahead of a potential strike as nurses advocate for increased wages, safer working conditions and more affordable health insurance. McMorrow said the labor movement is personal to her: her grandfather was a Teamster, and she said the wages and benefits he received allowed him to retire in his 50s and changed her family’s trajectory. That type of job is far harder to come by these days, she said. “This is a moment where income inequality is greater than it's ever been, and in my mind, this is the opportunity for a labor revolution,” she said. “We should see unionization in tech jobs, in white-collar jobs. It is time for it, because people are getting crushed.” ![Mallory McMorrow talks with people holding signs.](https://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/20260503_Mallory-McMorrow_LG-1024x771.jpg) Democratic US Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow, currently a state senator, joined Teamsters Local 2024 nurses for a practice picket outside Corewell Health’s Troy hospital Thursday, May 7\. She said her passion for the labor movement stems in part from her grandfather’s union activity. (Lauren Gibbons/Bridge Michigan) In the state Senate, McMorrow successfully co-sponsored legislation to [repeal the Republican-backed “Right to Work” law](https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/whitmer-signs-right-work-repeal-prevailing-wage-restoration/?ref=down-ballot.info) that prohibited compulsory union dues or fees, as well as a restoration of prevailing wage rules requiring contractors to pay union-level wages on state projects. The Right to Work law was passed in 2012 when Republicans controlled the Michigan Legislature and the governor’s office. Unions blamed the law for an overall drop in union membership and complained that colleagues who didn’t pay dues were still able to benefit from union bargaining. Lori Blakely, a former teacher who is now a recovery nurse in the Corewell Health system, said she was impressed by McMorrow’s work to repeal the law and appreciates that she’s been active across the labor movement spectrum in Michigan. “I see her as the most well-rounded, the most effective in getting things done,” she said. In addition to her pro-labor positions, UA Local 370 Business Manager Dan Gaudet, whose Flint-area union unanimously endorsed McMorrow, said they appreciated McMorrow’s approachability and willingness to sit down with them to take questions. “She's just a normal person…somebody you’d want to hang out with,” he said. If elected, McMorrow said she’d continue to support pro-worker legislation in Washington, but also vowed to keep showing up on the front lines of the labor movement. “That's the power that you have in these offices, is to use your platform to get the public behind you, because public perception is what moves policy, ultimately,” she said. ## **High stakes for workers** As the Democratic candidates hash out their differences in an increasingly contentious primary, some labor leaders are already focusing their attention on what’s next. Whoever wins the Democratic nomination will face the GOP nominee in the November general election for the open Senate seat. That will most likely be Rogers, a former member of Congress who only narrowly lost his 2024 US Senate bid to Democrat Elissa Slotkin. Rogers, too, has been making appeals to workers, launching a “Let’s Get to Work!” series highlighting various industries around the state. ![Mike Rogers with supporters behind him.](https://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/260421_govsigs_SS-5-1024x683.jpg) Mike Rogers, the likely Republican nominee for US Senate, is campaigning on making life more affordable for working families and has conducted a “Let’s Get to Work” video series highlighting jobs across Michigan. (Simon Schuster/Bridge Michigan) Rogers has argued that Democratic representation has contributed to higher costs of living and inflation. If elected, he’s vowed to protect tax cuts passed in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. “That’s why we’re on the road, listening to and learning about the challenges facing Michigan families and workers all across the state,” Rogers said in [announcing the job site visit initiative](https://rogersforsenate.com/news/rogers-takes-affordability-message-across-michigan-with-new-series-lets-get-to-work?ref=down-ballot.info). “Michigan deserves real leaders who will keep more money in families’ pockets.” The Michigan AFL-CIO, a federation representing more than a million union members across the state, hasn't endorsed in the Democratic US Senate primary, instead deferring to its affiliates, a spokesperson told Bridge. But Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber was quick to [criticize Rogers’ track record](https://aflcio.org/scorecard/legislators/mike-rogers-0?ref=down-ballot.info) on the union’s legislative priorities while serving in Congress, arguing that workers need a senator willing to take action to address rising costs of living. “In every race, from United States Senate to dogcatcher, we put our weight behind candidates that will put workers first,” Bieber said. This [article](https://bridgemi.com/michigan-government/in-hard-hats-and-picket-lines-dems-woo-union-workers-in-us-senate-primary/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Bridge Michigan](https://bridgemi.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/cropped-android-chrome-192x192-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://bridgemi.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=76202&ga4=G-1E2G9MSHX5) --- This article was [originally published](https://www.votebeat.org/texas/2026/05/05/farmers-branch-section-2-voting-rights-act-louisiana-callais-supreme-court/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [Votebeat](https://www.votebeat.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. # The Supreme Court’s voting rights decision could reshape local government across Texas Natalia Contreras, Votebeat May 5, 2026 at 6:00am EDT *Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S.* [*Sign up for Votebeat Texas’ free newsletter here.*](https://votebe.at/texasnewsletter?ref=down-ballot.info) Guillermo Ramos remembers seeing few elected leaders who looked like him while he was growing up in the 1980s in Farmers Branch, a fast-growing affluent suburb northwest of Dallas. Over the years, Latino representation continued to lag, he said. In 2015, after he had become a lawyer, he decided to do something about it. Ramos stepped forward as the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District, alleging that its at-large system of electing board members violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by denying Latino voters the right to elect representatives of their choice. At the time, Latino voters made up 56% of the district, but every Latino school board candidate had lost since at least 1995, the lawsuit said. The case settled, and as part of the agreement, Ramos was appointed as the board’s first Latino trustee. The settlement also replaced the at-large system — in which every seat was filled by districtwide vote — with what’s known as [cumulative voting](https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/archive/html/vce/features/0601%5F01/slide1.html?ref=down-ballot.info). The new system lets voters cast as many votes as there are seats on the board, but allows them to stack their votes on a single candidate or spread them across multiple candidates. Ramos, now 51, won the next election to keep his spot on the board, which he said created a ripple effect that drew in more Latino candidates. “They felt at this point that if they throw their hat in the ring, that they’re going to have actually a shot at getting elected. And that’s what happened,” Ramos said. Changes like those in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch School District played out over decades on local governing bodies all over Texas, enabling representation of Latino and Black voters. Those changes were a direct result of claims brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices or electoral maps that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or language minority status. But a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last week [weakened that key provision](https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/04/29/louisiana-v-callais-redistricting-voting-rights-act-racial-partisan-gerrymandering/?ref=down-ballot.info), and Ramos and others say it could make it harder and more uncertain for other candidates of color to follow the path he took to local office. The effects of the decision, which struck down Louisiana’s congressional map, are reverberating around the country and setting off a new cycle of redistricting for partisan advantage. Experts say there is still a lot of uncertainty about how the decision will play out, especially at the local level and when it comes to nonpartisan local governmental bodies such as Texas school boards and city councils. “The judges in the opinion are discussing congressional elections, not school board elections, even though that’s where Section Two has been applied probably more frequently,” said Christian Grose, director of the Democracy and Fair Elections Lab at the University of Southern California. But whether it’s after the 2030 Census or sooner, he added, “I do think there are going to be challenges, even in nonpartisan elections, saying that Section 2 doesn’t need to be enforced anymore.” Prior to the decision, plaintiffs could prove a claim under Section 2 by showing evidence of a disparate impact on minority voters, regardless of whether the mapmakers intended it. Now, they must be able to show a “strong inference that intentional discrimination occurred,” the high court’s conservative majority declared. With the court having previously authorized maps to be drawn for partisan aims, dissenting Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the new standard under Louisiana v. Callais gives plaintiffs virtually no recourse under Section 2, as long as a mapmaker declares a partisan motive and leaves “no smoking-gun evidence of a race-based motive.” ### Going back in time The decision could quickly become a factor in ongoing litigation. Though most local elections in Texas are nonpartisan, county commissioners courts are an exception, and last week’s opinion will likely give a boost to counties that are already citing partisan motives in defending their maps. Last year, for example, the Republican-majority commissioners court in Tarrant County redrew its district lines, prompting a challenge from a group of voters who alleged the new map illegally diluted the power of Black and Latino voters by packing them into a single precinct. But Republican commissioners argued they’d drawn the lines for partisan gain, and earlier this year, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the maps. But Bill Brewer, the Dallas lawyer whose firm handled Ramos’ case in Farmers Branch, said he believes the ruling could actually help advocates win some challenges involving nonpartisan races. Brewer, whose firm has filed at least 18 lawsuits against school districts and city councils in Texas under the Voting Rights Act, is representing a parent who sued the Keller Independent School District under Section 2, claiming the school district’s at-large system dilutes the votes of Latinos. The lawsuit was dismissed earlier this year and Brewer filed an appeal hours after the ruling to renew his push for a switch to cumulative voting. Brewer said the Callais ruling’s emphasis on intentional discrimination strengthens his claim for access to emails, meeting recordings and other evidence that could show intent. “If they’re refusing to change because they intend to dilute opportunities for Hispanics or Blacks or Asians at the voting box, well, then you still have a claim under Section 2,” he said. Keller ISD did not respond to a request for comment. Ramos’ suit against the school board wasn’t the only Section 2 case brought in Farmers Branch. Its city council, too, was forced to switch from at-large to single-member districts in 2012, [and the first Latino council member was elected](https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2013-05-12/first-hispanic-council-member-in-farmers-branch-elected?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2013\. Council Member Elizabeth Villafranca, who was first elected last year, eventually became one of many Latino candidates to win a seat. The impact of the Voting Rights Act in the city has been “immeasurable,” she said. But after the decision from last week, “I’m just horrified at the thought of having to go back in time,” Villafranca said. Still, she believes the community has come too far to revert to its old system. “You can see the incredible pride that there is when our residents see someone that looks like them, that speaks like them, that can represent them, and ultimately, that benefits everyone.” *Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. Natalia is based in Corpus Christi. Contact her at* *ncontreras@votebeat.org* *.* Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters [here](https://votebeat.org/newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # xAI now has 46 gas turbines without air permits. State officials are ‘evaluating the situation’ by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today May 11, 2026 Elon Musk's data center company, xAI, has more than doubled the number of unchecked natural gas generators at its Southaven facility since coming to Mississippi last summer. The company uses the turbines to power its two data centers just across the state line in Memphis, and is also planning to build another large center in Southaven. XAI now has 46 "temporary-mobile" turbines at its Mississippi facility, according to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, up from 18 turbines when it first arrived last year. The NAACP, which filed a lawsuit against xAI [last month](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/15/data-center-turbines-southaven/?ref=down-ballot.info) over the turbines' lack of permits, last week requested an injunction after learning xAI had increased the number of temporary-mobile turbines to 33\. MDEQ later confirmed to Mississippi Today that the actual number was 46. Because the state considers them "mobile" turbines — they're attached to flatbed trailers — MDEQ allows xAI to run the generators without an air permit for up to a year. But Southaven residents and advocates have pushed back, expressing concerns over unchecked air emissions and constant noise from the generators. Without permits, the state has no way to measure the toxic releases coming from the facility. Lawyers from the Southern Environmental Law Center, representing the NAACP in its lawsuit, argue Mississippi is misinterpreting the federal Clean Air Act by allowing xAI to bypass the permit process. Language from the law appears to support their argument that the turbines should be considered "stationary," and thus subject to permit requirements. [It defines](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-40/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-60/subpart-KKKK?ref=down-ballot.info) a stationary turbine as "not self-propelled or intended to be propelled while performing its function. It may, however, be mounted on a vehicle for portability." ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/18094707/3X0A2447.jpg) Jaricus Whitlock, left, and Jeffrey Bland prepare for a Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality public hearing on an xAI permit application at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Southaven on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. MDEQ said xAI added 19 temporary-mobile turbines between March 25 and May 2\. MDEQ told Mississippi Today on May 6 that xAI notified the agency of the additions "this week," but also said xAI is not required to tell the agency when it brings on more such generators. When asked if there is any concern about the combined emissions from the growing cluster of turbines, MDEQ said it is monitoring the development. "As indicated by the facility, all portable/temporary turbines are equipped with control technology to minimize emissions," agency spokesperson Jan Schaefer said via e-mail. "MDEQ is evaluating the situation and will make the facility aware as to when it can no longer bring additional portable/temporary turbines on-site." In a press release last week, the Southern Environment Law Center said the turbines have the potential to "emit a staggering amount of toxic air pollution." "Toxic emissions from the facility threaten to do long-lasting harm to nearby communities," the release said. "Pollution from gas turbines includes smog-forming nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter and hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde. These pollutants are tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems and certain cancers." In addition to the temporary-mobile turbines, the state permit board in March [approved air permits](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/10/xai-permit-approved-southaven/?ref=down-ballot.info) for 41 permanent gas generators at xAI's Southaven operation. The SELC [appealed](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/10/xai-southaven-permit-appeal/?ref=down-ballot.info) the decision last month, requesting a hearing on the matter. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/05/11/xai-46-gas-turbines-no-air-permits/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20134822/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1177379&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Rent Freeze No Sure Thing in First Vote By Mamdani-Majority Board ### The new mayor appointed six of the Rent Guidelines Board’s nine members. by [Lilly Sabella](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/lilly-sabella/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Samantha Maldonado](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/samantha-maldonado/?ref=down-ballot.info) May 7, 2026, 8:37 p.m. ![Tenant advocates rallied outside of the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center ahead of a Rent Guidelines Board preliminary vote,](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/050726_rgb_prelim_vote-2.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) In its first vote under a new mayor, the Rent Guidelines Board left the door open for a rent increase despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s promise of a price freeze for a million rent-stabilized tenants in New York. The board approved a range of possible rent levels in its preliminary vote: 0 to 2% for one-year leases and between 0 to 4% for two-year leases. The nine-member Rent Guidelines Board — six of which had been [appointed by the new mayor](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/02/17/rent-freeze-board-mamdani-regulated-apartments/?ref=down-ballot.info) earlier this year — settled on those figures during a rowdy hearing at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City on Thursday evening. The vote was nonbinding. The board must by law take a final vote by the end of June. Tenant groups and labor organizations that filled the auditorium loudly booed and demanded that the members roll back the preliminary vote that passed after all motions for a rent freeze failed. They rallied before the vote took place outside the college, holding “Freeze the Rent” signs and demanding a halt on price increases for stabilized tenants. Mamdani made a promised rent freeze a signature part of his campaign. The members of the board are charged to [act independently from City Hall](https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/03/27/rent-hike-price-board-apartment-lease-guide/?ref=down-ballot.info), but the rent freeze commitment looms over their vote. ![Tenant advocates rallied outside of the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center ahead of a Rent Guidelines Board preliminary vote,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/050726_rgb_prelim_vote-1024x683.jpg) Tenant advocates rallied for a rent freeze ahead of the Rent Guidelines Board preliminary vote, May 7, 2026. Tenant-aligned board members attempted to pass a range that would have either rolled back rent or frozen it, with a proposed rent level of -3 to 0%on one-year leases and -4.5 to 0%on two-year leases. That measure failed. Afterwards, members aligned with landlords floated higher ranges: a 3 to 5.5% increase on one-year leases and 6 to 8% on two-year leases. That idea also failed to pass. “I was very disappointed to hear the possibility that rent will still go up, particularly since we were promised a freeze,” said Douglas Ostling, 78, of Flushing, after the hearing. “I've lived in the city all my life. I love it, but I'm being priced out of it, and if something doesn't change quickly, I'm going to have to move.” In the coming weeks, the RGB will [host five sessions](https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/2026-meetings/?ref=down-ballot.info) to hear testimony from the public on the proposed rent increases before taking a final vote on June 25. In a [statement](https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/05/mayor-mamdani-s-statement-on-the-rent-guidelines-board-s-prelimi?ref=down-ballot.info) delivered after tonight's preliminary vote, the mayor encouraged New Yorkers’ to participate in the upcoming sessions. “New Yorkers are being crushed by the cost of living, and they need real relief,” the mayor said. “As the RGB begins its public hearings, tenants, owners and New Yorkers from every borough should make their voices heard and speak directly to what this housing crisis looks like in their lives.” “I’m confident the board will weigh those perspectives carefully and arrive at a decision later this summer that reflects the urgency of this moment,” he continued. In considering how much to jack up rent, the law requires the board members to take into account data on tenant and landlord finances. According to reports prepared by board staff, landlord [income was up 6%](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/03/26/rent-freeze-board-mamdani-landlord-income/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2024, the latest year for which it was studied, but varied widely based on the location and age of the building stock. At the same time, landlords’ [costs](https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026-PIOC.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) outpaced inflation between 2025 and 2026. On the tenants’ side, RGB research [showed](https://rentguidelinesboard.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026-IA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the median renter income grew by just 1.8% adjusted for inflation. Renters in all boroughs except The Bronx saw their incomes increase. More than half of renter households paid more than a third of their income in rent — placing them into a category known by housing experts as “rent-burdened.” Historically, landlords have said that hikes approved by the RGB are not high enough to cover the expenses of maintaining their buildings, while tenants said they’re financially squeezed and can’t afford to pay more. That played out last year, when the board [voted on rent increases](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/30/mamdani-rent-freeze-stabilization-board-hike-eric-adams/?ref=down-ballot.info) of 3% for one-year leases and 4.5% for two-year leases, after [previously weighing hikes](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/05/01/rent-freeze-stabilized-apartments-hikes-housing/?ref=down-ballot.info) between 1.75% and 4.75% for one-year leases and 3.75% and 7.75% for two-year leases. “We’ve been here every year, but this year feels different,” said Kit Klee, an organizer with the tenant group CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities who lives in a rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria and appeared hopeful for a rent freeze before the vote took place. ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=77221&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) --- # Pittsburgh residents call for action on rising costs by Sophia Lucente, Pittsburgh's Public Source May 6, 2026 Pamela Henderson wiped tears from her eyes as she recalled moving her three sons into a friend's house after losing her job about 10 years ago. A year later, she opted to move into her mom’s home, a decision she thought would be temporary while she saved for a home of their own. Today, she still lives in her mom’s Whitehall home, and she struggles to keep up with bills as she runs her own cleaning business. “There are four working adults living in this house, and none of us can afford to live without each other,” she said to a crowd of around 100 last week. “So, it just kind of feels hopeless as a single parent right now, I feel like I can't grow or chase after my dreams anymore." Last Thursday, community members gathered to discuss the affordability crisis at a town hall event hosted by Pennsylvania United at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Homewood branch. Several residents told their stories in front of the elected officials present, including state Rep. Abigail Salisbury, D-Swissvale, and Pittsburgh councilors Deb Gross and Barb Warwick. ![Audience members seated in a lecture hall, some clapping and others watching attentively, with papers and programs visible in their hands.](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/affordabilitytownhall5.jpg) Town hall attendees clap at sentiments of bridging the wealth gap during the affordability town hall hosted by Pennsylvania United on April 30, at the Homewood branch of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. (Photo by Sophia Lucente/Pittsburgh's Public Source) Town hall participants — as well as [social media commenters](https://www.reddit.com/r/pittsburgh/comments/1t10gzc/prices%5Fgoing%5Fup%5Fall%5Fover%5Fthe%5Fcity/?solution=7f73e2be23d6a1617f73e2be23d6a161&js%5Fchallenge=1&token=bbbe4bf1c9a2b5160829c4be34da58619e826df5f38451e1814dd7ff7b454c69&jsc%5Forig%5Fr=&share%5Fid=vlOG2DrE4rXZUa4S7gnxr&utm%5Fcontent=1&utm%5Fmedium=ios%5Fapp&utm%5Fname=ioscss&utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fterm=1) and respondents to a [recent Pittsburgh’s Public Source](https://www.publicsource.org/affordability-inflation-high-prices-pittsburgh-allegheny/?ref=down-ballot.info) request for reader input on prices — called for improved affordability in housing, groceries and utilities. Inflation has been [higher than normal](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=rocU&ref=down-ballot.info) since the COVID-19 pandemic. [Tariffs](https://www.publicsource.org/trump-tariffs-small-business-impact-pittsburgh/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the U.S. attack on Iran, alongside changes to Medicaid and SNAP food benefits, have also raised the cost of living for many. The [One Big Beautiful Bill Act](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/one-big-beautiful-bill-a-preliminary-assessment/?ref=down-ballot.info) of 2025 restricted eligibility for Medicaid and SNAP coverage, and provisions will also cut billions of dollars in funding for both programs over the next decade, resulting in millions losing health insurance coverage, [according to the Congressional Budget Office](https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-06/Wyden-Pallone-Neal%5FLetter%5F6-4-25.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Some residents said they are losing hope as they are forced to accept shared living arrangements, multiple full-time jobs and inadequate housing. Three proposed state House bills aim to help. Joshua Malloy, one of the town hall organizers and director of Pennsylvania United's Pittsburgh chapter, said conversations with community members indicated a crisis. He heard from people whose insurance skyrocketed amid Affordable Care Act rollbacks and others frying flour and water for sustenance after losing SNAP benefits. “I've knocked doors all over Pittsburgh and across the full spectrum of people, across all identities, and the commonality from everyone is that things are just too expensive,” Malloy said. ”People are frustrated, people are tired and people are angry.” ![A person wearing a cap and casual shirt speaks at a podium, gesturing with his right hand.](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/affordabilitytownhall6.jpg) Joshua Malloy, chapter director for Pennsylvania United's Pittsburgh chapter, explains three proposed state House bills to the crowd during the affordability town hall on April 30\. (Photo by Sophia Lucente/Pittsburgh's Public Source) ## Wages down, beef and egg prices up Over the past five years, the average electric bill for an Allegheny County resident has [increased by 42%](https://electricity.heatmap.news/?ref=down-ballot.info). Even with this increase, Allegheny County has some of the lowest electric bill rates in the state. Throughout the year, water bills will increase by 15% for the typical [Pittsburgh Water](https://www.pgh2o.com/residential-commercial-customers/rates/our-water-future?ref=down-ballot.info#n) customer. Pittsburgh’s Public Source [recently asked](https://www.publicsource.org/affordability-inflation-high-prices-pittsburgh-allegheny/?ref=down-ballot.info) residents for their opinions. Community members wrote about their experiences with high electric bills, gas bills, and costs for transportation and groceries. Audrey Glickman of Greenfield wrote to Public Source that if wages increased at the same pace as housing, rent, tuition and cars, the rising costs would be “more palatable.” Real household income, though, [has declined](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSPAA672N?ref=down-ballot.info) in the state since peaking in 2019. ![](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_5867.jpg) ![](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/File-1.png) ![](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/File-2.png) Jean Givner, a Wilkins resident, was finally able to buy a house for her family during the COVID-19 pandemic, she said during Thursday’s town hall. Today, she works two full-time jobs to help support her kids and four grandchildren, and her family still struggles to make ends meet. “We have absolutely zero margin for error on the financial side,” she said. “Any surprise cost, any emergency expense, big or small, and the bottom will fall out on my household.” ![A person with long gray hair reads from a paper while holding a microphone at a public event, with people seated and a blue banner in the background.](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/affordabilitytownhall4.jpg) Jean Givner, of Wilkins, speaks about her struggles to make ends meet while working two full time jobs during the affordability town hall at the Homewood branch of The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. (Photo by Sophia Lucente/Pittsburgh's Public Source) According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, [grocery prices have fluctuated](https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-price-index/consumer-price-index-average-price-data.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) over the past five years. The prices of tomatoes and bread have stayed relatively stable at around $2 per pound, while ground beef has substantially increased from $4.50 per pound in March 2021, to $6.68 currently. “Every time I go to the grocery store I have to decide between buying healthy foods versus low-cost, lower-quality foods for my family,” Givner said. “I have to purchase clothing for my grandkids to share and hope the materials last long enough to be passed down to each other.” ## Legislation seeks to level tax playing field Henderson is hoping to eventually find housing in the city to give her kids their own space but feels like it isn’t possible on top of her bills. “I'll make enough money to get by, to pay for the car to get to the job, to where there's no money left at the end of the month,” she said. “I'm borrowing money to take my kids to the movie theater, so that they can have some kind of a normal life.” ![](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/File.png) ![](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/File-3.png) As she called for solutions, such as taxing the wealthy, the crowd cheered, some attendees becoming emotional with Henderson. At the end of the town hall, Malloy discussed three proposed state bills with the attendees: - [House Bill 1610](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/hb1610?ref=down-ballot.info) would, its sponsors argue, close loopholes for large Pennsylvania corporations which avoid paying taxes by operating companies out of state while profiting in Pennsylvania. - [H.B. 1678](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/hb1678?ref=down-ballot.info) would levy new taxes on big tech companies, like Google, Amazon and Meta, for profits made on digital advertising. - [H.B. 141](https://www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/hb141?ref=down-ballot.info) would increase taxes on earnings from passive income, such as revenue from stocks, real estate and trusts, to potentially fill gaps in funding for programs like Medicaid and SNAP. The bills are supported collectively by the advocacy coalition [Tax Billionaires, Fund PA](https://www.taxbillionairespa.org/whoweare?ref=down-ballot.info) which seeks to increase taxes on large corporations to redistribute money through state programs to help people of middle and lower incomes. Rep. Salisbury signed onto all three bills after Thursday’s town hall. ## Apartments: Applications alone unaffordable Teaira Collins sat on the town hall stage as she addressed the crowd. After Collins had two back surgeries in 2016, she lost her job and was denied disability. Two years later, her house went into foreclosure. Since moving into emergency Section 8 housing in 2018, she has struggled to find a permanent residence and a home to accommodate her disability and her son, [Judah](https://www.publicsource.org/high-school-transition-disability-iep-down-syndrome-employment-pennsylvania-job-one/?ref=down-ballot.info), who has Down syndrome. ![A person in black clothing sits on a wooden ledge holding a microphone and papers, appearing to wipe their eye, with other people seated in the background.](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/affordabilitytownhall1.jpg) Teaira Collins, of Greenfield, wipes tears from her eyes during the affordability town hall as she tells the crowd about her decade-long struggle to find stable housing. (Photo by Sophia Lucente/Pittsburgh's Public Source) During that time, she said, one place she moved into had stairs, which she struggled on with her back, and another charged her an unexpected amount of rent. Most recently, she found out her landlord is selling the house she rents in Greenfield, and she will have to move for the fourth time since her housing struggles began. “When is the world going to wake up and actually start helping people become self-sufficient?” Collins asked during the town hall. “We only get to the first step, and then we get knocked back down to the bottom.” While rent for a one-bed apartment in Pittsburgh is [around $150 lower per month than the national average](https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/national-rent-report?ref=down-ballot.info), application fees and security deposits prior to renting are holding Collins back from taking the next step. “If I have to pay $50 to $100 application fee for each place, and I'm looking at 45 places, how can I afford to move?” Collins asked. ![Two people hug in the center of a room with seated attendees in the background, one holding papers, during what appears to be a public meeting or event.](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/affordabilitytownhall3.jpg) Teaira Collins, of Greenfield, hugs William Anderson, of Homewood, after addressing the crowd during the affordability town hall. (Photo by Sophia Lucente/Pittsburgh's Public Source) Earlier this year, Gov. Josh Shapiro [proposed a housing plan](https://www.pa.gov/governor/newsroom/2026-press-releases/governor-shapiro-unveils-pennsylvania-s-first-ever-housing-actio?ref=down-ballot.info) that includes a statewide cap on rental application fees. Collins hopes her next home will have a bathtub for her son, who struggles with sensory issues in a shower, but has little faith she will receive the help she needs. “This system needs to be torn apart and rebuilt, and it needs to be rebuilt by the people that it serves,” Collins said. *Correction (5/8):* [*Pittsburgh Water serves*](https://www.pgh2o.com/your-water/learn-where-we-provide-our-services?ref=down-ballot.info) *most of the City of Pittsburgh and a few surrounding neighborhoods. A prior version of this story mischaracterized the agency's service area.* *Sophia Lucente is a freelance reporter and photographer in the Pittsburgh area and can be reached at* *sophia.lucente@outlook.com* *.* *This story was fact-checked by Jamie Wiggan.* This [article](https://www.publicsource.org/higher-costs-have-pittsburghers-asking-for-more-affordablility/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Pittsburgh's Public Source](https://www.publicsource.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1332363&ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14) --- [Support Down Ballot](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/give/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Manage Contribution to Down Ballot](https://down-ballot.fundjournalism.org/portal/?ref=down-ballot.info) ### 2.5 million Americans lost food aid in months after passage of GOP megabill, study finds URL: https://down-ballot.info/2-5-million-americans-lost-food-aid-in-months-after-passage-of-gop-megabill-study-finds/ Last updated: 2026-05-13T09:00:34.000Z By Jacob Fischler (DC Bureau (States Newsroom)) Published: April 8, 2026 At least 2.5 million low-income people quickly lost help affording groceries under a Republican-passed law that added new requirements for the nation’s largest nutrition program and shifted hundreds of millions of dollars in costs from the federal government to states, according to a study the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities published Wednesday. Some 6% of the 41 million Americans enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, when President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, 2025, were no longer receiving benefits by the end of the year. The left-leaning think tank’s report was based on U.S. Department of Agriculture and state agency data from July to December 2025\. Arizona was the largest outlier in the data, with a whopping 47% of people in the program — about 424,000 Arizonans — losing benefits in 2025, according to the think tank, which cited more recent state agency data in addition to last year’s USDA numbers. Full-year 2025 data from the USDA, which operates the federal side of SNAP, shows an even bigger drop of 3.4 million people, or roughly 8% of the program’s total, CBPP said. SNAP is federally funded and administered by states, though that cost-share will change under the law. In a late Wednesday email, a USDA spokesperson applauded the drop in SNAP participation, noting the program’s rolls had fallen below 40 million for the first time since the pandemic. The spokesperson said the program would continue “to serve those with the greatest need while also strengthening program integrity.” “This change reflects several factors, including the most comprehensive work requirement reform since 1996, the One Big Beautiful Bill of 2025, as well as USDA initiatives that expand access to employment services, career and technical education, and case‑management support through USDA's More Than a Job campaign,” the spokesperson wrote. #### Incentives for states The [study](https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/snap-tracker-people-are-losing-food-assistance-as-the-republican-megabill?ref=down-ballot.info) did not intend to find a cause for the decline, co-author Joseph Llobrera, CBPP’s senior director of research for food assistance, said in an interview. But he noted the law created incentives for states to limit participation in the program. Under a provision of the law that is not yet in force, the share of the program’s cost that states must shoulder is tied to the state’s “error rate” — payments a state makes that were either more or less than the beneficiary should have received. That motivates states to restrict access to the program, without providing a corresponding reward for expanding access, Llobrera said. “So the incentive structure that’s in place, it really pushes states to make it harder to get onto the program for people who need that assistance,” he said. The drop in participation happened without improving economic conditions, such as a decline in the unemployment rate, the researchers said. That indicates people are moving off the rolls due to changes in the program, not because their circumstances have improved to the point they no longer need food assistance, the study said. Many provisions of the law have not yet gone into effect. The error rate penalties, for example, start in fiscal year 2028. #### Design, not a bug In part, though, that restriction is by design, as the law’s supporters intended to cut SNAP benefits for recipients who met certain criteria and to control what they portrayed as fraud and waste at the state level. The [cuts in the federal share of SNAP funding](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/more-3-million-people-would-lose-snap-benefits-under-gop-bill-nonpartisan-report-says?ref=down-ballot.info) helped pay for massive tax cuts and a boost to military spending in other parts of the megabill, which Republicans passed without any Democratic support through a process known as budget reconciliation. The proponents of the agriculture section of the megabill championed provisions to make beneficiaries report their eligibility more often, boost work requirements, disqualify certain categories of legal immigrants, raise the age of children at which parenting would cease to qualify as work and otherwise tighten the availability of the program. The provisions would help ensure only those who truly needed the federal assistance would get it, advocates said. It would also create an incentive for states to control erroneous payments, which was not the case when the federal government took on the entire cost of the program before the bill’s enactment. “It is a disservice to the truly needy to rely on SNAP,” House Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican, said as the committee marked up the bill last year. “Clearly, SNAP is not working as Congress intended. We must ensure the proper incentives are in place for states to administer the program more effectively for those it serves.” Llobrera said he understood members of both parties would engage in rhetoric about restrictions on SNAP, but that the center at the time was “raising the alarm that the bill was going to hurt people.” A spokesperson for Thompson did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. #### Arizona The CBPP report included a [breakout section](https://www.cbpp.org/blog/arizonas-snap-participation-is-plummeting-far-more-than-anticipated-as-it-implements-megabill?ref=down-ballot.info) on Arizona, where the SNAP enrollment dropped much further than any other state. As in other states, economic gains did not explain the changes in Arizona, the case study said. “This dramatic drop cannot be explained by a rapid improvement in people’s economic well-being or reduced need for help affording food,” the report said, noting that Arizona’s unemployment rate rose over the period of the study, while the cost of groceries rose about 4% in 2025. The state’s Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, and state agency spokespeople have blamed the GOP law for the drastic reduction in benefits, the study said, but the decline goes beyond what would be expected based on the law’s provisions. That suggests that state administrators — even under Democratic leaders — are going beyond the minimum requirements of the law to restrict access, the authors said. “Thus, it appears that a combination of factors, including the megabill and the state’s response to it, are contributing to the sharp decline in the number of Arizona families getting SNAP,” they wrote. Because the law also raises the costs to states of administering the program, in addition to requiring states pay for some portion of benefits, some, including Arizona, cut staff ahead of the law’s enactment, Llobrera said. “With the cuts to the administrative funding for states due to that megabill, those are only just going to accelerate,” he said. #### Shutdown Such changes to SNAP rules added to an already tumultuous period for the program’s recipients. Over the course of a [then-record-long](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/federal-government-shutdown-begins-no-easy-exit-sight?ref=down-ballot.info) partial government shutdown last year, benefits were [constantly turned off and on](https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/shutdown-tug-war-over-snap-benefits-timeline?ref=down-ballot.info) as the Trump administration said it could not spend SNAP funds during a shutdown and federal courts held that benefits must be paid. Spokespeople for the White House did not return messages seeking comment Wednesday. ### Food Stamp Work Rules Don’t Increase Employment, Researchers Say URL: https://down-ballot.info/food-stamp-work-rules-dont-increase-employment-researchers-say/ Last updated: 2026-05-11T09:00:10.000Z **By Taylor Sisk Published: April 23, 2026** ![Two older women stand smiling side by side in a parking lot on a sunny day.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/04/SNAP_04.jpg) Gail Lendearo (left) and Christine Treleven are co-directors of the House of Hope food pantry in Delbarton, West Virginia. Lendearo says it's a blessing to serve those in need in her community. (Taylor Sisk for KFF Health News) DELBARTON, W.Va. — A half-dozen cars had been in the queue for nearly four hours by the time the House of Hope mobile food pantry line began to move. Seventy or so more idled behind them by 11:30 a.m., when the food distribution began. The plan was to begin handing out boxes of groceries at 11, but the [Facing Hunger Foodbank](https://facinghunger.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) truck delivering the food blew a tire en route. No one complained. Perry Hall was among those waiting. His wife, Lilly Hall, volunteers with the distribution team. Perry has been dealing with a form of cancer called multiple myeloma. The Halls get by on around $1,500 a month from his Social Security benefits, plus assistance from the federal [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program](https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program?ref=down-ballot.info), or SNAP. But because of her age, Lilly, 59, recently became subject to new SNAP work requirements and at risk of losing her benefits. As part of the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, all “able-bodied adults” 64 or younger who don’t have dependents and don’t work, volunteer, or participate in job training at least 80 hours a month are now restricted to three months of benefits every three years from SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Previously, the federal requirement applied to those 54 or younger. The new rule, which went into effect in November, also applies to parents of children 14 or older. And it removed exemptions for veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults who’ve aged out of foster care. Proponents of work requirements argue that they incentivize people who are “work-ready” to seek and keep jobs, reducing dependence on government assistance and upholding the “[dignity of work](https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2025/06/myth-vs-fact-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/?ref=down-ballot.info).” Rhonda Rogombé serves as health and safety net policy analyst for the [West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy](https://wvpolicy.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). She and her colleagues have studied the effects of SNAP work rules and found that requiring recipients to work does not lower an area’s unemployment rate. Previous work requirements were suspended nationwide during the covid pandemic and reinstated in fall 2023\. The researchers found that the average number of people employed in Mingo County each month actually went down after the requirement was reimposed. A 2018 federal research project that examined several data sources, including SNAP data from nine states, found that work requirements “have no impact on labor force participation and the number of hours worked.” There are a number of possible explanations, Rogombé said, “but when people are hungry, they’re not able to support themselves. When people are hungry, it’s harder to focus at work. It’s harder to engage in work activity, and we think that that’s part of it.” Jobs are scarce in this southern West Virginia county. Lilly Hall found work at a Delbarton restaurant. But it’s unpaid until a waitress position opens — enough to preserve her benefits, but far from ideal. On that mild Wednesday in late March, House of Hope provided chicken, eggs, bread, potatoes, fresh fruit and vegetables, and milk. Among those in line were older residents and “some young people that have lost their way and they can’t get work and they just need help,” said Timothy Treleven, who operates the pantry with his wife, Christine, and Gail Lendearo. ![An older man with white hair and beard smiles at the camera.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/04/SNAP_01.jpg?w=1270) Timothy Treleven helps run the House of Hope food pantry in Delbarton, West Virginia. The pantry's clients include older residents and “some young people that have lost their way and they can’t get work and they just need help.” (Taylor Sisk for KFF Health News) House of Hope’s scheduled distribution day is the last Saturday of each month — supplemented by occasional weekday Facing Hunger visits — as money from monthly checks begins to run out and cupboards go bare. On a typical Saturday, pantry staff and volunteers hand out up to 400 boxes of food. “It’s an honor to do this,” Lendearo said. “It’s a blessing.” Perry Hall’s cancer is now in remission, but for a while his treatment required that he and Lilly travel back and forth, 4½ hours each way, to Morgantown. The couple’s van couldn’t make the trip, so they paid a friend for rides. Mingo’s population is just under 22,000, down from around 27,000 in 2010\. It once flourished, fueled by coal. Williamson, the county seat, was home to an opera house and businesses operated by immigrants from Italy, Russia, and Syria. The region is still referred to as “the coalfields,” but little is mined here these days. [A quarter of residents live in poverty](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/mingocountywestvirginia/PST120224?ref=down-ballot.info). Rogombé and her colleagues found that Mingo County residents face significant barriers to securing what few jobs are available. These include unreported physical and mental impairments, housing insecurity, and a lack of high school diplomas and identification documents. ![An exterior photograph of a single story building.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/04/SNAP_03.jpg?w=1270) On a typical distribution day, the House of Hope food pantry in Delbarton, West Virginia, hands out up to 400 boxes of food. (Taylor Sisk for KFF Health News) Filing the paperwork to receive benefits or to confirm compliance is difficult for many residents. The West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy’s research found that about 1 in 4 lack reliable internet access. Additional changes lie ahead for the SNAP program. Currently, the federal government and the states share administrative costs equally, but in October states will assume 75% of those costs. And beginning in October 2027, they’ll be required to pay additional costs based on [error rates](https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/congressional-delay-of-snap-cost-shift-urgently-needed-to-protect-food?ref=down-ballot.info). Kentucky, like West Virginia, is among the poorer states that will be most affected by the new requirements and costs. The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy estimates that [up to 114,000 residents risk losing SNAP benefits](https://kypolicy.org/snap-changes-in-the-obba/?ref=down-ballot.info) with the expanded work requirements. Jessica Klein, a researcher with the center, worries about the consequences. “We know SNAP has an impact on health, and not just because it decreases food insecurity,” she said. It worsens blood pressure rates, obesity, medication adherence, and more. With the additional financial burden placed on states, “I think what we’ll see is some states changing rules that impact participation in order to have a smaller, more affordable program,” Klein said. “My fear is that some states will choose not to operate SNAP at all.” In Mingo County, folks are stepping up. At least eight food pantries offer groceries to those in need. Janet Gibson runs the Blessing Barn pantry in the Ben Creek community. “I can go from one end of the creek to the other” and tell you everyone’s name and a little something about them, she said. She takes pride in feeding her people. ![An older woman wearing a white and red sports jacket sits comfortably for a photo.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2026/04/SNAP_02.jpg?w=1270) Janet Gibson runs the Blessing Barn food pantry in the West Virginia community of Ben Creek. She says transportation challenges are a barrier to finding and maintaining work in the county. (Taylor Sisk for KFF Health News) Gibson said it can be hard to find even volunteer opportunities in the county, largely because of transportation challenges. A look at a local map can be misleading: A couple of dozen miles into a holler or up a ridge could take an hour or more. “Whether you’re working full-time or not, you’re still spinning out gas to get to work,” Gibson said, “and gas ain’t cheap now.” A single mother of three, Trista Shankle of Paducah, Kentucky, isn’t subject to the new SNAP requirements, but she worries about the fragility of the social safety net. She overcame challenges, is earning a master’s degree in social work, and works for an organization that connects community college students with [Temporary Assistance for Needy Families](https://acf.gov/ofa/programs/temporary-assistance-needy-families-tanf?ref=down-ballot.info) benefits. Her family receives SNAP, Medicaid, housing support, and assistance from the USDA’s [Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children](https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic?ref=down-ballot.info). If any one of those is cut, she said, she may have to drop out of school. Shankle is certain she wouldn’t have advanced to where she is today without the benefits she and her family have received: “They bring a sense of calm and comfort. I know that my kids aren’t going to go hungry.” The first week in April, Lilly Hall reported for work at Black Bear Trails Restaurant. She’s grateful for the opportunity. And when a waitress slot opens, “I’ll snag that position so quick it’ll make your head flip.” [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* This [article](https://kffhealthnews.org/medicaid/food-stamps-snap-work-requirements-hunger-west-virginia-foodbanks/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150) ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=2228111&ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0) ### FBI raids office of Virginia state senate president URL: https://down-ballot.info/fbi-raids-office-of-virginia-state-senate-president/ Last updated: 2026-05-08T09:00:16.000Z **It's Friday, May 8, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** FBI raids Sen. Louise Lucas’ Portsmouth office, cannabis business, Clock ticking for Littleton. Town pushing to complete audits, stave off state takeover, Monsanto argues for lawsuit immunity in case before Supreme Court, Mardi Gras trash hits record high in New Orleans, despite push to cut waste, California to share data on immigrant drivers nationally, Mississippi House to debate redistricting in Old Capitol where Jim Crow, secession were passed, Lowell residents sue data center, state over air quality permit, Guilford County creates safety net for uninsured, Rural-Focused $42 Billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program Becomes Operational. **Media outlets and others featured:** Virginia Mercury, Carolina Public Press, Investigate Midwest, Verite News, CalMatters, Mississippi Today, CommonWealth Beacon, North Carolina Health News, The Daily Yonder. --- ## FBI raids Sen. Louise Lucas’ Portsmouth office, cannabis business By Markus Schmidt (Virginia Mercury) Published: May 6, 2026 Federal agents on Wednesday morning raided the Portsmouth office of state Sen. Louise Lucas, one of Virginia’s most powerful Democratic lawmakers, a representative of the Federal Bureau of Investigations confirmed Wednesday, after multiple news outlets reported an extensive law enforcement operation that included FBI agents, SWAT teams and court-authorized searches tied to several locations across the commonwealth. FBI spokeswoman Cassandra Temple told The Mercury at the scene: “We are conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity today.” She wouldn’t confirm or answer any other questions, including whether anyone had been arrested. [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fbi-raids-spanberger-ally-office-federal-corruption-probe-targets-cannabis-business?ref=down-ballot.info), who was first to report the news, said the FBI executed search warrants at several sites, including Lucas’ legislative office in Portsmouth. Staffers inside the building were ordered outside and were not allowed to re-enter as agents searched the premises. Witnesses saw federal agents carrying boxes out of the building. Adjacent to Lucas’ office is The Cannabis Outlet, a hemp- and cannabis related retail business linked to the longtime state senator. Fox News reported that SWAT teams arrived there with weapons drawn and ordered everyone inside to exit the building with their hands up. At least three people were reportedly placed in handcuffs and taken into custody. Lucas arrived at the scene shortly after the raid began. When asked by a reporter what the federal action was about, she replied that she had no idea. Lucas did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but she later cast the raid as an act of political intimidation, saying the federal action was “about far more than one state senator” and reflected “a clear pattern from this administration.” In a statement [released on X](https://x.com/senlouiselucas/status/2052161806865420779?s=46&t=uQxq3EX7p3bygcqVfUnstg&ref=down-ballot.info), formerly Twitter, she tied the raid to last month’s redistricting referendum, saying Virginians had voted “to stop (President Donald) Trump’s scheme to manipulate the 2026 midterm elections.” Lucas said she was grateful for the support she had received and vowed to keep fighting. “I am not backing down, and I will keep fighting for the people of Portsmouth and the commonwealth of Virginia,” she said. The scope of the investigation sent shockwaves through Virginia political circles because of Lucas’ outsized role in state government and Democratic politics. U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Newport News, whose district includes Portsmouth, was among the first elected officials to publicly respond to the raid, arguing the federal action comes amid what he described as Trump’s attacks on political opponents. “While we await the full facts of the investigation, it must be acknowledged that this FBI raid occurs in the broader context of President Trump’s repeated abuse of the Department of Justice to target his perceived political opponents,” Scott said in an emailed statement. He also noted the raid came roughly two weeks after Lucas helped lead Virginia’s redistricting referendum effort, which Democrats hailed as a rejection of Trump-backed attempts to influence GOP states to redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Scott added that “like all Americans, Senator Lucas has a right to due process and a presumption of innocence.” House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, urged caution as details about the federal investigation remained unclear. He too noted that Lucas had not been charged with a crime. “Let’s start with this: Senator L. Louise Lucas has not been charged with anything,” Scott said in a statement. He added that, given what he described as the politicization of the Trump administration’s Justice Department and FBI, “people should take this with a grain of salt and allow the facts to come out before jumping to conclusions.” Scott also questioned how Fox News appeared to be positioned at the scene early in the operation and said Virginians deserve more transparency about the raid. “At this point we simply do not know what this ultimately means,” he said. “Right now, there is far more theatrics and speculation than actual information available to the public.” The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus echoed those concerns, calling for transparency as details about the investigation remained scarce throughout Wednesday. In a statement, the caucus said Lucas “has consistently and honorably served this commonwealth” and warned that Virginians expect “a justice system that is fair, unbiased and free from personal political persecution.” The group added that Lucas deserves due process and that the public deserves “full transparency” about the investigation. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones also emphasized that there was not yet enough public information to draw conclusions about the FBI activity in Portsmouth. Jones said previous actions by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia had “undermined public confidence” in the office, citing failed prosecutions involving former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. “I urge everyone to exercise restraint in judgment until the relevant facts are known in this matter,” Jones said. Gov. Abigail Spanberger declined to offer her take on the investigation Wednesday. “Certainly I am aware of the law enforcement action that occurred in Portsmouth, and I am awaiting more details to become public before weighing in with any strong public comment,” Spanberger told reporters during a visit in Stafford County. Lucas, 82, has served in the Virginia Senate since 1992 and currently serves as the chamber’s president pro tempore, making her one of the highest ranking members of the General Assembly. A Democrat from Portsmouth, she has long been one of the legislature’s most influential and combative political figures, particularly on budget and fiscal matters. She also chairs the powerful Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, placing her at the center of this year’s [contentious intraparty budget negotiations](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/04/27/data-center-tax-exemption-changes-still-holding-up-virginia-budget/?ref=down-ballot.info). In recent months, Lucas has pushed aggressively to end or scale back Virginia’s lucrative sales and use tax exemptions for data centers, arguing the incentives have become too costly for the state and place growing strain on Virginia’s electric grid and infrastructure. [House Democrats](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/04/29/heres-what-house-lawmakers-want-to-require-of-data-centers-to-keep-their-sales-tax-break/?ref=down-ballot.info) and Spanberger have resisted the effort, creating a major impasse [that has delayed](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/04/23/virginia-lawmakers-adjourn-special-session-without-a-budget-deal/?ref=down-ballot.info) completion of the state budget. Lucas has also played a leading role in Virginia’s controversial redistricting referendum [approved by voters](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/04/21/virginia-voters-back-redistricting-amendment-after-months-of-legal-and-political-battles/?ref=down-ballot.info) last month. She was among the key Democratic architects behind the constitutional amendment effort, which would allow Virginia to redraw congressional maps mid-decade under certain political conditions. The amendment remains in legal limbo [while under review](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/04/27/supreme-court-of-virginia-weighs-challenge-to-redistricting-amendment/?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Supreme Court of Virginia following a court challenge questioning whether lawmakers properly followed constitutional procedures before placing the measure on the ballot. Beyond her legislative work, Lucas has also faced scrutiny tied to Virginia’s evolving cannabis laws. [Virginia legalized](https://virginiamercury.com/2021/04/07/marijuana-will-be-legal-in-virginia-on-july-1-heres-what-is-and-isnt-permitted-under-the-new-law/?ref=down-ballot.info) simple possession of marijuana in 2021 through legislation Lucas co-sponsored. But a 2022 [Virginia Mercury investigation](https://virginiamercury.com/2022/02/02/marijuana-sales-virginia-labeling/?ref=down-ballot.info) found that cannabis-related products sold at The Cannabis Outlet contained levels of THC inconsistent with labeling and were being sold in a largely unregulated retail environment that existed before Virginia established a legal recreational cannabis marketplace. At the time, laboratory testing commissioned by The Mercury found some products sold at the store exceeded advertised THC concentrations. The story put a spotlight on concerns about Virginia’s loosely regulated hemp and cannabis market following legalization of marijuana possession but before creation of a fully regulated retail sales system, which is [now before Spanberger](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/04/27/virginia-cannabis-retail-plan-in-limbo-after-lawmakers-reject-spanberger-changes/?ref=down-ballot.info). As of Wednesday afternoon, federal authorities had not publicly indicated whether the raids were connected to Lucas’ cannabis business, her legislative activities or another matter entirely. *Virginia Mercury reporter Shannon Heckt and freelancer Roger Chesley contributed to this story.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://virginiamercury.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Clock ticking for Littleton. Town pushing to complete audits, stave off state takeover. by Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press May 1, 2026 Five years behind on financial audits, the town of Littleton faces a potential takeover by the North Carolina Local Government Commission if the town fails to complete its fiscal year 2021 audit by Monday. Littleton town officials attended the Local Government Commission’s [meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXcwr7jEZH8&ref=down-ballot.info) on April 1 to discuss the town’s current financial situation and their plan to submit the missing audits. The town, located in Halifax County with a population of roughly 550 residents, has missing audits that date back to fiscal year 2021\. The audit for that fiscal year was due on Oct. 31, 2021, but is still in progress, according to a [press release](https://www.nctreasurer.gov/news/press-releases/2026/04/01/local-government-commission-warns-rocky-mount-no-further-missteps-will-be-tolerated?ref=down-ballot.info) from the State Treasurer. **Denise Canada**, secretary of the LGC, told Carolina Public Press that while Littleton is not the only town behind on audits, they are further behind than any other town in the state. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Further action from the LGC could be prevented if the town hires a full-time finance officer, or at least provides evidence they’re making progress in hiring one. Until one is hired, the town has employed **Clyde Johnston** to serve in the position short-term. Additionally, the town has until the end of business on Monday, May 4, to submit its fiscal year 2020-2021 audit to the commission. Failure to complete these tasks risks a potential takeover by the LGC, according to the notice and warning. **Heidi Hogan**, mayor of Littleton, told CPP that town officials are currently working on the 2021 audit and hope to finish it by the May 4 deadline, but have no other comment at this time. ### Littleton 'downward spiral' Littleton is a town of about 560 residents located about 80 miles northeast of Raleigh in western Halifax County, a short distance from the Virginia state line. The town’s troubles began in 2020, when it started a “downward spiral of communication” with its bookkeeper, accountant and auditor, trying and failing multiple times to contact them, Hogan said in the meeting. “We were only able to contact our auditor by going to the other members of the firm,” Hogan said in the meeting. “We received no calls back as much as we tried over the years.” In their efforts to contact the auditors and bookkeepers, Hogan said in the meeting they were trying not to be “disruptive” or “annoy” them. [![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Spring-camp-5-1-26-CTA.png)](https://carolinapublicpress.fundjournalism.org/donate/?amount=15&campaign=701VH00000twrttYAA&frequency=monthly&ref=down-ballot.info) The town faced other challenges too, as discussed in the meeting. Littleton lost its longtime finance officer and had to find a new auditor following submission of the 2020 audit. The firm that the town ended up bringing in told town officials that the firm “would not be as able to be involved in the preparation of financial statements.” As a result, the town had to bring in a third-party accountant as well. Canada sent a [letter](https://www.nctreasurer.gov/documents/files/slgfdlgc/lgc-04-01-26-meeting-materials/open?ref=down-ballot.info) to Littleton outlining the town’s financial duties that were going unfulfilled, the most important one being completion of the annual audit. Despite staffing and communication issues, Canada told CPP that the responsibility ultimately lies with the elected officials of the town. She asked officials in the letter to attend the LGC meeting on April 1 and to contact her at the email address provided at the end. The letter was sent to several email addresses and then certified mail, yet the commission never received a response from the town, Canada said. Hogan said in the meeting that town officials weren’t aware they had to respond to the LGC’s letter, they believed they simply needed to show up to the April 1 meeting. ### Why so many NC towns face financial woes Littleton is not the only town in North Carolina struggling with similar issues. Other towns have fallen behind on financial audits, with 87 towns currently behind, said **Dan Way**, senior communications manager for the State Treasurer. Typically, the commission notifies towns when they’ve fallen behind at a certain point, and they submit appeal letters explaining the circumstances surrounding their lateness and why they shouldn’t be penalized, Canada said. Sifting through more than 100 appeal letters from towns in her first year on the job, Canada said it was apparent that a lot of towns were facing the same issue: high turnover in finance positions. Other factors that play a role include a lack of audit firms in North Carolina that perform local government audits and changing standards for government auditing and accounting. But the staff turnover is very problematic, Canada said. “It’s a large factor,” Canada said. “It’s not the only factor, but it’s a real problem, and I don’t see signs that it’s going to get better in the short term.” When towns like Littleton have high turnover in these finance positions, it’s easy to get behind, she said. “It’s very hard to keep the day to day business going when you bring someone in that’s having to be trained,” Canada said. “We’re not talking generally about very large counties that have a lot of institutional knowledge around finance. In a lot of these units that are behind, if the finance officer leaves, they take almost all of the institutional knowledge about finance with them.” Potential reasons for high turnover include less competitive salaries offered by smaller towns compared to larger ones, Canada said. Mayor **Gil Wheeler** of Elm City described the struggle to hire and retain qualified finance personnel as a widespread problem when discussing the [financial woes](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75209/financial-woes-of-a-small-nc-town-elm-city-under-state-auditors-spotlight/?ref=down-ballot.info) of his own town, which were the subject of a state audit earlier this month. ### Turnover in financial professionals Not as many people are working in local government finance anymore, Canada said. The Government Finance Officers Association, a group representing public finance officials in the United States and Canada since 1906, released a [report](https://gfoa-craftcms.files.svdcdn.com/production/general/GFOA-Lightcast-Report.pdf?dm=1759231578&ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=At%20the%20same%20time%2C%20aggregate,for%20the%20public%20sector%20overall%29.) in September 2022 that touched on this issue. “The supply-demand gap for state and local public finance workers is widening faster than the same gap for the finance sector overall, the public sector overall, and the economy overall,” the report said. “The gap is growing because, while state and local public finance is experiencing very strong demand for workers, it has seen net employment loss each year since 2019.” Regarding standards for government auditing and accounting, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board sets these standards nationwide, and they have become “more complicated” over the past 15 years and harder to follow. Because of this, annual audits have increasingly required more time to complete, Canada said. Given the increasing challenges towns like Littleton are facing in acquiring and keeping qualified finance personnel, Canada said she and Treasurer **Brad Briner** are interested in having the LGC support efforts to bring more people into the finance field. “We can explain to people how satisfying this work can be and how much meaning you can find in serving your community,” Canada said. “I don’t think that it is hopeless, and I’m very interested in my time in this role of doing a few things that are broader initiatives, and one is trying to figure out how to bring more people into this work.” While Canada said she’s only been in her current role for less than a year, she’s already made some efforts, including talking to the master’s of accounting students at UNC-Chapel Hill about their career options in the finance and accounting field. The programs emphasize becoming a certified public accountant, but Canada said she wants students to realize other certifications are just as valuable. She also wants to provide the same support for undergraduate accounting students and those attending community colleges, she said. “People seem to fall into government by happenstance, and it doesn’t have to be that way,” Canada said. “We can communicate much more clearly how many opportunities there are.” While she doesn’t know whether Littleton will meet the May 4 deadline to submit the 2021 audit, Canada said she has definitely seen “significant progress” from them and can see they’re working “extremely hard” to complete it. Littleton doesn’t have a plan yet for submitting the remaining audits after 2021, Canada said. The next LGC meeting is scheduled for May 5, and the [preliminary meeting agenda](https://www.nctreasurer.gov/documents/files/slgfdlgc/lgc-05-05-26-agenda/open?ref=down-ballot.info) shows Littleton town officials will be returning to give updates. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75465/clock-ticking-for-littleton-town-pushing-to-complete-audits-stave-off-state-takeover/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Monsanto argues for lawsuit immunity in case before Supreme Court by Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest April 27, 2026 **Key takeaways** **The case**: Monsanto Company v. Durnell concerns a lawsuit brought by a Missouri man who claimed the herbicide Roundup caused his cancer. After a Missouri jury awarded him $1.25 million in damages, Monsanto (Bayer) asked the Supreme Court to rule EPA-approval of agrichemicals should trump state-level claims. **What’s at stake?**: A win by Monsanto would essentially ban many lawsuits over cancer claims nationwide, despite the company already losing thousands of cases. **Next steps:** The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in July. For Paul Clement, the Virginia-based attorney for Monsanto, his client's ability to sell its popular herbicide products without fear of lawsuits over cancer claims boils down to one simple premise. “The agency has given us the green light,” Clement told the U.S. Supreme Court Monday. He was referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s conclusion that the herbicide Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate are not likely to cause cancer. Meanwhile, thousands of state juries and courts have awarded billions of dollars in damages to farmers and other users who say the popular herbicide has done just that. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/DSC05393-683x1024.jpeg) Protestors over Monsanto's herbicide, Roundup, gathered at the U.S. Supreme Court building on April 27, 2026\. photo by Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest Which is why Monsanto brought its case to the nation’s highest court, asking the justices to officially decide whether agrichemical companies are liable for damages at the state level when the EPA hasn’t ordered that their products carry any cancer warning labels as part of an every-15-years review process. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KBJackson3.jpg) Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. provided “But if new information comes out (showing a cancer link) … you would have a product that is misbranded, right?” asked Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the court’s three liberals, appearing to cast doubt on Monsanto’s claim. However, Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared to side with Monsanto as he repeatedly brought up the issue of preemption, which says states can’t override a federal law. Kavanaugh also said that if new science arises, the EPA has a process for responding to it. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Kavanaugh-12221_005_crop.jpg) Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. provided Ashley Keller, the attorney for the Missouri-based respondent, argued that states can ban the use of specific pesticide products, so why shouldn’t their own juries be able to award tort relief? “The law of Missouri and the law of the United States can be the same … and the findings (about pesticide harm) can be different,” Keller said. The court’s decision, expected in July, could significantly reshape the future of Bayer, the owner of Monsanto and one of the most powerful companies in the farming industry, whose monopoly of seeds and related herbicides has helped the nation’s heartland become a crop-producing power. Over the last several decades, as the use of pesticides and herbicides has grown to fight insects, weeds and other pests, many farmers and gardeners have increasingly said the chemicals are causing cancer. Multiple studies have claimed a connection between pesticides and cancer, including one [comparing it to smoking and lung cancer](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26158424-comprehensive-assessment-of-pesticide-use-pattersna-dn-increased-cancer-risk-study/?ref=down-ballot.info). A map of U.S. counties with the highest cancer rates often mirrors the regions with the highest pesticide use. Of the 500 counties with the highest pesticide use per square mile, [60% of those counties also had cancer rates higher than the national average](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/02/18/pesticide-use-and-cancer-risk-rise-together-across-americas-heartland/?ref=down-ballot.info) of 460 cases per 100,000 people, according to an Investigate Midwest analysis of data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute. This case, “will have enormous consequences for environmental health litigation,” said Tarah Heinzen, legal director for Food & Water, an advocacy group that recently published its own research showing high cancer rates in high pesticide use communities. “This case threatens to close the courthouse doors to the many Americans harmed by pesticides.” ## **President Trump backs Monsanto** Outside the court building’s west entrance, Vani Deva Hari, author of a blog called the Food Babe, yelled to a crowd of more than 100 protestors that the future of health in America was at stake. “Monsanto is arguing for the right to poison us and get away with it,” said Hari, who, like many in the crowd, has supported the Make America Healthy Again coalition. Spearheaded by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., MAHA has pushed against widespread agrichemical use and has been an important base of support for President Trump. Last year, Kennedy raised health concerns over pesticides in a report widely praised by MAHA leaders. Kennedy even predicted that Trump would stand up to major pesticide companies. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/DSC05437-2-683x1024.jpeg) Protestors over Monsanto's herbicide, Roundup, gathered at the U.S. Supreme Court building on April 27, 2026\. photo by Ben Felder/Investigate Midwest But this year, Trump signed an executive order declaring glyphosate — the important ingredient in Roundup — critical to national security. His administration also sent a lawyer to Monday’s hearing to argue alongside Monsanto. “We wouldn't be here right now if President Trump didn’t sign that executive order … or (didn’t have an attorney) in that building arguing on Monsanto’s behalf,” Hari said. Bayer and its supporters hope Trump’s support bolsters its position before the conservative-majority court, which has often sided with corporations over environmental regulations. However, the court has also shown a willingness to limit the EPA’s authority in an effort to give states more control. While more than a dozen environmental groups filed briefs opposing Monsanto, several local government organizations also weighed in. “The statute allows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve labels on pesticides that include warnings, but its authority to do so does not limit State and local governments in their authority to devise their own regulations, which can include outright bans on otherwise approved pesticides,” a group of local government advocates, including the Local Government Legal Center, wrote in a brief urging the court not to prevent state-level policies concerning pesticide use. “That authority is both necessary and prudent because a national standard cannot consider local soil, climate, population, and environmental conditions that might warrant different rules on the use of any particular pesticide.” Siding with Monsanto has been a slate of crop associations and the American Farm Bureau. While Monday’s hearing could have an impact on thousands of pending lawsuits, it originated with the case of John Durnell, a Missouri man who claimed Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A Missouri jury sided with Durnell, awarding him $1.25 million in damages. Last year, the Missouri Court of Appeals [affirmed](https://cases.justia.com/missouri/court-of-appeals/2025-ed112410.pdf?ts=1739291414&ref=down-ballot.info) the judgment. But Monsanto then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, saying various state and federal courts have disagreed over the issue at the heart of Durnell’s lawsuit. While Monsanto is pushing for a nationwide ban on lawsuits, it has also lobbied lawmakers in multiple states to enact such bans. Two states, North Dakota and Georgia, passed such laws last year. States have the power to ban the use of a pesticide, but not enact additional labeling standards, Monsanto’s lawyer argued near the end of Monday’s hearing. “But if states have the power to ban, why don’t they have the power to provide tort relief?” asked Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/04/27/monsanto-argues-for-lawsuit-immunity-in-case-before-supreme-court/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=759249&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- # Mardi Gras trash hits record high in New Orleans, despite push to cut waste by Tristan Baurick, Verite News New Orleans May 7, 2026 When cleaning crews dug deep into New Orleans’ clogged drains in 2018, they pulled up leaves, mud — and 46 tons of Mardi Gras beads. The sheer magnitude of Carnival season waste that year — and its impact on the flood-prone city’s drainage system — shocked many residents and city officials. "Once you hear a number like that, there's no going back," then-Public Works director Dani Galloway [said](https://www.reuters.com/article/world/new-orleans-pulls-46-tons-of-mardi-gras-beads-from-storm-drains-idUSKBN1FF2MK/?ref=down-ballot.info) at the time. "So we've got to do better." But nearly a decade later, New Orleans is generating more Mardi Gras garbage than ever. During the roughly five weeks of this year’s Carnival season, crews collected 1,363 tons of beaded necklaces, beer cans, plastic cups and other refuse along the city’s parade routes — a 24% increase from the year before and the highest total on record. The trash tonnage is the equivalent of 741 cars, or roughly the weight of the Steamboat Natchez. “To see the waste go up that much, it’s just absurd,” said Brett Davis, founder of [Grounds Krewe](https://www.groundskrewe.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit group trying to make Mardi Gras more sustainable through recycling and waste reduction efforts. It’s a [century-old tradition](https://64parishes.org/entry/carnival-throws?ref=down-ballot.info) for riders on parade floats to shower crowds with beaded necklaces, toys, and other items—collectively known as “throws.” Most are cheap plastic trinkets. The beads are often [laden with toxic chemicals](https://www.ecocenter.org/mardi-gras-beads-toxic-legacy?ref=down-ballot.info), including unsafe levels of lead. Many throws are dropped moments after they’re caught, then crushed under feet and eventually swept up and hauled to landfills. ![Mardi Gras bead are seen strewn on the wet street during Mardi Gras day in New Orleans, Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Rain and unusually cold temperatures kept most of the normally massive and festive crowds away.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/06142026/AP734293457609.jpg) Mardi Gras bead are seen strewn on the wet street during Mardi Gras day in New Orleans, Tuesday, March 4, 2014\. Rain and unusually cold temperatures kept most of the normally massive and festive crowds away. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) City officials initially blamed the rise in rubbish on the popularity of this year’s festivities, which ran from January 6 to February 17 and included more than 30 float parades. An estimated [2.2 million people](https://downtownnola.com/downtown-development-district-releases-mardi-gras-visitation-numbers/?ref=down-ballot.info) visited downtown New Orleans during the Carnival season, about 10% more than in 2025, according to the Downtown Development District, which drew on data from location analytics company Placer.ai. “The increase from last year was directly associated with the larger crowds,” Matt Torri, the city’s sanitation director, told the City Council in March. “Anybody who was out at this year’s parades definitely took note that there seemed to be more people enjoying the Carnival season, which is great for the city.” But a Verite News analysis of annual attendance and city cleanup records shows no clear relationship between crowds and trash levels. Overall, Mardi Gras waste tonnage has trended upward over the past decade, regardless of the year-to-year changes in attendance. The Mardi Gras season in 2020, for instance, drew more people — about 2.4 million — but produced roughly 241 fewer tons of garbage than in 2026\. In the early 2010s, trash tonnage hovered around 880 tons. It spiked in 2017, surpassing 1,320 tons, and has not fallen below 1,000 tons since. The only exception was 2021, when no trash was recorded because the city canceled parades and most Carnival festivities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, when the Downtown Development District began tracking visits in the Central Business and Warehouse districts, annual attendance has stayed within a relatively tight range, between 1.9 million and 2.4 million. Still, the trash tally has swung wildly, indicating that other factors are at play. The development district doesn’t track citywide visits, but its annual downtown tally is considered the most accurate indication of Carnival attendance. The office of Mayor Helena Moreno and the city’s sanitation department did not respond to requests for comment. Parade trash remains a problem for the city’s drainage system. After the infamous bead blockage of 2018, the city began installing temporary filter contraptions, known as "gutter buddies,” at catch basins along parade routes, but conservation groups say the outfalls still spew [more litter into canals and Lake Pontchartrain](https://www.instagram.com/reels/DVHdVxaEWwK/?ref=down-ballot.info) during the Carnival season. The upswing in trash is occurring alongside a seemingly contradictory [trend of waste reduction](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/04/glass-half-full-grounds-krewe-mardi-gras/?ref=down-ballot.info). In recent years, many krewes have cut back on plastic beads and other “junk” throws. They’ve opted for higher-value items such as socks, baseball caps, wooden cooking spoons, and metal drinking cups. Grounds Krewe and other groups have also expanded their recycling efforts. They set up stations to collect bottles, cans and reusable throws, and some volunteers even pick through the parade debris for recyclable items. This year, the groups diverted about [28 tons](https://www.nola.com/news/environment/mardi-gras-new-orleans-recycling/article%5F3bf5c3f5-d07c-4e3f-8036-a32e12e34fa2.html?ref=down-ballot.info) from landfills. That’s despite the city pulling back its support for recycling this year because of budget concerns. Even if the city government spent the $200,000 it initially earmarked for recycling, “it’s not going to reverse the 24% gain” in waste, Davis said. There was some hope that the volume of throws would be curbed by rising prices for beads and other trinkets, a result of higher inflation and President Donald Trump's steep tariffs on imports from China, where most beads are made. Some parade goers said they noticed the change, taking to social media to complain about stingier krewes. “We are really perplexed,” Davis said. “All that is happening, with people throwing fewer beads and a lot of krewes switching to higher-quality throws, but waste is still going upward.” The swelling tonnage may have less to do with the throwers and more with the catchers. Davis and some city leaders say parade-goers are setting up earlier, staying longer, and bringing even more of the comforts of home: folding chairs, canopy tents, coolers, grills and wagonloads of food. They’re also chaining together walls of ladders, erecting scaffolding, installing portable toilets, and plunking down generators and old sofas. As the season ends, many of these items are broken, dirty, or too much of a hassle to haul home. These abandoned items, which can range in weight from 5 pounds for a folding chair to 300 pounds for a couch, are an increasingly heavy lift for cleanup crews, City Council President JP Morrell said. ![A reveler takes a sip of bourbon as he sits next to a sleeping man on a couch during the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club parade on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, March 8, 2011.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/06142143/AP110308141180.jpg) A reveler takes a sip of bourbon as he sits next to a sleeping man on a couch during the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club parade on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, March 8, 2011\. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) “The reality is that they get their use out of this stuff, and then it becomes a tremendous amount of debris that our workers have to deal with because these people had no intention of ever picking this stuff up,” he said. “It goes towards a sense of abject entitlement – that our entire city exists to serve other people's whims.” Many of these gear-laden revelers are territorial, roping off patches of sidewalk or spreading tarps across grassy neutral grounds. These public-space appropriators have come to be known as the “[Krewe of Chad](https://www.nola.com/opinions/kevin-allman-new-orleans-mardi-gras-krewe-of-chad-must-end/article%5F72d1fb80-f05e-11ee-9972-37a5ecdf2760.html?ref=down-ballot.info),” after the name, spray-painted across a large patch of grass, went viral in 2013\. These “Chadders,” as Morrell calls them, appear emboldened by the recent ebb in the enforcement of the city’s parade rules. Officially, early birds aren’t supposed to set up until four hours before a parade starts, but this rule is regularly flaunted. In 2024, the list of banned items grew to include many of the things that have become commonplace — tents, tarps, and viewing platforms among them. A crackdown that year, which included the seizure of truckloads of encampment gear, appeared to briefly change behavior, Davis said. But last year, the city announced it would scale back enforcement and prioritize security after a [terror attack](https://veritenews.org/2025/01/02/new-year-truck-attack-french-quarter-blood-drive/?ref=down-ballot.info) on New Year’s Day killed 14 people on Bourbon Street. Enforcement was further scaled back by the city’s current budget crisis. Amid layoffs and other cutbacks aimed at reducing a [$220 million deficit](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/07/helena-moreno-interview-mayor/?ref=down-ballot.info), Morrell admitted that efforts to clear Carnival encampments would be “spotty.” “How are they going to enforce it? Well, to be honest, we’re hard up for cash,” Morrell said on an Instagram [post](https://www.instagram.com/p/DUZBHVjDlZz/?ref=down-ballot.info) in early February. He stressed that police and other city departments would “do their best,” but enforcement wouldn’t be as “robust as it could be.” Torri, the sanitation director, said the city had the capacity to clear large items on just one day before the final cleanup on Fat Tuesday. “Mardi Gras Day was a major undertaking,” he told the City Council in March. Crews started working at 8 a.m. and didn’t finish until 1 a.m. “It's a full day of cleaning because of everything that people have brought. Tarps, ladders, tents, coolers, grills are left because they're disposable things that were only intended to last the weeks of Mardi Gras.” Davis predicted the trend toward fewer but better throws will continue, and his organization will keep pushing for more reuse and recycling. But, he added, the policies meant to curb parade encampments – and the waste they leave behind – are only as effective as their enforcement. “Having the krewes throw less is great, but what’s really heavy is a couch and all the stuff people brought out in wheelbarrows,” Davis said. “Unless we have police out there and the trucks to haul it away, this kind of behavior creeps back. And that’s what we’re seeing now.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/05/07/mardi-gras-trash-litter-beads/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=30428&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # ‘A betrayal:’ California to share data on immigrant drivers nationally By [Khari Johnson](https://calmatters.org/author/khari-johnson/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Wendy Fry](https://calmatters.org/author/wendy-fry/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![The exterior of a government building displays the words “State of California Secretary of State” engraved on a light-colored facade. A tree partially frames the left side, and a balcony with glass doors and railing sits above the entrance.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/121322_DMV-LV_CM_02.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1) The DMV has asked for $55 million to share its driver license data to a national organization. Advocates say the move could endanger unauthorized immigrants. Department of Motor Vehicles parking lot in central Fresno on Dec. 13, 2022\. Photo by Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters *This story was originally published by* [*CalMatters*](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [*Sign up*](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) *for their newsletters.* California is preparing to share with an outside organization detailed information about driver's license holders, including immigrants who do not have legal authorization to live in the U.S. That breaks a promise the state made a decade ago when it began issuing licenses to unauthorized immigrants, advocates say, and it means more than 1 million people may face higher risk of deportation. But if state officials don’t turn over the data, the Department of Homeland Security may refuse to accept California licenses and IDs at airports, the advocates believe, following a briefing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month. State authorities confirmed they plan to share the data to comply with the Real ID Act of 2005, which set requirements for accepting state identification in federal facilities like airports. Representatives from four advocacy groups who participated in the briefing told CalMatters the shared information will show whether a person has a Social Security number, meaning it could be used to identify people in the country without authorization. The state plans to provide the information to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit organization whose governing board is made up of DMV officials from across the country. The information given to the association will go into the group’s State-to-State Verification system and its platform, known as SPEXS, which allows DMVs and contractors that work with them to verify if someone has more than one license issued in their name. Sharing that data allows agencies that issue driver's licenses to verify that a person doesn’t have duplicate licenses in multiple states. In the future, an ID database like the one the association maintains could be used to support [mobile licenses people can use on their iPhones or online age verification](https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2024/09/california-digital-id-in-iphones/?ref=down-ballot.info) for access to mature content or chatbots. But advocates fear that federal immigration officials will try to gain bulk access to the data and use the fact that a person doesn’t have a Social Security number as a signal that they’re deportable. The state received assurances from theassociation that safeguards will be added to prevent bulk searches for unauthorized immigrant license holders in the database and to prevent access by the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to people who joined the briefing with the DMV and governor’s office. But they remain skeptical. “Once this data is uploaded to AAMVA, it's out of California's control, no matter what California wants, no matter what protests we may make,” said Ed Hasbrouck with San Francisco civil liberties group The Identity Project, who was on the briefing call. To carry out the plan to share data with the association the California Legislature will need to approve $55 million to cover the DMV’s costs. It may also need to amend existing law, which [states that a Social Security number](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes%5FdisplayText.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&division=3.&title=2.&part=2.&chapter=5.&article=2.&ref=down-ballot.info) obtained by the DMV cannot be shared for any other purpose than to address unpaid taxes, parking tickets, or child support. A spokesperson for the governor’s office declined to confirm details of the call or respond to specific concerns from advocates. “California continues to lead in supporting immigrant families and protecting personal data from federal overreach,” the spokesperson, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, wrote in an email. “The state has taken the same approach to protect Californians' data during the Real ID implementation, while maintaining Real ID compliance for the benefit of all Californians.” Ian Grossman, the chief executive of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, told CalMatters that participation in the verification system is voluntary and that only authorized state employees or contractors have access to the system, that bulk searches of the system are not currently allowed, and all searches must contain specific information about an individual like their name and date of birth. ## Social security number ‘99999’ For more than a decade, California and 18 other states invited undocumented people to obtain driver's licenses in order to support public safety and the economy. Economists say that such laws [improve economic activity](https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/01/drivers-licenses-undocumented-immigrants/?ref=down-ballot.info), drive billions of dollars in taxes into state coffers, and benefit public safety because people who lack federal authorization to be in the country can feel more comfortable reporting criminal activity. [More than 1 million people have obtained driver's licenses in California](https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/01/drivers-licenses-undocumented-immigrants/?ref=down-ballot.info) under [Assembly Bill 60](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=201320140AB60&ref=down-ballot.info), a law passed in 2013\. The law prohibits the state from using information obtained in the licensure process to consider an individual’s citizenship. But the multistate verification system can reveal whether a person is an undocumented immigrant. According to an association manual obtained by CalMatters, the database will include the last five digits of a person’s Social Security number, and if that person has no Social Security number, the association allows states to use the placeholder “99999.” Advocates fear that federal immigration officials could gain access to information in the database, including on undocumented Californians, by asking local officials to make requests on their behalf. That sort of end run would not be without precedent. CalMatters reported on [instances last year and this year](https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/02/alpr-border-patrol-caltrans/?ref=down-ballot.info) where local law enforcement agencies broke state law and shared information gathered by automated license plate readers with ICE or Border Patrol agents. The DMV and the governor’s office say the association will notify California of requests from any entity other than a participating state, including attempts to subpoena the database for information about California license holders, providing them with the opportunity to challenge subpoenas or intervene in other requests. But if a subpoena is accompanied by a gag order the association could not deliver any such notification. An agreement between the association and the California DMV obtained by CalMatters states that the association will inform California “if legally permitted” if it receives a subpoena “to release, disclose, discuss, or obtain access to S2S information.” Hasbrouck believes the DMV and governor’s office “must have known” the reassurances they got from the association were “hollow given the possibility of gag orders.” He also said that, as a private entity, the association has less protection from court orders or subpoenas than a government agency. Its data sharing is also more easily hidden, since the association is not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests or open meeting laws. ## Advocates see ‘a direct betrayal’ Advocates who spoke with CalMatters said sharing the driver's license information with the association sells out immigrant license holders. The law that created the program prohibits the state from using information the program gathers to determine citizenship. “It's unclear how extreme the danger people are being put into by this decision but there ’s no doubt we told people with AB 60 licenses this would never happen, but it’s happening, and that’s a direct betrayal,” said Tracy Rosenberg, head of advocacy at Oakland Privacy, who was on the call. Linda Nguy, an associate director at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, compared the disclosure to a [move last summer](https://calmatters.org/health/2025/06/newsom-trump-immigrant-data-deportation-medicaid/?ref=down-ballot.info) by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy to share data about millions of non-citizens with federal immigration agencies. That was a violation of federal law, [department officials concluded, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-deportation-immigrants-trump-4e0f979e4290a4d10a067da0acca8e22?ref=down-ballot.info). Pedro Rios, director of the [U.S.-Mexico Border Program](https://afsc.org/programs/us-mexico-border-program?ref=down-ballot.info) at the American Friends Service Committee, was not on the call, but echoed Rosenberg and Nguy, calling the data sharing plan “a betrayal of California’s commitment to protect and defend all its residents, especially those who have an AB 60 driver's license.” Becca Cramer, who works with privacy and civil liberties groups, questioned why the governor’s office and DMV are in a rush to comply with the Real ID Act two decades after it passed at a time of increased pressure from the Trump administration. “It just seems like we’re missing the bigger picture of this moment in time,” she said The plan to share license information with the database depends on the state budget process because the DMV is requesting $55 million to move the data over to the association’s systems. At a state [Senate budget hearing last month](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/279051?ref=down-ballot.info#t=54&f=32367a4719ea4fc854c2ee4cbcd3795f) to approve the funding, lawmakers questioned why the state should follow a timeline set by a private organization and share part of Californians’ Social Security numbers. They also asked the DMV to explore the reasoning behind [a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma lawmakers](https://oksenate.gov/press-releases/oklahoma-legislators-seek-emergency-court-order-halt-transfer-oklahomans-personal?ref=down-ballot.info) in January to block data sharing with the association, in which they argued that sharing personal data collected for driver’s licenses violates state law there. DMV director Steve Gordon told them that California unsuccessfully tried to convince the motor vehicle association to consider a unique identifier other than a social security number and “anybody who has a social security number that's sharing information of course would have a concern” but told lawmakers “we need to go. We need to go now.” DMV spokesperson Jaime Garza said that Californians can submit a request to surrender or cancel a driver's license but that driving without a license is illegal. Nick Miller, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, told CalMatters lawmakers continue to work on the policy issue. “Protecting immigrant communities from the Trump administration's relentless attacks — and ensuring Californians are empowered and defended — continues to be a top priority for the Speaker,” he said in an email. Rosenberg with Oakland Privacy suggested that the state might be better off opting out of the Real ID system than sharing information about its license holders, noting that [more than 60 percent of Californians already have](https://www.newsweek.com/map-us-states-lowest-number-passport-ownership-2117214?ref=down-ballot.info) passports. “I just wonder what would happen if the state asked Californians to get a passport in order to fly for a couple of years in order to protect 1 million Californians with AB 60 licenses. Maybe we should give people that opportunity.” This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/04/california-dmv-shares-immigrant-driver-data/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # Mississippi House to debate redistricting in Old Capitol where Jim Crow, secession were passed by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today May 4, 2026 When House members meet this month for a [special session](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/24/judicial-redistricting-special-session-callais/?ref=down-ballot.info) to redraw state Supreme Court districts, they will convene in the Old Capitol building, where Mississippi lawmakers once implemented Jim Crow and voted to secede from the Union over slavery. Black lawmakers told Mississippi Today that the decision to debate moving diluting Black voting power in a building where officials previously voted to systemically disenfranchise Black citizens are insulting and tone deaf or, at best, symbolic. The House chamber in the current Capitol is undergoing renovations, so House leaders chose to move to the Old Capitol Museum for the special session. The Senate still plans to meet in the current Capitol building. Gov. Tate Reeves has called lawmakers back to Jackson for a special legislative session on May 20 to debate redrawing Mississippi’s three state Supreme Court districts. It’s unclear how lawmakers will redraw the districts, but several legislators predict they will be redrawn to make them whiter and dilute Black voting strength. Some lawmakers, and the Trump administration, are calling for the Mississippi Legislature to go further in the special session and redraw congressional districts in an attempt to thwart Mississippi's lone congressional Democrat, incumbent Rep. Bennie Thompson, even though primary elections have already been held for this year's midterms. Rep. Kabir Karriem, a Democrat from Columbus who leads the Legislative Black Caucus, said it was a horrible decision to debate redistricting in the Old Capitol, given the sordid history of decisions on race and voting rights made there. “It’s a slap in the face to the 1.2 million African Americans in this state to be meeting in the place that established the 1890 Constitution that disenfranchised African Americans,” Karriem said. [**READ MORE:** Trump pushes Mississippi to redraw congressional districts after Supreme Court ruling. But legal and political hurdles loom](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/05/02/congressional-districts-mississippi-trump/?ref=down-ballot.info) A federal judge ruled last year that the state violated federal law with its Supreme Court districts. She determined that Black votes were unlawfully diluted and allowed the Legislature to redraw the districts this session. The Legislature declined, but after the U.S. Supreme Court last week dismantled federal Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters, Reeves ordered lawmakers to return to Jackson to redraw the districts. President Donald Trump is also pressuring the governor to add congressional redistricting to the special session agenda and essentially collapse the majority-Black 2nd Congressional District that Thompson represents. Lawmakers met in the Old Capitol building from 1839 to 1903, according to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, which is the state agency that oversees the building. The state constructed a new Capitol in 1903, where lawmakers currently meet. In the Old Capitol, legislators voted in 1861 to secede from the Union. During Reconstruction after the Civil War, the state’s first Black lawmakers served in that building and elected the nation's first Black people to serve in the U.S. Senate. When Reconstruction ended, white supremacist delegates met in the building to craft the 1890 Constitution that stripped voting rights from Black citizens and imposed Jim Crow laws in the state. It wasn’t until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the process of removing many of those provisions began. The U.S. Supreme Court has, in recent years, weakened the Voting Rights Act, and many observers say last week's decision in a Louisiana redistricting case has all but nullified it. With the passage of Jim Crow laws, the state implemented voter suppression tactics such as poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses that prevented Black people from voting or holding elected office. It also ushered in decades of racial violence aimed at intimidating Black citizens from registering to vote. But some say the decision by state House leaders to move the proceedings to the Old Capitol does not appear to be malicious. The current House chamber is unavailable for use, and there are limited options for alternative spaces for the 122 House members to convene. Rep. John Faulkner, a Democrat from Holly Springs, said he believes there is no malicious intent in moving the proceedings to the old building, but he also believes using the old building is emblematic of current redistricting efforts. "It's ironic that it's happened at a time like this, when we're making decisions in this building that's a reminder of our old past," Faulkner said. Rep. John Hines is a Democrat from Greenville and serves on the House Management Committee, which handles the logistics and business operations of the House. He said the committee had previously discussed meeting in another location for a special session. To Hines, the location of the debate does not matter as much as the debate itself. If the House were to delay the renovations in the chamber or pay a private entity money to meet in another location, it would cost taxpayers more money, Hines said. "We didn't get elected to debate locations," Hines said. "We got elected to make sure we take care of the rights of people. I'm more concerned about protecting the rights of historically marginalized people." It’s not unprecedented for lawmakers to meet outside the current Capitol. When the Capitol building underwent massive renovations in the 1980s, lawmakers met in the old Central High School building. They also opened the 2009 regular session of the Legislature in the Old Capitol to commemorate repairs to the building from damage from Hurricane Katrina. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/05/04/old-capitol-mississippi-redistricting/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20134822/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1176998&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Lowell residents sue data center, state over air quality permit by Jordan Wolman, CommonWealth Beacon May 1, 2026 **A GROUP OF LOWELL RESIDENTS** is suing state environmental regulators and the owner of a data center located in the city, a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in Massachusetts that comes amid a local backlash against the facility. [The lawsuit](https://www.clf.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-26-HFL-Complaint%5FStamped.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) alleges that the state Department of Environmental Protection improperly approved the data center’s air quality permits over the objections of the Lowell residents — and that the state and data center owner struck an “undisclosed agreement” to “circumvent” the residents’ opposition. “My right to equal participation was violated,” Mary Wambui, a Lowell resident and plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in an interview. “I just want to be treated as an equal partner in this whole issue. There should not have been a side deal that allowed a private company that has not been a good neighbor to Lowell residents to proceed.” Neither MassDEP nor Markley, the data center owner, replied to a request for comment. The legal challenge, filed in Middlesex County Superior Court, comes at a time of heightened scrutiny over data centers and their role in powering artificial intelligence both around the country and within the Bay State. While opposition to the [facilities spreads nationally](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/us/politics/liberals-conservatives-data-centers.html?ref=down-ballot.info), as polls show Americans are souring on them and entire [states look to ban](https://www.wmtw.com/article/maine-data-center-moratorium-no-veto-override/71166098?ref=down-ballot.info) them, the [politics around data centers](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/energy/shifting-politics-around-data-centers-scramble-healey-ai-push/?ref=down-ballot.info) are starting to shift even in Massachusetts, home to relatively few such sites. Data centers, which are large warehouses that store companies’ digital infrastructure, servers, and networks, [guzzle water](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/technology/meta-data-center-water.html?ref=down-ballot.info) to cool the computers and could [double their power](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/10/24/what-we-know-about-energy-use-at-us-data-centers-amid-the-ai-boom/?ref=down-ballot.info#how-much-energy-do-data-centers-use) consumption across the US by 2030, according to Pew Research Center, prompting concerns about the strain on communities despite their [economic potential](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/10/big-techs-next-major-political-battle-may-already-be-brewing-in-your-backyard-00500937?ref=down-ballot.info). Gov. Maura Healey, who launched an AI Hub and has [struck deals with](https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-healey-and-google-announce-new-statewide-partnership-to-provide-free-ai-training-to-residents?ref=down-ballot.info) Google and [OpenAI in recent months](https://www.mass.gov/news/governor-healey-announces-massachusetts-to-become-first-state-to-deploy-chatgpt-across-executive-branch?ref=down-ballot.info), signed into law in 2024 a data center tax credit that has still not yet been finalized as environmental officials [raise concerns](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/energy/shifting-politics-around-data-centers-scramble-healey-ai-push/?ref=down-ballot.info) over energy and water consumption. And earlier this year, Lowell enacted the first moratorium in the state on new data center construction or expansion after Markley submitted plans to expand its facility, which has operated in the city since 2015. In the lawsuit, the group of 10 residents describes living in the shadow of the 14-acre data center situated in an already overburdened state-designated environmental justice community. They cite air pollution and odor issues from the diesel generators, increased traffic, and constant surveillance that disrupts neighbors’ sleep, privacy, and quality of life. “With one decision after another, Markley has chosen to subject its neighbors to intrusion, disruption, and serious health dangers — all without transparency and meaningful community engagement, and with little oversight by State regulators charged with enforcing state air pollution control laws,” reads the lawsuit, which is backed by the Conservation Law Foundation, Yale Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic, and Boston-based Fitch Law Partners. While Markley has slowly expanded its operations over the past decade, buying up neighboring properties in recent years, the litigation focuses on a 2025 Markley air permit application that sought to install eight new diesel generators — bringing its operations to a total of 27 such generators and 16 cooling towers. Despite objections from the plaintiffs, MassDEP approved the plan. Those generators are intended to serve as a backup power source and are authorized to emit as much annual pollution as 749 US households from all electricity use, the lawsuit states. But the residents argue in the legal challenge that state regulators rejected their right to pursue an appeal, invented “novel limitations” on what is subject to appeal, and improperly excluded evidence — all of which “thwarted” the residents’ concerns. While the appeal played out, unbeknownst to them, state regulators had quietly given Markley permission to begin installing the eight new generators under dispute before the residents’ appeal was formally rejected this past March by Commissioner Bonnie Heiple, according to the lawsuit. In January, residents began noticing construction on the property and requested more information from Markley. That’s when Markley responded with a copy of an administrative consent order from DEP dated September 29, 2025 — which is included in the lawsuit — authorizing the company to “proceed promptly” and install the generators without informing the plaintiffs despite their ongoing appeal of the air permits. Now, the residents want the court to vacate DEP’s approval and find that the agency’s use of such consent orders exceeds its authority. “I don’t want this to happen in any other community in the Commonwealth,” Wambui said. This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/lowell-residents-sue-data-center-state-over-air-quality-permit/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=315233&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) --- # What is the Orange Card? Inside Guilford County’s health care safety net for the uninsured by Jennifer Fernandez, North Carolina Health News May 5, 2026 #### **By Jennifer Fernandez** In Guilford County, having an orange card means an uninsured dad who breaks his hand working around the house can get medical care. It means a self-employed mom who no longer qualifies for Medicaid and can’t afford other insurance can get a mammogram. Having one of those orange cards means that someone who’s living in a tent can see a dentist about an abscessed tooth. Since 2002, more than 62,000 people living in Guilford County have received one of those orange cards from the [Guilford Community Care Network](https://guilfordccn.org/orange-card/?ref=down-ballot.info), allowing them to access health care, according to executive director Sarah Dison. Guilford County has [more than 562,000 residents](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/guilfordcountynorthcarolina,US/PST045225?ref=down-ballot.info), according to the latest census data. The “Orange Card” program is one of about 30 [Access Health](https://www.ncha.org/accesshealthnc/?ref=down-ballot.info) safety net systems across North Carolina and South Carolina. Some, like the Orange Card, serve just one county. Others serve multiple counties. Under some of these medical safety net systems, providers work out of a central clinic. Under others, [like the care network’s Orange Card](https://guilfordccn.sharepoint.com/sites/WebsiteDocuments/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?id=%2Fsites%2FWebsiteDocuments%2FShared%20Documents%2FGCCN%20Trifold%20Welcome%20Brochure%5FEnglish%202025%2Epdf&parent=%2Fsites%2FWebsiteDocuments%2FShared%20Documents&p=true&ga=1&ref=down-ballot.info), patients can show their card to get care at various locations. It’s similar to a health insurance card, although providers are donating their services and receive minimal or even no reimbursement. When North Carolina expanded Medicaid to include hundreds of thousands of low-income working adults, the Guilford Community Care Network thought hundreds of people on the Orange Card might qualify for the federal health benefits, Dison said. Only about 50 did. “It really underscored that even though Medicaid expanded,” she added, “there's this need still growing for this population.” ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/65-scaled.jpg) In Guilford County, uninsured adults ages 19 to 64 who don’t qualify for any other insurance program and meet the income guidelines can apply for the Orange Card to access health care. #### **Reaching the uninsured** About 10 percent of Guilford County’s adult population lacks health care coverage, according to the latest [community needs assessment completed by Cone Health](https://www.conehealth.com/about-us/caring-for-our-communities/community-health-assessment/?ref=down-ballot.info). Not all of those people will qualify for the Orange Card, which requires participants to make no more than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2026, that is $66,000 annually for a family of four. The program is funded mostly by grants and individual donors — most of them local. Health care providers donate their time and services. There’s no state or federal government funding. People ages 19 to 64 who don’t qualify for any other insurance program and meet the income guidelines can apply for the Orange Card, and they have to renew it every six months. The network partners with providers throughout the county for primary care and specialty care. Some of that care is based in health systems, such as Cone Health, and some is with individual providers or clinics that donate their time and services. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Farm-2-450x338.jpg) The Orange Card can be used to access fresh food at Guilford County farmers markets. Dental care became such a pressing need for the community that a dental program was added in 2005, Dison said. It is now their No. 1 referred service, she said, with 60 percent of Orange Card clients enrolled every year needing some dental care. They also address social needs like food insecurity and access to transportation. Even though Guilford County is considered urban, there are large pockets that are more rural where transportation is an issue, Dison said. City buses don’t reach everywhere. “Our clients report \[transportation\] is the biggest barrier as a whole for them,” she said. Orange Card holders can use Uber Health, for example, to get to appointments and pick up medications. The Orange Card doesn’t cover children. The expectation is that they would be covered by Medicaid, which covers all children up to just over 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($57,648 annual income for a family of three). But the program includes partners who will see children who don’t qualify for Medicaid. Those costs are on a sliding fee scale. That way, the entire family can be seen by one provider instead of being separated, Dison said. Dison said they also work with some people older than 64 who don’t qualify for Medicare because they are undocumented. Guilford County has a big immigrant population, driven in large part by its decades-long role as a refugee resettlement location. Census [estimates for 2020 through 2024](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/guilfordcountynorthcarolina/PST045224?ref=down-ballot.info) put Guilford County’s foreign-born population at 11.8 percent. That’s higher than the state’s foreign-born population of [9.1 percent](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NC/PST045224?ref=down-ballot.info) during that same time period. In Guilford County Schools, the third-largest school district in the state, students come from [more than 142 cultural and ethnic groups and speak 118 languages](https://www.gcsnc.com/families/academics-choice/academics/multilingual-learners-1?ref=down-ballot.info) — from Arabic and French to Spanish and Urdu. #### **Expansion in jeopardy** In January, more than 200 people applied for the Orange Card, one of the busiest months since Medicaid expansion [went live in December 2023](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/12/28/medicaid-expansion-starts-strong/?ref=down-ballot.info), Dison said. Overall, expansion has added more than 720,000 people to the state’s Medicaid rolls. State [data shows that 46,280 Guilford County residents](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/reports/medicaid-expansion-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info) gained coverage through Medicaid expansion. However, a federal law passed in summer 2025 is expected to [strip that expanded Medicaid coverage](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/29/medicaid-work-requirements-nc-public-health-watch/?ref=down-ballot.info) from tens of thousands of North Carolina residents. Anywhere from 152,000 to 330,000 people in the state will lose coverage due to a combination of new work requirements and more frequent eligibility redeterminations to qualify for benefits, [according to a new analysis](https://www.rwjf.org/en/insights/our-research/2026/03/millions-could-lose-health-coverage-due-to-new-rules.html?ref=down-ballot.info) by the [Robert Wood Johnson Foundation](https://www.rwjf.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the policy think tank [Urban Institute](https://www.urban.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). Starting in 2027, Medicaid expansion participants must prove they are working, volunteering or attending school for at least 80 hours a month to keep their benefits. They’ll also have to undergo those redeterminations every six months instead of once a year. For Guilford County, under the best-case scenario, that translates to about 10,180 people who could lose health care coverage, according to a NC Health News analysis of state data. Caseworkers with Guilford County Department of Social Services already refer people who don’t qualify for Medicaid to other programs, such as the Orange Card or Every Baby Guilford’s [Adopt-A-Mom](https://www.guilfordcountync.gov/government/departments-and-agencies/department-health-and-human-services/public-health/every-baby-guilford/community-resources/adopt-mom-program?ref=down-ballot.info), which coordinates prenatal care for low- to medium-risk pregnant women. Brittany Scott, an eligibility supervisor for Guilford County DSS, expects they’ll be sending more people to the Orange Card after the work requirement kicks in and people lose Medicaid for not meeting the hours. Dison said her counselors are preparing for that as well. “As they're going through the recertification cycle of six months, maybe we'll capture a large number of those individuals in the beginning as they're kind of understanding what it means to qualify now,” she said. Orange Card recipients are already on a six-month recertification period, and they’re also getting checked for Medicaid eligibility by Orange Card application counselors, Dison said. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Dison.Sarah_-edited.jpg) Sarah Dison is the executive director of the Guilford Community Care Network “If at any point in this process they become eligible for Medicaid, we can help facilitate that process,” she said. Dison expects people who lose Medicaid expansion in Guilford County will find their way to the Orange Card — at least for a while. As people get used to how the new Medicaid requirements work, there will likely be more churn, “until they are able to establish a rhythm,” she said. “It's going to take some time to really figure out — what does that look like?” Dison said. Cone Health, a longtime partner in the Orange Card, gathered stakeholders soon after the Medicaid changes were announced, Dison said. The hospital system wanted to know how to get the word out that the Orange Card is an option. While the Orange Card has been available for decades, many people still don’t know about it, Dison said. “If you're in Guilford County,” she said, “we are here for you.” #### **Community effort** Dison recently joined a group of community organizations in Guilford County that have been working on ways to tackle the impending Medicaid changes. Led by Friends in Action, a subcommittee at [New Garden Friends Meeting](https://www.ngfm.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), one issue they’re exploring is how to streamline some of the data that groups are processing. “What if we came together and created something that was an easy screening to let them know, ‘Hey, we already looked, they're not eligible for the Orange Card, but they are eligible for Medicaid or vice versa,’” Dison said. “So, \[we’re\] looking at the potential to partner and maybe share data in that type of way to help streamline the process, because it is a lot of information.” Organizations are looking for areas of overlap. Hospitals in Guilford County use software that shares data with the Guilford Community Care Network for anyone who goes to an emergency department and is flagged as uninsured or self-insured. Dison said the care network sends letters to those patients to let them know about the Orange Card — that it can provide them with a medical home, specialty care and dental care. They’re working on updating those letters to include information about the Medicaid changes and how the care network can answer questions. Friends in Action workgroups are looking at how to work with schools to help identify families who would qualify for exemptions from the new Medicaid requirements because their children have a disability. They’re working with local colleges to help students apply for benefits and looking at how to expand and coordinate food resources for people losing federal food benefits. “We have a tremendous number of people who have retired from health care, nonprofit work, education — and we saw ways to knit those systems together in a way that might help with verification, outreach and whatnot,” said Jane Foy, a retired pediatrician who is part of Friends in Action. “We concentrated on the systems that we represented best within New Garden \[Friends Meeting\].” Another key issue the workgroups are trying to address is logging volunteer hours. The [Guilford Nonprofit Consortium](https://guilfordnonprofits.org/?ref=down-ballot.info#!event-list) and [HandsOn NWNC](https://handsonnwnc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) are working on a volunteer database that would allow DSS caseworkers to easily track how many hours someone has accrued toward the new Medicaid work requirement. “It's a great first step in helping just put out all the opportunity out there,” Dison said. “Because there is a lot of opportunity in terms of volunteering, which is just one small aspect of … what may qualify for the work required hours.” #### **About this series** *NC Health News reporters, with support from* [*Public Health Watch*](http://www.publichealthwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, reached out to about a dozen counties across the state to discuss the impact of the new Medicaid work requirements. We conducted multiple interviews and spent several hours with county social workers to find out how they are preparing for the changes.* **Read the previous stories** **Day 1:** [North Carolina prepares for new work requirements that will affect the about 732,000 beneficiaries who received coverage through Medicaid expansion.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/29/medicaid-work-requirements-nc-public-health-watch/?ref=down-ballot.info) **Day 2:** [Looming Medicaid work rules bring big challenges to NC counties](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/30/medicaid-work-county-challenges/?ref=down-ballot.info) *This story is part of “*[*Uninsured in America*](https://publichealthwatch.org/category/accesstocare/uninsured-in-america/?ref=down-ballot.info)*,” a project led by Public Health Watch, a nonprofit newsroom based in Texas. The project focuses on life in America’s health-coverage gaps and the impact of potential Medicaid and related cuts.* This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/05/05/orange-card-guilford-medicaid-uninsured-public-health-watch/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Rural-Focused $42 Billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program Becomes Operational by Jericho Casper, The Daily Yonder April 30, 2026 After four years of planning, a change in presidential administration [that revised program rules](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/ntia-rewrites-rules-for-bead-forcing-states-to-rebid-broadband-projects/?ref=down-ballot.info), and [months of delays](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/former-bead-director-trump-admin-could-squander-once-in-a-generation-fiber-broadband-investment/?ref=down-ballot.info), most states have unlocked a portion of funding under a $42.45 billion rural broadband expansion program. While the lead-up to implementing the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program has been long, state officials and industry analysts say it pales in comparison to the work required to turn plans into functioning networks. States have six months to finalize contracts with participating internet service providers and complete required environmental and historic reviews, before construction can begin. Some expect projects to break ground as early as the second half of this year. Still, major questions remain, including how more than half the program’s funding will be used. ### What Happens to the $22 Billion in Remaining Funds? Trimmed from states’ initial deployment plans, the U.S. Commerce Department has set aside roughly $22 billion for so-called “non-deployment” uses. Some lawmakers referred to the reserve as federal “savings.” But the Commerce Department and its National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees the program, have since signaled that states will be allowed to access the funds. But the exact process remains unclear. For example, NTIA is nearly two months past its self-imposed March 11 deadline to issue guidance on the funds. Lawmakers pressed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on [the delay on April 22](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/lutnick-aiming-for-non-deployment-guidance-over-the-next-two-months/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [April 23](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/little-talk-of-bead-at-lutnicks-house-hearing/?ref=down-ballot.info), but he offered few specifics, saying only that guidance would come within two months, and that states would be able to pursue “new and exciting things” with the money. In the meantime, uncertainty is already affecting participation. State broadband offices in Colorado and New Mexico report that some providers who initially expressed interest [may ultimately default on](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/states-working-on-finalizing-bead-contracts-beginning-nepa-reviews/?ref=down-ballot.info) preliminary awards. Rising costs are one factor: fiber suppliers say prices have jumped [as much as 40%](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/some-bead-winners-seeing-tight-fiber-market/?ref=down-ballot.info) in recent weeks. A limited pool of skilled labor is another constraint, an issue the program’s non-deployment funds were meant to address through workforce development efforts. ### ‘Most Complicated Broadband Grant Program Ever’ Program complexity is also playing a role. Industry experts have described BEAD as the “most complicated broadband grant program ever,” with the program’s former administrator admitting he [may have gone too far](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/feinman-no-particular-reason-for-bead-labor-requirements/?ref=down-ballot.info) with certain program requirements. BEAD grants layer many costs onto broadband projects that an Internet Service Provider (ISP) building a rural project independently would not incur. These include the environmental and historical preservation studies which many state offices are now developing, buy America requirements that increase material costs, and certain penalties for non-performance. For some providers, particularly those serving remote areas, the administrative burden may outweigh the benefits. If recent federal broadband efforts are any guide, those risks are not hypothetical. A federal program unfolding beside BEAD, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), has seen more than one-third of providers default on awards. BEAD’s timeline is even more aggressive: While RDOF allows up to 10 years for full deployment, BEAD requires networks to be operational within four years of award. That puts added pressure on internet service providers, which must navigate one of the biggest barriers to broadband construction before breaking ground: Permitting. Upon accepting awards, providers have 30 days to certify that they will not take additional federal funds to complete BEAD-funded builds before they can begin to secure the necessary federal, state, and local permits required to initiate construction. ### Permitting Legislation Impacting Broadband As BEAD funding begins to flow, federal lawmakers are renewing efforts to speed that process. During the week of April 20, Congress considered three bills aimed at accelerating broadband permitting. Two passed the House, targeting [delays on federal lands](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/house-passes-slate-of-broadband-bills/?ref=down-ballot.info), where projects are often held up the longest. However, a broader permitting omnibus bill, the American Broadband Deployment Act, was [pulled from the agenda](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/local-orgs-happy-to-see-broadband-permitting-bill-stalled/?ref=down-ballot.info) after strong opposition from local government groups. Backed by industry groups representing major providers like AT&T and Verizon, the 100-page proposal combined language from what had been more than 20 separate bills, and was [fiercely opposed by](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/local-governments-push-back-on-house-broadband-permitting-bill/?ref=down-ballot.info) local governments. The omnibus would create a shot clock from 60 to 150 days during which a state or local government must approve or deny a request for a permit to construct a wireless or wireline project. If the locality doesn’t respond in that time frame, the request is automatically assumed to be “deemed granted.” The law would also restrict permitting fees to recover only actual costs, instead of the traditional standard of reasonable costs. Local governments argue that the restriction of using actual costs would mean they can’t charge enough to pay for the longer-term monitoring and management of granted rights-of-way. The local governments characterize the effort as a sweeping deregulatory push by an industry set to receive billions in federal funding. Even under its revised framework, the Trump administration has maintained that BEAD will close the digital divide and characterized other federal broadband programs as “duplicative” and “wasteful.” However, the program once billed as “Internet for All” is expected to reach fewer households and businesses under the revamped plan, and experts say closing the remaining gaps will require sustained investment. --- *This article was produced in collaboration with* [*Broadband Breakfast*](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a* [*news and events community*](http://broadbandbreakfast.com/about?ref=down-ballot.info) *focused on broadband infrastructure, investment, and impact.* This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/rural-focused-42-billion-broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-program-becomes-operational/2026/04/30/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=239933&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- ### Charlotte-based Atrium Health targets WakeMed in proposed combination URL: https://down-ballot.info/charlotte-based-atrium-health-targets-wakemed-in-proposed-combination/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T09:00:36.000Z by Michelle Crouch and Rose Hoban, North Carolina Health News May 1, 2026 #### By Michelle Crouch and Rose Hoban Atrium Health, the state’s largest hospital system, is seeking to combine with Raleigh-based WakeMed Health & Hospitals, an independent nonprofit with five hospitals and roughly 350 physicians, according to a press release and [a document published on the Wake County board of commissioners website Friday afternoon](https://wake.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7999346&GUID=582258EE-7B54-407C-A01F-1C08B65F3DF6&ref=down-ballot.info). With the move, Atrium would continue a recent expansion that is reshaping the state’s health care market and raising questions about costs, competition and oversight. WakeMed, founded in 1961, has three acute care hospitals, a rehab facility and a mental health hospital, along with four standalone emergency departments and outpatient offices across the region. The hospitals say the deal will create 3,300 new health care jobs and bring at least $2 billion in new investment to Wake County. "For more than 65 years, WakeMed has been a beacon of hope and healing for the Wake County area and beyond. This combination represents a significant next step in building upon this legacy, expanding our impact and ensuring a thriving nonprofit health care future for all we serve," said Donald Gintzig, president and CEO of WakeMed, in a release. "WakeMed and Atrium Health are united in a shared commitment to serving our communities, and by building upon our complementary strengths, we can have an even greater impact on the health and well-being of Wake County and the entire state." On Monday, the Wake County Board of Commissioners will vote on an amendment to its transfer agreement with WakeMed, the release said. Hospitals increasingly see growth as their best bet to cope with rapidly rising health care costs, expensive technologies and lower payments from health insurance companies. A larger footprint gives hospitals more bargaining power when it negotiates prices with insurers. A system like WakeMed could find it advantageous to partner with a large system such as Atrium to cope with increasing market competition from neighboring rivals Duke Health and UNC Health, which have both steadily encroached on the Raleigh market. Economists have long noted that with heavily regulated industries with high capital costs, the trend is towards consolidation. Meanwhile, research shows that hospital consolidation tends to raise prices for patients while doing little to improve quality. North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner on Friday expressed concerns about the deal’s impact on consumers. He called on North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson and the Federal Trade Commission to carefully scrutinize the proposal. “There is a simple business principle that when suppliers consolidate and competition is reduced, it is the consumers who suffer,” Briner said in a statement. “This has been proven to be true time and again in the healthcare landscape, where prices continue to rise and patients are left with mounting medical debt. … If history is any guide, this merger will not benefit the public.” A message left Friday at the Attorney General’s office was not immediately returned. #### **Small systems at risk** For small- to mid-sized hospitals and hospital systems, their survival is increasingly dependent on seeking shelter under the umbrella of larger neighbors, particularly in the wake of the [One Big Beautiful Bill Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text?ref=down-ballot.info) (also known as H.R. 1), the federal budget passed last year. That new law [slashes Medicaid reimbursement](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/07/10/big-beautiful-bill-impacts/?ref=down-ballot.info) by close to a trillion dollars over the coming decade, a change that will likely have a greater impact on a smaller system like WakeMed, which had $885 million in assets according to [its tax documents for the 2023 fiscal year](https://app.candid.org/profile/7866182/wakemed-56-6017737?activeTab=7&ref=down-ballot.info) (which ended on Sept. 30, 2024), but only had a surplus of $11.5 million during that same timeframe. Merging with a larger, more powerful system can improve a hospital’s efficiencies when buying everything from drugs to bandages in bulk where they can get discounts by being part of a larger entity. Part of the appeal for smaller systems to merge also lies in countering competition from larger hospital systems and to have a better negotiating position for reimbursement from increasingly large insurance companies and pharmacy benefits managers. Even for well-run hospital systems, the current fiscal climate is a challenging one. The effects of H.R. 1 will only exacerbate these challenges, something lawmakers in Raleigh recently heard from hospital leaders during an oversight meeting. “We’re operating to our maximum efficiency, and that's how we're able to maintain a margin, although slim,” said Autumn McFann, chief financial officer for FirstHealth of the Carolinas after she testified to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services committee in April. McFann said the six-hospital system located in the Sandhills had been operating with about a 3 percent margin for years, but with the effects of H.R. 1, they expect their margins to crash by 2032\. “H.R. 1 doesn't just affect our finances, but it affects what services that are going to remain locally,” she told lawmakers. “Starting in fiscal year ‘28… it continues to trend downward from there. And by 2032 we will actually be at an operating loss, so we'll be in the red at that point. “This forecast is solely based on the impacts of H.R. 1 so it does not factor in any other reimbursement loss or policy changes that may occur in that time frame,” McFann said. #### **Atrium’s explosive growth** Atrium’s growth has accelerated in recent years. It first joined with Navicent Health in Georgia in 2019, then Wake Forest Baptist in 2020\. In 2022, it combined with midwest-based Advocate Aurora Health to form the nation’s third largest nonprofit health care system. Today, Advocate Health’s $32 billion footprint stretches from Georgia to Wisconsin. Atrium is technically a public body known as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority. North Carolina law limits hospital authorities from expanding more than 10 miles beyond their home county — a constraint that may help explain why Atrium has structured many of its deals as “combinations” rather than traditional mergers, sometimes creating new legal entities in the process. That growing web of partnerships, subsidiaries and rebranded systems can make it increasingly difficult for the public to understand who controls hospitals in their communities and how decisions are made. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/05/01/charlotte-based-atrium-health-targets-wakemed-in-proposed-combination/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ### COMMENTARY: North Carolina is ranked dead last in school funding. My daughter with autism is paying the price. URL: https://down-ballot.info/commentary-north-carolina-is-ranked-dead-last-in-school-funding-my-daughter-with-autism-is-paying-the-price/ Last updated: 2026-05-06T09:00:09.000Z By Kristina Peck (North Carolina Newsline) Published: April 16, 2026 There is a version of N.C. Pre-K enrollment that takes twenty minutes. You fill out a form, submit a birth certificate, and your child starts school in the fall. That version does not exist for families like mine. My daughter has Level II autism and a speech delay. In North Carolina, [N.C. Pre-K](https://ncchildcare.ncdhhs.gov/Home/DCDEE-Sections/NC-Pre-K?ref=down-ballot.info) closes enrollment when funding runs out. Priority is based on financial need. There is no guaranteed access for children with disabilities. What most families do not know is that this does not override federal law. Under [IDEA](https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter-III/?ref=down-ballot.info), children with disabilities ages three to five have a legal right to early childhood special education services regardless of what the state budget allows. I had to research this myself, cite it by statute, and walk into a school administrator’s office to explain it. They acknowledged the law. They still moved slowly. This is happening in a state that ranked dead last, 51st out of 51, in school funding effort according to the [Education Law Center’s Making the Grade 2025 report](https://edlawcenter.org/research/making-the-grade-2025/?ref=down-ballot.info), spending $5,600 less per student than the national average. In July 2025, the federal government [froze more than $165 million](https://www.wunc.org/education/2025-07-03/trump-administration-freeze-federal-funds-nc-public-schools?ref=down-ballot.info) in N.C. school funding without warning. When those funds disappear, the students who depend on them most feel it first. Meanwhile, [60 percent of North Carolina three and four year olds](https://www.ednc.org/06-09-2025-north-carolina-34th-nation-youth-wellbeing-education-health-economic-community-indicators/?ref=down-ballot.info) were not enrolled in any formal education setting between 2019 and 2023\. For children with autism and developmental disabilities, missing early intervention is not a disadvantage. It is a loss. The earlier services begin, the better the outcomes. Every month of delay is developmental time that cannot be recovered. Under IDEA’s [Child Find mandate](https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter-II/part-b/section-1412/?ref=down-ballot.info), school districts must identify and evaluate children suspected of having a disability within mandated timelines, whether or not a parent asks. In practice, families are told to wait and see. Most take it. They do not know they can push back. I knew. I pushed back. It still took longer than it should have. While I tracked down evaluations and requested meetings in writing, other families enrolled their children in Pre-K in twenty minutes online. Same county. Same fall start date. Entirely different experience, determined entirely by whether their child has a disability. I work in education systems professionally, helping charter schools across North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas build enrollment processes that work for the families they serve. A district that wanted to close this gap could assign a single point of contact for every family beginning a special education evaluation. It could notify parents of their IDEA rights in plain language before a parent has to ask. None of this requires more money. It requires a decision about whose experience is worth designing for. That decision, in a state that ranks last in school funding and just lost $165 million in federal support, is one North Carolina has not yet made. My daughter will get her services. I will make sure of it, because I know how to navigate this system and I will not stop until she does. I did not always know. I learned. I researched. I pushed. I know most parents in my position do not have the time, the access, or the vocabulary to do what I did. I think about those families. The ones who applied for N.C. Pre-K, were told the funding was gone, and went home believing that was the answer. Who did not know there was a federal door that no one can legally close. Who are watching their child’s early years pass while a district that knew better chose not to move. My daughter came to this process with well-child visit records, a documented Level II autism diagnosis, ABA evaluations, full psychological reports, speech assessments, and occupational therapy documentation. She had the paper trail most families spend years trying to build. It has still been a fight. Somewhere in the same county, another child registered for Pre-K in twenty minutes. No separate intake appointments. No delayed screenings. No repeated requests to resubmit documentation. No one asking whether she really needed to be there. My daughter did not earn this fight. And a state that ranks last in the nation in education funding has no business asking her to prove she deserves a seat at the table. *Peck is a consultant for charter schools in N.C., GA, and TX. She is a former LPN who lives in Salisbury, N.C.* ### Why UNC-Wilmington wants to launch a medical school URL: https://down-ballot.info/why-unc-wilmington-wants-to-launch-a-medical-school/ Last updated: 2026-05-04T09:00:06.000Z by Kate Denning, Carolina Public Press April 30, 2026 State Rep. **John Bell**, R-Wayne, drives 85 minutes to see his primary care physician in Scotts Hill, a small community on the Pender and New Hanover County border, so it’s not a question in his mind whether his alma mater of UNC-Wilmington should move forward with its dream of starting a medical school. Chancellor **Aswani Volety** made his pitch to the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors this April, and while an official vote wasn’t on the agenda, the board seemed more than satisfied. **Sonja Nichols** posed just one question: “Why would anyone say no to this?” The medical school would offer a traditional four-year medical degree and a three-year accelerated track. It wouldn’t be a teaching hospital structure, a deviation from other medical schools in the state, but it would build upon the university’s existing portfolio of health care education. UNCW produces hundreds of nurses every year and is currently developing a Master of Physician Assistant Studies program to meet rising demand. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** By not being a teaching hospital UNCW would allow medical students to complete their residencies, which can take between three and seven years, at hospitals, clinics or rural health centers outside of the university but still in the region, Volety told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). This is what Volety calls distributed clinical placements. The advantage of having a teaching hospital is that the school solves the issue of clinical placements and residencies, Volety said, but it also adds a lot of cost and complexity that he doesn’t feel UNCW needs given its existing positive relationship with Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center. ### How UNCW can increase health care accessibility Volety’s plan is a direct response to health care accessibility issues in the state’s southeast region and the greater Wilmington area. Simply put, the state is growing at a rate that its health care infrastructure is not keeping up with. Despite Brunswick County being the [fastest-growing](https://portcitydaily.com/local-news/2026/02/23/brunswick-county-ranks-1-relocation-as-developments-surge/?ref=down-ballot.info) area of the state, it boasts just one hospital. In addition to serving Wilmington’s population of more than 120,000, Novant Health NHRMCr provides support for those in surrounding counties as well that don’t have a major regional hospital, Volety said. Census data says the greater Wilmington metro area has a population of more than 450,000\. And the entire state faces a [shortage](https://www.wral.com/news/nccapitol/rural-health-care-hospital-north-carolina-doctor-nurse-shortage-march-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) of nurses and doctors, particularly in rural areas — which are plentiful in the southeast — like Columbus and Duplin County. “When you look at Southeast North Carolina, it is growing at 2-3% per year compared to 1% on average for the rest of the state,” Volety told the board. “These shortages result in delays in health care, if you can even get an appointment, lengthy hours in emergency rooms, very, very long delays in terms of getting speciality care, perhaps going to far off places.” Unsurprisingly, the physician shortage can be traced back, at least in part, to the number of medical students in the state. North Carolina ranks 40th out of 50 in terms of medical students per capita despite being home to a handful of the leading medical schools in the country. [![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Spring-Campaign-2026-CTA-w-thermometer.png)](https://carolinapublicpress.fundjournalism.org/donate/?amount=15&campaign=701VH00000twrttYAA&frequency=monthly&ref=down-ballot.info) Where students start their medical career matters significantly to where they practice long term — 68% stay in the same region they attended medical school or completed their residency. The closest medical school to the Wilmington area, East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine, is more than two hours away. ECU’s [health care system](https://careers.ecuhealth.org/us/en/locations?gcd=1350555474.1777485599&ref=down-ballot.info) largely serves Eastern North Carolina counties like Beaufort, Bertie and Pitt. By taking the distributed clinical placements approach, Volety hopes to give medical students at UNCW a reason to continue practicing in the region beyond their schooling and residency. “The bottom line is, if I’m asking somebody to remain in an area, people want to have a reason to stay in that area,” he said. “In other words, do you have community connections? Do you have deep roots in that community? So by actually having these individuals who work in these places and develop relationships and forming roots, you’re more likely to keep the individuals there, and studies have shown it. It’s not a surprise.” Since Wilmington’s NHRMC was sold to Winston-Salem-based Novant Health in 2021, it has faced consistent [low ratings](https://www.whqr.org/local/2023-08-04/federal-agency-again-rates-novant-nhrmc-two-out-of-five-stars?ref=down-ballot.info) and heightened [safety concerns](https://www.wect.com/2025/11/13/novant-nhrmc-grade-remains-c-latest-safety-report/?ref=down-ballot.info), though the hospital network has said it is working toward [improvements](https://www.novanthealth.org/newsroom/novant-health-unveils-monumental-plans-to-improve-health-in-the-wilmington-region-including-major-expansions-in-heart-and-vascular-care-a-new-rehabilitation-hospital-and-comprehensive-facility-updates?ref=down-ballot.info). Retired physician and founder of the [Five Star Project](https://fivestarproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) **Jon Martell** said he believes the issues at NHRMC have contributed to health care inequality in the area, given that wealthier people are likely to travel to the Triangle for serious medical care but others will have no choice but to utilize what the southeast has to offer, even if it’s less than ideal. He supports the idea of UNCW’s medical school and could see it improving health care access and quality in the region. ### A rising tide lifts all boats An opportunity exists for a UNCW medical school to be at the forefront of advancements in medicine and medical education as it develops something entirely new, rather than scrambling to make tweaks in an attempt to catch up. While UNCW would be taking notes from the medical schools that came before, Volety said the potential medical school is the perfect chance to build a brand new curriculum, one that includes all of the aspects of ever-evolving modern medicine — yes, that means artificial intelligence. “AI is already being used in medicine, so whether we like it or not, the people we are training have to learn these things,” he said. “So it’s easier to build a curriculum from the ground up than to go and modify it on a large scale. And we are looking at all the new medical schools that have started in the past two, three, four years, as well as some institutions that have some great models, like the accelerated medical school model. So this way, we can look at the best practices throughout the nation and incorporate our curriculum and emulate those best practices, as opposed to reinventing the wheel.” The Board of Governors will revisit UNCW’s proposal as soon as May 20, and Volety is hopeful for the outcome. If given the green light, a national search for the founding dean would begin. UNCW would be looking for someone who has been in a similar role before and will be able to guide the school through the accreditation process and can help build and support the faculty. If all goes well, UNCW would have first-year medical students on campus by 2029. There doesn’t seem to be any competitive feelings from other medical schools in the UNC System. UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill typically admits just 3-5% of its more than MD program 7,000 applicants and ECU Brody School of Medicine is around 4-8%. It’s a growing pie, Volety said, and there’s more than enough students to go around. It won’t hurt that the medical school will likely elevate the total profile of UNCW either, Volety said. Not only will it attract students interested in medical school, but it will draw in those looking for related programs like biology, chemistry, nursing or public health. The economic impact could also be notable. A medical resident generates $450,000 in economic impact annually when they stay local, and a physician generates around $3 million per year per doctor, Volety said. That’s certainly not chump change. “Multiply that number by 80, 90, 100, 120, and you’re retaining hopefully, let’s say 70, 80, 90 individuals per year over time,” he said. “Fast forward to 20 years, cumulatively, the economic impact is probably $1.5 billion per year in this area. That’s a lot of economic activity. Even when you think about the number of students we have over the next five to seven years and the payroll and the direct impact of these individuals. … There is a multiplier effect, so it is a boom to this area.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75457/why-uncw-wants-to-launch-a-medical-school/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ### NC Governor Stein signs $319M Medicaid funding plan URL: https://down-ballot.info/nc-governor-stein-signs-319m-medicaid-funding-plan/ Last updated: 2026-05-01T09:00:14.000Z **It's Friday, May 1, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Stein signs $319M Medicaid funding plan**,** US Supreme Court Callais decision just weakened the Voting Rights Act. What happens next in Mississippi?, Bill that would eliminate Calvin Duncan’s court clerk position heads to Landry, Judge clears ICE’s path to deport asylum-seeker from Iowa to Congo, No more slip ups. Rocky Mount trying to avoid a full LGC financial takeover, Data Center Tax Exemption Changes Still Holding Up Virginia Budget, New Arizona guidelines aim to protect workers from heat, but fall short of enforceable standards, Georgia’s ACA enrollment plunges, raising concerns for rural hospitals. **Media outlets and others featured:** NC Newsline, Mississippi Today, Iowa Capital Dispatch, Carolina Public Press, Inside Climate News, Cronkite News, The Current GA. --- ## Stein signs $319M Medicaid funding plan, extending healthcare coverage in NC By Christine Zhu (North Carolina Newsline) Published: April 30, 2026 Gov. Josh Stein signed a bill Thursday approving $319 million in Medicaid funding, ending months of uncertainty over the program’s future. More than 3 million North Carolinians rely on Medicaid for healthcare. Without a state budget, N.C. Health and Human Services Secretary Dev Sangvai [warned](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/04/16/nc-lawmakers-press-sangvai-jackson-on-medicaid-fraud-waste/?ref=down-ballot.info) the program would run out of money by the end of May. Stein urged state lawmakers to supply adequate recurring funding next year to keep the program stable. “For months, the status of Medicaid in North Carolina has been in unnecessary jeopardy,” Stein said before signing the document. “I’m relieved to say that the bill that I will be signing will provide certainty and care that the people and the providers of this state need and deserve.” House and Senate lawmakers [voted](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/04/28/north-carolina-general-assembly-gives-final-approval-to-319m-in-medicaid-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info) nearly unanimously to pass House Bill 696, “[Medicaid & HHS Adjust./Other Critical Needs](https://dashboard.ncleg.gov/api/Services/BillDocument/2025/8406/0/HB%20696v5?ref=down-ballot.info),” earlier this week. Three Democrats in each chamber voted against it, saying it would deny Medicaid coverage to 27,000 pregnant women and their children due to their immigration status. The group includes victims of human trafficking, green card holders, refugees and other immigrants with legal status, as well as undocumented immigrants who are pregnant or who have recently given birth. Stein said he was concerned with that part of the bill, but noted the urgency of funding the program before it runs out of money. “Depriving these vulnerable women and children healthcare converge is wrong,” Stein said. “Fortunately, based on conversations we’ve had, I believe that it is the General Assembly’s intention to fix this.” But that’s not the only provision in the bailout bill causing concern. H696 also creates new copays for Medicaid at the maximum amount allowable by federal law. A coalition of 14 nonpartisan organizations representing patients with serious and chronic health conditions, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, urged policymakers to reconsider the copay amounts. “Research has shown that even low levels of cost-sharing and copayments deter patients from seeking care,” the coalition said in its statement. H696 also includes some of the nation’s most restrictive requirements for eligibility. Federal law requires a minimum one-month lookback period, which is the timeframe for checking work-requirement eligibility for benefits like Medicaid. But H696 requires Medicaid to verify three months of work eligibility before applicants receive approval. “There may be people who are eligible for Medicaid that are denied benefits because of this longer lookback,” Stein said. Looking ahead, the program has a $1 billion rebase, or increase in costs, for the upcoming fiscal year, according to Sen. Benton Sawrey (R-Johnston), co-chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid. That’s larger than the expected surplus in the state budget. With rising prices, Sawrey said Medicaid costs have increased by more than 90% over the past five years in North Carolina. “House Bill 696 takes important first steps in giving our Medicaid partners important tools in order to manage that cost,” Sawrey said. “I’m proud of the work that we did to get this across the finish line, but I don’t have any illusions that this is the current solution that’s going to fix everything going forward.” > [North Carolina General Assembly gives final approval to $319M in Medicaid funding](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/04/28/north-carolina-general-assembly-gives-final-approval-to-319m-in-medicaid-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info) Josh Dobson, president and CEO of the North Carolina Health Association, said the law provides relief for providers in addition to patients. The funding supports the providers and teams who make healthcare possible. Healthcare workers are stepping up while managing workforce challenges and significant financial pressure, he said. “Through all of that, they continue to deliver high quality care in every single corner of North Carolina,” Dobson said. “They stayed engaged, worked in good faith and helped move forward an approach that supports patients while strengthening the system for the long term. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://ncnewsline.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) The law also contains measures to target waste and abuse in Medicaid. The House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform [grilled](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/04/16/nc-lawmakers-press-sangvai-jackson-on-medicaid-fraud-waste/?ref=down-ballot.info) Sangvai and Attorney General Jeff Jackson earlier this month over allegations of fraud. Some critics said the measure moved jurisdiction over fraud away from the attorney general to the state auditor’s office, but bill sponsors said that’s not the case. Sangvai lauded the push for agencies to work together to identify and address cases of waste and abuse. “One of the other opportunities that’s come out of this process is collaboration in the state,” he said. Stein isn’t worried about the potential power shift, he said, since the attorney general — a position he previously held — partners with the governor’s office against Medicaid fraud. “The government is really focused on it, because we want every healthcare dollar to go to make someone healthy,” he said. --- # US Supreme Court Callais decision just weakened the Voting Rights Act. What happens next in Mississippi? by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today April 29, 2026 ABERDEEN — A federal judge in Mississippi will soon decide if she should go forward with adopting a new Mississippi Supreme Court district map now that the nation’s highest court has significantly weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, at the same time, wants lawmakers to create new state Supreme Court election maps, in a special session of the Legislature he has ordered to happen May 20, now that the U.S. high court has ruled in a landmark Louisiana v. Callais redistricting case. Also, politicians in Mississippi and across the South are pondering whether the U.S. Supreme Court ruling will allow them to redraw lines along party affiliation for this year's midterms now that racial safeguards appear to have been weakened. That might prove a difficult task in Mississippi, since it has already held midterm congressional primaries and its congressional lines already greatly favor the GOP, which holds all but one of six congressional seats. [**READ MORE:** ‘Betrayal’ or ‘saving our country.’ Mississippi leaders react to Supreme Court voting rights decision](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/29/voting-rights-supreme-court-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info) But Mississippi is set to deal with state Supreme Court districts in the short term. Senior U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock held a hearing Tuesday in Aberdeen, weighing whether she should quickly craft a new map for at least some of the state judges to run in possible November special elections or wait for guidance from the nation’s highest court. “It is a balancing act,” Aycock said. But now that guidance has arrived. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, a day after Aycock’s hearing in northeast Mississippi, struck down Louisiana’s second majority Black congressional district in a decision that could open the door for Republican-led states to eliminate Black and Latino electoral districts that tend to favor Democrats and affect the balance of power in Congress. “That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the six conservatives. The court’s conservative majority found that the district relied too heavily on race and weakened the landmark voting rights law’s protections against discrimination in redistricting. But the Mississippi case involves three Mississippi Supreme Court districts and is different from the Louisiana congressional district case, something that Aycock acknowledged during Tuesday’s hearing. “I do think they’re very different cases,” Aycock told attorneys. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/06123703/sharion_aycock.png) Judge Sharion Aycock The Mississippi litigation started in April 2022 when the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Mississippi, the Southern Poverty Law Center and private law firms, on behalf of a group of Black Mississippians, sued the state because they believed Black voters in certain parts of the state couldn’t elect a candidate of their choice. Aycock ruled in August 2025 that the districts illegally dilute Black strength and needed to be redrawn. She allowed the Legislature to come up with a new map during its 2026 session earlier this year, but it declined to do so. Aycock justified the ruling by noting that no Black person has ever been elected to the Mississippi Supreme Court without having first obtained an interim appointment from the governor. But the conservative Mississippi Legislature was unpersuaded. Since the lawmakers didn’t adopt new maps, attorneys were back in court on Tuesday to argue about how the judge should proceed. The plaintiffs proposed three different redrawn maps for consideration, while state officials asked Aycock not to adopt any map until the U.S. Supreme Court's Callais decision Ari Savitzky is an attorney for the plaintiffs, and he argued that Aycock should move forward quickly with adopting a new map to prevent Black votes from being diluted any longer. “The remedy must end vote dilution by increasing political opportunity for Black voters,” Savitzky said. “That’s the bottom line.” Bill Cooper, a redistricting expert for the plaintiffs, created the three new maps that Aycock could implement: one called the race-blind plan, another called the least-change plan and a final one called the regional plan. Cooper testified that he did not use racial demographics to craft any of the proposals. Instead, he used data such as sustained poverty rates in certain counties to create a uniform district. But Michael Wallace, an outside attorney representing the state, pointed out that a disproportionate number of Black Mississippians are impoverished when compared to white citizens. So he could use poverty as a proxy for racial data. Wallace also cast doubt that Cooper’s maps could truly be race-neutral because he’s previously done redistricting work in Mississippi. “Didn’t you tell the court when you testified here before that you’ve done a lot of work here in Mississippi, so you understand the state by race?” Wallace asked. Mississippi Supreme Court races generally receive less voter participation than other races, but the state’s highest court has ruled on several vital issues in recent years, such as the state’s ballot initiative and allowing the Legislature to give money to private schools. If Aycock still believes a new map should be implemented after the Callais decision, she could adopt one of the maps the plaintiffs presented, tweak one of the plaintiffs’ maps or employ an outside expert to help her craft a map. Another complication for the future of the state Supreme Court’s district lines is how Mississippi politicians respond to the Callais decision. Reeves has ordered lawmakers to return to Jackson in three weeks to redraw the state Supreme Court districts, even though those same lawmakers declined to redraw the districts in response to Aycock’s initial order. It’s unclear how lawmakers will respond to the Callais case and how Aycock would respond to a potential new map from the Legislature. She asked attorneys in court if she should tell the Legislature that she preferred they adopt a certain map or if she should wait for the Legislature to act before she adopts a map. The attorneys responded that Aycock has wide latitude to decide how to proceed. Justin Matheny, an attorney with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, told Aycock that she should not adopt a map until after the Callais ruling because the Legislature could choose to adopt a competing plan to her plan, which would then likely prompt a new round of litigation. "We would be here in three or four months or however long it would be and in an even bigger mess than we’re in right now,” Matheny said. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/29/callais-supreme-court-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20134822/cropped-mt-favicon-512-1-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1176486&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Bill that would eliminate Calvin Duncan’s court clerk position heads to Landry by Robert Stewart, Verite News New Orleans April 29, 2026 A bill that is set to [eliminate](https://veritenews.org/2026/04/21/calvin-duncan-court-clerk-sb256/?ref=down-ballot.info) the elected role of clerk for the Orleans Parish Criminal District court and consolidate the civil and criminal clerks into one position is heading to Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk. On Wednesday (April 29), the Louisiana Senate approved the amendments sent over by the House on [Senate Bill 256](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26RS&b=SB256&sbi=y&ref=down-ballot.info) that would consolidate the two clerk’s offices. The Senate voted along party lines with 25 Republicans in support of the legislation and 11 Democrats opposed. No member of the Orleans delegation voted for the bill that specifically targets the Orleans Parish clerks offices. Calvin Duncan, who served 28 years in prison on a murder conviction for which he was later exonerated, won the election to run the criminal district court by 68% of the vote in November. Duncan said he felt the state slid back with the development. “It’s a sad thing to see the state government repeating what happened to Black public officials during Reconstruction,” Duncan said. Today’s vote in the Senate was the last step the legislature needed to take before sending the bill to Landry, who has previously said that he would sign the bill. Landry did not respond to a request for comment. Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, introduced the legislation in the Senate in March. Democrats in both the state House and Senate voiced fierce opposition against the bill.During floor debates in the House, some lawmakers were concerned the bill could face legal challenges. Duncan, who campaigned as a former jailhouse lawyer who later went to law school and fought for greater transparency in the courts, said he intends to enjoy “every minute” he has left as the clerk-elect. “They will do what they do,” Duncan said, “and I will do whatever I have to do to vindicate the voters of New Orleans and make sure that what happened to me, never happens to anybody else.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/04/29/calvin-duncan-landry-hb256-court-clerk/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=30294&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/04/Judge_mg_0.jpg) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding dozens of individuals in Iowa jails. (Main photo by Caspar Benson/Getty Images; logo courtesy U.S. Department of Homeland Security) ## Judge clears ICE’s path to deport asylum-seeker from Iowa to Congo By Clark Kauffman (Iowa Capital Dispatch) Published: April 28, 2026 A federal judge has cleared the way for ICE officials to deport a Bolivian asylum-seeker from Iowa to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Noting that [José Yugar-Cruz](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/01/15/judge-orders-muscatine-county-jail-to-release-ice-detainee/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of a class of people for whom the Supreme Court has twice issued orders lifting injunctions that prohibited such deportations, U.S. District Judge Stephen H. Locher ruled this week that he had “little choice” but to deny Yugar-Cruz’s motion to have the court block his removal from the United States. Court records show that Yugar-Cruz, who is from Bolivia, entered the United States on July 8, 2024, at the Arizona border and immediately surrendered himself to law enforcement and was taken into custody. In October 2024, Yugar-Cruz applied for asylum, citing a threat of torture in his home country. In December 2024, an immigration judge issued a “withholding of removal” order under the Convention Against Torture, based on the torture Yugar-Cruz had previously faced in Bolivia and likely would face again if returned to that country. Although the federal government did not appeal the immigration judge’s ruling, it opted to keep Yugar-Cruz detained in jail while it searched for another country that would accept him if he were to be deported. For 17 months, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement kept Yugar-Cruz jailed while the agency tried without success to remove him to Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Mexico and Canada. In December 2025, Yugar-Cruz took ICE to court, seeking his release and arguing that his indefinite imprisonment was a violation of his rights given his lack of criminal history. The U.S. Department of Justice agreed Yugar-Cruz should be released from the Muscatine County Jail, subject to his continued supervision by ICE. #### With his asylum case pending, Yugar-Cruz is detained again With his asylum application still pending, Yugar-Cruz was [released from jail.](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/01/15/judge-orders-muscatine-county-jail-to-release-ice-detainee/?ref=down-ballot.info) Days later, the Trump administration finalized a “Third-County Removal Agreement” with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which pledged that deportees sent there from the United States would not be subject to persecution or torture. On March 9, 2026, ICE officials learned Congo had formally agreed to accept Yugar-Cruz for third-country removal. On April 8, 2026, Yugar-Cruz was taken into custody during what he expected to be routine, address-verification visit to an ICE field office in Cedar Rapids. On the day his deportation flight was scheduled to leave the United States, [Yugar-Cruz won a temporary stay in the proceedings](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/04/08/iowa-judge-blocks-ices-efforts-to-deport-bolivian-man-to-congo/?ref=down-ballot.info) by arguing the federal government could not legally deport him. As part of that case, attorneys for Yugar-Cruz argued their client was a member of a certified class in the case D.V.D. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In that case, a Massachusetts court had entered a preliminary injunction blocking the government from removing noncitizens to third countries without first providing those individuals an opportunity to be heard on the matter. In Monday’s ruling on Yugar-Cruz’s deportation, Locher wrote that the Massachusetts decision is “unquestionably favorable to Yugar-Cruz’s position … The problem for him, however, is that shortly thereafter the United States Supreme Court took the unusual step of granting a stay of the injunction.” So, although the Massachusetts case is still pending, ICE’s process for deporting individuals to third countries remains legally valid, Locher noted. “This is all but fatal to Yugar-Cruz’s claim,” Locher wrote. “He is a member of a class of people for whom the Supreme Court has twice issued orders lifting injunctions that prohibited third country removals like the one (the federal government is) attempting to carry out here. In other words, when a different district court tried to do what Yugar-Cruz is asking this court to do, the Supreme Court intervened twice to stop it … The court cannot award relief on a one-off basis that the Supreme Court would not allow to be awarded en masse.” Some human rights organizations have objected to the United States’ deportations to Congo, citing the armed conflicts, yellow fever outbreaks and widespread poverty in the area. Two weeks ago, 15 South American migrants and asylum seekers deported from the United States to the Democratic Republic of Congo claimed to be facing pressure to return to their countries of origin where they fled persecution or torture. Some of the 15 told [the Reuters news agency](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombian-sent-us-congo-says-she-faces-pressure-risk-danger-back-home-2026-04-22/?ref=down-ballot.info) that since being deported, they’d been given no viable options other than going back to their home countries, and are currently stranded in Kinshasa, a city of 15 million people, with no money and no passports. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # No more slip ups. Rocky Mount trying to avoid a full LGC financial takeover. by Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press April 27, 2026 Reeling from a state audit last month that highlighted financial mismanagement, the city of Rocky Mount now faces a potential takeover of finances by the Local Government Commission should the city’s budget “slip” again. City leaders met with the Local Government Commission on April 1 to discuss the current state of finances and how they plan to move forward, according to a [press release](https://www.nctreasurer.gov/news/press-releases/2026/04/01/local-government-commission-warns-rocky-mount-no-further-missteps-will-be-tolerated?ref=down-ballot.info) from the State Treasurer. “It almost never gets this bad,” State Treasurer **Brad Briner** said in the [meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXcwr7jEZH8&ref=down-ballot.info). “When it does, it's usually because it's terminal. It’s usually because a business has moved or a large population base has left and it’s not going to be fixed. This is not that. This is simply a failure of will, and we are here to help impose that will today.” ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** The commission issued an official notice and warning to the city during the meeting, which is the highest level of warning the commission can give to a municipality. If leaders are unable to keep a handle on city finances, the LGC has threatened to take over, potentially making it the commission’s largest financial takeover of a municipality to date, according to the press release. During its 94 years of operation, the LGC has taken over finances for 12 towns in the state, according to its [website](https://www.nctreasurer.gov/divisions/state-and-local-government-finance/lgc/local-government-commission?ref=down-ballot.info#HistoryofAssumptionofControlandWaivedAudits-376). ### Current situation and changes made so far Initially, the city was projecting cash flow through June to the end of the fiscal year, but upon closer inspection, noticed there would be no cash left by the end of July if changes weren’t made, said **Cheryl Spivey**, finance director for Rocky Mount, during the meeting. The city has started making those changes. In February, the City Council adopted an ordinance to revise the budget for fiscal year 2026 by cutting appropriations by $29.6 million. This cut included a 10% layoff of full-time employees, Spivey said in the meeting. Earlier this month, she said they also increased utility rates on electricity, gas, water and more. Daniels noted improvements in account reconciliations as well. **Cornelius Jordan**, assistant city manager and public information officer for Rocky Mount, said the city is also providing regular financial updates to the LGC twice a month. **Elton Daniels**, city manager for Rocky Mount, said the hiring of Spivey as the new finance director has helped immensely. She’s not the only addition the city has made to its finance staff. On Thursday, the city [announced](https://www.rockymountnc.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/151?ref=down-ballot.info) the appointment of **Kimberly Leonard** as its new chief budget and strategy officer, a position that will focus on developing the annual budget and improving efficiency and sustainability. “Kimberly brings exceptional local government experience, strong fiscal judgment, and a proven ability to align strategy with execution,” Daniels said in the press release. “At a time when disciplined planning, accountability, and thoughtful resource allocation are more important than ever, this position will play a critical role in strengthening how the City develops its budget, evaluates priorities, and measures results.” Concerns arose during the meeting about how the city plans to ensure the accuracy of revenue projections moving forward, given the inaccuracy of past ones. While Daniels can’t speak to the years prior, since he wasn’t overseeing the budget then, he said, they’re now trying to be more conservative on revenue projections and look at the previous year actuals. “I have a multi-pronged approach with regard to the budget projections,” Daniels said during the meeting. “Before, I think it was the responsibility of possibly one individual. Now, I have multiple people involved in that step, including myself, and that’s just not within the organization. I have experts outside the organization that’s also been willing to assist us, including big organizations like the League of Municipalities.” To increase revenue, the city is considering raising taxes, Daniels said. Questions were raised during the meeting about how city officials would explain these tax increases to Rocky Mount citizens, since they would primarily be due to the city’s own “poor management.” **Sandy Roberson**, mayor of Rocky Mount, said they would just need to be honest with citizens, and that a tax increase wouldn’t be the only option. “We just have to be honest, we just have to tell the truth,” Roberson said. “The auditor’s report has outlined that very well. … It has been as clear as you can possibly make it. This has been mismanagement. This is where the money’s gone. It’s gone for stuff, and it’s gone for people.” ### What would LGC takeover look like? Should the LGC be forced to take over Rocky Mount, the state commission would essentially become the city’s governing body as it relates to finances, LGC staff said. According to [NCGS 159-181(c)](https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter%5F159/gs%5F159-181.html?ref=down-ballot.info), the commission would be “vested with all of the powers of the governing board as to the levy of taxes, expenditure of money, adoption of budgets, and all other financial powers conferred upon the governing board by law.” Every takeover is different, LGC staff said. “A unit’s financial conditions can change quickly,” LGC staff said. “That’s especially true with a unit like Rocky Mount whose problems are primarily caused by budget failures. If the LGC were to take control of Rocky Mount’s finances, staff would assess the condition of the City’s financial management at that point in time, and the Secretary and staff would act quickly as needed to stabilize the unit and ensure that debt service payments are able to be made.” Staff said Rocky Mount is unique because while most other towns in trouble struggle with finance issues, this city is plagued with budget issues and has simply spent too much money. “Typically, the LGC avoids telling units to make specific spending decisions; rather, we point to the overall trend (expenditures greater than revenue, in this case) and direct the unit to make its own decisions about what to cut,” LGC staff said. “Regardless of what expenditures the City cuts or what revenue streams it chooses to increase, the City’s delay in taking aggressive enough action led the City to this point.” If events force the LGC to come in and take control of city finances, State Auditor Dave Boliek said he would consider it a failure of city leadership. “You (have) got to make these tough decisions,” Boliek said during the meeting. “It’s not easy, I know, but you know what you signed up to do … People elected you to make those decisions. We also don’t want a precedent on this board, when a municipality gets into financial trouble, they run to the LGC, and then the LGC has to make the tough decisions on finances, when we weren’t specifically elected to make those decisions for the members of the public in that town.” However, Daniels stressed that they find themselves in this situation now partly because of prior unqualified finance personnel. The [state auditor’s report](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74908/rocky-mount-seeks-to-recover-after-scathing-nc-audit-finds-serious-financial-mistakes/?ref=down-ballot.info) last month highlighted high turnover in the finance department, with the city having gone through five finance directors since fiscal year 2021\. Now that the city has hired Spivey as their new finance director, Daniels said he feels “100% confident” in her ability. “We are going in the right direction, even though we have a large mountain to climb,” Daniels said in the meeting. “But I think step one was having someone that’s qualified in that position.” ### Next steps for Rocky Mount Despite the current financial situation, city leaders are still “confident” that they will make it to the end of the fiscal year due to the work that’s already been done with the fiscal year 2026 budget. “We haven’t really got into the fiscal year ‘27 budget, which I anticipate will have further cuts, reductions across the board, including a restructure of the entire organization, which could easily save the city anywhere on the low end from $1.5 million on up,” Daniels said in the meeting. Overall, Daniels said the city has adopted an “all-hands-on-deck” approach. “Forget about titles. We have to fix this together,” Daniels said in the meeting. “Ideas don’t just come from the top, they come from the bottom, they come from the side, they come from the public. And we try to put something together that we understand is not going to be popular to everybody, but we understand that it’s what it’s going to take to get us out of this current situation.” The city is still working on the financial audit from fiscal year 2025, which was originally due on Dec. 31, according to the press release from the State Treasurer, Jordan said, adding that they plan to finish it in the coming days. The top priority for the commission right now is making sure the city will have enough cash for debt-service payments, which amount to more than $3.3 million for the remainder of fiscal year 2025-2026 and $8.7 million for fiscal year 2026-2027, according to the commission’s notice and warning. Other concerns involve being able to pay staff and crafting a “responsible” budget for fiscal year 2026-2027, LGC staff said. “If we saw concerning trends on any of these items, this could necessitate the LGC taking further action,” they said. When asked by Carolina Public Press what actions would be necessary from the town to remove the threat of a financial takeover, LGC staff said: “If the city were to take the actions summarized in the Notice and Warning, the city would be on much stronger financial footing. The commission and staff will continue to assess the financial condition and will notify the city when the commission feels the risk of immediate takeover has passed.” The city’s next scheduled meeting with the LGC is May 5, when city leaders will return to discuss further progress they’ve made, Jordan said. City officials will also submit a draft of their fiscal year 2026-2027 budget in May, according to the commission’s notice and warning. An updated draft will be submitted in June before the City Council officially adopts it, and the commission has asked city officials to attend the June 9 meeting as well. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75407/no-more-slip-ups-rocky-mount-trying-to-avoid-a-full-lgc-financial-takeover/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Data Center Tax Exemption Changes Still Holding Up Virginia Budget ### A Democratic senator wants to end the $1.9 billion handout. The industry doesn’t want to cede that much. By Charles Paullin April 24, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24042026/data-center-tax-exemption-stalls-virginia-budget/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* RICHMOND, Va.—Virginia’s Democratic lawmakers failed to make a deal on the budget again on Thursday due to disagreements over whether data centers should continue to receive tax breaks on their computer equipment. Lawmakers gaveled in and out of a one-day special session that was set to vote on a budget that they failed to pass in March at the end of the 2026 legislation session. “Let’s take our time and do this thing right,” Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said in a brief interview Wednesday when no deal had been made. Lucas and many Senate Democrats want to end a $1.9 billion tax exemption for data centers to generate revenue for social programs. Their counterparts in the House and newly elected Governor Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat, are more beholden to the industry’s desires to keep the exemption so Virginia remains attractive as the data center capital of the world. An option to tie the exemption to clean energy requirements still exists. At issue is ending a sales and use tax on data centers’ computer equipment that is waived for a data facility when $150 million is invested and 50 jobs are created in a community. The tax ranges from 5.3 percent to 7 percent, depending upon the locality. Created in 2008 after the housing crisis, the incentive intended to lure the industry to the state to stimulate economic development. At the time, lawmakers forecast an estimated $1.5 million in tax revenues would be waived. Now, Virginia has bloomed into the [data center capital of the world](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26102025/virginia-data-center-capital-ai-boom/?ref=down-ballot.info), with more of the server farms than any other state or country. Residents’ electricity bills have been rising, and environmental groups are concerned about water availability and air quality. Meanwhile, in 2025, the industry reported the state waived $1.9 billion in sales taxes from data centers. With rising land values in Northern Virginia where many data centers want to build, and a need to buy replacement computer equipment typically every three to five years, the state’s exemption is beneficial to improving tech companies’ bottom lines. Lucas wants to end the exemption in January, eight years before it’s set to expire in 2035\. She initially asked for the $1.9 billion in revenue the industry would have to pay for an array of social programs. Now, she’s lowered that request to $1.6 billion. “There’s not going to be a cap, I want it to be perpetual and ongoing,” Lucas said of the revenue from data centers. Other states, she said, “are going to feel the same way we do about them taking money from the voters and giving it to these large, large corporations.” “We got the infrastructure, we got the water, we got the land. Where are they going?” Lucas said. “They’re not going to go anywhere.” House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, urged more caution. “We have to make sure that we do everything that we can to help Virginia keep its competitive advantage,” Scott said. “We are the leader in the world, not only the country, in the world. Texas and others, they want to have what we have.” The Senate’s [plans for spending](https://sfac.virginia.gov/pdf/committee%5Fmeeting%5Fpresentations/2026/02262026%5FSFAC%20Amendments%20to%20SB%2030%202026%20Session.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the data center tax revenue across the next two years include $1.1 billion for general fund programs, with about $440 million for education. About $300 million would go toward transportation, $324.1 million would be remitted to localities and about $190 million would go toward other regional needs. Broader initiatives in the budget include making up for less federal funding for the food assistance program known as Supplemental Food Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and health care under Medicaid. Those losses resulted from President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which also gave tax breaks to the wealthy. For their part, leaders of the data center industry contend that Lucas is asking for too much and say companies could easily spend funds to quickly move projects to other parts of the country. Data centers still pay local tax revenue, and trade unions covet the steady stream of temporary construction jobs they create. Since negotiations began in February over the data center tax exemption, a compromise put forth by the industry has been through several iterations. The industry wants to only contribute $1.1 billion over two years, which is what Senate [budget documents](https://budget.lis.virginia.gov/get/amendmentpdf/5233/?ref=down-ballot.info) said would go to the state’s general fund. In March, industry representatives, including government relations specialists from Microsoft and Amazon, and Josh Levi, the Data Center Coalition president, met in closed-door meetings with lawmakers. The industry and Lucas haven’t come to an agreement on how much revenue could be provided to the state. Those industry representatives declined to comment Thursday during a gathering in the Virginia General Assembly Building. ![House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Wise, speaks with reporters. Credit: Charles Paullin/Inside Climate News](https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1000024329.jpg) House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore speaks with reporters. Credit: Charles Paullin/Inside Climate News State Del. Terry Kilgore of Wise County, the House minority leader, said he wants to keep the exemption but is interested in more revenue from data centers. Rural communities in Virginia starving for economic development want to remain competitive, he added. “We need data centers in the commonwealth,” Kilgore said. “My issue with all this is we’ve made promises to these data centers when they came here to have this tax credit. We as Virginians need to fulfill our promises.” Democrats in the House of Delegates and officials in the governor’s office remain concerned about how ending the exemption could harm the state’s business-friendly reputation by going against awarded contracts granting the exemption. Beyond the data center debate, the party is worried about federal workforce cuts made early in President Trump’s second term by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) upending the Northern Virginia economy that serves to lift the entire state. The House came closer to alignment with Lucas in the Senate after Del. Luke Torian, D-Prince William, joined her in March to say it’s up to the industry to come back to lawmakers with an acceptable budget contribution, whether it’s from a change in the tax exemption or some other new mechanism. Scott, the House speaker, told Inside Climate News in a brief interview at the end of the regular session that “we’re all on the same page, we’re going to be able to claw back.” Spanberger, though, appears more dug in. At an April 9 groundbreaking for a manufacturer of data center computer racks, Spanberger said “the fact that Virginia is a reliable partner matters as much as the incentives we put on the table, and we intend to protect that reputation aggressively.” In a session with reporters Wednesday morning, after previously suggesting an electricity consumption tax to have data centers pay their “fair share,” she reiterated that it’s up to budget negotiators to come up with an agreement on a plan, including the amount of revenue from data centers, to present to her. “At this step, I’m actively engaging, but…I’ll defer to them to answer that question,” Spanberger told Inside Climate News. The governor has vetoed a gambling measure expected to generate revenue, and wanted to delay until the next year the establishment of a legal retail marijuana market, which could also provide revenue. But the legislature sent the bill on marijuana back to the governor without the delay. Spanberger has until May 22 to make any final signatures or vetoes on bills. A politically tense Congressional redistricting fight has also taken up oxygen in the legislative process. Virginia voters settled the debate on Tuesday by voting yes to change Virginia from having a 6-5 Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives to one with an expected 10-1 Democratic majority, pending a legal challenge. Negotiations on the budget may soon be more streamlined. Scott, the speaker, said a deal could be hashed out by June. “I’m going to see what she’s going to do,” Lucas said, referring to the governor’s action on bills. “At this point it could cause us to probably lose some money in the budget, so I want to wait until she’s done.” Lost in the data center debate is an alternative included in the House of Delegates budget proposal to keep and possibly extend the data center tax exemption, and tie it to banning the use of fossil fuels as a primary source of power, matching energy needs with clean energy sources, transitioning from diesel backup generators to batteries, and using energy more efficiently. Data centers that chose to avoid those clean energy requirements in favor of fossil fuel energy sources would forego the tax exemption, thus generating some tax revenue for the state. Illinois has a tax credit [for data centers](https://dceo.illinois.gov/expandrelocate/incentives/datacenters.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that are carbon neutral or have a green building certification. Asked if there’s interest in placing the clean energy requirements on the exemption, Lucas said, “I have not had that conversation with my caucus so I can’t answer that.” --- ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=239728&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) # New Arizona guidelines aim to protect workers from heat, but fall short of enforceable standards by Sophia Braccio, Cronkite News April 20, 2026 PHOENIX – Arizona is implementing new workplace heat safety guidelines as summer approaches. They address shade, breaks and water access, but advocates say without enforceable standards, they fall short of protecting workers. The state has experienced longer periods of extreme heat, putting Arizonans at greater risk for heat-related illness, emergency room visits and death, according to the [Arizona Department of Health Services](https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/extreme-weather/heat-safety/heat-preparedness/index.php?ref=down-ballot.info). Last May, Gov. Katie Hobbs directed the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or ADOSH, to establish a Workplace Heat Safety Task Force made up of medical experts and workers’ rights advocates and representatives across Arizona. (Audio by Sophia Braccio/Cronkite News) The task force submitted final recommendations on Dec. 31, 2025, and the Industrial Commission of Arizona, the state agency that oversees ADOSH, voted to approve and roll out those guidelines on April 9\. The [new recommendations](https://www.azica.gov/sites/default/files/2025-12/Final-Recommendations.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) call on employers to establish a heat illness prevention plan, which includes access to cool water and shade, rest, training and gradual exposure to intense heat. Members of the governor’s task force represented industries impacted by the heat, including construction, agriculture, first responders and hospitality. Trina David,a crew chief for an airline at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airportwho spoke during public comment before ADOSH and the Industrial Commission, said during her 18 years at the airport, she has seen workers collapse from heat-related illness. “These are lifelong illnesses for us,” she said. According to Banner Health, pavement temperatures can be 40 to 60 degrees hotter than the air temperature, and the tarmac is no exception. The physical demands compound the risk, David said: “You are talking about exertion levels because each back is 50 pounds or more.” If breaks are not required, she said, many workers feel they can’t take them. “If you leave it ‘as needed’ people won't take the breaks because they feel retaliation is real,” David said. The new guidelines build on existing workplace safety measures; they do not create protections from scratch. ADOSH operates its own workplace safety program under a state plan approved by the federal agency OSHA, which sets baseline standards for workers protections, said Amber Pappas, an occupational safety and health consultant and facilitator on the task force. OSHA launched a National Emphasis Program [specific to heat hazards](https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/enforcement/directives/CPL%5F03-00-024.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2022, directing enforcement agencies to focus inspections on heat-related risks. Arizona followed in 2023 by adopting a [State Emphasis Program](https://www.azica.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/Arizona%20Heat%20SEP%20CPL%5F03-00-024%202.0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) through ADOSH. However, that program includes general guidance, rather than enforceable, heat-focused rules. Pappas described the requirements as “catch all standards,” adding that the state relies on an overarching standard, often referred to as the general duty clause, for enforcement. “All employers are legally required to provide a place of employment free from potential or recognized hazards that could cause serious injury, illness or fatality,” she said. “Currently under state emphasis, all we have is that general duty clause.” The task force’s new recommendations will be added to the 2023 emphasis program, offering detailed guidance for employers, and are expected to be revisited regularly, Pappas said. The guidelines have a broad reach for industries across the state, including agriculture. Heat-related mortality rates for U.S. crop workers are 20 times higher than other industries, according to the [Environmental Defense Fund](https://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/2023-07/EDF040%5FHeat%20Stress%5FV5.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Jazmin Moreno-Dominguez, an organizer and co-founder of Agave Community Threads, surveyed agricultural workers in southern Arizona. She said she’s heard stories of workers who have to walk long distances to get to water stations and seek shade in hazardous places like behind tractor tires. Moreno-Dominguez is part of the Arizona Heat Standards Coalition, a group of community members who called on the state to implement enforceable heat safety rules as quickly as possible. “The task force, while it is a great start, in our opinion, is just continuing to delay actual policy on paper and put protections on the ground,” Moreno-Dominguez said. Fifteen of the 24 task force members called on ADOSH to support binding and enforceable heat safety rules including defining hazardous temperatures and minimum rest periods. Ultimately, the final recommendation approved by the entire task force did not include enforcement provisions and the commission moved forward with [the guidelines](https://www.azica.gov/sites/default/files/2025-12/Final-Recommendations.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) without launching a rulemaking process. According to Maxwell Ulin, staff attorney for the UNITE HERE Local 11 union, the Arizona guidelines give employers best practices for heat safety. This also aids state enforcement to “a limited degree” by helping investigators assess whether a business is doing enough to keep workers safe. Still, Ulin believes this is not enough protection. “We will continue to be struggling to enforce what is an otherwise very broad, nonspecific standard for safety and health until workers get hurt or until there is substantial risk of injury to workers,” Ulin said. Five states currently have varying forms of heat standards, according to OSHA. Colorado’s heat standard only applies to agricultural workers, while Minnesota’s only applies to indoor places of employment. California has a Heat Illness Prevention Standard that applies across industries and is triggered when temperatures reach 80 degrees. A [Health Affairs](https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2025.00096?ref=down-ballot.info) study found that California saw an estimated 33% decrease in heat-related deaths among outdoor workers after it intensified enforcement of its heat standard in 2010, and a 51% reduction after revisions were made to the standard in 2015\. Industrial Commission Chair Dennis Kavanaugh said Arizona should study how heat standards worked elsewhere, considering more evidence and budget impacts before initiating rulemaking. “Today's not a once and done. This is the beginning of our process as commissioners to deal with this issue,” Kavanaugh said during an industrial commission meeting. The commission ordered a report on the effectiveness of the new guidelines by the end of the year. This [article](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2026/04/20/arizona-workplace-heat-safety-guidelines/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1) --- # Georgia’s ACA enrollment plunges, raising concerns for rural hospitals by Ariel Hart/The Current GA, The Current April 20, 2026 *Editor's Note: Story updated Wednesday, April 22, to include statement from Gov. Brian Kemp's office.* More than half a million Georgians have dropped health insurance coverage amid stiff premium price hikes for federally subsidized Affordable Care Act plans, according to data obtained by *The Current GA* and *Georgia Recorder*. The 37% enrollment drop — from 1.5 million Georgians in January 2025 to 950,000 as of April 17, 2026 — dwarfs any previous decline in the state since the launch of so-called Obamacare health insurance plans in 2014\. Rising prices for health insurance policies bought on Georgia’s health care marketplace occurred after the U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump decided against extending Covid-era “enhanced” health insurance subsidies, which sunset Dec. 31, 2025. Preliminary data released in January about the number of Georgians enrolled in ACA plans hinted at a sizable decline of 190,000\. The more complete numbers have been adjusted after those people who had been reenrolled automatically at the start of 2026 failed to make their first premium payments. The Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire released the data to *The Current* following a public records request. It will be reported by the federal government this summer. The steep decline sparked immediate concern from the organization that advocates for Georgia’s rural hospitals about the financial viability of these vital institutions should the data signify that Georgia’s uninsured rate has soared after years of edging down. “I don’t know what we’re going to do, honestly” said Monty Veazey, president of the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, when informed of the data by *The Current*. “It’s a larger number than I anticipated,” he said of the enrollment drop. He said he was meeting with Gov. Brian Kemp next week and hoped to ask for his plans. ### THE HISTORY, FACTORS The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 and the Marketplace launched in 2014\. Under the ACA, the federal government mandates basic levels of care such as for prescriptions, mental health and maternal care; and it also subsidizes premiums for certain income groups. Georgia also began its own subsidies in 2022\. Starting with 2025 coverage, Georgia took over the ACA enrollment system at GeorgiaAccess.gov. Factors influencing whether the numbers of enrollees rise or fall have included how well the system is operating, how much outreach and enrollment assistance the government enacted, and above all, how expensive coverage was. President Trump in his first term pulled back on enrollment assistance, and in his second term has allowed massive pandemic-era subsidies to expire. ![Line Chart Georgia ACA enrollment drops by more than one-third between 2025 and 2026 from about 1.5 million to about 950,000.](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JvhR6/full.png) ### Drop negates recent achievements Kemp came to office in 2019 promising to tackle Georgia’s adult uninsured rate, one of the highest in the nation. He has touted changes he oversaw to the state’s insurance market as well as the rollout of a state-based ACA marketplace called Georgia Access as solutions to this problem. The new enrollment figures, however, raise questions about how durable those gains will be. Both Kemp and Insurance Commissioner John King did not immediately comment on the enrollment figures. On Wednesday, after [leading Georgia Democrats started calling the enrollment dropoff a crisis](https://thecurrentga.org/2026/04/21/georgia-democrats-decry-steep-drop-in-aca-enrollment/?ref=down-ballot.info), Kemp's office provided a written statement saying that the numbers of people accessing federally subsidized health care remained higher than in 2019\. "More people are covered today in Georgia than what was promised by the one-size-fits-none, bloated government approach Democrats have promoted in every election cycle," said Kemp spokesman Carter Chapman. Georgia’s enrollment drop dwarfs many other states’, according to partial ACA enrollment data first reported last week by *The Wall Street Journal.* Fluctuations in enrollment for so-called marketplace plans are routine. But year over year comparisons for April also project a stark picture. In April 2025, enrollment in Georgia’s marketplace plans had already dipped to 1.3 million, according to state officials. The April 2026 data still represents a 27% drop from that level. “It’s a really large shift in the market,” said Emma Wager, a senior policy analyst on the ACA at the health research nonprofit KFF. There is currently no data showing whether the Georgians who dropped their marketplace insurance are now completely uninsured, or whether they took up a new kind of insurance. Some of those previously enrolled could have gotten new jobs with employer-sponsored health care, but it’s likely large numbers of them had no better options, said health policy researchers. In general, said Matt McGough, a policy analyst at KFF, people relying on Obamacare plans “really have nowhere else to turn.” Wager, who emphasized that she herself had not seen the latest Georgia enrollment figures, said if the result in disenrollment ends up with a spike in the uninsured rates, then hospital finances across the state will be affected. “A larger uninsured population means that hospitals have to provide more uncompensated care. And we also know that people who are uninsured are more likely to delay or forgo medicare care…they may have severe needs by the time they actually see a doctor.” Georgia has traditionally had among the three worst uninsured rates, along with Texas and Oklahoma. But lower premium prices during the pandemic helped lead to a surge of Georgia patients getting insured. U.S. l[awmakers including former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene](https://georgiarecorder.com/2025/10/10/marjorie-taylor-greene-sounds-alarm-over-expiring-health-care-subsidies-as-shutdown-continues/?ref=down-ballot.info) said that Congress’s decision last year to allow extra subsidies to expire would put insurance out of reach for many. Extending the enhanced subsidies another 10 years would have cost [$350 billion](https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-09/61734-Health.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Democrats in Congress shut down the federal government last fall in a fight over the health insurance subsidies, but Congress did not renew the funding. Since those extra subsidies expired, Georgians who make above a certain amount— around $64,000 for a single person — no longer get any federal assistance and must pay the full market price for health insurance. For some Georgians, the cost of premiums more than tripled. ### Health providers expect hit The loss of enrollment will send shock waves through Georgia’s health care industry. The state’s health sector was expected to lose more than $3.5 billion this year as a result of the expiring subsidies, as uninsured patients forgo care or show up in emergency rooms but can’t pay. Georgia’s expected loss of health sector revenue from that change would be among the three largest in the nation, behind only Florida and Texas, according to the study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the left-leaning Urban Institute. Dr. Ben Spitalnick, a Savannah pediatrician, said the premium hikes presented a budget crisis for some of his patients’ parents. “I know patients who, this year it's doubled for them,” Spitalnick said. “It's insane to consider having to drop your health insurance,” he said. “If you're, sort of solo employed or a very small business, and don't have the comfort of either Medicaid or have a very large employer who has a large health plan, the exchange was a great option. Now it's super expensive.” McGough, the KFF researcher, said the ACA tends to insure people who are juggling hourly jobs or are self employed. Self employed often means doing gig work like driving Uber. More than a quarter of farmers and beauticians were insured through the ACA marketplace as of 2023, according to KFF. This [article](https://thecurrentga.org/2026/04/20/georgias-aca-enrollment-plunges-raising-concerns-for-rural-hospitals/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Current](https://thecurrentga.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-TheCurrent_site-icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://thecurrentga.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=101055&ga4=G-L05EDNCRHK) --- ### BRIEFS: Charlotte transit agency to hold meeting in Rock Hill about the end of bus route URL: https://down-ballot.info/briefs-charlotte-transit-agency-to-hold-meeting-in-rock-hill-about-the-end-of-bus-route/ Last updated: 2026-04-30T19:36:40.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** The Charlotte Area Transit System is scheduled to discontinue Route 82x, [the Rock Hill Express,](https://www.charlottenc.gov/CATS/Ride/Bus/Bus-Routes-and-Schedules?ref=down-ballot.info) on July 1, 2026. According to an email from Charlotte's transit agency, The Charlotte Area Transit System and City of Rock Hill will host a public meeting regarding the service discontinuation on Tuesday, May 19, starting at 5 p.m., at the Rock Hill City Hall (155 Johnston St., Rock Hill, SC 29730). This meeting will be open to the public to allow community members the opportunity to provide feedback. To request a reasonable accommodation or translation (free of charge) please email [telltransit@charlottenc.gov](mailto:telltransit@charlottenc.gov) or call 704.336.7433. ### NC DEQ to hold public hearing on proposed permit modification for Craven County-based mining operation The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources will hold a public hearing on May 27, 2026, to hear [public comments](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/414f42a?ref=down-ballot.info) regarding R.J’s Bushhogging, Inc.’s [2026 modification application](https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/EnergyMineralLandResources/Browse.aspx?dbid=0&startid=118595&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) for mining permit 25-75\. R.J’s Bushhogging, Inc. is a sand and limestone mining operation off Winn Circle, in the town of Vanceboro, in Craven County. The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. at Craven County Community College Auditorium at 800 College Court in New Bern. Those who wish to speak during the hearing can sign up to do so starting at 5:30 p.m. > **Public Hearing information:** > **When:** 6 p.m., May 27, 2026 > **Where:** Craven County Community College Auditorium, 800 College Court, New Bern > **Sign up:** Begins at 5:30 p.m. The purpose of the public hearing is to receive comments from the public related to the modification application for a mining permit for a sand and limestone mining operation located off Winn Circle, in Vanceboro, Craven County. Public comments should be limited to the seven denial criteria listed under [G.S. §74-51](https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter%5F74/Article%5F7.html?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) of The Mining Act of 1971\. ### Emergency housing vouchers are ending early, leaving cities and renters scrambling URL: https://down-ballot.info/emergency-housing-vouchers-are-ending-early-leaving-cities-and-renters-scrambling/ Last updated: 2026-04-29T09:00:02.000Z By Robbie Sequeira (Stateline) Published: April 27, 2026 A New York City mom and domestic violence survivor felt a flashback of fear when she received a notice in March that the emergency housing voucher she and her son have relied on since 2023 will run out soon. “It felt like the rug was pulled out from under me,” said Nyla B., who did not want her last name used to protect her safety. “I remember how hard it was to get housing when I left. I didn’t want to go back to a shelter with my son, who has health needs. The thought of being homeless again — or going back to my abuser — came rushing back.” Nyla and other renters housed through the federal Emergency Housing Voucher program face a looming deadline to find alternative housing assistance, after the Trump administration announced that funding will run out earlier than expected. The program, created by Congress in 2021 and initially expected to last through 2030, has helped people at risk of or experiencing homelessness as well as those fleeing domestic or dating violence, stalking or human trafficking. But with funding ending this year, some renters have been provided little guidance on what to do next. Some cities are transitioning them to other programs, but others are struggling with how to ensure the recipients don’t end up homeless. Some housing advocates say cities had plenty of warning about the end of funding and yet some didn’t act fast enough. Across the country, the program has provided roughly 70,000 vouchers across more than 600 local public housing authorities. Unlike other ongoing federal housing programs such as Section 8, the Emergency Housing Voucher program was crafted as extra pandemic-era assistance. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced in March 2025 that funding would run out for the program in late 2026, effectively accelerating the end of the initiative years ahead of its original timeline. HUD [said the money](https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/OCHCO/documents/PIH%5F2025-19.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) went faster than expected “due to historic increases in rental prices.” > [Housing advocates worry states can’t fill rental aid gaps if Trump cuts go through](https://stateline.org/2025/06/16/housing-advocates-worry-states-cant-fill-rental-aid-gaps-if-trump-cuts-go-through/?ref=down-ballot.info) HUD did not answer Stateline questions about the program. In New York, Nyla was accepted into the program in the summer of 2022, found an apartment a year later, and moved in by fall 2023\. Before that, she spent years living with relatives after leaving her abuser in 2016, because the lingering financial abuse and trauma made it difficult to secure stable housing on her own, she said. Nyla received an initial notice warning of the program’s diminishing funds in August 2025\. A second letter in March informed her that the program would run out of money in 2026\. Now, she could be evicted and lose her home. **Transitioning to Section 8** As of April 15, more than 47,000 [ emergency vouchers remained actively leased](https://www.hud.gov/helping-americans/housing-choice-vouchers-emergency-dash?ref=down-ballot.info), according to HUD. That’s a drop from [roughly 59,000 in April 2025](https://www.urban.org/projects/how-have-communities-used-emergency-housing-vouchers-prevent-and-end-homelessness?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=In%20May%202021%2C%20HUD%20allocated,communities%20implemented%20the%20EHV%20program:). Vouchers are heavily concentrated in large coastal and urban states, with the two highest cluster of voucher recipients in New York City (5,125 vouchers) and the Los Angeles region (2,823 in the city and 1,624 in the county). Additional concentrations are spread across New York state agencies (1,772 and 1,385) and other major metros — including Chicago (615), Philadelphia (716), the Seattle area (689), and Santa Clara County, California (591). Before the end of 2025, some housing authorities began preparing for the elimination of the emergency vouchers, such as [adjustments made to](https://www.thecha.org/news/chicago-housing-authority-cha-board-commissioners-approves-14-billion-fy2026-budget?utm%5Fsource) the Chicago Housing Authority’s fiscal 2026 budget. For city programs that had relatively low numbers of voucher holders, such as the 45 recipients in Iowa City, Iowa, the [city will transition them](https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/icgov/25acf24bf6190c9f4c04f6981fd244d10.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) into the regular Section 8 federal Housing Choice Voucher program without having to reopen the waitlist. New York City Housing Authority officials originally planned to transition people from emergency vouchers to regular Section 8 vouchers, but were unable to do so because the agency lacks funding and is in “shortfall status.” The city said it sought a federal waiver from that requirement but was denied. > [HUD reintroduces proposed rule targeting rental aid for mixed-status immigrant households](https://stateline.org/2026/02/24/hud-reintroduces-proposed-rule-targeting-rental-aid-for-mixed-status-immigrant-households/?ref=down-ballot.info) The agency says it has about 5,200 active Emergency Housing Voucher participants, but lacks the funding to move them into the regular Section 8 program. Instead, the agency is urging participants to apply for public housing by May 1, after which it will begin trying to match eligible households to vacant units. But officials say they cannot guarantee placement in another program or apartment. “Participants must complete a public housing application,” Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Sklar said in an email to Stateline. “NYCHA encourages residents to submit their application by May 1 and will be accepting applications on a rolling basis through the summer.” But housing advocates believe the agency should have planned better, noting that the Trump administration signaled more than a year ago that funding would run out earlier than expected. “That wasn’t a secret,” said Gabbi Sandoval Requena of New Destiny Housing, a New York City-based nonprofit that provides housing and services to domestic violence survivors and their families. “There is no public plan from NYCHA for how to transition these households, and the way this was communicated created a lot of anxiety and confusion. For domestic violence survivors, it could mean going back to their abuser — putting their lives and their children’s lives at risk.” **Other city options** A potential lifeline for those losing the emergency vouchers, a separate New York City rental assistance program called CityFHEPS — Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement — is subject of a legal battle over its cost. New Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his campaign had promised to expand the program but instead is continuing [a lawsuit](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27905020-vincent-v-adams-brief-for-appellants/?ref=down-ballot.info) to block that expansion, saying it would cost too much money. City agencies see no perfect solution to keep former emergency voucher recipients housed long term. Roughly 2,000 additional New Yorkers get emergency housing vouchers from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development. Kim Moscaritolo, a spokesperson for the agency, said the city is attempting to transition those households to a separate, locally funded subsidy — [HOME tenant-based rental assistance](https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/home/topics/tbra/?ref=down-ballot.info) — that could extend assistance by about two years. “We are limited by the resources that are available to us, because when a program that’s supposed to last for 10 years suddenly loses funding, it’s always a challenge to figure out how to keep people in their homes,” said Moscaritolo. “It’s not a perfect solution, but it at least extends the opportunity for these folks to have that same sort of housing stability.” New York Democratic state Sen. Brian Kavanagh introduced legislation that would open up an existing state housing program to those [at risk of losing their federal rental subsidies.](https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S9430/amendment/A?ref=down-ballot.info) He and other lawmakers also are fighting to increase state funding for that program. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles told Stateline it allocated 3,365 emergency housing vouchers. With the funding for the program set to expire in 2026, the program is no longer accepting new applicants and sent out notices regarding the sunset of the program, a spokesperson told Stateline. **Uncertainty for voucher holders** The loss of these vouchers have some recipients wondering how to stay housed. Do they go back to shelters — which advocates say could be further overwhelmed with evicted voucher holders — or, in some cases, go back to the chaotic situation that led to homelessness in the first place? > [Survivors of domestic and sexual violence can break their leases early in some states](https://stateline.org/2024/05/10/survivors-of-domestic-and-sexual-violence-can-break-their-lease-early-in-some-states/?ref=down-ballot.info) Many survivors of domestic violence struggle to leave because they don’t have enough money or a safe place to live. According to a survey by the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence, 73% of survivors nationally said their financial situation affected their ability to leave an abusive relationship, while 28% of survivors reported being denied housing due to experiences with domestic violence. A bill in Nyla’s home state, New York, would prohibit landlords from asking for [information or proof from a victim of domestic violence](https://legiscan.com/NY/bill/A09112/2025?ref=down-ballot.info) in order to apply for housing. Nyla recounted being denied on application by landlords when she first looked for apartments after leaving her abuser. She said that landlords were fearful that the situation she left would follow her and possibly cause issues in the apartments she was applying for. She said finding an apartment became her second job. “You’re judged before you even say you’re a survivor, and I’m already seen as not reliable, not worthy just for having housing assistance,” she said. “They double-check you, like they don’t believe what’s on your application. And I think regardless of the situation we left, we are deserving of a safe, stable home just like market-rate renters.” *Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached at* *rsequeira@stateline.org* *.* [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) - 10:50 am This story was updated to correct Gabbi Sandoval Requena's name. ### Transco Pipeline Project Faces Legal Challenge URL: https://down-ballot.info/transco-pipeline-project-faces-legal-challenge/ Last updated: 2026-04-27T09:00:09.000Z By Lisa Sorg April 21, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21042026/transco-southeast-pipeline-lawsuit/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* Five environmental groups are petitioning a federal appeals court to invalidate a water quality permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a controversial Transco pipeline. The $1.5 billion Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) would run through five states, [including North Carolina, where it would extend for 28 miles](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02102024/gaslighting-north-carolina-beekeepers-pipeline-expansion/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Rockingham, Guilford, Forsyth and Davidson counties. The SSEP is one of the largest pipeline capacity expansions in the Southeast in decades, and necessary, Transco says, to meet regional demand for natural gas. It involves adding pipelines alongside existing ones to carry more gas between the Gulf and the Southeast. For 165 of the pipeline’s 173 stream and wetland crossings, Transco received a federal water quality permit from the Corps to construct the pipelines using a “dry-ditch, open-cut” crossing method, which can permanently damage aquatic ecosystems. The method involves dewatering the construction site by diverting the river or stream flow while the ditch is dug and the pipe is laid, according to a 2021 study by Downstream Strategies of West Virginia, an economic and environmental consulting firm. The goal is to reduce the sediment releases from pipeline construction into the stream. However, releases still occur, the study says, often when the diversion materials are being installed. Excess sediment can suffocate aquatic life, and bury their food sources and eggs. It can also carry other pollutants, which burden treatment plants if the river is a drinking water supply. “Rivers have the right to flow and thrive. Our communities and all species have the right to a healthy environment. We continue to raise our voices against SSEP, and the dangerous policies that put corporate profit over community wellbeing,” said Crystal Cavalier-Keck, executive director of 7 Directions of Service, a North Carolina environmental nonprofit led by indigenous people. The Southern Environmental Law Center and the Appalachian Mountain Project are representing the plaintiffs before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals: Wild Virginia, 7 Directions of Service, Haw River Assembly, Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices. Williams, the parent company of Transco, told Inside Climate News that “the Southeast Supply Enhancement project has undergone a rigorous, multi‑year review process, and the Army Corps of Engineers issued the Section 404 permits following a thorough evaluation under federal law. We strongly disagree with the claims raised in the SELC lawsuit and are confident the Corps’ permitting decision is sound and will be upheld.” The Corps did not respond to a request for comment. [More than 90 environmental groups ](https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession%5Fnum=20241217-5121&ref=down-ballot.info)had petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in 2024 to require Transco to submit a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement about the project. Instead, the following year, FERC allowed the company to file an Environmental Assessment, which is less thorough and has a shorter public comment period. Many local governments along the SSEP route in North Carolina passed resolutions of concern about the expansion, which will also require new, powerful compressor stations that push the gas down the pipeline. Compressor stations release many harmful air pollutants, including carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter and greenhouse gases. The SSEP is part of a [vast natural gas expansion in North Carolina](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/gaslighting/?ref=down-ballot.info). It would intersect Enbridge’s T15 Reliability Project, which runs 45 miles between Person County and Rockingham County, near Eden, and the MVP Southgate, also near Eden. MVP Southgate is an extension of the main Mountain Valley Pipeline, which runs 300 miles through West Virginia and Virginia. A consortium of energy companies owns it. The pipelines in North Carolina would supply Duke Energy’s immense natural gas projects, including two new power plants in Person County, which are under construction. Duke has proposed at least five more, which will require approval by the state Utilities Commission. Transco began construction on the SSEP on March 2, according to commission filings. Contractors have begun to fell trees, install acoustic barriers and conduct test drilling in preparation for blasting. “SSEP would trench across streams and wetlands, damaging sensitive aquatic ecosystems,” said Caroline Hansley, campaign organizing strategist for the Sierra Club, in a prepared statement. “Regulators have consistently ignored the overwhelming burden the SSEP project would place on the environment and the communities it would run through. Communities all along the proposed route have passionately spoken out against this unneeded project.” ### First frieght train rolls into Asheville since Helene in 2024 URL: https://down-ballot.info/first-frieght-train-rolls-into-asheville-since-helene-in-2024/ Last updated: 2026-04-23T19:34:59.000Z **It's Friday, April 24, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** First freight train rolls into Asheville from Old Fort since Helene, America doesn’t depend on the Strait of Hormuz — but rural Alaska does, NC lawmakers give initial OK to Medicaid bailout bill amid concerns over provisions, Virginia voters back redistricting after months of legal and political battles, Illinois Farm Bureau sees ‘moral obligation’ to protect livestock from extreme weather. It opposes temperature standards for workers, Nearly one in five New Orleanians — and one in three children — are food insecure, 298 days: Iranian asylum seeker released after judge rules ICE violated his rights, Georgia’s ACA enrollment plunges, raising concerns for rural hospitals. **Media outlets and others featured:** Carolina Public Press, Alaska Beacon, NC Newsline, Maryland Matters, Investigate Midwest, Verite News, El Paso Matters, The Current GA --- # First freight train rolls into Asheville from Old Fort since Helene by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press April 20, 2026 Freight trains westbound toward Asheville are back on the tracks for the first time since Tropical Storm Helene ravaged railroad infrastructure in the North Carolina mountains, bringing with them a welcome boost to local economies and a revived hope that passenger service may finally return to the region. On Saturday, April 18, Norfolk Southern’s NS 9900 train carrying freight departed Hickory shortly after 8 a.m. and rumbled into the Asheville rail yard around 2:30 p.m. With 59 cars carrying cement, paper, plastic pellets, hops and barley malt, it was the first revenue train to complete that route since the devastating floods, Norfolk Southern spokesperson **Heather Garcia** told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). A crowd of rail enthusiasts gathered at the historic train depot in Old Fort, close to where the final repairs had taken place, to celebrate Norfolk Southern’s return and to watch the train roll by. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Damage from the storm had especially impacted a winding, 15-mile section of rail which includes the “Old Fort Loops,” an impressive feat of engineering which guides trains up a steep ascent through a network of tunnels as they approach the Blue Ridge mountains. The loops were the last section on the Asheville-Salisbury line to come back online after a massive [rebuilding effort](https://carolinapublicpress.org/71209/train-restored-western-nc-repairs-helene-continue/?ref=down-ballot.info). Without them, the connection between industry in the North Carolina mountains and the rest of the state had essentially been severed. Rebuilding the loops was no easy task, said Norfolk Southern’s chief engineer of design and construction **Alan Johnson**. “It is a fascinating piece of railroad to say the least,” Johnson said. “We really had to be strategic,” he added, “to combat this unforgiving mountain.” ![map visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/28560099/thumbnail) In some areas, the rail bed had completely washed away, leaving tracks floating in the air with nothing to support them underneath. Crews had to navigate steep and rocky terrain with very few access points just to get to the sections that needed repairs. In all, it took nearly a full year to get the tracks operational again. On April 7, Norfolk Southern ran a test car through the loops with no issue, signaling that the railroad was ready to fully reopen to freight. Watching that first train car on the rebuilt tracks felt “fantastic,” Johnson said. “We see destruction, but dealing with hurricanes in mountainous areas is not something you deal with very often,” he said. “It was just amazing to think about October of ’24, (the destruction) we saw with our eyes, and then just the ability to rebuild this area is just extraordinary.” ### ‘Welcome back’ rally draws dedicated Old Fort crowd **Cathy Moore**, an Old Fort native and volunteer caretaker for the railroad museum there, organized the rally at the historic train depot, which drew close to 300 people. Onlookers waved miniature North Carolina and American flags and held signs that read “Welcome Back!” Arriving around 10:30 a.m., the crew stopped the train en route to Asheville to get off and take pictures with the crowd. “I don’t know if I could have written a better script,” Moore said. The importance of restoring freight rail went beyond the economic impact that it provides, she added. It’s also a cultural bedrock of her hometown. “The thing about Old Fort is the railroad is such a significant part of the town and the community's DNA,” Moore said. “We were worried that we were going to lose a part of who we were.” The restored connection between Asheville and Salisbury also means that the dream of bringing back passenger rail to the region is still alive. For more than 20 years, advocates like Moore have pushed the state and federal government and railroad operators to return passenger service between the two cities, which ended in 1975. Those advocates formed a nonprofit organization, the [WNC Rail Committee](https://wncrailcommittee.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), to work toward that goal. They had begun to make progress in recent years. In December 2023, the Federal Railroad Administration identified the proposed Asheville-Salisbury route as worthy of further planning and development, and it provided funds to advance that work. However, Helene’s destruction of the tracks along that line 10 months later threatened to bring that momentum to a screeching halt. “Passenger rail cannot exist without freight,” Moore explained. That’s why she became such a cheerleader for Norfolk Southern in the wake of the storm. The company, in turn, appreciated the encouragement they received from locals during the course of the arduous rebuild. “That support definitely went a long way, and it was incredibly important to the team and really had a positive impact on this project,” Johnson said. ### With freight back on track, are passengers next? With the Old Fort Loops repaired, rail infrastructure is mostly back to normal in Western North Carolina. Florida-based CSX Transportation, which is the only other Class 1 railroad operator in the region, completed repairs on its line between Spruce Pine and Erwin, Tenn., in September. Short-line railroads like Blue Ridge Southern Railroad, which hauls freight from Asheville to Sylva and Hendersonville, and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, an excursion railway which takes passengers through the scenic national park, are also open for business. With Helene-related repairs in the rearview, all eyes are on the future of rail in the region, according to WNC Rail Committee co-chair **Ray Rapp**. For him, that means continuing to advance passenger rail’s comeback. The proposed Asheville-Salisbury route would connect to the Charlotte-Raleigh line that moved a record 740,000 passengers last year. Development of the route would cost $665 million, but 80% of that cost would be covered by the federal government if they were to give the OK on the project. **Jason Orther**, the head of NCDOT’s rail division, confirmed to state legislators in an oversight hearing earlier this month that the state and federal government were still working on evaluating seven proposed passenger rail expansions across the state, including the Asheville-Salisbury line. Rapp, who in a previous life was a state representative for parts of Haywood, Madison and Yancey counties, said the Asheville-Salisbury corridor was “at the top of the list” among those seven proposed routes. “We're way ahead in the corridor development planning stages,” he said. An economic impact report from NCDOT estimated that the project would be well worth the cost by producing more than $80 million in annual economic output, employee earnings and tax revenue. “It's not just, ‘it's a nice idea’ or ‘wouldn't it be a nostalgic trip?,’” Rapp said. “We're talking about important job-providing opportunities, as well as investment opportunities along these lines.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75341/first-freight-train-from-old-fort-since-helene-rolls-into-asheville/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- ## America doesn’t depend on the Strait of Hormuz — but rural Alaska does ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/04/America_mg_0.jpg) The city of Unalaska, with the museum and the Aleut Corp. building, is seen in the winter of 2004\. Unlaska, a seafood-industry center with about 4,000 residents, is the part of the Aleutians West Census Area and is the largest community in the Aleutians. (Photo provided by the Alaska Division of Community and Regional Affairs) By Gwen Holdmann, Benjamin Mallott (Alaska Beacon) Published: April 23, 2026 All over the world, nations are grappling with the ripple effects of the war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for the global oil market. In the United States, however, President Donald Trump has emphasized that the country imports little oil through the strait, arguing that it “doesn’t need it.” At a national level, that’s largely true. The United States consumes roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day and imports only a small fraction through that chokepoint. But for diesel-reliant communities in Western Alaska, the story looks very different. The supply chains that vendors rely on are often tied to refineries in Asia, and those routes are deeply exposed to disruptions in and around the Strait of Hormuz. It may come as a surprise that much of the fuel consumed in rural Alaska is not from Alaska. This reflects both the state’s limited refining capacity and the constraints of global shipping routes and tanker availability. There are some exceptions. Yukon River communities, for example, receive fuel sourced from the Petro Star refinery and delivered by companies like Ruby Marine, providing a more stable and predictable supply. Much of Southeast Alaska, meanwhile, is supplied from refineries in Canada. But in much of Western Alaska — including the Aleutians, Alaska Peninsula, and Bering Sea coast — nearly all fuel has, at least in the recent past, been refined in Asia and shipped thousands of miles to reach its final destination, often on voyages that can take more than 40 days. These deliveries must occur within a narrow summer window, when sea ice retreats just long enough to allow access. And planning for those shipments is happening now. At a recent community meeting in Kotzebue, fuel suppliers laid out a sobering reality due to the recent market turmoil. Voluntary export controls in Japan and South Korea have introduced significant uncertainty into the availability of fuel for Western Alaska — regardless of price. Vendors like Crowley are now pivoting to Canadian suppliers, but those markets are under strain as well. Tom Atkinson, the chief executive of Kotzebue Electric Association, said that fuel quotes for the cooperative are roughly double what they were last year. Fuel is by far the largest cost driver in rural electric systems, and when it rises, everything else follows. Even so, Mr. Atkinson expects he will be able to secure supply for the cooperative. Prices will be high, but the fuel should arrive. He is far more concerned about smaller, upriver communities with fewer resources and even less flexibility. Their costs will almost certainly be much higher. State programs like the Bulk Fuel Revolving Loan Fund can help communities finance fuel purchases, but they do little to shield them from the underlying volatility of global markets. Even more concerning is the cost of heating oil. In Kotzebue, Atkinson said residents are already paying around $8 a gallon — a price that is quickly becoming untenable for many households. In more remote areas, such as the Kusilvak Census Area further south along the coast, households spent on average about 16 percent of their income on electricity alone even before this impending crisis. When heating oil is included — essential in a region with few trees or other options for heating — that share can rise to as much as 45 percent. That is among the highest energy burdens anywhere in the United States. And that was last year. At the same time that residents are bracing for a sharp increase in costs, the Trump administration has proposed, in its latest budget plan, eliminating funding for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which helps offset heating costs for low-income households. For many communities in Western Alaska, that support is not supplemental — it is essential. But the more troubling possibility is not just higher prices or the loss of assistance — it is supply itself. If deliveries are delayed or fall short, some communities could face shortages in the depths of winter, when a fuel shortage would become a true emergency. This is not the first time rural Alaska has been disproportionately exposed to global events. Consider the war in Ukraine. For years, fuel deliveries to Western Alaska quietly depended on a surprising player: Russia. Shipping routes serving Western Alaska often fall under the International Maritime Organization’s Polar Code, which establishes safety and environmental requirements for vessels operating in Arctic waters. Depending on the route and conditions, this can include ice-class design, specialized equipment and additional crew training. These requirements add cost to already expensive supply chains, particularly in remote regions with limited shipping options. Compounding the challenge, ice-strengthened tankers are relatively scarce worldwide, with Russia maintaining one of the largest fleets. As a result, fuel bound for Western or northern Alaska communities was often carried on Russian-built or Russian-operated vessels, sometimes under foreign flags, traveling from Asian refineries to the Alaskan coast. The system was largely invisible, but it worked. In 2012, for example, the Russian ice-capable tanker *Renda*, escorted by the U.S. Coast Guard cutter *Healy*, delivered an emergency winter fuel shipment to Nome after early sea ice and fall storms cut off the community — an [event that made the national news](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/us/fuel-tanker-renda-and-icebreaker-healy-are-sighted-off-nome.html?ref=down-ballot.info). That system began to unravel after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sanctions sharply curtailed access to Russian-linked vessels, and almost overnight, the availability of Polar Code-compliant tankers tightened. Shipping costs rose dramatically. And that additional cost is not limited to transporting fuel to Western Alaska. These vessels are often stationed offshore for extended periods, effectively serving as floating tank farms while smaller barges shuttle fuel to individual communities along the coast and river systems. The expense is therefore not just delivery, but time — standby charges of many thousands of dollars a day that accumulate quickly and are ultimately passed on to customers. Those costs rose several-fold after the invasion and they have not come back down. This is what energy insecurity looks like in America. If there is a lesson here, it is not simply that global events matter. It is that Alaska is not insulated from them — especially in the places that can least afford it. We have built an energy system in rural Alaska that depends on long, fragile supply chains stretching across oceans and geopolitical fault lines. For decades, this system has held together. But it is becoming more expensive, more uncertain and more exposed with each passing year. This reality should shape how we think about energy policy in this state. Reducing fuel use, diversifying local energy systems and maintaining the programs that help households afford basic energy services are not abstract goals — they are essential to keeping communities viable in the long run. In the short term, there are also practical steps the state can take: increasing the loan cap in the Bulk Fuel Revolving Loan Fund, ensuring adequate support for the Alaska Heating Assistance Program and preparing for potential shortfalls in the Power Cost Equalization program. These steps are not precautionary — they are necessary. When global systems falter, it is not the Lower 48 — or even more urban places in Alaska — that feels it first or most acutely. It is communities like Kotzebue, Emmonak, and Hooper Bay. The lesson is not simply that global events matter. It is that our energy system is far more interconnected — and far more unequal in how it distributes risk and cost — than we tend to acknowledge. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://alaskabeacon.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## NC lawmakers give initial OK to Medicaid bailout bill amid concerns over provisions By Brandon Kingdollar, Christine Zhu (North Carolina Newsline) Published: April 22, 2026 North Carolina House and Senate lawmakers voted nearly unanimously Wednesday to approve a measure that bails out the state’s Medicaid program, which was on the verge of running out of money after it was underfunded last year. But the bailout bill, [House Bill 696](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H696?ref=down-ballot.info), comes with a long list of policy changes and “anti-fraud” measures. Bill supporters from both parties say the provisions are needed to make sure the state can maintain its expanded Medicaid program in the face of federal changes. But advocates say some changes are unnecessarily harsh and will have unintended consequences. [Republicans in the House and Senate failed to agree on a bill last year ](https://ncnewsline.com/2025/10/22/nc-lawmakers-still-at-impasse-leave-town-with-new-voting-map-but-no-budget-or-medicaid-fix/?ref=down-ballot.info)that would have provided the full funding the North Carolina Dept. of Health and Human Services said Medicaid would require for the year. Some Republicans doubted that the $319 million figure was accurate. But House and Senate Republican leaders said Tuesday they had agreed on the figure. > [NC lawmakers will fill Medicaid funding gap, but larger state budget issues remain unresolved](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/04/21/nc-lawmakers-will-fill-medicaid-funding-gap-but-larger-state-budget-issues-remain-unresolved/?ref=down-ballot.info) However, House Speaker Destin Hall said Tuesday the funding bill would also include provisions to control costs. He said the increasing cost of Medicaid is unsustainable: “We’ve got to get our arms around it.” The legislation adds oversight measures to mitigate waste and abuse. These include requiring county-level officials to more frequently review eligibility, changing monitoring from quarterly to monthly. The bill also raises copays for inpatient hospital care to $25 per visit, the maximum allowable amount under federal Medicaid requirements. It also implements a three-month “lookback period” for work requirements, also the federal maximum, meaning applicants must demonstrate 80 hours of work, educational, or community service activities per month over the three months prior to be eligible for coverage. John Broome, the government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network North Carolina, said the bill will place an especially heavy burden on cancer patients, who must receive frequent inpatient care. “This bill creates unnecessary red tape for patients seeking cancer treatment as well as anyone needing access to screenings by adding extra layers of bureaucracy and increasing patient costs,” Broome said in a statement. However, both Democrats and Republicans said the changes will maintain the state’s eligibility for the maximum 90%/10% federal funding match for the Medicaid program. “I want you all to make sure you understand – 700,000 people got picked up on the Medicaid expansion,” said Rep. Carla Cunningham (D-Mecklenburg). “We were attempting not to lose as many as possible, even by putting the federal guidelines in place.” A major source of concern for immigration advocates is a provision that requires workers at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to refer any Medicaid applicant or recipient for whom “citizenship or satisfactory immigration status could not be verified” to the Department of Homeland Security for investigation. Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Medicaid benefits, with the exception of pregnant individuals, who may receive emergency Medicaid covering prenatal care, labor and delivery, and post-partum care. Rep. Maria Cervania (D-Wake) said she was concerned about how the changes would affect pregnant women, children and their families. She predicted some would skip preventive care and wait until they’re very ill to seek care in emergency rooms instead. “They love North Carolina, and those people may be facing the loss of access to basic health care coverage because of these new requirements,” she said. “Those costs don’t disappear just because we ignore them.” According to [news outlet The 19th](https://19thnews.org/2026/03/ice-deporting-pregnant-postpartum-immigrants-data/?ref=down-ballot.info), the Trump administration deported more than 300 pregnant, postpartum, and nursing immigrants between January 2025 and February 2026. “By forcing our county workers to act as federal informants, the state is making every child in our community less safe,” advocacy group Siembra NC Co-Director Kelly Morales said in a statement. “North Carolina Republican Party leadership should present a clean Medicaid funding bill that provides care, not fear, to all North Carolinians.” The bill also empowers the state auditor to conduct a “performance audit” of the state Medicaid program, providing the office with $500,000 to do so. This is among the measures that Hall said Tuesday are aimed at “cutting out waste, fraud, and abuse.” “We’re going to ask the state auditor to do an audit of the program to look for areas of efficiency and where we may be inefficiently spending our resources,” said Rep. Tim Reeder (R-Pitt). “We’ve heard a lot in other states about fraud and waste and abuse, some really egregious examples.” But House Democratic Leader Robert Reives (D-Chatham) said on Wednesday that the provision serves only to undercut North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, who has authority over prosecuting Medicaid fraud. He likened it to overhauls that shifted responsibility over the state Board of Elections and other regulatory entities [from the governor’s administration to the auditor](https://ncnewsline.com/2024/11/19/legislation-would-place-nc-elections-under-gop-auditors-purview-stripping-power-from-governor/?ref=down-ballot.info). “There’s this office that we’ve got that presently still has its same duties, and we call it the attorney general,” Reives said. “I am confident that voters made a decision of who they wanted for attorney general, who they wanted for governor, who they wanted for state auditor, based on the definitions that were provided at the time.” Nonetheless, Reives and every other House Democrat except Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford) voted in favor of H696\. It passed the House by a vote of 112-1, and passed 48-1 in the Senate, with Sen. Michael Garrett (D-Guilford) the lone “no” vote there. The bill is scheduled for a final vote in both chambers April 28\. It then goes to Gov. Josh Stein for his signature. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://ncnewsline.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Medicaid breakthrough comes with unexpected immigration mandates by Anne Blythe, Ashley Fredde and Rose Hoban, North Carolina Health News April 23, 2026 #### **By Anne Blythe, Ashley Fredde and Rose Hoban** Lawmakers voted for a $319 million package on Wednesday to fully fund the state’s Medicaid program through the end of the fiscal year, settling a monthslong feud with the governor over how much it will cost to avert a projected shortfall in May. While the funding is designed to prevent cuts and maintain the current level of care for the more than [3 million beneficiaries](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/about-nc-medicaid/what-we-do?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=What%20Medicaid%20Does,now%20get%20covered%20through%20Medicaid.) of the subsidized health insurance program for low-income people, the bill adds mandates that immigrant rights advocates say could have “a chilling effect” and jeopardize the health of U.S.-born children in immigrant families — and others in those households who have legal status to be in the country. [The bill](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2025/H696?ref=down-ballot.info), which must get final votes in both chambers before it can be sent to the governor for a thumbs up or down, won bipartisan support in the state House of Representatives and Senate. While Democratic members of both chambers overwhelmingly voted in support — with a single nay vote in each chamber, several members on the floor noted that because of time constraints they’d reserve their comments for the bill’s next vote on April 28. Ahead of the bill’s introduction in both chambers, the House Democratic Caucus criticized the lack of collaboration or even advance notice from Republicans crafting the bill when it came to Medicaid and the budget. “We're not told who put the budget together, still don't know who wrote what. We don't know where anything came from in the budget, and we're going from there,” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives (D-Goldston) said during a news conference before the vote. “The House passed a clean rebase bill last year, so I'm glad to see that everybody else in the building is coming along,” Reives said. “This bill has things in it that I need to look at, comparing our bill to the requirements that the federal government has now, and seeing what's been stuck in there that was just stuck in there.” ![House Democratic Caucus members speak at the General Assembly during the short session.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/img_1524_720.jpg) House Democratic Caucus criticized the lack of collaboration or even advance notice from Republicans crafting the bill when it came to Medicaid and the budget. #### **Feud between two branches** The need for the bill stems from a debate that began last summer over the annual Medicaid “rebase” — the budget adjustment made each year to account for enrollment changes, inflation in medical costs and any other changes to reflect the true program costs. At the time, Republican leaders in the state House and Senate could not reach agreement on spending priorities for the biennium that started July 1, 2025\. That led to a standoff that has shown no signs of abating, leaving North Carolina as the only state that has yet to pass a comprehensive budget for the two-year period. Amid that backdrop, [lawmakers approved a “minibudget” in late July](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/08/01/general-assembly-mini-budget-carves-chunks-out-of-health-and-human-services-spending/?ref=down-ballot.info) that allocated $500 million toward the annual rebase for the fiscal year that ends June 30\. Several weeks later, Democratic Gov. Josh Stein [sent lawmakers a letter](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/29/medicaid-rate-standoff/?ref=down-ballot.info) noting that what had been approved was $319 million short of what was needed to fully fund Medicaid for the year. [Republican lawmakers disputed that amount](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/10/22/medicaid-cuts-squeeze-providers/?ref=down-ballot.info), citing legislative analysts who put the additional cost needed to get through the fiscal year closer to $119 million. For many months, it looked like the two branches of government were playing fiscal chicken. The governor [initiated Medicaid rate cuts in October](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/10/17/rate-cuts-criticized/?ref=down-ballot.info), saying he had done so begrudgingly because lawmakers had not provided what was needed to make it through the fiscal year. In December,[ after several lawsuits](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/14/parents-win-medicaid-cuts-pause/?ref=down-ballot.info) against his administration resulted in a judge reversing cuts for autism therapy and personal care providers, [Stein rolled all the cuts back](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/12/11/stein-restores-medicaid-rates/?ref=down-ballot.info). Republican lawmakers accused Stein of playing politics, arguing that they wanted to dig deeper into his estimates and would come through with the needed funding before services had to be cut. Ultimately, though, Stein’s early estimate was the one lawmakers went with in the bill this week. #### **Resolving Medicaid funding impasse** Lawmakers started signaling a few weeks ago that they’d reached an agreement over the amount needed to fund Medicaid and would prioritize the funding when they returned this week for the opening of their short session. They also needed to make changes to the program to conform to new work requirements in the [One Big Beautiful Bill Act,](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text?ref=down-ballot.info) the federal budget approved last July. Those [new federal requirements](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/01/30/medicaid-funding-strategy/?ref=down-ballot.info) will affect the nearly 700,000 people who qualified for Medicaid when the state expanded the program to include more beneficiaries in 2023\. Traditional Medicaid recipients — low-income children, some parents of those children, low-income seniors and people with disabilities — won’t be subject to the work requirements. One of the complicating factors of Medicaid funding was the possibility that changes in the funding formula could unwind the state's long-fought expansion of Medicaid to about 700,000 new enrollees. But the bill makes changes to how hospitals — which have paid the state’s 10 percent portion of the costs for the expansion population — could continue contributing those funds even as the federal bill limited the way that states could tax Medicaid revenues. #### **‘Gateways’ to immigration checkpoints?** Immigrant rights advocates flagged parts of the bill on Wednesday, saying one section in particular would transform “local healthcare gateways into immigration checkpoints.” The bill requires the state Department of Health and Human Services or county social service departments to “promptly refer any applicant or recipient for which citizenship or satisfactory immigration status could not be verified” to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “or any other appropriate federal authority for investigation and enforcement.” The referrals should be made, [according to the bill](https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewBillDocument/2025/7817/0/H696-PCCS10584-LUXR-3?ref=down-ballot.info), not only if someone’s immigration status cannot be determined, but also if someone has stayed beyond an authorized period for being in the country. Immigrant advocates have said that the law doesn’t just target immigrants; they contend it potentially targets the stability of families that have immigrant members. “This isn’t about eligibility; it’s about terrorizing parents who just want to take their kids to a doctor,” said Kelly Morales, co-director of [Siembra NC](https://siembranc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), grassroots organization that works to support immigrant and working-class Latino communities across the state. “By forcing our county workers to act as federal informants, the state is making every child in our community less safe.” Morales called on legislative Republicans to present a “clean” Medicaid funding bill without the immigration language. #### **Immigration restrictions debated** After the vote, House Rep. Tim Reeder (R-Ayden), an emergency medicine physician at the East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine, said he didn’t believe that the provisions in the bill would dissuade families with immigrant members from seeking care. “I think that what you're referring to is not in the bill,” he told NC Health News. But a [KFF survey of immigrants in the early days of the second Trump Administration](https://www.kff.org/immigrant-health/recent-trump-administration-policies-that-impact-health-coverage-and-care-for-immigrant-families/?ref=down-ballot.info) found that the share of immigrant adults who said they avoided applying to a government program that helps with food, housing or health care in the past year because they “did not want to draw attention to their or a family member’s immigration status” went from 8 percent in 2023 to 12 percent in 2025, with the largest portion being those who are likely undocumented (from 27 percent to 46 percent). Part of respondents’ reluctance to get care is their concerns about health care professionals sharing information with immigration enforcement officials — half (51 percent) of immigrant adults overall and about eight in ten (78 percent) of those who are likely undocumented say they are “somewhat” or “very” concerned about that. ![NC lawmaker, Rep. Maria Cervania, dressed in pink jacket speaks about the Medicaid bill on House floor at General Assembly.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/screenshot_2026-04-22_at_1.43.27___pm.png) In the past, North Carolina [has extended Medicaid coverage](https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/enrollment-strategies/medicaid-and-chip-coverage-of-lawfully-residing-children-pregnant-women?ref=down-ballot.info) to noncitizen children and pregnant women, but the [One Big Beautiful Bill Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text?ref=down-ballot.info) restricted many noncitizens from accessing health care, even if they are in the country legally. Some states have limited how much noncitizen Medicaid enrollee information they share with the Department of Homeland Security; they sued the federal government [and got an injunction](https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/98%20Order%20Granting%20in%20Part%20and%20Denying%20in%20Part%20PI.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that allows them to withhold that information. Rep. Maria Cervania (D-Cary), did speak on the floor Wednesday about her concerns that the North Carolina Medicaid rebase changes could have a negative impact on pregnant women and their families. “When coverage is disruptive, the need doesn't go away,” Cervania said. “That doesn't mean you don't have less health needs.” People might wait to get care until they have to go to an emergency room. Federal law requires hospitals treat people seeking emergency care regardless of their ability to pay, and if a hospital cannot properly treat a patient they must arrange safe and appropriate transfer to a facility that can. “They'll have higher risk pregnancies because they don't go to perinatal care,” Cervania said. “They'll be showing up when children should be getting preventive care that they know would cost.” “We know it costs less to do preventive care than have people show up in the emergency room,” Cervania added. “So ultimately, like I say, those costs don't disappear just because we ignore them. They shift off into our hospitals, our counties, our communities and, honestly, it shifts to every single North Carolinian here in our state.” This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/23/medicaid-package-includes-immigration-mandates/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/04/Virginia_mg_1.jpg) (Photo illustration by States Newsroom)(Photo illustration by States Newsroom) ## Virginia voters back redistricting after months of legal and political battles By Markus Schmidt (Maryland Matters) Published: April 22, 2026 Virginia voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment allowing mid-decade congressional redistricting, a move expected to dramatically reshape the state’s political map and potentially shift its congressional delegation from a closely divided 6-5 split to a heavily Democratic-leaning 10-1 advantage. By 8:50 p.m., the measure passed by a vote of 50.7-49.3% out of 2.5 million ballots cast, according to unofficial results from the Virginia Department of Elections, clearing the way for lawmakers to redraw district lines outside the traditional once-a-decade census cycle. The winning margin continued to increase throughout the night as more votes were tallied. Supporters argued the amendment gives Virginia flexibility to respond to aggressive redistricting efforts in several Republican-led states at the urging of President Donald Trump, while critics warned it opens the door to partisan gerrymandering and undermines long-standing constitutional guardrails. Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in a statement Tuesday evening that voters “approved a temporary measure to push back against a president who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress,” adding that Virginians “responded the right way: at the ballot box.” She said she plans to campaign with candidates across the commonwealth ahead of the midterms and emphasized her commitment to restoring the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission after the 2030 census. > [Senate leader calls latest redistricting effort from House a nonstarter](https://marylandmatters.org/2026/03/26/senate-leader-calls-latest-redistricting-effort-from-house-a-nonstarter/?ref=down-ballot.info) Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, said the results reflect what he described as a reaffirmation of democratic principles, arguing that voters “answered a question about the nature of our democracy … in favor of the people.” He said Virginians acted in response to what he called “unprecedented gerrymandering in other states,” adding that “fairness won” and “accountability won,” and that the outcome shows “the people will decide.” Virginia House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, said the outcome sends a national signal, arguing that voters rejected efforts to “rig our democracy” and instead affirmed that “power belongs to the people.” He said the vote could shape the 2026 midterms, adding that Virginians “stepped up and leveled the playing field for the entire country” and that “when the stakes are highest, we lead.” Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said the vote delivers “a massive blow to the GOP plot to rig control of Congress,” praising Virginia voters for what she described as answering a national call to protect democracy. At the same time, she cautioned that “the fight is far from over,” arguing that redistricting battles will continue to play out in state legislatures and that upcoming elections will be critical in determining who draws maps and holds power in the years ahead. Virginia House GOP Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said Tuesday’s outcome was “not unexpected,” arguing the process was “tilted” by what he described as “misleading ballot language and a massive spending advantage.” He said legal challenges will continue, adding that “the ballot box was never the final word here” and that Republicans will keep pushing for “fair maps, transparent process, and equal representation for every Virginian.” #### Special session sparks fast-moving redistricting push The effort to change Virginia’s redistricting rules began abruptly in late October, during a [special legislative session](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/10/27/democrats-push-redistricting-amendment-as-special-session-jolts-virginia-ahead-of-election/?ref=down-ballot.info) that had been called to address budget matters but quickly veered into a broader political fight. On Oct. 27 — days before the Nov. 4 statewide elections — Democratic lawmakers unveiled plans to pursue a constitutional amendment allowing congressional maps to be redrawn outside the traditional post-census cycle. [](https://virginiamercury.com/category/redistricting/va-redistricting-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) [](https://virginiamercury.com/category/redistricting/va-redistricting-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) [](https://virginiamercury.com/category/redistricting/va-redistricting-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) #### [**FULL COVERAGE: Virginia redistricting referendum**](https://virginiamercury.com/category/redistricting/va-redistricting-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) [](https://virginiamercury.com/category/redistricting/va-redistricting-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) [](https://virginiamercury.com/category/redistricting/va-redistricting-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) Within hours, the proposal ignited a sharp debate over timing, process and political intent. Scott, the speaker, framed the move as a response to national redistricting battles, saying at the time, “I think we have an opportunity now to send a message to the rest of the country that we’re not going to stand by while you rig this election. We will do everything in our power to level the playing field we were talking about.” Republicans, meanwhile, questioned both the substance and the setting. Del. Michael Webert, R-Fauquier, said the special session had been called for budget work, not constitutional changes. “We went into a special session to solve a very specific problem. It was not meant to be used as a tool to continuously identify issues and keep what they’re doing,” Webert said. “We shouldn’t (have been) in two sessions at the same time (and) because of that confusion, I believe … it delegitimizes specific legislative processes.” The session’s temperature rose further when Senate Democrats [blocked the reading](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/10/28/democrats-republicans-clash-in-virginia-senate-over-timing-and-intent-of-redistricting-amendment/?ref=down-ballot.info) of a communication from then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who had sharply criticized the effort. “I am disappointed to see the General Assembly reconvening this week to ram through a constitutional amendment on redistricting only seven days before the close of our 2025 statewide and House of Delegates election and with over one million voters already casting their ballot,” Youngkin wrote. On the Senate floor, Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, appealed to what he described as Virginia’s past bipartisan approach to redistricting reform. “Sometimes we must overcome our partisan desires and do what is right for the commonwealth as a whole,” Stanley said. “We looked Virginia voters in the eye, and promised them something fundamental, that Virginia would pick their representatives, and not the other way around. What message do we send to them if we walk away now?” Despite the divisions, lawmakers moved quickly. On the same day, [Democrats released](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/10/28/va-democrats-roll-out-redistricting-amendment-to-counter-gop-map-changes-in-other-states/?ref=down-ballot.info) the [amendment’s language](https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20242/HJ6007?ref=down-ballot.info), outlining a framework for mid-cycle redistricting subject to voter approval. The House [advanced the measure](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/10/29/va-house-pushes-through-last-minute-redistricting-amendment-as-gop-cries-foul/?ref=down-ballot.info) the following day, and the Senate [approved it](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/10/31/virginia-senate-approves-mid-decade-redistricting-amendment-in-party-line-vote/?ref=down-ballot.info) on Oct. 31 in a party-line vote, sending it forward in the multi-step constitutional process. That process required the amendment to pass again in a subsequent legislative session. > All across Virginia, people made their voices heard – and they said “YES” to a stronger, fairer future. > > Wins like these are what’s possible when people organize and mobilize to defend democracy. Thank you to our neighbors in Virginia for showing up in droves! > > — Wes Moore (@iamwesmoore) [April 22, 2026](https://twitter.com/iamwesmoore/status/2046759239176040867?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=down-ballot.info) When lawmakers reconvened in January, the proposal [moved forward](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/01/16/virginia-senate-democrats-advance-mid-decade-redistricting-amendment/?ref=down-ballot.info) — but soon became entangled in a series of legal challenges. #### Legal battles complicate road to the ballot In late January, a Virginia court [struck down](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/01/27/virginia-court-strikes-down-redistricting-amendment-headed-for-april-ballot/?ref=down-ballot.info) the amendment that had been slated for the April ballot, casting uncertainty over whether voters would ultimately weigh in. In a [22-page ruling](https://virginiamercury.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Redistricting.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), Tazewell County Circuit Court Judge Jack C. Hurley found that the legislature acted unlawfully in approving the redistricting amendment during a special session just days before the Nov. 4 election. Hurley concluded that lawmakers exceeded the scope of that session, violated their own procedural rules and failed to comply with constitutional and statutory requirements governing amendments to the Virginia Constitution. The state’s highest court [soon reversed](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/02/13/supreme-court-of-virginia-greenlights-redistricting-referendum/?ref=down-ballot.info) that trajectory. In February, the Supreme Court of Virginia [allowed](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i0cDoR7JteQ0prn33dOcobaWJNhnHuER/view?ref=down-ballot.info) the referendum to proceed, clearing the way for the issue to appear on the ballot. “Certainly the General Assembly was clear with the amendment process they put forward, and now it’s up to voters,” Spanberger said at the time, mere weeks after taking her oath of office. At the same time, Democrats [began outlining](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/02/05/virginia-democrats-release-long-awaited-10-1-congressional-map/?ref=down-ballot.info) what new congressional lines could look like. A proposed map released in early February would significantly reshape district boundaries and was widely seen as favoring Democrats across most of the state’s 11 congressional districts. Republicans [escalated their opposition](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/02/19/rnc-virginia-gop-lawmakers-file-emergency-lawsuit-to-stop-redistricting-vote/?ref=down-ballot.info) later that month, filing an emergency lawsuit seeking to block the vote and challenging the amendment process itself — a move that the same Tazewell County judge [granted](https://virginiamercury.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Tazewell.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) but that only applied to his jurisdiction. Once again, the Supreme Court of Virginia [stepped in](https://virginiamercury.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/260169-.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), granting a petition for review of the case and staying the temporary restraining order, which allowed the election to move forward statewide. However, the justices emphasized their decision does not resolve the underlying legal claims about whether the General Assembly followed proper procedures in advancing the amendment. Meanwhile, the referendum drew [national attentio](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/us/politics/virginia-redistricting-maps-midterms.html?ref=down-ballot.info)n, with prominent Democrats — including former President Barack Obama — [voicing support](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/03/05/obama-spanberger-welcome-virginia-supreme-court-ruling-allowing-redistricting-vote/?ref=down-ballot.info) while Virginia Republicans intensified their warnings as the campaign entered its final stretch. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://marylandmatters.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) On Tuesday evening, Obama [praised the outcome on X](https://x.com/barackobama/status/2046757352733397038?s=12&t=uQxq3EX7p3bygcqVfUnstg&ref=down-ballot.info), writing, “Congratulations, Virginia! Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet,” and thanking voters for “showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.” Campaign messaging grew increasingly contentious in March, particularly after mailers opposing the amendment invoked [civil rights era imagery](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/03/09/civil-rights-imagery-in-anti-redistricting-mailers-draws-outrage-in-virginia/?ref=down-ballot.info), prompting backlash and public criticism. Some Republicans [defended the mailers](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/03/10/grow-up-former-republican-delegate-defends-civil-rights-themed-mailers-in-redistricting-fight/?ref=down-ballot.info), adding to the broader political dispute surrounding the vote. [Early voting data](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/03/24/four-weeks-before-april-21-referendum-early-voting-shows-stronger-turnout-in-gop-leaning-areas/?ref=down-ballot.info) added another layer of uncertainty, with turnout showing strength in Republican-leaning areas even as both parties ramped up efforts to mobilize voters statewide. In the final weeks, [Spanberger balanced](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/04/08/as-referendum-nears-spanberger-balances-governing-and-campaigning/?ref=down-ballot.info) her governing responsibilities with public support for the amendment, while Youngkin returned to the campaign trail urging voters to reject it and continued to press [for court intervention](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/04/11/youngkin-returns-to-campaign-trail-calls-for-court-to-strike-redistricting-vote/?ref=down-ballot.info). In her statement Tuesday, Spanberger said that she remained “committed to ensuring Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission gets back to work after the 2030 census, and to protecting the process Virginians voted to create.” *—* [*Virginia Mercury*](https://virginiamercury.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions:* *info@virginiamercury.com* *.* --- # Illinois Farm Bureau sees ‘moral obligation’ to protect livestock from extreme weather. It opposes temperature standards for workers. by Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest April 22, 2026 **Key takeaways** - No federal heat protection standards exist. If signed into law, the legislation would make Illinois the eighth state to implement requirements for employers related to extreme heat. It would make Illinois just the third state to have standards related to cold temperatures. - Extreme temperatures affect workers across Illinois’ food system, from crews detasseling corn in rural areas to sanitation workers cleaning frozen pizza factories in Chicago. - Organizations representing employers across Illinois’ food system have argued the legislation’s requirements, such as paid water breaks at a certain temperature, could impact supply chains. Since last year, worker advocates and industry representatives in Illinois have negotiated over a potentially groundbreaking piece of legislation that would require employers to protect laborers from extreme temperatures. In private discussions, the Illinois Farm Bureau, a powerful lobbying organization for the state’s agricultural industries, voiced concern that the bill would impede farmers' ethical duty to care for their livestock. But, to some participants, one thing seemed to be missing: No mention of workers. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/gonzalez-headshot-immigration-panel-731x1024.png) Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, D-Chicago As climate change makes the weather hotter and more volatile, worker advocates have pushed to pass temperature standards into law this year. The legally binding standards in [House Bill 3762](https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?GAID=18&DocNum=3762&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=162628&SessionID=114&ref=down-ballot.info), such as paid water breaks, are necessary to protect workers’ health and safety — and prevent [death](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/06/24/high-temperatures-browbeat-us-as-regulators-discuss-new-heat-protection-rule-for-workers/?ref=down-ballot.info) — in a rapidly heating world, advocates argue. The bill, introduced by Chicago Democrat Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, is currently being debated in committee. No federal standard exists to protect workers from extreme heat. The Biden administration began implementing one, but its fate is [unclear](https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/04/trump-worker-heat-protection-standard-rollback-00866742?ref=down-ballot.info) under the Trump administration, which, in its first term, [removed](https://investigatemidwest.org/2021/10/21/temperatures-continue-to-rise-and-farmworkers-continue-to-be-at-risk/?ref=down-ballot.info) federal webpages linking extreme heat to human health. If the Illinois proposal were to become law, the state would be just the eighth to implement temperature standards. But the Illinois Farm Bureau has opposed the state proposal since its introduction last year. During negotiations and in a statement to Investigate Midwest, the Farm Bureau argued the legislation would “severely limit” farmers’ ability to care for their animals. The statement did not mention workers. “Agriculture is already extremely weather reliant,” said Chris Davis, the Illinois Farm Bureau’s director of state legislation. “Adding additional, artificial weather-related restrictions on a farm operation could cripple their ability to manage operations. Farmers have a moral and legal obligation to care for their animals in extreme weather. It is critical that farmers feed, water and protect their animals in extreme weather conditions.” Extreme heat can have devastating effects on livestock. Illinois ranks fourth in hog production, 20th in cattle production and 23rd in dairy production, according to the 2022 agricultural census. Heat stress in livestock has been linked to low fertility, smaller animals and death, all of which directly affect producers’ bottom lines. Academic research suggests livestock may be more susceptible to heat stress than humans in the same conditions. Hogs, for instance, lack sweat glands, which inhibit their ability to cool down on their own. To keep livestock healthy during heatwaves, researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suggest feeding animals at night, installing sprinklers in pens and providing enough water. But the researchers also emphasized the importance of keeping employees safe. “Maintaining feedlot employee health during a heat crisis is critical,” the researchers [wrote in a 2015 paper](https://extensionpubs.unl.edu/publication/g2266/2015/pdf/view/g2266-2015.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). “If they are suffering, they can’t do their best to care for the (animals), and managing heat stress can’t be accomplished.” Data showing heat-related illnesses in specific agricultural industries does not exist, but extreme heat regularly leads laborers to visit hospitals. Across all industries in Illinois between 2017 and 2024, more than 700 workers suffered heat-related injuries or conditions on the job, according to an analysis of hospital data by Brett Shannon, a researcher at the University of Illinois Chicago’s School of Public Health. The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration has not recorded a case of an Illinois feedlot employee suffering heat exhaustion over the past two decades. But heat illness can be [misdiagnosed](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31122023/california-farmworkers-dying-in-the-heat/?ref=down-ballot.info), and, sometimes, symptoms can be difficult to notice during the workday. In summer 2019 in Missouri, a feedlot employee finished a full shift, [according to OSHA records](https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection%5Fdetail?id=1415164.015&ref=down-ballot.info). Then, at 2 a.m., he began experiencing symptoms and checked himself into a hospital. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-4-1024x219.png) Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection record Other lobbying organizations that represent employers in the agriculture and food industries stressed, unprompted, to Investigate Midwest in statements and interviews that caring for workers was essential to their businesses. The Farm Bureau did not. The Farm Bureau declined to grant an interview. Investigate Midwest asked over email if the organization saw a “moral and legal obligation” to workers or, just in general, if it agreed worker safety was “critical.” “At this time, we will defer to the statement that we initially sent you,” a Farm Bureau spokeswoman said. ## **Extreme temperatures affect workers across Illinois’ food system** From corn fields in central Illinois to frozen pizza factories in Chicago, workers across the state’s food system contend with extreme temperatures. Illinois ranks second in corn acreage, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and a major corn processor, Archer Daniels Midland, is headquartered in the state. Among other processed food ingredients, ADM produces the high fructose corn syrup in Coca-Cola’s soft drinks. As temperatures soar in the summer — with heat indexes sometimes exceeding [100 degrees Fahrenheit](https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident%5Fdetail?id=97649.015&ref=down-ballot.info) — crews detassel corn stalks. The process allows corn companies, such as corporate behemoths [Bayer](https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/10/09/german-company-bayer-foreign-labor-nebraska-corn-safety/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Corteva](https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/09/25/americas-largest-corn-company-corteva-agriscience-labor-supply-chain-abuses-tbell-iowa/?ref=down-ballot.info), to control pollination, an essential step in crafting high-yield seed varieties. Yet farmworkers also risk being fired for taking breaks. “I’ve had bosses who, if they see you resting for a few minutes under a tree to recover yourself, think you’re wasting your time and send you home without pay,” a crew leader [told Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/2023/08/24/poor-regulatory-safeguards-leave-farmworkers-suffocating-in-the-face-of-increasing-heat-waves/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2023. And water availability is not consistent. Last June, an Illinois state inspector found an employer failed to provide adequate access to drinking water for its crew: “no cooler with cold water with disposable cups for the workers in remote field areas,” according to state records. At the time, Illinois was in the midst of one of its hottest Junes on record. The specific location of the farmworkers is redacted in the records, but, statewide, the month’s average temperature was more than 2 degrees Fahrenheit above the historical average, [according to the Illinois State Climatologist](https://stateclimatologist.isws.illinois.edu/2025/07/07/june-brought-summer-heat-storms/?ref=down-ballot.info). [ ](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/23921840/?utm%5Fsource=embed&utm%5Fcampaign=visualisation/23921840) The bill would require employers to provide paid breaks and cold water once the National Weather Service’s heat index reading for the area hits 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The legislation would also implement cold-weather standards, making Illinois the [third state](https://natlawreview.com/article/states-focus-worker-exposure-cold-temperatures?ref=down-ballot.info) to do so. According to the legislation, once the outside temperature reaches a wind chill index of 10 degrees Fahrenheit, employers must provide adequate attire and allow breaks to warm up. Dairy and nursery workers are some of the most affected by working in Illinois’ wintry conditions because the work is year-round, said Gabriela Gracia, a researcher at the Great Lakes Center for Farmworker Health and Wellbeing at the University of Illinois Chicago. Many workers have to bring their own garments to keep warm, which they may not have or need in their home countries, she said. “It’s incredibly difficult working in those conditions, especially when they’re coming from Mexico and they come directly into our coldest part of winter,” she said. “They’re outside for eight-to-10 hours a day with little-to-no protection.” Across all industries in Illinois between 2017 and 2024, just under 200 employees suffered cold-related injuries at work, according to the analysis by Shannon, the University of Illinois Chicago researcher. In Chicago, workers in the city’s many food manufacturing warehouses also face extreme temperatures, according to worker advocates. For indoor work, the proposed legislation would require employers to provide protections when the ambient temperature — the air temperature in a given space — is at or below 65 degrees Fahrenheit and at or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Sanitation workers can be exposed to both extremes during the same shift, said Andrew Herrera, with the Chicago Workers Collaborative. At a frozen pizza factory, for instance, a laborer could start cleaning the flash freezer before cleaning an industrial oven that was recently turned off. “You’ll move from an environment where you’re in sub-zero to above 130 degrees, from one room to the next, which causes a very particular strain on the body,” Herrera said. In some cases, according to worker advocates, food products might have more protections than employees. Workers of a food production facility that uses apples told Arise Chicago that, when it’s really hot in the summertime, there are rooms dedicated to keeping the fruit chilled. “The workers are not provided that same accommodation,” said Adam Kader, Arise Chicago’s public policy director. “And the ones that are working in those cooling rooms are not provided with anything to wear.” ## **Employers worry about effects on supply chain** Organizations representing employers said they were concerned that the legislation could affect supply chains. Growing hogs and cattle require a regular supply of feed, which Illinois’ grain processors produce. When a train arrives at a grain elevator, the product needs to be loaded on time, said Jeffrey Adkisson, the executive vice president at the Grain & Feed Association of Illinois. “No matter what the weather is, you got to get that train loaded in a certain period of time or face significant financial penalties,” he said. “We still care for our people. We still stress staying warm, being safe, staying cool when it’s hot, having appropriate clothing.” Adkisson pointed to another scenario that could slow down a company’s production. Grain elevator operators often clean their bins — the large metallic cylinders dotting rural Illinois — in the summer, which means the temperature inside the bin is hotter than outside. “You’re getting down to the bottom, and you’re almost done (cleaning): ‘Well, gee, we’ve got to take a break,’” he said. “You just add so many inefficiencies into that system.” The proposed legislation would also require employers to develop worker safety plans that address extreme temperatures. Industry groups oppose the measure. Many workplaces already have such plans in place that work for their individual facilities, said Donovan Griffith, the executive vice president and chief strategy officer with the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association, which represents many food production plants. Employers “understand their employees, they understand their workplace atmosphere, they understand the conditions in which their employees work,” he said. “Giving them the authority to create safety plans and implement them is, we think, the best direction to go.” The legislation would also implement fines for violating the temperature regulations. First offenders face up to $5,000, and another violation within three years could result in a $15,000 fine. Under the proposal, employees would also be able to sue companies over not providing a safe work environment related to temperature. Currently, with no legal standard, workers cannot. “That’s the heart of the problem,” said Kader, with Arise Chicago. “There really isn’t recourse for when people suffer temperature-related injuries.” This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/04/22/illinois-farm-bureau-sees-moral-obligation-to-protect-livestock-from-extreme-weather-it-opposes-temperature-standards-for-workers/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=759179&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- # Nearly one in five New Orleanians — and one in three children — are food insecure. What can City Hall do to address this? by Katie Jane Fernelius, Verite News New Orleans April 20, 2026 Before sunrise, volunteers at the Second Harvest Food Bank are already plating senior meals and loading trucks bound for pantries across South Louisiana. The food bank, which is located at a warehouse in Harahan, is the largest in the state and oversees a slew of initiatives that feed children in after-school programs, supply groceries to low-income seniors and help residents navigate applications for food benefits — all in addition to providing food across 23 parishes. It is, by any measure, an enormous and impactful operation. But it still isn’t enough. New Orleans is one of the hungriest cities in one of [the hungriest states ](https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2024-09/top-10-hungriest-states-us?ref=down-ballot.info)in the country. Approximately[ 70,000 New Orleanians](https://nola.gov/next/population-health-and-disease-prevention/topics/food-security-and-access/?ref=down-ballot.info) — or almost one in five residents — are considered food insecure, meaning they lack easy access to fresh and affordable food. For children, that number increases to[ nearly one in three](https://nola.gov/next/health-department/news/2026-01-28-city-of-new-orleans-awarded-mayors-alliance-action-fund-to-end-childhood-hunger-grant-fro/?ref=down-ballot.info). That outpaces the[ national average of 13.7%](https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics?ref=down-ballot.info) and, according to local public health and food access experts, ranks New Orleans among the more food-insecure cities in the country, despite its reputation as a culinary hotspot. Food-insecure families rely on a patchwork of local, state and federal programs, from school lunches to food pantries, in order to make ends meet. But many of those programs, especially the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — considered the most significant anti-hunger program in the United States — have been a political football in recent years, resulting in severe cuts and restrictions across the board. In Louisiana,[ ](https://investlouisiana.org/tracking-the-loss-of-food-assistance/?ref=down-ballot.info)nearly 50,000 residents [lost SNAP benefits ](https://investlouisiana.org/tracking-the-loss-of-food-assistance/?ref=down-ballot.info)between July and December of last year following the [passage of federal legislation](https://veritenews.org/2025/06/25/snap-medicaid-cuts-bill-hunger-avegno/?ref=down-ballot.info) that cut the program by $187 billion over a decade and imposed new work reporting requirements. With state and federal support on shaky ground, the New Orleans Health Department is stepping into the fray to address food insecurity in the city — while also acknowledging the limits of what City Hall can actually do. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/17134916/20260415_CZB_SecondHarvest_592.jpg) Volunteers Arthur Mann, left, and Pam Davis help prep meals for seniors at Second Harvest Food Bank in New Orleans on April 15, 2026. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/17134835/20260415_CZB_SecondHarvest_678_1.jpg) Mann regularly volunteers at Second Harvest Food Bank. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/17134757/20260415_CZB_SecondHarvest_839.jpg) Volunteer David Dauterive preps meals for kids at Second Harvest Food Bank. “A lot of this has to be policy work,” said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the deputy mayor of Health and Human Services in an interview last week. “How do we make food systems better so that more people can access fresh, healthy food?” Food cost is likely the biggest obstacle to food security in New Orleans. The city's poverty rate hovers around 23 percent — more than double the national average. Meanwhile, the average cost of a meal in Orleans Parish is$4.59, according to [a Health Department report](https://nola.gov/nola/media/Health-Department/Images/Making-Groceries-10-3.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). That is 28 percent above the national average, a gap that compounds quickly for families already stretched thin. Geography makes it worse. Large swaths of the city — New Orleans East, the Lower Ninth Ward, parts of Central City — are what the Health Department has designated a “food swamp,” an area thick with fast food and dollar stores but sparse on full-service grocery stores. And then there's the enrollment gap: the city’s own data found that only 65 percent of income-eligible New Orleanians are enrolled in SNAP, meaning tens of thousands of people who qualify for food assistance aren't receiving it. For all these reasons, food access was named as one of the city’s public health priorities in the Health Department’s 2022[ Community Health Improvement Plan](https://nola.gov/nola/media/Health-Department/Images/NOHD%5FNew-Orleans-CHIP-2022-2025%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), also known as CHIP, and, more recently, was listed among Mayor Helena Moreno’s priorities in [her 100-day plan](https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2026/01/12/mayor-helena-moreno-100-day-plan-priorities?ref=down-ballot.info). The Health Department has pursued a variety of initiatives to address food insecurity: In 2023, the department used[ American Rescue Plan Act dollars](https://nola.gov/next/arpa/projects-spending/public-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) to fund programs such as the Top Box produce prescription initiative, which delivered curated boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables to participants dealing with chronic health issues. ARPA dollars also helped fund the development of[ a fresh produce market](https://sankofanola.org/fresh-start-market/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the Lower 9th Ward. The Health Department also hired a dedicated food access specialist — the first time the city had a staff member whose sole job was connecting residents to nutrition assistance. Luke Felty, who was hired into the position in 2024, rotates through community centers across town, helping residents enroll in — or stay enrolled in — SNAP. The city also runs[ a website](http://nola.gov/enroll%20?ref=down-ballot.info) and phone line (211) where residents can be connected with enrollment assistance. "People tend to be somewhat sensitive about admitting that this is something they experience,” Felty said. “A lot of people don't want to admit that they struggle with accessing food, because it feels very personal. But it's not a personal failing; it's a failing of the system we live inside of." According to Felty and others who work on food policy and access, enrollment assistance matters because SNAP is, by a wide margin, the most powerful food benefit available to low-income New Orleanians. For every meal a food bank provides, SNAP provides nine — a statistic Lindsay Hendrix, the chief impact officer at Second Harvest, said she repeats in virtually every room she enters. "It's a much better program than waiting in line for an hour or longer to receive a $25 box of food,” Hendrix said. “SNAP allows for a sense of dignity and choice." Felty echoed the point. “SNAP is one of the most helpful tools that people can have just because it’s consistent and reliable,” Felty said. “We can have a greater impact if we’re able to connect people to those programs, because the ultimate amount of money that they’re going to be able to have for food is more than we would be able to provide through grocery deliveries. The economics of it just works out better.” But SNAP is under mounting pressure. Louisiana introduced [new SNAP restrictions](https://ldh.la.gov/page/snap-food-restriction-waiver?ref=down-ballot.info) in February that bar recipients from purchasing soft drinks, energy drinks and candy. State legislation is also adding new paperwork requirements to the application process. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/17134734/20260415_CZB_SecondHarvest_328.jpg) Volunteer Lloyd Williams preps packages for seniors at Second Harvest Food Bank in New Orleans on April 15, 2026\. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America Last year, when a federal government shutdown [led to the brief suspension](https://lailluminator.com/2025/10/22/louisiana-snap-shutdown/?ref=down-ballot.info) of SNAP payments in the state, Hendrix said that food banks across the state heard the same unhelpful suggestion from some officials: "Just reach out to your food bank." "All of the people who work in food banking were like, 'Yeah, you can come to us, but we will run out of food,'" Hendrix said. That is why making sure people are enrolled in SNAP is so important, she said. However, SNAP is only helpful insofar as people have easy access to supermarkets where they can buy healthy food. So the city is also working to bring grocery stores into "food swamps.” Food swamps, a variation on “food deserts,” are neighborhoods with an abundance of unhealthy food options, such as fast food chains, but little or no access to grocery stores. Grocery chains operate on notoriously thin margins, and opening a new store in a low-income neighborhood can be a hard case to make without public incentives, Avegno said. “How do we work with economic development partners to get food options in spaces like the Lower 9th Ward?” Avegno said. “Like, why am I getting a Trader Joe’s next to the Rouses down the street from a Whole Foods when the Lower Ninth can’t get anything?” Absent brick-and-mortar grocery stores, one solution that has worked elsewhere in the region is a mobile market.[ ](https://no-hunger.org/mobilemarket/?ref=down-ballot.info)Second Harvest's ["Makin' Groceries" truck](https://no-hunger.org/mobilemarket/?ref=down-ballot.info) has been serving communities in Jefferson Parish — accepting SNAP and offering reduced prices on fresh produce — since early 2025\. But bringing the same service to Orleans Parish has proven unexpectedly difficult due to [food truck permitting guidelines](https://nola.gov/food-truck-permit/?ref=down-ballot.info), which restrict the length of mobile food trucks. "Our ‘Makin’ Groceries’ mobile market does not fit into current city ordinance and guidelines," Hendrix said. "Our vehicle is too long. And just the way that the ordinance is written is being interpreted as, 'Oh, nope, can't do it.' From what I understand, what we would have to do is just change the ordinance in order for it to work, which is crazy." ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/17134706/20260415_CZB_SecondHarvest_671.jpg) Volunteer David Dauterive helps prep meals for kids at Second Harvest Food Bank in New Orleans on April 15, 2026\. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/17134635/20260415_CZB_SecondHarvest_896.jpg) Vans waiting to be loaded up with food deliveries outside Second Harvest Food Bank in New Orleans on April 15, 2026\. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America Samantha Fleurinor of the Louisiana Food Policy Council, who works with the city on food access initiatives, said the contrast between the two parishes when it comes to Second Harvest’s mobile market truck has become a cautionary tale about well-intentioned regulations that get in the way of solutions. "They had a very difficult time navigating the permitting process despite having city employees helping them," she said. "But they were able to easily attain permitting right over in Jefferson Parish." Fleurinor wants to see the city take a more proactive role: streamlining permitting for food businesses, investing more money in the Health Department and supporting more robust public transportation to help residents get to grocery stores and farmers’ markets around town. None of these, she noted, require enormous sums. But when food access advocates bring these ideas to City Hall, she said, they keep hitting the same wall. "When advocates have presented ideas on how to move the needle forward, the first response is, 'We don't have money,'" Fleurinor said. "And I'd like to invite them to think about, 'OK, what can we do now?'” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/17135016/20251023_CZB_FarmersMarket_12.jpg) Erica Sage Johnson, the Market and Agregation Manager at Sprout Nola, arranges products at the Crescent City Farmers Market in Mid-City on Thursday, October 23, 2025\. Customers can use SNAP benefits at the farmers market to purchase fresh produce. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America The Health Department is also pursuing more strategies for tackling food insecurity, though they are longer-term. The city recently received a grant that will fund a collaborative Urban Agriculture and Food Access Plan, involving the Health Department, Louisiana Food Policy Council and the City Planning Commission, among others. The community-driven process is intended to produce a policy roadmap for the city's food system. The Health Department is also working with City Council on a food waste ordinance that would require grocery stores to donate non-salable but still-edible food to food banks — a step toward shoring up pantries that have been strained by recent federal cuts. But Hendrix, of Second Harvest, said that the city still lacks the coordinated, whole-government approach that she thinks the problem demands. "For the city government as a body to really look at this across departments — I feel like that would be a really cool thing," she said. When asked what support would be most helpful to expanding food access and mitigating food insecurity, Avegno said the most durable fix would require the city to look beyond grants altogether to fund Health Department initiatives. "Can I say a millage?" she joked — referring to a dedicated property tax that would give the department a stable funding stream. (Such a proposal, which is not currently in the works, would require a City Council vote and a citywide election.) Hendrix, who has spent 11 years at Second Harvest, acknowledged that resources are shrinking and no single ordinance change or grant will close that gap. Still, she believes every effort counts. “It always feels so big," she said. "But every little step in the right direction is still a step in the right direction." This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/04/20/food-insecurity-new-orleans-avegno/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=30053&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # 298 days: Iranian asylum seeker released after judge rules ICE violated his rights by Cindy Ramirez, El Paso Matters April 19, 2026 It took 298 days. “Almost 10 months – 10 months,” said 27-year-old [Argam Nazarian](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/04/06/immigration-ice-el-paso-processing-center-iranian-detained-iran-war-deportations/?ref=down-ballot.info), an Iranian national who was detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement while on his way to work in Los Angeles last summer. He spent most of that time detained in El Paso before being transferred to New Mexico in early March. “Almost a year of my life.” Nazarian was ordered released Thursday by a New Mexico federal judge, ruling that his months-long ICE detention violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process. On Friday morning, he was dropped off by two “really kind” ICE agents at Albuquerque International Sunport who shook his hand and wished him good luck. “I feel like I’m in a dream. I don’t believe everything that happened to me and I can’t believe I’m out now,” Nazarian said in a phone call with El Paso Matters from the airport. “I don’t feel like I’m free yet.” Nazarian first came to the United States with his family as a child in 2008, escaping religious persecution in Iran because they are Christians of Armenian descent. His father, who converted to Islam, forced the family back to Iran. Later, as an adult, Nazarian unsuccessfully sought asylum in Russia. He crossed into the United States unlawfully from Mexico in 2021, requested asylum, and was released on his own recognizance and allowed to remain and work in the United States pending an immigration hearing. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Argam-Nararian-2-e1776464108659-764x1024.jpg) Argam Nazarian On his way to work repairing air-conditioning units last June – just after the United States conducted military strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities – he was approached and detained by ICE agents. He had been held without bond since, even after an El Paso immigration judge ordered him released in August. “I’m very grateful for everyone who helped me,” Nazarian said, noting the Texas Civil Rights Project that challenged his detention through a habeas corpus petition. His immigration case is still pending. U.S. District Judge Sara M. Davenport granted the petition Thursday, stating in court documents that ICE used the wrong legal authority to detain him. The government, she wrote, treated Nazarian like someone seeking entry when he had been living in the United States for years. Under President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, those apprehended at the border are immediately detained without bond and put on a fast-track removal process. The administration has tried to expand mandatory no-bond detention to immigrants living in the country’s interior – a practice being challenged in the courts. [**LEARN MORE**: El Paso, West Texas federal courts deluged with challenges to immigration detention](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/01/el-paso-habeas-corpus-filings-surge-ice-detainees-released/?ref=down-ballot.info) Davenport wrote that Nazarian should have been eligible for a bond hearing. She ordered Nazarian released within 24 hours – and barred ICE from detaining him again without a hearing before an immigration judge. She also barred ICE from sending him to a third country unless it first follows constitutionally required legal steps. Davenport said the government failed to justify his continued detention, stating in her ruling that prolonged detention without that process cannot be indefinite and becomes unconstitutional over time. ICE didn’t immediately return a request for comment Friday. But in an April 9 email response to El Paso Matters about Nazarian’s case, ICE said removal to a third country is “evaluated on a case-by-case basis and that DHS considers all relevant factors before determining removal destinations for individuals subject to removal.” The statement said the Trump administration is using “all lawful options to carry out the largest deportation operation in history” just as the president promised. [**‘No place to go’**: Iranian asylum seeker detained in El Paso, New Mexico for months despite release orders](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/04/06/immigration-ice-el-paso-processing-center-iranian-detained-iran-war-deportations/?ref=down-ballot.info) Nazarian’s case is representative of what is happening nationwide, though the timing of his detention was more unique, said Charlotte Weiss, a staff attorney with the Beyond Border program under the Texas Civil Rights Project. “Many of the individuals are being arrested, detained and then denied the opportunity to have a bond hearing were already ordered released previously by the government and had been establishing a life here in the United States,” she said. She added that many like Nazarian had been determined not to be a flight risk or danger to the community. “What is singular and what is more unique about Argam’s case is his identity as an Iranian national,” Weiss said. “And as the social and political conflict in Iran continues to escalate, his life is more and more in danger without the opportunity for him to remain in the United States.” Nazarian, who flew to Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, will need time to adapt to his “new old life,” family friend Andy Chalikyan said. “Strong emotions are always going to be there, because it's been almost 10 months that he's been in detention and all the stuff he went through,” Chalikyan said. “In the beginning it’s going to be kind of hard trying to fit in again with everybody. It's going to take some time, and I'm sure he will, slowly but surely, you know, start adapting again.” Through Chalikyan, who helps translate between English and Armenian, Nazarian’s younger brother said he can’t wait to go fishing with him again. “I cannot believe he is being released and coming home,” Argishti Nazarian, 23, said, his voice cracking slightly. “Everyone is happy.” Argam Nazariam said he couldn’t pinpoint what he wanted to do when he got home – take a long shower, sleep in a comfortable bed, eat homemade food. He’ll be reuniting with his wife, whom he met and married in Russia, as well as his mother, brother and church community. “I just want to hug everyone, that’s it, that’s all,” he said. “I don’t know how it’s going to be for me … I lost my feelings – I don’t know what to feel.” The first thing he did when he got to the airport, he said, was buy a charger for his cellphone and a change of clothes. He bought a cold drink and just sat thinking of everything and nothing, he said. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Argam-Nararian-e1774982290683-834x1024.jpg) Argam Nazarian One thing he will do, he said, is continue to pray not just for himself but for the thousands of other detained immigrants who have not been as fortunate to have had a favorable court ruling – however long it took to get his. He was detained in Los Angeles on June 23, 2025, and transferred to El Paso. He was held at the ICE tent facility in Northeast for about two weeks, then transferred to the [El Paso ICE Processing Center ](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/05/14/el-paso-ice-detention-center-human-rights-violations-amnesty-international/?ref=down-ballot.info)off Montana Avenue near the airport. He was moved to the Cibola County Detention Center in New Mexico near Albuquerque on March 10, though it’s unclear why. [**EL PASO ICE DETENTION CENTERS:** Read more coverage of immigration and ICE detention centers in El Paso](https://elpasomatters.org/tag/el-paso-ice-detention-centers/?ref=down-ballot.info) Immigration detainees in Texas face stricter limits on release than those in New Mexico, largely due to different federal court rulings. In February, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Texas, upheld mandatory detention without bond, while the 10th Circuit, which includes New Mexico, has previously ruled that such detention is unlawful. Outside of the immigration and judicial systems, Nazarian believes there might have been a “higher power” involved in his release. For months while in detention, Nazarian had wanted an Armenian Bible. He finally requested one and Weiss, his attorney, secured one for him in March. Because it was hardbound, ICE officers had to remove its cover. Still, it brought him peace, he said. “And after two days, everything just changed. I was transferred to (New Mexico). Everything just changed, finally started moving,” he said. “I was always a believer. I believe in my God. But after all of this happened, my belief grew stronger.” This [article](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/04/19/iranian-national-released-ice-detention-el-paso-new-mexico-habeas-petition/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [El Paso Matters](https://elpasomatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Georgia’s ACA enrollment plunges, raising concerns for rural hospitals by Ariel Hart/The Current GA, The Current April 20, 2026 *Editor's Note: Story updated Wednesday, April 22, to include statement from Gov. Brian Kemp's office.* More than half a million Georgians have dropped health insurance coverage amid stiff premium price hikes for federally subsidized Affordable Care Act plans, according to data obtained by *The Current GA* and *Georgia Recorder*. The 37% enrollment drop — from 1.5 million Georgians in January 2025 to 950,000 as of April 17, 2026 — dwarfs any previous decline in the state since the launch of so-called Obamacare health insurance plans in 2014\. Rising prices for health insurance policies bought on Georgia’s health care marketplace occurred after the U.S. Congress and President Donald Trump decided against extending Covid-era “enhanced” health insurance subsidies, which sunset Dec. 31, 2025. Preliminary data released in January about the number of Georgians enrolled in ACA plans hinted at a sizable decline of 190,000\. The more complete numbers have been adjusted after those people who had been reenrolled automatically at the start of 2026 failed to make their first premium payments. The Georgia Office of the Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire released the data to *The Current* following a public records request. It will be reported by the federal government this summer. The steep decline sparked immediate concern from the organization that advocates for Georgia’s rural hospitals about the financial viability of these vital institutions should the data signify that Georgia’s uninsured rate has soared after years of edging down. “I don’t know what we’re going to do, honestly” said Monty Veazey, president of the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, when informed of the data by *The Current*. “It’s a larger number than I anticipated,” he said of the enrollment drop. He said he was meeting with Gov. Brian Kemp next week and hoped to ask for his plans. ### THE HISTORY, FACTORS The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 and the Marketplace launched in 2014\. Under the ACA, the federal government mandates basic levels of care such as for prescriptions, mental health and maternal care; and it also subsidizes premiums for certain income groups. Georgia also began its own subsidies in 2022\. Starting with 2025 coverage, Georgia took over the ACA enrollment system at GeorgiaAccess.gov. > Factors influencing whether the numbers of enrollees rise or fall have included how well the system is operating, how much outreach and enrollment assistance the government enacted, and above all, how expensive coverage was. President Trump in his first term pulled back on enrollment assistance, and in his second term has allowed massive pandemic-era subsidies to expire. ![Line Chart Georgia ACA enrollment drops by more than one-third between 2025 and 2026 from about 1.5 million to about 950,000.](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JvhR6/full.png) ### Drop negates recent achievements Kemp came to office in 2019 promising to tackle Georgia’s adult uninsured rate, one of the highest in the nation. He has touted changes he oversaw to the state’s insurance market as well as the rollout of a state-based ACA marketplace called Georgia Access as solutions to this problem. The new enrollment figures, however, raise questions about how durable those gains will be. Both Kemp and Insurance Commissioner John King did not immediately comment on the enrollment figures. On Wednesday, after [leading Georgia Democrats started calling the enrollment dropoff a crisis](https://thecurrentga.org/2026/04/21/georgia-democrats-decry-steep-drop-in-aca-enrollment/?ref=down-ballot.info), Kemp's office provided a written statement saying that the numbers of people accessing federally subsidized health care remained higher than in 2019\. "More people are covered today in Georgia than what was promised by the one-size-fits-none, bloated government approach Democrats have promoted in every election cycle," said Kemp spokesman Carter Chapman. Georgia’s enrollment drop dwarfs many other states’, according to partial ACA enrollment data first reported last week by *The Wall Street Journal.* Fluctuations in enrollment for so-called marketplace plans are routine. But year over year comparisons for April also project a stark picture. In April 2025, enrollment in Georgia’s marketplace plans had already dipped to 1.3 million, according to state officials. The April 2026 data still represents a 27% drop from that level. “It’s a really large shift in the market,” said Emma Wager, a senior policy analyst on the ACA at the health research nonprofit KFF. There is currently no data showing whether the Georgians who dropped their marketplace insurance are now completely uninsured, or whether they took up a new kind of insurance. Some of those previously enrolled could have gotten new jobs with employer-sponsored health care, but it’s likely large numbers of them had no better options, said health policy researchers. In general, said Matt McGough, a policy analyst at KFF, people relying on Obamacare plans “really have nowhere else to turn.” Wager, who emphasized that she herself had not seen the latest Georgia enrollment figures, said if the result in disenrollment ends up with a spike in the uninsured rates, then hospital finances across the state will be affected. “A larger uninsured population means that hospitals have to provide more uncompensated care. And we also know that people who are uninsured are more likely to delay or forgo medicare care…they may have severe needs by the time they actually see a doctor.” Georgia has traditionally had among the three worst uninsured rates, along with Texas and Oklahoma. But lower premium prices during the pandemic helped lead to a surge of Georgia patients getting insured. U.S. l[awmakers including former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene](https://georgiarecorder.com/2025/10/10/marjorie-taylor-greene-sounds-alarm-over-expiring-health-care-subsidies-as-shutdown-continues/?ref=down-ballot.info) said that Congress’s decision last year to allow extra subsidies to expire would put insurance out of reach for many. Extending the enhanced subsidies another 10 years would have cost [$350 billion](https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-09/61734-Health.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Democrats in Congress shut down the federal government last fall in a fight over the health insurance subsidies, but Congress did not renew the funding. Since those extra subsidies expired, Georgians who make above a certain amount— around $64,000 for a single person — no longer get any federal assistance and must pay the full market price for health insurance. For some Georgians, the cost of premiums more than tripled. ### Health providers expect hit The loss of enrollment will send shock waves through Georgia’s health care industry. The state’s health sector was expected to lose more than $3.5 billion this year as a result of the expiring subsidies, as uninsured patients forgo care or show up in emergency rooms but can’t pay. Georgia’s expected loss of health sector revenue from that change would be among the three largest in the nation, behind only Florida and Texas, according to the study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the left-leaning Urban Institute. Dr. Ben Spitalnick, a Savannah pediatrician, said the premium hikes presented a budget crisis for some of his patients’ parents. “I know patients who, this year it's doubled for them,” Spitalnick said. “It's insane to consider having to drop your health insurance,” he said. “If you're, sort of solo employed or a very small business, and don't have the comfort of either Medicaid or have a very large employer who has a large health plan, the exchange was a great option. Now it's super expensive.” McGough, the KFF researcher, said the ACA tends to insure people who are juggling hourly jobs or are self employed. Self employed often means doing gig work like driving Uber. More than a quarter of farmers and beauticians were insured through the ACA marketplace as of 2023, according to KFF. This [article](https://thecurrentga.org/2026/04/20/georgias-aca-enrollment-plunges-raising-concerns-for-rural-hospitals/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Current](https://thecurrentga.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-TheCurrent_site-icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://thecurrentga.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=101055&ga4=G-L05EDNCRHK) --- ### Many states don’t report losses from data center tax breaks, study says URL: https://down-ballot.info/many-states-dont-report-losses-from-data-center-tax-breaks-study-says/ Last updated: 2026-04-22T09:00:21.000Z By Kevin Hardy (Stateline) Published: April 15, 2026 Though public scrutiny of data centers is growing, 14 states do not disclose how much revenue they lose to data center tax breaks. That’s according to [a new report ](https://goodjobsfirst.org/data-center-tax-abatements-why-states-and-localities-must-disclose-these-soaring-revenue-losses/?ref=down-ballot.info)from Good Jobs First, a watchdog group that focuses on economic development incentives. The lack of disclosure comes as other states record mounting losses in tax revenue to data center subsidies. Three states — Georgia, Virginia and Texas — report losing $1 billion or more per year to data center incentives, according to Good Jobs First. The study found that Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah all failed to report data center incentives, which generally include sales, use and property tax breaks. For years, states have used incentives and tax breaks to compete for data centers, sought for their massive investment in construction and equipment. Currently, 38 states offer dedicated tax incentives for data centers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Good Jobs First said in most cases, states are failing to disclose incentives in violation of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, a private organization that sets financial reporting standards for state and local governments. > [Data center tax breaks are on the chopping block in some states](https://stateline.org/2026/02/24/data-center-tax-breaks-are-on-the-chopping-block-in-some-states/?ref=down-ballot.info) “No form of state spending is more out of control today than data center tax abatements,” Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First and primary author of the study, said in a news release. “Hyperscale data centers are not only extractive of electricity, water, and land; they are also undermining public budgets.” Data centers, sprawling campuses of computer servers that store and transmit the data behind apps and websites, are facing heightened [local opposition](https://stateline.org/2025/11/17/data-center-growth-drives-locals-to-fight-for-more-say/?ref=down-ballot.info) as residents complain about rising electricity prices and raise environmental concerns. State lawmakers are also looking to [limit or repeal ](https://stateline.org/2026/02/24/data-center-tax-breaks-are-on-the-chopping-block-in-some-states/?ref=down-ballot.info)the incentives that paved the way for massive growth in data centers. Maine lawmakers this week approved a moratorium on data centers larger than 20 megawatts — the first statewide ban of its kind in the country. That legislation, pending action from the governor, bans new data centers through November 2027 and creates a new state council to provide strategic input, facilitate planning considerations and evaluate policy tools to address data centers, [Maine Morning Star reported.](https://mainemorningstar.com/2026/04/09/landmark-data-center-moratorium-passes-maine-legislature/?ref=down-ballot.info) The Good Jobs First report recommends that all states fully report their losses from data center tax breaks, including how those incentives affect local revenue streams. *Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at* *khardy@stateline.org* *.* ### North Carolina tackles toxic firefighting foam — and what it left behind URL: https://down-ballot.info/north-carolina-tackles-toxic-firefighting-foam-and-what-it-left-behind/ Last updated: 2026-04-20T09:00:55.000Z by Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News April 8, 2026 #### **By Will Atwater** Within months of becoming chief of Double Creek Volunteer Fire and Rescue in November 2025, Jimmy Brown received sobering news: His station’s well water was contaminated with PFAS at levels that exceeded federal limits. The station in Pinnacle, northwest of Winston‑Salem near Pilot Mountain, is one of 392 rural fire departments across the state whose wells were tested for PFAS in a recent study. Since the revelation in 2016 that PFAS, or [per‑ and polyfluoroalkyl substances, ](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained?ref=down-ballot.info)were being released into the Cape Fear River by the Fayetteville-based Chemours, awareness of the chemicals has risen across the state. PFAS have come to be known as “forever chemicals” since they resist breaking down in the environment. They also have been linked to [multiple health risks](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas?ref=down-ballot.info). The study was conducted by the [North Carolina Collaboratory](https://collaboratory.unc.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info), a research group formed in 2016 by the General Assembly. The collaboratory harnesses the expertise of university researchers to address state and local government issues. Jeff Warren, executive director of the collaboratory, which is based at UNC Chapel Hill, said researchers initially focused on collecting and destroying containers of PFAS‑laden firefighting foam under a legislature‑funded [Aqueous Film‑Forming Foam Take‑Back Program](https://collaboratory.unc.edu/news/2024/10/10/north-carolina-tackles-toxic-firefighting-foam-with-afff-takeback-program/?ref=down-ballot.info). Building on that work, collaboratory researchers decided to test wells at rural fire departments and later shared a list of stations with elevated PFAS readings with the [North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality](https://www.deq.nc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info). Six of the 392 stations had elevated PFAS levels: Pleasant Garden and Oak Ridge (both in Guilford County), New Hope (Wake County), Eli Whitney (Alamance County), South Salisbury (Rowan County) and Double Creek near Pinnacle (Stokes County). Michael Scott, director of DEQ’s [Division of Waste Management](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/waste-management?ref=down-ballot.info), said his staff used that list to offer free PFAS testing for homes and businesses on private wells in about a quarter-mile radius around the six affected stations, including Double Creek. “We’ve done fairly extensive sampling thus far in Pleasant Garden around that fire station,” Scott said, adding that crews have begun sampling private wells in several other communities. “The well has been shut off from the station, and the collaboratory and DEQ have brought in bottled water as well as a 6,500‑gallon tank of potable water that has been plumbed into the station,” Brown said. “All the water here now is 100 percent safe, and the collaboratory and DEQ are working with the Office of the State Fire Marshal to see what steps we need to take to get back to using the well water.” #### **Protecting firefighters from ‘forever chemicals’** In recent decades, PFAS had become nearly ubiquitous in firehouses. The chemicals are used in firefighting gear to make it water- and chemical-resistant, and firefighters have used PFAS foams to suffocate flames. But likely because of PFAS exposure and smoke inhalation risks, researchers are finding that firefighters face higher rates of some cancer diagnoses and deaths than the general population. [Researchers analyzed nearly 30,000 U.S. career firefighters](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24142974/?ref=down-ballot.info) and found that they have about a 9 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14 percent higher risk of dying from cancer compared with U.S. background population rates. ​​[Studies show](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10213433/?ref=down-ballot.info) elevated risks for particular cancers among firefighters — including multiple myeloma, non‑Hodgkin lymphoma and testicular cancer — compared with the general population. ![A man wearing safety glasses, black gloves and a white lab coat examines a small test tube he has just removed from an analytical laboratory instrument.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/lee-ferguson-lab-scaled.jpg) Lee Ferguson loads a water sample into one of his laboratory’s powerful mass spectrometers, which are used to discover chemicals and contaminants in environmental samples. In recent years, researchers, state and federal officials, and manufacturers have ramped up efforts to reduce firefighters’ exposure to harmful chemicals by phasing out fluorinated firefighting foams, [developing PFAS‑free protective gear](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/12/12/a-turning-point-for/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [setting national drinking‑water limits for six PFAS](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/04/11/biden-administrations-action-on-pfas-a-shift-in-quality-of-life/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set enforceable limits for six PFAS in public drinking water: 4 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, and 10 parts per trillion for PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and HFPO‑DA (GenX chemicals). The agency also created a hazard index to regulate mixtures that contain two or more of those PFAS. These limits are the highest amounts of those chemicals legally allowed in drinking water under federal law. Those new standards set the ceiling for public drinking‑water systems, and now [North Carolina and other states are working to update groundwater standards](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/emerging-compounds/water-quality-pfas-standards-north-carolina?ref=down-ballot.info) so state regulators can use similar PFAS thresholds when they respond to contaminated wells and groundwater. Due to those health concerns and the legacy stockpiles of PFAS‑laden foam sitting in stations across the state, [North Carolina is one of several states ](https://fireandsafetyjournalamericas.com/us-states-implement-take-back-programs-to-address-foam-disposal/?ref=down-ballot.info)that have launched a take-back program to get that older foam out of firehouses and destroy it. #### **120,000 gallons** North Carolina’s take-back program is a voluntary, statewide effort led by the NC Collaboratory to help fire departments and public airports identify problematic foam in their inventories and ensure that it is collected, stored and ultimately destroyed. This work is [in partnership](https://collaboratory.unc.edu/highlighted-projects/aqueous-film-forming-foam-take-back-program/?ref=down-ballot.info) with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the Department of Environmental Quality and academic researchers[.](https://collaboratory.unc.edu/highlighted-projects/aqueous-film-forming-foam-take-back-program/?ref=down-ballot.info) In the 2023 state budget, lawmakers in Raleigh [allocated $20 million in one-time funds](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/House/PDF/H349v0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to the collaboratory for programs related to management of PFAS-containing foams and for research on the chemicals. In 2024, Preston Clark joined the collaboratory to manage the take‑back program. Before he arrived, a statewide firefighting foam inventory analysis was done to determine how much of the product was in North Carolina and where it was stored. He said the total came to “about 120,000 gallons.” Clark said fire departments participating in the voluntary program have so far indicated they want to dispose of about 60,000 gallons, an amount that could grow as the effort ramps up. ![n overhead view inside a warehouse, showing long rows of wooden pallets covered by a bright blue plastic tarp and stacked tightly with hundreds of white plastic buckets and a few colored jugs, likely containers of chemicals or paint, with two large cardboard boxes of loose items in the middle and industrial walls and floor visible around the setup.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_20260401_112513-1-scaled.jpg) Firefighting foam collected through a voluntary take-back program is stored in a Haw River warehouse until it can be sent for final destruction. Fire departments participating so far have indicated they want to dispose of about 60,000 gallons, a baseline that could grow as the effort ramps up, according to information provided by the N.C. Collaboratory. After the collaboratory and state officials finished cataloging the material and where it was, they shifted to collecting the foams and setting up a central drop site sponsored by the Charlotte Fire Department where participating stations could unload it, Clark said. Now the foam is sitting in a warehouse in Haw River until it can be sent for final destruction. Samples of every foam formulation are sent to Duke University and N.C. State University labs to build a chemical database or “fingerprint” that researchers can use for future forensic work, according to the collaboratory. Clark said the program is in a pilot phase to see which companies can reliably destroy the high concentrations of PFAS in the foams, a process that differs from [treating PFAS in general waste streams](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/24/toxic-contaminants-surged-in-french-broad-river-after-helene-study-finds/?ref=down-ballot.info). The collaboratory selected three vendors after a competitive bid process. By June, Clark said, the collaboratory expects to have results and to have selected vendors to handle the foams. He said he feels “pretty good about where we’re at with the research identifying where PFAS is found in the fire service and how much of a concern it is.” He added that the findings should help fire professionals pinpoint their greatest PFAS risks and identify where they can eliminate PFAS‑laden products altogether. #### **Well water testing** It was as they were collecting foam for the take back program that the collaboratory decided to test 392 wells at rural stations that used the water for activities, including cooking, drinking and laundry. That’s how the six — including the one at Double Creek — were identified. “These first six were so hot that we decided to go out and re-sample” to be sure they hadn’t been otherwise contaminated, Warren said. After the tests were run a second time the results were “pretty much spot on,” he said. Warren said the lab looked for 54 PFAS compounds in each sample and then added them up to get a total PFAS number for each well. At the low end, the sum of those 54 PFAS in the Eli Whitney station well in Alamance County was 4,173 parts per trillion, while the highest total was 20,625 ppt at the New Hope Fire Department in Wake County. Overall, Warren said, roughly 5 percent of the 392 stations tested had elevated PFAS levels, which he called good news for the vast majority of departments. Water samples collected from wells have been tested and cross checked in the labs of researchers Lee Ferguson at Duke University and Detlef Knappe at N.C. State University. “When we find an elevated analysis hit, we do several things,” Ferguson said. “Detlef and I cross check those numbers he’s analyzing. “We also send our teams back out to resample to make sure about these numbers before we take action.” Warren said that if the PFAS content level verifiably exceeds federal standards, the collaboratory follows a notification protocol, which involves contacting public officials, including district legislators, mayors, county health directors, the State Fire Marshal’s Office, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and the [North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info). #### **Building a study cohort** Now, the collaboratory is facilitating cancer screening that’s available to firefighters in the departments where PFAS groundwater levels are high. “In 2024 our research team received funds from the Collaboratory to develop what we call the [North Carolina Firefighter Cancer Cohort Study](https://sites.nicholas.duke.edu/stapletonlab/research/ncffccs/?ref=down-ballot.info), which basically provided funds for firefighters here in North Carolina to become enrolled in the [National Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study](https://www.ffccs.org/?ref=down-ballot.info),” said Duke University researcher Heather Stapleton. Since enrollment began in July 2024, more than 800 firefighters statewide have joined, and Stapleton’s lab has PFAS blood measurements for each of them. Pleasant Garden was the first department where firefighters asked to be tested after their contaminated well was identified, Stapleton said. Her team drew blood from 26 firefighters there, analyzed the samples at Duke, sent each person an individualized report and then held an in‑person meeting, along with a short explainer video, to walk through the results and answer questions. On average, Pleasant Garden firefighters had PFAS levels about three times higher than other North Carolina firefighters, but individual results varied widely depending on how long people had worked there and how much station water they drank. She said her team pointed firefighters to guidance from the [National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine](https://www.nationalacademies.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), which recommends that people with elevated PFAS exposure consider blood testing and notes that if the sum of seven specific PFAS in blood exceeds 20 parts per billion, there may be increased risk for conditions such as thyroid disease, kidney and testicular cancer and high cholesterol. Stapleton said the study team and NC DHHS have developed one‑page summaries that firefighters can bring to their physicians so they can put the results in context and decide what, if any, additional monitoring makes sense. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/08/north-carolina-pfas-firefighting-foam-cleanup/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ### Fairfax Co. Police say Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kills wife, then himself Thursday morning URL: https://down-ballot.info/fairfax-co-police-say-former-virginia-lt-gov-justin-fairfax-kills-wife-then-himself-thursday-morning/ Last updated: 2026-04-17T09:00:10.000Z **It's Friday, April 17, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kills wife, then himself, police say**,** Under bill passed by state Senate, New Orleans’ elected court clerk might not be able to take office**,** What Is the Economic Impact of Data Centers? It’s a Secret, Tug-of-war for NC mountain hospital beds takes a turn, A new immigration strategy shakes agro-industrial rural towns, ‘Language lost. Culture lost’: In Milwaukee, a race to keep Rohingya language alive in exile, Disaster loans and mitigation bills signed into law. **Media outlets and others featured:** Virginia Mercury, Verite News, Inside Climate News, Carolina Public Press, Investigate Midwest, Wisconsin Watch, Mississippi Today. --- *Editor’s note: The following* [*link*](https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/remembering-dr-cerina-fairfax-april-16-2026?ref=down-ballot.info) *before the story is about the life of Dr. Cerina Fairfax, a dentist who attended Duke University and Virginia Commonwealth University from Richmond, Va. CBS affiliate WTVR-TV.* ## Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kills wife, then himself, police say By Markus Schmidt (Virginia Mercury) Published: April 16, 2026 Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax fatally shot his wife, Cerina Fairfax, before taking his own life early Thursday at the family’s home in Annandale, Fairfax County police said, in what authorities described as a sudden and tragic act of domestic violence amid a pending divorce. Officers responded to the home just after midnight after one of the couple’s teenage children called 911, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said during a morning news briefing. Both of the couple’s children, who are in high school, were inside the home at the time of the shooting. “One of the children was the 911 caller,” Davis said, adding that the son described events that investigators have since corroborated through interior home surveillance cameras. Police said Cerina Fairfax was shot and killed before Justin Fairfax took his own life. Davis said the violence unfolded quickly, with little or no gap between the shooting and the 911 call. “If there was a window, it was a very short window,” Davis said. “I think it all kind of happened at once. It all happened pretty spontaneously.” #### **Authorities gather evidence, cite domestic strain in shooting** Authorities are executing a search warrant at the home to recover evidence, including the firearm used in the shooting and any additional weapons. Davis described the case as both “high profile” and deeply tragic, noting Fairfax’s once-prominent political standing. “At one point in time, I think it’s fair to say that Justin Fairfax was a rising star politically, not just in Northern Virginia, but in Virginia,” Davis said. “So it’s high profile in nature. It’s tragic in nature, certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor.” The couple had been separated but continued living in the same home in separate bedrooms, Davis said. Divorce proceedings were underway, with court appearances scheduled in the near future. Fairfax had recently been served legal paperwork related to the case, which investigators are examining as a possible factor. “That may have been a spark … that led to this tragedy,” Davis said, while cautioning that detectives are still working to determine a definitive motive. Police said the department had previously been called to the home once, in January, after Fairfax alleged that his wife assaulted him. Investigators reviewed footage from cameras installed inside the residence and determined that no assault had occurred, Davis said. The cameras later helped corroborate the sequence of events described by the 911 caller, he added. Davis emphasized that authorities are prioritizing support for the couple’s children, who lost both parents in the incident. “Our victim services division is leaning into the family, the surviving relatives, the children in particular,” he said. “We’ll do everything we can for them.” He also noted the broader emotional toll of domestic conflict, particularly during separations. “Half of America probably goes through divorce proceedings at some point in time, and very, very rarely, thankfully, does it ever end up like this,” Davis said. “It is very sad for this community.” #### **Virginia leaders react with shock, grief over Fairfax deaths** A wave of shock and grief rippled through Virginia’s political community Thursday, with officials expressing condolences and focusing on the Fairfax family’s children. Former Gov. Ralph Northam said he and his wife Pam were “devastated by this heartbreaking news.” “I had the privilege of getting to know the Fairfaxes while our families served together. We are praying for Cameron, Carys, and the entire Fairfax family during this incredibly difficult time,” he said. Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi said the news had shaken the commonwealth and that she was awaiting more details. “Virginia woke up this morning to the devastating news regarding Cerina Fairfax and former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. My thoughts are with their children, loved ones, and numerous friends,” she said. House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, called the killings “an unspeakable tragedy.” “Our hearts are with the family, especially the children and loved ones whose lives have been forever changed by this devastating loss,” he said. House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott, said, “There aren’t words to describe this tragedy. My prayers are with their children and their extended family.” U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said in a joint statement they were praying for the family “as we all process this shocking and horrifying news.” Fairfax, 45, served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022\. A Democrat, he was elected alongside Northam and was once viewed as a potential future statewide candidate. Fairfax’s political career was derailed in 2019 when two women publicly [accused him of sexual assault.](https://virginiamercury.com/2019/02/09/the-latest-fairfax-faces-possible-impeachment-proceedings-northam-reads-roots/?ref=down-ballot.info) Fairfax denied the allegations, and no criminal charges were filed. The accusations sparked national attention and calls from some Democratic leaders for his resignation, which he resisted. Before entering politics, Fairfax worked as a federal prosecutor and later in private legal practice. After leaving office, he returned to practicing law, Davis said, though details about his recent employment were not immediately available. The investigation into Thursday’s fatal shooting remains ongoing. Authorities said they are continuing to collect evidence and interview witnesses as they work to piece together the final hours leading up to the killings. *This is a breaking news story that will be updated as more information becomes available.* [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX](https://virginiamercury.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Under bill passed by state Senate, New Orleans’ elected court clerk might not be able to take office by Robert Stewart, Verite News New Orleans April 9, 2026 Calvin Duncan, the clerk-elect for Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, won his seat in November 2025 by a wide margin — with 68% of New Orleans voters casting their ballots for him. But under a bill that passed the state Senate on Wednesday (April 8), he may never be sworn in. [Senate Bill 256](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26RS&b=SB256&sbi=y&ref=down-ballot.info), authored by Sen. John “Jay” Morris, R-Monroe, would merge the offices of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court clerk and Orleans Parish Civil District Court clerk, eliminating the position Duncan won decisively in November. Under the proposal, the consolidated clerk’s office would be run by Civil District Court Clerk [Chelsey Richard Napoleon](https://www.orleanscivilclerk.com/?ref=down-ballot.info). On Wednesday, SB 256 passed the Senate 25-11\. The bill, which would only affect New Orleans, passed along party lines without a single New Orleans-based senator voting in favor. It now heads to the state House. The bill as currently written would take effect upon Gov. Jeff Landry’s signature. So if it clears the House and is signed into law before Duncan’s inauguration in early May, he will not be able to assume office. As SB 256 headed toward passage Wednesday evening, Sen. Royce Duplessis, a New Orleans Democrat, cast SB 256 as an attempt by white Republicans to seize power from Duncan — a Black Democrat from a majority-Black city — drawing on the state’s history of impeding Black elected officials from serving in office. Standing at the lectern, Duplessis brought up the history of [John Willis Menard](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/14/bitd-john-menard-first-black-person-elected-congress/?ref=down-ballot.info), a black man who won election in 1868 to represent Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district. But after a lengthy challenge to his victory, he was never seated to the position. “This will be recorded a century from now, two centuries from now,” Duplessis said. “What side are you on?” Duplessis’ last-ditch effort to lessen the impacts of the bill — an amendment that would delay its effective date until May 4, 2030, the end of Duncan’s term — failed. Morris argued that the scenario from the 1800s was “horrendous” but not applicable to his bill. “That isn't what's happening here. The surviving clerk is African American herself, and she's a woman,” Morris said. SB 256 is one of a number of bills under consideration in the legislature that seek to remake the New Orleans courts, which Landry has [identified as a priority](https://www.nola.com/news/politics/jeff-landry-louisiana-legislature-state-of-the-state/article%5F1d3c5cd9-abaa-451e-99f8-e2f502daf09f.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Another bill sponsored by Morris — [Senate Bill 217](https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=250281&ref=down-ballot.info), which is scheduled for Senate floor debate next week — would cut the number of judges in New Orleans courts and strip Criminal District Court judges of their power to nominate and appoint magistrate commissioners. Nominations would instead be made by a committee appointed by the governor. A third Morris bill — [Senate Bill 197](https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26RS&b=SB197&sbi=y&ref=down-ballot.info), which would eliminate two judges in the state appeals court that has jurisdiction over the city — passed the Senate on Wednesday. Like SB 256, it did not receive any support from the [New Orleans delegation](https://house.louisiana.gov/H%5FReps/H%5FReps%5FDeleg%5FOrleans?ref=down-ballot.info). And in the lower chamber, [House Bill 911](https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=26RS&b=HB911&sbi=y&ref=down-ballot.info), sponsored by Baton Rouge Republican Rep. Dixon McMakin, would consolidate the criminal, civil and juvenile courts in the city. It is scheduled for debate on the House floor next week. The measures have all gotten pushback from New Orleans elected officials, both in the legislature and in local offices, who accuse Republican state officials of attempting a power grab in the overwhelmingly Democratic city. “Stripping Orleans Parish of its duly elected officials does not make our justice system more efficient or our streets safer; it makes our constituents less represented,” said New Orleans City Councilmember Aimee McCarron in a written statement. ### **‘Otherwise, we’d probably have to pay him for four years’** Morris has defended his bills as increasing efficiency and reducing costs for the city’s courts. During the debate over SB 256 on Wednesday, he argued that the two clerk positions are redundant and that by consolidating them, the state and New Orleans could save money and enhance efficiency of the courts. Morris, who had originally introduced SB 256 to go into effect in August, successfully pushed [an amendment](https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1459253&ref=down-ballot.info) to the bill on Tuesday so the law would go into effect immediately upon Landry’s signature. During floor debate Wednesday, he said the amendment was specifically designed to make sure Duncan did not get into office. “Otherwise, we'd probably have to pay him for four years,” Morris said. Duncan’s transition team, however, believes that Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill are behind the move. “Governor Landry and his lackeys want to overrule the voters and dictate what happens to us. It’s a slap in the face not only to the people who elected me, but to every voter across Louisiana,” Duncan said in a press release. Landry’s office did not respond to a request for comment. “That bill is not part of my Legislative package and I have had no involvement with the bill,” Murrill said of SB 256\. During last year’s clerk election, Murrill was highly critical of Duncan because of his past. Duncan was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1985\. Following years of legal battles, he was released from prison in 2011 after pleading guilty to a lesser charge. A judge vacated that conviction in 2021. His opponent in the race, incumbent Darren Lombard, accused Duncan of misrepresenting his exoneration, [suing Duncan](https://www.nola.com/news/politics/orleans-clriminal-clerk-darren-lombard-withdraws-tro-try-against-challenger/article%5Faf36dee9-8626-460f-ae94-28a59ec6185c.html?ref=down-ballot.info) to attempt to stop Duncan from airing campaign ads declaring himself “exonerated” of the murder conviction. (Despite the contentious race, Lombard has said he hopes Duncan is able to take office, [urging legislators to reject](https://thelensnola.org/2026/04/01/bills-aimed-at-orleans-courts-pass-out-of-committee-tuesday/?ref=down-ballot.info) SB 256.) Murrill [piggybacked off](https://www.nola.com/news/politics/liz-murrill-calvin-duncan/article%5F3025f33e-fd02-4a2d-b287-7f35f5b9fcbd.html?ref=down-ballot.info) of Lombard’s accusation that Duncan was misrepresenting his exoneration, and even wrote him a letter requesting he cease representing himself as “exonerated” to avoid further action from her office. His supporters pointed to that letter during [recent arguments](https://senate.la.gov/s%5Fvideo/VideoArchivePlayer?v=senate/2026/03/0331%5F26%5Fjuda2&ref=down-ballot.info) against SB 256. “One cannot help but wonder, is this the action that she was describing,” said Emily Ratner, a co-chair on Duncan’s transition team, during a committee hearing on the bill. Robert Collins, professor of urban studies and public policy at Dillard University and [columnist for Verite News,](https://veritenews.org/author/robert-collins/?ref=down-ballot.info) pointed out that while it's impossible to know the intentions of the people who created the bills, civil rights and voting rights advocates are raising an alarm, because the effect of the bill is essentially removing elected officials who were elected in by a majority Black constituency. “The result is going to be less Black public officials in the state of Louisiana, because you targeted the particular parish that has the highest proportion of black elected officials in the state,” Collins said. Collins also said that an additional point of concern for some people is in the partisan nature of the bills. Some, he said, see the moves as an attempt by a Republican super majority in the legislature to get rid of Democratic elected officials in the city of New Orleans, weakening the power of the Democratic Party in the state. “All of the offices that they're shutting down are Democrats,” Collins said. “I mean, all of them.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/04/09/senate-bill-256-calvin-duncan-clerk/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=29807&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # What Is the Economic Impact of Data Centers? It’s a Secret. ### N.C. Gov. Josh Stein wants state lawmakers to rethink tax breaks for data centers. The industry’s opacity makes it difficult to evaluate costs and benefits. By Lisa Sorg April 10, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10042026/north-carolina-data-centers-economic-impact/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* Tax breaks for data centers in North Carolina keep as much as $57 million each year from state and local government coffers, state figures show, an amount that could balloon to billions of dollars if all the proposed projects are built. Despite these generous subsidies, data center owners are legally allowed to shield many of their financial details from state oversight. They aren’t required to prove their ongoing eligibility for the tax exemptions unless they are audited by the state Department of Revenue. Lawmakers enacted sales and use tax breaks for data centers in 2010 and expanded them in 2015\. “At that time, no one could have predicted the explosive growth of data centers and how much energy they consumed,” Gov. Josh Stein told his Energy Policy Task Force, which met this week. “And because data centers at that point were a brand-new industry, they benefited from financial incentives to induce capital to invest. Those days are long gone.” Consumers pay sales and use taxes on food, clothing, furniture, utility payments, general merchandise and other goods. In North Carolina, data centers don’t pay sales tax on certain equipment—heating and air conditioning, computer hardware and software, and electrical infrastructure—if they meet county wage standards, provide health insurance to full-time employees and invest $75 million in private funds in a project within five years. Sales and use taxes are the second-largest source of revenue for local governments, behind property taxes, according to the Department of Revenue. And a third of the state’s general fund comes from these taxes. Nor do qualifying data centers pay taxes on electricity use. Under that exemption, a large project that consumes 100 megawatts of energy avoids paying as much as $2.2 million a year, state Commerce Department figures show. Because utility Duke Energy might negotiate project-specific terms with very large customers, this number could vary. Data center operators don’t have to report the amount of exemptions they’ve claimed. Nor must they provide information that would allow an independent evaluation of the financial impact of their projects. In some cases, data centers contractually require local governments to keep electricity and water usage secret. “State agencies have a limited view of the sector’s energy use and economic activity,” the Commerce Department wrote in a report to the [energy policy task force.](https://embed.documentcloud.org/projects/224522-energy-policy-task-force-data-center/?embed=1&ref=down-ballot.info) Inside Climate News asked Microsoft and Google, two of the largest data center operators in North Carolina, to disclose the amount of their sales and use tax exemptions. Microsoft directed ICN to its website that lists general economic investments; Google did not respond. Sen. Julie Mayfield, a Buncombe County Democrat who sits on the energy policy task force, said the legislature should reconsider tax breaks for data centers, consistent with its repeal of several clean energy incentives. “If the original purpose was to incentivize data centers to come here, you could argue that the objective has been met,” she said. The Commerce Department said it did not calculate the economic benefits of data centers because it doesn’t have the information it needs to do so. Lawmakers would have to change the reporting requirements “to know the true value of the exemptions.” Scott Mooneyham, a spokesman for the NC League of Municipalities, said the group hasn’t taken a position on the tax exemptions. For some member cities and towns, data centers, when appropriately sited, “have been seen as a huge boost to property tax revenues,” he said. “Others have been concerned about proposals that, based on the potential sites, could create quality of life issues for residents and damage surrounding home values.” Google has operated a large data center since 2007 in Lenoir, a small town in Caldwell County at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The company says it has invested $600 million in the project and plans a $1 billion expansion. Yet it’s difficult to know how Google’s presence has influenced the county’s economy. Caldwell is a Tier 1 county, a Commerce Department designation for those most economically distressed. In media reports, the company has said 400 people work at the data center, but the precise number of employees is a “trade secret,” according to an agreement signed in 2024 with the county and city. Google’s energy, water and sewer use is also confidential. Caldwell County and Lenoir also gave Google property tax incentives, contingent on the company’s financial investments for the expansion, which includes the creation of 30 additional jobs. Google paid roughly $5.2 million in property taxes last year, county records show, nearly 10 percent of the county’s total property tax collection. At the energy task force meeting, Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Democrat from Guilford County, asked commerce officials to include two metrics if they can eventually analyze the costs and benefits of data centers: residents’ health impacts and quality of life. “It’s not all numbers,” she said. --- # Tug-of-war for NC mountain hospital beds takes a turn by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press April 10, 2026 When AdventHealth broke ground on its long-awaited Weaverville hospital on March 26, the Florida-based health system envisioned a hospital with hundreds of beds — one which could eventually rival that of HCA-owned Mission Hospital, which currently dominates the Asheville market. That plan, however, was thrown into doubt last week when the state Department of Health and Human Services chose to [award](https://info.ncdhhs.gov/dhsr/coneed/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) 95 additional acute care beds to Mission rather than the new Weaverville hospital. In all there were 129 acute care beds up for grabs, which HCA, AdventHealth, Novant and UNC Health jockeyed over in a competitive review process. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** AdventHealth made those beds a key part of its expansion plans for the new Weaverville hospital, and had good reason to think they’d get them after besting HCA in two previous certificate of need applications. Ultimately, the state bucked that trend and gave most of the beds to HCA to expand Mission Hospital, bringing that facility to a total of 828 beds. DHHS gave the 34 remaining beds to Novant to build a new community hospital in Arden, which will serve southern Buncombe County. Critics of the decision said that DHHS failed to consider Mission’s ongoing issues with [immediate jeopardy](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75090/mission-hospital-merry-go-around-sparks-call-for-regulatory-change/?ref=down-ballot.info) citations, which have led the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to go as far as to threaten pulling crucial federal funds from the hospital. In 2019, Tennessee-based HCA purchased the regional Mission Health chain, which until that point operated as a nonprofit. Since then, the group’s flagship hospital in Asheville has struggled with staffing issues and poor marks from inspectors, while the entire group faces regulatory action and litigation from the NC Department of Justice over service since the acquisition. A survey by federal regulators at Mission Hospital last year uncovered preventable death, unsafe patient transport and harmful infection protocol. **Aaron Sarver**, a spokesperson for Reclaim Healthcare WNC, a nonprofit focused on holding HCA accountable in its operation of Mission Health, told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) that the region remains reliant on Mission Hospital as its primary tertiary care facility and only trauma center. However, many residents in need of medical care now seek alternative facilities when possible because of Mission’s noncompliance issues, he said. “It’s safe to say that our community has lost trust in Mission,” Sarver said. “By not adequately considering the enforcement history at Mission and the need for real competition in the region, DHHS has failed (Western North Carolina) with this decision.” ### More certificate-of-need battles on horizon The first phase of AdventHealth Weaverville is a 67-bed facility which company leaders said will create 1,300 jobs and fill the health-services gap that currently exists in northern Buncombe, Madison and Yancey counties. Getting the certificate of need required to begin construction was a battle in itself because of a years-long appeals process by HCA, who wanted those beds for Mission. In December, the North Carolina Supreme Court [refused](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73870/adventhealth-high-court-wont-hear-key-appeal-on-new-buncombe-hospital/?ref=down-ballot.info) to hear HCA’s final appeal, allowing AdventHealth to finally begin work on the hospital. During his remarks ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony, Gov. **Josh Stein** said the Weaverville hospital would “increase competition among hospitals in Western North Carolina, which ultimately benefits patients by lowering cost and improving quality.” ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Groundbreaking_Weaverville-scaled.jpg) Gov. Josh Stein participates in AdventHealth's groundbreaking ceremony for its new Weaverville hospital. Provided But further legal fights await AdventHealth, which has ambitious plans to continue adding beds in Weaverville. In 2024, DHHS awarded AdventHealth 26 more acute care beds to expand its planned Weaverville hospital. HCA appealed that decision too, and AdventHealth spokesperson **Victoria Dunkle** told CPP that they expect a ruling from an administrative law judge in the coming weeks. “These beds are an important addition to the 67 beds already approved for AdventHealth Weaverville,” Dunkle said. Meanwhile, AdventHealth is considering whether to flip the script on HCA and appeal DHHS’ most recent decision to award 95 beds to Mission Hospital. Dunkle said AdventHealth is “evaluating appeal options that honor the community's needs and voice.” “Based on the recent health care access and quality concerns in our region, we do not believe the decision is in the best interest of our community and will have profound impacts,” she added, making a veiled reference to Mission’s multiple immediate jeopardy citations. ### DHHS disregards HCA compliance issues In its findings from the competitive review, DHHS seemed to favor Mission because of its broader scope of services. The findings briefly touched on Mission’s troubles with federal regulators in a section which required applicants to prove that “quality care has been provided in the past.” In its application, HCA admitted that Mission Hospital had recently received an immediate jeopardy citation that had yet to be officially resolved, although corrective actions had been taken. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025MissionHospital07-scaled.jpg) Mission Hospital in Asheville, seen here on March 9, 2025\. The hospital is part of the Mission Health group, owned by HCA. Colby Rabon / Carolina Public Press Despite that, DHHS determined that HCA had done enough to show “sufficient evidence” of quality care across all six facilities it operates in North Carolina. No further mentions of quality of care concerns at Mission Hospital appeared in DHHS’ findings. Another factor DHHS considered was geographic accessibility, in which it gave the edge to Novant for its proposed facility in Arden. In the end, the state divided the 129 beds between HCA and Novant, cutting AdventHealth out completely. While HCA’s Mission Health group is a major presence in the region and Florida-based AdventHealth operates hospitals in nearby Hendersonville and Columbus, Winston-Salem-based Novant has not had a big presence in the state’s mountain region previously, though it is a major player in the hospital industry across North Carolina. ### Why not Weaverville? While the DHHS decision put a damper on AdventHealth’s plans in Weaverville, mayor **Dee Lawrence** told CPP he’s optimistic that future certificate of need applications will open up and allow the hospital to keep growing. “We have to respect the process that the state has,” he said. “We hope that they would start believing that it's better to give the public more options than less.” For now, 67 beds is a good start in a region that Lawrence described as a “health care desert.” ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/AdventHealth-Weaverville-Phase-1-Hospital-Rendering-93-Beds-scaled.jpg) An artist's rendering shows AdventHealth's vision for its new hospital in Weaverville. Provided An emergency department serving northern Buncombe County, which is more easily reachable by residents of neighboring counties like Madison and Yancey, is a welcome development, Sarver agreed. “It’s important for people not from (Western North Carolina) to understand that the geography means that it can easily take more than an hour for an ambulance to reach Asheville where Mission is located,” he said. “Giving those folks a closer option for care is important, as evidenced by the broad support Advent had from representatives of those local governments.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75243/weaverville-cut-out-new-nc-hospital-beds-dhhs-picks-mission-novant/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # A new immigration strategy shakes agro-industrial rural towns by Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest April 8, 2026 [***Leer en español.***](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/04/08/nueva-estrategia-migratoria-irrumpe-en-los-pueblos-rurales-agroindustriales/?ref=down-ballot.info) Eliseo Affholter noticed a car following him, moving slowly as he walked through the streets of Milan, Missouri. Walking was his wind-down routine after work at a Kraft Heinz plant, where on Feb. 24, he had just finished a 12-hour overnight shift. As he walked along East Grand Avenue, he saw flashing lights and vehicles lined up behind a stopped car, including patrol cars, an SUV and a pickup truck. As Affholter stepped closer, he raised his phone to record. One agent identified himself as an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and asked in Spanish what country Affholter was a citizen of. “From here,” Affholter replied. “Do you have papers? …Are you legally in the United States?” the agent asked, as two others stood nearby. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-27-26__2026_March_Milan_01-1024x768.jpg) Eliseo Affholter arrived in the United States at age 13 and was later adopted by a U.S. citizen. On Feb. 24, an ICE agent broke his phone camera, according to Affholter, after he was stopped and questioned about his nationality in Milan, Missouri. photo taken Feb. 27, 2026\. photo by Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest He stopped recording when an officer grabbed the phone from his hand, according to Affholter. When he asked why he was being detained, he said one agent responded in English: “We have the right to assume that you're an illegal alien.” That same day, federal immigration agents arrested three people in Milan, including two men from Senegal and another from Guatemala. Over the past year, President Trump’s deportation campaign has reached deep into agricultural regions that rely heavily on immigrant labor, [including raids on farms and at meat-packing facilities](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/02/11/trump-dhs-is-pushing-the-boundaries-of-probable-cause-and-due-process-to-fuel-a-farm-labor-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Vertical-ExcerptQuote-Cards-Square-Pillow-1-1024x1024.png) Milan, a north Missouri town of about 1,800, is home to a large Smithfield Foods pork processing plant. The Kraft Heinz plant, where Affholter worked, is 33 miles east in Kirksville. But the February arrests in Milan did not take place inside the local meatpacking plant; they occurred along nearby roads and in residential areas where workers live and travel to and from their shifts. “They may not be going into the plant, but they’re in the community,” said Axel Fuentes, executive director of the Rural Community Workers Alliance, a worker advocacy organization that supports immigrant and refugee food industry workers in rural Missouri. Any immigration enforcement expansion within agricultural communities could have been aided by a September 2025 U.S. Supreme Court decision that broadened the scope of what agents can consider “reasonable suspicion.” Arrests [appeared to increase](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/us/ice-arrests-immigration-enforcement.html?ref=down-ballot.info) after the decision, which allowed agents to consider a mix of factors, including apparent race or ethnicity, language or accent, location, and type of work, when making stops. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/photo-1024x683.jpg) “Some would say that the Supreme Court, in effect, encouraged ICE to engage in racial profiling in immigration enforcement,” said Kevin R. Johnson, a law professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law. “The truth of the matter is, I think that’s accurate.” Johnson said such practices have long been permitted under Supreme Court precedent. In a 1975 decision, [*United States v. Brignoni-Ponce*](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/422/873/?ref=down-ballot.info), the Supreme Court ruled that immigration agents cannot stop someone based solely on “Mexican appearance,” but may consider it as one factor among others. Affholter, 36, is a U.S. citizen of Maya descent, born in Guatemala. He arrived in the United States at 13 and was later adopted by a white American man. He has lived here for most of his life. In a statement, an ICE spokesperson said Affholter “deliberately interfered” with a federal operation and “verbally” assaulted agents, prompting officers to question him about his immigration status and request identification. “I feel like I’m an animal, like I’m worthless,” Affholter said. “Like I don’t deserve to be here… because of my skin color, because of the language I speak. I speak Spanish, English and Mayan.” Affholter was referring to Mam, an Indigenous Mayan language spoken in the western highlands of Guatemala and the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Across Milan, residents told Investigate Midwest that there is fear immigration enforcement will not only target workplaces but also neighborhoods and streets. In the first months of his presidency, Trump sent federal agents to farms and agricultural operations, drawing backlash from some supporters who said the actions made it harder to hire undocumented workers, who make up 44% of all farm workers, [according to U.S. government surveys](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/10/29/trumps-deportations-are-causing-farm-labor-issues-he-hasnt-presented-a-viable-long-term-solution/?ref=down-ballot.info). Trump [announced a temporary pause](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/trump-immigration-raids-workers.html?searchResultPosition=1&ref=down-ballot.info) on raids in the agriculture and meat-processing sectors, only to [reverse the decision days later](https://www.epi.org/policywatch/trump-decides-to-pause-ice-raids-in-agriculture-meatpacking-and-hospitality-then-quickly-reverses-course/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Chicago-Migrant-003-1024x576.jpg) By early February 2026, more than 68,000 immigrants were being held in ICE detention nationwide, according to the [Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse](https://tracreports.org/immigration/quickfacts/detention.html?ref=down-ballot.info) at Syracuse University. Most were arrested by ICE, and nearly three-quarters had no criminal conviction, often only minor offenses like traffic violations. Although there is no publicly stated directive establishing a formal shift in strategy, advocates and residents say enforcement is increasingly occurring outside plants. “Since last year, we’ve seen arrests following routine court appearances, such as for traffic violations, where people are then transferred into federal custody,” Fuentes said. ## **A family divided and displaced** One of the people arrested by ICE in Milan was Victorino Martínez-Chávez, 46, a Guatemalan national, who worked a cleaning shift at the Smithfield meat-processing plant, the town's largest employer, according to state workforce data. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_3260-1024x768.jpeg) Milan is home to a large Smithfield Foods pork processing plant. The Kraft Heinz plant is 33 miles east in Kirksville, Missouri. In a statement, an ICE spokesperson said Martínez-Chavez, who had previously been deported, was arrested during a targeted enforcement operation and had “refused to obey lawful commands to exit his vehicle, threatening officer safety and forcing officers to remove him from the vehicle.” The spokesperson added that Martínez-Chavez had previously been deported and reentered the United States, which is a felony offense. Affholter’s video of the arrest, which was reviewed by Investigate Midwest, shows the driver’s side window of Martínez-Chávez’s vehicle already broken when ICE agents left the scene. Two other men — Serigne Ciss, 33, and Thierno Amar, 33, both from Senegal — were also arrested, according to ICE. The agency said they had entered the United States after crossing the “border illegally” during the Biden administration, according to an ICE email. Minutes before his arrest, Martínez-Chávez had dropped off his daughter and other children at school. At home, his wife, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, was waiting for him to return home when she received a call from her stepdaughter, who said Martínez-Chávez had been detained. “I started crying,” the wife, 42, recalled. “Who’s going to take care of me now?” ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/54594321201_e19251af0a_c.jpg) Martínez-Chávez was the sole breadwinner. His wife does not work outside the home and cares for the three youngest children, including one who is just 18 months old. She does not speak English and speaks limited Spanish; her primary language is Mam. The wife moved to the United States three years ago to join her husband, who was already living in the community. That morning, beyond the fear, they faced immediate uncertainty: a pending paycheck and a week of vacation time they were unsure would be honored. Days before the arrest, Martínez-Chávez’s wife learned she was pregnant. Although she wants to return to Guatemala to reunite with her husband, who has already been deported, an error on her baby’s birth certificate has prevented her from obtaining a passport to take him out of the country, leaving her effectively trapped. ## **A workplace under pressure** Over the past several decades, the meatpacking industry has shifted from major urban centers to smaller rural communities closer to livestock production, driven by larger-scale plants and changing supply-chain economics. Access to labor remains critical everywhere. There are more than 7,000 inspected meat, poultry, and egg processing plants operating across the country, with more than one-fifth in rural and nonmetropolitan areas, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Missouri ranks 14th among states in the number of meatpacking plants. This shift has brought new economic life to many small towns, including Milan. The Smithfield facility in Milan is classified as a large plant, employing at least 500 workers, a workforce equivalent to more than a quarter of the town’s [residents](https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US2948062-milan-mo/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Nearly half of residents identify as Hispanic](https://censusreporter.org/profiles/16000US2948062-milan-mo/?ref=down-ballot.info), and more than a quarter were born outside the United States, more than double the rate in Missouri. Nationwide, nearly half of meat-processing workers are foreign-born workers, according to a 2022 report by the [American Immigration Council](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/tending-americas-food-supply-meat-dairy-industries/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![Mónica Cordero, a reporter for Investigate Midwest, visited Milan, Missouri, on Friday, February 27. She spoke with members of the Latino community, including individuals affected by the ICE operation on February 24. Given the immigration status of some of those interviewed and their family members, Investigate Midwest agreed to withhold their identities to protect them from potential deportation.](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Vertical-ExcerptQuote-Cards-26-576x1024.png) “The American economy, and particularly the American food system, is entirely dependent on various forms of immigration, both legal and not so legal,” said Elizabeth Cullen Dunn, a geography professor at Indiana University who studies migration and labor. She said enforcement actions are often designed to be visible without disrupting production. “They don't want to shut the meatpacking plants down,” she said. “That would cost the meatpacking companies millions of dollars a day.” While Milan’s Smithfield plant was not raided in February, the effects of area arrests were felt the following day. Ray Atkinson, senior director of external affairs at Smithfield, said in an email that “there was no interruption to our business on Tuesday and we have not had any staffing issues,” referring to the day of the ICE arrests. Workers described a different reality. Four plant workers, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said operations began later than usual on Wednesday because several overnight sanitation workers failed to report for work. Some were afraid to leave their homes after the arrests, according to the workers. The burden shifted onto those who showed up. A man in his 50s who has worked at the Smithfield plant for about two decades said the pace of repetitive hand movements had increased, raising the risk of injury. “With the faster pace, you could cause an accident or cut a coworker… our hands are constantly moving, and we’re working with knives.” A woman in her late 40s said that with fewer workers, breaks have become harder to take. She said employees are typically allowed to use the bathroom twice per shift. Atkinson did not respond to a follow-up email seeking comment on the reported disruptions. While the workers described short-term disruption, the company has warned investors about broader labor shortages, particularly in rural areas where some of its operations are located. In its [latest annual filing](https://investors.smithfieldfoods.com/sec-filings/sec-filings/content/0000091388-26-000014/smf-20251228.htm?ref=down-ballot.info), Smithfield said that new immigration legislation could increase the costs of recruiting, training and retaining employees, as well as compliance costs related to reviewing workers’ immigration status, and could lead to employee shortages. The company also said that increased enforcement of existing immigration laws by government authorities could disrupt portions of its workforce or operations. [Smithfield annual filing](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/0000091388-26-000014.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) In poultry plants, workers may process as many as 140 birds per minute, said Navina Khanna, executive director of the HEAL Food Alliance, a national coalition that works with food system workers. In pork processing facilities, workers can repeat the same cut up to 9,000 times a day. The risks are not new, but they can intensify when fewer workers are on the line. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that [81% of poultry-processing workers](https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media%5Ffile/documents/PULSE%5FPoultryStudy%5F250109%5FFinal.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) and [46% of pork-processing workers](https://www.fsis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media%5Ffile/documents/PULSE%5FSwineStudy%5F250109%5FFinal.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) face an increased risk of [musculoskeletal disorders](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/musculoskeletal-conditions?ref=down-ballot.info), conditions typically characterized by pain and limitations in mobility and dexterity, that can limit a person’s ability to work and participate in daily life. Concerns about working conditions in meatpacking plants have surfaced in other parts of the country. Last month, at a JBS beef plant in Greeley, Colorado, workers went on strike, citing unsafe conditions, fast line speeds and limited breaks, according to [The Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/meatpacking-plant-strike-jbs-greeley-colorado-02e9d57762af09a609b34d8e577f0c37?ref=down-ballot.info). With fewer workers on the line, there is less oversight to ensure “any kind of safety,” forcing employees to work “faster” and “longer,” Khanna said, adding that the combination of staffing shortages and increased line speeds is making conditions “more dangerous” for workers. ## **Economic effects in a rural town** In many rural communities, immigrant workers are not only part of the labor force but also a key source of economic stability. Research shows they contribute more in taxes than they receive in public benefits and help offset population decline, a trend that has become especially important in small towns across the Midwest. In [congressional testimony in 2023](https://www.cato.org/testimony/unlocking-americas-potential-how-immigration-fuels-economic-growth-our-competitive?ref=down-ballot.info), David Bier of the Cato Institute, a Washington-based public policy research organization, said immigrants “generate, in inflation-adjusted terms, nearly $1 trillion in state, local, and federal taxes, almost $300 billion more than they receive in government benefits.” At the center of Milan is the courthouse. On the surrounding four blocks, at least one business on each corner is tied to the town’s Latino community. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-27-26__2026_March_Milan_02-1024x768.jpg) Milan, Missouri, in north-central Sullivan County, is a community shaped in part by immigration. About 46% of residents identify as Latino, and more than 28% were born outside the United States. Downtown Milan seen here on Feb. 27, 2026\. photo by Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest “It’s very, very difficult,” said an immigrant from Guatemala who has lived in Milan for nearly two decades. “It makes my stomach turn to think that you keep fighting and fighting, and the problems don’t go away.” The woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of her immigration status, owns a restaurant and a small grocery store that operate out of the same space. She said she started her own business so she would not have to rely on false documents to work and so she could contribute to the town’s economy. She said fear in the community over current immigration policies has hurt her business. “They’re pushing us into a corner,” she said. “You feel like sooner or later, it’s your turn.” On a good day, she said, she used to make about $1,000\. Now, her sales can sometimes drop to around $100. She also operates a money-transfer service. She said weekly money transfers, called remittances, once reached about $40,000 but dropped to roughly $6,000 in the last week of February. She said the decline in sales began in 2025 and has forced her to reduce inventory. She used to travel to Kansas four or five times a month to restock products. Now she goes twice, sometimes only once. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-27-26__2026_March_Milan_05-768x1024.jpg) Downtown Milan seen here on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026\. photo by Monica Cordero, Investigate Midwest At another store in downtown Milan, money-transfer services have dropped by about half. The owner said she now carries about 15% of the goods she once stocked. “You can’t start rounding up and deporting people, and terrorizing, and getting people to self-deport, when they make up about 20% of the workforce without expecting major negative impacts on the economy,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. Meat and poultry processing employs about 560,000 workers nationwide, with a combined payroll of $30 billion, underscoring how deeply local economies depend on the industry, according to the [Economic Policy Institute](https://www.epi.org/publication/the-h-2b-visa-program-has-ballooned-without-being-fixed-expanding-it-to-year-round-jobs-like-meatpacking-would-lower-wages-and-revenue/?ref=down-ballot.info). The economic effects extend beyond daily routines and local businesses. Another woman, who also asked not to be identified because of her immigration status, said fear has reshaped even the most routine parts of her family’s life. She avoids going to Walmart on weekends, she said, because the nearest store is a 45-minute drive — and she worries she could be stopped along the way. She has two children, ages 7 and 9\. The younger child is autistic. Weekend outings, once a regular activity, have largely stopped. The family used to go to Pizza Hut, something the children looked forward to. Her older daughter has begun to grasp the situation. “She says that when she grows up, she hopes she’ll be able to fix our papers so we don’t have to live with this fear all the time,” the woman said. Affholter, the Kraft Heinz employee temporarily held in Milan, has lived in the U.S. for roughly two-thirds of his life. But the possibility of being stopped on the street because of his appearance has made him question his place in a country he considers his own. “What I am experiencing now is not normal. I can’t accept that this is normal,” he said. “Because that’s not the America I know.” Asked what he meant, he paused. “That we are all equal,” he said. “That we are all free. No matter your roots, no matter your color, no matter what language you speak.” This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/04/08/a-new-immigration-strategy-shakes-agro-industrial-rural-towns/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=758860&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- # ‘Language lost. Culture lost’: In Milwaukee, a race to keep Rohingya language alive in exile by Paul Kiefer / Wisconsin Watch and Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch April 7, 2026 Highlights from the story: - Decades of repression and ethnic cleansing in Myanmar have driven most Rohingya from their western Myanmar homeland. - Several forms of written Rohingya have emerged in the diaspora, but none has reached widespread use among a scattered population. - A small group in Milwaukee, home to what may be the country’s latest Rohingya population, is testing whether teaching a written form of Rohingya can help preserve the language. - Advocates face a major hurdle: persuading families to prioritize learning Rohingya alongside work, school and resettlement. - Similar efforts among Hmong refugees in the Midwest suggest a written language can take hold — but only with sustained community buy-in. A dozen fasting teenagers filed into the basement of a community center on Milwaukee’s South Side in mid-February to mark the first night of Ramadan around folding tables. The building belongs to the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin (BRCW), a bare-bones nonprofit serving hundreds of local Rohingya refugee families. Brand-new carpets muffled the sounds of worshippers in the mosque one floor up. Nearly everyone in the nonprofit’s Clarke Square community center spoke Rohingya, but not a single printed word in the language appeared on the whiteboards in the center’s classrooms where recent arrivals study English and prepare for citizenship exams. Flyers advertising a food giveaway were in English, as were posters listing prayer times and an illuminated sign over the center’s front entrance. Printed Rohingya words could be found only in a small stack of children’s books and loose-leaf dictionaries in an office just off the prayer hall — raw materials for an experiment in cultural preservation. ![An open spiral-bound booklet rests on leather furniture, showing a table of contents and text pages illuminated by sunlight.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260119-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-011-782x782.jpg) A first-of-its-kind picture dictionary translating English words to a written Rohingya language is being tested at the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, shown on Jan. 19, 2026, in Milwaukee. Hardly anyone passing through the community center can easily read a sentence in Rohingya. Decades of state-sanctioned repression and ethnic cleansing have driven most Rohingya from their western Myanmar homeland. Several forms of written Rohingya have emerged in the diaspora, but none has reached widespread use among the scattered diaspora. Without an agreed-upon alphabet or enough people literate in Rohingya to teach it, community leaders worry the language will wither, taking with it a core part of a culture already frayed by displacement and state-sanctioned violence. Milwaukee is now a proving ground for Rohingya literacy. If this community center with a tiny volunteer staff can build an audience for Rohingya language education — in the city likely home to the country’s largest Rohingya population — momentum could spread, boosting the language’s chances of surviving in exile. It’s a big if. What does it take to preserve a language that’s rarely written down? The center’s indefatigable co-founders, a Dallas-based linguist and an international network of Rohingya scholars are trying to figure it out. ## **From Myanmar to Milwaukee** Mohamed Anwar is always on the move. Even while juggling a half-dozen jobs, the BRCW co-founder leaves a few gaps in his schedule to help refugee families navigate their new country. He, too, came to Milwaukee as a refugee. Anwar grew up on a knife’s edge. Since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, Myanmar’s government has chipped away at the rights of the Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic group in a majority-Buddhist nation. In 1982, when Anwar was 7, the Myanmar government stripped the Rohingya and other disfavored groups of citizenship, leaving millions stateless. Anwar managed to secure a high school diploma and an undergraduate degree — the latter a rare accomplishment for a Rohingya student of his generation. But with prospects dimming and the threat of state-sponsored violence mounting, Anwar set aside his graduate studies and fled, joining thousands of other Rohingya refugees risking death and [enslavement ](https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/uncategorized/2015/global-supermarkets-selling-shrimp-peeled-by-slaves/?ref=down-ballot.info)to reach Malaysia. He remained in Kuala Lumpur for over a decade, initially surviving on low-wage jobs until he eventually crossed paths with United Nations outreach workers.Recognizing his talents, the U.N. brought him on as a translator. When the State Department approved his family for resettlement in the U.S. as refugees in 2015, Anwar landed in Milwaukee, where a few friends had already begun putting down roots. ![A brick building with signs reading](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260119-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-013-782x782.jpg) Afternoon sunlight shines on the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin on Jan. 19, 2026, in Milwaukee. ![A person sits on a red wooden bench in a room with two windows as light streams in and illuminates part of the floor and nearby rolled rugs.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260218-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-004-782x782.jpg) Mohamed Anwar, co-founder, president and executive director of the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, sits for a portrait while preparing for the first day of Ramadan on Feb. 18, 2026, in Milwaukee. Even a decade ago, the city’s Rohingya community was large enough for Aurora Health Care to require interpreters. Anwar was a natural fit for the job. Like other specialists, health care interpreters must pass a certification course. “They had no one to test me in Rohingya,” Anwar recalled. Without an agreed-upon alphabet, a written test was also off the table. His examiners took his time with the U.N. as proof of his fluency, and he has since taken charge of recruiting and training new Rohingya interpreters for the hospital system. ## **Milwaukee becomes a magnet** BRCW estimates more than 4,000 Rohingya live in the Milwaukee area -- an educated guess, but a difficult one to confirm. Roughly half of the more than 13,000 refugees resettled in Wisconsin since 2012 came from Myanmar, but the State Department resettlement statistics do not distinguish between Rohingya and other refugees from the country. The city has become a magnet for Rohingya refugees who first settled elsewhere in the United States, drawn by cheaper housing, abundant jobs for immigrants with limited English, a strong support network and private Islamic schools. That pattern shows up in BRCW outreach data: 17% of phone numbers collected by 2020 had out-of-state area codes — some belonging to families whom the nonprofit helped relocate from as far away as New Hampshire. Most Rohingya families have settled on Milwaukee’s South Side and southern suburbs, with a growing number purchasing homes within walking distance of BRCW’s community center. Anwar himself owns a few nearby properties, renting them to Rohingya newcomers finding their footing in the city. The city’s public institutions are trying to keep pace with the community’s growth. Milwaukee Public Schools [began translating notices for parents into one version of written Rohingya at least five years ago](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2020/03/02/milwaukee-public-schools-extends-education-lifeline-refugee-children/4656482002/?ref=down-ballot.info) and has [published a Rohingya translation of this year’s parent handbook](https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1764769074/mpsmilwaukeek12wius/qjqyd4tkq6dsl8pddtnm/MPS%5FRR%5FEnglish%5F2025-26825V13%5FRohingya.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). In mid-January, a Milwaukee Health Department official called BRCW to ask whether the agency should offer Rohingya translations using a Latin script, a script derived from Arabic and Urdu or audio recordings. BRCW co-founder Andrew Trumbull says audio recordings are the only viable means of reaching most new arrivals, at least for now. The nonprofit offers English classes, but many Rohingya adults have little free time between long shifts and family responsibilities. Parents often rely on their children as interpreters, but translating technical terms into Rohingya is a stretch for children who have never formally studied the language. ## **A volunteer effort takes shape** Trumbull sticks out in the halls of the BRCW community center. He doesn’t speak Rohingya, doesn’t pray in the center’s mosque and has no family ties to Rohingya Milwaukee, but he’s been there from the start. A decade after helping get the nonprofit off the ground, the self-described weekend warrior spends much of his scarce free time applying for grants and managing English-language communications in the cluttered office he shares with Anwar. ![A person leans over a desk holding a computer mouse and looking at a computer screen in a room with books on shelves and a large white piece of paper with words on it on a wall.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260119-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-010-782x782.jpg) Andrew Trumbull, co-founder and administrative director at the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, works on his computer in his office, Jan. 19, 2026, in Milwaukee. The pair met through Anwar’s brother, for whom Trumbull acted as a tutor and Milwaukee tour guide as the former settled into his new city. They soon launched BRCW, with Anwar managing community affairs and Trumbull managing relationships with government agencies and nonprofit peers — both as volunteers. Trumbull’s enthusiasm for Rohingya language preservation is partially motivated by his own feelings of cultural loss. He spent most of his childhood in Germany, but after moving to the U.S. at age 11, he refused to speak his grandparents’ language. “I wanted not to be different, so I did not speak German,” he said. While he doesn’t compare his experience to those of refugees, he’s watched similar assimilatory pressures play out among Rohingya children in Milwaukee. “All of the Rohingya parents know that the Rohingya language is dying,” he said. “The question is what they can do about it.” For now, a small selection of children's books and a Rohingya-to-English dictionary offer the closest thing to a Rohingya literacy curriculum in the U.S. Trumbull hosts a [digital version of the dictionary on the center’s website](https://www.brcw.org/rohingya?ref=down-ballot.info); the physical copies in his office are the leftovers from a pile passed out to families. Without a grant to support a more structured distribution program, Anwar and Trumbull are “field-testing” the materials by handing them out whenever they can and seeking feedback. An episode of the Sesame Workshop International series "Playtime With Noor & Aziz," which was introduced to refugee children after field testing in Milwaukee. Another source of [Rohingya-language learning aids](https://rohingya.sesame.tv/?ref=down-ballot.info): “Sesame Street.”[A series of episodes starring puppet siblings Noor and Aziz](https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2022/10/18/milwaukee-rohingya-help-sesame-workshop-make-new-muppets-noor-and-aziz/10522571002/?ref=down-ballot.info) — characters introduced in 2022 for refugee children in Bangladesh — also went through field-testing in Milwaukee with the help of Anwar, Trumbull and BRCW. ## **Searching for a written form** The written Rohingya materials on display at BRCW are the product of decades of work by Rohingya linguists. An earlier form of written Rohingya died out roughly 200 years ago, said Dallas-based linguist Miranda Kuykendall; the reasons for its extinction remain unclear. Revival efforts took off in the 1980s, when a Rohingya academic in Bangladesh developed the *Hanifi* script by adapting the alphabet family used to write Arabic and Urdu. By the turn of the century, a Rohingya engineer in Saudi Arabia introduced a Latin alphabet alternative — a more straightforward option for standard keyboards. “Different pockets of the Rohingya population prefer different scripts for different reasons,” Kuykendall said. For Rohingya students familiar with Arabic through religious education, the Hanifiscript may be more approachable, and [pilot programs in Bangladesh teach the script to some refugee children](https://childrenontheedge.org/news/the-hanifi-script-a-literacy-revolution-for-the-rohingya?ref=down-ballot.info). The Latin-based script is familiar to the growing Rohingya diaspora in North America, the United Kingdom and Malaysia, where the primary languages rely on the Latin alphabet. ![A person stands in a doorway leaning on the door frame while another person stands inside the room, with light shining in from a window behind.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260218-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-003-782x782.jpg) Mohamed Anwar, co-founder, president and executive director of the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, left, prepares for the first day of Ramadan on Feb. 18, 2026, in Milwaukee. ![A printed schedule labeled for Ramadan is taped to a wall with visible strips of tape holding it in place.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260218-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-017-782x782.jpg) A Ramadan prayer calendar is taped on the wall at the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin on Feb. 18, 2026, in Milwaukee. Kuykendall, the Rohingya language program manager for Texas nonprofit International Literacy and Development, helped roll out the Rohingya-to-English dictionary and partnered with [nonprofit publisher Books Unbound](https://books-unbound.org/our-projects/the-rohingya-community/?ref=down-ballot.info) to release a picture dictionary for younger audiences. The same network of collaborators is now developing a Rohingya translation app. Though her team included multiple Rohingya scripts in the dictionary, Kuykendall noted that children of Rohingya parents born or raised in the U.S. typically find the Latin script version of the language, also called “Rohingyalish,” far easier to pick up. That isn’t necessarily the case for Rohingya-speaking adults — even those already literate in several other languages. “It’s difficult for me to read,” said Anwar, squinting at a page of a picture dictionary. “I never got a chance to learn.” Kuykendall and BRCW say boosting adult literacy could be transformative for Rohingya refugee communities, with written Rohingya serving as a useful counterpart for teaching English. But in Anwar and Trumbull’s view, children and young adults are more likely to have time for the Rohingya literacy materials now in the informal testing process in Milwaukee. For some young people, the pitch might be practical: Learning written Rohingya could help teenagers translate technical language and complicated documents for their parents. For others, the draw could be more existential. “When they become preteens and teenagers,” Trumbull said, they might “grasp the importance of what it means to have lost their language.” Even if the nonprofit can muster a critical mass of interested young people interested in Rohingya literacy, Trumbull noted, BRCW lacks money and bandwidth to organize formal classes. The nonprofit seeks grants to support structured outreach, including its earlier work with “Sesame Street.” If all goes well, Anwar and Trumbull hope to offer Rohingya language lessons through BRCW’s after-school religious classes. Aside from Kuykendall’s smaller-scale work with students in Dallas, a BRCW Rohingya language class would be the first of its kind in the country. ## **‘I am concerned that my kids will never learn’** Those offerings would need buy-in from Rohingya parents like Umi Salmah and Mohammed Rafik, a couple raising three children in Milwaukee. Rafik, 43, still thinks of Anwar as his teacher. Back in Myanmar, Anwar offered English lessons to young people in his home village — Rafik included. After fleeing to Malaysia as a young man, Rafik spent early adulthood as a landscaper in Kuala Lumpur. Many of his relatives stayed behind long enough to witness a 2017 ethnic cleansing campaign that killed thousands and drove more than half of Myanmar’s remaining Rohingya into crowded refugee camps in Bangladesh, where Rohingya children are barred from attending public schools. U.S. State Department officials later described the attacks as acts of genocide.Those who remain in Myanmar are now caught in the crossfire of the country’s civil war, and the country’s military has begun [conscripting Rohingya men even while denying them citizenship](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68730994?ref=down-ballot.info)**.** More than a dozen members of Rafik’s immediate family drowned while en route to Bangladesh in 2024, as have [hundreds of other refugees](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/24/over-400-rohingya-feared-drowned-in-two-shipwrecks-off-myanmar-coast-un?ref=down-ballot.info) fleeing Myanmar by boat. “Everything’s lost,” he said, clasping his hands together. “Language lost. Culture lost. People lost. Village lost.” Rafik’s formal education ended after seventh grade. Salmah, on the other hand, completed high school in Myanmar before leaving for Malaysia, where the couple married. The military has since burned her home village. They relocated to Milwaukee after six years in Dallas, where they initially settled after securing refugee status. Both are naturalized citizens; their children were born in the U.S. Though the couple speaks Rohingya at home, their children “can’t speak back,” Salmah said. “Now I am concerned that my kids will never learn.” Salmah is unusually well-positioned to teach her children to read Rohingya. She completed a degree in early childhood education at Milwaukee Area Technical College, and she has a knack for languages. Aside from English and Rohingya, Salmah can also speak and read in Burmese and Malay. But even if she had the time to teach her children to read Rohingya — she’s currently working on a degree in phlebotomy — Salmah would first need to teach herself. Flipping to a page of a children’s book in the BRCW office, Salmah sounded out a passage letter by letter. “I have to pay so much attention to read that,” she said. Rohingya literacy education “is not going to work at home” for most Rohingya families, Rafik said. Most parents have little to no formal education of their own, so many would need to learn to read as adults before they could teach their children. People fluent in both Rohingya and English are often already busy providing translation services, and asking those ideal candidates to volunteer their time is a tall order. Like Salmah, any teaching candidate must also learn the Rohingya script alongside students. “I (need to) start from the beginning,” Anwar said. “From the ABCs.” ![People sit around a table covered with plates of food and water bottles.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260218-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-016-782x770.jpg) Mohamed Anwar, co-founder, president and executive director of the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, center, eats a community meal during the first day of Ramadan on Feb. 18, 2026, in Milwaukee. ## **Precedent in Hmong experience** If BRCW’s efforts gain traction, Milwaukee’s Rohingya community would not be the first group of refugees in the Midwest to give a struggling written language a new lease on life. The century-old church that now houses BRCW previously belonged to a Hmong Christian congregation — the last community to pull off this feat. Thousands of Hmong refugees settled in the upper Midwest beginning in the late 1970s, when the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam made allies, including many Hmong working alongside American forces in Laos, targets for retaliation. Fifty years later, Hmong refugees still outnumber any other refugee group in Wisconsin. More than 60,000 Wisconsinites identified as Hmong in 2020 — the third-largest Hmong population in the country behind Minnesota and California. ![A view through a service window shows people sitting at a table while a person to the right carries a plate, with a pitcher of orange drink and trays on a counter in the foreground.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260218-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-015-782x782.jpg) Mohamed Anwar, co-founder, president and executive director of the Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, right, eats a community meal during the first day of Ramadan on Feb. 18, 2026, in Milwaukee. Like more recent Rohingya arrivals, Hmong refugees arrived in the U.S. without a widely used written language. Christian missionaries in Laos developed a version of Hmong in the Latin script in the 1950s, but that system “did not stick,” said Bee Vang-Moua, the director of the Hmong language program at the University of Minnesota. The mass displacement of thousands of Hmong in the 1970s became a catalyst for Hmong literacy’s rise, Vang-Moua explained. Hmong refugees in the U.S. and in refugee camps in Thailand initially communicated by recording messages on cassette tapes, but that system was difficult to sustain. “It was very expensive,” she said, “so everyone that could learn (to write) tried to learn.” The introduction of cellphones slowed the uptake of Hmong writing, but only briefly. “Social media has boosted the need to read and write Hmong,” Vang-Moua said, because online networks connected Hmong speakers in the U.S. with Hmong speakers in Southeast Asia or Europe — primarily on text-based platforms like Facebook. The Latin-based script used by American Hmong speakers is now replacing versions of written Hmong developed independently in China and Vietnam, she added, because of the cultural influence of the diaspora in the U.S. The emergence of Hmong language immersion schools further boosted the written language, Vang-Moua added. [Milwaukee’s Hmong American Peace Academy](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/03/milwaukee-hmong-american-peace-academy-school-national-recognition/?ref=down-ballot.info), the first of its kind in Wisconsin, opened in 2004 with 200 students; Appleton’s Hmong American Immersion School [opened last year](https://www.wpr.org/news/new-wisconsin-school-education-hmong-culture?ref=down-ballot.info). Meanwhile, some Hmong groups have begun using the script to preserve community elders’ oral traditions in written form. Given the unpredictable trajectory of Hmong literacy, Vang-Moua noted that the project underway in Milwaukee’s Rohingya community still has time to find its footing. “I’ve often wondered how it all felt” in the early stages of Hmong language education,” she said. “Here we are, talking about the same things, just with a different community.” ## **Can the effort last?** A Rohingya charter school is a distant goal for Anwar and Trumbull. An after-school Rohingya class would serve as a trial run, and it could give teenagers a chance to test using written Rohingya in their everyday lives. But BRCW must also contend with parents’ priorities. Rafik and Salmah, for instance, say Rohingya language education can’t distract from other classes, including religious education. They aren’t alone. Mohamed Ibrahim, owner of a Rohingya restaurant and grocery store on Milwaukee’s South Side, sees a practical use for written Rohingya. Though he is Rohingya by ancestry, he grew up speaking Burmese in Yangon, Myanmar’s former capital. Rohingya-language educational materials could help him communicate more easily with his Rohingya-speaking customers, Ibrahim said, but he doesn’t have time to study it. ![People stand in a room with drinks, packaged items and a display case visible under fluorescent lighting.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260218-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-008-782x782.jpg) Mohamed Ibrahim, owner of Khan Aseya Restaurant, known as “Mom’s Kitchen,” center, serves takeout meals during the first day of Ramadan on Feb. 18, 2026, in Milwaukee. ![A person pours a drink into a plastic cup from a ladle with a large container labeled](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260218-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-010-782x770.jpg) Mohamed Ibrahim, owner of Khan Aseya Restaurant, known as “Mom’s Kitchen,” serves takeout meals during the first day of Ramadan on Feb. 18, 2026, in Milwaukee. ![A person in a green shirt and white cap stands and looks at a phone while leaning against a counter with a black-and-white checkered wall.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/asse20260218-Rohingya-language-Public-Square-Timmerman-012-782x782.jpg) Mohamed Ibrahim, owner of Khan Aseya Restaurant, known as “Mom’s Kitchen,” works on his phone during the first day of Ramadan on Feb. 18, 2026, in Milwaukee. Ibrahim has similar reservations about adding Rohingya language lessons to his children’s routines. “They live in the United States now,” he said. “We have to support our kids in English.” Meanwhile, Milwaukee’s Rohingya face a new set of hurdles. The Trump administration’s January 2025 decision to largely end refugee resettlement halted Salmah’s efforts to bring several family members from refugee camps in Bangladesh to Milwaukee. Last year, Anwar sent voice notes to the nonprofit’s WhatsApp group reminding refugees of their rights during run-ins with federal immigration authorities. And last year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began reopening the cases of thousands of refugees admitted under the Biden administration — a policy that could impact many in Milwaukee’s Rohingya community. Under the circumstances, Anwar and Trumbull aren’t bullish on their project’s short-term prospects. “But when you make things, sometimes they don’t go away,” Trumbull said. *Editor's note: This story was updated from its original version to add clarifying details.* *This story is part of* [*Public Square*](https://wisconsinwatch.org/series/public-square/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, an occasional photography series highlighting how Wisconsin residents connect with their communities. To suggest someone in your community for us to feature, email Joe Timmerman at* *jtimmerman@wisconsinwatch.org* *.* This [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisconsin-milwaukee-rohingya-language-culture-myanmar-refugee-hmong/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1315936&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB) --- # Disaster loans and mitigation bills signed into law by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today April 14, 2026 With the approval of Gov. Tate Reeves, bills aimed to help Mississippians both recover from and prepare for natural disasters are now in effect. ### Winter storm recovery Cities and counties recovering from Winter Storm Fern will now be able to apply for loans from the state as they await reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Local entities across north Mississippi are facing strains on their budgets, largely to pay for debris removal, as officials anticipate a monthslong wait before they see funding from FEMA's Public Assistance program. [House Bill 1646](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/HB/HB1646.xml?ref=down-ballot.info) will offer loans to recovering areas at a 3% interest rate. An earlier proposal passed by both chambers had just a 1% interest rate, but Reeves [vetoed the measure](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/24/reeves-veto-storm-aid-loan-criminal/?ref=down-ballot.info) because, in part, he expected the bill to have a 12% interest rate. The interest rate, though, will only apply if areas borrow more money than they receive from FEMA. Lawmakers allocated $125 million for the program. Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican from Biloxi, estimated in March that cities and counties had tallied over $350 million in damages to public infrastructure. The law allows loans to be issued through the program until July 2027\. The loan program took effect once Reeves signed off on the bill last week. FEMA has so far approved [38 counties](https://www.msema.org/news/four-more-counties-now-eligible-public-assistance?ref=down-ballot.info) for Public Assistance to recover from the storm. Separately, the federal agency also just approved Individual Assistance [for 36 counties](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/11/mississippi-fema-individual-assistance-winter-storm/?ref=down-ballot.info). As part of its disaster recovery spending, the Legislature also approved $20 million for Mississippi's Disaster Assistance Trust Fund, which DeLano said will help cover the state's share of the Public Assistance grants. FEMA covers 75% of those costs, while the state and local governments are each responsible for 12.5%. Also last week, the governor approved [Senate Bill 3229](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/SB/SB3229.xml?ref=down-ballot.info), which allows the state to borrow money on behalf of electric utilities, such as Entergy Mississippi, to pay for power grid damages caused by the storm. The idea is to borrow money at a lower interest rate to minimize impacts to utilities' ratepayers. The measure does not include electric power associations. ### Mitigation Also last week, Reeves approved a bill to create [the Strengthen Mississippi Homes Program](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/01/home-mitigation-disaster-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info). The measure, which took effect after passage, marks the farthest lawmakers have gotten in a near 20-year effort to better prepare homes in the state for natural disasters. The program, which the state Department of Insurance will administer with the help of an advisory council, will offer grants of up to $10,000 to replace roofs to meet FORTIFIED standards set by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety to reduce water damage and increase wind resistance. Applicants must have wind insurance, and if in a flood zone, flood insurance as well. Only single-family, primary residence homes are eligible. The mitigation spending will be funded through fees the Insurance Department collects from insurance agents across the state. A separate appropriations bill allows the agency to "escalate" up to $15 million for the program. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/04/14/disaster-loans-mitigation/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/14121725/cropped-MS-Today_10_Years_Logo_Yellow_WEB-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1175109&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- ### Extreme drought expands in North Carolina URL: https://down-ballot.info/extreme-drought-expands-in-north-carolina/ Last updated: 2026-04-16T19:26:01.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** Drought conditions continue to increase in severity across North Carolina. Thirty counties are now experiencing extreme drought, and most counties are experiencing severe or moderate drought, according to the [North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council](https://www.ncdrought.org/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) (DMAC). > “Near record heat, negligible rain and increased water demand is going to accelerate the decline in river and lake levels over the next few weeks,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the DMAC. “Reservoir systems are starting to see the impact of increased demand and low inflows.” > For counties in extreme drought, or D3, conditions, water systems are advised to follow their Water Shortage Response Plan and adhere to water use reduction measures. They must report weekly water use and conservation status online through the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resource’s [Local Water Supply Plan website](https://www.ncwater.org/WUDC/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). > The public should check with their local water supply system for any information on water use restrictions that might be in place. The N.C. Forest Service’s ban on all open burning remains [in effect until further notice.](https://www.ncagr.gov/news/press-releases/2026/04/14/statewide-burn-ban-and-enforcement-continue-dry-conditions-persist?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) Based on [data from the Southeast Regional Climate Center](https://sercc.com/climate-perspectives/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery), many rain gage stations in the state are reporting their top five lowest rainfall amounts since the beginning of the year. A rainfall station at Raleigh-Durham International Airport recorded the lowest rainfall total, year-to-date, on Wednesday across a 140-year period. Many streams and rivers are at all-time low levels, according to [U.S. Geological Survey](https://dashboard.waterdata.usgs.gov/app/nwd/en/?aoi=wsc-sa&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery&view=%7B%22basemap%22%3A%22EsriTopo%22%2C%22bounds%22%3A%22-86.66264977780445%2C28.260599485289923%2C-69.13350166279234%2C38.38061577244813%22%2C%22insetMap%22%3Afalse%2C%22panel%22%3A%7B%22id%22%3A%22ViewerLegend%22%2C%22open%22%3Atrue%2C%22checkbox%22%3A%220%2C16%2C21%2C22%2C23%22%2C%22hiddenSubgroup%22%3A%22usgs%40waterQuality%2Cusgs%40atmospheric%2Cweather%40hurricanes%2Cweather%40alerts%2Cweather%40cloud%2Cweather%40temperature%2Chydro%40aquifer%22%2C%22range%22%3A%220%3A1.0%2C1%3A1.0%2C2%3A1.0%2C3%3A1.0%2C4%3A1.0%2C5%3A1.0%2C6%3A1.0%2C7%3A1.0%2C8%3A0.8%2C9%3A0.3%2C10%3A0.5%2C11%3A0.5%2C12%3A0.5%2C13%3A0.5%2C14%3A0.5%2C15%3A0.5%2C16%3A0.5%2C17%3A1.0%2C18%3A1.0%2C19%3A1.0%2C20%3A1.0%22%2C%22select%22%3A%220%3A2%2C1%3A0%2C2%3A0%2C3%3A0%2C4%3A0%2C5%3A0%2C6%3A0%2C7%3A0%2C8%3A0%2C9%3A7%2C10%3A0%2C11%3A3%2C12%3A0%2C13%3A0%2C14%3A0%2C15%3A0%2C16%3A0%2C17%3A0%2C18%3A0%2C19%3A0%22%7D%7D) data. “In February, it looked like we might see a shift in the dryness that started last August, but it was only a brief respite,” Albertin said. “We saw low rainfall statewide in March, and April is also shaping up to be a record setter for low precipitation.” DMAC is a collaboration of drought experts from various government agencies in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, and organized by DWR. DMAC members meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a map of the nation’s drought conditions. DMAC’s drought map is updated weekly on Thursdays, based on conditions through the previous Tuesday. To view North Carolina’s drought map, visit [www.ncdrought.org](https://www.ncdrought.org/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). ### When the Crowd Gets Quiet: The Hidden Pressure of College Athletics URL: https://down-ballot.info/when-the-crowd-gets-quiet-the-hidden-pressure-of-college-athletics/ Last updated: 2026-04-15T09:00:52.000Z By Natalie Dempsey (Queens University News Service) Publication Date: March 19, 2026 On game nights at Queens University of Charlotte, Curry Arena is alive. Students jump to their feet, music pumps through the gym and every made 3-pointer is met with a cheer. That energy was even higher earlier this month as guard Chris Ashby made [10 3-pointers and scored 34 points](https://www.wcnc.com/article/march-madness/associatedpress/ashby-has-10-3s-34-points-to-lead-queens-to-1st-ncaa-berth-with-98-93-ot-win-despite-hunters-49/616-b4f45c72-c11a-4152-9e24-0f3efa39fcc9?ref=down-ballot.info), leading Queens University to its first Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament title since joining Division I in 2022\. That win secured [a spot in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/mens-basketball/article314974011.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that started this week. Queens Royals will face Purdue at 7:35 p.m. on Friday in St. Louis. From the outside, college basketball looks exciting, effortless even. But for graduate guard Ashby, the reality is far more complicated. The cheers, the applause, the flashes from cameras, they’re energizing, but it’s the quiet after the crowd leaves that the weight of Division I basketball hits. “I’m proud,” Ashby says about breaking Queens’ all time 3-pointer record. “Coming from junior college, where not many people believed in me, to have this record… it feels amazing. But it can also be a lot of pressure every game.” Ashby was named the ASUN Preseason Player of the Year and is [a finalist for the 2025-26 Nolan Richardson Award](https://queensathletics.com/news/2026/3/10/mens-basketball-chris-ashby-named-nolan-richardson-award-finalist.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info), presented annualy to a Division I player who is “the heart and soul of his team and a leader on and off the court.” Ashby’s path in basketball was not straightforward. After high school, the Houston, Texas native played at a junior college, largely overlooked by four year programs. Queens University, then transitioning from Division II to Division I, was the only school to offer him a full scholarship. “They trusted me,” he recalls. “That meant a lot. That relief … it sticks with you.” Since arriving, Ashby has adapted to tougher competition, longer travel schedules and increased visibility. Recognition followed. Yet even in moments of celebration, the pressure never fully disappeared. “Now people expect more, “he says. “To some point, yeah, it feels like every shot has to go in.” The mental demands of college athletics are constant. Ashby visualizes plays, defensive rotations and teammates’ positions before each game. Conference matchups bring a sharper focus – a heightened urgency to win. “When you’re in a conference game, it hits differently,” he says. “You really want and need to win – even when shots aren’t falling.” He has learned to stay level headed, contributing in all areas of the team. “It’s not the end of the world,” he admits. “You just keep playing and pushing.” Much of Ashby’s mental resilience comes from his family. His father started coaching him when he was 3 years old. Through the years, he has offered guidance on and off the court. His mother, a former guidance counselor, emphasized balancing academics and athletics. “At Queens, I’ve had to take summer classes because of travel and missed labs,” he says. “Trying not to fall behind can be hard.” Off the court, routines like video games, quiet evenings and time with teammates help him recharge. Basketball has defined Ashby’s identity for most of his life. Structured routines, year round training and public expectations shape the player he has become. The thought of life after basketball is intimidating. “It’s scary to think about that,” he admits. “I haven’t done anything else. Basketball’s been my everyday life.” Dr. Eddie O’Connor, a sports psychologist who works with student athletes, explains why this is so common. “Athletes tie their identity closely to performance,” he says. “That’s normal, but it can become risky if your self-worth depends on stats, playing time or wins.” O’Connor’s own experience as a track athlete helped shape his career. “I trained hard, disciplined myself and peaked at 2:11 in the 800 meters, but I remember finishing races and not feeling satisfied. I realized my identity was wrapped up in hitting numbers,” he says. It is about more than mental toughness in sports. There are skills that athletes can work on to navigate thoughts, emotions and the pressures in life, not just in sports. The pressures student athletes face are both internal and external. “We grow up with narratives about who we are, reinforced by social environments,” O’Connor says. “Athletes live in constant emotional and physiological contexts. Injuries, slumps, or even life stress can make this heavier.” Social media adds another layer. “Athletes are more visible than ever. There’s more awareness but also more overwhelm. Comparison and perfectionism are everywhere,” adds O’Connor. Even with these challenges, both Ashby and O’Connor emphasize growth and coping strategies. “Seeing athletes develop mentally, not just perform, is incredible,” O’Connor says. “When they graduate with skills to manage emotions, interact with their thoughts, and take action on what matters, that’s real success.” “You just keep playing and pushing,” says Ashby. He has learned to manage the mental side of games, while also focusing on scoring for the team. Despite the pressures, there’s reason for optimism. More money and resources are going toward mental health support and O’Connor says that more professionals are entering the field. “We’re trending in the right direction,” he says. For student athletes, the loudest moments are not always the ones that define a season. It’s the unseen hours, the quiet reflection and the mental resilience that form the backbone of success, on the court and in life. “Queens believed in me,” says Ashby. “That trust has carried me this far.” [*Queens University News Service*](https://queensnewsservice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *stories are prepared by students in the James L. Knight School of Communication with supervision and editing from faculty and staff. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte provides the news service in support of local community news.* ### We teach at a Florida university that agreed to cooperate with ICE – and we worry that it is making our students feel less safe URL: https://down-ballot.info/we-teach-at-a-florida-university-that-agreed-to-cooperate-with-ice-and-we-worry-that-it-is-making-our-students-feel-less-safe/ Last updated: 2026-04-15T09:00:46.000Z Published: April 7, 2026 **By Anindya Kundu, Florida International University and Ryan W. Pontier, Florida International University** Since March 2025, [at least 15 Florida public universities](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2025/04/29/least-15-florida-institutions-have-ice-agreements?ref=down-ballot.info) and colleges, [including the](https://www.ice.gov/doclib/287gMOA/FloridaStateCollegeJacksonvillePDFL%5FTFM%5FMOA%5F08282025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) [University of Florida and Florida State College at Jacksonville](https://apnews.com/article/florida-university-police-federal-immigration-enforcement-visas-ff488622d288af00f69109429cee673d?ref=down-ballot.info), have signed [memorandums of agreement](https://www.ice.gov/doclib/287gMOA/FloridaInternationalUniversityPD%5F7.2.2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) [for their campus police departments](https://gvwire.com/2026/03/05/florida-universities-have-partnered-with-ice-stoking-anxiety-among-students/?ref=down-ballot.info) to [collaborate with U.S.](https://www.ice.gov/doclib/287gMOA/UnivFLPDFL%5FTFM%5FMOA%5F041525.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These partnerships [authorize ICE agents](https://www.ice.gov/identify-and-arrest/287g?ref=down-ballot.info) to [expand the role of campus police officers](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/state-policy/2025/04/16/least-10-florida-universities-have-signed-ice-agreements?ref=down-ballot.info) so they can receive training and “perform certain functions of an immigration officer.” The agreements give campus police officers [the federal authority](https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/how-expanded-287g-program-turns-local-police-into-deportation-agents?ref=down-ballot.info) to question students who are [believed to be immigrants](https://www.ice.gov/doclib/287gMOA/UnivFLPDFL%5FTFM%5FMOA%5F041525.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) about their legal right to be in the country. Campus police officers can arrest students if the officers have “reason to believe the alien to be arrested is in the United States in violation of law.” Campus police can also check federal immigration databases to see students’ immigration status. The list of universities in the state that have signed on to these agreements includes leading research universities such as [Florida Atlantic University](https://www.wlrn.org/immigration/2025-09-05/lost-what-we-stand-for-fau-students-protest-ice-collaboration-with-campus-police?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Florida International University in Miami](https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/fiu-police-will-comply-with-ice-on-campus-what-to-know-40519276/?ref=down-ballot.info), or FIU, where we work as professors of education. We are unaware of any school in the Florida state university system that has publicly said they will not sign an agreement. In the past few decades, the U.S. government has classified universities as “[sensitive” spaces](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-scraps-guidance-limiting-immigration-arrests-near-certain-locations-2025-01-21/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) that are protected from aggressive immigration enforcement. This means that schools, like churches and hospitals, have until recently been generally considered off-limits for immigration enforcement officers. In January 2025, President Donald Trump revoked these long-standing [Department of Homeland Security protections](https://www.globalrefuge.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Sensitive-Locations-Protected-Areas-and-Immigration-Enforcement-Backgrounder-January-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). ## A shift on campus As scholars, we study relationships between [schools and democracy](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=OEJed4sAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao&ref=down-ballot.info), from how [students learn languages](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qIj1WCoAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao&ref=down-ballot.info) to [how students and educators can become leaders](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/transforming-educational-leadership-9780197750551?ref=down-ballot.info). As professors, we teach many students who are immigrants or are from foreign countries who come to the U.S. for their studies, as well as many who are children of immigrants. As a result of these new initiatives, we are seeing and personally experiencing an intensifying climate of uncertainty and anxiety on our campus. These policies are worsening many of our students’ sense of belonging. ## Understanding the changes Trump’s approach to immigration enforcement is supported by the [federal 287(g)](https://www.ice.gov/identify-and-arrest/287g?ref=down-ballot.info) program, a 1996 amendment to the [Immigration and Nationality Act](https://www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/legislation/immigration-and-nationality-act?ref=down-ballot.info) of 1952\. This amendment to the wide-ranging immigration law lets ICE [delegate certain federal enforcement activities](https://theconversation.com/surge-of-ice-agreements-with-local-police-aim-to-increase-deportations-but-many-police-forces-have-found-they-undermine-public-safety-255937?ref=down-ballot.info) to local state police. In February 2025, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis directed state universities to enter into 287(g) partnerships with ICE and to “[deputize” university police](https://apnews.com/article/florida-university-police-federal-immigration-enforcement-visas-ff488622d288af00f69109429cee673d?ref=down-ballot.info) officers to enforce federal immigration laws on school campuses. ICE does not have blanket access to student records, [which remain protected](https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/ferpa?ref=down-ballot.info) under federal privacy law. But 287(g) agreements create new pathways for information to flow through campus police encounters, effectively lowering the barrier between university data and federal immigration enforcement. There are no official reports of FIU or other Florida university campus police officers arresting students because of their immigration status. A few college students, though, have been detained off-campus by local police agencies and [then turned over to ICE](https://www.fox13news.com/news/undocumented-sarasota-college-student-detained-ice-texas-family-pleads-her-return?ref=down-ballot.info). FIU’s communications team wrote in a statement to The Conversation: “Last year FIU Police signed a 287(g) memorandum of agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as have other state university, local and state law enforcement agencies in Florida. The 287(g) memorandum of agreement for Florida International University is [readily available from ICE.gov](https://www.ice.gov/doclib/287gMOA/FloridaInternationalUniversityPD%5F7.2.2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info).” “Since signing the agreement, there have been no immigration-related enforcement actions on our campuses,” FIU’s statement continued. Florida Atlantic University did not respond to a request for comment. In January 2026, an immigration activist recorded FIU’s chief of police [saying at a FIU meeting](https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/fiu-police-will-comply-with-ice-on-campus-what-to-know-40519276/?ref=down-ballot.info) that if ICE requests campus police’s help, they would comply. As FIU faculty members, we have not received any explicit guidance on what to do if an ICE agent comes to campus, or if a campus police officer tries to arrest someone for immigration reasons in our classrooms. [FIU President Jeanette Nuñez said in 2025](https://www.opencampus.org/2025/04/19/ice-deal-at-florida-international-university-draws-fire-from-faculty/?ref=down-ballot.info) that there was “much confusion, much angst, and much misinformation” about the agreement. Other universities have emphasized the need to comply [with state directives](https://apnews.com/article/florida-university-police-federal-immigration-enforcement-visas-ff488622d288af00f69109429cee673d?ref=down-ballot.info). Some Florida university officials have said that campus [police will not target students](https://nonprofitquarterly.org/florida-faculty-and-students-organize-against-campus-ice-agreements/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) or conduct raids as part of their [routine cooperation](https://www.alligator.org/article/2025/04/uf-partners-with-ice-for-on-campus-immigration-enforcement?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) with federal authorities. ## Heightened stress and anxiety As educators, our work has shifted over this past academic year from providing instruction to focusing more on mentoring our students as whole people. Our students are questioning how much their university supports them. Daily, we observe how Trump’s immigration policies, including [travel bans the U.S. has placed](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12631?ref=down-ballot.info) on certain countries, heighten stress for all of our students, regardless of their immigration status. Our international and immigrant students have told us they are fearful of the government’s increased surveillance. One graduate student shared that he was hesitant to leave his dorm room and participate in any campus activities for fear of possible arrest because of his immigration status. Another student said he would not leave the U.S. to visit his mother who was sick with cancer for fear he would not be let back into the country. His mother has since passed without his presence. Many students, including one international doctoral student and father to young children, are unable to return to their homeland and visit their relatives or conduct research due to [current travel bans](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12631?ref=down-ballot.info) placed upon [75 countries](https://www.cfr.org/articles/guide-countries-trumps-travel-ban-list?ref=down-ballot.info) in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East. These new policies have also prompted student and faculty protests [at our university and other public universities](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/us/florida-universities-ice-cooperation.html?ref=down-ballot.info) across Florida. Some Florida Atlantic University students in Boca Raton [staged a walkout](https://www.campusreform.org/article/fau-students-continue-campaign-schools-agreement-ice-staging-walkout-protest/29495?ref=down-ballot.info) on Feb. 25, 2026, to protest the school’s agreement with ICE. Florida State University students called on administrators in February 2026 to set up a “[sanctuary campus](https://www.fsunews.com/story/news/2026/02/23/fsu-sanctuary-campus-and-fsupd-ice-agreement/88765148007/?ref=down-ballot.info),” which would limit FSU partnerships with ICE. We are trying to create more opportunities for open dialogue and for sharing students’ emotions and experiences related to these policies. We are also helping students find resources, including legal aid, that could help them or their peers if they have a negative encounter with ICE or campus police. ## Refuge or risk Universities, especially in conservative [states such as Florida](https://www.wlrn.org/government-politics/2026-01-13/with-army-of-loyalists-desantis-built-a-conservative-higher-ed-empire?ref=down-ballot.info), may continue to market themselves as [places of inclusion](https://insightintoacademia.com/belonging-in-an-anti-dei-world/?ref=down-ballot.info), mobility and global belonging. This is [true even as schools](https://dasa.fiu.edu/all-departments/social-justice-inclusion/?ref=down-ballot.info) [cut diversity, equity and inclusion](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/02/us/university-florida-dei.html?ref=down-ballot.info) programs and as some students experience heightened surveillance, visa cancellations, detention or deportation. One of our FIU graduate students recently explained how these policies are affecting their day-to-day life. “I just want to finish my studies as soon as possible and go back to my country. I feel unwelcome and unsafe on campus. I don’t want to join campus activities anymore because students can be targeted there,” the student said. “I no longer trust campus police officers and won’t ask them for help, even if I need it. I am afraid I will be profiled even though I am here legally.” When campus police are folded into federal immigration work, we believe that universities cannot claim they offer more refuge than risk. *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-277911)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Anindya Kundu*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/anindya-kundu-2238651?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-277911)*,* [*Florida International University*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/florida-international-university-729?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-277911) *and* [*Ryan W. Pontier*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/ryan-w-pontier-1242733?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-277911)*,* [*Florida International University*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/florida-international-university-729?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-277911) **Read more:** - [Young, undocumented immigrants are finding it increasingly hard to attend college as South Carolina and other states restrict in‑state tuition or ban them altogether](https://theconversation.com/young-undocumented-immigrants-are-finding-it-increasingly-hard-to-attend-college-as-south-carolina-and-other-states-restrict-in-state-tuition-or-ban-them-altogether-267597?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-277911) - [Fewer international students are coming to the US, costing universities and communities that benefit from these visitors](https://theconversation.com/fewer-international-students-are-coming-to-the-us-costing-universities-and-communities-that-benefit-from-these-visitors-264012?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-277911) - [Deporting international students risks making the US a less attractive destination, putting its economic engine at risk](https://theconversation.com/deporting-international-students-risks-making-the-us-a-less-attractive-destination-putting-its-economic-engine-at-risk-249245?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-277911) *Ryan W. Pontier receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education. He is affiliated with P.S. 305 in Miami.* *Anindya Kundu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.* ### SCC approves Loudoun transmission line, nixes undergrounding; final route to be determined URL: https://down-ballot.info/scc-approves-loudoun-transmission-line-nixes-undergrounding-final-route-to-be-determined/ Last updated: 2026-04-13T09:00:16.000Z By Shannon Heckt (Virginia Mercury) Published: April 10, 2026 After months of fierce debate and community rallies, the State Corporation Commission on Thursday approved the above-ground construction of the Golden-Mars high-voltage transmission line in Loudoun County. There are two options for the final route of the line, and it will be up to the Loudoun County School Board to decide if it will reverse its previous decision to block the project from using land easements near two schools in Ashburn. The Golden-Mars 500kV/250kV transmission line is part of Dominion Energy’s three-pronged “reliability loop” that connects multiple substations to funnel more power to the major cluster of data centers in Ashburn. Two parts of the loop are already in the process of approval and construction. [The SCC ruled ](https://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/8bl901!.PDF?ref=down-ballot.info)that the Golden-Mars line, the final piece of this puzzle, is within the public’s interest. The commission chose ‘Route 4’ as their priority option for the lines out of the six options provided by Dominion. This route runs along the Broad Run Stream Valley Park and crosses near the two schools. The order states that there are no homes within 100 feet of the center line, and, compared to the other routes, has fewer homes within 250 to 500 feet of the center line. “(The route) is located predominately within the Broad Run floodplain in areas where residential uses are prohibited and electrical infrastructure is more consistent with the types of uses and design characteristics of the surrounding area,” the order reads. The Loudoun Valley Estates neighborhoods as well as the Loudoun County School Board have for months urged the SCC to bury the transmission lines to avoid potential impacts to homes and students at Rock Ridge High School and Rosa Lee Carter Elementary. [Hundreds of community members](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/12/16/loudoun-residents-take-fight-against-high-voltage-power-lines-for-data-center-alley-to-scc/?ref=down-ballot.info) turned out to public hearings and offered testimony in the case, mainly opposing the transmission lines being built overhead. The SCC stated that burying the lines, even partially, would not be practical for the project. Dominion estimated that the cost of the transmission line when built overhead would be about $513 million. A witness for the county submitted a separate analysis of undergrounding the lines in a hybrid format, but the SCC noted some stark potential variation in the presented numbers. The high end of those figures could place the project’s cost at $1.5 billion – triple what Dominion is estimating. The order also lays out other challenges for burying the lines. Commissioners say that method would delay the project’s completion for years but Dominion can’t afford to wait because the electric grid is already strained and without the transmission line to complete the reliability loop, existing infrastructure could be damaged. If energy is not provided through this loop, Dominion has stated, regional grid operator PJM, could levy violations on the company. The burial of lines would also be in conflict with existing transmission infrastructure, commissioners determined, and there are no sites available for a transition site where the lines would enter the earth. The geological makeup of the area would also make it hard to bury lines, the ruling stated. “The project remains critical to maintaining regional grid reliability and supporting data centers under development in Northern Virginia and Loudoun County,” Dominion said in a statement after the SCC’s decision was published. “We understand that constructing a new transmission line will have impacts to the community and we do our best to minimize those impacts.” In August of last year, dozens of Loudoun Valley Estates residents attended a [school board hearing](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/08/14/loudoun-county-neighbors-fight-proposed-dominion-transmission-lines-for-data-center-alley/?ref=down-ballot.info) to urge them to join in testifying to the SCC for the case. The board previously voted against two of the routes that would require access to easements on school board property, unless the lines could be buried. > [Loudoun County neighbors fight proposed Dominion transmission lines for Data Center Alley](https://virginiamercury.com/2025/08/14/loudoun-county-neighbors-fight-proposed-dominion-transmission-lines-for-data-center-alley/?ref=down-ballot.info) The school board has the ability to block one of the two remaining options, Route 4, from being selected because their property ownership trumps the SCC’s desire to have the lines built along this route, which borders the schools. If the school board blocks Route 4, the SCC’s backup option is Route 3a, which the order states would be “regrettable” due to it having a much larger impact on the surrounding homes, being much longer in length, and because new rights-of-way would be needed – which would jack up the price of the project. Loudoun Valley Estates resident Vicky Hu has been a vocal opponent of the lines being built overhead. In route 3a, her backyard would be the site of one of the 165 foot monopoles. Her and her neighbors fear that not only will their views be impacted with the need to remove trees but their home values could tank, too. “I’m disappointed with the SCC ruling,” Hu said Friday. “The only feasible option should be underground to avoid the damage to homes, communities, and also the best choice to preserve the health of students and student’s families.” She added that she and her neighbors are reviewing the SCC ruling and weighing their options to move forward. The General Assembly this year [passed legislation](https://virginiamercury.com/2026/03/24/after-bills-passed-nova-lawmakers-urge-scc-to-consider-burying-transmission-lines/?ref=down-ballot.info) born out of the concerns about the Golden-Mars case. Democratic state Sen. Kannan Srinivasan and Del. JJ Singh, who represent the Ashburn area of Loudoun, passed Senate Bill 827 and House Bill 1487, which would set up a pilot program to allow the SCC to identify four qualifying transmission projects to be buried. The bills would allow for the increased cost of burying 500kV transmission lines to be shared with the locality. While those bills await approval, rejection or amendment by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, the SCC said they wouldn’t apply it to the Golden-Mars case. “The increased cost of underground transmission lines versus conducting an overhead solution is a significant issue, and these pieces of legislation suggest a potential path forward in appropriate cases,” the order stated. “The record evidence produced over the course of this case does not support a finding that undergrounding is technically feasible.” The community is now taking a closer look at their options as pressure mounts for the school board to make a decision on whether Route 4 can proceed. “My initial reaction is that this decision goes against the will of our residents and the will of the General Assembly, both of which stood together and said that residents should not be punished by the unchecked sprawl of data centers,” Singh said in a statement. “Two things can be true at once: I respect and value the SCC, while I am also bitterly disappointed by the result.” As of April 10, the Loudoun school board does not have any hearings or votes planned regarding the route debate. [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX](https://virginiamercury.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) ### RAWtools South Turns Guns Into Garden Tools in the Mountain South URL: https://down-ballot.info/rawtools-south-turns-guns-into-garden-tools-in-the-mountain-south/ Last updated: 2026-04-13T09:00:12.000Z by Rebecca Williams, The Daily Yonder April 6, 2026 On a chilly spring morning in downtown Spruce Pine, North Carolina, a town of around 2,400 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a double line of tents stood parallel to the railroad tracks, filled with people working at forges and anvils. The air reverberated with the hiss of gas forges and the rhythmic clanging of hammers striking metal. This was the 2025 [Fire on the Mountain festival, ](https://www.discoversprucepinenc.com/fireonthemountain?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=21727407768&gbraid=0AAAAAqfg5rRjWV9c4IAH8Nciu6WXBXXbV&gclid=CjwKCAiAh5XNBhAAEiwA%5FBu8FY9RnAPyMf3uSMMXWZ1MSdWybT986aKshz6OvN3QbdPZh5gNXtCqaRoCBIgQAvD%5FBwE&ref=down-ballot.info)an annual celebration of the art of blacksmithing. Standing under one of the tents was Scotty Utz, a blacksmith with the organization [RAWtools South](https://south.rawtools.org/?ref=down-ballot.info).*“*As my son says, blacksmithing is boring,” said Utz. “It's just tap, tap, tap all the time.” But Utz is anything but boring. A natural teacher, he hammered a cooling piece of metal around the tip of an anvil, and explained his process to the crowd. “I've got this lengthened out about as much as I want it. I was just stretching it out a little bit using the horn and the peen,” Utz said. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-1-1296x972.jpeg) **Utz (left) bends metal as part of a blacksmithing demonstration at the Fire on The Mountain Festival in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. (Photo by Sarah Melotte)* On a nearby table was a display of jewelry and garden tools, all made from parts of discarded guns. Standing behind the table was Stan Wilson, a pastor and the coordinator of RAWtools South, which is based in nearby Asheville. “We have kind of an unusual niche,” said Wilson. “We take unwanted guns and turn them into garden tools and art.” In the United States, people have a complicated relationship with guns. For some, they’re associated with family traditions, like hunting. For others, they’re reminders of pain and violence. RAWtools South aims to reduce gun violence by bringing together gun owners, faith communities, and blacksmiths to transform guns into new objects. Wilson joined forces with Utz and his blacksmith skills to start RAWtools South back in January of 2024\. It is a spinoff of the original [RAWtools,](https://rawtools.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) which began in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “We work with folks who have been affected by gun violence or who have an old shotgun in their house. It doesn't operate safely anymore, and they don't need it around,” Wilson said. RAWtools South gets their guns from safe surrender events where the public can give up their guns to be deconstructed. Wilson partners with churches, community organizations, and local volunteers to facilitate these surrender events. ### **A Well Choreographed Event** ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-3-1296x972.jpeg) **Utz and Wilson (in safety vests) instruct volunteers at RAWtools South’s Guns to Gardens: Safe Disposal Event in Asheville, North Carolina. (Photo by Rebecca Williams* **)** At a gun surrender in downtown Asheville, Wilson and Utz greeted a group of 40 volunteers in a church parking lot. Wilson stepped into the cluster of volunteers and called out to get people’s attention. Some folks were holding clipboards and handouts, others were wearing plastic goggles and leather gloves. Utz gave everyone their assignments. “So our greeters are going to be down at that orange tent down there where we, thank goodness, have some cars lining up right now,” Utz said. “Amen?” “Amen,” the volunteers responded. As cars continued lining up in the driveway, Wilson reminded the group of their shared purpose: “Let's take a few seconds in silence to recognize those who are at the center of our concern, who’ve been affected by gun violence.” After the moment of silence, the volunteers went to their stations. It was a well choreographed event. But a noisy one. The low drone of generators accompanied a chorus of buzzing chop saws and grinders. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-5-1296x972.jpeg) **A volunteer prepares to cut into a gun with a chop saw at the gun surrender event in Asheville. (Photo by Rebecca Williams)* Several people discussed why they had come to surrender their guns. San, who asked that only her first name be used, was at the head of the line. She explained what drew her there. “I was in church a couple of weeks ago, and they were giving out flyers for this program,” San said. “So I decided to come up here and bring an old piece of equipment that I inherited. And I really didn't want it.” San stayed in her car as volunteers unloaded the gun and took it to the chop saw station. Utz instructed one of the volunteers as they placed the gun on a grinder. “This is the rear end of our receiver,” Utz said. “So we need to cut here through our triggering mechanism.” “And what do you call out?” prompted Utz. “Cutting!” ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-4-972x1296.jpeg) **Sparks fly as a volunteer cuts into a gun at RAWtools South’s safe surrender event in Asheville. (Photo by Rebecca Williams)* “Cutting,” echoed the volunteer as the grinder cut into the metal gun. Once the gun was cut into three pieces and could no longer be used, the parts were separated into bins. Wilson reflected on the challenge of bringing people together to transform gun violence in the United States. “Gun violence is a difficult conversation to have,” Wilson said. “Just having the conversation takes a little bit of courage. To be out here to receive these gun donations. That takes a little bit of courage. And courage is contagious. Let it catch. May it catch.” ### **A Kind of Alchemy** After each gun surrender, Utz brings all the chopped up gun parts back to his blacksmithing shop in Weaverville, about ten miles north of Asheville. The shop is a converted garage beneath Utz’s house. There were buckets filled with gun parts on the tables and floor. Utz pointed out the contents of each container. “Here's a bucket of springs. These are little pistol barrels that I turn into split crosses,” Utz said. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-8-1296x972.jpeg) **The RAWtools sign hangs in Utz’s blacksmithing shop. (Photo by Rebecca Williams*) This is the material he uses to make the jewelry and garden tools that they sell to fund their work. Utz pointed to more white plastic buckets crowded with long metal cylinders. “These are all barrels from rifles in this bucket. This bucket over here is all shotgun barrels.” Most of the time Utz works here alone. But sometimes, he and Wilson work together at the forge, along with family members who have been affected by gun violence. And that is how they connected with Teresa Schracta in 2024. “My son, Lance Corporal Alexander Schrachta, was active duty in the Marine Corps and we lost him to suicide while he was on the barracks,” Schrachta said. Alex was 19\. “I was informed that I would receive that firearm. And I was horrified by that thought.” ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-2-972x1296.jpeg) **Buckets of gun parts crowd Utz’s workshop, waiting to be repurposed. (Photo by Rebecca Williams*) Schrachta lives in Memphis, Tennessee. She remembered a gun surrender event held there a few months earlier and contacted the organizers. That was how she found Utz and RAWtools South. “I told Scotty my story. He put together this beautiful, I would call it a ceremony,” Schracta said. Schrachta and her three remaining children drove to Weaverville, North Carolina and met Utz and Wilson at the shop. Utz had the gun on an anvil. “I went in very gung-ho on destroying it,” Schrachta said. “So I went in first with the hammer and I was pounding on it. And I loved it, you know, I got out a lot. I was happy to pound on that thing and take everything out on it.” ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-972x1296.jpeg) **Utz forges a shotgun barrel into a scoop for a garden tool. (Photo by Rebecca Williams*) For Schrachta, it was cathartic to destroy the gun. And while the process began with the gun’s destruction, eventually work became gentler and more creative. “By the end, we were transforming it into jewelry and different pieces of art,” Schracta said. “My daughter came in and had to take over because she had to be soft and delicate with it.” Schrachta’s two daughters made heart pendants. Her youngest son turned the gun’s slide into a dog tag, stamped with an olive branch. And Schrachta wears a cross made from the barrel of Alex’s gun. To turn parts of a gun, like a barrel, into something else, you have to heat the metal in the forge until it changes form—until it’s not solid anymore. “It's so symbolic,” Schrachta said, “It's this hard thing that goes in and it comes out soft and you can transform it into something different. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/image-7-972x1296.jpeg) **Pieces of jewelry made from parts of disabled guns. Selling jewelry and garden tools is one way RAWtools South funds their work. (Photo by Rebecca Williams)* In his shop, Utz reflected on the value of RAWtools South’s work. Not as many guns were surrendered at the church this time compared to last year’s event. But Utz said there are lots of ways to measure progress. “It's so much easier to get a gun than to get rid of a gun in our country,” Utz said. “The healing that can happen for folks as they work on transforming these guns into something else, but also transforming their own experiences and trauma into something else \[is\] healing.” Surrendering a gun, cutting or smashing it, or heating parts of it up in a forge isn’t going to erase anyone’s experience with gun violence. But it might just change it. It's a kind of alchemy, to take something hard, used for harm and transform it into something to be worn as a reminder. Or thrust into the earth to plant something green. This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/rawtools-south-turns-guns-into-garden-tools-in-the-mountain-south/2026/04/06/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=239399&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) ### ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=239399&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) ### Labor shortage expected for construction season after immigration enforcement in Minnesota URL: https://down-ballot.info/labor-shortage-expected-for-construction-season-after-immigration-enforcement-in-minnesota/ Last updated: 2026-04-10T09:00:31.000Z **It's Friday, April 10, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Labor shortage expected for spring, summer construction season after immigration enforcement**,** ECU Health’s plan to reopen hospital offers hope to Martin County, Schumer Thanks Mamdani as Deliverista Hub Finally Opens, Virginia Republicans Want Tax Relief to Ease Gas Costs. There’s Also Electric Vehicles, She fled persecution in South America and was granted humanitarian protection. Now the government wants to deport her to Congo, After four patients died, Idaho governor approves restoring cut Medicaid mental health programs, Arizona universities quietly altered DEI offerings after the current U.S. president threatened funding cuts. **Media outlets and others featured:** Sahan Journal, North Carolina Health News, THE CITY, Inside Climate News, Verite News, Idaho Capital Sun, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. *Bolts has a guide to 40 state and local elections to watch during April 2026:* [The 40 Elections to Watch This April - BoltsTwo statewide votes are headlining the election calendar in April. First, Wisconsin will choose a new supreme court justice, with major implications for voting rights. Then, Virginia will decide whether... Read More![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)BoltsDaniel Nichanian![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/24311018620231-scaled.jpg)](https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/guide-to-elections-in-april-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- ## Labor shortage expected for spring, summer construction season after immigration enforcement By Katelyn Vue (Sahan Journal) Published: March 23, 2026 Esmeralda Rosas’ family has been struggling financially the last three months after her supervisor paused her work on a roofing project when federal immigration agents were spotted at the construction site. She and her husband sold their work truck to make ends meet, and she hasn’t returned to work since mid-December. “Ever since ICE has been here, we get sick easier, we have less confidence,” said Rosas, who doesn’t know when she’ll go back to work. “It just really affected the entire family.” Many builders were afraid to go to work during Operation Metro Surge as federal agents targeted construction sites, delaying projects across the Twin Cities, according to contractors and labor union representatives. While winter is usually a slow season for construction, some contractors and union representatives say they’re worried immigration arrests and subsequent fear among workers will cause a labor shortage and delays on projects this spring and summer. “I do feel that immigrants and people of color are a backbone to the strength of the construction industry, and they have very important positions as laborers and professionals – union or not – in how the Twin Cities are being built, so there are absolutely ripple effects,” said Cathryn Camacho, president of Camacho Contractors in Minneapolis. There are 12,000 immigrants in construction in Minnesota, making up 6% of all workers in that industry, according to the [Minnesota Budget Project](https://mnbudgetproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/The-economic-and-fiscal-impacts-of-mass-deportation-whats-at-risk-in-Minnesota-PDF.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), a research and advocacy organization. The project does not have a breakdown of immigration status. Some construction projects this winter were delayed a few days to a few months because of immigration enforcement activity, according to labor union representatives and contractors. Richard Knapp, a general contractor and co-owner of Tusk Builders in Minneapolis, said he knows three construction workers who were arrested and deported during Operation Metro Surge. Federal agents also detained one of his friends who works in construction, and held him in custody for about two months before releasing him. “I wish it didn’t happen at all,” he said, adding that he wants the federal government to look into immigration reform that would allow more legal pathways for people to work and live in the country. Knapp said his friend who was detained had a specialized skill that was difficult to replace, creating a two-month delay on a construction project. Knapp plans to work on six to 10 construction projects this spring and summer. As long as federal immigration enforcement stays calm, he expects to have enough builders to complete the projects. While construction labor is expected to decrease dramatically this year, permit data in the greater 13-county region collected by Housing First Minnesota show that homebuilding activity in the first two months of this year is broadly in line with historical trends. At least 870 new residential construction permits were issued this January and February in over 50 cities in the area that voluntarily reported to the trade association. In Minneapolis, however, only nine new residential construction permits have been filed in January and February. That’s 40% lower than the average number of permits from the same time period in the previous three years. St. Paul’s permit database shows that 18 new construction permits were filed as of March 17 this year, which is static compared to the same time period in 2025\. Grecia Palomar, a drywall and safety instructor, said she has been answering calls from families reporting that their relatives went missing after working on construction sites. Palomar is the president of the Twin Cities chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, an advocacy group for Latino workers and union members. She worked alongside the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation to support families with rent relief, food and legal fees. “Not having the workers there… it’s a financial burden for some contractors,” Palomar said. A higher percentage of Latino workers are in construction trades such as drywall, roofing and painting, which were hit the hardest during Operation Metro Surge, she added. Labor union representatives, contractors and Palomar said they received calls from builders reporting federal agents following them home or questioning them on construction sites. “I’ve heard of probably a dozen times our members are either afraid to drive and been questioned,” said Jeff Heimerl, business manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 292\. About 400 students signed up this past winter for an apprenticeship program in Ham Lake to learn about roofing and waterproofing buildings, but more than 100 of them dropped out because they were afraid to leave their homes, said Tyler Krogen, a representative for the Roofers & Waterproofers Local Union 96\. “I think the membership feels frightened,” he said. “I know everyone’s talking about it, and there’s nothing good coming out of those conversations other than people are talking about it and trying to get through this time.” He told students that their apprenticeship agreements would not be cancelled if they were afraid to attend class, and instead offered to enroll them in the upcoming training later in the year. “My concern is that the work that’s out there — are we going to have the man and woman power to do them?’” Krogen said. He knows of three union members who were detained by federal agents. There have been at least nine reported sightings since December of federal immigration agents at construction sites, according to Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL), a Minneapolis nonprofit advocating for fair wages and safe working conditions for immigrants and people of color. Agents were spotted on construction sites in Shakopee, Chanhassen, Plymouth, Monticello, Wayzata and Cottage Grove, among other locations. “There’s been, for sure, way more instances that have gone unreported,” said Patricio Cambias, CTUL’s lead construction campaign organizer. Between late-December and early January, ICE raided and harassed construction workers three times at a single-family home in Shakopee developed by D.R. Horton, the largest homebuilder in the country by volume. CTUL [organized a protest](https://www.fox9.com/news/workers-urge-homebuilder-company-to-prevent-ice-raids-jan-2026?ref=down-ballot.info) and visited D.R. Horton’s office in Lakeville, demanding that the company keep federal agents off its construction sites. D.R. Horton’s office did not respond to their demand or Sahan’s request for comment. In [another incident](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/chanhassen-ice-operation-roof-arrest/?ref=down-ballot.info) from mid-December, federal agents tried to arrest two construction workers, Edgar Chicaiza Dutan and Marco Chicaiza Dutan, while they worked on the roof of a new home in Chanhassen. More than 80 activists and community members showed up to confront the ICE officers. Both men were perched on the roof for approximately four hours in subzero windchills. Edgar eventually descended from the roof and ICE officers took him to the hospital before detaining him. He later sued to be released from federal custody; his attorney declined to comment about his whereabouts. Marco was transported to the hospital after ICE left; his current location is unclear. The Chanhassen case was one of the first signs of federal immigration enforcement affecting the construction industry, Rosas said. “It was sad and painful, and more than anything, that’s when I started realizing that we would need to hide because we were being treated as criminals, even though we’re not criminals,” she said. “I feel like our lives are not going to be the same, and in a lot of ways, we’re starting from zero. The future feels daunting.” Advocates and contractors say they’ve learned how to protect vulnerable workers at job sites: fences are being erected to tighten up security, houses under construction are being locked up and signs are being posted to let federal agents know they aren’t welcome. “I think this really brought us together,” Palomar said, “and it showed us that we can’t always get too comfortable.” *Data reporter Cynthia Tu contributed to this report.* *CORRECTION: The story has been updated with the correct job title for Grecia Palomar.* The post [Labor shortage expected for spring, summer construction season after immigration enforcement](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/labor-shortage-spring-summer-construction-twin-cities-immigration/?ref=down-ballot.info) appeared first on [Sahan Journal](https://sahanjournal.com/?ref=down-ballot.info). *This story is being shared with permission by the Sahan Journal, a local newsroom in St. Paul, MN. To learn more, please visit https://sahanjournal.com/.* --- # ECU Health’s plan to reopen hospital offers hope to Martin County by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News April 6, 2026 **By Jaymie Baxley** Dexter “Drew” Batts, the government manager for Martin County in eastern North Carolina, often thinks about the night his close childhood friend suffered a heart attack in 2025. The friend, a 39-year-old woman who was a member of Batts’ high school graduating class, lived just nine miles away from Martin General Hospital. Generations of local families in this rural, economically distressed community had relied on the hospital for emergency care since its founding in 1950. But Martin General wasn’t an option that evening. The 43-bed facility had [closed in August 2023](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/08/12/plan-to-reopen-martin-general/?ref=down-ballot.info). Owner Quorum Health blamed the shutdown on “financial challenges related to declining population and utilization trends.” Batts’ friend was instead transported to an emergency department about a half-hour northeast in neighboring Bertie County. When the doctors there couldn’t help her, she was taken about 40 miles southwest to ECU Health Medical Center in Pitt County. She died there after spending three days on life support. “Who’s to say whether that 30- to 40-minute transport, as opposed to a nine-minute transport, would have made a world of difference,” Batts said during a recent event organized by the NC Rural Center, an organization that advocates for rural communities across the state. “We don’t know, but we would’ve liked to have found out.” Such grim “what ifs” have become increasingly common among residents of Martin County, which will soon mark its third full year without a local hospital. However, county officials say they’re optimistic about a long-gestating plan to resurrect the shuttered facility as North Carolina’s first Rural Emergency Hospital. #### **Reviving Martin General** The Rural Emergency Hospital, or REH, designation was created by Congress through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 as a lifeline for small, financially struggling facilities in rural areas. Hospitals that convert to REH status [are required](https://www.cms.gov/files/document/rural-emergency-hospitals-factsheet-september-2024.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to provide 24/7 emergency care and outpatient services, but they are prohibited from offering inpatient services and must have agreements in place with area trauma centers to accept patients once they’ve stabilized. In exchange, they receive a 5 percent boost to Medicare payments for covered outpatient services, plus monthly payments of about $285,625 from the federal government. The program launched in January 2023, and [more than 40 facilities](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-emergency-hospitals/?ref=down-ballot.info) across the country have converted. Unlike Martin General, however, all of those hospitals were still operating when they made the switch. ![A hospital sits in the distance with a](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/hospitals-003.jpg.webp) Martin General Hospital in Williamston shuttered in August 2023, four years after the facility tried to reduce financial pressures by eliminating labor and delivery services. Martin General, which closed before the program was fully available to North Carolina hospitals (the state budget authorizing participation wasn’t signed until months after Quorum shut the doors), represents something different: the first attempt anywhere in the nation to reopen a completely shuttered hospital under [the REH model](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/health-safety-standards/certification-compliance/rural-emergency-hospitals?ref=down-ballot.info). County officials spent months working through regulatory questions about whether a closed hospital could qualify, and in early 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed that Martin General could indeed reopen as a Rural Emergency Hospital. By early 2025, the county had sent out requests for proposals from potential operators and was working to update and repair the aging building to meet CMS’ requirements. Then a solution appeared in the county’s back yard. #### **Waiting for funding** In May 2025, ECU Health, a state-affiliated hospital system based in nearby Greenville, [announced a plan](https://www.ecuhealth.org/ecu-health-presents-proposal-to-re-establish-essential-health-care-services-and-build-a-regional-system-of-care-to-martin-county-commissioners/?ref=down-ballot.info) to take over and convert Martin General. The system's proposal carries a steep price tag: ECU Health, which is connected to East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine, is asking state lawmakers to appropriate $220 million toward the project. Roughly $70 million of that would go toward building the site for the Rural Emergency Hospital on the campus of Martin General, with the remainder financing a new inpatient bed tower at ECU Beaufort Hospital in neighboring Beaufort County. The expansion to that facility is needed to absorb patients from Martin County who require inpatient care. Brian Floyd, chief operating officer for ECU Health, gave a brief overview of the plan during the NC Rural Center’s [annual summit](https://www.ncruralcenter.org/rural-summit/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Raleigh on March 26. ![ECU Health chief operating officer Brian Floyd, a bald, white man wearing eyeglasses and a suit with a patterned red necktie, points to a screen displaying a map of rural hospital closures during the 2026 Rural Summit in Raleigh.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ECU-Martin-General-2-scaled.jpg) Brian Floyd, chief operating officer for ECU Health, points to a screen displaying a map of rural hospital closures during the 2026 Rural Summit in Raleigh. Addressing an audience of about 100 people, Floyd said Martin General’s history illustrated a pattern that has played out repeatedly in rural communities: A hospital starts under county ownership, gets acquired by a private company and then gets sold off again before eventually going under. “Private companies get in there and realize they can’t make it work,” he said. “They flip it, and then eventually it bankrupts. That’s the story of rural closure if you look at the way that typically works in rural markets. We’re not just trying to recreate that.” Floyd acknowledged that ECU Health’s vision might take years to fully implement. It would also require investments beyond the physical buildings. “I know we’re going to raise other operating cost structures to deal with this,” he said. “That’s why we’ve asked the state to help with the capital to put this in place.” That funding request [has stalled](https://www.reflector.com/enterprise/news/local/former-mgh-depending-on-legislature-funding/article%5F53c635f1-8f2d-474d-b3e3-222b4d659f63.html?ref=down-ballot.info) amid a prolonged standoff between the state Senate and House of Representatives over the state budget, which is now nine months late. North Carolina is the only state in the nation that has yet to adopt a spending plan, and lawmakers are not scheduled to reconvene until April 21\. #### **Study tests model’s promise** As ECU Health’s plan takes shape, a [study published last month](https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644%2826%2900078-8/abstract?ref=down-ballot.info) in the Annals of Emergency Medicine offers the first systematic — albeit somewhat inconclusive — look at whether the Rural Emergency Hospital program is working as intended. Conducted by researchers at UNC Chapel Hill, the study used financial data to examine hospitals that closed, that converted to REH status or that remained open without converting. It found that hospitals that converted to the REH designation and hospitals that ultimately closed had similarly poor financial health before 2023, including low profit margins and high financial distress risk. Both types of hospitals ended up financially worse off than hospitals that stayed open without converting. Researchers were careful to flag the limits of their analysis. The REH program is in its early stages and the sample of converting hospitals remains small. “Rural Emergency Hospitals could be a viable option for financially struggling hospitals in rural communities to maintain local delivery of emergency care services while lowering closure risk,” the authors wrote, adding that their findings “should be viewed as exploratory.” ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Closure-Map.jpg) At least a dozen rural hospitals in North Carolina have closed or significantly scaled back services since 2005, according to [data](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-hospital-closures/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill. Martin General is the most recent closure recorded by the center. #### **Cost of closure** Batts, who [became manager](https://wcti12.com/news/local/dexter-drew-batts-begins-role-as-martin-county-manager-aims-to-draft-future-game-plan?ref=down-ballot.info) of Martin County in May 2025, said the closure of Martin General had a “halo effect” on the county’s already struggling economy. He noted that Martin, which has a [population](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/martincountynorthcarolina/PST045224?ref=down-ballot.info) of about 21,500, is categorized by the N.C. Department of Commerce as a “Tier 1” county — a designation reserved for the state’s most [economically distressed areas](https://www.commerce.nc.gov/grants-incentives/county-distress-rankings-tiers?ref=down-ballot.info). About 20 percent of residents live in poverty, significantly higher than the statewide average of 13.6 percent. More than 8,400 residents, or about 39 percent of the county’s population, [rely on Medicaid](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/reports/dashboards/enrollment-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info). Nearly 4,900 residents, or 22 percent, are [enrolled in SNAP](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/snap-enrollment-april-2025/open?ref=down-ballot.info). “Losing that hospital had a big impact from a health standpoint, but it was a huge impact from an economic development standpoint,” Batts said during the summit, adding that the loss of “labor income alone” dealt a $12 million blow to the community, with a “total economic activity loss” of $33.1 million. That’s in line with other research showing that rural counties lose jobs and revenue when a local hospital closes, causing local families to lose income across the board and driving population loss. ![Martin County manager Dexter Batts, a white man with short brown hair in his early 40s wearing a suit with a solid red necktie, talks about the impact Martin General’s closure had on his community during the 2026 Rural Summit in Raleigh.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ECU-Martin-General-3-scaled.jpg) Dexter Batts, manager of Martin County, talks about the impact Martin General’s closure had on his community during the 2026 Rural Summit in Raleigh. Martin General’s closure was personal for Batts. His wife, a nursing manager at the facility, was among the employees displaced when the hospital shuttered. She eventually landed a job at ECU Health Chowan Hospital in Edenton — a 90-minute drive from the couple’s home in Martin County. The closure also reverberated through the county budget. With local ambulances forced to make longer runs to neighboring counties, Martin County’s annual contribution to emergency medical services ballooned almost overnight from $550,000 to $1.4 million. “Our budget is so limited that we can barely scrape by in a normal year,” Batts said. “It has so many downstream effects.” Before it closed, Martin General recorded more than 10,000 emergency department visits a year. It also provided annual access to 100,000 diagnostic and outpatient procedures. Residents now travel across county lines to receive those crucial services, which adds strain to surrounding communities’ health care infrastructure. For Floyd and others who are pushing to bring Martin General back, the numbers underscore what’s ultimately at stake. “These issues are not just economic,” Floyd said. “They are real, and these people matter. Their lives matter.” This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/06/ecu-martin-hospital-proposal/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Schumer Thanks Mamdani as Deliverista Hub Finally Opens ### The long-awaited rest and e-bike charging base at City Hall Park opened its doors on Tuesday, nearly five years after officials first promised to build it. by [Claudia Irizarry Aponte](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/claudia-irizarry-aponte/?ref=down-ballot.info) April 7, 2026[](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/04/07/deliverista-bike-hub-city-hall-schumer-mamdani/?ref=down-ballot.info) ![Delivery workers celebrate with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-Manhattan) the opening of a Deliverista Hub at City Hall Park,](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/E2A7658-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1) The idea came to Sergio Gustavo Ajche in the darkest days of the pandemic, when food delivery was in high demand and rest stops for delivery workers were scarce. Ajche, who lives in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, was working in Lower Manhattan when he spotted an abandoned newsstand just outside City Hall. “I saw this one and thought, it would be great to just get a cup of coffee,” [he told THE CITY in 2022](https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/10/03/delivery-workers-rest-stops-newsstands-schumer-adams/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Then we started to talk about it some more amongst ourselves, and the idea for charging ports emerged, and how powerful it would be for us to have a presence all over the city. The idea took off from there.” On Tuesday, Ajche’s idea finally came to life. Nearly [five years](https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/10/13/schumer-food-delivery-workers/?ref=down-ballot.info) after U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pledged to use funds from a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to build rest stops for delivery workers, the city inaugurated its first Deliverista Hub near City Hall Park. One of the exterior charging ports is named after Ajche. ![Delivery worker Sergio Gustavo Ajche first got the idea for a recharging hub at City Hall Park in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/E2A7622-1024x683.jpg) Delivery worker Sergio Gustavo Ajche first got the idea for a recharging hub at City Hall Park in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We hope this is just the beginning, and one day soon we can have many more all across the city,” Ajche said on Tuesday, standing outside of the repurposed former newsstand. “I’m proud that, as workers, when we stand together and we fight for things and we’re creative and persistent, we can achieve wonderful things.” The hub, on Broadway near Murray Street, was first announced by Schumer and then-Mayor Eric Adams [in October 2022](https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/10/03/delivery-workers-rest-stops-newsstands-schumer-adams/?ref=down-ballot.info). Workers will be able to charge their e-bikes and the phones they use to receive and track orders. They will also be able to repair their bikes there and take shelter from the heat or cold. The hub is staffed by a representative from Workers Justice Project, the parent organization behind delivery worker group Los Deliveristas Unidos, and will help delivery workers learn about their rights on the job and how to submit complaints. ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/E2A7460-1024x683.jpg) The deliverista hub at City Hall Park has 24-hour access for delivery workers to safely recharge e-bike batteries and phones while getting out of the heat or cold. Ajche, members of Los Deliveristas Unidos, Schumer, and other city officials cut the ribbon on the highly-anticipated site, which city officials expect to be fully operational within days. “I want to say to the great Deliveristas: You asked, and today, we are the ones delivering,” Schumer said. ## Overcoming 'inertia' The hub includes two exterior charging cabinets, each with 19 charging cubbies, with 24-hour public access. E-bike riders can drop off their battery and track its progress via a mobile app, which will also unlock the cubby once the battery is ready for pickup. The [converted newsstand](https://mcusercontent.com/5124c033fe216137ab66283db/files/9c7bd9db-5b2d-01bc-c248-252ab606751c/Press%5FKit%5FCity%5FHall%5FPark%5FDeliverista%5FHub.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) was designed by Fantástica, a Brooklyn-based urban design firm. After securing $1 million in federal funds from Schumer’s office, advocates had hoped to move quickly to build the hub, which sits on Parks Department land. As months turned to years, delivery workers — and the Senate minority leader — became frustrated with the slow pace of movement from the Adams administration. [Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s](https://www.thecity.nyc/zohran-mamdani-politics-mayor/?ref=down-ballot.info) City Hall moved quickly to build the space: the actual demo and construction [took about two months](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/nyregion/how-to-build-a-rest-stop-for-delivery-workers-in-a-hurry.html?ref=down-ballot.info). “For years my office pushed and prodded the previous administration, overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, overcoming inertia. People didn’t understand,” said Schumer. “I want to congratulate the new administration, Mayor Mamdani. They moved quickly to expedite the process.” ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/E2A7633-1024x683.jpg) Delivery worker Sergio Gustavo Ajche and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer cut the ribbon to City Hall Park's new Deliverista Hub, April 7, 20206. Initially, the Workers Justice Project had identified [two additional newsstands](https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/01/03/deliverista-worker-hubs-west-side-bronx/?ref=down-ballot.info) to repurpose as hubs on the Upper West Side and on Fordham Road in The Bronx; plans for the latter fell apart because the [newsstand wasn’t actually vacant](https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/01/28/city-booting-bronx-newsstand-to-make-way-for-nyc-delivery-workers-hub/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2024, Manhattan Community Board 1 rejected [the City Hall plan](https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/03/26/manhattan-community-board-schumer-city-hall-ebike-charging-hub/?ref=down-ballot.info) over concerns about crowds and the hub’s modern design, which they said was out of step with the neighborhood. The vote was an advisory move that could not legally stop the project. Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura declined to comment on the status of the Upper West Side newsstand or to identify other locations the city is considering for additional hubs. The hubs faced sharp pushback from residents and lawmakers after a spate of deadly fires across the city [caused by malfunctioning lithium-ion e-bike batteries](https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/11/21/ebikes-fires-lithium-ion-batteries-delivery-workers/?ref=down-ballot.info). But workers and advocates said the fire safety issues underscored why the hubs are necessary — after all, workers have said, they don’t want to bring the potential hazards [to their own homes](https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/01/27/deliveristas-bensonhurst-community-rallies/?ref=down-ballot.info), either. In tandem with its push for safe, public charging ports, Workers Justice Project has in recent years stepped up its efforts to educate members on proper e-bike and battery maintenance, including by pushing them to ensure their equipment is manufactured to federal standards, and hosting forums with the Fire Department and other city agencies. ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/E2A7482-1024x683.jpg) Delivery workers celebrate the opening of a new Deliverista Hub at City Hall Park, April 7, 2026. Meanwhile, the city Department of Transportation has also stepped in, [hosting events](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/12/e-bike-exchange-deliveristas-batteries-fire-safety/?ref=down-ballot.info) where workers can trade-in illegal e-bikes and mopeds for safer equipment. The charging and rest hubs are a signature project of Los Deliveristas Unidos, which [formed during the 2020 pandemic](https://www.thecity.nyc/2020/12/06/nyc-food-delivery-workers-demand-better-treatment/?ref=down-ballot.info) as a WhatsApp group. Scores of undocumented workers — out of a job and locked out of public assistance — turned to delivery work to make ends meet in one of the few industries not only hiring but thriving as the rest of the world stayed home. In those early days, workers earned far below the minimum wage, accused the companies of withholding tips, and shared stories of restaurants refusing entry to workers looking to relieve themselves or wash up as they picked up orders. Other issues, such as on-the-job violence and street safety, still persist. But on Tuesday, workers celebrated the hub as the latest in [a long string of victories](https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/06/11/app-based-food-delivery-workers-landmark-minimum-pay-rate/?ref=down-ballot.info), including a first-in-the-nation minimum pay rate. --- ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=75918&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) # Virginia Republicans Want Tax Relief to Ease Gas Costs. There’s Also Electric Vehicles. ### Years of debate on electric vehicles in Virginia have slowed the transition, now under full Democratic control. By Charles Paullin April 3, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03042026/virginia-gas-costs-tax-relief-electric-vehicles/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* Republican state lawmakers want a temporary pause on Virginia’s 32 cent per gallon gas tax to help offset rising prices at the pump resulting from President Donald Trump’s ill-defined and unpopular war in Iran. They remained cool to, and to some extent critical of, electric vehicles as a means of liberating Virginia motorists from rising gasoline prices and the broader choke point on global oil supplies, as Iran continues to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. “We need immediate relief since oil prices have spiked due to this Strait \[of Hormuz\] being blocked,” said Del. Scott Wyatt (R-Mechanicsville), who appeared last week at a press call on Zoom with Del. Terry Kilgore, the state House minority leader from southwest Virginia, and other GOP colleagues. “We’ll continue to work on the long-term need for additional infrastructure, to fund those charging stations,” Wyatt said. As a result of the war in Iran, average gasoline prices in Virginia have now surged past $4 a gallon, according to [AAA](https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=VA&ref=down-ballot.info), up from $2.93 a month ago. The war in Iran began Feb. 28\. Wyatt and the other Republicans are now asking to pause the state’s gas tax for 90 days. The relief could come through separate legislation, which lawmakers could pass when they reconvene in Richmond on April 22, or in the budget bill, which could be sent from the legislature to Gov. Abigail Spanberger for signature on April 23\. If gas stations stopped levying the gasoline tax, the state would lose about $125 million a month in revenue for road maintenance and more, Republicans said, proposing that the state’s surplus could make up the difference. But Democrats in Virginia, who now control both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office, have thus far indicated no interest in suspending the gas tax. “Let’s be 100 percent clear about why gas prices are skyrocketing: It’s because President Trump unilaterally launched a war with no thought to the direct impact on families in Virginia and across the country,” Spanberger, who took office in January, said in a statement. “Right now, Virginians are feeling the brunt of the President’s actions at the pump and grocery store. As gas and diesel prices soar, I am working to create long-term solutions to address rising costs in energy, housing, and healthcare.” Beyond suspending the gas tax, the affordability debate over skyrocketing pump prices centers on the transition to electric vehicles, which the Republicans have criticized as too costly and lacking in charging infrastructure. Democrats, meanwhile, have tried to speed up the transition, but have left some options awaiting funding or enabling legislation. ## **Virginia’s Transition** In 2021, Virginia Democrats passed a law to tie the state to California’s escalating tailpipe emission standards, which would fully ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in 2035\. Former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin [announced in 2024](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05062024/youngkin-virginia-vehicle-emissions-standards-rollback/?ref=down-ballot.info) that Virginia would no longer follow California’s rules and instead follow the federal ones for model years 2027 through 2032, which are less aggressive than California’s. The Trump administration is moving to end California’s waiver to the Clean Air Act that allows the state to have stricter tailpipe emissions standards. The administration is also seeking to reverse the Biden-era federal tailpipe rules, which were intended to spur adoption of electric vehicles. With those actions pending, Democrats in Virginia have as yet taken no action to challenge Youngkin’s decision to have Virginia follow the federal rules. Jay Jones, the state’s newly elected Democratic attorney general, did not respond to a request for comment. Jones is [challenging](https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/lawsuit-epa-vehicle-emissions/?ref=down-ballot.info) the EPA’s actions to weaken the federal tailpipe rules. At their press event, the GOP lawmakers echoed Youngkin’s earlier call to let consumers choose what kind of car they want to buy, without endorsements of tax breaks or other incentives encouraging them to go electric. Del. Michael Webert (R-Warrenton) said the average Virginian driving a 2014 Chevy Malibu can’t afford a new Tesla. Kilgore, the House minority leader, critiqued charging times for electric cars, but added “I’m all for whatever the consumer wants to buy.” ## **The EV Transition** Democrats in Virginia set up an electric vehicle purchasing program in [2021](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05062024/youngkin-virginia-vehicle-emissions-standards-rollback/?ref=down-ballot.info), offering Virginians a $2,500 rebate. But it went unfunded in anticipation of incentives in the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump ended in [September](https://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/the-ins-and-outs-of-electric-vehicle-tax-credits.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Democrats have not shared any plans to fund the state rebate program as part of ongoing budget negotiations. Neither Spanberger nor House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) chose to address how an electric vehicle transition could help with affordability in statements issued in response to the Republicans’ gas tax suspension request. On the Senate side, Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) told Inside Climate News by text message that the transition would help prevent the pain of international conflict, without mentioning the state’s lack of funding for the rebate program. “Transportation is the largest carbon producing segment of the American economy and the sooner we can revert to electrical vehicles the less exposed we are to foreign policy quagmires like this,” Surrovell said. ## **Deploying Charging Stations** As for charging stations, Virginia is moving along with its plans for charging networks developed through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. But built in America requirements will likely [stifle](https://electrificationcoalition.org/increasing-build-america-buy-america-act-requirements-will-halt-federal-ev-charging-deployment/?ref=down-ballot.info) any actual rollout of the chargers since the manufacturing industry for those components, set to take off under the Biden administration, has been halted by Trump. On the state level, the Democratic legislature last year passed a bill to cover some costs to build rural electric vehicle charging stations, but Youngkin vetoed it. This year, with a much larger Democratic majority in the House, the bill died in the House Appropriations Committee, which killed several other bills amid budget woes that leaders blamed on the Trump administration. Spanberger this week did sign a [bill](https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB1225?ref=down-ballot.info) that would direct the State Corporation Commission, which regulates Virginia’s utilities, to determine what distance would be appropriate for a utility-owned charging station to be from a charger at a gas station. The bill aims to limit competition between the two. In [planning](https://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/89vr01!.PDF?ref=down-ballot.info) documents, Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest electricity utility, assumed last year that about 822,500 electric vehicles could be in its service territory by 2038. Mike O’Conner, president and CEO of the Virginia Petroleum & Convenience Marketers Association, which represents gas stations, said there are over 5,700 locations in Virginia selling gas. The rates of adopting electric vehicles show how relevant those stations are. “Stopping” the war in Iran, O’Conner said, would help ease gas prices, and putting chargers at gas stations could help ease electric vehicle drivers who have “range anxiety” over how long a battery charge may last. [Kelly Blue Book](https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/how-much-does-it-cost-to-charge-an-ev/?ref=down-ballot.info), a widely respected car appraisal outlet, said fast chargers can put an electric vehicle at 80 percent capacity in about 30 minutes. The range of an electric vehicle can be anywhere from as low as 125 miles up to more than 400\. O’Conner said money the state received from a [settlement ](https://www.deq.virginia.gov/news-info/shortcuts/topics-of-interest/volkswagen-settlement-agreement?ref=down-ballot.info)with Volkswagen put chargers at strip malls, but not enough at his members’ locations. “They weren’t put in, as other states have done, at convenience stores, travel centers, travel stops, where people could stop, recharge their phone, recharge their battery, (have) their lunch,” O’Conner said, noting that Virginia made the decision to install stand-alone chargers at smaller sites. Alleyn Harned is the executive director of Virginia Clean Cities, a fuel-agnostic organization working to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050\. He said there are more than 5,300 EV charging ports at 1,800 different [locations ](https://afdc.energy.gov/stations?ref=down-ballot.info)throughout Virginia. And charging an electric vehicle is cheaper than paying for gas, Harned added. Filling up a gas car averaging 30 miles per gallon at $3.98 per gallon, less than the latest average Virginia rate, would cost about $143.28 after filling up three times in a month, compared to $58.98 to charge at home, according to [Kelly Blue Book](https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/how-much-does-it-cost-to-charge-an-ev/?ref=down-ballot.info). If the gas tax is suspended, Harned said, so should a highway use fee the hybrids and electric vehicles pay because they don’t use gas but still use roads. The fee ranges from from $6.86 for a 25-mile-per-gallon vehicle to about $132 for an electric vehicle, according to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Since its creation in 2020 through June 30, 2025, the fee has generated over $324 million in revenue. And home chargers, Harned said, also offer opportunities to use electricity generated in Virginia instead of gasoline made in out-of-state refineries. “This kind of price shock will happen continually until we have wider adoption of options in Virginia for fuels that we can make locally that are not instantly globally traded,” said Harned. “The legislative session had a lot of talk about electric vehicles. I think there can be some acknowledgement \[that\] those priorities are front and center.” ## **The Status of the Transition** There were about 7.8 million cars registered in Virginia in 2024, according to the latest available [data](https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicle-registration?ref=down-ballot.info) from the U.S. Department of Energy. As of June 30, 2025, The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles said 123,672 registrations were electric and 265,680 were plug-in hybrids and traditional hybrids. [Kelly Blue Book](https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/how-much-electric-car-cost/?ref=down-ballot.info) reported in September that the lowest price for a new electric vehicle in August was $29,280\. Amid the state and policy changes on purchasing new electric vehicles, sales in Virginia, according to information from the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, fell from about 27,000 in 2023 to about 25,300 last year. The sale of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which can drive about 25-40 miles on a single charge, rose from about 4,500 to 6,217 over the same time period. Sales of traditional hybrids, which use a combination of a gas engine and a battery to increase a car’s miles per gallon, went from about 62,700 to 86,543. Across all gas, electric and hybrid vehicles, sales in Virginia are slowing, based on sales that were about 5.4 percent lower in January than a year ago. Specifically, sales of Tesla, and electric vehicles and hybrids, over the same time period dropped by about 2 percent and 8 percent, respectively. Gas car sales grew from about 74 percent of sales to 82 percent of sales. --- # She fled persecution in South America and was granted humanitarian protection. Now the government wants to deport her to Congo. by Robert Stewart and Bobbi-Jeanne Misick, Verite News New Orleans April 2, 2026 In June 2025, an immigration judge ordered that the U.S. government could not deport a 23-year-old South American woman — who had been detained for months in a North Louisiana immigration lockup — back to her home country, where she said she had been violently attacked because of her queer identity. When the order came down, the woman’s older sister, Yackeline, thought her younger sibling would finally be safe. (The woman asked that her name and home country not be published out of fear of retaliation for speaking to the media. Yackeline, who shares her sister’s last name, asked that only her first name be published.) “When the judge said that she would be giving her the opportunity to start over from zero, that nobody was going to harm her, we thought at that point that she would be freed,” Yackeline said. By that time, the woman had spent about five months inside Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, a former jail that now serves as a federal immigration detention center. [LaSalle Corrections](https://lasallecorrections.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), a private prison company that operates correctional centers and immigration detention centers across the south and has faced repeated [allegations](https://veritenews.org/2023/12/12/citing-history-of-alleged-abuse-groups-call-on-ice-to-end-contract-at-former-la-prison/?ref=down-ballot.info) of neglect and abuses from civil rights groups, runs the Richwood Correctional Center. Lasalle did not respond to a request for comment. At Richwood, according to Yackeline, the woman had undergone physical and psychological decline, due to alleged medical neglect and anxiety and depression brought on from prolonged detention. Nearly a year after the judge’s ruling came down, the woman has yet to be released. Unable to deport her to her home country, the federal government has kept her locked up as it seeks to send her to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country where she has never been and has a record of political instability, massive internal displacement, health risks and attacks against members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. “\[Congo\] is a place where my sister knowns no one, does not speak the language and would face a high probability of suffering, persecution and torture again,” Yackeline said. The 23-year-old woman has received protection from removal to her country of origin under the [United Nations Convention Against Torture](https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-against-torture-and-other-cruel-inhuman-or-degrading?ref=down-ballot.info), an international human rights treaty that prohibits parties to the convention, including the United States, from sending people back to countries where they could be in danger of being subjected to torture. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/01221239/edit-featimage-f2ec77a7-c1f8-4f06-b2ea-158ab6bbe6df.jpg) Yackeline (center, in pink shirt) and her younger sister (left) in an undated childhood photo. But the Trump administration has attempted to get around such withholding orders by finding [third countries](https://www.cfr.org/articles/what-are-third-country-deportations-and-why-trump-using-them?ref=down-ballot.info) to accept immigrants it seeks to deport. That approach could have serious consequences for people, such as Yackeline’s sister, languishing in immigration detention centers. According to immigration and civil rights attorneys interviewed by Verite News, this practice often results in immigrants facing lengthy detentions and expensive legal battles while the government tries to identify a willing third-party country. Nora Ahmed, legal director at the ACLU of Louisiana, said in cases in which immigrants challenge the lawfulness of their lengthy detentions, the federal government, "has now been somewhat successfully arguing that 'since we are engaged in third country removals, we really need more time’ " as a tactic to keep someone detained while they continue to search for third-party countries to receive them. In some cases, immigrants deported to third-party countries, including those with humanitarian protections, have eventually been sent to their home countries anyway. In November, 2025, the Trump administration deported 58-year-old Sierra Leonean woman [Rabbiatu Kuyateh](https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ghana-took-trumps-deported-west-africans-then-it-forced-them-home-2026-01-16/?ref=down-ballot.info) — who had been living in the Maryland suburbs for 30 years — to Ghana. Despite a U.S. judge having granted Kuyateh a withholding from removal for fear of torture, she was detained in Ghana then returned to Sierra Leone, according to a report by Reuters. ### **‘I really don't know what I would do’** Yackeline’s sister fled South America after she participated in an LGBTQIA2S+ march against discrimination in 2024\. According to a court filing in her immigration case, police officers who had been dispatched to the march to maintain order instead attacked the protesters, deploying tear gas and throwing objects at them. “I decided to leave the march, but as I was leaving, I was attacked with stones that hit my jaw, causing bleeding and a bruise,” the woman wrote in a declaration last year. After she filed a police report about the incident, the declaration said, she was subjected to repeated harassment and death threats. In late 2024, she wrote, she was briefly kidnapped and sexually assaulted, after which her assailant told her she would continue to face such treatment “if I didn’t leave the LGBT community.” She fled the country the following month, headed for the U.S. The woman arrived at the U.S. southern border in January 2025 near Calexico, California, where U.S. Border Patrol agents took her into federal custody, placing her in expedited removal proceedings — a process that allows federal immigration authorities to deport recently arrived migrants without a hearing before a judge. Immigrants placed into expedited removal can assert their right to seek asylum in the U.S. if they fear returning to their home countries, which the South American woman did in April 2025\. In June 2025, immigration judge Jennifer Piateski denied the asylum claim, but at the same time, Piateski granted her protection from being returned home under the Convention Against Torture. She remained at Richwood, however, and last month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued the woman a notice informing her that the government intended to deport her to Congo. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country that has witnessed a lot of upheaval in the past decade. In 2024, over 7 million people were considered [displaced](https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/democratic-republic-congo/democratic-republic-congo-internally-displaced-persons-and-returnees-february-2024?ref=down-ballot.info) due to the threat of violence. As war waged in parts of the country the United Nations issued a report detailing possible [war crimes](https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/drc-un-report-raises-spectre-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-north?ref=down-ballot.info). A few months ago the World Health Organization announced the end of a months-long [ebola outbreak](https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-outbreak-news/item/2025-DON589?ref=down-ballot.info), and [LGBTQ+ people](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2023/01/17/in-eastern-drc-homosexuals-forced-into-hiding%5F6011875%5F124.html?ref=down-ballot.info) have been targets of harassment and attacks. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/01221029/AP26041643409420.jpg) M23 rebels escort government soldiers and police who surrendered to an undisclosed location in Goma, Democratic republic of the Congo, Jan. 30, 2025. “If that were to come to pass to my sister, I really don't know what I would do,” Yackeline said. Unlike asylum, protection under the Convention Against Torture does not confer legal status, and the U.S. has long had the option to deport people with CAT to third countries. But historically, someone like Yackeline’s sister — who was granted CAT and does not have a criminal record — might have been released under an order of supervision, allowing her to live and work in the U.S. while checking in with ICE, explained Ahmed. “It used to be that when someone had withholding or CAT, the United States government was not going to spend the millions of dollars that \[the Trump administration has\] been spending to get third countries to take individuals who have no ties to their country," Ahmed said in a phone interview last week. "The decision was made that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze." But that has changed under the Trump administration, which has increasingly turned to third countries to take the deportees who can’t be sent back home. The administration has spent millions of dollars on agreements with countries as near as Mexico and El Salvador and as far away as Eswatini to accept migrants that cannot be returned to their home countries, either because they have humanitarian protections or because their home countries simply refuse to accept them. One of the most high-profile examples of third country removals came in March, 2025 when President Trump sent more than [200 Venezuelan](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-records-show-about-migrants-sent-to-salvadoran-prison-60-minutes-transcript/?ref=down-ballot.info) migrants accused of being gang members to a notorious [maximum security prison](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y47dAQhGPo&ref=down-ballot.info) in El Salvador until Venezuela finally agreed to [accept them](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/men-trump-administration-sent-el-salvadors-cecot-prison-exchanged-pris-rcna219643?ref=down-ballot.info) as part of a prisoner swap. According to a [recent report ](https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/%28FINAL%20-%20web%29%20At%20What%20Cost%20-%20Inside%20the%20Trump%20Administration%27s%20Secret%20Deportation%20Deals%5F2.17.26.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)by Democratic members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, as of January, the Trump administration had used at least $32 million of U.S. taxpayer funds to incentivize five third-party countries to accept roughly 300 people deported from the U.S. The report also estimated that the cost to fly people to third-party countries at more than $7 million. By that time, the administration had agreements with 25 countries that had received third-party nationals. The report said many of those countries have a track record of public corruption, human rights abuses and human trafficking. Most recently, the administration has reportedly made third-country removal deals with [Cameroon](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/world/africa/in-secret-deportation-deal-us-leveraged-favors-and-funds.html?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Costa Rica](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/world/americas/costa-rica-us-deportation-deal.html?ref=down-ballot.info). ### **‘It's a system of torture’** Media reports, along with civil rights groups and government watchdogs have previously alleged that living conditions at Richwood Correctional Center, which is owned and operated by private prison company LaSalle Corrections, are substandard. A [USA Today report](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/10/19/immigrant-detainees-hungry-in-ice-detention/86163312007/?ref=down-ballot.info) on the food at Richwood Correctional Center described poor-quality low-cost meals and accounts from detained people describing unhygienic conditions. [A 2024 report](https://www.aclu.org/documents/inside-the-black-hole?ref=down-ballot.info) published by the ACLU highlighted a suicide of an immigrant after being allegedly held in solitary confinement. The report also contained allegations of poor food and environmental conditions, medical neglect and retaliation against detainees. And in 2023 the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General [found violations](https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2023-03/OIG-23-18-Mar23.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) at Richwood that “compromised the health, safety, and rights of detainees, including facility areas that were not consistently clean or sanitary.” More recently, [the 19th](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/27/ice-richwood-correctional-pregnant-woman/?ref=down-ballot.info) reported in January that a pregnant woman with two American children was bleeding for weeks and suffering cramps but unable to see a doctor there. At the Richwood Correctional Center, Yackeline said her sister, whom she is in regular communication with, began suffering physical and psychological decline, including experiencing painful coughs, pain in her lungs, days where she was bedridden, sores on her skin and weight loss. Yackeline said besides the prolonged illness, one of the worst periods for her sister came in January when the correction center did not have basic services. She said the water was not working, so the toilets weren’t running and detained people were taking care of their bodily needs with no way of washing up after themselves. “I just can't understand to this day why they're doing this to people, especially people who have never harmed anyone,” Yackeline said. Medical documents available in the woman’s court records do not document any of the physical conditions that Yackeline reported, but they show she was being treated for anxiety, was displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and that she reported depression, significant lack of sleep and frequent nightmares. Yackeline also provided text messages showing that her sister claimed she had been denied medicine at times and suffered prolonged periods of illness. She said her sister only expressed feeling relief from painful periods of illness in instances after she was able to take medication that put her to sleep. “It’s only when I’m sleeping that I don’t feel pain,” Yackeline’s sister texted in one message describing incessant coughing and sneezing. Yackeline’s sister spoke to Verite News about the conditions in the facility, complaining of low-quality food and poor treatment. She said she suffered from bad health and anxiety attacks during her time in detention, saying it is like a nightmare that she doesn’t know when it is going to end. “The hours drag on for an eternity,” she said. The woman also spoke about the alleged interruption in water service. Neither ICE nor Lasalle responded to questions about the conditions of the facility, including the water problem. But New Orleans-based Spanish news outlet, Jambalaya News Louisiana, [published audio recordings](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1250804830261394) in late January that it said were from people detained at the facility. In the audio, a woman can be heard saying there’s no food, no water and no means to flush the toilets or wash themselves. “I’ve raised my sister like a daughter, and the pain \[I feel\] to see her in these conditions is terrible,” Yackeline said. In December Yackeline’s sister filed a petition for [habeas corpus](https://veritenews.org/2026/03/09/immigration-detention-lawsuits-skyrocket/?ref=down-ballot.info) — an attempt to seek legal relief from detention — in federal court. While she is in the process of seeking relief, she remains under the looming threat that any day she could be sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, according to court documents, the central African nation has not yet agreed to accept her. For her habeas case, the South American woman is leaning on a Supreme Court [case](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/533/678/case.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in which the justices determined that the federal government cannot keep people in detention indefinitely while it searches for ways to remove them. They also concluded that six months should be sufficient time to deport a person in detention. After that, if a person in immigration detention provides good reason to believe that they won’t be removed in the foreseeable future, the government needs to [prove otherwise](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/10/angola-camp-57-immigration-release-order/?ref=down-ballot.info) in order to keep them behind bars. According to court records, attorneys for ICE requested an extension to respond to the woman’s petition for habeas relief and missed multiple deadlines to respond to the courts. Zachary Keller, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, finally argued in March that Yackeline’s sister’s continued detention was actually lawful and that she did not successfully show her continued detention was unreasonable. Legal precedent, he said, puts the burden of proof on the detained person to prove there’s “no significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future.” He further argued that courts have found that nine and a half months of detention is not unreasonable and that ICE is working to remove her as soon as possible. “Basically, it’s the same as always,” Yackeline said after reading Keller’s arguments. “They claim they are trying to deport her, but in reality they have not presented anything concrete. There is no country that has agreed to accept her, no removal date, no travel documents and no clear plan.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/01220940/8W3A3159a1a.jpg) Detained women wave to activists who were yelling their support as they are transported in a bus from the ICE processing center in Basile, La. on Friday May 9, 2025. Ahmed, of the ACLU of Louisiana, described the legal processes facing people who are filing habeas petitions to be released from detention as an uphill battle under the Trump administration’s deportation goals. One legal victory, such as winning a habeas petition does not mean freedom. ICE can redetain the person at any time. A person can also get denied a habeas petition, but if they remain in detention they can file a motion for reconsideration. And if they get out, ICE can redetain the person released from detention, which can start another legal battle. “It's a system of torture. It's about making people feel helpless and hopeless,” Ahmed said. Knowing a legal battle is possible, Yackeline, who lives in Washington, said that whatever happens to her sister, she feels she needs to be strong. Her biggest fear is that she’ll get sudden news that her sister has been sent to Congo, a country that has a recent history of armed conflict, mass internal displacement and attacks on LGBTQ+ people. One source of strength is a virtual prayer group of people in similar circumstances — those who have loved ones detained. According to her, the group prays together several times a week in the middle of the night. “We ask God to have mercy,” she said, “and to give us the opportunity that our families might be able to reunite and be together.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/04/02/ice-third-country-deportation-congo/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=29665&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/04/After_mg_0.jpg) Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little gives his State of the State Address from the House chambers on Jan. 12, 2026, at the State Capitol Building in Boise. (Photo by Pat Sutphin for the Idaho Capital Sun) ## After four patients died, Idaho governor approves restoring cut Medicaid mental health programs By Kyle Pfannenstiel (Idaho Capital Sun) Published: April 3, 2026 Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Thursday signed into law a bill to restore Medicaid mental health treatment programs that the state cut to comply with the governor’s order for budget cuts. In less than three months since an Idaho Medicaid contractor cut a mobile treatment program for people with severe mental illness, [four patients died](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/03/12/fourth-patient-dies-after-idaho-cut-medicaid-mental-health-service/?ref=down-ballot.info), the Idaho Capital Sun reported. In the 18 months before the cut, providers say just one patient died. The program was designed for people who have struggled in routine treatment settings. > [Fourth patient dies after Idaho cut Medicaid mental health service](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/03/12/fourth-patient-dies-after-idaho-cut-medicaid-mental-health-service/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Senate Bill 1446](https://legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2026/legislation/S1446/?ref=down-ballot.info) would spend one-time [legal settlement funds to reinstate](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/03/17/idaho-lawmakers-might-have-funding-to-restore-cut-medicaid-mental-health-program/?ref=down-ballot.info) the mobile treatment program, called the Assertive Community Treatment program, and [peer support services](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/02/09/idaho-mental-health-court-program-that-turns-lives-around-faces-uncertain-future-due-to-budget-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info), which help people navigate mental health treatment. As the 2026 legislative session was defined by deep spending cuts across state government to avoid a budget shortfall and make room for One Big Beautiful Bill Act tax cuts, the move to reinstate the cut mental health programs stands out as an exception to the hawkish fiscal attitudes in the Statehouse. Medicaid disability providers took nearly [$22 million in pay cuts this year](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/03/27/idaho-governor-approves-22m-in-medicaid-disability-budget-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info). And the Legislature didn’t consider bills to [reinstate other cut health care programs](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/02/24/some-idaho-lawmakers-called-this-medicaid-cut-an-accident-but-a-bill-to-undo-the-cut-is-stalling/?ref=down-ballot.info), including for [kids with disabilities](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/03/25/idaho-families-struggle-to-find-caregivers-for-disabled-kids-lawmakers-wont-consider-a-fix/?ref=down-ballot.info). The mental health programs’ reinstatement follows warnings by health providers and sheriffs, [two](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/11/28/idaho-faces-another-lawsuit-over-medicaid-mental-health-cut/?ref=down-ballot.info) [lawsuits](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/11/24/idaho-mental-health-clinics-sue-state-over-medicaid-contractors-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info), admissions that the cuts likely won’t save the state money long-term, and denials by state officials that services for people with severe mental illness were cut. “We acknowledge the State’s budget challenges which are self-inflicted by an overly aggressive tax reduction stance of the Legislative Branch and a complicit Executive Branch continuing to reduce tax revenue creating a budget shortage,” Bonneville County Sheriff Samuel Hulse, the president of the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association, [wrote](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/12/03/idaho-sheriffs-worry-medicaid-mental-health-cuts-pose-significant-public-safety-concern/?ref=down-ballot.info) to legislative leaders and the governor in December. He warned the cuts “represent a significant public-safety concern.” [SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX](https://idahocapitalsun.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) #### **Cuts can be directly tied to the deaths, Republican senator says** Soon after the cuts were [announced](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/11/21/idaho-medicaid-contractor-to-cut-critical-services-for-people-with-severe-mental-illness/?ref=down-ballot.info) by an Idaho Medicaid contractor, providers and the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association [warned the cuts would risk public safety](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/12/03/idaho-sheriffs-worry-medicaid-mental-health-cuts-pose-significant-public-safety-concern/?ref=down-ballot.info), and providers said the cuts would drive up other costs even more. Eastern Idaho crisis centers saw demand spike after the cuts. Since then, providers have pushed for the programs to be reinstated — and several state lawmakers have talked about the deaths as the Legislature mulled other budget cuts. The budget bill appropriates funding for the cut programs for next fiscal year, which starts in July. The programs are also on track to be reinstated this fiscal year if the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare transfers enough funding internally, which the agency has said is possible. Idaho Falls Republican [Sen. Kevin Cook](https://legislature.idaho.gov/legislators/membership/2026/id6686/?ref=down-ballot.info) cited the patient deaths in his pitch for bringing the programs back. Since the programs were cut, “we have had four deaths that you can pinpoint directly back to these programs that were done away with,” Cook told senators. “Our sheriffs, our ERs and our courts are dealing with the same individuals over and over again. These are frequent flyers … because this system designed to stabilize them was taken away.” A bill to reinstate the program in state law, introduced in February by Shelley Republican [Rep. Ben Fuhirman](https://legislature.idaho.gov/legislators/membership/2025/id9429/?ref=down-ballot.info), never got a committee hearing. But, he said the funding through the budget bill will help Idaho communities. “Because of this funding, people who truly need this level of support will continue to receive it, and our communities will be safer and stronger because of it,” Fuhriman said in a statement. “But the work is not done. We still have major mental health challenges across Idaho, and we need to keep finding ways to properly fund and protect these programs so we never end up in this position again.” Ric Boyce, who was among a group of clinic owners and providers that pushed for the programs to be brought back, said Cook and Fuhriman “worked tirelessly” to bring the Assertive Community Treatment program back. In February, when a reporter [asked](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/02/10/budget-cut-fallout-after-idaho-cut-a-critical-medicaid-mental-health-service-two-patients-died/?ref=down-ballot.info) the governor whether he would’ve handled his cuts differently after the first two patient deaths were reported, the governor said “hindsight’s a great thing.” At the time, Little told reporters it’s tough to anticipate the “unintended consequences.” For next fiscal year, the bill allocates $4.6 million in tobacco settlement funds and $5.8 million in opioid settlement funds for the programs. The federal government will pay most of the costs to reinstate the programs — an estimated $20.5 million out of the total nearly $31 million in costs. Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesperson AJ McWhorter previously told the Sun that the agency has enough one-time savings to restore the services this fiscal year if JFAC’s bill becomes law. #### **Three of the deaths were men in their 40s** At least three of the deaths were men in their 40s, providers told the Idaho Capital Sun. The provider for the [fourth patient who died](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/03/12/fourth-patient-dies-after-idaho-cut-medicaid-mental-health-service/?ref=down-ballot.info), Meredith Sievers, found out he had died after he missed an appointment. He had gone down to once-a-week visits after the cuts. “He was actually doing really well,” Sievers told the Sun. “Had achieved sobriety in the last couple of years. Was starting to go back to work. And was working toward becoming a recovery coach for people with other substance use disorders.” After the [third death](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/02/20/a-third-patient-has-died-after-idaho-cut-a-medicaid-mental-health-service/?ref=down-ballot.info), the owner of the clinic that treated him, Laura Scuri, told the Sun it was preventable. And she said she worried the cuts could spur a violent critical incident as people with severe mental health issues lose accessible treatment. “I’m worried it’s gonna be a child. Some innocent kid that was in the wrong place at the wrong time is going to cross paths with someone who’s actively psychotic and get hurt,” Scuri said. The [first death](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/02/10/budget-cut-fallout-after-idaho-cut-a-critical-medicaid-mental-health-service-two-patients-died/?ref=down-ballot.info) was also preventable, Boyce, the owner of Chubbuck-based clinic Mental Health Specialists, wrote in a federal court declaration. The patient, he wrote, died after complications following a minor surgical procedure — after declining follow-up care or sticking to a treatment plan. If the ACT program was still in place, Boyce wrote his staff would “have identified the increased risk associated with the post-surgical complications” and involve “appropriate medical staff as needed.” Instead, one of his clinicians visited the patient’s house and saw their funeral, Boyce wrote. Then that same clinician went to visit the home of another former patient on the ACT program to find them “experiencing an acute psychiatric emergency, requiring immediate transport to a hospital for evaluation and stabilization,” he wrote. #### **Why a state contractor cut the Medicaid programs** State health officials have denied the entire Assertive Community Treatment program was cut, saying services are still available. But some providers say the services that are still available aren’t what the evidence-based program was like, because providers aren’t paid to staff mobile treatment teams. The contractor, Magellan, had its pay rate reduced by the Department of Health and Welfare as part of [Medicaid provider pay cuts](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/08/26/idaho-cuts-doctor-pay-rates-for-medicaid-more-cuts-could-come-health-and-welfare-says/?ref=down-ballot.info) last year, after Gov. Brad Little [ordered](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/08/15/idaho-governor-calls-on-state-agencies-to-cut-budgets-by-3/?ref=down-ballot.info) state budget cuts. Magellan [cut](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/11/21/idaho-medicaid-contractor-to-cut-critical-services-for-people-with-severe-mental-illness/?ref=down-ballot.info) the services in December. The governor’s budget chief, Lori Wolff, told the Sun in February that preventive services are often the first to go when the state faces a budget crunch — because they are [one of few options the state has](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2026/02/10/budget-cut-fallout-after-idaho-cut-a-critical-medicaid-mental-health-service-two-patients-died/?ref=down-ballot.info). In December, the state’s Medicaid director told lawmakers that health [officials aren’t sure the cuts will save the state money](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/12/22/idaho-isnt-sure-mental-health-cuts-will-save-money-long-term-medicaid-director-says/?ref=down-ballot.info) long-term. About 200 people in Idaho are on the ACT program, Magellan Healthcare’s Idaho Executive Director David Welsh [wrote](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/12/22/idaho-isnt-sure-mental-health-cuts-will-save-money-long-term-medicaid-director-says/?ref=down-ballot.info) in a December declaration in response to a federal lawsuit by patients. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://idahocapitalsun.com/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Arizona universities quietly altered DEI offerings after Trump threatened funding cuts. They won’t disclose how by Molly Bohannon, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting April 9, 2026 Arizona’s three public universities have quietly dismantled diversity, equity and inclusion offerings over the past year, renaming programs, consolidating resource centers and scrubbing websites—all while failing to detail the changes to students, faculty or the public. The moves came after the U.S. Department of Education sent universities a [letter](https://www.ed.gov/media/document/dear-colleague-letter-sffa-v-harvard-109506.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in February 2025 threatening to cut federal funding if they continued to promote what President Donald Trump has called “radical” DEI programs. It advised schools they could not consider race in decisions about administrative support, housing and “all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.” In Arizona, university leadership has not publicly disclosed how or to what extent they’ve complied, shielding the public from understanding the impact of their decisions or how the changes might affect three of the state’s largest campus communities. It’s also unclear what changes, if any, have been reversed since a federal judge deemed the Trump administration’s guidance illegal last August. Officials at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona, which serve over 241,000 students and receive hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars annually, declined repeated requests for interviews and did not answer detailed questions from the [Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting](https://azcir.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) over several months. Public records requests were either denied on claims of attorney-client or work-product privilege, deemed too burdensome to fulfill or closed citing a lack of responsive records. AZCIR identified a number of changes through a review of university websites, course listings, past media coverage and communication with state officials. All three schools have been accused of burying resources for minority groups, and UA and NAU have also removed or renamed multiple webpages and references to diversity and inclusion—despite still claiming inclusivity as a core value. The largest known shift occurred at UA, which consolidated its cultural resource centers into one central hub. Higher education experts say the lack of transparency is likely tied to a “chilling effect” from the Trump administration’s broader assault on higher education, prompting attempts by officials to avoid further scrutiny. Emelyn dela Peña, president and CEO of the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, told AZCIR that transparency is crucial now “because when institutions feel like they can't talk openly about how they support students, it becomes harder for the public to understand the role that these efforts have.” DEI initiatives in higher education generally serve a range of groups beyond those more commonly considered vulnerable, including first-generation students and veterans, among others. Programming is often designed to emphasize things like belongingness, critical thinking and community engagement, according to the USC Race and Equity Center. The result, experts say, can be increased student retention and graduation rates. Nolan Cabrera, an expert in racism and anti-racism in higher education and a professor at UA, said decisions made behind closed doors sends a negative signal to students and faculty. “This isn't your university anymore,” he said. “This isn't a community.” As those tied to universities and the public at large attempt to understand the impact of DEI changes to campus life, Arizona’s Republican lawmakers are advancing a ballot initiative that would pose the question of DEI’s place in schools to voters directly. The move would bypass Gov. Katie Hobbs’ veto power and amend the state constitution to restrict DEI initiatives further. --- The potential of losing federal dollars—the single largest funding source for university research and development nationwide—prompted a number of schools to proactively comply with the guidance over the past year. Even as legal challenges to the February Dear Colleague letter and executive orders seeking similar restrictions on DEI made their way through the courts, some universities opted to publicly disclose their changes. The University of Cincinnati, for example, issued a [statement](https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2025/02/president-pinto-shares-message-regarding-future-of-dei-at-uc.html?ref=down-ballot.info) saying the institution had “little choice but to follow” the guidance and admitted to “removing references to DEI principles” and evaluating programming. The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s leadership released a [statement](https://www.unc.edu/posts/2025/02/10/a-message-from-university-leadership-unc-system-office-memorandum-regarding-federal-contracting-compliance/?ref=down-ballot.info) detailing changes to offerings for students after its university system [suspended](https://www.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/February-5-Memorandum-Regarding-Federal-Contracting-Compliance.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) DEI course requirements. Similar statements were made by universities from [Alaska](https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/news/archive/2025/02/%5Fdocuments/02.21.25%20-%20UA%20BOR%20FINAL%20Statement%5FMotion.pdf?utm%5Fcampaign=MCGreenandGold&utm%5Fsource=Board+of+Regents+Update&utm%5Fmedium=email) to [Colorado](https://federalupdates.colostate.edu/feb-18-new-federal-directives/?ref=down-ballot.info). Megan Gilbertson, a spokesperson for the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees Arizona’s public universities, declined an interview and did not say whether it advised schools on federal compliance. ABOR shifted 10 of its own policies last summer, removing references to “affirmative action,” and replacing “diversity” with “differentiation,” among other changes. Presidents at NAU and ASU did not address the federal guidance in public statements, and campus community members said they had not received internal communication, either. At UA, President Suresh Garimella began shifting diversity efforts shortly after Trump’s January 2025 [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/?ref=down-ballot.info), which alleged higher education institutions have adopted "dangerous, demeaning and immoral" DEI practices and called for their end. In a Feb. 17, 2025, email obtained by AZCIR from Garimella to Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, who had called on the state’s public universities to eliminate DEI a week earlier, the university president said “we intend to fully comply with the order.” The next day, Garimella announced the creation of a federal updates [page](https://provost.arizona.edu/federal-updates?ref=down-ballot.info) that now states UA was “mandated to discontinue certain activities and programming,” but provides no details. He also said they would take “a proactive approach” to compliance, including creating an inventory of DEI-related activities. AZCIR requested that inventory in September 2025, but was told the document was “protected under the attorney-client/work-product privilege.” On Feb. 19, 2025, a spokesperson confirmed to the [Arizona Daily Star](https://tucson.com/news/local/subscriber/article%5F37d85054-eef7-11ef-bdcf-4b578b89b23a.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that the school removed websites for its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Cultural and Resource Centers, but did not answer questions about what other changes were coming. Vanessa Perry, a former professor at UA, said she only got more information after Petersen posted another [letter](https://x.com/votewarren/status/1910008907935670705/photo/1?ref=down-ballot.info) from Garimella to social media updating him on actions the school had taken as of April 1, 2025\. The letter described a sweeping compliance effort—discontinued programming, internal “DEIA reviews,” instructions to college deans, changes to job postings—that the university has yet to detail publicly. “It really told me that no matter what we could do as organizers, that Garimella would not be moved,” said Perry, who was also part of UA Resist, a collective against DEI changes on campus. “That he had that little valor in doing the right thing and standing up for us.” AZCIR requested the information detailed in the letter, including communications sent to deans, the internal reviews and the action plans for change. The university withheld the records, again citing attorney-client or work-product privilege, and has not responded to repeated attempts to clarify the denial or provided further comment about changes made throughout its system. UA also announced last May it was consolidating six of its seven cultural resource centers, which served LGBTQ+ students, disabled and gender-based groups, along with several racial and ethnic minorities. The Native American student center was moved into the Office of Native American Initiatives. UA officials did not say at the time whether the decision was tied to the federal directives and did not answer AZCIR’s questions about the consolidation. UA spokesperson Mitch Zak shared two messages sent to campus about the consolidation, one of which clarified that “activities, physical spaces, and embedded counselors” would also make the transfer, and student workers would remain in place “to ensure continuity of support.” Zak said in the emailed statement that the school is focused on ensuring all students can access the same opportunities and resources for success, does not “engage in preferential treatment in employment or programming” and is compliant with federal and state nondiscrimination requirements. “These (centers) were not just benevolently bequeathed from the institution. They were years of struggle, community activism, fundraising to create these spaces … that can just be eliminated by the whim of a president who has no idea what he's doing,” Cabrera, the current UA professor, said. “That is devastating to the community, because we've been struggling for these minor amounts of inclusivity.” --- NAU’s spokesperson Kim Ott told AZCIR she was “not able to find anyone” who could speak to campus changes despite repeated outreach. She responded only that the school is focused on “ensuring that all students have the support and resources they need.” The university denied AZCIR’s public records request for documentation of changes to DEI programs, positions or offerings, calling it “unduly burdensome” with more than 300,000 potentially responsive records. An AZCIR review of NAU course plans showed that, as of last school year, some were described as meeting a “diversity” requirement. Plans for the current year show some of the same requirements now described as “inclusive perspectives.” Websites for NAU’s “[diversity strategic plan](https://nau.edu/center-for-university-access-and-inclusion/diversity-strategic-plan/?ref=down-ballot.info),” which was announced in 2020 and sought to make the school a “true diversity university,” as well as its [Center For University Access And Inclusion](https://in.nau.edu/center-for-university-access-and-inclusion/?ref=down-ballot.info), are no longer active. Some program specific pages, such as the [Institute for Public and Professional Ethics in Leadership](https://in.nau.edu/ethics/home/ethics-in-a-multicultural-society/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the [clinical psychology department](https://in.nau.edu/department-clinical-psychology/diversity-commitment/?ref=down-ballot.info), however, still note a commitment to diversity. Sarina Cutuli, a third-year student at NAU and member of the Arizona Students’ Association, said that while the changes are subtle, they perpetuate fear among students and “it feels like this slow chipping away until there's nothing left.” Cutuli said she believes administrators are acting in good faith, but that not communicating changes to the campus community is eroding trust. “Saying nothing feels like \[leadership saying\] ‘I don't care, I come first. I'm protecting myself first. I'm protecting my funding first. Your security as a student does not matter as much as money does,’” Cutuli said. > **Have you been impacted by changes to DEI offerings at ASU, NAU, UA or another institution in Arizona? If so, we want to hear from you.** > *Your information or experience will not be shared or published without your consent. An AZCIR reporter may reach out to learn more. You can also contact reporter Molly Bohannon securely via Signal, at molboha.75 .* > The largest known change on NAU’s campus was the sunsetting of [five diversity commissions](https://in.nau.edu/center-for-university-access-and-inclusion/diversity-commissions/?ref=down-ballot.info) covering Indigenous communities, disability, ethnic diversity, women and LGBTQIA issues, some dating back to at least 2006\. The commissions previously hosted speakers and discussions for students, faculty and staff, and gave awards for diversity work. According to [minutes](https://in.nau.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/97/2026/03/2%5F11.17.25-Senate-Meeting-Minutes-Draft.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from a November 2025 faculty senate meeting, University President José Luis Cruz Rivera said the commissions were “not sustainable” in their current form but that he wanted to reorganize them. Documents indicate the university sought to create an “Inclusive Excellence Advisory Board,” but officials did not say how it has progressed or how offerings have changed. ASU officials also declined to make anyone available for an interview and claimed “no responsive records” to an AZCIR records request from February seeking documentation for changes made over the past year. Spokesperson Nikki Ripley instead emailed a statement saying ASU fully complies with federal and state laws, noting that the school’s charter “commits to an inclusive approach welcoming every learner who is qualified.” Ripley also pointed to a March 2025 interview in which President Michael Crow said the university never had “ethnic diversity goals” to begin with. “Other people built that three word phrase, ‘diversity, equity and inclusion,’ and then built a rhetoric around that, and that's what's being attacked. We were past that,” Crow said at the time. Hypatia Meraviglia, an ASU graduate student and member of United Campus Workers of Arizona, which represents staff at the three universities, said Crow’s response was left wanting. “We're stuck in a situation where the workers at ASU, the students and the faculty and the staff are getting the worst end of the deal, which is, there are no university resources, or very few university resources for minoritized workers of any kind. And the resources we have are pulled,” Meraviglia said. ASU previously said it had not removed student support, though there were [allegations](https://www.kjzz.org/education/2025-03-25/lgbtq-advocates-are-preserving-resources-they-say-asu-is-burying?ref=down-ballot.info) [last](https://www.statepress.com/article/2025/03/community-online-resources-lgbtq?ref=down-ballot.info) spring that online resources for LGBTQIA students were removed from public-facing websites. The university also renamed graduation events for minority students in May and was one of 31 schools [spotlighted](https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-educations-office-civil-rights-secures-31-agreements-colleges-and-universities-end-partnerships-phd-project?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Education Department for ending participation with the PhD Project, an organization that supports underrepresented doctoral students and was being investigated by the administration for discriminating based on race. Education Secretary Linda McMahon celebrated the program closures, saying it was “the Trump effect in action.” Ripley told AZCIR the university had already decided to end its partnership with the PhD Project before the federal government began investigating. --- When the Education Department dropped its appeal in January of a federal ruling that found its guidance was largely illegal, some saw it as a “major victory” for diversity efforts in public education. Shortly after, however, the Trump administration introduced a new plan requiring federal funding recipients, including universities, to certify that they do not have diversity programs before they’re eligible for federal dollars. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes was one of 23 attorneys general who signed a [letter](https://www.njoag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026.03.27-Attorneys-General-Comment-Opposing-GSA-Information-Collection-3090-0290.final%5F.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) urging the federal government to abandon its proposal, noting it was unlawful, would “undoubtedly” create confusion and may “chill legitimate activities of funding recipients who fear punitive actions.” Trump issued another [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/addressing-dei-discrimination-by-federal-contractors/?utm%5Fsource=Iterable&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=campaign%5F17465088%5Fnl%5FDaily-Briefing%5Fdate%5F20260330) on March 26 saying federal contractors must agree to not engage in “racially discriminatory DEI activities,” and that their contracts may be terminated if compliance documentation isn’t provided. In Arizona, Republican lawmakers are again trying to ban DEI from schools. Last year, Hobbs vetoed Senate Bill 1694, which would have cut public funds from universities offering DEI courses. Speaker of the House Steve Montenegro, R-Goodyear, introduced House Concurrent Resolution 2044 this year, which would send the issue directly to voters—bypassing the governor's veto. The measure would ask Arizonans to determine whether the state’s Constitution should prohibit public entities from “preferential treatment” based on race or ethnicity, and would bar public funding for diversity offices or training. As of April 8, the resolution passed the House and was progressing through the Senate. At its most recent regular meeting in February, ABOR’s legislative update did not include the potential ballot measure, and it wasn’t discussed by members. When asked why it wasn’t introduced, Gilbertson said the board doesn’t take an official stance on every bill, but is working with the governor’s office and lawmakers on related legislation. She did not specify how. This [article](https://azcir.org/news/2026/04/09/az-universities-quietly-dismanted-dei-offerings-after-trump-threatened-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting](https://azcir.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/AZCIR_LOGO_SQUARE.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- ### Emergency crews responding to forest fire in Brunswick County URL: https://down-ballot.info/emergency-crews-responding-to-forest-fire-in-brunswick-county/ Last updated: 2026-04-09T23:46:25.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** Emergency crews are responding to an active forest fire in the area of Funston Road and Old Mill Creek in Winnabow, according to a [news release from Brunswick County. ](https://www.brunswickcountync.gov/AlertCenter.aspx?AID=Forest-Fire-Winnabow-Area-19&ref=down-ballot.info) This is an evolving event and conditions are subject to change. Brunswick County is in southeastern North Carolina and borders Pender and New Hanover counties in North Carolina. It also borders Horry County in South Carolina. ### Durham tenants form unions to fight for repairs, respect from NC landlords URL: https://down-ballot.info/durham-tenants-form-unions-to-fight-for-repairs-respect-from-nc-landlords/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T09:00:30.000Z By Greg Childress (North Carolina Newsline) Published: March 27, 2026 Residents of Willard Street Apartments and nearby Ashton Place in downtown Durham formed tenant unions Thursday to fight against what they contend are poor management and shoddy building maintenance practices. The newly formed Willard Street United and Ashton Seniors in Action tenant unions held a joint press conference to demand that their shared landlord formally recognize the unions and commit to quarterly meet-and-confer sessions. “All we’re asking for is more clear, transparent communication, and security for the ladies,” said Bill Thompson, an Ashton Place tenant. Both apartment complexes are owned by Downtown Home Improvement Corporation Inc. (DHIC), a Raleigh-based nonprofit affordable housing developer, and managed by Community Management Corporation. Yolanda Winstead, president of DHIC, said the nonprofit is “committed to open and ongoing dialogue with residents.” “We welcome opportunities to listen, learn, and work together on issues affecting the community,” Winstead said in an email to NC Newsline. “Representatives of any association that residents choose to form” are welcome to take part in residents’ meetings, she said, “as members of the tenants’ union did earlier this month.” During Thursday’s press conference, tenants from both apartment buildings shared longstanding grievances against DHIC and the buildings management company. They complained the management company is slow to make repairs, and when they do, it is usually poorly done. Cleanliness and safety are also concerns, the tenants said. “We all worked our long lives to get to where we are and to live safe and clean,” said Cynthia Hoskins, a Willard Street Apartment resident. “We shouldn’t have to worry about whether this is gonna be fixed or whether that’s gonna be fixed.” Debra Davies, an Ashton Place resident, said that if she hears management say they’ll “look into it” one more time, she’s going to scream. “It’s been a battle to get the basic things done,” Davies said. “We’re not asking for huge issues. It’s just the basics and that’s what we’re having problems with.” Davies contends shoddy maintenance contributed to her son’s death. [As NC Newsline previously reported](https://ncnewsline.com/2025/11/03/a-grieving-mother-blames-sons-death-on-shoddy-building-maintenance/?ref=down-ballot.info), Davies’ son, Jason Pulliam, died in an incident in the apartment building after suffering heart failure. An electronic door to a laundry malfunctioned, which slowed tenants’ ability to render aid, Davies contends. When emergency responders arrived, it was too late to save Pulliam. The new unions will be part of the North Carolina Tenants Union, which is a statewide union of local unions. C.R. Clark with the Triangle Tenant Union, which is also part of the state union, helped tenants organize. “They have spent years suffering mismanagement, disrepair, deterioration, mistreatment by staff and ongoing threats to their health and safety in these two publicly subsidized buildings,” Clark said. Nick MacLeod, who leads the statewide union, said the group is organizing similar unions in 15 buildings across the state. “Tenants are forming these unions to protect themselves and their families from dangerous conditions caused by landlords’ lack of repairs, dramatically rising rents and unprecedented displacement pressure,” MacLeod said. MacLeod noted that the state’s landlord-tenant laws lack basic protections. He said tenants are sometimes forced to pay rent even when living in dangerous, uninhabitable conditions, and sometimes face evictions without cause and “rent gouging” without recourse. “By working together with their neighbors and leveraging their political and economic power, tenants can win the repairs they need and the stability they and their families deserve,” MacLeod said. ### Georgia’s New Public Service Commissioner Says She Will Put Affordability and Transparency First URL: https://down-ballot.info/georgias-new-public-service-commissioner-says-she-will-put-affordability-and-transparency-first/ Last updated: 2026-04-06T09:00:50.000Z ### Alicia Johnson, the first Black woman ever elected to statewide office in Georgia, discusses rate hikes, transparency and her priorities for the Georgia Public Service Commission. By Ryan Krugman April 2, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02042026/georgia-public-service-commissioner-alicia-johnson-affordability/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* The [Georgia Public Service Commission](https://psc.ga.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) has approved six rate increases in three years and signed off on a sweeping expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, decisions that have reshaped Georgia’s energy landscape and contributed to rising electric bills for many households. Alicia Johnson, who holds a Ph.D. in business administration, hopes to chart a different course. Johnson, alongside fellow Democrat Peter Hubbard, made history in the last election cycle. The pair became the first Democrats elected to the five-member commission since 1998, and the first Democrats to win a non-federal statewide office in Georgia since 2006\. Their victories signaled a shift at one of the state’s most consequential, and often overlooked, regulatory bodies. The commission sets electricity rates, oversees utility investments and approves long-term energy plans that determine how Georgians heat, cool and light their homes and businesses. In an era of rising electric bills, rapid data center expansion and intensifying climate-fueled storms, those decisions carry increasing financial and environmental stakes. With three decades of experience in public service, Johnson campaigned on promises to prioritize affordability and transparency in her oversight of monopoly utilities like [Georgia Power](https://www.georgiapower.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), arguing that regulators must more rigorously scrutinize decisions that ultimately affect customers’ monthly bills. In a wide-ranging interview, Johnson discussed what she hoped to bring to the commission and how she plans to approach decisions that could shape Georgia’s energy future. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. RYAN KRUGMAN: You bring a diverse background and a long history of public service experience to this role. What experiences have most prepared you to serve as a commissioner, particularly in overseeing complex utility and energy decisions? ALICIA JOHNSON: I think I bring a unique perspective to the Public Service Commission. My career has been at the intersection of community development, public policy, economic inclusion strategy and health care ecosystems. I am not an engineer by trade or an energy expert by any means, but I do understand the importance of having solid public policy that is people-centered. Good public policy can set us up for a strong energy future and a legacy for our children’s children to inherit. KRUGMAN: You and Peter Hubbard secured historic victories, becoming the first Democrats to win a non-federal statewide election in nearly two decades. Why do you think voters were ready for change at the Georgia Public Service Commission? JOHNSON: One of the key elements of my campaign was educating people about the PSC and what it actually does. Prior to my campaign, I think it was a little-known regulatory body tucked away in its stone and marble building at the state capitol. People did not understand how that quasi-judicial body, making rules and overseeing utilities, was affecting their everyday lives. Once people understood how policy connects to their pocketbooks, they became thoughtfully and authentically engaged. KRUGMAN: That relates to transparency at the PSC, which consumer and energy advocates have long raised concerns about, with regard to the PSC, Georgia Power and ratepayers. Where do you see gaps in transparency, and how can the commission improve public trust in its decision-making? JOHNSON: Typically, the PSC process is engaged by utilities themselves, energy experts, intervenors and advocacy groups. What starts to happen is that regulators are centered around what they are hearing, which can reflect special interests. So it loses the voice of the people. The information must be decipherable for the average person—that’s the key. That’s the piece that is missing. One of the things I have started discussing with utilities and the PSC is making certain the information is disseminated clearly and that our sites are 508 compliant, meaning that a person who is hearing impaired, visually impaired or for whom English is a second language can easily access information. There is an entire Consumer Affairs Department at the PSC that most people don’t know exists. They don’t know they can file an inquiry or complaint about their utility. So part of it is just breaking open the box and letting people look in—and that’s one of the things I’m committed to in my first year of service. This all starts with conversations. I will be hosting forums and webinars so that people can listen in and understand what happens at the PSC, that they know there is a Consumer Affairs Division, and that there are staff who are paid by their tax dollars to serve them rather than the utilities. KRUGMAN: Affordability has become a defining political issue nationally over the past several years and was central to your campaign. What does affordability mean to you, and what specific tools does the commission have to protect ratepayers? JOHNSON**:** What is central to me, and what was central to my campaign, is the need for socio-economic resilience tied to our energy future. When we say that people are literally choosing between food and paying their power bill, it is the absolute truth. The benchmark for energy affordability is that no more than 6 percent of your income goes toward paying for energy. In Georgia, that figure is over 19 percent for some working families. For utilities and regulators in our communities not to understand the basic realities of their constituents is, to me, not only absurd—it’s abhorrent. When we talk about affordability, it is more than just “let’s help people save a few bucks.” It’s about quality of life and economic mobility. While I am an advocate for clean energy and believe that should absolutely be part of our regulatory goals, affordability and ensuring that the commission centers people was the focus of my campaign. KRUGMAN: The commission recently approved a roughly 10-gigawatt expansion of generation capacity, including about 6 gigawatts of new natural gas infrastructure—a plan you voted to reconsider. Will you factor long-term climate and environmental impacts into your votes on new generation, and are you committed to using your position to advance a transition toward cleaner energy sources? JOHNSON: Absolutely. We have to begin thinking long-term. One of the things I supported and hoped to amend in the plan was decertifying Plant McIntosh because it is one of the most inefficient in the state. We can’t continue backing gambles like this expansion on the backs of existing Georgia Power customers in hopes of attracting large-load customers like data centers down the line. The reality is that data centers are going to be here, but we have to put guardrails on how they show up in our communities. If I can’t get my fellow commissioners and state regulators to understand the environmental impacts of data centers and this expansion, then I will work with cities and counties to ensure their zoning policies put regulatory guardrails in place to protect residents from environmental and public health concerns. KRUGMAN: You are serving on a five-member commission where major decisions often split along party lines. As one of two Democrats, how do you plan to influence outcomes and build consensus on contentious votes? JOHNSON: I think the opportunity is there to build consensus. Good public policy is not red or blue policy, it is people policy. I hope our fellow commissioners saw that more than a million people came out to vote, and that 60 percent of them voted against what had been happening at the commission before my and Peter’s arrival. I will also say there is another seat up for election this year, and I have faith in the people of Georgia that we will see another strong turnout. Time will tell, but I believe the cards are aligned for change and that the change will be a lasting one. ### Federal Rural Health Funding Could Trigger Service Cuts URL: https://down-ballot.info/federal-rural-health-funding-could-trigger-service-cuts/ Last updated: 2026-04-03T09:00:57.000Z **It's Friday, April 3, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Federal Rural Health Funding Could Trigger Service Cuts**,** Worcester’s ‘A Better Life’ housing program helps break generational poverty by promoting self-sufficiency, He won a landmark birthright citizenship case at the US Supreme Court. El Paso tried to deport him anyway, Lawmakers revive ice storm relief after governor’s veto, Who will care for Arivaca when its only doctor retires?, A Driftless area church becomes a multigenerational community hub, Clean water was a top issue for McDowell County voters in 2024\. They’re still waiting for elected officials to help, Study finds public water utilities face mounting financial strain. **Media outlets and others featured:** KFF Health News, CommonWealth Beacon, El Paso Matters, Mississippi Today, Cronkite News, Wisconsin Watch, Mountain State Spotlight, North Carolina Health News. --- # Give and Take: Federal Rural Health Funding Could Trigger Service Cuts Aaron Bolton, MTPR and Arielle Zionts March 27, 2026 BIG SANDY, Mont. — The emergency department at Big Sandy Medical Center is one room with a single curtain between two beds. It’s one of the many parts of the 25-bed rural hospital that need updating, former CEO Ron Wiens said. He said the hospital, an essential service in its namesake town of nearly 800 residents in the state’s sprawling north-central high plains, needs at least $1 million for deferred maintenance, including a failing HVAC system. But the facility has struggled to make payroll each month and can’t afford to make all the fixes, Wiens said. Built by farmers and ranchers in 1965, Big Sandy Medical Center began with nine beds. Today, a similar community effort — donations and grants to plug financial holes each year — keeps it afloat. Wiens, who recently left his position at the hospital, said he wishes Big Sandy could get funding from Montana’s share of the $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation Program to renovate the hospital and direct payments to help secure its future. The state received more than $233 million in its first-year award. But the hospital may not get the kind of help he sought. That’s because the [five-year program](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/tracking-applications-for-rural-health-transformation-funds/?ref=down-ballot.info) focuses on new, creative ways to improve access to rural health care, not on directly funding services and renovations. And Montana is one of at least 10 states whose leaders say projects launched under the federal program could lead rural hospitals to cut services so they can continue to afford to offer emergency and other essential care. ![A man in a blue button-down shirt stands in a hospital hallway.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/RHT-04-resized.jpg) Ron Wiens, former CEO of Big Sandy Medical Center, worries Montana’s plan for its Rural Health Transformation Program funding will lead to cuts at such facilities. Part of the state’s plan for the money says it will pay rural hospitals for “right-sizing” certain inpatient services. (Aaron Bolton/MTPR) Congressional Republicans created the fund as a last-minute sweetener to their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last summer. The funding was intended to offset disproportionate fallout anticipated in rural communities from the law, which is expected to slash Medicaid spending [by nearly $1 trillion over 10 years](https://www.kff.org/medicaid/allocating-cbos-estimates-of-federal-medicaid-spending-reductions-across-the-states-enacted-reconciliation-package/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Montana’s application](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26303194-montana-narrative/?ref=down-ballot.info) includes programs to make it easier for rural residents to get medical care and live a healthy lifestyle. For example, it says funding can be used to start community gardens, train paramedics to make home visits, open school-based clinics, or bring mobile clinics to rural areas. [The application also says](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26303194-montana-narrative/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p24) rural Montana hospitals can receive payments for implementing recommendations, “including right-sizing select inpatient services” to match demand. In some cases, it says, right-sizing might mean “downsizing.” The state says hospitals will have input and recommendations will be specific to each facility. “That’s what has all the hospitals on pins and needles, words like restructuring, reducing inpatient beds. Everybody is going, ‘What is this going to look like?’” Wiens said. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services declined to answer questions about how it will carry out its right-sizing efforts. **A Lifeline of Care** Big Sandy cattle rancher Shane Chauvet doesn’t want any services cut. He credits Big Sandy Medical Center with saving his life after a flying piece of metal nearly cut off his arm during a windstorm a few years back. “I looked over, saw it coming, and whack!” Chauvet recalled. His wife drove him to the hospital, where they frantically pounded on the ER door while Chauvet’s blood pooled on the ground. Because of the storm, staffers worked on Chauvet with no power and no ability to summon a helicopter. He was then taken by ambulance 80 miles through intense rain and hail to a larger hospital. Chauvet understands the state’s plan doesn’t call for eliminating emergency care, but he worries that reducing other services would set off a downward spiral for the hospital and his town. ![A photo of a man and woman leaning by a fence behind it is a field covered in snow. A few black cows are seen behind the fence.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/RHT-01-resized.jpg) Erica and Shane Chauvet’s ranch overlooks the small town of Big Sandy, Montana. Shane Chauvet credits the local hospital with saving his life after an accident. He says he used to think of the hospital as a luxury for such a small town but now considers the facility essential to the community. (Aaron Bolton/MTPR) In Oklahoma, realigning clinical services could mean “shutting down service lines,” [according to its application](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26460237-oklahoma-narrative/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p80) to the federal program. And in Wyoming, any facility that receives funding must agree to “reduce unprofitable, duplicative or nonessential service lines,” [according to its rural health law](https://www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2026/HB0122?ref=down-ballot.info). Monique McBride, business operations administrator at the Wyoming Department of Health, said the department interprets right-sizing as helping rural hospitals provide essential services — such as emergency departments, ambulance services, and labor and delivery units — while maintaining long-term, financial stability. “This might involve limiting some elective procedures that could be done at lower cost in higher-volume facilities. The main distinction here is time-sensitive emergencies vs. ‘shoppable’ services,” she said. **A New Lease on Life?** Seven of the 10 states — Nebraska, North Dakota, Tennessee, Kansas, Nevada, South Carolina, and Washington — where rural hospital service cuts are on the table say they’ll help pay for hospitals to convert to Rural Emergency Hospitals. The recently created federal designation requires hospitals to halt inpatient services and offers enhanced payments to help them maintain emergency and outpatient care. At least 15 additional states wrote that they’ll use the federal funding to right-size, evaluate, or adjust services — which could mean adding or taking away services, or transitioning them to a telehealth or outpatient setting. Brock Slabach, chief operations officer of the National Rural Health Association, said, “There’s a proper concern from rural hospital administrators that this funding is not going to where it was intended.” He said cutting services that lose money could backfire in the long run. For example, he said, halting labor and delivery care might drive more people out of small towns, further reducing hospitals’ patient numbers and revenue. The type of hospital services that states will assess matters, said Tony Shih, a senior adviser at the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit focused on making health care more equitable. “If the end result is that high-margin services are taken away from local hospitals with nothing given back in return, it can be financially harmful,” he said. Shih noted that states’ plans to add more outpatient care could prove beneficial for patients. It’ll take time to know which states help stabilize rural hospitals, he said. Rural hospital leaders say they know which changes would keep their facilities open and that states shouldn’t suggest or mandate service cuts and other changes on their behalf. ![A snow-covered street in a rural town with shops lining it. A few cars are parked in front of the businesses.](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/RHT-03-resized.jpg) Big Sandy, in north-central Montana and home to nearly 800 people, is an isolated farming and ranching community about 80 miles from the nearest major town. (Aaron Bolton/MTPR) Josh Hannes, who oversees rural health policy at the Colorado Hospital Association, said “top-down” directives won’t work. He said the association’s members believe they can find efficiencies and are eager to collaborate. But “a state agency shouldn’t be making those determinations,” he said. Hannes said members are worried Colorado’s plan to classify rural health facilities as a “hub, spoke, or telehealth node” will compel service reductions. The classification will help determine “which services are sustainable locally and which are best provided regionally or through telehealth,” [according to its program application](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26303234-colorado-narrative/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p21). Spokespeople for the Colorado and Oklahoma health departments said no facility will be forced to end services. But Oklahoma spokesperson Rachel Klein said some facilities might choose to do so as part of a broader effort to make sure they’re meeting community needs while remaining financially stable. “A hospital might shift certain services to a nearby regional provider with higher patient volume and specialized staff while expanding other local services,” such as primary, outpatient, or community-based care, she said. Wiens and Darrell Messersmith, CEO of Dahl Memorial Hospital in the southeastern Montana town of Ekalaka, said they worry the only way hospitals will get their share of funding is to cut services or become Rural Emergency Hospitals that don’t offer inpatient services. “I would hate to see things shift toward a pack-and-ship facility,” Messersmith said. “Right now, we function quite well as an inpatient facility.” Not all Montana health leaders are worried. Ed Buttrey, president and CEO of the Montana Hospital Association, said he thinks his state’s plan could help rural hospitals become financially sustainable and survive Medicaid cuts. Buttrey is also a Republican state lawmaker. Chauvet, the Big Sandy rancher, said his perspective on whether remote towns like his should have a hospital is forever changed because of his accident. “I always would say, ‘Oh, they’re nice to have,’ but now I look at the hospital and say, ‘That’s essential to our community,’” he said. ### USE OUR CONTENT This story can be republished for free ([details](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/listen-to-the-latest-kff-health-news-minute-2026/view/republish/?ref=down-ballot.info)). [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [Subscribe](https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/?ref=down-ballot.info) to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. This [article](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/rural-emergency-hospitals-montana-rightsize-downsize-services-transformation-fund/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150) ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=2172028&ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0) --- # Worcester’s ‘A Better Life’ housing program helps break generational poverty by promoting self-sufficiency by Hallie Claflin, CommonWealth Beacon March 31, 2026 **WHEN MELISSA SANTIAGO** lost her apartment and became homeless in 2020, she was a 22-year-old single mom to a five-year-old and a newborn. She and her daughters moved into a shelter in Holyoke where they stayed for nearly two years. Santiago grew up with a single mom in an unstable household and helped raise her other siblings. When she became homeless, she felt as though history was repeating itself. “It took a big toll on me, because I felt like I was following in my mom's footsteps, and my kids are going to feel the way I felt having to be the head of the household,” she said. “I felt horrible.” It’s a far cry from where the 28-year-old is today. No longer homeless, Santiago is in her third semester of college working toward a degree in early education. She recently made the dean's list. On top of being a full-time student and working 14 hours a week, she is just a few steps away from being licensed to operate her own in-home daycare. She now has thousands tucked away in a savings account and has boosted her credit score to 744\. Her next goal is to buy a home for her family. She says it’s all thanks to a Worcester Housing Authority (WHA) program that has allowed her to live “a better life.” The A Better Life (ABL) program launched in 2015 for families in state-subsidized public housing. The unique program requires residents to work, attend school, or participate in community service for 30 hours each week. The roughly 250 participating families receive intensive case management services and are required to complete life skills, job training, and financial literacy classes. Each participant must raise their credit score to a minimum of 650 to graduate. Each ABL participant is also incentivized to save up to $15,000 through an escrow account – an interest-bearing account established by the WHA on behalf of the resident. Deposits are tied to each family’s rent payment and increase when a resident’s income goes up. The head of the household cannot touch the funds and will only receive the savings when they have graduated from the ABL program. The intention is to motivate residents to reach independence as quickly as possible while freeing up housing slots for other families who remain on extensive wait lists amid a severe shortage of affordable housing units. But there is no time limit for residents completing the ABL program. “We measure our success by how many families are able to move out,” Worcester Housing Authority CEO Alex Corrales said. For over a decade, the program has been widely successful in helping residents reach self-sufficiency. Now, it has piqued the interest of Trump administration officials who are reshaping public housing policy across the nation. Corrales takes what he considers to be a fairly unique approach to public housing: tough love. Since his appointment to the second largest housing authority in New England in 2016, he has championed the agency’s self-sufficiency initiatives. An immigrant from Costa Rica, Corrales grew up in public housing. “One of my biggest pet peeves is when I see good people pity our residents, so then they don't challenge them. When you pity someone, I almost feel like you're saying, ‘I don't think they have what it takes to overcome that,’” he said. “There's a different element that I bring to the job because I've seen both sides of the coin.” Massachusetts is one of only four states that operates its own state-funded public housing system, separate from federal programs administered by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Local housing authorities like the WHA administer both state and federal housing programs. During a January visit to the WHA, Corrales’ tough-love approach caught the attention of Michael Banks, HUD’s New England regional administrator. Soon after, Corrales was asked to meet with Benjamin Hobbs, the assistant secretary for Public and Indian Housing, to discuss the ABL program ahead of HUD’s proposed shifts in federal housing policy. “He wanted to learn more about the ABL program, success stories, and how we implemented the work-school requirements,” Corrales said. At the end of February, HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced a long-awaited proposed rule that encourages, but does not require, all public housing authorities and private property owners who rent to people using a Section 8 housing voucher to implement a work requirement of up to 40 hours per week and time limits of at least two years for non-disabled, non-elderly adults in federally-funded housing. The decision to impose the new restrictions will be up to local housing authorities and property owners. If they do implement the policies, they will be required to provide supportive services, although HUD did not state that it will provide funding for those services. “Work, not a welfare check, is the pathway to opportunity, stability, and the achievement of the American Dream,” Hobbs said in a February [press release](https://www.hud.gov/news/hud-no-26-018?ref=down-ballot.info). “Today’s proposed rule will change lives, empower families, and set generations on a new upward trajectory.” Corrales said HUD’s decision to make the time limits and work requirements optional instead of mandatory could have been influenced by what officials like Hobbs heard from him and other housing authorities. “That leads me to believe they’ve taken into account some of the information they're getting from the industry regarding what works and what maybe is not working,” he said. “The discretionary option to implement this work requirement I think was a big step in that regard. It gives local control to the housing authorities.” In a statement provided to *CommonWealth Beacon*, Hobbs said ABL "has had remarkable results and demonstrates how work requirements can put residents on a path to self-sufficiency." "These successes are exactly what Secretary Turner and I hope to see expanded to federal public housing residents with HUD’s recently proposed rule giving all public housing authorities – for the first time ever – the ability to implement reasonable work requirements or time limits," he said. Since the start of his second term, the Trump administration has sought to make significant changes to federal rental assistance programs like Section 8, calling the current system "dysfunctional.” In last year’s [White House budget plan](https://www.npr.org/2025/05/02/nx-s1-5374077/trump-budget-housing-rental-aid-hud-homelessness-funding?ref=down-ballot.info), Trump proposed cutting rental aid by 40 percent and sending those funds to each state "to design their own rental assistance programs based on their unique needs and preferences.” He also proposed imposing a two-year time limit on rental assistance for able-bodied adults. The proposal was ultimately rejected by Congress. Last year, Secretary Turner and other members of the Trump administration wrote a [New York Times opinion piece](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/opinion/trump-welfare-medicaid-requirements.html?ref=down-ballot.info) calling on Congress to impose work requirements across multiple safety net programs, stating that federal spending dedicated to able-bodied, working-age adults “distracts from what should be the focus of these programs: the truly needy.” Public housing authorities across the country have rarely adopted work requirements and time limits for their federal housing programs, in part due to a lack of capacity to administer or enforce them. Around half of Section 8 and public housing households across the United States were [work-able](https://www.localhousingsolutions.org/policy-insights/policy-insights-work-requirements-and-time-limits-in-federal-housing-assistance/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Work%2Dable%3A%20The%20household%20head%2C%20co%2Dhead%2C%20or%20spouse%20was%20aged%2018%2D61%20and%20not%20disabled%20or%20there%20were%20other%20adults%20aged%2018%2D61%20in%20the%20household%20and%20the%20household%20earned%20wage%20income%20%28suggesting%20at%20least%20one%20of%20these%20other%20adult%20members%20was%20work%2Dable%29.) in 2024, according to a [research brief](https://www.localhousingsolutions.org/policy-insights/policy-insights-work-requirements-and-time-limits-in-federal-housing-assistance/?ref=down-ballot.info) published in 2025 by the Housing Solutions Lab, a housing policy research group affiliated with New York University. Of those work-able households, over half earned wage income in 2024, suggesting many would already satisfy work requirements if they were imposed. Approximately two-thirds of work-able households across those programs were families with children, and work-able households that did not earn wage income were mostly people with children. Nearly 70 percent of Section 8 and public housing households that were work-able and received HUD assistance at the end of 2024 had been in the program for longer than two years. Imposing a two-year time limit would likely generate a significant administrative burden for housing authorities who would have to evict these residents and select new ones to take their place. “It is challenging to design and implement time limits in a way that supports economic mobility and gives public housing authorities confidence they are not discharging households only for them to again face unsustainable rent burdens and housing instability,” the 2025 research brief [notes](https://www.localhousingsolutions.org/policy-insights/policy-insights-work-requirements-and-time-limits-in-federal-housing-assistance/?ref=down-ballot.info). When it comes to public housing, Corrales is not a fan of time limits. “I want to do what I think is best to help our residents reach self-sufficiency. But I don't believe forcing people to do something and then having an expiration date on it is the answer,” he said. “Yes, with the ABL program we have the work-school requirement, but there is a heavy, heavy, heavy dose of resources attached to that. That's what I want to see on the federal side.” Since the start of ABL, Corrales said they have seen a significant increase in the number of families that are able to leave public housing, either to go into the private rental market or to buy their own home. Before the ABL program, the WHA saw an average of just one resident that would buy a home each year after exiting public housing. The program has helped increase that number to around nine new homeowners every year. According to Corrales, 93 percent of all WHA households are led by single moms. Some families don’t speak English, others start the program with little job experience to add to their resume, and some, like Santiago, experience health setbacks. “Our families are very unique. They're very different, and some will complete the program in two or three years. Others may take longer, but they all see success in some shape or form,” Corrales said. Santiago, who entered the program in 2022 and has yet to graduate from ABL, recently had surgery after receiving a thyroid cancer diagnosis. Because she had housing to fall back on, she was able to manage the appointments, procedures, and recovery without losing her apartment. “If there was a time limit, I would probably be homeless again right now,” Santiago said. “I neglected my health for so long, and I needed time to get myself in check. … Of course I want to leave. If I could leave right now, I would, but I know I'm not there yet.” When ABL first started, the average length of time WHA residents spent in housing across all of the authority’s programs was close to 17 years. That number has been reduced to an average of 11 years for those in ABL. “We know some families may never be able to move out, but since our focus is on the entire family, we want to ensure that the children receive the best education possible so they can break the cycle and not reside in public housing once they are adults,” Corrales said. Leika Cherubin, a 30-year-old graduate of the ABL program who has since purchased her own home in Southbridge, said a time limit would have made her feel like a number, not an individual. “My biggest fear was being a stereotype. ‘Oh, she's a young minority who is just trying to take advantage of the government and just wants handouts,’” she said. “No. I wanted to work hard. I wanted to be self-sufficient. I just needed help.” Public housing has never been particularly popular, and has long faced fierce political attacks, local opposition, and limited federal funding. “A lot of people in public housing get the bad rep,” Santiago said, adding that she often avoids giving out her address because of it. In addition to the 250 families that are currently participating in the ABL program, another 250 are part of WHA’s other [self-sufficiency program](https://worcesterha.org/fss-page/?ref=down-ballot.info) available to residents of federal public housing and Section 8 voucher holders. The wait list for ABL is years. “We're barely scratching the surface. There are 36,000 people on my waitlist, and it's moving very slowly. I only have 3,000 public housing units, so I'd have to move everybody out 12 times before I get to my 36,000 folks,” Corrales said. Nevaeha Vazquez entered the ABL program in 2021 as an 18-year-old single mother. Prior to the program, she had been couch-surfing and living in a shelter with her infant daughter. During her time in ABL, she enrolled in school and successfully earned her practical nursing degree. She recently graduated from the program and transitioned to the private rental market. “I can't even imagine having to pay market rent while being in school and worrying about my child,” Vazquez said. Through financial literacy classes, program coaching, and debt management guidance, the now 23-year-old increased her credit score from 514 to 651, significantly reduced her loan debt, and reached the program’s maximum escrow savings of $15,000\. ABL also offers domestic violence classes and workshops to residents like Vazquez who was previously in an abusive relationship. While residents attend their required classes and workshops, ABL staff offer child supervision and meals. Without the ABL program, Santiago said she probably would have chosen work over school in order to pay rent. “This program is great because it lights a fire under you,” Santiago said. “I didn't have anyone to guide me. I had to help my mom raise my siblings, so I had to grow up too fast. What my mom didn't teach me, I'm getting taught here – credit, the importance of saving, and the good stuff that sets you up for success.” But that doesn’t mean she is eager to stay. “There are people who need help, and that's why I want to leave this program,” she said. “Just like I needed it, there's somebody else that needs it too.” During her time in the program, Cherubin, a Haitian immigrant, founded a nonprofit organization supporting the local Haitian community. The ABL program helped her build up a savings account, raise her credit score to 737, and pay off her car loan. She also attended Anna Maria College where she earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing. “There is no way I would have been able to complete my bachelor's if I didn't have the support of ABL,” she said. Prior to joining the program in 2021, Cherubin was a single mom who was couch-surfing with her young daughter while working as a certified nursing assistant. “It was one of the worst feelings ever. This is the life that I'm going to give my kid? This is it?” Cherubin said. “ABL is helping us break those generational barriers.” When she received the keys to her first apartment at the start of the program, Cherubin said she cried. Now, she is a homeowner. “For a lot of us, our dream is to have this backyard and have our babies play in it while we wash the dishes or something. To have a home where they feel safe,” Cherubin said. “Without ABL, I probably would have given up on that dream.” *Update, April 1: This story has been updated to include* *a statement from Benjamin Hobbs, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's assistant secretary for Public and Indian Housing.* This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/housing/worcesters-a-better-life-housing-program-helps-break-generational-poverty-by-promoting-self-sufficiency/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=313828&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) --- # He won a landmark birthright citizenship case at the US Supreme Court. El Paso tried to deport him anyway by Robert Moore, El Paso Matters July 4, 2022 In 1901, a cook named Wong Kim Ark crossed from Juárez to El Paso with a unique distinction. He was perhaps the only person in the world who had a U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring him by name to be a citizen of the United States. That didn’t prevent an El Paso immigration official from arresting him and beginning deportation proceedings. On Oct. 29, 1901, Charles Mehan, a “Chinese inspector” in El Paso, arrested Wong on the grounds that he was in the United States in violation of an 1882 law called the Chinese Exclusion Act. It took four months for Wong to win a ruling – again – that he was a U.S. citizen and couldn’t be deported. That verdict in El Paso came almost four years after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark case, had settled the issue of citizenship for Wong and other children born to immigrants in the United States. Wong’s landmark legal case is well known among legal scholars, but his run-in with El Paso immigration authorities after the Supreme Court ruling was lost to history until scholar Amanda Frost discovered the records in the National Archives and [wrote about it in 2021](https://theamericanscholar.org/birthright-citizens-and-paper-sons/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Amanda-Frost-283x300.jpg) Amanda Frost Frost, a law professor at American University in Washington, D.C., said the immigration enforcement system that targeted Wong more than 120 years ago was a precursor to what the United States has today. “The Chinese Exclusion Act created a bureaucracy that then needed to justify itself, and that grew exponentially. Once the government started excluding people, it needed to decide who was eligible. That meant it needed to interview witnesses, review documents, etc. That required translators, officials, commissioners, etc. And in turn it required building detention facilities to hold all the immigrants waiting to enter,” she said. “All that bureaucracy generated more paperwork, more scrutiny of immigrants, and the need for more and more officials and more government funds to pay for it all.” In El Paso, Wong would be a target of that policy. --- ### [Keep up with the latest El Paso news. Click here to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter.](https://elpasomatters.org/subscribe/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- #### **A historic case** The 1898 Supreme Court ruling in [United States v. Wong Kim Ark](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/169/649?ref=down-ballot.info) established that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted “birthright citizenship” to most people who were born in the United States. As president, Donald Trump occasionally threatened to [revoke birthright citizenship](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-trump/trump-says-he-is-seriously-looking-at-ending-birthright-citizenship-idUSKCN1VB21B?ref=down-ballot.info), but legal scholars said the Wong ruling prevented that. The 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil War in 1868 to clarify that the country’s formerly enslaved people were citizens and had legal protections. It said: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Wong-Kim-Ark-departure-statement-e1655909910990.jpg) Wong Kim Ark filled out this form in 1894 to alert the U.S. government that he was traveling to China and planned to return. Three white men signed the document to attest that he was born in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of National Archives) In 1882, Congress passed the [Chinese Exclusion Act](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/chinese-exclusion-act?ref=down-ballot.info), the first significant federal law restricting immigration into the United States. The law, which remained largely in effect until 1943, barred most Chinese people from coming to the United States, and prohibited them from becoming naturalized citizens. “The Chinese Exclusion Act was really the birth of our modern-day immigration system,” said Frost, the author of a 2021 book, “You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers.” Wong Kim Ark was born in San Francisco around 1870 to parents who had emigrated from China. Like many children of immigrants, he maintained contact with his ancestral land while trying to make a life in the United States, a country that was often hostile to his existence. During his working life, he sent part of his earnings back to relatives in China. Wong traveled several times to China during his life. Biographers have found that his parents took him back to China when he was about 8, and they never returned. He came back to the United States with an uncle around age 11 and immediately went to work as a cook in California. U.S. laws and customs forbid Wong from marrying women not of Chinese descent. He returned to his parents’ village of Ong Sing in 1889 and married a woman named Yee Shee and they conceived their first child. He returned to San Francisco in July 1890, leaving his family behind in China. Wong also returned to San Francisco from a nine-month trip to China in August 1895, again leaving his family behind. Although he had been allowed to return to the United States twice previously, this time he was detained by U.S. immigration agents looking for a court test of whether the 14th Amendment granted birthright citizenship. The case made its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled 6-2 in March 1898 that Wong and other children born to immigrant parents in the United States were citizens. It is one of the most impactful Supreme Court opinions in history. --- ### [Our reporting is made possible by donations from readers. Click here to support El Paso Matters' work today.](https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org%5Fid=elpasomatters&%5Fgl=1%2A14ng7t8%2A%5Fga%2AMTU5NTA5MjU2MC4xNjAxMjMzOTAz%2A%5Fga%5FK5MC2GE61R%2AMTY1Njk0NTU0Mi40MS4wLjE2NTY5NDU1NDIuMA..&%5Fga=2.92109786.1170063499.1656945543-1595092560.1601233903&ref=down-ballot.info) --- #### **Wong Kim Ark in El Paso** In October 1901, three years after having his citizenship confirmed by the Supreme Court, Wong Kim Ark came to the El Paso border through Juárez. It’s not clear why he went to Mexico, but both sides of the border relied on Chinese labor and merchants as former frontier communities grew rapidly after the arrival of railroads in the late 19th century. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Chinese-sign-768x1024.jpg) A historical marker near San Jacinto Plaza gives a brief description of the history of Chinese immigration in El Paso. (Robert Moore/El Paso Matters) The 1900 census listed [336 people of Chinese descent](https://www.unm.edu/~toh/china/el-paso.html?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Based%20on%20Census%20records%2C%20the,other%20Chinese%20in%20other%20cities.) among El Paso’s population of 24,886\. Almost all were men, mostly in service occupations such as laundry and restaurant work, though some were listed as physicians. Most of the people of Chinese descent in the 1900 census in El Paso listed their date of arrival in the United States before the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. El Paso had begun to boom after the arrival of railroads in 1881, when the city had about 2,000 residents. Frost said Chinese laborers performed jobs such as cooking and laundry that were traditionally done by women, who were often rare in frontier towns. Northern Mexico also had a [sizable Chinese immigrant population at the turn of the 20th century](https://parentseyes.arizona.edu/node/394?ref=down-ballot.info). Wong’s plans to cross from Juárez to El Paso – and his role in a historic Supreme Court case – were noted by the El Paso Times on Oct. 29, 1901. “Wong Kim Ark, the Celestial who the United States supreme court decreed was a citizen of the United States and not a subject of the Boxer land, and who has been temporarily residing in Juárez awaiting an opportunity to enter the country again legally, will doubtless have his case adjusted in a few days,” the paper said in a story on Page 3\. (The Celestial Empire and Boxers were terms used by American media to refer to China and its people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.) Wong was initially rejected in his efforts to return from Mexico, the Times report said. “Evidence has arrived, however, to show that the Celestial in Juárez and Wong Kim Ark whose citizenship was passed upon in (1898) are one and the same. In that event, and the federal decision being still in force, his admittance will be beyond question.” The same day the Times story was published, Wong was arrested by Charles Mehan, the man responsible for enforcing the Chinese Exclusion Act in El Paso. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Wong-DN2-658x1024.jpg) The El Paso federal court document charging Wong Kim Ark with being in the United States illegally. (Courtesy of Debbie Nathan, an El Paso-based writer working on a graphic novel about the history of U.S. immigration policy, with Anya Ulinich and other artists.) #### **Winning his freedom – again** The Times story indicates that Wong’s status as a U.S. citizen was known in El Paso at the time of his arrest by Mehan. But the charging document doesn’t mention the Supreme Court case, and refers to Wong as “a Chinese person.” ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/R.F.-Campbell-234x300.jpg) R.F. Campbell. (Photo courtesy of Digie El Paso) Many people arrested by Chinese inspectors were locked up until being deported. Records in the National Archive show that Wong was freed on a $300 bond – the equivalent of more than $10,000 today. The bond was guaranteed by Mar Chew, who is listed as a restaurant owner in city directories, and R.F. Campbell, El Paso’s mayor from 1895-97 who was then serving as the city’s postmaster, a powerful political position, records show. The connection of the two men to Wong isn’t stated in the records maintained in the National Archives. On Feb. 18, 1902, Wong’s potential deportation was dismissed by W.D. Howe, a federal commissioner for the Western District of Texas, at the request of federal prosecutors. Howe wrote that “examination into this cause leads the officers charged with the enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Acts to believe that this defendant Wong Kim Ark is the same Wong Kim Ark who was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, on March 28, 1898, to be a citizen of the United States of America, born in San Francisco, California.” ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Howe-ruling-990x1024.jpg) The El Paso ruling freeing Wong Kim Ark from possible deportation. (National Archive photo courtesy of Amanda Frost) #### **Life after El Paso** It’s unknown how long Wong stayed in El Paso. A person named Wong Kim Ark is listed in a 1903 city directory living in a boarding house at 225 S. Oregon St. His occupation is given as a cook, the same occupation for Wong in the Supreme Court ruling and other documents. South Oregon Street at the turn of the 20th century was the heart of El Paso’s small Chinatown, full of boarding houses, restaurants and other businesses catering primarily to Chinese immigrant workers. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/South-Oregon-Street-1024x517.jpg) The 200 block of South Oregon Street formed the heart of El Paso's Chinese community at the turn of the century. Wong Kim Ark lived in a boarding house on this street. (Robert Moore/El Paso Matters) In October 1905, Wong returned to San Francisco from another trip to China, his first since the Supreme Court case seven years earlier, records show. Frost, the American University law professor, found records that Wong later attempted to bring several of his sons from China to the United States. His eldest son, Wong Yook Fun, arrived in San Francisco in 1910, but was soon departed when immigration officials ruled that they hadn’t proved they were related. Frost said the records indicate they actually were father and son. The eldest son never returned to the United States. Wong Yook Sue arrived in the United States in 1924, stating that he was the third son of Wong Kim Ark, a U.S. citizen, and entitled to admission. He was initially denied entry but successfully appealed and was allowed to stay. Two other sons were admitted to the United States in the next two years. In her research, Frost discovered that Wong Yook Sue admitted in 1960 that he had falsely claimed to be the son of Wong Kim Ark so he could enter the United States. He was among the thousands of “paper sons,” Chinese immigrants who falsely claimed to be the child of U.S. citizens in order to enter the country. Wong Yook Sue made the admission through the Chinese Confession Program, which the United States conducted in the 1950s and ’60s to normalize the immigration status of Chinese people who entered the country fraudulently. The program was created from a fear that China’s Communist government might try to plant spies in the United States. The “paper sons” program was an example of fraud that has long plagued a racist and often corrupt U.S. immigration system, Frost said. “Our immigration system seems to be its own worst enemy because it creates this enormous bureaucracy that is self-defeating,” she said. #### **Lessons for today** Wong Kim Ark [returned to China in 1931,](https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/when-american-born-wong-kim-ark-was-turned-back-from-us-after-visiting-china-he-sued-and-won/2497903/?ref=down-ballot.info) filing a document indicating that he would come back to the United States. He never did. It’s not clear when he died. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/wong-Kim-Ark-1930s_Page_2-1024x573.jpg) Wong Kim Ark filed this notice with immigration officials in 1931 that he was traveling to China but planned to come back to the United States. He never returned. (Courtesy of National Archives) His legacy lives on. Wong Kim Ark’s legal battle ensured that all children born in the United States to immigrants would be citizens. That birthright citizenship protection has paved the future for tens of millions of people born to immigrant parents. But attempts continue to reverse more than 120 years of settled law. The [Texas Republican Party 2022 platform](https://texasgop.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/6-Permanent-Platform-Committee-FINAL-REPORT-6-16-2022.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) approved June 16 calls for a constitutional amendment to “support a change to the 14th Amendment to eliminate ‘birth tourism’ or anchor babies by granting citizenship only to those with at least one biological parent who is a US citizen.” Frost said the alarmist and racist language used to describe Chinese immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries is similar to language used today concerning immigrants from Latin America, Africa and other areas. She said the impact of Chinese immigrants and their descendants should give pause to denunciations of those seeking to immigrate today. “Does the U.S. regret the presence of Chinese immigrants today, even the fraudulent ‘paper sons?’ Of course not – they are the ‘model minority’ who worked hard and succeeded,” she said. “And in doing so helped build the United States. We should view would-be immigrants today as an asset for our country, not people to be feared and barred.” This [article](https://elpasomatters.org/2022/07/04/wong-kim-ark-vs-united-states-history-immigration-supreme-court/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [El Paso Matters](https://elpasomatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Lawmakers revive ice storm relief after governor’s veto by Taylor Vance, Mississippi Today March 26, 2026 After Gov. Tate Reeves vetoed a bill that attempted to provide low-interest loans to local governments impacted by Winter Storm Fern, lawmakers on Wednesday night revived the program in another piece of legislation. House and Senate leaders introduced the loan program in a compromise plan, called a “conference report,” [in a separate bill.](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/HB/HB1646.xml?ref=down-ballot.info) The House and Senate unanimously approved the plan on Thursday morning, and it will head back to Reeves for consideration. Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican from Gulfport, said on the Senate floor that the new plan is a compromise with Reeves and addresses the concerns the governor had with the prior proposal that was vetoed. “Our neighbors in North Mississippi have suffered too much devastation, and we must provide financial relief as quickly as possible,” Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said in a statement. “This conference report is a second attempt to support our cities and counties. We will pass it out of the Senate.” Under the plan Reeves vetoed, local governments would have been able to borrow money from the state at a 1% a year interest rate that would kick in after the federal government sends relief money. Under the new plan introduced Wednesday, lawmakers changed it to a 3% annual interest rate after reimbursement from the federal government arrives. It’s unclear why legislative leaders raised the annual interest rate from their initial 1% proposal to 3%. But it may be an attempt to avoid Reeves vetoing the program a second time. In his veto message on the first proposal, the governor claimed he had negotiated a 1% monthly loan rate with legislators, which would have totaled 12% annually. But legislative leaders last week said including the word “monthly” in the plan was a mistake and agreed to remove it. [READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves vetoes winter storm aid bill and levels false claim of criminal act at Senate staff](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/24/reeves-veto-storm-aid-loan-criminal/?ref=down-ballot.info) Reeves also falsely accused Senate staffers of removing language in an unconstitutional and potentially criminal fashion. Senate leaders on Wednesday rejected those allegations and said it was reckless for the governor to have done so. Sen. Tyler McCaughn, a Republican from Newton, told Mississippi Today on Wednesday evening that lawmakers were exploring different ways to revive the loan program after the governor vetoed it. McCaughn said he favored reviving the program in another bill because it would be the quickest and most efficient way to get relief money to cities and counties that desperately need it. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/26/storm-relief-veto-governor-revive/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1172993&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Mardi Gras clean-up workers paid late once again, in violation of state and federal law by Madhri Yehiya, Verite News New Orleans March 26, 2026 Edwin Rivera slept on the street for days to make it to his early-morning shifts on time. Rivera, who is unhoused and recently arrived in New Orleans, worked 60 hours for the city as a clean-up worker during last month’s Mardi Gras parades. The temporary positions are first-come, first-serve, forcing hired workers to arrive early and wait in line for hours each day for a chance to work. “I slept out on the street. I slept at a bus stop and I slept at the Winn Dixie plaza at the end of Tchoupitoulas,” he said. “I woke up early just to get in line.” Weeks after the clean-up, however, Rivera still had not received his paycheck for nearly $1000\. He said it was hard to take care of himself — especially because many shelters have limited weekend hours — so he relied on charity while waiting for the money. “I never experienced working for a place and getting paid 30 days later,” he told Verite News. “But I can fast for three days, so I don't have to eat. As long as I get water or something, I'll be good.” Every carnival season, the city of New Orleans contracts hundreds of short-term workers to clean-up the streets following each major parade. Workers pick up thousands of pounds of throws, food, drinks and other trash. Some workers are full-time staff at the Department of Sanitation, but most work as contractors through the city’s workforce development office JOB1, which is responsible for payment. In a letter to JOB1, the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, a labor rights and economic empowerment organization that has been advocating for [better work conditions](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/13/mardi-gras-clean-up-workers-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) for workers who clean up after Mardi Gras parades, claimed that the city did not give definitive pay dates to its temporary employees. The Workers’ Center also claimed that JOB1 staff told workers they would be paid as early as the first week of March and as late as the first week of April. ![A clean-up crew worker during Mardi Gras 2024.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/12165412/IMG_4294.jpg) A clean-up crew worker during Mardi Gras 2024. Federal law under the [Fair Labor Standards Act](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa?ref=down-ballot.info) requires timely payment of wages. Under Louisiana state law, employers must tell employees when and how much they will be paid at the time of hiring, and employees must be paid within 15 days of their last day or before their next regular payday, whichever comes first. Clean-up workers checks were finally made available for pick-up on March 10, three weeks after Mardi Gras. For workers who only participated in clean-up efforts earlier in carnival season, such as in the first week of February, payment was received nearly five weeks after their last day of work. The Mayor’s office, JOB1 and the Department of Sanitation did not respond to questions about why clean-up workers were paid late, why they were not informed of a concrete pay date and how many years the workers have been paid late. Jordan Bridges is the organizing director at the Workers’ Center, which launched a campaign titled “We Are Not Disposable” this year to recruit volunteers to hand out food, water and safety supplies to the clean-up crews. Bridges and Ortiz said that in a March 4 meeting with JOB1 leadership — the day workers should have been paid under the 15-day legal requirement — they were told it was “unreasonable” for workers to expect payment within two weeks of Mardi Gras, despite it being mandated by state law. JOB1 did not respond to questions from Verite News about this comment. The Workers’ Center held focus groups in late February and early March to hear about the experiences of clean-up workers during the 2026 carnival season. Bridges said inconsistent information from JOB1 about when payment would be received caused additional stress for workers worried about paying their March bills. “I can tell you firsthand that workers were owed thousands of dollars,” he said. “You feel treated as disposable when you're going to JOB1 to inquire and you don't have the best interaction, and you get turned away or forwarded to another person, or you're hearing misinformation about being paid last week of March or first week of April.” Verite News previously reported on the alleged [lack of food and safety supplies](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/13/mardi-gras-clean-up-workers-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) provided by the city to Mardi Gras clean-up workers. Workers typically received a plastic water bottle, a snack pack and non-waterproof gloves for 10-hour shifts, often days in a row. Magali Ortiz, a community organizer at the Workers’ Center, said she and Bridges were able to confirm that JOB1 receives payroll information from the Department of Sanitation within a few days of Mardi Gras in order to begin processing paychecks. The Mayor's office confirmed that the Department of Sanitation provided final worker hours information to JOB1 two days after Mardi Gras, in a statement to Verite News. The Workers’ Center plans to advocate for a system that allows workers to submit formal notice of the last day they intend to work so that the city can be held accountable for timely payment even in cases where a worker’s last day is several days before Fat Tuesday. Workers were allegedly given many different answers on when they would be paid, including some estimates up to a month after Mardi Gras. Ortiz said that JOB1 leadership claimed this is how clean-up worker payment has been handled for years and were hesitant to commit to a specific date. “Workers weren’t always told exactly what day they were going to get paid, which is, again, a violation of federal law,” she said. “Just because \[JOB1\] is used to doing it that way doesn't mean that it's not in violation of the law.” Since tasks are assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis, workers often arrive hours before the call-time in hopes of being assigned for the day’s clean-up. This time is uncompensated. Clean-up workers were also not paid for a 1-hour orientation session, plus additional hours for the paperwork process, despite the Workers’ Center advocating for payment in discussions with city officials. Workers’ Center organizers said no back-pay was offered last year for the unpaid orientation session. Workers did, however, receive overtime pay at a rate of 1.5 times the hourly rate for working more than 40 hours in a week this year, despite being told at orientation that they would not be eligible because the clean-up is temporary work. Ortiz added that it’s difficult for workers to organize for labor rights because of the nature of clean-up work. “Since they're not necessarily seeing each other on the regular, they can't organize as easily as in a more standard, traditional workplace,” she said. “So it's very, very easy for both the city in terms of city contracts, but also the state, to get away with a lot of things that should be protected under federal and state labor laws.” Ortiz said she believes that JOB1 didn’t pay workers any later due to the many calls made by clean-up workers and a demand letter sent by the Workers’ Center citing the legal violations. The hourly pay this year was $16.01 — in line with the city’s [living wage ordinance](https://nola.gov/next/workforce-development/topics/living-wage/?ref=down-ballot.info), but low based on inflation measured by the national Consumer Price Index (CPI), which recorded a 2.4% [increase](https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2026/consumer-prices-up-2-4-percent-over-the-year-ended-january-2026.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) in the year leading up to January 2026\. Ortiz said the city could not provide the Workers’ Center with a specific reason for why the living wage is not increased every January following the release of new CPI inflation data, leaving Mardi Gras clean-up workers and all other hourly city contract workers often being paid a wage that does not match the increasing cost of living. Bridges added that sometimes workers have a change of address, cell phone number or housing status in the time between the clean-up and payment, causing issues in receiving their pay. He also noted that an hourly rate that does not keep pace with inflation each year per adds up to a significant amount not going into the pockets of clean-up workers who need it. Ortiz said one of the Workers’ Center’s main goals for the upcoming year is to pressure the city to update the living wage ordinance in accordance with new CPI data once it comes out in January. Corey Mays, a lifelong New Orleanian, worked over 120 hours in clean-up shifts during the 10 days leading up to Fat Tuesday. In addition to being paid late, Mays said he lost $500 in state and federal taxes, despite filing to be tax-exempt because the clean-up work was temporary. Mays said the payment delay made it difficult to cover the cost of his rent, cell phone and internet bills, as well as buy groceries and supplies for himself and his mother. “Bills don’t stop for no one,” he said. “I was looking forward to getting my money early to take care of my personal things and whatever else.” This year was the second time that Mays has worked the clean-up, but he says he likely won’t participate next year. “I just don’t like how they operate with us. They show that they don’t care about us,” he said. “They don’t give us the proper PPE. We’re grown men and women out there and they give us a kid bag of some chips, cookies and a blow pop. … Give us some nutrition.” “It was nothing of any sustenance,” Rivera added. “You're doing a lot of physical work, and eating sugary stuff and snacks and just nothing with any nutritional value was tough.” Both Mays and Rivera said they experienced black and gray-colored nasal discharge for days after the clean-up, despite wearing protective masks provided by the Workers’ Center. Rivera said he would like to stay in New Orleans and would participate in the parade clean-up again if the city can make the process more organized, pay workers on-time and provide adequate food and water or electrolyte drinks. Still, Rivera said he met a lot of good people along the clean-up route and felt seen by the city’s residents, if not the city’s leadership. “​​We got fed from the people that own restaurants as we walked down the street. Everyone was coming out, just saying, ‘Hey we appreciate what you guys are doing,’” he said. “The people of the city of New Orleans, they really supported us, which was really cool to see.” ***UPDATE: This story was updated with information from the Mayor's office on when the Department of Sanitation provided worker hour information to JOB1.*** This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/03/26/mardi-gras-clean-up-workers-late-pay/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=29550&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # End of an era: Who will care for Arivaca when its only doctor retires? by Abigail Beck, Cronkite News March 23, 2026 (Audio by Abigail Beck/Cronkite News) ARIVACA, Ariz. – Here, they call him Don or Doc. Sometimes he’s “otro abuelo” or his coveted and tie-dyed alter ego, “Dr. Feel Good.” In Arivaca, a quiet, unincorporated community about 10 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, he is the only doctor for miles, and has been for the past three decades. Dr. Donald Smith, 67, has been trying to retire for just over a year, with a hard deadline set for Aug. 1\. He had hoped to be retired by now. However, the search for his replacement at the Arivaca clinic has been far from easy. United Community Health Center is its parent organization and operates several clinics in southern Arizona. “It's harder to find people who have that broad knowledge to go out into rural areas. And fewer doctors wanting to do it,” Smith said. It’s the same story across the country. The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis estimates an accelerating shortage of 70,610 primary care physicians across the country in 2038, with a particularly urgent need in rural communities. Arizona has 852 health care professional shortage areas – the sixth most in the nation, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. This is a federal designation that illustrates critical shortages of primary care, dental and mental health providers. ### **Inside ‘Casa Monongye’** The paved road narrows to a bumpy dirt path on the approach to Smith’s green-roofed Arivaca home, down the street from the local Baptist church, where the pastor is his lone neighbor. Poppies are just starting to bloom. In the smaller of his two gardens, Smith is growing garlic and onions. In the summertime, it’s chiles and tomatoes. The interior of his house is decorated with lizards — metal, plastic and a few live ones he lets in from outside, crawling on the walls. “They keep the bugs down,” he said, looking up at one that had settled on the blinds. “Monongye” is the nickname Smith has carried with him since he worked on Hopi land during the first five years of his career, straight out of his residency in Ogden, Utah. ![](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RuralHealth-2-1024x768.jpg) Dr. Donald Smith in his home, “Casa Monongye,” in Arivaca on Feb. 27, 2026\. (Photo by Abigail Beck/Cronkite News) “We delivered lots of babies there. But it was very scary because we couldn't do C-sections there – and you're two hours from either Tuba City or Chinle, where they could,” he said. During this time, one of his Hopi mentors looked at him while he was working bedside at a hospital on the reservation. “He said, ‘I will pronounce you Monongye because you are like one of those changing lizards,’” Smith said. “So, that was my name.” He’s even tried to fit the phrase on the license plate of his truck, which reads “MNONGY” for short, next to an “I heart Arivaca” bumper sticker. Working on the Hopi reservation was nothing short of demanding, Smith said. “When you first start in practice, you don’t even know how to treat colic in babies because nobody teaches you such things in medical school. It’s just you and your colleagues out there, a couple hours away from any help,” he described, emphasizing the experience prepared him for somewhere like Arivaca. His pathway to rural medicine was intentional, but unconventional. Out of high school, he went to the University of Arizona, where he studied range management – the science of grasslands, grazing and sustainability. He stayed for medical school. Deep down, he said he always wanted to be a doctor in rural Arizona. “I’m actually one of the rare people born here, in Arizona. My dad was born in Arizona. His parents came across a wood plank road across the sand dunes to move to Phoenix in 1924,” he said. He’s also in charge of planning his 50-year high school reunion this year at his alma mater, Washington High School, located in the heart of Phoenix. He didn’t mean to stay in Tucson or Arivaca, both in southern Arizona, over an hour apart. But, when the time came for his predecessor to retire, Smith was looked to as the next in line. He had been filling in across rural southern Arizona and had worked at the Arivaca clinic on a variety of occasions. “In 1995, I became a permanent employee and the medical director for United Community Health Center,” Smith said. “I've been here over 30 years now.” ### **A portrait of Arivaca** When Smith became Arivaca’s doctor, the town had around 1,000 full-time residents. Now, the number living in the community year-round is halved. Back then, it was “old Hispanic families, ranchers, a few miners, artists,” he said. It remains a “mixture of single-wide trailers falling apart and million-dollar houses.” The only health care facility used to be a little trailer downtown, run by a paramedic. Now, Smith sees Arivacans at a one-story stucco with a small lobby and a few private examination rooms. The renovated clinic used to be “surrounded by a rusty chain link fence, the cows would come and go,” Smith said. ![](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RuralHealth-5-1024x663.jpg) Dr. Donald Smith in his clinic talking with patients on Feb. 27, 2026 as Esmeralda Elias looks on. (Photo by Abigail Beck/Cronkite News) What was once dead grass and tall weeds is now a manicured landscape, where Smith calls himself the gardener-in-residence. The waiting room has a picture book celebrating 30 years of Smith. The hallway has a joke board, filled with cartoons and comics. “It’s still this comfortable country home where people don’t feel like they’re going into a sterile, corporate environment,” Smith said. “This building’s part of the community.” Over the years, he’s done less and less prenatal and pediatric care as the community’s population aged. His next patient was Margie Tangye, who came into the clinic to address issues she’s been having with her heart – its “crazy beat,” as she called it. Her cardiologist is over an hour away. “He wanted me to come in every time my heartbeat changed. I said, ‘You’re in Tucson, and I live in Arivaca,’” Tangye said. Without Smith and his clinic, she’d likely have to commute at least to nearby Green Valley, 45 minutes away, to see a doctor. Tangye worked the front desk and referrals for the clinic for 20 years before she retired. She bookended the appointment with hugs from Smith. “I have to have my hug,” she said. “I could not survive if I didn’t get my hug.” ### **An uncertain change** The search for Smith’s replacement is weighed down with an uncertainty that blankets Arivaca’s community. Smith attributes the difficulties to generational discrepancies. He’s seen a trend where younger doctors don’t want to commit long-term to a life in rural Arizona. But Smith is firm in his belief that there is someone out there – he just doesn’t know who that is quite yet. ![](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RuralHealth-3-1024x695.jpg) Dr. Donald Smith walking in Arivaca’s small downtown on Feb. 27, 2026 toward the Arivaca Mercantile across the street and La Gitana Cantina & Café. (Photo by Abigail Beck/Cronkite News) “You know, I always say, I'm not the only one like me. There's lots of docs like me. I'm just an example of what's happening with this aging boomer doctor population,” he said, referring to the growing trend of aging physicians that are ready to retire, but can’t. Smith’s Aug. 1 retirement deadline looms. “I can't extend it forever. It’s a movable goal post, but at this point, not that far,” Smith said, adding that United Community Health Center might need to lean on existing providers in the area for care. Jon Reardon, the CEO of the organization, said the network is actively looking for Smith’s replacement: “We have yet to find a replacement, so he’s continued on with us for at least half a year, at least through summer.” “I am not confident at all. I’m scared, I’m anxious that I won’t find a replacement,” Smith said. “It’s not because I don’t like the job. I love this place, I love Arivaca. This has been the best job that I could have had, I think, in my life.” ### **‘It's a crisis, actually’** Smith isn’t alone in experiencing this bittersweet, prolonged passing of the torch. Peggy and Jon Rowley live on a 23,000-acre ranch in Arivaca, with parts of their home built with adobe bricks around 200 years ago. Jon has Parkinson’s disease and has difficulty getting in and out of the car, so Smith stops by the house on his journey out of town and back toward his home in Tucson as needed. ![](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/RuralHealth-4-1024x745.jpg) Dr. Donald Smith conducting an at-home medical visit for Jon Rowley, who has Parkinson’s disease, on Feb. 27, 2026\. He often stops by on his way home toward Tucson. (Photo by Abigail Beck/Cronkite News) Already, they’ve had to abandon some appointments and specialists that are just too inconvenient to get to. “As he gets less mobile, it's like, well, we don't really need to go see that doctor. We don't really need to go take care of that. And that's what you start to do. You start not to go. And that's bad for him,” Peggy added. These home visits have been invaluable for the Rowleys, Peggy said. But the concern of working with a new doctor as Jon’s disease progresses weighs on her. “What if it's somebody that doesn't like it down here? What if we just keep rotating people? You know, it's hard to even find rural vets, let alone rural doctors. So it's a crisis, actually. So we're nervous, but we're hopeful,” she said. Three decades of this intimate and unique patient-doctor dynamic rooted itself around the table as Smith stuck to his routine, checking Jon’s blood pressure and asking questions about his health. Smith knows the next doctor won’t be the same. That they’ll likely be able to navigate computers better. But they will still need “a heart for the community.” Dale Williams is a resident of Arivaca, and like so many, also a patient of Smith’s. “If you go to a big city, you're just a number to most people. They don't care about you. But he does. He cares about his patients and it's going to be sad when he leaves. I'll be sad,” Williams said. Turning to Smith, he added, “You don't need to leave.” There is a huge shortage of rural health care providers. Arizona recently received money from the federal government to help with the shortage but is it enough? WE spend time with a doctor who's treated a small southern Arizona community for the last 30 years (Video by Edward Nieman/Cronkite News) This [article](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2026/03/23/rural-health-doctors/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1) --- # From empty pews to packed programs: A Driftless area church becomes a multigenerational community hub by Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch March 26, 2026 ![A coffee maker labeled](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260113-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-005-782x782.jpg) A donation jar sits alongside a coffee maker at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, during a weekly drop-in event for older adults and retirees, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. Aside from about 15 people who faithfully attend each Sunday morning service, Dodgeville’s Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ used to sit empty most of the week. No one filled the rows of wooden pews, gazed at the ornate stained glass windows or found community in the basement fellowship hall and kitchen. All that empty space reflected a common set of challenges facing communities across America, particularly in rural areas: shrinking church membership, growing loneliness and isolation, and a lack of third spaces to gather. But in summer 2023, the congregation joined local residents to open Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center aiming to directly address those issues. ## **How Merrimac and Main began** Rachel Peller and her wife Rebecca Krausert Sykalski had just moved into a housing cooperative east of Dodgeville and were looking for a place with internet access to work remotely. Peller is the director of Wisconsin Partners, a coalition of local and statewide groups collaborating across sectors, perspectives and communities. She soon met Shirley Barnes, a longtime Dodgeville resident who chaired Plymouth Congregational’s board of trustees. Barnes had been racking her brain on what to do with her church’s history-rich but mostly vacant building, built in 1907, as its congregation aged and dwindled. Within a month, Peller and Barnes joined about two dozen people in the church basement to brainstorm ways to use the space to serve the community. “The timing was incredible,” Peller said. One person suggested a makerspace to foster innovation. Another suggested a program for older adults. After a few more conversations that summer, the group decided on a catchall that enveloped many ideas for the space: a community center. “There isn’t one in Dodgeville or anywhere nearby where people can come and just be, come and just exist,” Peller said. ![People sit and stand around a table in a room with a whiteboard, a clock and a cabinet on a wall. A cat is on the lap of one person.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260113-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-002-782x782.jpg) Jill Roethe, third from right, laughs while holding Leo, a kitten from the Iowa County Humane Society, during a weekly drop-in event at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. ![A person sits on a wooden pew inside a church, with red cushions for the pews and stained glass windows in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260113-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-007-782x782.jpg) Program coordinator Rachel Peller sits in the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ sanctuary where Merrimac and Main hosts its programming, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. ![A person wearing a jersey with](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260224-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-001-782x782.jpg) Henry Wepking, 10, ties a knot in a blanket he’s making for the Iowa County Humane Society during an after-school youth program at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. By fall 2023, Merrimac and Main’s organizers held an open house to publicly seek feedback and share their vision — maybe a yoga room, a gallery space with art classes, a lecture hall and live music. Aided by a grant in 2024, Merrimac and Main, an independent nonprofit that rents the church’s space, launched a four-lecture series and pop-up youth classes. ## **A space for just about everything** Merrimac and Main has since tried a bit of everything: sewing classes, cooking classes, a workshop on starting your own cottage food business. “Since then, it’s just grown,” Peller said. “It’s been such an amazing project. So many people just show up and they have an idea and they make it happen.” One of the center’s most successful recurring events, an international potluck, drew a crowd of 75 people who brought dishes representing about 20 countries. In addition to one-off events open to anyone, the community center hosts a weekly senior program, a youth program and a recovery meeting, alongside a monthly Spanish conversation group. ![A person with glasses sits at a table with a patterned tablecloth and a mug on it in a room with a cabinet, a clock on a wall, a door and other out-of-focus items in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260113-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-004-782x782.jpg) Jan Helmich, a Dodgeville resident of 21 years, attends the weekly drop-in event for older adults and retirees at Merrimac and Main, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. Helmich was part of the original group that came together to discuss the potential of opening Merrimac and Main. ![A cart holds drawers with labels for markers, tape, pencils, sharpeners, erasers and other items, with scissors, stacked folders and containers on top of the cart.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260224-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-008-782x782.jpg) Craft supplies are organized along the wall at Merrimac and Main, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. ![A bookshelf holds potted plants, books and board games beneath a wall with posters including one reading](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260224-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-010-782x782.jpg) The 2026 event schedule is posted above a bookshelf at Merrimac and Main, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. ![A person wearing glasses sits in a chair holding an orange and white cat, with a table and another person in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260113-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-001-782x782.jpg) Jill Roethe holds Leo, a kitten from the Iowa County Humane Society, during a weekly drop-in event at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Jan. 13, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. Independent of the community center, Plymouth Congregational still holds service every Sunday, but the community center is more frequently in the building, Peller said. “Basically our church was empty except on Sundays,” said Jan Helmich, a longtime congregation member and active participant in Merrimac and Main’s senior program. “There weren’t many places in town where people could rent space for a party or something, so we decided to see what we could do about it.” ## **Retirees find connection** While the church’s doors have always remained open to anyone on Sundays, Merrimac and Main’s programming has kept people coming through the building throughout the week. On a Tuesday morning in January, Helmich sat at a table in the church’s basement rec room joined by nearly a dozen fellow retirees. The day’s event featured a visit from the Iowa County Humane Society, whose volunteers brought in two kittens. ![A wooden cross is mounted between two windows showing trees and sky outside.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260224-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-011-782x782.jpg) A cross hangs on the wall at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center that shares space with the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. ![A church building stands in low light with a tower and lit windows, with power lines and a road visible nearby.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260224-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-007-782x782.jpg) Blue hour falls on Merrimac and Main after the end of an after-school youth program, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. Tom DeVoss, who previously served as Iowa County sheriff, was on a walk around the neighborhood when he dropped in and found his wife, Kathy, conversing with the group. It’s good to see what’s going on in the community, to stop in and chitchat, Tom DeVoss said. “It’s kind of a come and go place.” Kathy DeVoss, who has lived in Dodgeville for 21 years but still considers herself a newcomer, mentioned a Merrimac and Main event she attended last April where she learned to graft fruit trees. “It was so much fun,” she said. Many of the attendees said they enjoyed the new opportunities for socialization. “I’m not one to sit home,” said Lenore White, a first-time visitor who learned about Merrimac and Main at a local morning exercise class. “I want to get out and meet people.” ## **After school, a different kind of space** ![A person kneels beside two children, with one of them holding scissors on a patterned blanket on the floor, while another person sits at a table in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260224-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-004-782x782.jpg) Rebecca Krausert Sykalski, building coordinator, from left, Arlo Lockard, 10, and Henry Wepking, 10, work on making blankets for the Iowa County Humane Society during an after-school youth program at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. On a Tuesday afternoon in February, excited screams from children in an after-school program filled a room that on other days hosts the more reserved senior program. Fifth graders Arlo Lockard and Henry Wepking shared a chair in a connecting room playing games on a smartphone. Arlo’s sister and another middle school girl sat at a table in the main room talking to one another. Krausert Sykalski, Merrimac and Main’s building coordinator and Peller’s wife, rallied the day’s four children to make blankets for the humane society out of donated materials. Eight children usually attend each week, but half that day were instead participating in a school play, Krausert Sykalski said. Sitting on the checkered floor, Arlo and Henry got to work. They took turns wielding a measuring tape and scissors, deftly cutting a blanket down to size. The friends began attending Merrimac and Main last September as soon as they were old enough for the program. They learned about it at Dodgeville Middle School from a cafeteria television that displays announcements. ![Two people sit on a green folding chair in a room, one looking at a phone while the other leans back, with a small table holding snacks and a whiteboard nearby.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260224-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-006-782x782.jpg) Arlo Lockard, left, and Henry Wepking play games on a phone before an after-school youth program at Merrimac and Main, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. On a typical day after school, the boys would play video games, participate in seasonal team sports, go fishing, ride their bikes or do chores. Now, they can walk a few blocks from the school to the church for the Tuesday programs. “We’re not from here and we don’t have the social network that people who grew up here and went to school here, and either left or never did,” Halee Wepking, Henry’s mother, said while picking him up at the end of the program. “It’s really nice to have things like this for our kids.” Originally from Arizona, Wepking and her husband, who is from southwest Wisconsin, moved to Ridgeway in 2016\. There, they founded Meadowlark Organics, a farm and flour mill. Wepking said she learned about Merrimac and Main through her friendship with Peller and Sykalski. Wepking said while there are traditional channels for socialization like sports that her kids participate in, “to have things that are community-oriented and creative and stuff is a real gift, especially for middle school aged kids.” The Wepkings noticed a gap in activities for middle schoolers in Dodgeville, making Merrimac and Main all the more meaningful. “I’ve been trying to convince my friends to come, because it would be more fun, and I bet they would enjoy it,” Henry said. ## **‘It wasn’t just our church’** Helmich, who was working on another volunteer-based project at the nonprofit while the middle schoolers made blankets, reflected on conversations predating Merrimac and Main about selling the church. After some hesitation initially, Helmich said, the congregation acknowledged the community center as good for everybody. “We got the community involved, it wasn’t just our church,” Helmich said. Merrimac and Main has only grown since opening its doors. The same Tuesday Wisconsin Watch visited its youth program the nonprofit received a United Fund of Iowa County grant to support the free fruits and vegetables it offers during programs. Peller and Krausert Sykalski continue to handle center operations, but they attribute much of Merrimac and Main’s success to engaging so many people to contribute in their own way. ## **How to get involved** Find Merrimac and Main’s calendar of events on [its website](https://www.merrimacandmain.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), and [learn more](https://www.merrimacandmain.org/contact?ref=down-ballot.info) about how to volunteer to lead an activity, host a pop-up event, get the word out or donate. ![Two people lie and kneel on a tiled floor holding small objects, with folding chairs and a table visible in the room and a wall cross mounted between windows.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/asse20260224-Merrimac-and-Main-Public-Square-Timmerman-012-782x782.jpg) Eighth graders work on making blankets for the Iowa County Humane Society during an after-school youth program at Merrimac and Main, a nonprofit community center, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dodgeville, Wis. Merrimac and Main organizers shared this advice for others looking to start community centers: - Don’t just send an open invitation; personalize your message by directly asking people for what you need. - Don’t get stuck trying to make everything perfect; treat early, low-risk events as opportunities to gather information and feedback. - Engage people by helping bring their ideas to life. - Lean on partnerships with other community organizations. *This story is part of* [*Public Square*](https://wisconsinwatch.org/series/public-square/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, an occasional photography series highlighting how Wisconsin residents connect with their communities. To suggest someone in your community for us to feature, email Joe Timmerman at* *jtimmerman@wisconsinwatch.org* *.* This [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/03/wisconsin-dodgeville-church-merrimac-and-main-community-hub-gathering-place/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1315499&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB) --- # Clean water was a top issue for McDowell County voters in 2024\. They’re still waiting for elected officials to help. by Henry Culvyhouse, Mountain State Spotlight March 29, 2026 Steve Brock sprays mud off his driveway with a pressure washer on a blue-sky, sunny March afternoon. Brock, a retired iron worker originally from Michigan, has been busy digging out a French drain around his home in Thorpe, a community in the town of Gary in McDowell County. He said a water leak from the town’s pipes has caused flooding in his basement, so the drain prevents more damage. ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Welch02-1024x768.jpg) These water filters came from a system Steve Brock, of Gary, West Virginia, uses. He said they typically last six months, but need to be changed every six weeks. Since moving to his home in 2023, Brock said water has been an issue. Sometimes it comes out of the faucet clear. Other times, it’s rusty or even brown. “It's like a box of chocolate in Forrest Gump,” Brock said, holding up his jar of brown water. “You don't know what you're gonna get.” Brock isn’t alone. ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Welch05-1024x744.jpg) This is downtown Welch, West Virginia, the county seat of McDowell County. During the 2024 election, Mountain State Spotlight went to McDowell County to ask people what they wanted to hear candidates for offices talking about. From [front porches](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2024/06/12/mcdowell-county-voters-voices-elections-2024/?ref=down-ballot.info) to a [community center meeting over pizza](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2024/07/31/southern-coalfields-listening-session/?ref=down-ballot.info), the message was the same: water. And two years later, it’s still a problem. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection reported [it would cost $287 million](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/01/26/long-shot-southern-wv-water-bill/?ref=down-ballot.info) to fund high-priority projects in just four of the state’s southern coalfield counties, including McDowell. Matthew Fullen, a mine engineer, lives up Gary No. 9, a hollow that once hosted a coal mine. He said he can’t own white clothing because every time he washes it, he runs the risk of staining. When asked if he drank the water, Fullen smiled and shook his head. “I wouldn’t even let my dog drink it,” he said. Water issues in McDowell County and across southern West Virginia became front and center during the 2026 Legislative Session. Delegates from the coalfields, namely Del. David Green, R-McDowell, and Delegate Adam Vance, R-Wyoming, worked on several bills to get more money to their districts for water. Green initially agreed to work on a [$250 million proposal](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/01/26/long-shot-southern-wv-water-bill/?ref=down-ballot.info) for southern counties, but [reduced that to just $10 million](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/04/southern-wv-water/?ref=down-ballot.info) after finding he couldn’t get any support among his Republican colleagues. Vance separately tried multiple times to get another $10 million for water projects, but [Republicans voted it down](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/16/west-virginia-2026-budget/?ref=down-ballot.info). For 19-year-old Katelynn Jordan, a college student from McDowell County, water is a primary reason she decided to run for the House of Delegates as a Democrat. She said if she were elected, she’d shed more light on the issue to get more funding from the Legislature. “I think that if we get their stories out there and really try to get across how severe of a problem this is, then we'll be able to get clean water bills passed,” Jordan said. The problems with McDowell County’s decaying infrastructure stretch back decades and are well-documented. ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Welch03-1024x804.jpg) Mavis Brewster is the director of the McDowell County Public Service District, which serves 3,500 water customers in the county. No one probably knows that more than Mavis Brewster, the director of the McDowell County Public Service District. When the district was created in 1990, it served fewer than 600 customers. But as small systems — set up by the coal companies, then left to communities when they pulled out — failed, the district took them on. Today, they serve 3,500 customers, Brewster said. “When they (coal companies) turned those systems over at that time, they might have been 20 years old,” Brewster said. “Well, now look at the age of them. So the systems are totally failing now, and there's no money.” Money is the root of the problem. Many water customers in McDowell County live in poverty or are retired and live on a fixed income, so raising rates is difficult. Help comes from state and federal government dollars. But the whole state applies for the same pot of money. McDowell doesn’t always get it. And now, Brewster said her district might be taking on another failing system, the Gary Water Department. While a [deal is in the works](https://wchstv.com/news/local/wva-psc-holds-hearing-regarding-gary-utility-system-amid-ongoing-water-crisis?ref=down-ballot.info) for the city to retain ownership of the system, the district would assume operations. Brewster said one bill she tracked during the session could’ve helped her district in this very situation. Submitted by Green, the bill would’ve opened up [funding and support](https://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill%5FStatus/Bills%5Fhistory.cfm?input=5642&year=2026&sessiontype=RS&btype=bill&ref=down-ballot.info) for a utility taking over another that is struggling. Lawmakers killed it. “It would’ve helped,” Brewster said. Green said, in an email statement, that the water crisis is a multi-layer problem. Not only is money needed, but there needs to be qualified personnel to run systems, expedited processes to intervene with failing utilities, more coordination between state and local agencies and better access to state and federal funds that already exist. With the session now over, Green said he’s putting work in ahead of the next one to get legislative fixes underway. “What I'd do differently is actually what I'm doing right now — building consensus with the House, the Senate, and state agencies. This problem is bigger than just a bill, bigger than what 60 days can put together,” he wrote in an email. Even in Welch, where the water is usually better than other areas of the county, people don’t trust the water. At Latin Appalachian, a restaurant in downtown, waitress Rayvn Walker asks customers if they want it bottled or in a cup. ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Welch06-1024x768.jpg) Robert Diaz has owned his restaurant, Latin Appalachian, for four years. Owner Robert Diaz said he filters the water he serves in glasses and keeps it in a jug cooler. “I'm not gonna let someone drink water that I wouldn't let me or my kids drink,” Diaz said. Diaz, who lives in the town of Kimball, calls drinking from bottled water “a way of life here.” And he doesn’t find it acceptable. “Third World countries are getting better treatment of projects and funding to get fresh water,” Diaz said. “This is a dying county. It really is.” Like the last time Mountain State Spotlight visited McDowell, distrust of Charleston runs deep. “The state just ends at Charleston,” Fullen said, referring to the death of bills for clean water in the last session. “Nothing ever comes to the southern part.” Sherman Pat McKinney, a police officer and chair of the McDowell County Republican Executive Committee, is running against Green in the GOP Primary. He said addressing the water situation is going to take more than just a few bills in the Legislature getting passed. “It's just a wide-scale thing that a quick fix of a couple million dollars is not going to fix,” McKinney said. “A lot of this is going to be getting the West Virginia Legislature to come together as a body to put political pressure on the federal congressional delegation to do something, because it's going to take federal money.” ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Welch04-1024x768.jpg) Steve Brock shows off his water after the particulate has settled to the bottom. Earlier this month, Charleston came to McDowell in the form of the Public Service Commission. They hosted a hearing on the Gary water situation. Brock brought his brown jar of water to the meeting. “That meeting down there, I'm going to call it a pacifier,” he said. “This has been going on for years.” This [article](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2026/03/29/clean-water-mcdowell/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mountain State Spotlight](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/mountainstatespotlight.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cropped-MountainStateSpotlight-Icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://mountainstatespotlight.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=29793&ga4=315690663) --- # Study finds public water utilities face mounting financial strain by Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News April 2, 2026 #### By Will Atwater Delivering safe, reliable drinking water to customers’ homes is getting more expensive for water utilities that face aging pipes, needed treatment plant upgrades and mounting new pollution threats. A recent national analysis from the [American Water Works Association](https://www.awwa.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and a 2025 report from the [NC Chamber Foundation](https://ncchamber.com/foundation/water-infrastructure-competitiveness-analysis/?ref=down-ballot.info) warn that maintaining safe, reliable drinking water infrastructure will take massive investment in pipes and treatment plants, even as utilities and their customers are grappling with the costs of removing [PFAS contamination](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained?ref=down-ballot.info) from systems like those drawing on the Cape Fear River. “Drinking water infrastructure underpins the health and economic vitality of our communities, but the cost of sustaining it is rising rapidly,” Heather Collins, the association’s president, said in a release. Dana Magliola, senior director of infrastructure competitiveness for the NC Chamber Foundation, [echoed Collins’ sentiment:](https://ncchamber.com/2025/11/18/new-study-identifies-critical-actions-to-secure-north-carolinas-water-infrastructure-and-economic-future/?ref=down-ballot.info) “A unified, forward-looking approach is key to ensuring North Carolina’s water systems remain reliable, resilient, and ready for the state’s next phase of economic growth.” Magliola said the national analysis, “reinforces what we are seeing in North Carolina: water infrastructure challenges are no longer just about replacing aging systems, but managing a new era.” #### **What’s at stake for North Carolinians** In North Carolina, those costs are already visible. In mountainous Haywood County, the [Town of Canton](https://www.cantonnc.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), with fewer than 5,000 residents, is relying on state and federal aid to replace wastewater infrastructure that once depended on a shuttered paper mill. Canton’s Mayor Zeb Smathers told NC Health News that the town’s water system serves fewer than 10,000 customers when town and county ratepayers are counted together. At the other end of the state, [Cape Fear Public Utility Authority](https://www.cfpua.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and other [public water systems](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/06/13/state-water-systems-grapple-with-high-cost-of-pfas-compliance-standards/?ref=down-ballot.info) have spent millions on infrastructure and operations to remove PFAS from drinking water in the years since the so-called “forever chemicals” were found to be prevalent in Cape Fear River waters. ![Image of large industrial pipes bolted a concrete floor. the pipes send water to filtration pools where contaminants are removed.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Effluent-Pipes-scaled.jpg) The pipes in the Cape Fear River Public Utility Authority's Sweeney Treatment facility pump untreated water into one of nine granular activated carbon filtration pools. The PFAS filtration system came online in 2022 at a cost of nearly $43 million, and it costs an additional $5 million annually to operate. “As a reminder for North Carolina, prior to this report, the best information we had was we were looking at about $20 billion over the next 20 years for water and about $21 billion over the next 20 years for wastewater improvements — to simply replace the infrastructure we have,” said CFPUA’s Executive Director Kenneth Waldroup. He added that once additional water quality regulations are considered, such as meeting new federal maximum contaminant levels for PFAS, the costs to municipal water systems can soar. “Cape Fear Public Utility Authority is a living example of that,” he said. “We’ve invested more than $80 million to date in infrastructure and operational costs to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).” [Under a national rule finalized by the Biden administration’s EPA](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-finalizes-critical-rule-clean-pfas-contamination-protect?ref=down-ballot.info), public water systems now have three years to test for a suite of PFAS chemicals and report the results, and five years to bring levels into line with new federal limits if contamination is found. That means utilities across the country [must quickly decide](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/06/13/state-water-systems-grapple-with-high-cost-of-pfas-compliance-standards/?ref=down-ballot.info) whether to install pricey technologies that can keep PFAS out of customers’ taps, such as granular activated carbon filters, ion exchange systems, membrane treatment or other, newer, techniques. Utilities also need to figure out how to pay for it. “Many utilities, particularly smaller and rural systems, lack the financial flexibility to absorb these costs without impacting ratepayers,” Magliola wrote. “Meeting this challenge will require a more coordinated approach, including sustained federal and state investment, stronger regional collaboration, and better data to support long-term planning because water infrastructure is foundational to North Carolina’s economic competitiveness and future growth.” The rule sets enforceable limits for six individual PFAS: 4 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, 10 parts per trillion for PFNA, PFHxS and GenX chemicals, and a separate “hazard index” standard that applies when mixtures of several PFAS, including PFBS, are found together. For residents along the Cape Fear River, those regulations are aimed at a contamination problem they have lived with for years. GenX and other PFAS from the Chemours facility outside of Fayetteville have been detected in the river and in CFPUA’s drinking water system, prompting [large blood‑testing studies](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/12/15/to-understand-health-effects-of-pfas-polluted-water-residents-submit-blood-samples/?ref=down-ballot.info) that found people in the Cape Fear basin [carry higher levels ](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/11/07/forever-chemicals-forever-concerns-cape-fear-rivers-ongoing-pfas-problem/?ref=down-ballot.info)of these chemicals than the typical U.S. resident. Since [PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear River](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/11/07/forever-chemicals-forever-concerns-cape-fear-rivers-ongoing-pfas-problem/?ref=down-ballot.info) first drew public attention, similar chemicals have been detected in drinking water supplies across North Carolina, including in several [rural fire stations that rely on well water](https://www.hawriver.org/news/pfas-detected-in-eli-whitney-fire-station-well-what-you-need-to-know?ref=down-ballot.info). In those communities, contamination is likely tied to years of training and emergency response with older firefighting foams that contained PFAS, adding another layer of cost and concern for small systems that have far fewer resources than a utility serving hundreds of thousands of customers, like CFPUA. Scientists have linked long‑term exposure to certain PFAS in drinking water to increased risks of kidney and testicular cancers, higher cholesterol, signs of liver and thyroid problems, immune system effects including reduced response to vaccines, and pregnancy‑related complications like hypertension and preeclampsia. #### **Small water systems** More than 5,000 regulated public water utilities serve millions of North Carolinians. The majority of those customers get their drinking water from small systems that primarily serve towns and rural areas, according to [state environmental data.](https://www.deq.nc.gov/governors-report-2024-final/open?ref=down-ballot.info) Canton illustrates what can happen when a community’s water system is closely tied to a single major industry. For decades, the paper mill owned by Pactiv Evergreen — a major employer and the town’s primary water ratepayer — helped anchor the system. When the mill, which had operated in Canton for more than a century, [closed in 2023](https://avlwatchdog.org/canton-mills-closing-means-uncertainty-for-county-region/?ref=down-ballot.info), the community lost about 900 jobs and millions of dollars in labor income for western North Carolina, according to a [Dogwood Health Trust impact study](https://dogwoodhealthtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Economic-Impacts-of-the-Closure-of-the-Canton-Paper-Mill-in-WNC-August-2023-002-2.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). To help the town recover, Canton has received nearly $100 million in federal and state support, including funding to purchase the mill property and build a new wastewater treatment plant, Mayor Smathers said. Even so, customer fees have increased to cover the roughly $140,000 a month the town now pays for treatment that was once paid for largely by Pactiv Evergreen. This cost was referenced in a [letter](https://www.cantonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/TM-Letter.jpg?ref=down-ballot.info) that Town Manager Lisa Stinnett posted in 2025 to explain water rate increases. “For decades, the mill treated our wastewater at no cost,” Stinnett wrote. “When it closed and the agreement expired, the town suddenly had to start covering the full costs of treatment — chemicals, power, personnel, and more. The initial quote for this was over $250,000 per month. Thanks to persistent negotiations, your board was able to reduce this cost to $140,000 per month. Still, these expenses are not covered by grants — they must come directly from the water and sewer fund.” The financial burden faced by the town of Canton as it continues to recover from [Tropical Storm Fred in 2021](https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL062021%5FFred.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) and the remnants of Hurricane Helene, on top of the closing of the paper mill, reflects pressures felt by the nation’s small water systems. A [North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality](https://www.deq.nc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) spokesperson told NC Health News in an email that every water and sewer system in North Carolina is wrestling with aging infrastructure, but small-town utilities like Canton feel it most because they have fewer customers to spread costs to. “The [State Water Infrastructure Authority](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-infrastructure/viable-utilities?ref=down-ballot.info#DivisionofWaterInfrastructureFundingPrograms-3846) and the [Local Government Commission](https://www.nctreasurer.gov/divisions/state-and-local-government-finance/local-government-commission?ref=down-ballot.info) have designated 160 local government water and sewer systems as distressed,” the spokesperson said. They added that the majority of them are small systems, which qualifies them for extra technical help and grants through the Division of Water Infrastructure’s Viable Utilities and other programs. “The need for small utilities is disproportionate to the infrastructure funding they \[require\],” said Jane Clements, chief executive officer of One Water Econ, a consulting firm who contributed to the [American Water Works Association](https://www.awwa.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) report. “So that burden is going to fall on fewer people.” *Update: This story has been updated with additional comments from Dana Magliola, senior director of infrastructure competitiveness for the NC Chamber Foundation.* This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/04/02/rising-costs-small-water-systems-north-carolina/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- ### Medicaid cuts could add pressure to already-stressed psychiatric units URL: https://down-ballot.info/medicaid-cuts-could-add-pressure-to-already-stressed-psychiatric-units/ Last updated: 2026-04-02T09:00:34.000Z by Nada Hassanein, [Stateline](https://stateline.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) March 23, 2026 Federal Medicaid cuts could exact a heavy toll on psychiatric units at hospitals across the country, many of which are already struggling to keep their doors open but provide essential mental health care to people who need it. Psychiatric units are costly and, like labor and delivery services, typically lose money for hospitals and tend to be reimbursed at lower rates than other health services. In contrast, some specialty units, such as cardiovascular care, are lucrative: Cardiologists can generate up to seven times their salaries for hospitals. Between 2023 and 2024, 126 hospitals across the U.S. shut down their inpatient psychiatric units, according to data provided to Stateline by the American Hospital Association. “(Psychiatric units) are often in the red, and, for lack of a better word, kind of subsidized by the rest of the health system,” said Sarah Steverman of the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare. Steverman oversees regulatory affairs and is the liaison for a committee of hospital psychiatric unit administrators and clinicians. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed into law last year will add to the strain, Steverman and other experts say. > [Medicaid cuts are likely to worsen mental health care in rural America](https://stateline.org/2025/07/22/medicaid-cuts-are-likely-to-worsen-mental-health-care-in-rural-america/?ref=down-ballot.info) The law is projected to cut federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $886.8 billion over the next decade, largely because new work requirements will push people off the rolls, [according to estimates by the Congressional Budget Office](https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-10/PL-119-21-Medicaid%20%5F0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). CBO estimates that it could increase the number of people without health insurance by 7.5 million in 2034. Those cuts will have a significant effect on mental health care because Medicaid, jointly funded by the federal government and the states, covers more people with mental illness than any other public or private insurer — roughly 29% of the estimated 52 million nonelderly adults with mental illness, or about 15 million people, [according to health research group KFF](https://www.kff.org/mental-health/5-key-facts-about-medicaid-coverage-for-adults-with-mental-illness/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Options%20under%20consideration%20in%20Congress,group%2C%20and%20imposing%20work%20requirements.). Behavioral health policy experts say the Medicaid changes will force hospital psychiatric units to provide care to many more people who don’t have insurance. Even before the law, Medicaid often didn’t fully reimburse hospitals for the cost of mental health care, unit administrators said. Along with increasing the number of people without insurance, the One Big Beautiful Big Act places new limits on states’ ability to maximize federal funding and reimburse providers. The federal government allows states with contracted Medicaid managed care organizations running their Medicaid programs to direct them to pay providers more. But beginning in 2028, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will cap these state-directed payments, forcing state Medicaid programs to reduce reimbursement rates by 10 percentage points each year until they reach either 100% or 110% of what Medicare pays. The federal law also caps provider taxes, a strategy states have used to boost the Medicaid dollars they get from the federal government. As a result, states will face the choice of replacing the lost federal money with state dollars, scaling back services or providing coverage to fewer people. Conservatives who have backed the Medicaid cuts say such tools are accounting tricks that states have used to draw down more federal money. Some have even called the provider taxes a “[money laundering](https://paragoninstitute.org/newsletter/new-report-addressing-medicaid-money-laundering/?ref=down-ballot.info)” scheme. Eliminating them, they say, will force states to be more accountable for their Medicaid spending. “States are gaming the system — creating complex tax schemes that shift their responsibility to invest in Medicaid and rob federal taxpayers,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said in a [news release last year](https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-moves-shut-down-medicaid-loophole-protects-vulnerable-americans-saves-billions?ref=down-ballot.info). > [Many Black, Latino people can’t get opioid addiction med. Medicaid cuts may make it harder.](https://stateline.org/2025/09/08/many-black-latino-people-cant-get-opioid-addiction-med-medicaid-cuts-may-make-it-harder/?ref=down-ballot.info) But Angela Kimball, chief advocacy officer at Inseparable, a mental health advocacy organization, said the tools are essential, and that the cuts will be detrimental. “For the mental health system, and particularly for facility-based care, it (Medicaid) is the financial foundation. And when you simultaneously reduce who’s covered, what providers get paid, and limit the tools states have to make up the difference, you’re not just trimming around the edges; you’re undermining the whole structure,” Kimball said. The mental health field is also struggling with workforce shortages across states, [especially in rural areas](https://www.healingpsychiatryflorida.com/blogs/psychiatrist-shortage-by-state/?ref=down-ballot.info). As of December 2024, more than 122 million Americans lived in designated mental health professional shortage areas. Dr. Arpan Waghray, a psychiatrist and CEO of Providence’s Well Being Trust, serves as a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing. Providence has 16 psychiatric units across Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington state, and Medicaid and Medicaid HMOs account for 42% of patients across those units. That number increased as the states expanded eligibility under Obamacare. In contrast, Medicaid pays for roughly 13% of oncology inpatients and about 10% of cardiology inpatients across the hospital systems. “Inpatient psychiatric units, especially when they’re part of larger hospitals and academic centers, like our community hospitals … they generally tend to operate on a loss,” Waghray said. “We are no exception to that.” He noted that estimates show psychiatric units have a negative operating income of about 37%. “We don’t want to make a profit on psychiatric units,” he said, adding the goal is to at least “break even.” Waghray said if more units are forced to shutter, that will lead to more crowding in emergency rooms and jails. Often, jails and prisons — facilities with inadequate care — end up being mental health care providers for people who lacked access to care. People in crisis also may be forced to wait for a psychiatric bed to open up elsewhere. “It has this cascading effect that touches everyone’s lives,” Waghray said. “The two places where people get care if they don’t get care in the right setting is the inpatient (psychiatric) unit, and you cut that, then essentially you have emergency departments that are overcrowded or jails that are overcrowded.” > [State suicide prevention efforts are lacking amid federal cuts](https://stateline.org/2025/07/29/state-suicide-prevention-efforts-are-lacking-amid-federal-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info) Health economist John McConnell, director of the Center for Health Systems Effectiveness at Oregon Health and Sciences University, said “the whole mental health system is really going to get hit with a shock here.” “Crisis care funding is all over the place, and there’s not really a consistent way of funding it, and it’s often underfunded,” he said. “You had a fragile system … made more fragile with a lot of the executive orders from the Trump administration — and then (the new federal law) has sort of further chipped away at it.” Steverman said that people with severe mental health emergencies — such as acute psychosis, mania or suicidality — who need urgent treatment after emergency room intake often require multiple clinical staff and observation. Gretchen Clark Bower, senior director of Behavioral Health Services at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, in Washington state, said the hospital’s inpatient psychiatric unit, which opened about five years ago, relies heavily on Medicaid: Roughly 80% of psychiatric inpatients are covered by Medicaid, and many have severe illnesses. “It has been a stretch financially for a long time,” Bower said. “The costs of providing care are far more than what we’re getting reimbursed. And that is extremely challenging.” Everett’s average psychiatric hospitalization is about 16 days. But sometimes, insurers will only cover up to a certain number of hospitalization days for mental health, Bower said. That leaves the hospital to absorb the rest of the costs. “We want to make sure that we are discharging people when they are safe to discharge — not just when their insurance stops paying,” Bower said. > The costs of providing care are far more than what we’re getting reimbursed. And that is extremely challenging. > **– Gretchen Clark Bower, senior director of Behavioral Health Services at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett** Bower said she worries the cuts will destabilize people if their care gets interrupted after losing coverage, putting more pressure and costs on the health system. “It worries me a lot,” she said. “How do we continue to take care of our community into the future, and how do we sustain ourselves financially as we do that? It’s an incredibly difficult task.” A report from the American Psychiatric Association found that states that had expanded Medicaid eligibility saw smaller increases in suicide compared with nonexpansion states: Medicaid expansion was associated with about 0.4 fewer suicides per 100,000 people yearly. “Combined with workforce shortages and long-standing insufficient reimbursement for psychiatric services, further reductions in Medicaid will increase pressure on already struggling facilities,” said Ben Teicher, spokesperson for the American Hospital Association. “Our members have been worried about their psych units for a long time, and any further erosion of what Medicaid pays for would make it even worse.” *Stateline reporter Nada Hassanein can be reached at* *nhassanein@stateline.org* *.* [YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.SUPPORT](https://stateline.org/donate/?oa%5Freferrer=midstorybox&ref=down-ballot.info) [Stateline](https://stateline.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. ### Rocky Mount seeks to recover after scathing NC audit finds serious financial mistakes URL: https://down-ballot.info/rocky-mount-seeks-to-recover-after-scathing-nc-audit-finds-serious-financial-mistakes/ Last updated: 2026-04-01T09:00:13.000Z by Mackenzie Thomas, Carolina Public Press March 19, 2026 A recent state audit this month found that millions of dollars in the Rocky Mount city budget were mismanaged in recent years, which the auditor blamed on a lack of oversight and due diligence by the City Council. **Dave Boliek**, the state [auditor](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73684/covid-funds-unspent-nc-back-to-feds-auditor-warns-arpa/?ref=down-ballot.info) for [North Carolina](http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said his office conducted the [audit](https://files.nc.gov/nc-auditor/documents/2026-03/PER-2026-558%5F01%5F1.pdf?VersionId=zKTLukZ7AmKIzSeSg7rMeUtbScfJqcck&ref=down-ballot.info) after receiving reports on a tip line, as well as direct reports to the auditor himself, that the city was in financial trouble. Concerns about the budget were also expressed publicly in a recent City Council meeting. “Because of that City Council meeting, and what was reported publicly by the City Council, in addition to the tips that we received on our tip line, we felt it was imperative that we engage the city of Rocky Mount with an audit,” Boliek said. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Since taking office in January 2025, Boliek said he’s received “more inquiries about the city of Rocky Mount than any other entity of state, local or county government.” The city first discovered and notified the public of the financial crisis in September 2025, Mayor **Sandy Roberson** said in a [press conference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time%5Fcontinue=412&v=-WlGQWV7LIg&embeds%5Freferring%5Feuri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dmayor%2Broberson%2Bpress%2Bconference%26oq%3Dmayor%2Broberson%2Bpress%2Bconference%26gs%5Flcrp%3DEgZjaHJvbWUyCwgAEEUYC&source%5Fve%5Fpath=MzY4NDIsMTI3Mjk5LDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDM2ODQyLDI4NjY2&ref=down-ballot.info) last week. Roberson said they asked the state auditor to come to Rocky Mount to conduct an investigation into the city’s finances. Asked about this, a spokesperson for Boliek said the auditor's office was not aware of any request from the mayor through the LGC. "We launched the performance audit in response to public reports of the city’s deteriorating finances as well as calls of concern from Rocky Mount taxpayers, not a request from city government officials," he said. One of the most notable findings from the report is a drop in the city’s cash and investment balance from roughly $100 million to $21.8 million between August 2023 and August 2025\. Meanwhile, total annual purchases and other payments exceeded $300 million during fiscal year 2024. The increase in annual purchases and payments mostly stemmed from personnel costs and capital projects. Police salaries were increased by 47%, then firefighter salaries increased by 22%, followed by a 12.2% increase applied to the city’s minimum salary range, the report said. Rocky Mount, which is located along Interstate 95 and US 64 in both Nash and [Edgecombe](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73434/finding-hope-in-edgecombe-after-latest-job-creator-doesnt-pan-out/?ref=down-ballot.info) counties, has hoped that a new casino could jump-start its economy with tourism dollars. Capital spending toward a casino was one project the report identified as a concern. Others included redevelopment of a fire station and an enterprise vehicle fleet. Together, those amounted to $67.4 million for fiscal year 2024, signifying a 153% increase in spending from the previous fiscal year, the report said. ### How it happened Rocky Mount didn’t have adequate financial staff at the time and failed to reconcile its checking account for 13 months, Roberson said during the press conference. Without reconciliations, they just didn’t know how much money was in the account, he said. The North Carolina [Local Government Commission](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73269/speed-nc-town-dissolve-financial-pressure-edgecombe-county/?ref=down-ballot.info) identified the city as a “municipality in financial distress” for three consecutive years before the audit, the auditor’s report said. The commission warned Rocky Mount about issues such as declining revenue and fund balances, delayed financial reporting and chronic budget overruns in annual reviews and communications to city leadership, emphasizing that failure to make any changes would result in an “unsustainable” financial trajectory for the city, according to the report. The city’s failure to address the commission’s concerns prompted Boliek’s office to step in, the report said. When asked by CPP whether city leaders were aware of the LGC’s warnings at the time, and what steps the city took in response, Roberson said: “Every year, the LGC reviews a municipality’s finances and makes recommendations on areas needed for improvement. In response, the municipality defines steps that they agree will be taken to ensure financial stability.” The city’s financial troubles appear to date back to fiscal year 2021, after the loss of its longtime finance director. Since then, the city’s finance department has had five directors, including hires with “little local government finance experience,” according to the report. Other factors that contributed to the current financial instability included a lack of due diligence when hiring the former city manager, **Keith Rogers Jr.**, and a lack of oversight by the Rocky Mount City Council. During the press conference, Roberson said in many cases Rogers “bifurcated contracts so that they fell below the minimum threshold requiring council approval.” As a result, many contracts and jobs were created without the council’s knowledge or approval. Under Rogers specifically, personnel costs increased by 27%, and the 153% increase in spending on capital projects also occurred during his tenure, Roberson said. Rogers was appointed as city manager in March 2023 by a unanimous vote from the City Council, despite being described as a “stretch candidate” by the executive search firm, POLIHIRE, which the city contracted to recruit candidates for the position, according to the auditor’s report. When asked by Carolina Public Press about POLIHIRE’s description of Rogers, Roberson said the firm should’ve completed background checks on all potential candidates and does not remember Rogers being described as a “stretch candidate,” though the firm expressed this according to City Council meeting minutes, the auditor’s report said. There is also no evidence that the Rocky Mount City Council conducted any reference checks of its own to assess Rogers’ qualifications for the job, the report said. Boliek said they still don’t know why. Soon after Rogers’ appointment, city finances began to decline, Roberson said. Within that same year, City Council members **Andre Knight** and **Reuben C. Blackwell IV** became “suspicious” about city management and started voicing their concerns publicly, according to a [press release](https://www.rockymountnc.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/85?ref=down-ballot.info) from the city last year. Council members Knight and Blackwell couldn’t be reached for comment. While Rogers maintained support from the majority of the Rocky Mount City Council for much of his tenure, that support waned as concerns were increasingly raised, Roberson said. By August 2024, most council members voted to place Rogers on administrative leave, according to the press release. Having lost support from most of the council, Rogers resigned voluntarily, the mayor said. The following June, Rogers began a new position as a county administrator for Charles City County, Virginia, where he still serves today, according to the [county’s website](https://www.charlescityva.us/165/County-Administrator?ref=down-ballot.info). Rogers couldn’t be reached for comment. As part of their investigation, auditors discovered that Rogers had a history of “poor management and decision-making” in his previous role as town manager in Dumfries, Virginia. In this role, he was engaged in a pattern of “unqualified hires, questionable salary increases without council approval, inadequate segregation of duties, and structurally unsound budgeting,” resulting in a $1 million overspend, the report said. Other notable findings include a personal connection between Rogers and the former Rocky Mount human resources director before the hiring process, which was disclosed to auditors in interviews with current city employees and council members, the report said. When asked by CPP whether he was aware of this connection, Roberson said he didn’t remember seeing that statement in the audit. Additionally, after being appointed city manager, Rogers asked POLIHIRE to help recruit the former finance director, who served in the position from September 2023 to September 2024\. The former finance director was the only candidate considered for the position in the recruitment process, which is not standard practice, according to the report. This suggests the former finance director’s hiring may have been a “predetermined outcome,” the report said. According to the report, the city has responded to the budget crisis by halting all “nonessential projects,” eliminating 86 full-time positions and increasing property taxes and utility rates for residents. ### How Rocky Mount is moving forward While the general audit was just released to the public, the State Auditor’s office is also conducting additional reviews of “utility bills and procurement-card purchases related to the city of Rocky Mount,” said a spokesperson from the office. The city hopes to receive the results from the State Auditor’s additional investigation sometime this spring, Roberson said. If further review reveals any laws were broken, Roberson said he will pursue criminal charges. “Once received, the city will determine if there is a need to secure another outside forensic audit to investigate areas the State Auditor may not have researched,” he said. “The City Council and I are committed to uncover all answers we need.” As far as what changes he hopes to see in Rocky Mount following the audit, Roberson said the “most important” change has already happened: hiring a new finance director, **Cheryl Spivey**, who came in July 2025, Roberson's chief of staff said. “Cheryl Spivey has LGC experience and is taking the lead in bringing the city’s finances back in order,” Roberson said. “The city of Rocky Mount has also implemented enhanced oversight mechanisms, including mandatory monthly bank reconciliations for all significant accounts, formal review processes, and direct reporting to the City Council.” Roberson also said the city is “committed to following each of the recommendations the State Auditor states in his report.” **Elton Daniels**, the current city manager, said he wants to work collaboratively moving forward to address the identified issues and improve their systems and management. “We remain focused on protecting essential services while building a more stable and resilient organization,” Daniels said. “Through deliberate and thoughtful actions, we are positioning the city to achieve a stronger and more sustainable financial footing in the future.” *Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional information that became available after initial publication.* This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74908/rocky-mount-seeks-to-recover-after-scathing-nc-audit-finds-serious-financial-mistakes/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ### New census estimates show movers swelling population in small Southeast counties URL: https://down-ballot.info/new-census-estimates-show-movers-swelling-population-in-small-southeast-counties/ Last updated: 2026-03-30T09:00:02.000Z By Tim Henderson (Stateline) Small counties in the coastal Southeast had some of the largest population gains between mid-2024 and mid-2025 in estimates being released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau, mostly because of people moving from larger areas. Jasper County, South Carolina, where there’s a building boom taking advantage of the popularity of nearby Hilton Head, was the fastest-growing county in the nation percentagewise, growing 6% in the year to 38,533 people. It grew even faster the previous year, 6.9%, but another county elsewhere grew slightly faster that year — Mellette County in South Dakota. Jasper County has seen movers from New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states, with some new building aimed at retirees and some for workers at expanding factories like TICO, which makes trucks designed for nearby ports, said Eric Larson, the county’s director of development services. One new housing development, Latitude Margaritaville in Hardeeville, is for people 55 and older. > “It’s a real magnet. They’re coming from all over the place and I think they come for the recreation, the low cost of living,” said Larson. “We’re excited to be that hot spot, but it has its challenges. “We’re rising to the occasion,” he added, noting that the growth requires more transportation, water and sewer capacity. All the 12 counties that grew 4% or more between 2024 and 2025 benefited predominantly from people moving in from other counties. Brunswick County, North Carolina, at the state’s southeastern tip below Wilmington, would have lost population instead of gaining almost 5% if it weren’t for new residents moving in. The influx erased the effects of more deaths than births during the year. Most of those fastest-growing counties are at the outer edges of popular metro areas in the Southeast, including Kaufman County, Texas, near Dallas; Jackson County, Georgia, near Athens; and Elbert County, Colorado, near Denver and Colorado Springs. However, four of the seven counties with the largest numeric increases had population growth that was largely driven by immigration — including Harris County, Texas, with the highest numeric growth in the nation at 48,695 in one year. Harris County includes Houston. The other counties with the largest increases driven primarily by immigration include Maricopa County, Arizona (which includes Phoenix, up 35,411); King County, Washington (including Seattle, up 26,980); and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (Charlotte, up 26,554). Three other counties in the top seven had increases mostly based on people moving in from elsewhere in the United States: Collin County, Texas (north of Dallas, up 42,966); Montgomery County, Texas (north of Houston, up 30,011); and Wake County, North Carolina (including Raleigh, up 27,760). Even in counties where immigration was the key driver of population growth, immigration was down from previous years, when immigration streams were swelled by millions of asylum-seekers paroled from the border with Mexico. That flow has largely stopped as the Trump administration [stopped accepting asylum-seekers](https://www.aila.org/library/policy-brief-modernizing-americas-asylum-system?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=the%20Trump%20Administration%20closed%20access%20to%20asylum%20in%20nearly%20all%20settings%3A%20at%20U.S.%20borders%2C%20from%20abroad) into the country starting last year. Despite overall population growth, several counties saw a net immigration drop from the previous year. Net immigration dropped 41% in Harris County, Texas, and it was down 48% in Maricopa County, Arizona. It was down 29% in King County, Washington, and down 41% In Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. No counties of any size saw increased immigration compared with the previous year. Most counties that grew between 2023 and 2024 saw growth diminish or even turn to a loss between 2024 and 2025, the Census Bureau said in a statement, especially large counties that would normally receive lots of new immigrants. The largest numeric declines were in Los Angeles County, California, which dropped by 53,934 after gaining 16,300 the previous year; Pinellas County, Florida, which dropped by 11,834, accelerating a smaller decline of 5,346 the previous year and gains earlier in the decade; and Florida’s Miami-Dade County, which lost 10,115 residents after gaining 18,633 the previous year. *Stateline reporter Tim Henderson can be reached at* *thenderson@stateline.org*. [SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE](https://stateline.org/donate?ref=down-ballot.info) ### N.C. Senate to have new majority leader URL: https://down-ballot.info/n-c-senate-to-have-new-majority-leader/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T09:00:34.000Z **It's Friday, March 27, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** NC Sen. leader Phil Berger concedes to primary rival Sam Page**,** Some NC lawmakers want more psychiatric beds. Advocates say that won’t solve the state’s mental health needs, California leaders lionized César Chávez. Now, they face a reckoning with his past, ‘Wandering officers’ widespread across NC police agencies, El Paso jail scheduled unauthorized mental health tests for Walmart gunman, records show, Mass. bottle deposit system continues nosedive, hitting new low last year, At this St. Paul restaurant, the front door is no longer locked, but the fear isn’t gone either. **Media outlets and others featured:** NC Newsline, North Carolina Health News, CalMatters, Carolina Public Press, El Paso Matters, CommonWealth Beacon, MinnPost. --- ## ‘The voters have spoken’: NC Sen. leader Phil Berger concedes to primary rival Sam Page By Laura Leslie and Clayton Henkel (NC Newsline) More than three weeks after North Carolina’s primary election, Senate President Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) has conceded the race to his primary rival, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, who led Berger by 23 votes after two recounts. Berger, who’s led the Republican majority in the state Senate since 2011 and is arguably the state’s most powerful politician, congratulated Page Tuesday afternoon in a statement: “While this was a close race, the voters have spoken.” “I appreciate Senator Berger’s call earlier today and his concession,” said Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page. Berger called Page around 4:00pm Tuesday to officially concede the hotly contested race. “He wished me best of luck in the future as we move forward to November,” Page told reporters at a hastily-called news conference late Tuesday afternoon. “Likewise, I thank him for his contributions that he’s done as our senator representing us here in Rockingham County and in Guilford County.” Page said that Berger told him all legal protests that were scheduled in Guilford and Rockingham County would be dropped. Berger and groups supporting him spent more than $10 million on this campaign. Berger also had the benefit of President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Page said none of that mattered in the end. “What I said was this race will not be won on money raised. It will be won on relationships that we’ve established and the trust we built over the past 28 years with the citizens,” said Page. “It truly rang true today.” Page said he is now focused on November. He is also encouraging the legislature to pass a comprehensive state budget. “There a lot of people who work for the state and do important things to help run state government, looking after our citizens,” said Page. “Let go ahead and make sure we get that budget set, and from this point forward shoot for July 1.” North Carolina is the only state that failed to pass a budget last year. #### No change in second recount A sample hand-eye recount conducted Tuesday morning in Guilford and Rockingham counties did not find any additional votes for Berger, who continues to trail Page by 23 votes. The votes were[ already recounted](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/03/19/recounts-uphold-pages-23-vote-lead-over-berger-evidentiary-hearings-set-in-high-profile-nc-race/?ref=down-ballot.info) using voting tabulators with no change to the margin. As allowed by law, Berger requested a sample hand-eye recount to double-check the machine results. Under state law, the North Carolina Board of Elections randomly selects 3% of precincts in a contested race. It selected two precincts in Guilford and one in Rockingham, totaling about 1,300 votes out of the more than 26,000 cast in the primary. Guilford’s recount found no errors. Neither did Rockingham’s. By law, a full hand-eye recount isn’t conducted unless the sample recount finds a large enough deviation from the machine recount to change the outcome of the race if extrapolated across the rest of the precincts in the district. In this case, Berger needed to pick up two votes to proceed to a full recount. Berger had [filed protests](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/03/17/nc-sen-berger-files-election-protests-arguing-some-voters-received-wrong-ballots/?ref=down-ballot.info) amounting to 13 votes, saying some voters were given incorrect ballots and others were either improperly allowed to vote or prevented from casting a vote. Both county boards were scheduled to hear evidence in those protests in the coming days. Berger had also asked the State Board of Elections to order a full hand-eye recount of 217 ballots that voting tabulators rejected as undervotes or overvotes. An undervote is when a voter appears not to have voted in a race. The voter may not have fully marked the ballot, or may simply have opted not to vote in that race. An overvote is when there are marks besides both candidates. Sometimes, voters can vote for more candidates than allowed, or start marking one name, then change their mind. “These overvotes and undervotes could very likely determine the outcome of this race,” Berger wrote in his request. The state board [declined to consider](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/03/18/nc-board-of-elections-declines-berger-request-for-hand-eye-recount-of-220-ballots/?ref=down-ballot.info) Berger’s request. State elections director Sam Hayes said there’s no provision in state voting that specifically allows it. Berger argued the board has the authority to order such a recount, anyway, but Page said that would amount to special treatment. Berger had also filed an election complaint against the Page campaign, alleging [voter intimidation](https://ncnewsline.com/2026/03/16/berger-alleges-page-campaign-is-intimidating-voters-who-say-they-received-the-wrong-ballot/?ref=down-ballot.info). Page has denied any wrongdoing. *This story is developing and will be updated.* --- # Some NC lawmakers want more psychiatric beds. Advocates say that won’t solve the state’s mental health needs. by Taylor Knopf, North Carolina Health News March 26, 2026 #### **By Taylor Knopf** Every Saturday, Linda McDonough picks up her 26-year-old daughter in Raleigh so they can spend the weekend together at her home in Chapel Hill. Typically, they go thrift shopping, visit family and friends and take in a church service before she takes her daughter back. There was a point at which this routine — so ordinary and unremarkable — seemed almost unimaginable. McDonough started fostering her daughter at seven weeks old and later adopted her. She had a challenging childhood. She has a genetic disorder that has resulted in developmental disabilities and a serious mental illness. She cycled in and out of what McDonough calls “a circuit of hospitals.” After nearly a year in a state-operated psychiatric hospital, McDonough recalled sitting in a conference room with her daughter’s care coordinators as they scrolled through a list of possible places for her to live after discharge. One coordinator would suggest a name, the other would shoot it down. The answer was always the same: The mental health programs wouldn't accept her with a developmental disability, and disability programs wouldn't take her with a mental illness. “I just sat there and cried because there was no place for her,” McDonough said. “But they shoehorned her into this home, and she's done fairly well there.” For more than a decade, her daughter has lived in an [alternate family living home](https://monarchnc.org/sub-topic/residential-services-intellectual-developmental-disabilities/alternative-family-living/?ref=down-ballot.info) with two other people with disabilities and an older married couple who are their caregivers. McDonough obtained legal guardianship over her daughter when she became an adult, which allows her to make decisions about where she lives and what health interventions she receives. McDonough has always been a [fierce advocate for her daughter and others with disabilities](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2017/10/17/10-days/?ref=down-ballot.info). She founded — and still teaches at — [a school in Durham for children with complex behavioral health issues](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2017/03/01/durham-special-school/?ref=down-ballot.info). It was a long, hard-fought journey, but McDonough’s daughter eventually graduated from an occupational high school program. She’s found a community at her church and has a best friend she likes to visit. ![older white woman stands in a school hallways greeting students walking by in a line](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/JRA_McDonough-1-e1774488539382-321x450.jpg) Linda McDonough greets students at Hope Creek Academy, a school for children with behavioral health needs in Durham that she helped start. McDonough said her daughter is able to live a halfway normal life with her housing arrangement, the services she receives [through the NC Innovations Waiver](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/beneficiaries/nc-innovations-waiver?ref=down-ballot.info) — funded by Medicaid — and finding the right combination of psychiatric medication. Without these things in place, McDonough said, she has no doubt that her daughter would be on the street asking for money. “It's always precarious,” she said. “I know everything could come crashing down any minute.” McDonough has fought to keep her daughter out of the revolving door situation where so many with severe mental illness end up — jail cells, emergency rooms and psychiatric hospitals. This problem [is getting worse in North Carolina](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/02/12/who-gets-bed-in-nc-state-psychiatric-hospitals-and-who-waits/?ref=down-ballot.info) and has drawn the attention of state legislators, who are now debating what to do about it during meetings of a special House committee formed to examine the involuntary commitment process and public safety. But there’s been tension around what are the best solutions. Some lawmakers on the committee want to build more psychiatric hospitals, saying that some people with severe mental illness would be better served living in institutions and off the streets. Meanwhile, people who work closely with this population say community-based supports work, but North Carolina has never fully funded and built an effective system. #### **Committee weighs institutions vs. community care** Since November, lawmakers from the state House of Representatives [have been meeting monthly](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/18/nc-psychiatric-commitment-process-under-scrutiny-after-irynas-law/?ref=down-ballot.info) to hear about the issues plaguing the state’s intertwined mental health and criminal justice systems. The [House Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety](https://www.ncleg.gov/Committees/CommitteeInfo/House/232?ref=down-ballot.info) is expected to release a [report in April with its policy recommendations](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/02/26/involuntary-commitment-committee-lawmakers-mental-health-system-public-input/?ref=down-ballot.info). When Kelly Crosbie, director of mental health at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, [addressed the committee in December](https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewDocSiteFile/104701?ref=down-ballot.info), she talked about the work her department is doing to expand clinical services and other recovery supports in the community. “We've been working very hard on not just clinical models of care … but people with severe mental illness need safe and stable places to live, which we do not have enough of,” Crosbie said. “They also need communities. They need things like clubhouses and peer support specialists so they actually have buddies that know and love them and aren't just trying to hospitalize them. “We're actually trying to build a community infrastructure that actually supports these individuals,” Crosbie continued. ”Medication alone is not going to help the fact that they don't have housing, or they don't have stable communities that understand their illness and actually help them maintain their recovery.” Rep. Carson Smith (R-Hampstead) told Crosbie that based on his experience as the former sheriff of Pender County, he’s concerned about the people who refuse to take their psychiatric medications and are continually picked up by officers and taken to jail or the hospital. “I don't have a problem with the community-based model. I just think there are some folks that it's not meant for,” he said. “\[...\] for these persistent ones, it's a revolving door. And you say, build clubhouses or whatever, the government can't do that, but we can build hospitals. We can build places where they can stay and be safe.” ![Kelly Crosbie and Rep. Carson Smith talk in a legislative committee room with people mingling behind them](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_3253-450x313.jpg) Kelly Crosbie, director of mental helath for DHHS, and Rep. Carson Smith (R-Hampstead) talk after the committee meeting on involuntary commitment and public safety after the two went back and forth over inpatient versus community-based care for people with severe mental illness. Rep. Donna White (R-Clayton) has echoed Smith’s sentiments. White previously worked as a nurse at John Umstead Hospital, a state-operated psychiatric facility that is now closed, and she remembers clients who she said needed a strict routine and constant supervision from trusted caregivers to maintain stability. “We know that everybody cannot live outside of an institution,” White said during the January meeting. “We need to have qualified people in those hospitals that were designed to keep people in a safe environment where they are much happier and they're not out there wreaking havoc among the general population.” Rep. Tim Reeder (R-Ayden) co-chair of the committee and an emergency department physician, told NC Health News that the committee hasn’t had deep conversations about re-institutionalizing people outside of the public meetings. He said he thinks there could be some middle ground for supportive housing that may be more appropriate, such as group homes, in the same way medically complex patients live in skilled nursing facilities. #### **Need for more supportive housing** Though some lawmakers may want people with serious mental illness to live — removed from society — in psychiatric facilities, legally, that’s not an option. Over the past 30 years, there has been a shift toward recognizing the rights of people with disabilities, including mental illness, to have more autonomy. The 1990 [Americans with Disabilities Act](https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/ada/?ref=down-ballot.info) dictates that they cannot be discriminated against because of their disability, and they must be included in community life. The 1999 [Supreme Court decision Olmstead v. L.C.](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/527/581/?ref=down-ballot.info) went a step further, mandating that people with disabilities live in the least restrictive settings possible. The main plaintiffs in that case were two women with severe mental health disabilities who had been confined to a psychiatric facility in Georgia. The case was initiated after they petitioned for their release and they were denied. In 2012, North Carolina [entered a settlement agreement](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2012/08/24/state-reaches-agreement-with-feds-on-community-based-care/?ref=down-ballot.info) with the U.S. Department of Justice over its lack of compliance with the Olmstead decision. The state began a process of moving people with disabilities out of institutions — often ones that lacked the resources to provide them with appropriate services — and into independent living as part of the [Transition to Community Living initiative](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/about/department-initiatives/transitions-community-living?ref=down-ballot.info). So the question remains: What do people with severe mental illness need to safely live in the community? Marti Knisley, the independent reviewer of that settlement agreement who documented the state’s compliance progress for more than a decade, said effective outpatient services paired with supportive housing works. Over the past 11 years, she said only 5 percent of the people discharged from state psychiatric hospitals who moved into supportive housing were readmitted to those hospitals. ![headshot of Bebe Smith, a social worker and mental health advocate. she's an older white woman looking at the camera smiling](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_3701-359x450.jpg) Bebe Smith is a social worker and long-time advocate for people with severe mental illness in North Carolina. North Carolina used to have more housing options for people with severe mental illness, but those largely disappeared with the privatization of the mental health system in the early 2000s, said Bebe Smith, a social worker and longtime advocate for people with mental illness. She remembers when there were different levels of mental health group homes, ranging from more independent living options to high-management settings, where residents received supervision and medication management. Now, she said, there are some scattered sites of independent housing for people with mental illness as part of the Olmstead settlement, but many of those people are left without the services and case management that they need. Additionally, people with severe mental illness sometimes need help managing their rent or dealing with home repairs or an adverse event like a bedbug infestation, explained Elizabeth Barber, executive director of [Threshold Clubhouse](https://www.thresholdclubhouse.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). Clubhouses are a place for adults with serious mental illness to learn life skills, receive vocational training and find community among their peers. #### **The role of community in recovery** People with severe mental illness want and need to live a meaningful life in the community, but to do that they need things like socialization and vocational support, Barber said. Providing those opportunities doesn’t always fall under the state’s clinical service criteria. The clubhouse model exists to fill those gaps, Barber said. And [the model pays off](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2017/06/13/clubhouses-for-people-with-persistent-mental-illness-fears-state-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2025, only 8 percent of active Threshold members were admitted to a hospital, Barber said. Clubhouse care runs about $100 a day per member, while a psychiatric [hospitalization can cost thousands](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/08/23/changes-needed-to-turn-the-tide-of-ncs-mental-health-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info). Barber said there are seven clubhouses like Threshold around North Carolina and that the state plans to open a handful more in the coming years. Ali Swiller, associate director of Threshold, said that people getting basic psychiatric services may only see their psychiatrist every three to six months to check in. A lot can happen between those appointments. “At the clubhouse, because we see people often and know them probably the best out of any treatment that they're engaged with, we're able to advocate for that outpatient treatment much more quickly when something arises before it gets to a crisis level,” Swiller said. “And we're able to provide collateral information to that practitioner to get them an appointment much more quickly and to avoid that hospitalization.” ![frienly looking woman looks at the camera, sits in front of a desk with papers on it.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Threshold_Swiller-450x254.jpeg) Threshold Associate Director Ali Swiller has been working at the clubhouse since 1996. Sometimes Threshold staff even go with a participant to an appointment. But a state Medicaid policy is limiting how many people can access Clubhouse support. Since 2006, a service exclusion has prevented people enrolled in Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) — an intensive outpatient clinical service meant for people with serious mental illness — from also receiving clubhouse services at the same time. Nonetheless, Threshold has continued serving some clients receiving ACT services at no charge. “We have a couple of folks that come here almost every day that are receiving ACT,” Barber said. “From our perspective, it's pretty clear that that is a complementary service that would really produce much better results for folks on ACT if they could also receive Clubhouse services.” Another issue is that as people qualify for Medicare at age 65, that federal payer of health services for older adults doesn’t cover the Clubhouse model — or a host of other intensive outpatient mental health services. Those who work closely with people who have severe mental illness say the system needs to be structured to care for individuals across their entire lifespan. #### **Effective services across the lifespan** For people living with serious mental illness, the need for support doesn't end after a hospitalization or a crisis. The state needs to think in terms of decades, advocates say, not just solving today’s crisis and moving on. “Managed care goes for short-term episodes of care,” said Smith, the longtime social worker. “A lot of the more enhanced services have very strict eligibility criteria, and you have to have Medicaid to get them.” “The way that I think about something like schizophrenia is that you really have to take a life course perspective,” she added, noting that the need for care can stretch for years, even a lifetime. Smith said that means early intervention when symptoms first appear, ongoing psychiatric care and medication management, meaningful case management that helps people stay engaged in treatment and navigate benefits, and stable housing with the right level of support. She said there should also be more engagement of and education for supportive family members of people with severe mental illness. Another issue is that many of the intensive community mental health services exist on paper, but fall short in practice. Knisley, the independent reviewer of North Carolina’s Olmstead settlement agreement, said the state's ACT teams are a prime example. They are supposed to function like hospitals without walls, bringing rigorous services to people where they are. But of the [state's 87 teams](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/25/charlotte-light-rail-killing-exposes-gaps-in-ncs-mental-health-system/?ref=down-ballot.info), her review found that only about six are truly effective. Knisley said North Carolina’s ACT payment model doesn’t incentivize intensive services. She said teams are paid the same regardless of how often or how long they see patients or whether all the positions on the team are filled. ACT teams also lack a tiered structure to match the level of services to patient needs, Knisley said, adding that these factors lead to inconsistent and sometimes poor practices. She said many of the folks she talks with at the state’s mental health managed care organizations who run the ACT teams want to improve them but often lack the guidance and tools to do so. Knisley said meaningful performance improvement is far more complex than ticking boxes on a checklist. Compounding the problem, Knisley said, state dollars for mental health services have dwindled over time, and policymakers shifted to a reliance on Medicaid to fill the gaps. She notes that Medicaid doesn't always cover the most effective services, meaning overall spending can appear stable even as the quality of care declines. This could be exacerbated [over the coming decade as Medicaid cuts](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/29/medicaid-rate-standoff/?ref=down-ballot.info) mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act go into effect. The only way to stop the revolving door of jails and hospitals for people with severe mental illness, these advocates say, is for the state to truly commit to an intensive outpatient system with the right housing and social support. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/03/26/some-nc-lawmakers-want-more-psychiatric-beds-advocates-say-that-wont-solve-the-states-mental-health-needs/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # California leaders lionized César Chávez. Now, they face a reckoning with his past By [Ryan Sabalow](https://calmatters.org/author/ryan-sabalow/?ref=down-ballot.info), [Jeanne Kuang](https://calmatters.org/author/jeanne-kuang/?ref=down-ballot.info), [Nadia Lathan](https://calmatters.org/author/nadia-lathan/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Yue Stella Yu](https://calmatters.org/author/yue-yu/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters This story was originally published by [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Sign up](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) for their newsletters. César Chávez, the legendary California farm-labor activist and Mexican-American civil rights icon, has for decades been a figure intertwined with state and national Democratic politics. Former President Joe Biden had a bust of Chávez inside the White House. Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters a black-and-white photo of Chávez and his close ally Sen. Robert Kennedy is the first picture he sees in his house every morning. And, in California, Chávez’s name is intertwined with day-to-day life. Dozens, if not hundreds, of public schools, boulevards, community centers and city plazas bear his name. He’s even part of California schools’ [official curriculum](https://chavez.cde.ca.gov/ModelCurriculum/Teachers/index1.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info). Now, less than two weeks before California was to celebrate the state holiday honoring the late labor leader’s birthday, state and national Democrats are grappling with the shocking revelation that multiple women have come forward alleging that Chávez raped them. One of those women was his partner in the movement, Dolores Huerta. On Wednesday, [The New York Times published](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/us/cesar-chavez-sexual-abuse-allegations-ufw.html?ref=down-ballot.info) an investigation naming three women who accused Chávez of using his position of power to sexually assault them. Two were the daughters of union leaders. They told the Times they were abused as girls. The other was Huerta, herself a labor icon, who co-founded the farmworker union with Chávez, popularized the rallying cry of “Sí, se puede” and who remains a towering figure in Democratic politics. Huerta said in the Times story that Chávez had raped her, and that she had given birth to two children after encounters with him. “Unfortunately, he used some of his great leadership to abuse women and children — it’s really awful,” Huerta, 95, told the Times. ![Dolores Huerta speaks into a handheld microphone, gesturing with one hand toward an audience while standing against a plain indoor backdrop.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/022324_Bakersfield-Event_JAH_CM_15-1024x682.jpg) Dolores Huerta speaks at the CalMatters event "Farmworker Health: How Can California Protect its Essential Workers?" in Bakersfield on Feb. 22, 2024\. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters The fallout from the revelations was immediate as Democratic politicians and labor activists scrambled to react to one of their heroes being forever tarnished. “How many days I’ve marched, how many times I’ve been with students, talking about the movement, how many photographs I have in my house of Bobby Kennedy and César Chávez,” Newsom told reporters at a press conference. “It’s been hard to absorb this.” His wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a sexual assault survivor and director of several films about gender equality, told reporters in tears that she was “shaking a little about Dolores and these young women.” “The women are in our hearts,” she said in Spanish. The [United Farm Workers](https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/03/cesar-chavez-ufw-romero/?ref=down-ballot.info), the union that Chávez founded, called the accusations “indefensible” and cancelled its César Chávez Day events. Just four years ago, the union [recreated his iconic March to Sacramento](https://www.capradio.org/articles/2022/08/26/farmworkers-march-335-miles-to-sacramento-in-push-for-labor-rights/?ref=down-ballot.info) as it pushed Newsom to sign a law meant to [make it easier for it to sign up members](https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/11/wonderful-company-farm-union-lawsuit/?ref=down-ballot.info). ## California starts scrubbing Chávez’s name Other state political leaders, members of Congress and Democratic candidates for governor, meanwhile, put out statements condemning the allegations and showing support for the women who spoke out. “For survivors and their families, the weight of their pain is real and ongoing,” Democratic Assembly Speaker [Robert Rivas](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/robert-rivas-165041?ref=down-ballot.info) said in a statement that didn’t name Chávez. “The farmworker movement has never been about one man; it is bigger than any one person, and its values of dignity and justice are more important now than ever. To those who have found the courage to come forward, my heart is with you.” Rivas, like many California Democrats serving in the Legislature, has close ties to the labor movement and is a former union member. Rivas grew up in farmworker housing and has long made Chávez part of his political story. [In 2024](https://x.com/CASpeakerRivas/status/1776380748142092433?ref=down-ballot.info), he was honored at the César Chávez Foundation alongside Jane Fonda. Rivas’ office didn’t respond to CalMatters when asked whether the Legislature will fast-track legislation to rename the state holiday in time for March 31\. The Legislature made it an official holiday in 2000\. To change the name, the Legislature would have to pass a bill that Newsom would have to sign into law. Newsom told reporters he was open to the idea, but leaders need some time to absorb the shock. “We have to unpack all of this, dive a little deeper first to understand, before we jump to the next steps,” he said. “There’s a sense of urgency on that in the context of this being the month we celebrate the life and times of a figure we’ve long embraced and revered.” The Legislature’s Latino Caucus also is discussing what to do, said Los Angeles Democratic Assemblymember [Mark González](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mark-gonzalez-187427?ref=down-ballot.info). “All options are being thoughtfully considered in response to the allegations of sexual violence involving César Chávez, including the possibility of renaming the state holiday,” he said in a statement. “This is a moment that calls for care, accountability, and a commitment to supporting survivors of sexual violence.” At the same time, local leaders were also considering removing Chávez’s name from their landmarks. ## Cities review park, street names San Diego officials may rename César Chávez Parkway, according to spokesperson Dave Rolland. “The allegations of abuse involving César Chávez are shocking and disturbing,” Mayor Todd Gloria, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Our first concern must be with the survivors who have come forward and those who were unable to do so.” The city, which is the second most-populous in the state, has a park and avenue named after the civil rights leader. In Sacramento, where César Chávez Plaza sits just a few blocks from the Capitol, leaders also are taking steps to rename the landmark. ![A low-angle view of a bronze statue of a person standing with one hand slightly extended, silhouetted against a bright sky. Sunlight flares from behind the figure’s head, while a streetlamp with red and green banners and leafy trees frame the scene below.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/031826-Cesar-Chavez-Plaza-MG-CM-01-1024x682.jpg) A sculpture dedicated to César Chávez and the farmworkers labor movement stands at César E. Chávez Memorial Plaza in Sacramento on March 18, 2026\. The monument depicts César Chávez leading farmworkers during the historic march to the state Capitol in Sacramento in 1966\. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters Mayor Kevin McCarty, a former Democratic lawmaker who says he participated in UFW and Chávez Day marches for 30 years, was convening a subcommittee to work on changing the name. “We take these allegations seriously and will ensure the naming of our city facilities aligns with our values,” he said in a statement. ## Chávez a towering figure in Democratic politics For many Democrats, Chávez was more than just a historical figure — he embodied the party’s ideals about labor, justice and social change. He was also a revered leader within the Latino communities, many of whom remembered him for his decades-long fight for farmworker rights. “Certainly no one can deny that César Chávez has been an incredibly influential figure in not just California’s landscape, but really nationally,” said Mindy Romero, founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy who studies Latino politics. From rallies to protests to floor speeches, California Democrats frequently invoke his name. Lawmakers have referenced Chávez at least 278 times in hearings since 2023, according to the CalMatters [Digital Democracy database](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “We will often see invoking of César Chávez … as almost proof that they are in solidarity with the labor movement and Latino community,” Romero said. Last year’s legislative floor sessions commemorating César Chávez Day featured one lawmaker after the other extolling Chávez and what he represented. ![A person in a crowded outdoor gathering holds up a framed black-and-white portrait above their head. Around them, a dense group of people stands close together, some holding signs and small American flags, while others record on their phones. The background is softly blurred with trees and daylight, emphasizing the raised portrait as a focal point amid the crowd.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/082622_UFW-March-Capitol_RL_CM_02-1024x682.jpg) A person holds a portrait of activist César Chávez during a rally hosted by the United Farm Workers of America urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign AB 2183 in Sacramento on Aug. 26, 2022\. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters “There are so many communities in California that have schools and health clinics and major boulevards and thoroughfares named for César Chávez and for all of this legacy, and they are a recognition of that past. Those roads are the roads to somewhere,” West Sacramento Democratic Sen. [Christopher Cabaldon](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/christopher-cabaldon-5699?ref=down-ballot.info) [told his colleagues](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258848?ref=down-ballot.info#t=2365&f=4b9cadc988da4633344b4d9125d5a239) at the time. “They are the roads for us to continue to press, to fight, especially now, to make real that dream. Because not every farm worker in California has achieved the dreams that Cesar and everyone else that's been mentioned on this floor has aspired to.” The significance of Chavez’s legacy, however, is exactly why the allegations are tough to swallow for Democrats and labor organizers, said Christian Dyogi Phillips, former political director at a Service Employees International Union chapter in Texas and now associate professor of political science and international relations at the University of Southern California. “As organizers, we are always trying to understand power and figure out how we can distribute it more fairly and ensure that people have a voice,” she said. “And all of those dynamics are wrapped up in this story that’s unfolding, and how power has been abused, how people do not have a voice. As organizers, I think there’s nothing worse than that.” Few Latino leaders received recognition as widespread as Chavez: Then-President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. “You have a loss of a hero, but you also just have recognition for our community that is going to be questioned,” Romero said. “Now people will struggle with reconciling this new, horrible element of his history,” she added. “Do people continue to celebrate him? How do they recognize his impact with this new history?” For some Democrats, the allegations were shocking beyond what Chávez represented to their movement. ## Personal connections to Chávez Some had personal connections to Chávez’s alleged victims. California Democratic Sen. [Eloise Gómez Reyes](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/eloise-gomez-reyes-165418?ref=down-ballot.info) of San Bernardino called Huerta “a dear friend.” In a statement, she said she felt a mix of “rage, sorrow, and disappointment” after learning what Huerta and the other women told The Times. “These revelations are deeply painful,” Reyes said. “They demand that we pursue accountability through due process under the law — and that we confront a deeply uncomfortable truth: We must never place any individual above reproach.” Huerta has addressed lawmakers [at least five times](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/people/151693?ref=down-ballot.info) since 2024, according to Digital Democracy. But the allegations also provide politicians with an opportunity to lift up women who were subject to the power dynamics and recognize other Latino leaders who have contributed to the labor movement for decades, political scientists say. Scraping Chavez’s name from schools and road signs, Phillips said, is “the basic and obvious.” “To really honor the movement that this person’s name was such an important symbol of, our elected officials have to do so much more,” she said. “There’s also work to be done for our public leaders … to reach beyond the loudest, most charismatic man in the room into communities and figure out who is really doing the work.” *Digital Democracy’s Foaad Khosmood, Forbes professor of computer engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, contributed to this story.* *Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that Christian Dyogi Phillips worked at a local chapter of SEIU; it was also updated to clarify what Mindy Romero meant regarding Chavez's influence among Latinos.* This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/03/cesar-chavez-california-democrats/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # ‘Wandering officers’ widespread across NC police agencies by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press March 23, 2026 In 2015, **Mark Oakley**, then an officer with the Roanoke Rapids Police Department, slammed a detainee at the Halifax County jail to the ground, then “tased him” while the man was “in handcuffs and posed no threat,” according to a civil lawsuit later filed against Oakley. An officer who is found to have used excessive force against an unarmed person risks losing his career in law enforcement. That didn’t happen in this case. The incident sparked an internal investigation, and the Roanoke Rapids police chief at the time would later tell attorneys that he was prepared to terminate Oakley for misconduct. However, Oakley resigned before that investigation concluded. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** He would go on to work at three more law enforcement agencies over the next eight years, until eventually he landed in nearby Warren County at the Warrenton Police Department, which fired him in March 2024 following an SBI investigation into multiple complaints of Oakley unnecessarily deploying his Taser on civilians. Before Oakley used the stun gun on them, all three individuals named in the lawsuit were “detained and immobilized.” One woman was pinned to the front seat of her car and another was handcuffed in a patrol car. A third man was pinned against the back of a car with his hands visible. Even the investigation into Oakley and his dismissal didn’t mean the end of his career. He continued to work his part-time gig as an officer back in Halifax County with the Littleton Police Department, another small agency just 15 miles from Warrenton. Federal agents arrested him more than a year later for depriving the stun gun victims of their rights “under the color of law,” according to the indictment. Even then, the Littleton police never actually terminated Oakley. Instead, he handed in his resignation five days after being criminally charged. Oakley was a prime example of what criminal justice experts call a “wandering officer.” While no agreed upon definition of a wandering officer exists, the one used by the late scholar **Dorothy Moses Schulz** is helpful: “a police officer who leaves one department after being terminated for misconduct or under a disciplinary cloud, and secures employment in another law-enforcement agency.” This article, the first in the three-part investigative series [Stray Cops](https://carolinapublicpress.org/stray-cops/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), explores the extent of the wandering officer problem in North Carolina. The [second](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75006/how-nc-fails-to-track-and-prevent-wandering-officers/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [third](https://carolinapublicpress.org/75032/changes-to-nc-policies-and-laws-could-reduce-hiring-of-wandering-officers/?ref=down-ballot.info) articles in the series examine the systemic reasons for this phenomenon in North Carolina and potential solutions to increase transparency and accountability in law enforcement hiring. ### NC data limits wandering officer count CPP identified nearly 700 wandering officers in North Carolina as of the most recent data available, although several issues make producing a precise count of wandering officers across the state extremely difficult. For one, the most recent statewide employment data kept by the NC Department of Justice is inadequate for the task. Since switching to a new database system in 2022, publicly available law enforcement employment data no longer gives a reason for why an officer separated from an agency. That makes it impossible to distinguish between officers who leave their departments because they retired versus officers whom agencies terminated because of misconduct. The second problem is identified in Schulz’s definition of a wandering officer. An officer who resigns from one job “under a disciplinary cloud,” as Oakley did in Roanoke Rapids in 2015, is much harder to track compared to an officer whom an agency fired outright. **Keisha James**, an attorney with the National Police Accountability Project, a nonprofit that litigates instances of police misconduct across the county, including North Carolina, said the public often has difficulty getting detailed information about what happened at a previous agency if an officer resigned. “Even in situations where an officer was engaged in misconduct at a previous employer, you might not be able to get any information about what actually happened, because the investigation essentially closed before it can really begin,” she said. “What would have been a termination ends up in a resignation.” So, the total number of wandering officers CPP identified likely undercounts the total cases because it doesn’t include anyone without a dismissal on their record, even if they resigned due to accusations of misconduct. It also wouldn’t include officers who were fired from an agency in another state or those dismissed for misconduct while working for a federal agency, such as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Even so, this problem persists throughout North Carolina and can still be quantified in a few valuable ways. ### Known wandering officers cases across NC CPP’s analysis showed that as of 2022, at least 679 active law enforcement officers whose previous agencies had dismissed them were working again at 327 agencies in North Carolina. That means that a previous agency had fired about 2%, or one out of every 50, of the 31,898 active North Carolina officers in the 2022 DOJ employment dataset. Of those wandering officers, agencies had dismissed 69 of them at least twice during their careers. The most egregious of them had been fired at least five times from five different agencies and still managed to find work carrying a badge and a gun. ![map visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/27943340/thumbnail) Wandering officers are located in all regions of the state, from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Piedmont to the Coastal Plain. The harm they cause is difficult to measure, but lawsuits, administrative court filings and archival media reports reveal the potentially devastating consequences of allowing them to remain in law enforcement. **Mark Anthony Russell** currently works as a Transylvania County sheriff’s deputy. The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office [fired](https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/news/2011/05/15/fired-deputy-sheriff-dispute-termination/28269786007/?ref=down-ballot.info) Russell in 2011 after he was charged with violating a domestic violence protection order. The Brevard Police Department dismissed Russell again in 2014, DOJ data shows. **Douglas Strader** joined the Graham Police Department in 2021, after the Greensboro Police Department had previously fired him for discharging his firearm at a fleeing vehicle. Strader was also one of eight Greensboro officers involved in the 2018 death of **Marcus Smith**, who died in police custody after officers used a "hogtie" restraint to subdue him. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260308_131316-scaled.jpg) The Washington County Courthouse is located in Plymouth. Frank Taylor / Carolina Public Press In the case of **Jeffrey Edwards**, the State Highway Patrol fired him in 2010 for misconduct, only for Edwards to end up as a deputy at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Washington County later fired him in 2022 after he made a [violent arrest](https://carolinapublicpress.org/68339/washington-county-deputy-fired-violent-arrest/?ref=down-ballot.info), dragging a handcuffed detainee down the stairs of the courthouse. The detainee in that case, who received treatment at a hospital for injuries sustained during the arrest and later had his charges dropped by the district attorney, sued Edwards in 2024 with the help of the National Police Accountability Project and eventually [settled](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74112/washington-county-nc-former-deputy-lawsuit-settled/?ref=down-ballot.info) out of court. Edwards still works in law enforcement today as a deputy with the Tyrrell County Sheriff's Office. ![table visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/27945049/thumbnail) ### Some who wander become boss In some cases, wandering officers failed upwards into leadership positions, often at small departments. Such was the case with both of Oakley’s bosses in Warrenton and Littleton, who hired him after he resigned from Roanoke Rapids. Former Warrenton Police Chief **Goble Lane** lost his job with the Franklinton Police Department in Franklin County in 2005, then went on to work at three more agencies over the next five years before settling in Warrenton. A 2025 civil lawsuit accuses Lane of protecting Oakley despite persistent complaints from civilians and fellow officers. According to the lawsuit, Lane once instructed another police officer to alter paperwork related to a separate incident to make it appear that Oakley was not at fault. The lawsuit, which brought legal claims against not just Oakley and Goble but the Town of Warrenton itself, accused Goble of retaliating against other officers who reported Oakley's misconduct. “There's many instances where there's a ‘rogue officer,’ or someone who acts alone and the supervisors have a very good case to make that they really didn't know what was happening,” said **Abraham Rubert-Schewel**, the attorney representing the plaintiffs who claimed Oakley used excessive force against them. “But here, the facts really show something different.” Certification records indicate that Lane currently works at the Middlesex Police Department in Nash County and in Henderson with the Vance-Granville Community College Police Department. Meanwhile, Oakley’s other boss, **Phillip Trivette**, who isn’t named in the civil lawsuit, had been dismissed from three departments before becoming chief of police in Littleton. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260308_100211-scaled.jpg) A Littleton Police Department squad car is parked outside the department offices in Halifax County. Frank Taylor / Carolina Public Press In 2016, an administrative law judge [affirmed](https://www.oah.nc.gov/documents/files/alj/15-doj-05546/open?ref=down-ballot.info) a decision by the NC Sheriff’s Standards Division to deny Trivette’s application for certification with the Halifax County Sheriff’s Office, based on four prior misdemeanor convictions for worthless checks. He was later hired in Littleton. In an [interview](https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article287912540.html?ref=down-ballot.info) with the News & Observer, Trivette defended his decision to retain Oakley after he’d been fired from Warrenton, claiming that he’d never had any problems with Oakley at his department. Trivette announced his retirement as chief in 2025, several months before Oakley was arrested. Littleton’s website shows that Trivette still works there as a police officer. In another case, **Orlando Rosario Jr.**, an officer who had been dismissed from three different agencies in his career, became the police chief in the tiny town of Stantonsburg in Wilson County. The Goldsboro Police Department hired Rosario in 2008, after four short stints at other police departments, one of which fired him. In 2009, the Goldsboro News-Argus reported that Rosario caught heat from the local NAACP chapter for telling a trainee during an arrest at an apartment complex to “shoot (anyone in the crowd of onlookers) in the f—ing head if he gets any closer.” Goldsboro later dismissed Rosario in 2011\. The Black Creek Police Department then fired him from his next job in 2015\. But he managed to stick with Stantonsburg, where he worked for 10 years before resigning as chief in 2025. Employment records indicate that Rosario currently works as an officer with the Knightdale Police Department, his eighth agency in 25 years. None of the departments where Rosario, Trivette or Lane currently work responded to CPP’s request for comment before the publication of this story. [![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Lucas-CTA-for-Elections-newsletter.png)](https://carolinapublicpress.fundjournalism.org/donate/?amount=15&campaign=701VH00000s5cSAYAY&frequency=monthly&ref=down-ballot.info) ### Public and private, rural and urban, large and small The data shows that all types of law enforcement agencies hire wandering officers, including sheriff’s offices, municipalities, state agencies and specialized departments within college campuses, hospitals and airports. Of the 327 agencies in North Carolina that employed wandering officers in 2022, Allied Universal Company Police, which is operated by a private security company based in Pennsylvania, had the most with 23 previously dismissed cops. ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/27948308/thumbnail) Under state law, private companies like Allied Universal are permitted to form company police departments with sworn officers certified by the Criminal Justice Standards Division. Those officers have the same ability to arrest and charge perpetrators with crimes as any other sworn officer in the state. North State Security Group employed at least eight wandering officers in 2022\. Southeastern Company Police and On Point Company Police each employed two, according to the data. College campuses and hospitals are also common places to find wandering officers. The Wake Medical Center, which employed 41 full-time police officers in 2022, had six previously dismissed officers working for them. Vidant Company Police, the law enforcement arm for what is now ECU Health, employed eight previously dismissed officers. The campus police department for North Carolina Central University employed five. The campus departments at Shaw, Elon and North Carolina A&T each employed three. Sheriff’s offices accounted for 322 of the 679 identified wandering officers — or about 47%. Municipal police departments employed 280 of them. More than half of those wandering officers, 383, were employed in rural counties as classified by the NC Rural Center. Agencies in urban counties only accounted for 96 of them. But the most important factor affecting where wandering officers work probably isn’t agency type or urban-rural classifications. It’s more likely that department size and resources matter most. Specifically, small departments — which have less money for things like competitive salaries and thorough background investigations — are overrepresented in the data. For example, both the Tabor City Police Department in Columbus County and the State Highway Patrol employed five previously dismissed officers in 2022\. But considering that Tabor City only had nine full-time officers on its payroll, while the Highway Patrol employed 1,550, those are two vastly different data points. Warrenton, where Oakley worked, employed 10 sworn police officers in 2022, some full-time and others part-time. Of those 10 officers, four including Lane had been dismissed from previous jobs. That count doesn’t even include Oakley, who had resigned under investigation at Roanoke Rapids before he could be fired. In all, at least half of Warrenton’s cops at that time were wandering officers. The civil lawsuit against Oakley, Lane and the Town of Warrenton indicates that not only did Lane know about the complaints about Oakley, but so did at least one Town Council member who chose not to investigate further. That’s an institutional failure, not just the work of one person, Rubert-Schewel said. “In cases like (Oakley’s), clearly the buck doesn’t stop just with the officer. Here, we have direct evidence that his supervisors and an elected official knew what was happening and failed to intervene and discipline or remove Oakley as they should have.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74955/wandering-officers-widespread-across-nc-police-agencies/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # El Paso jail scheduled unauthorized mental health tests for Walmart gunman, records show by Robert Moore, El Paso Matters March 19, 2026 In the spring of 2023, a nurse practitioner at the El Paso County jail made four appointments to take Walmart gunman Patrick Crusius out of the jail for mental health testing, without seeking permission of defense attorneys. The effort was stopped after defense lawyers alerted federal and state judges of the plan, according to records recently made public at the request of El Paso Matters. The appointments were scheduled by Jamie Wyman, a psychiatric nurse practitioner who works at the El Paso County Detention Facility, according to a motion filed May 1, 2023, by Crusius' defense team. The motion was unsealed this month by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama in response to an El Paso Matters request to make public federal court records that had been sealed during the prosecution of the Walmart mass shooter. Joe Spencer, one of Crusius’ defense attorneys, said health providers at the jail should have consulted with them before scheduling any mental health appointments. Otherwise, he said, unscrupulous prosecutors could use jail medical personnel to gain access to psychiatric information about a defendant that they weren’t legally entitled to. He stressed that he doesn’t believe that was what happened in this case. “It's very important (to contact an inmate’s attorney), because the client, especially one that has mental health issues, is at a disadvantage in the sense that he is not all there, and he just is going to go along with whatever anybody tells him to do,” Spencer said. Bill Hicks, who was district attorney in 2023, said his office didn’t request any tests, and was never informed of the jail’s plans to conduct medical tests on Crusius. “We did not make any requests for medical or mental health examinations during my tenure. We did file motions with the court which would have authorized psychological examinations in preparation for sentencing, but those motions had not been heard nor ruled on. So, the orders could not have been as a result of any request by us, during my term,” Hicks said. Assistant County Attorney Carlos Madrid said referrals for specialized treatment of jail inmates are made by medical and mental health professionals who are contracted through University Medical Center and Emergence Health Network. He said the Texas Commission on Jail Standards requires that “(a)ll medical instructions of designated physicians shall be followed.” “In this case, any referrals for outside evaluation or treatment would have been initiated by medical or mental health professionals, not by Sheriff’s Office personnel. The underlying reasons for those referrals involve protected health information, which we are not authorized to disclose,” Madrid said. Wyman scheduled four appointments outside the jail for Crusius, according to the federal court filing: a psychiatric evaluation April 21, a CT scan of the head in Northeast El Paso on April 26, a “3-hour sleep deprived video monitored EEG” on May 2 at a West El Paso sleep clinic, and a neurological exam May 26 in Central El Paso. Spencer said each of those appointments would have required massive security for moving Crusius. “At one point we did have Patrick leave the jail to do a testing that we wanted to have done, and the amount of security and detail that was involved in that movement was incredible, because the sheriff was very concerned about safety and by a lot of other issues, and that that took great effort to do that,” he said. The defense lawyers said they discovered the appointments through records the jail was required to regularly provide them. The federal court motion said 409th District Judge Sam Medrano, who was overseeing the parallel state prosecution of Crusius, issued an order April 18 canceling the appointments and requiring that medical providers consult with defense attorneys before ordering medical tests of evaluations of Crusius. The defense asked Guaderrama, the federal judge, to issue an order barring the U.S. Marshals Service from transporting Crusius to the medical appointments. In the spring of 2023, Crusius was held in the county jail under federal custody. Guaderrama ruled on May 2 that the request was moot because the appointments had been canceled by Medrano. The federal court motion said that because Crusius hadn’t filed a notice of intent to pursue an insanity defense, the state had no right of access to perform medical or mental exams. “By ordering these examinations and diagnostic studies, the state is gaining unauthorized access to the mental state of the defendant, which actions stampede into protected defensive strategies,” the motion said. Crusius [pleaded guilty in February 2023 ](https://elpasomatters.org/2023/02/08/patrick-crusius-guilty-walmart-shooting/?ref=down-ballot.info)to federal hate crimes and weapons charges in the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting at the Cielo Vista Walmart that killed 23 people and wounded 22 others. He wrote in an online post shortly before the shooting that he was acting to stop “the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” In July 2023, Crusius was [sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms in federal prison](https://elpasomatters.org/2023/07/07/patrick-crusius-life-sentence-for-aug-3-2019-walmart-mass-shooting/?ref=down-ballot.info). He [pleaded guilty in April 2025](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/04/21/patrick-crusius-guilty-life-in-prison-sentence-aug-3-2019-walmart-mass-shooting/?ref=down-ballot.info) to state charges of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and received 23 life terms without possibility of parole. Crusius pleaded guilty after federal and state prosecutors separately [decided not to seek the death penalty.](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/03/24/james-montoya-patrick-crusius-death-penalty-aug-3-2019-walmart-shooting/?ref=down-ballot.info) He is serving his sentence at a state prison in Palestine, Texas. This [article](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/03/19/el-paso-jail-mental-health-tests-patrick-crusius-defense-blocked/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [El Paso Matters](https://elpasomatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Mass. bottle deposit system continues nosedive, hitting new low last year by Jordan Wolman, CommonWealth Beacon March 25, 2026 **A STAPLE FEEL-GOOD** win that served as a hallmark of Massachusetts’s commitment to environmental causes has suffered from a decades-long slow but decisive downward spiral. The state’s bottle deposit program, which has handed out a nickel for each eligible bottle and can that consumers redeem since it started in 1983, has been hailed as a game-changer in reducing litter and incentivizing recycling. But the program’s success has deteriorated steadily over time. In fiscal year 1995, 87 percent of eligible bottles and cans bought in the Bay State were redeemed. Ten years later, the redemption rate dropped to two-thirds. Last fiscal year, just one-third of the bottles and cans sold in Massachusetts that could be returned were brought back for redemption, according to data from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Out of the 10 states that have a “bottle bill,” including neighboring New York, Vermont, and Connecticut, Massachusetts has the lowest redemption rate. “It’s a distinction with dishonor,” said Janet Domenitz, executive director of MASSPIRG, a public interest group and longtime proponent of the program. “And it’s so obvious how we could improve instantly.” For advocates, it’s a clear sign of the obvious: A nickel just isn’t what it used to be more than 40 years ago, leading more people to forego the chore of redeeming containers. They are making a push for legislative reforms that would double the refund rate from 5 to 10 cents and expand the list of bottles and cans that can be redeemed. Past efforts have stalled — [clearing the Senate](https://malegislature.gov/PressRoom/Detail?pressReleaseId=106&ref=down-ballot.info) as recently as 2024, only to peter out in the House — but this time, advocates are taking a new tack: targeting Polar Beverages, the popular Worcester-based company that opposes bottle bill expansion. Just Zero, a national nonprofit environmental advocacy group based in Sturbridge, contends that Polar has wielded particular influence in the Legislature to kill past efforts to expand to the bottle bill. “We're trying to force a divorce between Polar Beverages and the Legislature,” said Kirstie Pecci, the group’s executive director. “They have an outsized voice.” Just Zero is launching a lobbying blitz targeting lawmakers on Beacon Hill and organizing a pressure campaign against Polar. Pecci maintains that the proposed reforms would only minimally impact the company’s bottom line in Massachusetts. Chris Crowley, Polar’s executive vice president, doesn’t dispute that the company has no interest in seeing the bottle bill expanded in Massachusetts. Perceptions of undue influence, however, are flat wrong, he said, though he conceded that the company enjoyed a close relationship with former House speaker Robert DeLeo. “The all-powerful Oz,” Crowley said in jest of the way Polar’s clout is being characterized. “I wish we had that kind of power.” In Massachusetts, consumers pay a 5-cent deposit for glass, plastic, aluminum, and metal containers of beer, carbonated soft beverages, and mineral waters. They can then bring those eligible containers to redemption centers — oftentimes, grocery stores and other similar establishments — for a 5-cent refund per can. Those containers are then returned to the beverage company and recycled. States with bottle bills [generally boast substantially higher recycling rates](https://www.reloopplatform.org/unlocking-recycling-potential-in-the-us/?ref=down-ballot.info) than those without. The system flips the way trash and recycling costs are typically financed in the US by shifting more of the burden onto beverage companies. Under the bottle bill, the producer pays a [handling fee](https://www.bottlebill.org/images/PDF/BottleBill10states%5FSummary41321.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) of either 2.25 cents or 3.25 cents per container to the redemption center, reducing the burden on municipalities that often pay for recycling on a per-ton basis. Bottle bill reforms would not only [lead to](https://www.reloopplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Factsheet-Massachusetts.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) a spike in the redemption rate and an 85 percent litter reduction of containers with deposits, according to a [2022 report](https://www.reloopplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Reimagining-the-Bottle-Bill.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), but they would also save Massachusetts cities and towns at least $26 million per year. The Massachusetts Municipal Association is [supporting the bottle bill expansion](https://www.mma.org/advocacy/mma-urges-telecommunications-utilities-and-energy-committee-to-support-bottle-bill-expansion/?ref=down-ballot.info) for exactly that reason. Adam Chapdelaine, the head of the organization, wrote to lawmakers last year that “the era where recycling was profitable to cities and towns has unfortunately come and gone.” There has been an 18 percent increase in municipal solid waste disposal and recycling processing costs between 2021 and 2024, [according to](https://www.mass.gov/doc/extended-producer-responsibility-commission-report/download?ref=down-ballot.info) the state Department of Environmental Protection. Still, the growth of curbside recycling, broader affordability concerns, and decline of the bottle deposit system itself is arguably making it harder for the reforms to gain momentum. Beverage manufacturers and the waste collection industry argue that doubling down on a program in tatters — and charging consumers 5 cents more up front — is illogical, while supporters of the program contend that the system’s decline is all the more reason for a makeover after remaining largely unchanged for 40-plus years. The opposition from business groups has made enacting the reforms, many of which have been on the table for more than a decade, an uphill battle. Crowley, for one, called the bottle bill an “incredibly inefficient way to recycle” compared to curbside programs and something that is expensive for companies like Polar to operate. The waste industry is also fighting expansion. Lewis Dubuque, vice president of chapter management for the Northeast states at the National Waste and Recycling Association, disputed that an expanded bottle bill could save municipalities money because beverage containers often represent some of the most valuable materials in the recycling stream that haulers then sell. “You are going to increase the price of recycling for municipalities. That’s just a fact,” he said. “The price of the bottle is also going to go up at the store by 5 cents. It basically is acting as a regressive grocery tax.” A glaring hole in the program’s ability to drive redemption is the lack of accessibility for consumers to return their containers. Only one-quarter of the retailers required to accept back bottles and cans are doing so in the Bay State, [according to a 2022 report](https://www.container-recycling.org/images/2022/Press%20release%20on%20redemption%20rates%20for%202021%20with%20chart%20final.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=8f9b6a41-080f-47dc-9a5d-f3c443cb8266&ref=down-ballot.info) from the Container Recycling Institute, pointing to a significant enforcement lapse. One reason for the legislative reluctance to embrace expansion is a 2014 ballot measure that saw voters decisively reject a bottle bill expansion by a roughly 73-27 margin. “That's a pretty clear mandate to us,” said Stephen Boksanski, executive director of the Massachusetts Beverage Association. “You just don't see those types of numbers if there's not a good reason behind it.” That failed ballot initiative, which would have doubled the refund rate, increased the handling fee, and expanded the system to essentially include all beverage containers, still looms large over the expansion efforts underway today. The measure attracted the opposition of big players — and their dollars to back it up. The American Beverage Association, the national organization affiliated with Boksanski’s group that represents brands like Dr. Pepper and Dasani, bankrolled the bulk of the opposition campaign that poured in a total of roughly $9.5 million to defeat the measure. (Ralph Crowley, Jr., Polar’s president and CEO, serves as treasurer of the American Beverage Association’s [board of directors](https://www.americanbeverage.org/about-us/board-of-directors/?ref=down-ballot.info).) Other large companies like Coca-Cola, Stop & Shop, and Nestle also pitched in, according to records from the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. “We're agnostic to some degree as to how people recycle,” Boksanski said. “We want those bottles back. If that means going to your transfer station, if that means putting it at your curb, if that means going to your redemption center, we want people to do all of the above. But why would we invest more money in a system that's not going to get us where we want to go?” he said of expanding the deposit program. “It’s an expensive system to run, and when you're not getting the returns, it's disappointing and frustrating.” Campaign ads opposing the 2014 ballot question ripped it for promoting "forced deposits" and argued that "yesterday's solutions will not meet today's challenges." The lopsided defeat of the question came despite support for expanding the bottle bill from lots of [leading officials](https://www.dotnews.com/2014/10/15/gov-patrick-has-clear-views-four-state-ballot-questions/?ref=down-ballot.info), including then-Gov. Deval Patrick. Advocates don’t sugarcoat the 2014 outcome, but are still bitter about the role that heavy corporate spending played. “It was a lashing,” said Domenitz, the MASSPIRG leader. “But we got outspent by $10 million. They did an excellent job of befuddling everybody.” In addition to raising the deposit to 10 cents and expanding eligibility to most beverage containers, a bill now pending at the State House would require a regular review of the handling fee and set targets so that 95 percent of bottles and cans are redeemed by 2033. The irony of the steadily declining redemption rate is that it has infused state coffers with tens of millions of dollars in unredeemed deposit money. That money is now left in the General Fund, but the proposed legislation would direct some of it toward a dedicated environmental fund. “The federal government doesn't seem to have the same commitment to the environment that we have,” said Sen. Cynthia Creem, who is leading the bottle bill expansion effort in the Legislature. “So if we don't have all the funding coming in, this is a very small thing that we can do to keep our greenhouse gas emissions down,” since increased recycling displaces the need to produce new materials. Other states with bottle deposit programs have enacted similar reforms in recent years. In 2021, Connecticut raised the deposit level from 5 cents to 10, increased the handling fee paid by beverage companies, and included more containers as eligible. The [redemption rate there jumped](https://www.bottlebill.org/index.php/current-and-proposed-laws/usa/connecticut?ref=down-ballot.info) from 44 percent in 2020 to nearly 65 percent in 2024\. California also [added deposits](https://calrecycle.ca.gov/2023/12/26/press-release-23-11/?ref=down-ballot.info) on more types of beverage containers in 2024. Yet all the jockeying now underway after years of attempted fixes to the country’s worst-performing bottle bill may be more of a dress rehearsal for what will likely be another round in this battle next year. Beacon Hill will be loath to tack on anything resembling a new consumer charge with an election looming, so the battle seems likely to spill over to the new legislative session that begins next January, when advocates are bound to mount another push. This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/environment/mass-bottle-deposit-system-continues-nosedive-hitting-new-low-last-year/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=313632&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) --- # At this St. Paul restaurant, the front door is no longer locked, but the fear isn’t gone either by Shadi Bushra, MinnPost March 18, 2026 Since the first full weekend of March, customers can walk into [Homi Mexican restaurant](https://homirestaurant.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) in St. Paul without waiting for an employee to unlock the front door. For much of the winter, customers had to sit in idling cars or stand outside a freezing entryway before being granted temporary, provisional access, like a Cold War safe house, with the door being locked behind them on the way in and the way out. Now, this novel concept of just walking up, opening the door and entering the restaurant can seem suspiciously easy and carefree. “We’re open for business in a way we haven’t been since November,” Miguel Lopez, Homi’s owner, said. At Homi and scores of other immigrant-run restaurants in the Twin Cities, a security-first mentality created a disquieting environment for hospitality, suggesting that customers should look over their own shoulder to make sure a plainsclothes immigration agent wasn’t tailing them into the building. An unlocked front door may be a milestone, but at Homi, the numbers don’t yet reflect a return to normalcy. Lopez has been able to fill seven of the nine full-time positions he had on payroll prior to Operation Metro Surge. While it’s an improvement, he is apprehensive about returning to pre-surge staffing before customers fully return. “It’s a slow process,” he said. “People knew we were closed, but getting the word out that we’re back open is hard.” The large, high-profile immigration raids may have slowed, but the anxiety they’ve left behind remains. For many workers, returning to the job still means accepting a level of risk. “People are still fearful for their safety, but they need to provide for their families. And the need is more powerful than the fear,” Lopez said following a recent lunch rush. Restaurants that shut down or scaled back operations during the enforcement surge are gradually reopening, but owners say the recovery is slow and uneven. Staffing remains thin, customers are returning cautiously, and the psychological impact of the crackdown still hangs over the immigrant workforce that keeps much of the hospitality industry running. Some restaurants closed temporarily during the height of the disruption. Others switched to takeout-only service as employees stayed home and customers avoided dining out. ### [*Related: The people who run some of your favorite Twin Cities restaurants are scared and exhausted – but determined to survive the ICE crackdown* ](https://www.minnpost.com/economy/2026/01/immigrant-run-restaurants-minneapolis-twin-cities-determined-to-survive-ice-crackdown/?ref=down-ballot.info) Homi closed down for its employees’ safety during the first week of December, when immigration agents first came to Minnesota and began making highly public arrests, sometimes based only on an individual’s skin color, accent, or location of work or residence. Lopez found himself struggling under the weight of the building’s rent and other fixed costs. Even with no payroll and minimal utilities, he still had bills to pay, including his family’s own mortgage. And without the restaurant, he was earning nothing. Homi eventually reopened with a skeleton crew in January, but with one important caveat: The doors would remain locked from the inside, and customers could only order food for takeaway. “We never stopped being afraid. But we did learn how they worked and figured out how to work defensively and protect ourselves,” Lopez said. That was only ever supposed to be a temporary fix. Restaurant owners know that customers are more likely to spend more, recommend their food, and return again if they are able to sit down and eat in the restaurant. That’s why every one of Homi’s 38 seats is precious to Lopez. Customers who once packed the dining room during lunch and dinner hours are returning gradually, he said, but many remain cautious about going out. “People are still worried, so they’re not going out as much as they did before,” he said. On a typical weekday before the federal surge, Lopez said he would be swamped with back-to-back orders from open through around one in the afternoon. During a few hours of downtime, they would prepare and restock for the dinner rush, from four until close. ### [***Related: Want to support democracy? Visit your local Twin Cities art gallery, restaurant or coffee shop***](https://www.minnpost.com/artscape/2026/02/want-to-support-democracy-visit-your-local-twin-cities-art-gallery-third-spaces/?ref=down-ballot.info) Those rhythms haven’t fully returned yet, though Lopez is confident that it’s only a matter of time. He is prepared to limp through the whole season, if he has to. “We might not return to normal business until May," he said, when the weather generally gives his industry a boost anyway. Normal business is something that can be achieved, Lopez said. But the opportunity for a return to normalcy in general may be beyond reach for business owners, workers, and customers, all of whom carry the memories of this winter with them. While business is slowly returning, Lopez said the experience has permanently changed how many restaurant workers see their jobs and their safety, with consequences for the economic sectors and neighborhoods that rely on immigrant labor and spending. “We've been traumatized,” he said of immigrants and people of color in particular. “Nothing's gonna go back to being the same, but we'll try to make the best of it. And hopefully we’ll get to a point that we can be outside freely and go out to the streets and not be fearful of being snatched on the way home or on the way back.” “That's what normal would be for us. When they let us work in peace and make money, spend money, and make this state profitable again.” This [article](https://www.minnpost.com/economy/2026/03/at-this-st-paul-restaurant-the-front-door-is-no-longer-locked-but-the-fear-isnt-gone-either/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MinnPost](https://www.minnpost.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/favicon.png) ![](https://www.minnpost.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=2224546&ga4=3376753669) --- ### Virtual Crisis Care Helps Rural Communities Access Mental Health Resources in Emergencies URL: https://down-ballot.info/virtual-crisis-care-helps-rural-communities-access-mental-health-resources-in-emergencies/ Last updated: 2026-03-25T09:00:13.000Z by Madeline de Figueiredo, The Daily Yonder March 2, 2026 In rural counties where access to emergency mental health resources is [limited](https://www.ruralhealth.us/getmedia/d0196fa0-adcb-463c-a7f7-2f7d52fe8d03/WorkforceRuralBehavHealth.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), Virtual Crisis Care programs are giving law enforcement on-demand access to behavioral health professionals, reducing unnecessary hospitalizations or confinement in jail. Supported by the [Helmsley Charitable Trust](https://helmsleytrust.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), Virtual Crisis Care has been active in South Dakota for over five years and adopted by more than 30 rural law enforcement departments. And in 2025, Wyoming launched a Virtual Crisis Care pilot program. Through Virtual Crisis Care, law enforcement can connect people to behavior health professionals from the telemedicine network [Avel eCare](https://www.avelecare.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) for video-based assessments, intervention, and stabilization. Clinicians guide officers through complex mental health situations, minimizing the need for costly holds, transports, and hospitalizations. Since Virtual Crisis Care was implemented in South Dakota in 2020, 86% of people encountering law enforcement through the program have been able to remain safely at home, accessing local follow-up care and successfully avoiding hospitalization or incarceration. Roberts County, South Dakota, was one of the first communities to pilot the program, first implementing Virtual Crisis Care in the summer of 2020\. “Virtual access has been extremely beneficial in addressing rural service gaps,” said Roberts County Sheriff Tyler Appel. “In our rural communities there is just simply no possibility of getting mental health professionals on site.” Prior to the adoption of Virtual Crisis Care, Appel said Roberts County faced very limited access to mental health professionals, especially after hours. Deputies often had to make critical decisions alone and manage lengthy hospital or evaluation transports. The Virtual Crisis Care program gave deputies real-time clinical guidance, helping them make more informed decisions on involuntary holds and hospitalizations, leading to more tailored, long-term care and fewer individuals in crisis ending up in jail. “Having immediate access to mental health professionals has significantly enhanced de-escalation efforts by allowing individuals in crisis to speak directly with trained clinicians,” Appel said. “This often helps lower anxiety, build rapport, and reduce the adversarial nature that can sometimes occur when law enforcement is the sole responder.” Amber Reints, a psychiatric nurse practitioner and director of behavioral health at Avel eCare, is one of the clinicians that answers these crisis calls. “We will see patients wherever law enforcement is activated,” Reints said. “That initial call can come from inside someone’s home. It can come from within a jail, from a school, or from the side of the road—wherever law enforcement is present—and it can involve individuals of any age group.” When law enforcement encounters someone in crisis, they call the central hub, share basic information, and connect the individual to a clinician via tablet or a secure link for an immediate virtual assessment. Avel eCare nurses have, on average, 17 years of clinical psychiatric experience and answer calls from around the country. The clinician de-escalates, conducts a risk evaluation, creates a safety plan, and works with officers on next steps. Across the country, these services help about 80% of individuals remain safely in place rather than go to inpatient care. “As a clinician, I recently connected with a man in a very rural area who was using substances and experiencing suicidal thoughts after losing a loved one to an opioid-related death just a month earlier. We were able to de-escalate the situation and bring his mom into the conversation,” Reints said. “He was able to receive care right there in his home, without being put in a cop car, taken to a hospital, and left waiting in an emergency room, potentially losing the courage it took to reach out in the first place.” But Virtual Crisis Care isn’t just an emergency response, it’s designed to create sustained support through a network of community health centers that serve as critical local partners. “This program would not be as successful as it is, if not for the partnership of all of our community mental health centers,” Reints said. “When we go live \[with a consultation\], a step in that process is identifying who is going to be the connection point for this person who's in crisis.” Avel eCare clinicians identify the designated, county-specific resources and after the virtual consultation, the nurse sends a confidential report to the patient’s local community health center, which follows up to connect the patient with local resources. Especially in rural areas with low call volumes, these community partnerships make telemedicine 24/7 crisis support possible while also delivering ongoing treatment locally. “That’s what I value most about this program: it meets people where they are in their most vulnerable moments,” Reints said. “As a clinician, I never lose sight of how courageous it is to ask for help, and as a system, we have to keep removing barriers so that when people do reach out, they’re met with both expertise and compassion.” ### Wyoming Pilots Virtual Crisis Care Program Now, a pilot Virtual Crisis Care program is underway in Wyoming. In 2025, The Helmsley Charitable Trust [granted](https://helmsleytrust.org/news-and-insights/helmsley-charitable-trust-grants-nearly-2-4m-to-bring-virtual-crisis-care-to-wyoming/?ref=down-ballot.info) the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police ([WASCOP](https://www.wascop.com/?ref=down-ballot.info)) a $2.4 million grant to bring Virtual Crisis Care to the state. “People who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis need professional help, and Virtual Crisis Care gets them that help immediately,” said Walter Panzirer, a Trustee of the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “In the simplest terms, Virtual Crisis Care saves lives, time, and money. We need more innovative models like VCC, especially in rural areas where there are limited behavioral health resources.” Allen Thompson, executive director of WASCOP, said Virtual Crisis Care is already transforming mental health services in rural Wyoming. “When I started my career 25 years ago, some of our jails across the state were the only option to place somebody in an emergency detention,” said Thompson. Since then, options have improved, but now, Virtual Crisis Care is both expanding on-demand access to clinicians through telehealth, and building more robust systems for local resources. “Through Virtual Crisis Care, we've built out this network of community mental health providers in Wyoming so that each county has an entity that is supposed to provide that mental health at the community level and provide outpatient services for people and be that \[local\] resource for them,” Thompson said. WASCOP recruited law enforcement agencies across Wyoming to join the Virtual Crisis Care pilot, aiming for 75% participation within three years and already reaching about 25% in the first year. WASCOP connected interested agencies to their local community mental health providers, provided a grant-funded tablet and data connection, and facilitated targeted training with Avel eCare. Agencies that are now actively implementing Virtual Crisis Care will have ongoing check-ins and data collection to track outcomes and measure the program’s impact over time. “I think if you look at serving in rural America, not only on the criminal side but on the mental health side, you deal with the same people over years and decades. If you can get someone struggling with addiction or mental health into treatment and help them change their life, then we’re not seeing them anymore on the law enforcement side of things,” Thompson said. While questions of sustainability remain beyond the three-year grant period, Thompson is committed to expanding early intervention and finding a path for long-term Virtual Crisis Care programming. “My long-term hope is that we can get in on the early side of mental health treatment and at the same time reduce the stigma that we’ve always fought with, especially in rural Wyoming, and get people into the right treatment that provides them with the best services,” Thompson said. --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/virtual-crisis-care-helps-rural-communities-access-mental-health-resources-in-emergencies/2026/03/02/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=238445&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) ### In N.C., Stokes County Approves a Data Center Rezoning, Triggering a Citizens’ Lawsuit URL: https://down-ballot.info/in-n-c-stokes-county-approves-a-data-center-rezoning-triggering-a-citizens-lawsuit/ Last updated: 2026-03-23T09:00:27.000Z By Lisa Sorg March 19, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19032026/north-carolina-county-data-center-rezoning-lawsuit/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* WALNUT COVE, N.C.—Tim and Deborah Mabe gazed off their back deck and into a deep cleft where Town Fork Creek flows through their land and on to the Dan River. The creek where 60 years ago Tim’s younger sister floated in a washtub a quarter-mile downstream before he and his twin brother nabbed her. Tim grew up here, playing in the woods and fields that have been in the family for generations. He made his living as a dentist, but he can build and fix anything. He saved an historic barn built by enslaved people on the nearby Hairston Plantation, then disassembled and reconstructed it next to the couple’s house. Tim and Deborah, a retired accountant for US Airways, live in a house built 42 years ago in four days by seven men with 73 logs salvaged from the R.J. Reynolds tobacco warehouse in downtown Winston-Salem. Now in their 70s, the couple have been married 36 years and seem to spend most of their time laughing. “That’s where Deborah feeds the deer,” Tim said, as they rode in a golf cart through the fields fringed with forest. “They’ve gotten so fat they can’t jump.” The spring peepers began to sing below the trees. “It’s so peaceful,” Deborah said. “We come back here every night.” That peace is in jeopardy. By a 3-2 vote, the Stokes County Commissioners in January overruled the local planning board and approved a request by Engineered Land Solutions to rezone 1,844 acres, which will allow the company to construct a massive data center project. The property abuts or includes farms, homes and the burial grounds of Native American and enslaved people. Now the Mabes and a dozen more property owners, as well as two environmental groups, 7 Directions of Service and CleanAIRE NC, [are suing Stokes County.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27892542-2026-03-12-complaint-and-exhibits-hairston-clan-et-al-v-stokes-co/?ref=down-ballot.info) They allege the commission committed a slew of procedural, factual and legal errors, and are asking a judge to invalidate the rezoning. “The commissioners thought we’re just a small town,” Tim Mabe said. “They thought they could tell us anything and we’d believe it.” The commission approved the rezoning based, in part, “on false or materially incomplete premises” about job creation, tax revenue, noise and the protection of culturally sensitive areas,” according to the lawsuit. When the commissioners voted for the data center rezoning, Engineered Land Solutions, which incorporated in December 2024, had not presented a detailed site plan, named a tenant, nor explained how the project would add 250 to 500 jobs and generate $20 million to $40 million a year in tax revenue for the county. The commission allegedly failed to notify all of the affected landowners, court documents show. It also voted to allow data centers on a dozen other properties throughout the county. Those projects can now be built “by right,” and provided they adhere to the zoning ordinance, they don’t require public notice or a hearing. “This lawsuit isn’t suggesting that the county should be anti-tech or anti-development,” said Anne Harvey David, attorney with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. SCSJ is co-representing the plaintiffs with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “But it must be done smartly, deliberately, equitably, according to law and with some attempt at foresight, not simply buying into the pie in the sky hype and grandiose speculation to fill the pockets of developers and tech investors, while the community of Walnut Cove, again, pays the cost.” County Manager Jeff Sanborn told Inside Climate News that “we recognize that land-use decisions can have significant impacts on residents, and the County remains committed to transparency, public participation, and the fair administration of all zoning and planning processes. Stokes County will not comment on specific allegations contained in the complaint at this time, but will provide additional information when appropriate and permitted.” Central to the data center controversy is David Couch, a wealthy and politically connected real estate mogul who lives in Guilford County. Two years ago he was embroiled in a controversial land use case in Summerfield, a small town in nearby Guilford County, where officials denied his application to build a mixed-use development on 1,000 acres. Couch asked state lawmakers to de-annex the property, which would place it in an unincorporated area and unfetter him from Summerfield’s strict development standards. When the House introduced a de-annexation bill—such legislation is common—it didn’t include Summerfield. However, the Senate added Summerfield to the bill a few months after Couch contributed $6,400 to Phil Berger, the Senate President Pro Temp and, at the time, the most powerful legislator in either chamber. Now one of Couch’s companies, DFC Stokes, owns the three parcels where the data centers would be built. Yet the rezoning request, which Couch signed, listed four parcels, including acreage belonging to John Wayne Fulks. Because the commission didn’t independently verify DFC’s ownership claims, Fulks’ home of 14 years suddenly was zoned heavy industrial—without his permission. The county’s property database still lists Fulks’ property as residential-agricultural, but now his three acres is an island, surrounded by heavy industrial zoning. Couch did not respond to phone calls seeking clarification on the error. Through his attorneys at the Southern Environmental Law Center, Fulk declined to comment on the case. “It seemed that the commission was almost unaware of what it was doing” when it rezoned the land from residential-agricultural to heavy industry, Harvey David, the SCSJ attorney, said. DFC Stokes originally proposed a 633-acre solar farm for the property. After the commissioners denied the project, the company sued Stokes County. The case is still being litigated. “If we turn down a data center and a solar farm ends up on that property, it would be a tragedy,” said Stokes County Commissioner Rick Morris before the data center decision in January. “It would provide nothing but an ugly eyesore and no revenue. “ ## **A Heated, Chaotic Commission Meeting** Betty’s Outdoors on N.C. Highway 89 in Walnut Cove sells fishing and hunting supplies, like bait buckets and blackpowder, as well as camping supplies. The shop is also the rare full-service gas station. Shortly after the lawsuit was announced in mid-March, a young man wearing camouflage and reflective sunglasses pulled up in his blue pickup truck and chatted with the person pumping his gas about the data center. They were disgruntled with the commissioners who they felt had disregarded the strenuous opposition of their constituents. “They passed it anyway,” the man said, shrugging, as he drove away. Walnut Cove is a town of 1,500 people in southeastern Stokes County. The area has long been targeted by energy industries. Duke Energy has operated a nearby coal-fired power plant in Belews Creek, since 1974\. The utility also plans to build at least one small modular nuclear reactor there. Fracking interests have occasionally eyed this part of the county, which is undergirded by shale formations within the Dan River sub-basin. In 2015, county commissioners, all of them Republican, unanimously approved a three-year moratorium on the process, which uses horizontal drills and a chemical cocktail to fracture the rock and extract natural gas. But that was 11 years ago, and a new commission is in charge. At the January 2026 meeting, more than 100 people crammed into the commissioners’ chambers. A room on the third floor held an overflow crowd, and another 100 or so protested outside—so loudly that their chants could be heard over the livestream. One commissioner asked a sheriff’s deputy to quiet the crowd, but the protest continued. On YouTube, the chat was filled with viewers’ withering criticisms of the commissioners: “Who’s the tool who said this is a golden opportunity?” “These people should not represent Stokes.” “Vote them out.*”* Drew Nations, CEO of Engineered Land Solutions, told commissioners the data centers would create 250 to 500 well-paying jobs. The project would not take water from the Dan River for cooling the computers, but rather use water sourced elsewhere and recycle it in a closed loop system, he said. The noise level would not exceed 70 decibels, about the volume of a dishwasher, Nations said, albeit one that is constantly running. Seventy decibels is also the maximum safe noise level, averaged over a 24-hour period, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Until it becomes feasible to connect to the Duke Energy grid, the data centers would be powered by onsite generators, likely fueled by natural gas, releasing methane, carbon dioxide and other harmful air pollutants. After nearly three hours, the commissioners explained how they planned to vote. “I wasn’t crazy about one coming to Stokes,” Keith Wood said. “But while I was praying about this one morning my wife had Fox News on and Charles Payne”—of Fox Business News—”came on and made a comment that ‘any city or county who refuses to commit to a data center is committing economic suicide.’” “And I said, ‘I’m in.’” ## **A Forever Home and an Eternal Resting Place** Rachel Dillon and her adult son, Bryce, live on Tuttle Road with three German shepherds and a house full of plants. Rachel bought the 10-acre property a decade ago with the life insurance money left by her older son, Matthew, who died unexpectedly. She grows hay to sell to local cattle farmers. Rachel likes to sit outside at night and look at the stars. She can hear coyotes in the distance and see raccoons and deer cut through her field. This is Rachel’s forever home, which she plans to leave to Bryce so he can raise his family here. Rachel and Bryce are plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the county. Their property adjoins that of the data center, separated only by a threadbare tree line. “We just built a back porch,” Bryce said, “so we can look at a data center.” The Dillons say neither the developers or the commissioners will have to live with the consequences of their decision. Nations, CEO of Engineered Land Solutions, lives in Charlotte. None of the commissioners live in Walnut Cove. From the Dillons’ front yard, they can see a solar farm being built across Tuttle Road on property owned by a New Bern company. They’re watching the transformation of land all around them. “Once farmland is gone it’s gone,” Rachel said. “They’re going to destroy all that for pure greed.” Nations has promised not to build on the 900 acres of floodplain near the Dan River, where archaeologists have found Native American burial grounds. The data center property also contains parts of Upper Sauratown, a village where Saura Indians lived beginning in the fifteenth century. In 1972, a teenage boy found a young native woman buried near the Dan River. She became known as Sauratown Woman, and forensic scientists estimated that she was 18 to 21 years old when she died, likely in the early 1700s. “For my people, this is not simply an archeological discovery,” said Crystal Cavalier-Keck, a member of the Occaneechi-Saponi tribe and the executive director of 7 Directions of Service, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “This is the place of one of our ancestors. It is a resting place, and there are many burial mounds and graves along the river, but her burial reminds us that these lands along the Dan River Corridor are not empty land waiting for development.” Sauratown Woman was laid to rest with whelk shells that are often found in the Dan River, bracelets and a brass pendant adorned with hundreds of glass trade beads and brass bells, as well as scissors and a spoon. “These objects tell a story of a people who are still deeply rooted in their traditions, while also encountering new trade networks and new pressures brought by colonization, Cavalier-Keck said, “and that reflected her changing world that her people have been living in.” ### Mississippi school district is addressing its educator shortage URL: https://down-ballot.info/mississippi-school-district-is-addressing-its-educator-shortage/ Last updated: 2026-03-20T09:00:13.000Z **It's Friday, March 20, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** To address its teacher shortage, one Mississippi Delta school district is growing its own**,** Charges dismissed for 2 of ‘Broadview 6’ ICE facility protesters**,** After a Decade of Missteps, a Texas City Careens Toward a Water-Shortage Catastrophe, Only 13 of the nearly 100 known lynching sites in Virginia have historic markers. A new state program seeks to change that, Disability Advocates Challenge Research Claiming Access to Disability Services Is Better in Rural Communities, Debate over Buncombe’s Craggy Dam. Value, cost, benefit and future in doubt, Missouri and Kansas legislation looks to expand the reach of the alternative medicine doctors. **Media outlets and others featured:** Mississippi Today, Capitol News Illinois, Inside Climate News, Cardinal News, The Daily Yonder, Carolina Public Press, The Beacon. --- # To address its teacher shortage, one Mississippi Delta school district is growing its own by Leonardo Bevilacqua, Mississippi Today March 13, 2026 CLARKSDALE — Clarksdale had the second highest teacher shortage in Mississippi last year — 40 posted vacancies in July. For district administrators, that staffing challenge hits particularly hard each year in late summer when they try to fill vacancies before the new school year begins. The problem affects students, too, when they're taught by substitute teachers for weeks at a time. Clarksdale schools leaders have also tried a solution that researchers and think tanks suggest: Identifying potential teachers early — before they even graduate high school. This approach also [increases diversity](https://teacherdiversity.nctq.org/brief/a-new-roadmap-for-strengthening-teacher-diversity/?ref=down-ballot.info) in local teacher workforces, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality. Nearly half of Mississippi public school students are Black, but about a quarter of their teachers are, according to [the council's data](https://teacherdiversity.nctq.org/dashboard/?ref=down-ballot.info). The gap has only shrunk by roughly one and a half points in the last 10 years. “We cannot continue to work in the education arena like it’s a factory putting out the next product,” said Adrienne Hudson, who runs Clarksdale-based nonprofit organization [RISE](https://www.risems.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), which assists aspiring educators with licensure requirements. “As we can see in the numbers, we don’t have enough products. The supply and demand are not matching.” “We have to do better at cultivating the educators in our schools and communities.” Cultivating educators in the community would also address disparities between the demographics of teachers and their students. ### A way ‘to change kids’ lives’ One way the district is trying to cultivate educators is through a vocational educator preparation class Candace Barron teaches at Clarksdale Municipal School District’s Carl Keen Career and Technical Education center. Triccia Hudson, the center’s director, had the goal of widening the pipeline for future educators in Clarksdale. She first recruited Barron to teach the course during the 2021-2022 school year. “You don’t see as many families of educators any more,” Hudson said. “It was clear to me that aspiring teachers needed more mentorship.” More than a dozen Clarksdale students are getting a feel for a career well known to them: teaching. In a classroom once devoted to a cosmetology course, students are learning how to plan lessons, manage classrooms and about the different roles in a school district. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/13113813/IMG_4163.jpeg) The teacher preparation course classroom at the Carl Keen Center for Career and Technical Education in Clarksdale, Dec. 15, 2025 In Barron’s course, students start their first semester learning about the origins of public education. The introductory lectures fascinate students. It was interesting to learn that it’s always been about helping people by “spreading information,” Clarksdale High School sophomore Khloe Reed said. Beyond having the opportunity to join a profession that predates the country’s founding, students in Barron’s class say they are drawn to education because of their lived experiences in their community. Barron has observed that high school-aged students understand the obstacles facing their fellow students and are in a good position to learn skills teachers employ to educate and inspire developing minds. For sophomore Leah Myles, helping kids with learning disabilities inspired her to take the course. She saw how her brother struggled with his reading lessons, and she was moved “to learn how to help students like him.” Sophomore Jamarick Davis said education has the power to “change kids’ lives.” He remembers his assistant teachers fondly and saw the impact a good teacher can have on a student who struggles in the classroom and at home — and might act out in class for attention. Davis’ favorite teacher never seems to be in a bad mood despite challenges that educators face outside and inside the classroom. Some students come from teacher families, while others admire alumni who entered the profession. All were aware that a teacher’s role involves more than what is in the textbook. As Reed put it, teachers are a positive role model in a young person’s life. Myles said teachers help students by challenging them, and demonstrating how they care. “Teachers play a very important role in our community because without them, we wouldn't really know anything,” said Reed. “It wouldn't be a very lively life if you didn't know anything at all. ### 22 years in the classroom Candace Barron has taught elementary school for 18 years and high school for four, but she still lights up with admiration when a student grasps a new concept or demonstrates eloquence. The Clarksdale native has taught hundreds of students and seen her corner of the world regress and progress from under the fluorescent bulbs in Clarksdale’s city classrooms. When she graduated college, Barron followed in her parents’ steps when she became a teacher. She realized how important empathy was to a teacher whose classroom has students from various households and skill levels. “I do have bad days, but I try not to bring it to work,” Barron said. “I don't know what (students) have been through at home and I don't want to add to that by coming in and bringing my problems. So I come in, I have my game face on, I'm going to do what we have to do.” That dedication matters as the teacher shortage has gotten worse in Clarksdale [and other cities and counties across Mississippi](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/18/k12-teacher-vacancies-increase/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the past year. “We really have lost a lot of the efforts that were put in place to combat the teacher storage crisis, " Adrienne Hudson said. “Many of the scholarship incentives that used to be prevalent and professional development opportunities no longer exist.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/13113750/IMG_4165.jpeg) Student poster boards are on display at the Carl Keen Center for Career and Technical Education in Clarksdale, Dec. 15, 2025 Barron said she believes the program can ignite students’ interest in an education career. The lessons give students the confidence and skillset to pursue careers where communication and project management are components — even those who don’t end up pursuing education, Barron said. One student told Barron the class helped her with a speech impediment. The student felt more confident delivering presentations, and began to imagine careers that she felt discouraged from pursuing previously. “At this age, they're still trying to decide what they want to do. So the more you expose them to every different area, it'll help them decide,” Barron said. Outside of the state-approved curriculum and textbook, students learn the art of crafting classroom bulletin boards. Fewer craft projects conjure as much nostalgia and appreciation. Some teachers spend hours with a ruler and yards of colored construction paper decorating their classroom in late July before school starts. Creativity is the key to a successful poster board, Barron said. One student was inspired to construct a data wall with construction paper made to look like wood, while another put together a yellow bulletin board with crayons bearing the name of students. “I really hope that by the end of the program that they feel like they can make an impact on somebody's life by becoming a teacher or getting into the education field,” said Barron. “That is my hope. So all of the negatives that they hear, I hope that I can dismiss some of them. “Students tell me at the end of (the course), they want to be successful like teachers.” This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/03/13/clarksdale-deltal-teacher-shortage/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1171837&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- ## Sign up for Down Ballot The best state and local government news Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. --- # Charges dismissed for 2 of ‘Broadview 6’ ICE facility protesters by Hannah Meisel, Capitol News Illinois March 16, 2026 ### **Article Summary** - A federal judge on Friday granted prosecutors’ motion to dismiss charges against two of the “Broadview Six” who were charged with conspiracy stemming from a September protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Chicago. - Since their October indictment, the defendants — including Democratic congressional candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh — have maintained they were targeted because of their positions as liberal candidates or elected officials. - Attorneys for the remaining four defendants on Friday demanded the U.S. Department of Justice turn over records that might show “improper influence” from the Trump administration that led the DOJ to charge just six of the dozens visible in video footage of the protest. *This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.* CHICAGO — A federal judge on Friday granted prosecutors’ motion to dismiss charges against two of six Democratic officeholders, candidates and activists indicted last fall after protesting outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Chicago. The “Broadview Six,” named for the small suburb in which the ICE facility became a hotbed for protest action in September, have maintained since their October indictments that they were selectively charged among dozens of protesters for political reasons. Within minutes of the feds making the charges public, Democratic congressional candidate Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh posted [a video on social media](https://x.com/KatAbughazaleh/status/1983578199129833773?ref=down-ballot.info) calling the indictment “a political prosecution and a gross attempt to silence dissent” by “weaponizing the federal justice system.” **Read more:** [**‘Broadview Six’ plead not guilty to charges of ‘impeding’ agents outside ICE facility**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/broadview-six-plead-not-guilty-to-charges-of-impeding-agents-outside-ice-facility/?ref=down-ballot.info) **|** [**Democratic candidates, officeholders indicted for ‘impeding’ agent outside ICE facility**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/democratic-candidates-officeholders-indicted-for-impeding-agent-outside-ice-facility/?ref=down-ballot.info) ### **Charges dropped** Charges were officially dropped Friday against Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, who dropped out of the race in January [citing the “emotional and financial” costs of fighting the case](https://x.com/CatSharpforcook/status/2008327236638605483/?ref=down-ballot.info). Joselyn Walsh, who does not work in politics but performed songs during protests at Broadview, also had charges dropped. During the same Sept. 26 demonstration at issue in the case, federal agents [shot a rubber bullet through Walsh’s guitar](https://www.facebook.com/tom.marker/posts/pfbid02z9s16CXRPMZKWu6imJP35ok1Hi55NorVFnZTv9GhzheEpeHp3D1upTib1t4zL6r5l/). In a statement Thursday, Walsh expressed relief that her charges were dismissed but that it “does not change the disruption it caused in my life for the past six months.” “It also does not change that I was a victim of ICE violence when they shot my guitar and that many continue to experience violence at the hands of federal agents in Chicago and across the country,” she said. Sharp predicted vindication for “all six of us.” “This motion to dismiss proves what we have always known — that the indictment in this case was flawed from the outset,” Sharp said in a statement. ### **Indictment narrowed** The feds’ motion to dismiss those charges came two weeks after prosecutors agreed to narrow the scope of the indictment. Remaining defendants include Abughazaleh and her deputy campaign manager Andre Martin, along with Chicago 45th Ward Democratic Committeeman Michael Rabbitt, a former candidate for the Illinois House, and Oak Park Village Trustee Brian Straw. The group was charged with felony conspiracy, with prosecutors alleging they conspired to “interrupt, hinder, and impede” a federal immigration agent from the “discharge of his official duties.” They also face charges for misdemeanor simple assault of a federal officer, which does not require physical contact. The charges stem from a late September demonstration at the height of protests outside the ICE facility, a few weeks into the Trump administration’s Chicago-area immigration enforcement surge campaign dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” Of the 50 to 100 protesters present at the Sept. 26 demonstration, more than a dozen were captured on video — including [footage posted to Abughazaleh’s social media accounts](https://x.com/KatAbughazaleh/status/1971567602003820796?ref=down-ballot.info) — surrounding a vehicle driven by a federal agent into the ICE facility’s property, banging on its hood and windows while the agent drove slowly through the crowd. To prove a conspiracy charge, which carries a maximum of six years in prison and a $250,000 fine, prosecutors have to prove intent that a group of people agreed to act in concert. And while the burden of proof for the charge is not a particularly high bar, government lawyers haven’t routinely hit protesters with conspiracy charges in modern history. ### **‘Improper influence’ from White House** And in a new filing, lawyers for the remaining four defendants asked U.S. District Judge April Perry to force the Department of Justice to turn over records — including Trump administration communications — that they believe would show “improper influence” from the White House to the Department of Justice to bring the charges. In a 26-page motion Friday, attorneys alleged the public record is “replete with public admissions” from members of the Trump administration that it is actively weaponizing the Department of Justice and federal courts “to retaliate against perceived political enemies.” Lawyers pointed out multiple instances in which White House or Department of Homeland Security officials responded to Abughazaleh’s social media and appearances on cable news. For example, in early October, a spokesperson for now-ousted DHS Secretary Kristi Noem responded to one Abughazaleh appearance on MSNBC with her own on Fox News. In the interview, lawyers wrote in Friday’s filing that Tricia McLaughlin “personally attacked” Abughazaleh as “dishonest, desperate and demonizing law enforcement to try to get 5 minutes on MSNBC and some fundraising cash.” Attorneys also bolstered their arguments that the indictment was politically motivated, as “the one commonality among these four defendants is that via social media platforms and public statements they were all outspoken critics of the Trump Administration,” the filing said. “Put simply, the defendants, the Court, and the public deserve an answer as to whether this prosecution was brought for unconstitutional retaliatory and/or selective reasons,” the lawyers wrote. The case is set for trial beginning May 26. [*Capitol News Illinois*](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.* This [article](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/charges-dismissed-for-2-of-broadview-6-ice-facility-protesters/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Capitol News Illinois](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-Captiol-News-Illinois.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) --- # After a Decade of Missteps, a Texas City Careens Toward a Water-Shortage Catastrophe Officials in Corpus Christi expect a “water emergency” within months and to fully run out of water next year. That would halt jet fuel supplies to Texas airports, trigger a surge in gasoline prices and result in an “economic disaster” without precedent, former officials said. By Dylan Baddour March 8, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08032026/after-a-decade-of-missteps-a-texas-city-careens-toward-a-water-shortage-catastrophe/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas—The imminent depletion of water supplies in Corpus Christi threatens to cut off the flow of jet fuel to Texas airports and other oil exports from one of the nation’s largest petroleum ports, triggering potential shockwaves through energy markets in Texas and beyond. Without significant rainfall, Corpus Christi is headed for a “water emergency” within months and will reach a point next year where city supply can no longer meet demand, according to [the city’s website](https://www.corpuschristitx.gov/department-directory/corpus-christi-water/water-supply-dashboard-english/?ref=down-ballot.info). At that critical point, the city would be unable to deliver water to its customers—a potential catastrophe for Corpus Christi and beyond, experts and people knowledgable about the city’s water system say. “The impacts are going to be felt tremendously through the state, if not internationally,” said Sean Strawbridge, former CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority, the nation’s top port for crude oil exports, in a 40-minute interview Thursday. “This should be no surprise to anybody. We were talking about this over a decade ago.” Other current and former officials, alarmed at what they call a lack of preparations, have suggested the potential for an economic crisis involving mass layoffs, disruption of fuel supplies and billions of dollars in emergency spending to avoid an evacuation of the city. Strawbridge, who now lives in Houston, laid the blame on city leaders, citing “their lack of experience, their lack of knowledge, their lack of recognizing the risks” in a bumbling, decade-long endeavor to build a large seawater desalination plant that would veer the region off its clear course towards calamity. “They’ve found themselves in quite a dire predicament as a result of those poor decisions,” Strawbridge said. “Time is up.” A spokesperson for Corpus Christi Mayor Paulette Guajardo declined interview requests, citing “prior commitments,” and did not respond to follow-up questions. City manager Peter Zanoni also did not respond to questions. Instead, Corpus Christi public information manager Robert Gonzales provided an emailed statement. “The water shortage in the Coastal Bend is the result of a historic five-year drought,” it said. “Currently, the City of Corpus Christi has $1 billion in City Council-approved and funded water projects underway to address our water needs. The City remains committed to ensuring water security for the more than 500,000 residents and our commercial and industrial customers.” In an emailed statement on Monday, Gonzales called the story “an incomplete and alarmist narrative.” Depletion of this region’s reservoirs would lead to “controlled depression” for the local economy, “mass unemployment” and “industrial total shutdown,” according to a two-page report by Don Roach, former assistant general manager of the San Patricio Municipal Water District, which supplies many of the region’s large industrial water users. That includes refineries operated by Flint Hills Resources, Valero and Citgo that provide jet fuel to Texas airports and meet much of the state’s daily demand for gasoline. “This waiting disaster is under the radar for the rest of the state,” said Roach, who worked 20 years at the water district and retired in 2014\. “We hear nothing from the Texas politicians about the seriousness of the situation or any state plan to mitigate it.” He no longer had access to current water data and contracts, he stressed, but produced the report based on his own knowledge. It said the costs of trucking in emergency water “would bankrupt many local small businesses and low-income households” while state emergency managers would need billions of dollars to “build emergency temporary pipelines or subsidize desalination barge rentals to prevent a total evacuation of the city.” Strawbridge, a former director of the Port of Long Beach, said Roach’s assessment was “spot on.” Kara Rivas, a spokesperson for Flint Hills Resources, which delivers jet fuel via pipeline from its Corpus Christi refinery to airports in Dallas and Austin, said, “We are doing everything we can to minimize our water use and diversify our water resources to avoid disrupting our operations.” Flint Hills is developing a project to use treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant to meet up to 15 percent of its water demand. The refinery consumes about 0.55 barrels of water per barrel of crude oil, Rivas said, a 29 percent reduction since 2010\. “We are focused on working with local authorities on finding ways to meet the region’s immediate and long-term water needs,” she said. “This is a challenge that requires leadership.” ## **“No Time to Panic”** Zanoni, the city manager who has overseen Corpus Christi’s descent toward water depletion since 2019 and receives a $400,000 salary, rejected notions of imminent disaster during a [press conference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xk78%5F9qLnaY&ref=down-ballot.info) Thursday, when Lake Corpus Christi, one of the city’s main reservoirs, dropped below 10 percent. The press conference took place three days after Inside Climate News asked the city for comment about the impending water crisis. “I think we are going to get through this,” he told TV cameras as he stood before the dwindling remnants of the lake. “We have confidence in what we’re doing. This is no time to panic.” Zanoni, who holds a master’s of public administration from Florida State University, said the city had “worked tirelessly over the past months to bring everything that we humanly and possibly could to forego what could be this supply and demand issue.” “Now we’re going to focus, with the City Council and the region, on being prepared in case supply doesn’t meet demand,” he said. “The best-case scenario, that assumes some level of rain, has this lake here going to about the early fall,” said Zanoni, who indicated that the summer months would give the city enough time to boot up its portfolio of new groundwater water projects.” James Dodson, a former director of Corpus Christi’s water department who retired this year as a private consultant and was involved in several of those projects, disagreed. He said residents and officials “are crazy not to be panicking.” “It’s the very worst scenario that I’ve ever seen,” said Dodson, who oversaw a historic expansion of Corpus Christi’s water supply in the 1990s. “It’s going to be an economic disaster.” For years, he said, the city dismissed repeated opportunities to develop groundwater import projects as it maintained a singular and fruitless focus on desalination. That includes projects that the city only recently scrambled to get started. Dodson doubted any will materialize in time. “They’ve been kicking the can down the road for a long time and they’ve finally run out of road,” said a current regional water official who requested anonymity to preserve a working relationship with the city. “They’re looking at projects to do that they should have done five, six, seven years ago.” The last hope to avert disaster, the official said, was a 20- to 30-inch rainfall. “It would basically have to be a hurricane,” he said. A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Andrew Mahaleris, didn’t address specific comments about an impending water catastrophe or disruption of the state economy. In an emailed statement, he said: “Corpus Christi is an important economic driver not only for Texas but also the nation. The State of Texas has made significant investments into ensuring the Corpus Christi area has the water resources it needs to serve citizens and industry alike.” He added that the governor “will continue working with the legislature to ensure Texans have a safe, reliable water supply for the next fifty years.” ## **“I Wouldn’t Say That It’s a Disaster”** Mere months remain, according to Corpus Christi’s online [water dashboard](https://www.corpuschristitx.gov/department-directory/corpus-christi-water/water-supply-dashboard-english/?ref=down-ballot.info), until the city enters a “Level 1 Emergency,” which begins 180 days from projected depletion of water supplies. Functional failure of the water system, or “dead pool,” will occur before total depletion. In a level one water emergency, the city’s plans call for an immediate 25 percent curtailment of water consumption. But city planners are only beginning to discuss what that would even look like and still haven’t determined how they would implement it. “We can’t close and open everyone’s valves,” said Nick Winkelmann, interim chief operating officer of Corpus Christi Water, in an interview at City Hall last week. “One way to enact water restrictions is through pricing.” The region’s largest industrial users, which collectively consume the majority of the region’s water, remain exempt from emergency curtailment. These multi-billion-dollar refineries, petrochemical plants and liquified natural gas facilities are built to run at a steady rate and can’t simply throttle down production in accordance with water availability. They consume large volumes of water primarily in cooling towers to prevent excessive heating and explosions. The city also may enact across-the-board, *pro-rata* curtailment at will, said Winkelmann, who assumed his role last September when the city’s former water director, Drew Molly, resigned days before the City Council pulled the plug on its long-running desalination project. “That will have an effect on all our customers.” For years, local business leaders insisted desalination was Corpus Christi’s key to overcoming the water limitations that had historically plagued it on this semi-arid coastline. Massive desalination plants, the first of their kind in Texas, were supposed to kick off an era of abundant water, financial prosperity and limitless economic expansion. Instead, the plan drove this region to the precipice of ruin. “It has not gone as smoothly as it should have,” said Bob Paulison, the director of the Coastal Bend Industries Association and an architect of the desalination project. “There are a lot of reasons for why that happened.” He said he worked on desalination for 12 years, but the projects got bogged down by political fights, administrative processes, the COVID pandemic and “a tug of war which has resulted in very slow progress.” “I wouldn’t say that it’s a disaster,” he said of the current situation, expressing faith that the city would complete new water projects before supplies run out. It was “too early” to assess when that could happen, he said. Presented with Roach’s report, Paulison expressed a longstanding respect for the veteran water manager, but said, “It looks like it’s very dire, more dire than we’ve been looking at.” “We’re relying on the model that the city has put together,” Paulison said. Regarding a potential shutdown of the entire refining and petrochemical complex, he said, “that could certainly shut down at some point, but we don’t see that happening in the early stages.” Asked about plans to develop alternative jet fuel supplies for Texas airports in the case of a shutdown, Paulison said, “I’m sure that someone somewhere is working on that.” Charles McConnell, a former assistant energy secretary with the Obama administration, wondered why concrete plans hadn’t been prepared. “Did it take them all the way to yesterday to figure out they’re going to run out by the end of the year?” he said. “That’s pretty pathetic.” McConnell, who now teaches at the University of Houston, doubted that a shut down of Corpus Christi’s industrial sector would have acute or long-lasting impacts beyond Texas. New producers would fill the gap, while new pipelines and supply chains would bypass the city. “It’s a surprise to me that none of those refineries and industries down there have their own desal plants,” said McConnell, who worked 31 years for the chemical manufacturer Praxair in Houston. “They’re using municipal water, for Christ’s sake!” ## **Rapid Expansion Followed the Shale Boom** The roots of this situation stretch back more than a decade, to the period of rapid downstream industrial expansion that followed the shale revolution in the oilfields of Texas. Strawbridge joined the Port of Corpus Christi Authority in 2015, as a surge of major industrial projects sought to build in the area. Even then, Strawbridge said, everyone knew Corpus Christi needed more water. In January 2016, Abbott [traveled to Israel,](https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor%5Fabbott%5Fattends%5Fluncheon%5Fwith%5Fisraeli%5Fbusiness%5Fleaders?ref=down-ballot.info) where he toured the world’s largest seawater desalination plant and met with Israeli officials to discuss desalination. Later that year, an industry group called H2O4Texas, with [sponsors](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1lceStZIe-bDyN7P0PfWtZju%5Ffnh7A0D2/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=115167961506787936390&rtpof=true&sd=true&ref=down-ballot.info) including Dow, Chevron and Marathon Oil, hosted [an event](https://www.texastribune.org/2016/07/12/event-texas-water-tour-corpus-christi/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Corpus Christi. “They were basically saying because of the growth in the Coastal Bend, we were gonna need desalination,” said Isabel Araiza, then a professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, who attended the event. That was the first that Araiza, a Corpus Christi native with a Ph.D. from Boston University, had heard of desalination. She said she was at the meeting for a different reason, finding it strange how many business and political leaders were there. The oil and gas industry wanted to build enormous projects in the region, processing oil and gas from Texas’ shale fields into myriad fuels, chemicals and plastics before loading them onto tankers for export. In March 2017, then-city manager Margie Rose sent [a letter](https://drive.google.com/file/d/13FYYsvgvbu7-zMfImnNFYPKs42QZ%5F72o/view?usp=sharing&ref=down-ballot.info) to ExxonMobil, the world’s largest private oil company, that said, “because the City aggressively protects water resources for the future by implementing a matrix of supply strategies, we feel that we have sufficient water supplies to meet your needs.” Six days later the city [requested funding](https://drive.google.com/file/d/15siBmfuqpev50Eg0pZ6mhyVA7Q0XBFfn/view?usp=sharing&ref=down-ballot.info) from the Texas Water Development Board to study feasibility and do preliminary design of a seawater desalination plant. Around that time, Strawbridge said, “it became very clear to the port authority that there was a difference of opinions as to how much water was available and how much would be needed to continue to attract large industrial investors.” “The city felt that it had enough water to last, based on its forecast, until 2040,” Strawbridge said. “We, the port authority, had a very different view of what that demand curve looked like.” That’s when the port began developing plans for its own desalination plant, he said. In 2018, a new, interim city manager, Keith Selman, [promised another large volume of water](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-H5fSJydznLHqHbI0j4U4BS1rYXnQzhS/view?usp=sharing&ref=down-ballot.info) to Steel Dynamics, which then built a steel mill in the area. ## **The Emerging Solution: Four Desalination Plants** That same year, Corpus Christi created a program exempting the region’s largest industrial water users from water curtailment restrictions during drought for a fee of $0.25 per 1,000 gallons. The city said it would use the money to fund the development of a new water source. The city’s water reservoirs were two thirds full at the time. Gonzales, the city public information officer, said the industrial water users are subject to mandatory State 1, 2, and 3 restrictions of the city’s Drought Contingency Plan, but described the [Drought Surcharge Exemption Fee ](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1637xf6L5J91gb20TttHY8cPJOThGG9yH/view?ref=down-ballot.info)as “a payment structure, not a regulatory waiver.” “To claim they are ‘exempt’ from curtailment is a fundamental misinterpretation of the city code,” he said. In 2019, the city’s staff presented the City Council with a plan to build a seawater desalination facility. Exxon had taken up the city’s offer for water and planned to build a massive plastics plant called Gulf Coast Growth Ventures in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s national oil company. It would be the largest water user in the region, consuming as much as all city residents combined. “Large increases in water demand are projected to occur in 2022,” said a presentation authored by Paulison and given to the City Council by then-Assistant City Manager Mark Van Vleck. “To meet expected water demand, we need to move forward with the procurement of a seawater desalination plant now.” The plant would produce 10 million gallons per day, cost $140 million and take two years to build, the presentation said. It needed to begin supplying water by the start of 2023\. The City Council voted unanimously to move forward. By 2020 the size of the proposed plant had doubled. “We were recognizing that we’re going to need more water,” said Roland Barrera, a city council member who has served since 2018\. “If we want to expand our economy, then we have to recognize that’s the way to go.” As the scale of the situation came into focus, the city proposed a second desalination plant, and the port also proposed two. ## **Sounding the Alarm** That’s when Encarnacion Serna, a retired chemical plant operations manager, found out about plans for one of those plants just up the shore from his waterfront home on Corpus Christi Bay. Serna, an engineer who had worked on reverse osmosis water systems for Valero and Occidental Chemical, reviewed the project’s application. What he saw, he said, astounded him: flimsy assumptions, unrealistic estimates and missing information. A facility of that scale, he knew, would require railcars full of pretreatment chemicals, create a mountain of sludge waste every day and consume a tremendous amount of electricity. But he didn’t see serious plans for any of that, he said. He dug deeper into the desalination boom and quickly saw what was going on: Politicians and businessmen had oversold their water supply, he said, and were scrambling for more as shortages approached. But none of them had any idea what they were doing, Serna remembered thinking as he reviewed the applications. “I’ve been trying since 2020 to let them know how catastrophic this is going to be,” he said in an interview at his home. “They’ve acted with a profound ignorance.” Serna, a father of four who worked his whole life at chemical plants in Texas, didn’t think any of the proposals would produce as much freshwater as projected, come online as quickly as expected or cost as little as any of the applications stated. These were not going to solve the crisis that officials had teed up, he believed. In calls, emails and public comments to city and port officials, Serna raised the alarm at what he saw unfolding. He felt brushed off and soon stopped receiving responses. Serna knew that chemical plants and refineries can’t just throttle down water consumption at will. The multi-billion-dollar facilities are meant to operate consistently at a steady state with a set inflow of water. Changing that balance raised risks of explosions. The whole region was skidding toward catastrophe, Serna thought at the time, with no realistic solution in sight. In 2022, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, the Exxon-Saudi partnership, began to draw water while the desalination facility meant to supply it still didn’t even exist on paper. Strawbridge, then CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority, insisted a private desalination operator should build and run a large facility that could sell its water to the city. But the city wanted to operate its own. Strawbridge considered the location of the city’s project unsuitable. Both sides said the other took steps to undermine the project. Meanwhile, veteran local scientists rejected environmental studies from developers claiming the massive discharge of brine from the plants wouldn’t turn the coastal bays and estuaries into hypersaline wastelands. “I’ve read the engineering studies,” said Paul Montagna, an endowed chair at the Harte Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, in a [2022 interview](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04112022/corpus-christi-texas-exxon-water-desalination/?ref=down-ballot.info) with Inside Climate News. “And I just don’t get it.” Environmentalists organized against the plants. Araiza, the college professor who attended the first desalination meeting, had become a leader among groups that were fighting desalination as a means to resist the onslaught of petrochemical projects in their area, which they saw as wealthy, outside interests swooping in to hijack their resources, institutions and environment. “They really thought it was just going to be a yes,” she said from her office at Del Mar College, beneath a poster of Che Guevara. “I think we helped slow things down.” Barrera, the City Council member, started to feel uneasy as controversy and constant turnover on the council seemed to leave them unable to push the project forward. “I’ve been accused of being a fearmonger,” he said in an interview at his office in downtown Corpus Christi. “Now everybody’s scared.” ## **It All Falls Apart** Strawbridge took an entourage of about 30 Texas lawmakers, businessmen and lobbyists to Israel in November 2022 to visit desalination facilities “to see that it is possible to solve for our water issues,” he said. Strawbridge encouraged the lawmakers to support the port’s development of a private desalination plant, which he said was urgently needed to cover for the failures of the city. But he drew [public outrage](https://www.caller.com/story/news/2022/04/20/city-against-port-corpus-christis-desalination-loan-application/7381667001/?ref=down-ballot.info) from city officials when he applied for state funding for a facility that struck them as a competitor to theirs. Strawbridge said the trip to Israel ultimately led the Texas lawmakers to pass legislation in 2023 that created the state’s $1 billion water fund. But the trip, not disclosed to the public at the time, ultimately ignited a scandal that led to Strawbridge’s resignation when [an investigation](https://www.kristv.com/news/6-investigates/6-investigates-digging-into-expenses-by-port-of-corpus-christis-executive-director?ref=down-ballot.info) by KRIS 6 revealed that the Port, which is not a taxing entity, spent more than $200,000 taking the crew to Israel. The station described “a pattern of lavish spending” on that trip and in prior port activities. Strawbridge earned $750,000 in the prior year and had expensed an average of $10,000 per month on food and alcohol, including parties. One day later, Strawbridge resigned, but maintained that all expenses were incurred properly through his work representing the Port. In an interview, he characterized the report and scandal as “a hit job” by political opponents and “an effort to hasten my departure from the Port.” “They used the expenses from the Israel trip as a basis for smearing my good name, although the trip ultimately proved fortuitous for the state and its water funding,” Strawbridge said. “Ultimately an independent audit of the previous five years of my expenses found absolutely no irregularities or departures from policy. But of course that wasn’t covered by KRIS 6.” That year, 2023, was the hottest on record in Texas. Water levels in Corpus Christi reservoirs continued to plummet as the drought intensified. Desalination had moved to the center of Corpus Christi’s public conversation. Local politicians spoke for or against it while activists flocked to city council meetings and permit hearings. “Blessed be the environmentalists,” said Serna, the retired engineer. “But 90 percent of them don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.” In January 2024, Corpus Christi City Council produced a new cost estimate for its proposed desalination plant of about $550 million to produce 30 million gallons of freshwater per day. “These numbers are ridiculously low, fraudulent and deceitful,” wrote Serna in an email to city officials. By that time, Serna was angry. The subject line of his email read: “The Legacy of the Imbeciles.” Where was the city even getting this cost estimate from, he asked, if it “does not have engineering and construction drawings.” “All the city has at this time are deficits and bills incurred by lunatics in the millions of dollars already spent in the pursuit of this Scam project with nothing tangible on hand yet,” Serna wrote. Later that year, a new cost estimate put the project at nearly $760 million. Another estimate, in July 2025, said $1.2 billion. Two months later, Corpus Christi City Council, dominated by newly elected members and unable to stomach the cost, voted to cancel the project after a rancorous 12-hour public meeting that broke repeatedly into yelling from the audience. By then, the Port of Corpus Christi Authority also handed off one of its desalination projects to the nearby Nueces River Authority and mothballed another. Corpus Christi city leaders expressed optimism over plans to quickly pipe in groundwater from the Evangeline Aquifer about 20 miles away. But when users of that water, like the small city of Sinton, requested in February 2026 that an administrative law judge review Corpus Christi’s groundwater permits, hope faded for a timely solution, other than hurricane-scale rainfall. “Let the shit hit the fan,” said Serna. “Let dog eat dog.” What does he think will happen to Corpus Christi? In time, he said, the refineries and chemical plants will probably build their own water projects, somehow, and possibly restart their facilities that they will have to mothball in the meantime. For residents, he said, life might be like it used to be for him, 70 years ago, as a boy in the Rio Grande Valley, when he would hang plastic jugs on mesquite branches and carry them on his shoulder to ask nearby companies for water. “This is the legacy of the imbeciles,” he said. In an emailed statement following publication of this report, Gonzales listed the projects the city is pursuing to produce more water and alleviate the crisis. He said that the city is [drilling emergency water wells](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/01/23/texas-corpus-christi-water-emergency-reservoirs/?ref=down-ballot.info) along the Nueces River. Experts interviewed [don’t expect](https://photos.app.goo.gl/Eps5Z1rZ7LKbG49U6?ref=down-ballot.info) those wells to produce significant volumes before [the city projects](https://www.corpuschristitx.gov/department-directory/corpus-christi-water/water-supply-dashboard-english/?ref=down-ballot.info) it may run out of water by early fall. Gonzales also said the city was pursuing its Evangeline Groundwater program. Dodson, who was involved with that project, said the city repeatedly dismissed it for years until 2025 when the situation became dire. A [challenge to that project’s permits](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yN7f6LaMNTjYbt0xzHKi1w5pPGREaQ51/view?usp=sharing&ref=down-ballot.info) was filed in February by the city of Sinton, which said “the transport and production of groundwater representing more than four times the total current production of all groundwater users in San Patricio County, is likely to result in unreasonable water level declines.” Gonzales also said that the Corpus Christi City Council, in February, [approved plans](https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/corpus-christi-city-council-approves-11-items-including-evangeline-groundwater-agreements/503-53679704-4d2d-4554-aac9-37c501271223?ref=down-ballot.info) for a seawater desalination plant that the city projects will begin producing potable water in two years. *CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Bob Paulison, director of the Coastal Bend Industries Association, was a member of the Texas Chemistry Council. The article also described him as the architect of Corpus Christi’s desalination project, when it should have said that he was an architect of the project.* --- # Only 13 of the nearly 100 known lynching sites in Virginia have historic markers. A new state program seeks to change that. The General Assembly allocated $76,008 to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to cover the costs of 15 new markers at or near the sites of lynchings. by [Emily Hemphill](https://cardinalnews.org/author/emily-hemphill/?ref=down-ballot.info) March 13, 2026 [Only 13 of the nearly 100 known lynching sites in Virginia have historic markers. A new state program seeks to change that.The General Assembly allocated $76,008 to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to cover the costs of 15 new markers at or near the sites of lynchings.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-10.png)Cardinal NewsEmily Hemphill![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/1-3.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2026/03/13/only-a-dozen-of-the-nearly-100-known-lynching-sites-in-virginia-have-historic-markers-a-new-state-program-seeks-to-change-that/?ref=down-ballot.info) This August marks 100 years since the lynching of Raymond Byrd, a 31-year-old Black farmer accused of sexually assaulting a young white girl in Wytheville. A mob of 50 masked men broke into the cell, beat Byrd within an inch of death before they shot him, tied his body to the back of a car and drove to the site of the alleged crime, where they hung his battered corpse from a tree. The attack became one of the most notorious lynchings in Virginia, where approximately 100 lynchings have been documented. A recently launched program through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources seeks to rectify the fact that this history has gone unrecognized for so long. In the 2025-2026 budget, the General Assembly allocated $76,008 to the agency to cover the administrative and production costs of 15 new historical highway markers at or near the sites of lynchings, which occurred across the commonwealth mostly from 1880 to 1927\. The budget item was sponsored by Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun County. > “Lynching not only claimed lives but also left a long-lasting legacy of racial trauma and social division,” Reid said in an email. “The lack of accountability and justice for these crimes fostered a climate of fear and oppression. Acknowledging these events through historical markers can serve as a step toward healing and reconciliation.” Currently, only 13 of the state’s identified lynching sites hold markers detailing the crimes that taint the soil. Some state lawmakers, historians and community leaders view the new DHR program as a chance to acknowledge this oft-overlooked piece of history. “It’s really important, in particular this time right now where we’re trying to erase history. These kinds of programs really are very important to make sure that this history is not forgotten, and that actually people are aware of it,” said Gianluca De Fazio, a professor of justice studies at James Madison University. “It’s something that really can make a difference in terms of how we think about our public space — how we think, in terms of our collective memory, of who gets remembered, who gets forgotten.” Working with a handful of his senior students to comb through historical newspapers, court records and oral histories in 2017, De Fazio assembled a database to detail and map out all known lynchings in Virginia. According to his “Racial Terror: Lynching in Virginia” website, 95 Black men and one woman were lynched in Virginia. The comprehensive database is the recommended starting point for any potential applicants to the DHR program. Nomination forms are open on the department’s website and will be considered on a rolling basis by the Board of Historic Resources, which convenes quarterly to review new proposals for historic sites and markers. Applications will require extensive documentation from primary and secondary sources and should demonstrate support from local governments and community groups. Additionally, the program criteria encourage applicants to identify and include any known descendants of lynching victims in the process. With funding for only 15 signs, the DHR will only consider one nomination per locality in order to “promote the distribution of these markers across Virginia’s various regions,” according to the nomination form. Historical highway markers typically cost around $3,000. Some localities saw multiple lynchings, such as Clifton Forge with four documented lynchings or Tazewell County with nine, the most of any county in the state. Highway marker program manager Jennifer Loux said her department will consider, on a case-by-case basis, whether signs would include mention of other nearby lynchings. “It would be possible, but not mandatory, for other lynchings that took place in a locality to be mentioned on a marker that focuses on one of them,” said Loux in an email. “A limiting factor will be the space available on the marker.” Historical highway markers are limited to 700 characters, or approximately 150 words. The DHR has already approved highway historical markers for seven lynching sites: - Joseph Holmes, May 3, 1869, Charlotte County - Charlotte Harris, March 6, 1878, Harrisonburg - Isaac Brandon, April 6, 1892, Charles City County - Thomas Washington, March 23, 1896, Essex County - Charles Craven, July 31, 1902, Leesburg - James Horace Carter, October 12, 1923, King and Queen County - Leonard Woods, November 30, 1927, Wise County Five other lynching locations are memorialized through the efforts of the Equal Justice Initiative, the national, nonprofit legal group founded by civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson: - [Robert Clark](https://cardinalnews.org/2024/06/24/bristols-only-documented-lynching-will-finally-get-a-marker/?ref=down-ballot.info), June 13, 1891, Bristol - Thomas Smith, Sept. 21, 1893, Roanoke - John Henry James, July 12, 1898, Albemarle County - Wiley Gynn, June 5, 1902, Wise County - Dave Hurst, November 14, 1920, Wise County Additionally, in 2020, the town of Wytheville collaborated with local historian John Johnson to fundraise and erect its own marker for Raymond Byrd. This leaves more than 80 known lynching sites unmarked. De Fazio says this figure is “a vast undercount of the real number,” given the lack of historical documentation of most crimes against Black victims. ### Lynchings in Southwest Virginia Due to its mountainous terrain, Southwest Virginia was not supportive of the large-scale tobacco plantations found in the eastern part of the state, which kept the region’s Black population low for a time. “Southwest Virginia is a really odd case, because that will be an area where historians and scientists would not expect a high number of lynchings, because lynchings are very often a legacy of slavery and a plantation economy,” said De Fazio. Yet, more than half of the state’s total known lynchings took place in its Southwest and Southside regions. Nine lynchings have been documented in Tazewell County; four took place in Alleghany County; Wythe, Russell, Halifax and Wise counties each had three lynchings; Scott, Smyth, Bland, Henry, Pittsylvania, Roanoke and Campbell counties each had at least one documented lynching, as did the cities of Bristol, Danville, Lexington and Roanoke. The lynching of Thomas Smith in the city of Roanoke led to the city’s race riot in 1893\. Smith was imprisoned after being accused of assault and robbery of a wealthy, white woman when a mob of 4,000 formed around the city jail. The local militia was summoned and eventually fired into the crowd as people attempted to break into the jailhouse and capture Smith. Nine white residents were killed and 34 more wounded, making it one of the few lynchings where more whites than Blacks were killed. With a handful of exceptions, nearly all of these took place towards the end of the 1800s, spilling into the first couple of decades of the 1900s. So, how did this seemingly bucolic, majority-white area become embroiled in such racial violence? Industrialization sparked the dormant, yet ever-present, fuse of racism. The opening of Pocahontas Mine No. 1 in Tazewell County in 1882 ushered in the boom of Virginia’s coal industry. Thousands of job seekers, including African Americans, flooded the region. This economic growth, along with the expansion of three major railroads in the 1890s, led to massive population increases across Southwest Virginia. “You have an influx of immigrants and African American workers coming and that creates the kind of labor conflict that makes lynching more likely to happen,” De Fazio said. He also pointed out that preexisting racial tensions were exacerbated by Jim Crow laws, the economic downturn of 1893 and theories of scientific racism — a pseudoscience trending in the U.S. around the mid-19th century that asserted a biological hierarchy of humanity, an order that established white Euro-Americans at the top and non-white races as inferior. When all of these factors intersected in localities, it only took a small infraction from the Black community — or, more often, a false accusation — to push “the white men to take action outside of the law and go ahead and execute sentence,” said Tom Costa, a retired history professor at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Practically every lynching victim in Virginia was already in the custody of law enforcement when they were captured, tortured and killed by white residents. “That really tells you how lynching is not a matter of getting rid of Black criminals, but really it’s a means to implement racial terror,” De Fazio said. “You’re sending a message to the larger society, saying, ‘Regardless of what the law says, we’re going to make sure that everybody that we think is a potential threat can be eliminated at our will, knowing full well, there’s going to be no consequences for the lynchers.’ Almost every single person, every single lynching, had no legal consequences for the lyncher.” Take the events of winter 1893 in Tazewell County. Within the span of three days, five Black men were hunted down and lynched, accused of murdering two white men. Alexander Ratcliff and Benjamin Shortridge were white merchants from nearby Buchanan County who made their way to the town of Richlands in Tazewell County on Jan. 30, 1893\. Having conducted their business, the pair visited a saloon before their departure, “whence they were followed by four negroes,” according to the Clinch Valley News. “In a very short space of time the two men were found lying upon the railroad track, their heads beaten almost to a jelly by club and hatchet,” reads the article. “The scene presented resembled a slaughter place. The banks of the cut to the top and the road bed torn up and covered with blood.” The bloodbath had only just begun. Jerry Brown, a Black man “having a bad reputation,” was arrested and interrogated by law enforcement. Whether under duress or of his own will, Brown confessed to the murders and implicated three accomplices: Spencer Branch, John Johnson and Sam Ellerson. Branch and Johnson soon joined Brown behind bars, but Ellerson managed to escape custody, albeit temporarily. That evening, Jan. 31, Brown was the first to meet his fate. “An angry mob of about three hundred people collected around the jail and finally overpowered the authorities and took Jerry Brown from them,” reported the Clinch Valley News. He was taken to the river that forks through the town and lynched, his body left hanging from an oak tree. The mob returned to the jail for Branch and Johnson to find that the prisoners had been sent to the neighboring town of Cedar Bluff for their protection. Such a precaution was uncommon for white authorities to take on behalf of African Americans in a time when “very often, the jailers would just give them out to these lynch mobs,” De Fazio said. It only briefly delayed the inevitable. Having received word that Ellerson was hiding out a few miles south of Richlands, a faction of the vigilante horde went to capture him while hundreds of others boarded the train to Cedar Bluff, where they tracked down the remaining two. All three were taken back to the riverbank where a crowd of 500 men, women and children watched as they were hanged alongside Brown from the oak tree. “The lynching took place between the hours of one and two p.m. and was very orderly, there being no shooting or fighting, and not one of the crowd wore masks,” according to a Roanoke Times article. Before he was killed, Johnson confessed to another unsolved crime: the murder of James Hunt, a white man, in September 1891\. And he pointed the finger at four other men, two of whom were Black. By the following day, Sam Blow was also taken from the county jail and “was hanged to an apple tree near the mouth of Indian creek,” while unconfirmed accounts reported that Sam Burns was also lynched. No harm befell the white accomplices, nor the scores of white assailants and witnesses to the lynchings. ### Remembrance No markers currently stand in Tazewell County as a physical testament of this violence. A third-generation Tazewell native, Susie Green, recalls stories passed down in her family, ones infused with a sense of fear and trauma hailing from that era of racial terror. Green’s mother, Thedia Harris, died in June 2025 at the age of 101\. She was born in 1923, one of eight siblings. While Harris wasn’t alive to witness the county’s last lynching in 1900 or the killing spree of 1893, she long believed that her mother did. “\[My mother\] would say that when she was young, her mom would always call them in early and she would be upset if they didn’t come when she called them after dark,” said Green. “Her mom would get so upset that she thinks that she may have witnessed some hangings and she always feared that would come to \[her children\].” Virginia’s last recorded lynching victim was 35-year-old Leonard Woods, who was hanged, shot and burned by a mob of 400 in Pound Gap in Wise County on Nov. 30, 1927\. A few months later, Gov. Harry Byrd signed the Virginia Anti-Lynching Law of 1928, the first of its kind in the U.S. to declare lynching as a “specific state offense.” Violators of this law would be prosecuted by the state attorney general, and municipalities where the crime occurred would be subject to paying a $2,500 settlement to the victim’s family. Some historians consider the measure an “empty-letter law,” given that no white perpetrator was ever prosecuted under the statute. Costa, however, says he tries to look on the positive side — “what little bit of positivity there is” — as the law seemed to have put an end to the “public spectacle lynchings” where white spectators and mobs felt immune from repercussions. In Tazewell County, Green has played a critical role in remembering this era. She assisted in the creation of a mural depicting influential Black Tazewell residents in 2022\. And, the year prior, she was largely responsible for the restoration of Maple Hill Cemetery, securing a DHR highway marker for the final resting place of approximately 300 African Americans. Initially, Green said she had no plans to apply for the DHR program, but added, “I relish the idea of younger people getting involved; this is an excellent time for them.” After learning that the financial burden of the endeavor would be covered by the state, she began to change her mind. “I’m passionate about it, and now that you don’t have to fund them … just a matter of getting the information together and submitting it,” she said. “I’m considering it. I can do it, I know I can do it. Maybe that is something I can do and work with somebody on or get a committee together.” She said she planned to get a group together to discuss the idea in the coming weeks. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **Correction, 11 a.m. March 13:* The 1893 lynching of Thomas Smith in Roanoke is noted with a marker through the Equal Justice Initiative. This site was omitted from an earlier version of this story.* --- # Disability Advocates Challenge Research Claiming Access to Disability Services Is Better in Rural Communities by Liz Carey, The Daily Yonder March 16, 2026 Access to disability services is better in rural communities than in urban ones, according to a new [report](https://rhrc.umn.edu/publication/access-to-health-care-by-rurality-and-disability-status/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the University of Minnesota’s Rural Health Research Center. Urban residents are more likely to report barriers to accessing health care than rural residents, the report explains. The research team looked at 11 barriers to care among rural residents without disabilities, rural residents with disabilities, urban residents without disabilities, and urban residents with disabilities. Although adults with disabilities, regardless of location, reported difficulties accessing care because of nine of the barriers, some urban residents – both with and without disabilities – reported having trouble overcoming many of those barriers. “We found more differences by disability status than we did across rural and urban areas,” Alexis Swendener, the lead author of the study, said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. “There were some actual urban disparities, with folks in urban areas having less access compared to folks in rural areas.” While the analysis is still preliminary, Swendener said there were similarities that were striking just in people with disabilities delaying care because of those barriers. “People with disabilities and without disabilities were likely to delay care due to appointment availability,” she said. “I think that really just speaks to our struggles across location, but even in urban areas, of not necessarily having access to healthcare facilities or services during times that work for them.” Urban residents with disabilities were more likely to cite delaying medical care due to the hours clinics were open (9.7%), a provider's insurance acceptance (7.7%), and appointment availability (15.5%), according to the analysis. Those residents were also more likely to report financial difficulty paying for mental health services and dental health services than their rural counterparts, although both groups reported similar rates of delaying medical care due to cost, and not being able to afford prescriptions. Rural residents with disabilities, however, often face different barriers to accessing healthcare, including long travel distances, limited access to transportation, lack of access to specialized providers, and inadequate or inaccessible housing,[ according to the Rural Health Information Hub.](https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/community-living?ref=down-ballot.info) “These, combined with higher rates of poverty and underinsurance, create ‘service deserts’ in many rural areas,” information on the RHIHub said. Urban residents without disabilities were the most likely to report delaying care because of appointment availability (13.1%), the Rural Health Research Center analysis found. More than one-tenth of rural residents without disabilities (10.6%) also reported delaying care because of appointment availability. However, residents with disabilities in both urban (10.1%) and rural (7.9%) were less likely to report that as a barrier. Rural and urban residents with disabilities were more likely to delay medical care due to a lack of transportation (15.8% and 14.0%, respectively) compared to rural and urban residents without disabilities (4.8% and 4.9%, respectively). But residents with disabilities were less likely to report having a usual place to go to for medical care, with only 6.4% of urban residents and 3.0% of rural residents, compared to 11.7% of urban individuals without disabilities and 8.3% of rural residents without disabilities. “Transportation is an issue for rural people (without disabilities), but it's also an issue for both rural and urban people with disabilities just being able to find transportation,” Swendener said. “Whether you're in a big city or you're in a small town, those locations are going to (impact) what that transportation is going to look like, but it's still a problem.” But Sandy Hanebrink, a disability advocate in upstate South Carolina and the [executive director of Touch the Future,](https://touchthefuture.us/?ref=down-ballot.info) an organization that helps disabled individuals with assistive technology, said she felt the analysis was too limited to draw any broad conclusions from. In her view, the sample sizes and the definition of disability impacted the outcomes. The economic differences between rural residents with disabilities and urban residents with disabilities could explain some of the results, Hanebrink said. “More people with disabilities in urban areas have access to more opportunities (like) education, employment, recreation, public transportation… which can make schedules busier,” she said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. “I think access to preventative, timely, and effective healthcare in rural communities is problematic, as there are higher rates of disability per capita. I believe significant barriers to equal and equitable healthcare for disabled Americans is a huge problem, no matter where you live.” While Hanebrink is an occupational therapist who also advocates for disability laws, she is also a patient with disabilities. When she was a student athlete at the University of Florida, she was in a car accident. During treatment, she had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic that resulted in transverse myelitis and left her a quadriplegic. So she understands first-hand the challenges that rural residents with disabilities face. Although she lives in Anderson County, South Carolina, which has more than 200,000 residents, she helps clients in more rural areas of the state. Healthcare access for those with disabilities is limited, she said. “In Anderson County, most disability services are provided by nonprofits, especially if you do not have Medicaid. The only medical provider I have in my county is a dentist,” she said. “All my other healthcare needs are at least 45 minutes away (two providers) to two-to-five hours away (five providers), including from out of state (three providers),” Hanebrink explained. “It actually scares me to think about if I end up in an emergency situation at a local hospital, will they make things worse as, historically, this has happened to me. They don't have the training or facilities to support my complex care needs… As I age, we have had discussions on whether we need to consider moving, but doing so is cost-prohibitive.” Swendener’s research team acknowledged the limitations in the data set in terms of undercounting people with less severe disabilities. Still, the analysis highlights issues faced by Americans with disabilities, whether they live in urban or rural areas, Swendener said. “I think this speaks to larger issues, concerning access and availability,” she said. “There’s a lot of work to be done. It's important to look at these (barriers) across locations, but there are some shared barriers, and a lot of times we don't necessarily think about the wider barriers among people with disabilities for various reasons related to structural inequalities and drivers of health.” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/disability-advocates-challenge-research-claiming-access-to-disability-services-is-better-in-rural-communities/2026/03/16/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=238682&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # Debate over Buncombe’s Craggy Dam. Value, cost, benefit and future in doubt. by Jack Igelman, Carolina Public Press March 17, 2026 How do you put a price on a 122-year-old mass of concrete sitting in the middle of a river? The value of Craggy Dam on the French Broad River in Buncombe County is now at the center of a debate over [river restoration](https://carolinapublicpress.org/restraining-rivers/?ref=down-ballot.info), flood mitigation, power generation and the future of aging dams across the region. Built in 1904, the dam in Woodfin supplies a portion of the energy used by its owner, the Buncombe County Metropolitan Sewerage District, to power a portion of its wastewater treatment facility. In 2022, a group of environmental organizations known as the Craggy Coalition approached the MSD to discuss the removal of the dam, which is 13-feet-high and nearly two football fields long. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** The public utility lead staff member, however, remains lukewarm about the possibility. MSD General Manager **Tom Hartye** told [Carolina Public Press](http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) that operating the dam “reduces our carbon footprint by 45% and saves the ratepayers energy costs for the treatment of wastewater,” he said, adding that until there’s a viable plan for its removal, razing the dam is off the table. The Craggy Coalition is proposing a third-party purchase the structure at a fair market value, remove it and ultimately transfer the restored site to public ownership. A viable plan may ultimately hinge on a single question: what’s it worth? ### Craggy Dam questions Craggy Dam is one in an expansive effort to target and remove obsolete and aging dams in Western [North Carolina](http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and throughout the country. According to American River’s Southeast Conservation Director **Erin McCombs**, roughly 27,000 dams throughout North Carolina, many of which are no longer serving a purpose. American Rivers is a leader in the movement to remove dams and has a lofty goal to raze 30,000 dams by 2050\. In 2024, 108 dams were removed nationwide. The nonprofit Mountain Valleys Resource Conservation and Development is pursuing the removal of the next dam downstream on the French Broad River, the Capitola Dam near Marshall in Madison County. They are working on a feasibility study in cooperation with the French Broad Electric Membership Corporation. Altogether, three dams are in place on the river in North Carolina. “Removing a dam is the fastest way to bring a river back to life” by allowing sediment to spread normally and allowing insects, invertebrates, fish and other aquatic animals to flourish, McCombs said. A free-flowing French Broad River could also eliminate safety hazards associated with dams, and boost the local recreation economy by opening 3.5 miles of whitewater and expanding opportunities for river access, tourism and riverfront activity. River advocate and former City of Asheville vice mayor Marc Hunt said the most compelling benefit of removing the Craggy Dam is reduced flood impact. “This is the most important thing we might do in our lifetimes to support the health of the French Broad and what the river means to our community,” Hunt said. “It’s time to move on and adapt to the new reality that our rivers should flow freely.” But removing a dam is technically complex and costly. [American Rivers commissioned a study by the consulting firm Stantec](https://www.americanrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Craggy-Dam-Study-Report-Only-Version-7-Dec-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to determine whether removal of Craggy Dam is environmentally and economically viable. The report estimated that fully removing Craggy Dam and its associated hydropower facilities could cost between $6.3 and $8.7 million. In addition to steep costs, its removal requires cooperation by the dam’s owner, the MSD. ### The Hatch report The MSD is a nonprofit, publicly-owned utility created in 1962 by the North Carolina State Stream Sanitation Committee in order to operate facilities to treat and dispose of raw sewage and industrial wastewaters. Its governing board includes 14 members appointed by Buncombe County and municipalities served by the utility. In 1963, the MSD purchased Craggy Dam, originally built to power a textile mill. MSD discontinued electrical operations until 1984, when the utility invested in improvements allowing the dam to again generate hydroelectricity. Aging infrastructure and recent operational outages prompted MSD to consider capital repairs to extend the dam’s life. Last year, MSD hired Hatch Ltd., an international engineering consultancy, to develop a capital improvement plan known as the “Hatch report” which included projections of major maintenance and investment costs. At the Feb. 18, 2026, MSD board meeting, Hartye and MSD Director of Engineering **Hunter Carson** presented a summary of the Hatch report and detailed their concerns with American Rivers' commissioned study of the dam removal. The presentation on Craggy Dam was preceded by public comments from members of the coalition, including McCombs. Hartye and Carson stressed the physical complications of dam removal, its impact on the MSD’s existing infrastructure, the environmental impact of relying on the energy grid and costs to ratepayers. The presentation included an estimate from Greensboro-based demolition contractor D.H. Griffin Companies, projecting a cost of $20 million to remove the structure, more than double the Craggy Coalition’s estimate. McCombs questioned D.H. Griffin’s experience with dam removals. “In our experience, dam removal requires specific knowledge and expertise,” she said. “The more uncertainty or lack of information in a construction project typically inflates the cost to account for increased risk.” Stantec, which has experience with complex dam removal projects, provided the cost estimate to American Rivers and is included on their pre-qualified list of dam removal contractors. A slide during the presentation outlined the dam's future estimated net cash flow. The Hatch report calculated a net cash flow of $17.1 million dollars based on 30 years of future cash flow less the expenses of operating and improving the dam. The calculation included major maintenance and facilities costs, labor, equipment and materials to operate the Craggy Dam facility. A decision to retire assets such as Craggy Dam is guided by the MSD’s bond obligations in order to protect ratepayers and bondholders, Hartye said. Currently the MSD is investing $771 million in capital wastewater improvements, mostly bond-funded, to provide cleaner water and better service. Among Hartye’s recommendations to the MSD board was to gather sufficient information and to hire a consultant to determine a fair value of the dam before there is public engagement about the structure’s future. MSD board member **Gwen Whistler** said the Craggy Coalitions’s and MSD’s numbers are “pretty far apart” and added that she would want any consultant chosen to be approved by both parties. Hartye told CPP that he will ask the board to approve a proposal from Raftelis Inc. to provide a dam valuation study at the next meeting. He also criticized American Rivers, saying they’ve ignored MSD’s concerns with portions of the Stantec study, instead choosing to “engage politicians and the press.” ### Discounting net value of Craggy Dam A dam’s value isn’t just the concrete and steel; it’s a complicated mix of potential revenue, costs, risks and public interest. For instance, measuring the ecological benefits of a dam are difficult to pinpoint. That’s why buyers and utilities often spend months or years trying to agree on a fair price. McCombs said a commissioned valuation must be independent, technically credible, widely trusted and commissioned jointly by the MSD and the Craggy Coalition. In the meantime, the [Craggy Coalition](https://www.americanrivers.org/craggy-dam-removal/?ref=down-ballot.info) asked energy economist **Stratford Douglas**, a retired West Virginia University faculty member, to analyze the Hatch report’s estimated future net cash flow. Douglas said $17.1 million is overstated because it doesn’t properly “discount” the values to account for the uncertainty and timing of future cash flows around Craggy Dam. Discounting future cash flows using standard financial techniques converts distant costs and benefits into their present-day equivalents for comparison. The greater the risk associated with future values, the lower the present-day value. “There's a lot of uncertainty with future cash flows," Douglas said. "There could be massive repairs caused by large weather events and there are reasons to think that the future output will not be what it has been in the past." For example, the hydro power facility is not able to run at 100% capacity when the French Broad is at low levels, thus more persistent droughts caused by a warming climate, for example, could impact future revenue. The cost estimates in the Hatch report were prepared to accuracies of -30% to +50%. Douglas estimated the value of the dam’s future net cash flow at $3 million to $6 million using a range of discount rates to portray different levels of future risk. Douglas explained that an asset’s value is usually determined from the net benefits that it’s projected to deliver, adjusted for risk and uncertainty. “I'm not suggesting any kind of incompetence or malfeasance on the part of Hatch or the MSD. Like most entities, they would like to continue operating in a way that they're familiar with. That's totally understandable.” he said. “All I did was discount their numbers.” Hartye told CPP in an email that the Hatch report is not an estimate of the value of Craggy Dam: “This is primarily an engineering report that assesses future capital and maintenance needs for the next 30 years.” He also pointed out that the Hatch report included an expected cash flow analysis based on the annual operating expenses and revenues from its hydroelectric function calculating a new present value of $2.05 million discounted at 6%. ### Transparent and independent While dams seldom change owners, there’s precedent. In 2019, Duke Energy sold five dams located in the Carolinas to Northbrook Energy for $4.75 million. Among them was the Ela Dam on the Oconaluftee River in Swain County. Northbrook Energy has since sold the dam for $1 to Mainspring Conservation Trust to facilitate its removal. McCombs hopes that whatever the future of the dam, the process leading to a decision is transparent and independent. “It seems like the MSD is only viewing the French Broad River as a source of power for them,” she said. “At the end of the day we’re focused on getting to a fair sale price to be able to realize the benefits of removal. Rate payers will be made whole and MSD won't have to operate this dam anymore.” McCombs requested a place on the agenda of the MSD’s next governing board meeting on Wednesday, March 18\. She plans to advocate that the MSD explore the possibility of removal; freeze capital expenditures on the hydro facility until a decision is made; and establish a transparent evaluation process to understand the full range of public benefits and tradeoffs of removal. CPP reached out to several members of the governing board including Asheville resident **Chris Pelly**. “I support removal of the dam although, as an MSD board member, I have to consider its interests too,” he said. “I believe we’ll eventually get there, but need for the process to play out.” Convincing Hartye may, however, be a high hurdle. “What is incredible is how hydropower is dismissed now that there’s going to be a new kayak park (in the stream),” he wrote to CPP. Hunt is a driving force of Taylor’s Wave, which will be owned and operated by the Town of Woodfin once construction is complete. Eliminating Craggy Dam, he said, means MSD must rely on power from the electricity grid. “We are looking at about 2.3 times the amount of greenhouse gas production. Hydroelectric aligns with city and county goals to meet 100% renewable by 2030,” Hartye said. “Maintaining the hydro certainly aligns with those goals. Reliance on additional grid power does not.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74853/debate-over-buncombe-craggy-dam-value-cost-benefit-future-wnc-french-broad-river/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Missouri and Kansas legislation looks to expand the reach of the alternative medicine doctors by Suzanne King, Beacon: Kansas City March 13, 2026 During the depths of the COVID pandemic, Audrey Canaday’s health spiraled. Takeaways 1. Proposed legislation in Missouri to license naturopathic doctors hasn’t yet been scheduled for a hearing. A bill in Kansas, which would have expanded the scope of practice of that state’s naturopathic doctors, failed to pass the House. 2. Traditional medical associations oppose giving naturopathic providers the authority to serve as primary care providers, although they already do in several states. 3. Some tenets of naturopathic medicine have similarities with the pro-Trump Make America Healthy Again movement. But naturopathic medicine does not similarly shun the use of vaccines. The Lenexa mom started having gastrointestinal issues almost overnight in May 2020\. Her body stopped tolerating many foods and in less than two months her weight dropped to 77 pounds. Canaday’s 5-foot-6-inch frame could barely function. Two stints in the hospital didn’t help and Canaday was left waiting weeks for an appointment with a gastroenterologist. Things got so bad, she had to move in with her parents, leaving her husband and three children — then 7 years, 4 years and 18 months old — behind. “I was in a severe state,” said Canaday, now 42. That’s when she decided to see a naturopathic doctor. Her insurance wouldn’t cover the cost, but Canaday believed in the alternative approach to health care, which promotes helping the body heal itself through diet, lifestyle and natural treatments. “I was willing to try anything that my husband and I felt like we could afford,” she said. Canaday’s story is not unusual. Increasingly, naturopathic doctors are seen as a legitimate alternative to traditional or osteopathic physicians and, for some, a welcome change from the long waits, short appointments and complicated financial side of traditional health care. Naturopathic doctors, who are already licensed as primary care providers [in some states](https://naturopathic.org/page/ScopeforPatients?ref=down-ballot.info), argue that doctors trained in accredited, four-year naturopathic colleges are more than capable of taking on patients as fully licensed providers. And some policy makers are on board, too. Legislation introduced this year in Missouri and Kansas would effectively put naturopathic providers on par with primary care doctors, allowing them to perform exams, order screening tests and write certain prescriptions. But the medical establishment has pushed back. Naturopathic doctors, they warn, don’t have the same training as medical doctors and rely on methods that sometimes veer outside the lines of evidence-based science. They contend naturopathic providers shouldn’t be treated as if they are traditional doctors. “Patients deserve care led by physicians — the most highly educated, trained and skilled health care professionals,” the American Medical Association writes in a [statement](https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/scope-practice?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) on its website. “Through research, advocacy and education, the AMA vigorously defends the practice of medicine against scope of practice expansions that threaten patient safety.” Meanwhile, patients like Canaday are caught in the middle. Back in 2020 when she was fighting for her health, Canaday eventually saw a gastroenterologist who diagnosed her with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease. She followed that doctor’s treatment plan, including certain medications. But Canaday believes it was her naturopathic doctor’s alternative approach, overhauling her diet and recommending supplements to help her body heal, that made her better. “That is what turned my situation around,” she said. ## Missouri and Kansas legislation Naturopathic medicine is not opposed to traditional medicine or treatment. Naturopathic doctors who attend accredited schools are trained to prescribe pharmaceutical drugs. But the practice places a higher priority on less invasive natural treatments, some of which have been criticized as pseudoscience. While pharmaceutical drugs may be prescribed “to halt progressive pathology,” whenever possible naturopathic care turns to “safe, effective, natural substances that do not add toxicity or additionally burden the already distressed body,” [according to the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians](https://naturopathic.org/page/WhatisaNaturopathicDoctor?ref=down-ballot.info). But the meaning of naturopathic medicine varies depending on where you live. In states like Missouri where naturopathic doctors aren’t licensed, anyone with an internet certificate could claim the title. But no one in the state, not even those with four-year degrees, has a legal right to call themselves doctors. In states like Kansas, where they have been licensed since 2003, naturopathic doctors can see patients, but they aren’t allowed to prescribe most prescription medications and face other limitations, which providers argue shackle their ability to provide care. According to the state, only 51 naturopathic providers are currently licensed in Kansas, including 28 who practice there. But in states like Oregon, where naturopathic doctors have been licensed since 1919, they are recognized as primary care providers, they accept Medicaid and some private insurance and can prescribe medications, order labs and other diagnostic testing. Currently [23 states and three territories](https://naturopathic.org/page/ScopeforPatients?ref=down-ballot.info) license naturopathic doctors at varying levels. And the profession is actively working to expand its reach. --- ![A map showing how naturopathic doctors are regulated across the United States.](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2025-State-Legislation-Map-2-1024x732.jpeg) Twenty-three states and three territories license naturopathic doctors. (Source: American Association of Naturopathic Physicians) --- This year legislation was filed in six states, including Missouri, to begin licensing naturopathic doctors. And another six states, including Kansas, have seen legislation that would expand their scope of practice. The [Kansas bill](https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025%5F26/measures/documents/hb2366%5F02%5F0000.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), which would have given naturopathic doctors in the state expanded professional capabilities, like prescribing many medications, passed out of a state House committee, but failed in a 58-58 floor vote last month. The [Missouri bill](https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills261/hlrbillspdf/5193H.01I.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) would license naturopathic doctors in the state for the first time and allow them to perform many duties similar to a primary care doctor, including prescribing basic medications. To date, that bill hasn’t been scheduled for a hearing and it is unclear if it will be heard this session. Rep. Mark Meirath, an Excelsior Springs Republican who cosponsored the bill, said he sees the legislation as a way to help expand the pool of available providers in the state, which is facing doctor shortages across rural communities. “It just makes sense that we should give the people another safe option for their health care needs,” Meirath said. ## Medical establishment has concerns But the medical establishment has long fought back against allowing naturopathic doctors to act like traditional physicians, calling into question naturopaths’ training and approach. Testifying in January against the Kansas legislation, Rachelle Colombo, executive director of the Kansas Medical Society, told the state House Health and Human Services Committee that expanding the scope of practice of naturopathic doctors in the state would be “contrary to the best interest of patients.” Under the bill, she said, naturopathic doctors “would be able to do traditional, conventional medical treatment, although they are nontraditional, alternative” medical providers. ![Rachelle Colombo, executive director of the Kansas Medical Society, testifying before the Kansas House Health and Human Services Committee on Jan. 27.](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Image-3-11-26-at-1.41-PM-1-1024x576.jpeg) Rachelle Colombo, executive director of the Kansas Medical Society, testified before the Kansas House Health and Human Services Committee on Jan. 27\. (YouTube screenshot) Naturopathic providers have also faced criticism for recommending and sometimes selling dietary supplements and vitamins that don’t face Food and Drug Administration scrutiny for safety or effectiveness. And they have been criticized for recommending homeopathic products, which federal drug regulators have in the past [warned consumers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ21SpriY78&ref=down-ballot.info) against using. Beyond those concerns, other criticism about naturopathic care has been far more pointed. In testimony two years ago against a [Missouri bill](https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills241/hlrbillspdf/4569H.01I.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to license naturopathic doctors, which was passed out of committee before it stalled, a Kansas City doctor testified that she had seen an infant near death after being under the care of a naturopathic provider. In [written testimony](https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills241/witnesses/HB2446Testimony.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) before the House Professional Registration and Licensing Committee, Dr. Joanne Loethen, representing the Missouri State Medical Association, described a severely malnourished 12-month-old child who came to her practice weighing the same as a 4-month-old. After testing the baby for food allergies, Loethen testified, the naturopathic doctor advised the parents to “strictly avoid countless foods and formulas.” But the baby’s weight became stagnant and her development lagged. “Rather than refer to a physician who specializes in growth failure and delays, or even to a board certified allergist if it was truly felt her food allergies were that severe,” Loethen said in the testimony, “the family was instead told to continue alternative remedies and avoid various foods.” ## No regulation may be part of the problem Supporters of states licensing naturopathic doctors contend that situations like the one Loethen described are precisely why states should be regulating the practice. “In states like Missouri where there is no regulation at all,” said Laura Farr, executive director of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, “anybody can call themselves a naturopathic doctor. As a patient you wouldn’t know if someone has graduated from a four-year medical school, or if it’s somebody who has gotten a five-week correspondence certificate.” On the other hand, states that do license naturopathic doctors can require certain levels of education and training and establish other standards that protect patients. Missouri’s [proposed bill](https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills261/hlrbillspdf/5193H.01I.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) establishes a board of naturopathic medicine that would determine the quality of education a licensee must have. The board would administer exams and establish continuing education requirements. And it would discipline providers for misconduct. Emily Hudson, board president of the Missouri Society of Naturopathic Physicians, said many people who oppose the Missouri bill simply don’t understand the level of education naturopathic doctors receive. “We are trained in evidence-informed medicine,” she said. “We want to provide good, safe, quality care. And keep patients safe.” Under current law, Hudson and other naturopathic providers working in the state can only serve as something like health coaches to the patients they work with. ”We don’t act as physicians,” said Hudson, who lives in St. Louis. “We don’t diagnose. We don’t treat. I don’t do any physical exam. I don’t touch any of my patients. Basically, it’s generally health advice — speaking to people about the diagnoses they’ve already been given and how I can support them.” Even in that limited capacity, Hudson said, her practice is full. She often works with medical doctors who refer patients to her for nutrition advice and other support. Patients who want to find a more holistic approach to their health also find her on their own. “Many people are seeking naturopathic care,” she said. “They want more time for appointments, a more preventative approach. And more support for managing chronic conditions." All of those are at the heart of the naturopathic approach to health care, providers said. The practice emphasizes finding and treating the root causes of disease, and that often involves spending lots of time with patients, learning about their lives, including every part that could be affecting their health. “We want to have 20 to 45 minutes, if not an hour, with our patients,” said Dr. Laura Rues, a naturopathic doctor in Johnson County. The approach, she said, pays off in healthier patients who require less expensive care. ![A woman testifying before the Kansas House Committee on Health and Human Services.](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Image-3-11-26-at-1.48-PM.jpeg) Dr. Laura Rues, a naturopathic doctor who practices in Johnson County, told members of the Kansas House Committee on Health and Human Services that current Kansas law makes her feel as if she’s working with her hands tied behind her back. (YouTube screenshot) ## Similarities to MAHA Naturopathic providers still face steep resistance in states like Missouri and Kansas. But they have expressed hope that they might have allies in President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy’s rhetoric in favor of healthy eating and exercise and against highly processed foods match naturopathic principles. And Casey Means, the doctor turned wellness influencer whom Trump nominated to be his surgeon general, has embraced functional medicine, which has similarities to the naturopathic approach. Like the Make America Healthy Again movement, Kennedy’s political calling card, they both focus on healthy eating and lifestyle, including promoting vitamins and supplements marketed to support the body’s self-healing processes. In fact, last year, soon after Trump took office, Farr sent a [letter](https://cdn.ymaws.com/naturopathic.org/resource/resmgr/documents/advocacy/federal%5Fadvocacy/FINAL%5FTrump%5FTransition%5FLette.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) on behalf of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians noting the similarities and urging federal policy changes that would promote naturopathic practices. “For over a century,” the letter said, “naturopathic medicine has offered a distinct approach to health care, prioritizing disease prevention, health promotion and patient-center care.” The letter went on to say that naturopathic doctors employ “a range of evidence-based, cost-effective therapies that resonate deeply with the MAHA platform’s vision.” To be sure, not everything matches up. For example, accredited naturopathic medical schools follow evidence-based science, including related to vaccines, Farr said. But many in the Make America Healthy Again movement, including Kennedy, shun them. “Vaccines are taught in all of our schools,” Farr said. “There is a heavy emphasis on having a doctor-patient conversation … related to vaccines, but that’s about informed consent, part of any doctor-patient relationship. We are not getting involved in the vaccine political controversy.” Farr also did not mention the Trump administration’s moves to cut funding for [healthy food programs](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/11/25/usda-cuts-regional-food-business-missouri-kansas-nebraska/?ref=down-ballot.info), [food assistance](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/11/10/snap-missouri-kansas-work-requirements-2025/?ref=down-ballot.info), [Medicaid](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/07/09/kansas-city-missouri-medicaid-trump-budget/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [health insurance subsidies](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/12/19/aca-expiring-tax-credits-health-insurance/?ref=down-ballot.info). While emphasizing that her organization was not endorsing MAHA or any other political movement, Farr said she sent the letter to point out that parts of the new administration’s proposed policies closely align with what naturopathic medicine promotes. Her letter asked the administration to: - Direct the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to require states to credential licensed naturopathic physicians. Currently only some states’ Medicaid programs cover the alternative doctors. - Allow the Veterans Health Administration to hire naturopathic doctors. - Protect patient access to compounded medications "including those utilizing natural substances and botanical ingredients.” - Promote “Food as Medicine” programs and appoint naturopathic doctors to boards and task forces that oversee those programs. As for her assessment of what the MAHA movement has accomplished so far? “It’s a mixed bag,” Farr said. On one hand, the administration invited a naturopathic medical school representative to participate in a recent meeting about how nutrition is taught in medical schools, an important step in medical education, Farr said. On the other hand, Trump recently issued an [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/02/promoting-the-national-defense-by-ensuring-an-adequate-supply-of-elemental-phosphorus-and-glyphosate-based-herbicides/?ref=down-ballot.info) that promotes the use of glyphosate, a chemical used in weed killer and widely implicated as causing cancer. But, still, Farr said, any new dialogue about nutrition, lifestyle medicine and food as medicine is “a breath of fresh air.” “It’s something naturopathic doctors have been talking about for decades,” Farr said. “It finally feels like the rest of the world has caught up.” This [article](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2026/03/13/naturopathic-doctors-want-more-autonomy-in-missouri-and-kansas/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Beacon: Kansas City](https://thebeaconnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/iconbeacon-150x150.png?crop=1) --- ### Asheville employs more municipal workers than similar-sized cities. Is it necessary for a busy tourist town or a sign of bloat? URL: https://down-ballot.info/asheville-employs-more-municipal-workers-than-similar-sized-cities-is-it-necessary-for-a-busy-tourist-town-or-a-sign-of-bloat/ Last updated: 2026-03-18T09:00:13.000Z by [DAN DeWITT](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/dan/?ref=down-ballot.info) March 5, 2026 [Asheville employs more municipal workers than similar-sized cities. Is it necessary for a busy tourist town or a sign of bloat? • Asheville WatchdogDavid Moritz’s campaign for Asheville City Council ended with a loss in Tuesday’s primary, but he hopes his message about the root cause of the city’s yawning budget gap – bloated staffing – will linger. Five years ago, employee pay and benefits consumed $100.7 million, or 54.5 percent of the city of Asheville’s total $184.8-million budget. These payroll costs have \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-14.png)Asheville WatchdogDAN DeWITT![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/20260102_cityhall_0017-scaled.jpg)](https://avlwatchdog.org/asheville-employs-more-municipal-workers-than-similar-sized-cities-is-it-necessary-for-a-busy-tourist-town-or-a-sign-of-bloat/?ref=down-ballot.info) David Moritz’s campaign for Asheville City Council ended with a loss in Tuesday’s primary, but he hopes his message about the root cause of the city’s yawning budget gap – bloated staffing – will linger. Five years ago, employee pay and benefits consumed $100.7 million, or 54.5 percent of the city of Asheville’stotal $184.8-million budget. These payroll costs have since climbed to $147.9 million – about 57 percent of the $256.4-million 2026 fiscal year [budget](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pcugK%5FYMoQzFOf3iDCYm4doEduQ39lDg/view?ref=down-ballot.info). “We’ve increased our spending way too quickly for the city to pay for,” said Moritz, a real estate developer who made city spending one of the central planks of his campaign. The city’s authorized number of employees, 1,396, is higher – in many cases dramatically higher – than those of five of the six North Carolina cities closest to Asheville’s size, according to their fiscal year 2026 budget documents. It has a larger police force than all but one and a larger fire department than the more populous cities of Wilmington and High Point. Its finance department is big compared to most of these cities’, and its human resources staff is the biggest. The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Government’s [Benchmarking Project](https://uncsog.shinyapps.io/benchmarking-project/%5Fw%5F82c5104a/%5Fw%5Fa51e7656b38744468eea534b7d114333/?ref=down-ballot.info), which compares a range of data from 16 participating cities in the state, shows that while Asheville had more than 14 employees per 1,000 residents in 2024, Raleigh had about nine. But the project also backs the need for Asheville’s robust staffing. It’s home to more of several types of crime than the bedroom communities of similar size compared by the project, and its firefighters are far busier. With more such front-line forces, Asheville needs more administrative personnel to support them, said Lindsay Spangler, the city’s budget and performance manager. Cuts to staffing and services, she has also said, will be considered as the city grapples with its $26.4 million budget gap, down from the earlier reported shortfall of $30 million. The number of budgeted city workers – 1,310 in fiscal year 2021 – has not climbed dramatically, and the increased costs reflect the City Council’s commitment to offering competitive pay in a period of high inflation, said Finance Director Tony McDowell. Comparing staff sizes is difficult because the disparate range of services provided by different cities, he also said, before pointing to the main reason for Asheville’s employee count: As a tourist destination and a regional hub of commerce and employment, it has an effective population much higher than the [95,000 ](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/ashevillecitynorthcarolina/PST045225?ref=down-ballot.info)estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau. “This part of the state acts very differently than (any) other region in NC,” Vic Isley, CEO and president of Explore Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, said in an email. “For generations, the Asheville area has operated as the economic, health, retail and cultural hub not only for WNC but in many cases East TN, upstate SC and GA as well.” But Isley also forwarded a 2024 presentation to her board that backs another of Moritz’s claims: restrictions on development in the city have helped create its low population relative to the surrounding region. The city has amended some zoning laws and seen an uptick in multifamily construction in recent years, but the presentation detailed its long history of limiting dense residential development. That has left Asheville more dependent on workers and shoppers from outside the city, Moritz said, and on fewer residents who pay property taxes, the single largest source of general fund revenue. “We’re bearing the consequences of providing additional services to the people who come here during the day (and) we’re not getting the benefit of the tax revenue of the growth in the county,” Moritz said. #### **The influx** The city has been tracking the surge of out-of-towners since at least 2013, when a former city manager wrote a report called “A Community Crossroads” to address the challenges of recovering from the Great Recession of 2007-2009. “Asheville has the highest daytime-to-resident population ratio among all cities in North Carolina with populations of 50,000 or greater,” according to the report, which was based on 2010 census data. Similarly, the 2018 [Living Asheville Comprehensive Plan](https://online.flippingbook.com/view/106269/?ref=down-ballot.info) found that commuters from outside the city accounted for nearly 75 percent of its workforce, or about 60,000 people added to the city’s daily headcount. “The swelling of Asheville’s daytime population due to inbound commuting is the most extensive such example in the state,” it said. That trend has continued, Nathan Ramsey, executive director of the Land of Sky Regional Council, said in an email that included 2023 census data showing a net inflow of 41,250 private-sector workers into the city. That figure, he added, “does not count tourists, shoppers, people who travel to Asheville for concert, meal, movie, shopping, healthcare.” According to the comprehensive plan, Asheville is “the site of 54 percent of the region’s retail activity despite being home to only 20 percent of the metropolitan population.” Then there are the nearly 14 million tourists who visited Buncombe County in 2024, 9 million of whom were day trippers, Isley wrote. “If you take that 9M and divide by 365, that is an average of 24,657 per day.” **Benchmarks** The Benchmarking Project provides details on how such surges impact staffing and services, at least for the three other similar-sized, participating municipalities – Apex, Concord and Gastonia. The Asheville Fire Department is the city’s biggest department, with 304 budgeted positions. Its staff is also considerably bigger than the fire department of Concord (2024 pop. 112,000) and more than double Apex’s or Gastonia’s. But Asheville’s firefighters, besides maintaining a [rare Class 1](https://www.ashevillenc.gov/department/fire/?ref=down-ballot.info) rating from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), responded to more than 250 “incidents” per 1,000 residents, compared to about 150 in Gastonia and Concord, and about 50 in Apex, according to the project. They also receive more calls for service than Wilmington and High Point, according to data provided by department spokesperson, John Harbin, who added that those calls are more time-consuming in Asheville because of its hilly terrain and narrow roads. The project shows Gastonia’s violent crime rate is higher than Asheville’s, but that city, as well as Concord and Apex, have reported fewer car accidents, burglaries and total property crimes in recent years. Asheville Police Department spokesperson Rick Rice said that, though staffing levels have increased in recent years, it is still “operating below strength,” employing 207 of the 232 sworn officers approved in the budget. It’s 104,000 calls for service in 2024, he added, equated to about 520 per officer. McDowell said his own department shows the difficulty of comparing the size of personnel rosters, because of the different functions performed. Asheville’s finance staff is unusually large, but so is its range of duties, which include risk management and strategic services, he said. “You have to be really careful if you do those kinds of comparison,” McDowell said. #### **Services** Some of these comparisons show that many similar-sized cities provide major services that Asheville doesn’t. Unlike Asheville, Apex offers wastewater treatment as well as water for a total budget cost of $31.1 million. And while Asheville relies on private Duke Energy for its power needs, Apex, Concord, Gastonia and High Point all provide electric services with large expenses and payrolls. Gastonia, for example, has a smaller general fund than Asheville but a larger total budget, partly because of the $85.1 million devoted to the electric utility, which accounts for 49 members of the city’s much lower total workforce. But University towns such as Greenville, North Carolina, can piggyback on services provided by the schools, which helps explain why, although Greenville’s population is about the same as Asheville’s, its budgeted transit costs are $4.9 million. That compares to $15.2 million in Asheville, an amount that may increase by $3 million next fiscal year, Spangler said in a [January presentation](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fKgOzgUQ9oHDwXepFsSNZhdIuNKcjQiW?ref=down-ballot.info) that highlighted this additional cost as a significant reason for the expected budget gap. Gastonia, Concord and Apex, as satellites of Charlotte or Raleigh, also tap into the resources of nearby police and fire departments, McDowell said. “There are fire trucks and police cars galore in this neck of the woods,” said Apex Finance Director Jon Griffin, who added that the current employment numbers lag behind need because of the town’s rapid growth. “We’re adding, like, 40 to 50 staff positions every budget year,” he said. Coverage areas of city services also vary. Greenville’s budget is inflated by the inclusion of a regional utility that supplies electricity, natural gas, wastewater treatment and water. Asheville’s Water Resources Department is one of the city’s biggest city departments, with 179 approved workers and a current budget of $49.4 million. That’s $17.7 million more than the amount spent in 2021, reflecting extensive investment into its infrastructure, McDowell said. Unlike the utilities in many other cities, the department serves a broad area – all of Buncombe and a “sliver of northern Henderson County,” Clay Chandler, water resources spokesperson, said in an email. “It certainly costs more to serve an entire county rather than just the city,” he wrote. #### **Finding savings – and revenue** Whether or not the city’s robust staff is needed, it has already begun to dwindle and will likely continue to do so as the city addresses its budget gap, Spangler said last week in a [presentation](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Hid8OMPVInXNVPEv4017QGf4g11vsH6wu3CgpfGYByY/edit?slide=id.g157d9a86bc0%5F1%5F0&ref=down-ballot.info#slide=id.g157d9a86bc0%5F1%5F0) that included the lower shortfall estimate. Because of vacancies in the Police Department and other sectors of the government, the current staff count is 1,294, according to a [page on the city’s website](https://data-avl.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/4d96bf8fbad640edbe124fe7185ba670%5F0/explore?filters=eyJkZXBhcnRtZW50IjpbIlBvbGljZSJdLCJleGVtcHRfZ3JvdXAiOlsiUE9MSUNFIC8gRVhFTVBUIiwiUE9MSUNFIC8gTk9OLUVYRU1QVCJdfQ%3D%3D&ref=down-ballot.info). The city implemented a hiring freeze on Feb. 2 in response to the budget gap, Kim Miller, a city spokesperson, said in an email, though department heads can request exceptions “for critical needs such as public safety, legal mandates, and emergency recovery.” Open positions are factored into projections and won’t impact next year’s budget, Spangler said. But her staff has identified other savings that can be brought forward to the next budget year, which helped account for the reduction in the estimate, she told Council at its Feb. 24 work session. Cuts to staffing and services will be considered as Council moves forward with three spring work sessions scheduled before the July 1 start of the next budget year, she said. Also on the table, she said, will be an increase in property taxes, currently 44.19 cents per $100 of valuation. “We don’t believe it’s possible to balance the budget with just budget reductions,” Spangler told Council. “That means we will have to bring Council options for revenue increases … including fees and charges and property tax increases.” Mayor Esther Manheimer and Vice Mayor Antanette Mosley, in texts or emails to *The Watchdog,* agreed that Council needs to examine cuts to staffing and other expenses as the discussions move forward. Mosley, one of six candidates to move on in the primary election, pointed out that public safety personnel, which “represents a substantial share of staffing,” is coping with both “ongoing service demand and (Tropical Storm Helene) recovery needs.” Council member Bo Hess said he does not favor cutting jobs or the pay of “first responders,” but also said Council must work hard to avoid raising taxes. “The answer cannot be to balance the budget on the backs of our residents, our young people, our working families struggling with the high cost of living in Asheville,” he said. #### Building the tax base Trimming expenses and finding revenue will be the focus of short-term discussion. The long-term goal should be to boost the population and value of property in Asheville, Mortitz said. While census estimates show the city’s growth slowed dramatically between 2020 and 2024, adding only about 400 residents compared to about 10,000 in Buncombe, the 2025 Housing Needs Assessment for Asheville’s four-county metropolitan area shows a lesser difference between the city and outlying areas. Relying on a variety of sources, the report, conducted by Bowen National Research, estimates the city’s population climbed 3.4 percent in those years to 98,000, compared to a 4.4 percent increase in the county as a whole. It also predicted the city would add about 4,000 more residents by 2029. Regardless of which of these pictures is more accurate, there is [widespread agreemen](https://avlwatchdog.org/asheville-is-the-most-lethal-big-city-in-the-state-for-cyclists-is-the-city-doing-enough-to-address-it/?ref=down-ballot.info)t among Council members about the need for “consolidated growth” – denser development near the city’s core. The goals of committing to this pattern include reducing housing costs, making more efficient use of Asheville’s transit system and transportation infrastructure and building a bigger tax base and a larger pool of workers who live in the city. The 2024 presentations to the TDA board by Scott Dedman, former president and executive director of the Mountain Housing Opportunities affordable housing nonprofit, focused on the need to add density to combat high housing costs and low supply in Buncombe and Asheville. According to the Bowen report, the city needs to add 11,658 rental and for-sale units in the next 20 years to meet demand. The Council made a grave misstep in 1997, Dedman’s presentation said, when it downzoned more than 7,000 acres of multifamily land while greatly expanding the area reserved for single-family homes, reducing the city’s housing capacity and creating barriers for minorities and economically disadvantaged residents. “Single-family, low-density zoning not only increases the cost of development per unit; it has a discriminatory impact – discriminatory by income and by race – against many residents and potential residents of our community,” Dedman’s presentation says. “City and county zoning codes … should be updated to increase dense development in downtown; near downtown; in areas near jobs, schools, shopping, and services,” the presentation concluded. “Elected officials who seek to meet every social policy goal with every new home, will build pretty much nothing, never.” The Council has made strides in adding density, changing zoning rules to streamline development in transit corridors last year, when it also expanded the city’s capacity to add some medium-density missing middle housing. And in December, members all agreed to work towards implementing further recommendations of its 2023 Missing Middle Study. The Bowen report also documented progress in adding rental units, finding that between 2019 and 2024 rental vacancy rates in the city climbed from 2.8 percent to 4 percent, the bottom of the range seen in “healthy” markets. Hess has been an outspoken proponent of increasing density and said the budget gap should add urgency to this effort. “We need to expand our tax base rather than raising taxes on the people who already live here,” he said, “and what that looks like is bringing in new housing, supporting local businesses and attracting employers who create good jobs.” #### **“Wish lists”** Despite the tax burden placed on Asheville residents, there are advantages to its role as a regional hub, including its ability to attract those employers, Ramsey said in an email: “The larger we can make ourselves in terms of workforce availability, the better chance employers believe they can meet their talent demands by locating in our community.” And Asheville, he said, is hardly alone in its dependence on out-of-town commuters. “Over time, there has been a trend of people living in more suburban and rural communities and the jobs being located in more urban communities,” Ramsey wrote. “This is not a local trend; it is a national and perhaps global trend.” It’s happening in the Raleigh area, which is one reason that Apex, with an annual population growth of about 3,000, doesn’t face nearly the budget challenges of Asheville, Griffin, the Apex finance director, said. “Our growth is really Raleigh’s sprawl,” Griffin said. Brevard, with about 8,000 residents, offers more parallels to its larger counterpart. Though far smaller than Asheville, Brevard faced some, but less severe, impacts of Helene. It serves as an employment and shopping hub, not for the region but for surrounding Transylvania County. And, said Dean Luebbe, Brevard’s finance director and assistant city manager, it’s looking ahead to a tough budget year. He’s still working to pare down the “wish lists” of city departments, but they currently exceed projected revenues by more than $2 million, he said. The root cause, Luebbe said, is a philosophy of governance Brevard’s leaders also share with Asheville’s. The left-leaning Brevard City Council is dominated by members who believe in providing a full range of public services, improving city facilities and paying fair salaries. “All those are great things,” Luebbe said, “and all of those things take money.” --- *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on* [*our Facebook page.*](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog) *Please submit your comments there.* --- [*Asheville Watchdog*](http://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Dan DeWitt is The Watchdog’s deputy managing editor/senior reporter. You can reach him via email at ddewitt@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to* [*avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* ### The long history of silent meditation retreats and the individuals who helped shape them URL: https://down-ballot.info/the-long-history-of-silent-meditation-retreats-and-the-individuals-who-helped-shape-them/ Last updated: 2026-03-17T09:00:06.000Z ![](https://chirp.pluckyworks.org/media/83252c42-2c1c-4a0e-8c00-c28c0a850375.jpg) **By Daniel M. Stuart, University of South Carolina, The Conversation** Silent retreats have become [increasingly common](https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2025/09/20/silent-retreat-meditation-religion/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the United States in recent years. To [calm down](https://www.self.com/story/silent-retreats-for-women?ref=down-ballot.info) and reset their nervous systems, people relinquish their phones and reading materials and commit to speaking at a bare minimum to [learn practices of self-awareness](https://www.fastcompany.com/90334124/from-hacking-the-mind-to-punishing-ennui-techs-brightest-are-taking-to-silent-retreats?ref=down-ballot.info). Silent meditation and silent prayer have shaped spiritual lives within a variety of religious traditions for thousands of years. Today, however, those practices are often being offered in secular settings. One particular form of meditative silence, the 10-day mindfulness retreat, has had an outsized impact. [Research I have carried out over the past two decades](https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/4-publikationen/hamburg-buddhist-studies/20insight.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) sheds light on the role of the Burmese meditation master [Sayagyi U Ba Khin](https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824864217-014?urlappend=%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dresearchgate.net%26utm%5Fmedium%3Darticle&ref=down-ballot.info) in popularizing mindfulness meditation. The term “sayagyi” means “respected teacher.” Ba Khin was one of a small number of prominent Buddhist lay meditation teachers in late colonial and early postcolonial Burma. His silent, 10-day retreat [became a model](https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/4-publikationen/hamburg-buddhist-studies/20insight.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) for a wide range of intensive meditation traditions. Three of Ba Khin’s students were instrumental in bringing his teaching to the United States. ## The emergence of mass meditation Mindfulness meditation practices can be traced to ancient India. The clearest historical evidence of such practices comes from the teachings of [the historical Buddha](https://brill.com/display/title/13862?srsltid=AfmBOopUQoxKaa38JXvPmLdAoBD9ux0m7k3ugg6zsvRsp1WtxDxJQenE&ref=down-ballot.info), Siddhartha Gautama, and his contemporaries. Most of these practitioners were monastics or ascetics. Historical questions remain, however, regarding whether such practices were primarily reserved for monastics or widely practiced among laypeople. The monk and scholar Bhikkhu Anālayo argues that the oldest historical sources provide evidence for [widespread lay meditation practice](https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01769-4?ref=down-ballot.info) beginning in the fifth century B.C.E. Other scholars suggest that laypeople had access only to [teachings on devotional practices](https://jocbs.org/index.php/jocbs/article/view/281?ref=down-ballot.info), such as reflections on the qualities of the Buddha, that would encourage offerings and lay support for the monastic community. A striking development in the mid-20th century was the emergence of [mass Buddhist meditation movements](https://www.ohioswallow.com/9780896802551/burmas-mass-lay-meditation-movement/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Southeast Asia. Countries such as Myanmar, Thailand and Sri Lanka promoted meditation among lay people to build national identities [in the face of colonialism](https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo16744419.html?ref=down-ballot.info). In post-colonial Burma – Myanmar’s name until 1989 – being an ideal citizen meant being an ideal Buddhist; meditation was seen as a visible expression embodying that ideal. With the globalization of such meditation practices in the latter half of the 20th century, such meditation practices expanded beyond the borders of these countries. ## The Burmese silent retreat Following Burma’s independence in 1948, Ba Khin became its first accountant general – a role in which he developed a close relationship with the [first prime minister, U Nu](https://archive.org/details/unusaturdaysson0000nuu/page/n3/mode/2up). With the blessing of U Nu, Ba Khin began teaching meditation to his employees. At the time, many of his students were neither Burmese nor Buddhist; they were civil servants originally working for the colonial government. [The context of teaching](https://insightmyanmar.org/complete-shows/2025/11/6/episode-427-meditating-on-history?rq=stuart&ref=down-ballot.info) was therefore both lay-oriented – taking place in work contexts – and religiously pluralistic, involving Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Ba Khin had learned meditation from [Maung Po Thet](https://host.pariyatti.org/treasures/Sayagyi%5FU%5FThet.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), who was born in colonial Burma in 1873\. A farmer by profession, Thet learned meditation from teachers who believed that lay people, and not just monks, should practice meditation. To make practice accessible, Maung Po Thet introduced a seven-day retreat for lay people. At the time, meditation typically involved longer periods of retreat. Following his teacher’s approach, Ba Khin started teaching 10-day retreats in 1952\. He later authorized students [to carry his teaching abroad – to North America, Europe, Australia and India](https://app.box.com/s/5dmq1o1dqnfwq3nutn4m19upp3cljpm4?is%5Fembed%5Fwidget=true&ref=down-ballot.info). ## Globalization of the silent retreat The most famous of these students was [S.N. Goenka](https://www.shambhala.com/s-n-goenka.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqf3Sn-35jQVV%5FcEtx7cGwPMFT%5FgLlsx08n1-%5FzODIF%5FLD6-mqs&ref=down-ballot.info). Born in colonial Burma in 1924, Goenka was a wealthy businessman and leader of the Hindu community in Rangoon. He initially sought out Ba Khin for relief from severe migraine headaches; Ba Khin was known as [a healer](https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/meditation-sickness-a-sourcebook-on-the-dangers-of-buddhist-practice/?ref=down-ballot.info). Despite reservations about Buddhist practice, Goenka enrolled in a 10-day retreat after experiencing relief from his headaches in an initial encounter with Ba Khin. The experience proved transformative. From 1969 until his death in 2013, [Goenka devoted his life to spreading Ba Khin’s teachings globally](https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/4-publikationen/hamburg-buddhist-studies/20insight.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) while retaining his Hindu identity. Like his teacher, and his teacher’s teacher, Goenka taught practices of meditation that focused on the cultivation of continuous concentration on a single object of focus for sustained periods of time. This was done through the observation of the breath, leading to a comprehensive awareness of bodily sensations in all postures and at all times when not sleeping. Along with his wife, Ilaichidevi Goenka, he taught hundreds of 10-day retreats and trained assistants to facilitate retreats at roughly 200 meditation centers worldwide. Millions have participated in these retreats, and many influential meditation teachers in India, Europe, Australia and North America first encountered meditation under Goenka’s guidance. ## Roots of techno-mindfulness One particularly consequential aspect of Goenka’s work was his use of audio and video recordings, beginning in the 1980s. In the face of increased demand for his courses, Goenka recorded teachings and instructions and [established a highly structured retreat format](https://www.vridhamma.org/node/2375?ref=down-ballot.info). This innovation allowed retreats to be facilitated worldwide in his absence, dramatically accelerating the global spread of the practice and foreshadowing [later developments, such as meditation apps](https://doi.org/10.3390/histories4010008?ref=down-ballot.info). Goenka was also skilled at using [the language of universalism](https://journal.equinoxpub.com/ROSA/article/view/10852?ref=down-ballot.info) to secularize Buddhist meditation, presenting himself as a committed non-Buddhist who nevertheless accessed its benefits. This approach echoed that of Ba Khin, who spoke of teaching meditation without interfering in his students’ personal faith. Such rhetorical tactics proved crucial in making meditation accessible to global audiences. ## Two lesser-known figures Two other students of Ba Khin, rarely mentioned in historical accounts, also catalyzed the study of mindfulness in the U.S.: aerospace engineer Robert H. Hover and Leon E. Wright, a Black Christian theologian. [Robert H. Hover](https://hokku.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/robert-harry-hover/?ref=down-ballot.info) played a crucial role in initiating the scientific study of mindfulness and in the [founding of the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts](https://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/pdf/4-publikationen/hamburg-buddhist-studies/20insight.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), one of the first U.S. centers dedicated to Southeast Asian Buddhist meditation. Hover’s work helped bring mindfulness into mainstream medicine and society. [Jon Kabat-Zinn](https://jonkabat-zinn.com/about/?ref=down-ballot.info), who created the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, a program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School to help patients cope with chronic pain and stress, credits Hover as [one of his primary teachers](https://journal.equinoxpub.com/ROSA/article/view/10852?ref=down-ballot.info). From the 1970s through the ’80s, Hover taught 10-day silent retreats across the U.S., Europe, India and Australia, helping to build communities of meditators through newsletters and informal networks. [Leon E. Wright](https://doi.org/10.1163/15685276-20240006?ref=down-ballot.info) began teaching Ba Khin’s meditation techniques in the U.S. [in the late 1950s](https://host.pariyatti.org/treasures/Leon%5FWright-UBK%5FLetter%5FJuly%5F1958.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), [well before any of Ba Khin’s other students](https://insightmyanmar.org/complete-shows/2023/11/26/episode-205-uncovering-dr-leon-wright?rq=wright&ref=down-ballot.info). Wright’s work remained [largely unknown](https://insightmyanmar.org/complete-shows/2026/2/14/episode-486-the-erasure-of-mindfulness?ref=down-ballot.info) because he was working primarily in the Black community. Until quite recently, very little attention has been paid to the role of [Black practitioners](https://www.lionsroar.com/we-remember-six-remarkable-black-buddhists/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the modern history of Buddhism. Over the course of the past decade, however, [scholars have begun to fill that gap](https://bbft.ccsr.princeton.edu/?ref=down-ballot.info). Wright taught Ba Khin’s techniques for decades at Howard University and organized silent retreats for the broader public. He was also [a spiritual healer with interests in extrasensory perception and psychic experience](https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=newdirections&ref=down-ballot.info). His universalist teachings influenced generations of Black theologians. The [Covenant Christian Community](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcF4PLNjkVU&ref=down-ballot.info), a church in the Washington, D.C., area, continues to practice his meditation teachings in silence as well as gather for communal rituals on Sundays. When people come to silent retreats today, they rarely learn about the networks and the individuals who made the teachings they receive possible to access, or whose work is seen and which voices may have been silenced. An awareness of this history enriches the silence of a silent retreat. *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-272034)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Daniel M. Stuart*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/daniel-m-stuart-2542496?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-272034)*,* [*University of South Carolina*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-carolina-1755?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-272034) **Read more:** - [No space, no power, no support – what life is really like for Indian IT workers serving global firms](https://theconversation.com/no-space-no-power-no-support-what-life-is-really-like-for-indian-it-workers-serving-global-firms-277988?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-272034) - [How Americans came to embrace meditation, and with it, Hinduism](https://theconversation.com/how-americans-came-to-embrace-meditation-and-with-it-hinduism-90081?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-272034) - [What loving‑kindness meditation is and how to practice it in the new year](https://theconversation.com/what-loving-kindness-meditation-is-and-how-to-practice-it-in-the-new-year-270984?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-272034) *Daniel M. Stuart does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.* ### North Carolina Created Complaint Systems for Its Industrialized Farms. They Don’t Work Very Well. URL: https://down-ballot.info/north-carolina-created-complaint-systems-for-its-industrialized-farms-they-dont-work-very-well/ Last updated: 2026-03-16T09:00:27.000Z By Lisa Sorg March 9, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/09032026/north-carolina-cafo-complaint-systems/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* ROWLAND, N.C.—Brenda Schwab stopped her 16-year-old Ford pickup truck on Gaddy’s Mill Road and pointed to a chocolate-colored ridge about 30 feet long and 5 feet high, resting in a field and close to the road. A cold downpour had turned the air clammy. It smelled like a rancid potpourri seeping through the truck windows, singeing the occupants’ sinuses and glomming onto their raincoats. The dark ridges contained chicken feces intended to be spread on Robeson County pastures as fertilizer. Officials at the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality call this waste “dry litter” because it is mixed with sawdust and bedding. Poultry farms in North Carolina that use the method of disposal don’t have to obtain a state permit to operate. Schwab is in her 70s with short gray hair and works as a health care consultant. She lives a mile and a half downstream and downwind of a million animals raised on concentrated animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs, in southern Robeson County. Shoe Heel Creek runs past the CAFOs and through the back half of Schwab’s 73-acre property before entering South Carolina. She is worried about the water quality in the creek and nearby swamps. Farmers legally spray and spread tons of poultry and hog waste from CAFOs onto their fields as fertilizer, which can seep into groundwater and waterways. She said she has called several state agencies, including DEQ, to report her concerns, including seeing children and their families fishing in the creek. “I don’t feel like anyone is listening to me,” Schwab said. Schwab’s experience is common. It illustrates the limitations of legal settlements, which included an improved complaint system that DEQ has forged with environmental and civil rights groups over the past nine years. Environmental advocates say the complaint system has failed to adequately curb water pollution from industrialized farms, leaving contamination from leaking hog lagoons and sprayfields, and mounds of poultry waste, lingering in fields past the statutory 15-day deadline for removal. DEQ updated its complaint system as part of a 2017 [settlement](https://waterkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/16-EHR-11720-Settlement-Agreement-and-Attachments.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) with environmental groups over allegations the agency failed to adequately investigate complaints related to swine CAFOs. The agreement also applied to industrialized poultry farms. It required the agency to give complainants the option of remaining anonymous and to visit the CAFO within five days unless there is an immediate threat to human health or the environment. A [separate civil rights settlement](https://waterkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Final-Settlement-Agreement%5Fattachments-and-sig.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), reached in 2018 between DEQ and environmental and civil rights advocates, contained several provisions that the agency fulfilled. However, one key provision was never enacted: The agreement required DEQ to draft a violation point system for swine CAFOs, which would have assessed demerits to farms based on the severity and frequency of willful violations; ultimately, DEQ would have had the authority to revoke a farm’s permit. DEQ [completed a draft in 2020,](https://www.deq.nc.gov/ej/attache-violations-point-system-rule-initial-draft/download?ref=down-ballot.info) but never presented it to the state Environmental Management Commission for consideration, according to meeting minutes. A DEQ spokesperson told Inside Climate News that because of agency turnover, “particular staff involved with that process and communicating with the EMC are no longer with the agency.” The state’s 2025 Farm Act would eliminate the point system. The Senate passed the bill but it hasn’t yet cleared the House. Between November 2018 and the end of 2025, DEQ investigated at least 568 complaints about CAFOs, according to summaries posted on its website. (The summary for the final quarter of 2024 was missing.) DEQ found violations in about one in five of these investigations. “To the extent that the information is available about how many complaints were filed and how many resulted in violations, I think that has worked,” said Blakely Hildebrand, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “But I think that information is very limited in its utility.” A state law [passed ](https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/HTML/2013-2014/SL2014-103.html?ref=down-ballot.info)in 2014 mandated details of complaint-driven investigations must remain secret unless inspectors find a violation based on the complaint. So there is no way for environmental advocates to review the adequacy of investigations that gave CAFOs a clean bill of health. “The numbers speak to the continued challenge the DEQ has in inspecting and investigating complaints, and then in enforcement because of their ongoing resource constraints,” Hildebrand said. “I think the blame needs to be placed on the legislature, not necessarily on DEQ, although certainly DEQ plays a role in how they’re allocating resources. “But it is a problematic system. The substance of the complaints is still confidential, which I don’t think serves the purpose of increasing transparency around this industry or in giving the public the ability to really evaluate whether DEQ is doing its due diligence with these facilities when they go out and inspect.” When an environmental advocate or private resident documents a complaint, even with time-stamped photos and water-quality testing by an EPA-certified lab, an agency inspector must independently witness and verify it before pursuing a violation. A lack of staff and state funding constrains DEQ’s ability to hold the CAFOs accountable, the agency says. There are just 14 people to inspect the 2,200 swine CAFOS, 218 cattle operations, and the 18 poultry farms that have a permit to use a “wet litter” disposal system, according to agency data. No one at DEQ routinely inspects poultry farms that use the “dry litter” disposal method because those operations aren’t required to have a permit. Under state law, locations of the dry-litter poultry farms are secret, so it’s difficult to know precisely how many there are. Several Democratic lawmakers[ introduced a bill in 2023](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/House/PDF/H722v1.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to require dry litter poultry CAFOs to obtain a permit; the bill sponsors estimated there were 4,800 farms and more than a half-billion poultry in North Carolina. The legislation never got a committee hearing. Those 14 employees respond to complaints, as well, according to a DEQ spokesman, and they split their time among many programs, so there are actually fewer full-time equivalent positions assigned solely to CAFO inspections and complaints. “We’ve submitted plenty of complaints that I don’t know that they’ve ever been followed up on at all in the form of a field visit,” Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop said. “Unfortunately, it takes a certain degree of persistence from the complainant to ensure that an investigation is properly opened, that a field visit occurs, and that all of the necessary follow-up happens.” ## **On Your Street, Thousands of Chickens and Hogs** Schwab is from Monroe, Louisiana, where her parents raised a few hogs on pasture, including her favorite, Sammy, who amused the family one day when he overindulged on Little Debbie snack cakes and fell into a stupor. As a child, she loved the family bull, Bully, and was heartbroken to find him on her dinner plate. “My dad told me that’s how we were able to eat,” she said. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Schwab left Louisiana. A year and a half ago, she bought her farm near Rowland, the back half of which is in wetlands. In front, she raises 40 free-range chickens in her yard, including a rooster with a bad leg named Miracle. She co-founded the Eighth Leaf Project, which curates and shares research about medicinal plants, including the Great Mullein, which thrives on her property. Schwab drove down Townsendville Road past a farm with 40 poultry barns, where as many as 900,000 chickens bound for the Mountaire slaughterhouse are raised each year. Across the road, up to 12,595 hogs are jammed into barns at a CAFO owned by Smithfield Foods. She passed several fields with mounds of feces. The waste can legally sit there for up to 15 days, but without adequate staffing, the provision is difficult for DEQ to enforce. If inspectors receive a complaint and arrive after the 15th day, but the waste is spread, then the agency can’t, under its policy, prove a violation occurred. A DEQ spokesman said the agency investigates the complaints it receives, “and time is a factor in identifying violations—the sooner detailed information is relayed to our regional offices, the higher the chance conditions at inspection match what a complainant observes.” Jeff Currie is the Lumber Riverkeeper and monitors water quality and pollution sources in Robeson County. Several years ago, he toured parts of the county with members of the DEQ environmental justice committee, an appointed board of advocates, scientists and community members. They stopped at the Mountaire slaughterhouse in Maxton, where the company was legally spraying waste on a field. But the wind was blowing the waste across the road, he said, which is a violation. “I got out to take photographs,” Currie recalled, “and one person in the back seat of their car is feeling sick and heaving, and I’m nauseous.” The wind shifted, and the waste hit Currie in the face as he took pictures. He sent the evidence to DEQ. “I told them that members of that committee saw it,” he said, but never received a response. A DEQ spokesman told Inside Climate News that the agency’s violation notices or other enforcement actions are “based on the evidence encountered by staff when they visit a site, either as a result of a complaint or as part of a routine inspection.” > “I got out to take photographs, and one person in the back seat of their car is feeling sick and heaving, and I’m nauseous.” — Jeff Currie, Lumber Riverkeeper Larry Baldwin, coordinator for the Waterkeeper Alliance’s Pure Farms, Pure Waters campaign, used to fly over eastern North Carolina in a small plane to document poultry waste mounds, track how long they had sat in the fields and publicize the findings. But because of the several-day lag between reporting potential violations to DEQ and an inspector arriving on-site, Currie and Baldwin have reduced their surveillance. “We had riverkeepers flying all over the state, and I can’t even tell you how many violations we would have submitted,” Baldwin said. “But we’ve kind of stopped with aerial documentation because what the hell difference does it make?” ## **Spraying in the Rain** Around 8 o’clock one morning in 2008, Devon Hall drove past a swine CAFO in Duplin County where the grower was spraying waste on fields in the rain, a violation of the operation’s permit. Hall said he called DEQ and spoke with someone about the incident and emphasized the complaint was to be kept anonymous. Hall’s anonymity was crucial. He is the co-founder and executive director of [REACH](https://www.ncruralempowerment.org/about?ref=down-ballot.info), an environmental and civil rights group that monitors CAFOs in Duplin County. As a result of his activism, Hall said, he has been trailed in grocery stores and nearly run off the road. Later that afternoon, Hall said he received a call from a number he did not recognize. Hall picked up the phone: “Hello.” “Hello, who is this?” a man asked. “Who are you?” Hall responded. “You called me.” Finally, Hall said, the man told him the reason for his call: “Someone with this number called and reported me this morning.” Hall said he talked with the man, who turned out to be the CAFO owner, for a few more minutes, then called DEQ and eventually spoke with the person who had taken his complaint. “I told you it was anonymous,” Hall said. “I wasn’t me,” the DEQ employee reportedly said. “We gave the information to my supervisor and he gave it to the inspector.” DEQ sent Hall a letter of apology. “This is why people don’t call and report violations,” Hall said. “They live in the community with the contract grower and that’s what they’d be faced with.” A DEQ spokesperson said the agency doesn’t record identifying information of people who wish to remain anonymous, whether they call or use an online [anonymous comment tool](https://www.deq.nc.gov/outreach-education/community-engagement/nc-deq-anonymous-comment-tool?ref=down-ballot.info). DEQ “doesn’t reveal the source of complaints in notices of violation or civil penalty documents,” the spokesman said, though the nature of the complaint is subject to the Public Records Act. ## **The Ridge of Feces Remained** Schwab continued driving through southern Robeson County in a downpour. She wondered where all the water from the farm ditches that are supposed to contain it was going. She had asked DEQ to test the water in Shoe Heel Creek that runs through her property, but she said an official told her the agency didn’t have the resources to do so. Data gathered from DEQ’s monitoring station at the creek’s headwaters in 2024, about 25 miles upstream of Schwab’s home, showed no exceedances of nitrogen, phosphorus or E coli. More recent data is under review, according to an agency spokesperson. When Schwab tested the water and soil from the banks, she found that contaminants in the creek water were well below state standards and guidelines. But the banks contained high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, likely accumulated over years of rising and falling water. After her initial trip around the county, Schwab checked the waste piles again later that week. The ridge of feces on Gaddy’s Mill Road was still there after at least five days, with 10 more remaining before the deadline to remove it. As she sampled water from the canals and swamps, it began to rain again. *Peter Aldhous contributed data analysis for this story.* ### Labor Department struggling to deliver on H-2A promise for farmers URL: https://down-ballot.info/labor-department-struggling-to-deliver-on-h-2a-promise-for-farmers/ Last updated: 2026-03-13T09:00:45.000Z **It's Friday, March 13, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Emails show current labor department struggling to deliver on H-2A ‘one-stop shop’ promise, U.S. Senate Primaries in North Carolina Show Democratic Surge, Without a driver’s license, rebuilding after prison is harder. These clinics offer a path forward, New microschools education model growing across NC, One of Michigan’s most populous counties will post all ballots online, Boil water advisories, water main breaks stress cash-strapped New Orleans families. **Media outlets and others featured:** Investigate Midwest, The Daily Yonder, North Carolina Health News, Carolina Public Press, Votebeat, Verite News. --- # Emails show Trump’s labor department struggling to deliver on H-2A ‘one-stop shop’ promise by Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest March 3, 2026 **Key takeaways** - After it was announced, industry groups sought clarification on what the purpose of the new Office of Immigration Policy was. Officials replied that it was taking over responsibilities “**already held**” by an existing office — language the department backtracked in a statement to Investigate Midwest. - A staffer questioned whether the stances of prospective hires to the new office “will be **aligned with the Secretary’s**?” And the longtime Labor Department veteran tapped to run the office last summer was replaced in January with someone who used to work at ICE. - Three departments administer the H-2A visa program, which allows farmers to bring foreign workers to the U.S. temporarily. Industry groups told the Labor Department the “**real hangups**” were with the other two, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security. In June, as the Trump administration faced backlash from farmers and agriculture officials over its mass deportation effort stripping farms of employees, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer presented a solution: the new Office of Immigration Policy. The office would slash red tape, including easing the process for farmers to access workers on temporary labor visas. Instead of jumping through hoops with three government agencies, employers would apply through a single portal, Chavez-DeRemer promised. “We’re going to do one, dedicated ‘one-stop shop,’ as I call it,” [she said](https://www.thepacker.com/news/industry/dol-secretary-pushes-one-stop-shop-h-2a-processing?ref=down-ballot.info). “We’re going to see that change come across fairly rapidly, because that’s the problem, and they want a solution, and they wanted it yesterday.” But about eight months after the new office was created, the Labor Department is struggling to deliver on its stated goals, according to internal emails obtained by Investigate Midwest through a public records request. To bring workers to the U.S. on short-term visas, employers require approval from the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department. Chavez-DeRemer publicly announced a consolidation effort for the H-2A visa, which is specifically for agriculture, in late June at the Western Governors’ Association, [according to The Packer](https://www.thepacker.com/news/industry/dol-secretary-pushes-one-stop-shop-h-2a-processing?ref=down-ballot.info). Several weeks later, in an email thread with the subject line “Single Electronic H-2A Visa Portal System,” a department veteran threw cold water on the idea. “The larger issue is that DOL does not control or have legal authorities to access DHS and DOS systems/data (which are far more protected than DOL) and the DOGE team found that out pretty quickly,” the head of the new office at the time said. “So, we should be looking at joint portal development options with DHS” \[underlined in original\]. Chavez-DeRemer [has told](https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118318/documents/HHRG-119-ED00-20250605-QFR001-U1.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Congress that her department was collaborating with “other federal partners” to make visa processing “simpler and less burdensome.” But the emails show staff at the new office having little interaction with other agencies. The status of the “one-stop shop” is unclear. The Labor Department has no press releases announcing a new process for applying for visa workers, and it did not answer when asked whether a single portal exists. “At the direction of the Secretary, the Department of Labor remains focused on delivering real improvements for employers, working to streamline visa processes, and expanding lawful workforce pathways,” department spokeswoman Courtney Parella said in a statement to Investigate Midwest. “The Office of Immigration Policy was created to do just that by finding ways to cut red tape and improve coordination across a complex federal system — an innovative effort that is already delivering results.” The department pointed to rescinding a [Biden-era rule](https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/04/30/the-us-labor-department-added-new-farmworker-protections-but-agency-needs-more-resources-to-do-what-we-need-to-do-agency-head-says/?ref=down-ballot.info) providing farmworkers with workplace protections, suspending the collection of fees to process H-2A applications and revoking an Obama-era ruling that did not allow employers to stagger when it brought H-2A workers to the U.S. All three were included in a document titled “OIP WINS” that the new office’s staff had prepared for Parella and her communications colleagues on Aug. 8, according to the emails. Since then, the department has changed how employers can pay H-2A workers. Also, the department said it collaborated with DHS to publish a [final rule](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/02/2025-19235/facilitating-earlier-filing-of-certain-electronically-submitted-h-2a-petitions?ref=down-ballot.info#citation-10-p47509) that allows employers to submit H-2A application paperwork to both departments simultaneously. This has reduced “processing time by weeks,” the Labor Department said. However, the rule states plainly that “concurrent processing” should “not be confused with ‘concurrent filing.’ ” While DHS can intake employers’ paperwork, it still needs to wait for the Labor Department to approve an application before DHS can begin processing, according to a [footnote](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/02/2025-19235/facilitating-earlier-filing-of-certain-electronically-submitted-h-2a-petitions?ref=down-ballot.info#footnote-10-p47509) in the rule. One industry representative who contacted the new office with questions, according to the emails, said staff have been “very responsive and helpful.” He did not answer when asked if applying for H-2A visas has gotten easier or more efficient since last summer. “DOL staff have met directly with Farm Bureau members to answer questions and explain intricacies of guest worker programs,” said Laramie Adams, the associate director of government affairs at the Texas Farm Bureau. “That direct engagement has been beneficial for producers and is a positive step for the agricultural sector.” Recently, the Labor Department has faced multiple controversies. In January, the New York Post [reported](https://nypost.com/2026/01/09/us-news/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-under-investigation-for-inappropriate-relationship-with-employee/?ref=down-ballot.info) the labor department’s inspector general was probing whether Chavez-DeRemer misused federal funds to carry on an affair. The New York Times also [reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/business/labor-secretary-husband-sexual-assault-allegations.html?ref=down-ballot.info) her husband was banned from the building after he allegedly groped two female staffers. The department did not respond to a question about whether the firestorm was diverting Chavez-DeRemer’s attention away from her promise of a “one-stop shop.” In early June, after the agriculture sector pleaded for relief from the immigration crackdown, President Trump paused immigration enforcement on farms. However, raids resumed days later. After the incident, Trump said he wanted to give farmers discretion over undocumented workers. His agriculture secretary, [Brooke Rollins](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/07/16/farming-in-the-dark-brooke-rollins-leadership-doges-grip-and-the-cost-to-american-agriculture/?ref=down-ballot.info), “said, ‘So, we have a little problem. The farmers are losing a lot of people,’ and we figured it out, and we have some great stuff being written,” he said during a July 4 speech. It’s unclear if he was referring to the new Office of Immigration Policy. At the time, the office was the only new government initiative announced that focused on building up the farm workforce. As the Trump administration continues to arrest and deport immigrants en masse, farms are [scrambling](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/02/11/trump-dhs-is-pushing-the-boundaries-of-probable-cause-and-due-process-to-fuel-a-farm-labor-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info) to find reliable labor. Government surveys show roughly 40% of America’s 2 million farmworkers are undocumented. Trump has [touted](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/10/29/trumps-deportations-are-causing-farm-labor-issues-he-hasnt-presented-a-viable-long-term-solution/?ref=down-ballot.info) the H-2A visa program as a farm labor solution. But H-2A visa workers can only fill agricultural jobs that are considered seasonal, i.e. not year-round. Employers engaged in many types of agricultural production, such as dairy farming, cannot use the program. Project 2025, the blueprint for Trump’s second term, [called for](https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/09/11/deportations-raids-visa-election-immigrant-farmworkers/?ref=down-ballot.info) the elimination of the H-2A program. It also aimed to cancel the H-2B visa program, which meatpacking plants [have used](https://investigatemidwest.org/2021/08/19/meatpacking-plants-have-long-relied-on-immigrant-labor-now-some-are-turning-to-foreign-workers/?ref=down-ballot.info) to [fill jobs](https://investigatemidwest.org/2023/05/12/in-bankruptcys-wake-a-minnesota-meatpacking-plants-visa-workers-face-an-uncertain-future/?ref=down-ballot.info). Trump officials, such as Stephen Miller, have [claimed](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/10/29/trumps-deportations-are-causing-farm-labor-issues-he-hasnt-presented-a-viable-long-term-solution/?ref=down-ballot.info) native-born Americans would fill the dangerous, back-breaking agriculture jobs while getting paid more. Chavez-DeRemer — who used to represent Oregon, a largely Democratic state, as a Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives — has differed with other administration officials. “None of the Americans I know want to do some of these jobs,” she said this past summer, [according to The Packer](https://www.thepacker.com/news/industry/dol-secretary-pushes-one-stop-shop-h-2a-processing?ref=down-ballot.info). The agricultural industry has clamored for the H-2A program to be expanded. In January, Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, the ranking Republican on the House’s agriculture committee, said he would soon introduce legislation addressing the situation, [according to Politico](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/weekly-agriculture/2026/01/12/farm-labor-reform-takes-center-stage-00721717?ref=down-ballot.info). If the H-2A program is expanded, employers could still face issues largely beyond the Labor Department’s control. At a recent conference, agricultural employers complained that H-2A employees weren’t arriving in the U.S. on time to harvest crops, [according to Agri-Pulse](https://www.agri-pulse.com/articles/24233-some-h-2a-workers-put-on-holds-costing-growers?ref=down-ballot.info). The U.S. Consulate in Mexico, which the State Department oversees, had not yet approved the workers to enter the U.S. The holdup could stem from the Trump administration’s decision, last year, to interview every H-2A worker in person at the consulate. Most interviews had been waived to ease farmers’ access to labor. At a webinar this past summer for agriculture employers, a representative for the U.S. consulate in Mexico said workers needed to disclose any “derogatory” information about themselves, including whether they had previously tried to enter the U.S. If they didn’t, that could hurt their chances of getting the visa. The new emails show that industry groups were most concerned about how DHS and the State Department were processing visas. “As far as streamlining the process goes,” a representative of a specialty crop trade group told the Labor Department staff this past summer, DHS and State “are where we see the real hangups.” A State Department spokesperson said in a statement the department takes “the time necessary to ensure an applicant does not pose a risk to the safety and security of the United States.” DHS did not respond to a request for comment. ## **Industry groups pursue labor department’s help with DHS, State** The emails show industry groups asking the Labor Department for assistance with DHS and the State Department. In July, about two weeks after Chavez-DeRemer announced the new office, a Florida association contacted its staff. “Is this office set up enough to assist with some issues at DOS/DHS?” asked Jamie Fussel, the director of labor relations at the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association. An association member — a farm labor contractor that farms hire to provide visa labor — had requested more than 200 H-2A workers to pick blueberries in New Jersey. But the State Department had not approved their visas and told the contractor a resolution could take months, according to the emails. “There’s been a lot of crop loss at this point because the berries remained on the bush and went bad,” Fussel said. “With only two weeks to go, I’m not sure that it’d even be worthwhile at this point for the workers to be approved.” “I know … that you know … our authority here is a bit limited,” replied Brian Pasternak, a longtime Labor Department employee who was appointed the head of the new office this past summer. “I have reached out to ask about this matter. If we hear something back, I will email you.” “Completely understand the limits of your authority — ours is even less,” Fussel responded. “Just reaching out based on the new \[office\] and in case this is the type of issue the Secretary envisioned assisting with.” The Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association did not respond to a request for comment. Pasternak did not respond to a request for comment to his government email. The State Department said the consulate processes H-2A visas in three days or less “in the majority of cases.” Around the same time, a lobbyist for a company named BDV Solutions emailed the new office’s staff. BDV focuses on EB-3 Unskilled visas, which are for immigrants with little experience in their planned line of work. (Unlike the H-2A visa, the EB-3 Unskilled is not specific to agriculture.) The lobbyist, Jonathan Baselice, told Pasternak his board was “anxious” to talk about its “four constructive meetings with Secretary \[Kristi\] Noem’s team at DHS.” DHS is interested in “the idea of an emergency roundtable where all of the key Departments are represented and we can discuss holistic policy changes that help build efficiencies as visa petitions move from DOL to DHS to DOS,” Baselice said. It’s unclear if an “emergency roundtable” occurred. Baselice did not respond to a request for comment. DHS did not respond to a request for comment about the email. ## **Questions about new office’s purpose flood in** Almost immediately after the new office was announced, stakeholders sought clarification, according to the emails. In early July, Hayley Fernandes, a staffer at the Office of Immigration Policy, blasted out an email to industry groups. “We’ve gotten quite a few inquiries about \[the new office\]!” she wrote. “We do not believe that any press on this announcement is needed from you all, but more so, we would just like to have you please share it with members — the Secretary wants farmers to know we are listening to them and working to make the H-2A process better!” She then compared the work the new office would do to the Office of Foreign Labor Certification, which processes labor-related visas. “The \[office\] is taking on the responsibilities *already held* by the Office of Foreign Labor Certification,” she said. “This means that *all* visa programs that DOL already touches will still be covered under the office. This office will report directly to the Secretary, to streamline its ability to execute immigration related policy priorities” \[emphasis in original\]. Asked about this email, the Labor Department said the new office is focused on “department-wide strategy … and interagency alignment across immigration-related programs.” The foreign labor certification office “continues administering” visa programs, it said. Matthew Penner, a staff member with the U.S. Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, also emailed with questions. He asked whether the new office would hire more staff and whether it would process the same number of visas as before. Fernandes replied that the new office was subject to Trump’s federal hiring freeze. The second answer is redacted. Before replying to Penner, Fernandes sent proposed answers to Jihun Han, Chavez-DeRemer’s chief of staff. Han is now on administrative leave as the inspector general probes his boss’s alleged travel fraud, [according to NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/multiple-labor-department-staffers-are-leave-ig-investigation-secretar-rcna254282?ref=down-ballot.info). On Monday, he was [reportedly](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/us/politics/labor-secretarys-top-aides-forced-out.html?ref=down-ballot.info) forced out. “Please see our drafted responses,” Fernandes told Han, “and given the sensitivities around immigration/H-2A we just wanted to flag for \[the secretary’s office\] before sending back. We feel comfortable that everything in writing is something we or the Secretary has said publicly.” Penner did not respond to a request for comment. Fernandes left the labor department in December to work for U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican. She did not return a request for comment to her House email address. ## **Staffer asks whether potential hires ‘align’ with Chavez-DeRemer** About a month into the office’s existence this past summer, Pasternak, the office’s head at the time, aimed to hire more staffers to the small team, according to the emails. He asked Fernandes what she thought of three possible candidates. “Interesting … I am curious if their stances will be aligned with the Secretary’s?” Fernandes asked. “Third one is a bit of a curveball….” The full names of the candidates and their resumes are not included in the records. The emails also don’t show what stances she’s referring to or why she singled out one candidate. It’s unclear if the jobs were political appointments or for the civil service. Career government jobs have been designed to be free from politics, but Trump has tried to change this so new hires are more politically aligned with him, [according to The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/us/politics/trumps-politicized-federal-work-force.html?ref=down-ballot.info). The Labor Department did not answer when asked how many people work for the new office. Just three people regularly appear in the emails as employees: Pasternak, Fernandes and Dalton Shell, a department attorney. Pasternak is a department veteran of more than 20 years and ran the foreign labor certification office for years. It’s unclear what his role at the new office is now that a new person, Brian Kennedy, was sworn in to lead the office in January, the department said. Kennedy previously served as policy director for the House Committee on Homeland Security and used to be a senior advisor to the director of ICE. Fernandes began working for Chavez-DeRemer in 2023, shortly after graduating from college in California, according to her LinkedIn. About two weeks after the office was created, Han, the chief of staff, asked Pasternak to include Shell in developing the new office. “It came to OSEC’s \[Office of the Secretary\] attention that Dalton specialized in ag labor law, grew up on a farm, and family has utilized the H-2A program,” Han said. According to Shell’s LinkedIn, he graduated from law school in 2023 and spent a year at a law firm in Elizabethton, Tennessee. The firm focuses on real estate law, according to its website. Shell’s mother runs a self-described “family farm and bakery” that she started in 2023, according to her LinkedIn. The farm doesn’t appear in the labor department’s database of H-2A employers going back to 2023, but it could have hired H-2A workers through a farm labor contractor. Shell did not respond to a request for comment to his government email. This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/03/03/emails-show-trumps-labor-department-struggling-to-deliver-on-h-2a-one-stop-shop-promise/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=758427&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- # U.S. Senate Primaries in North Carolina Show Democratic Surge by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder March 11, 2026 From North Carolina’s small towns to its major cities, both the number and percentage of voters who participated in the Democratic primary grew compared to the 2022 season. In the Democratic primary for United States Senate, moderate Democrat Roy Cooper, who served as governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025, won 92% of the total Democratic votes in his race against anti-establishment Democrat Justin Dues. In the Republican primary, Trump-endorsed candidate Michael Whatley won 65% of the total Republican votes. In North Carolina, primaries are semi-closed: registered Republicans and Democrats can only vote in their respective primaries. Unaffiliated voters, however, can vote in either primary. The following map shows the percentage point shift towards Democratic turnout between the 2022 and 2026 primaries. Turnout in the Democratic primary was up 33% compared to 2022\. (The president’s party tends to fare worse in midterm elections – in 2022, Democrat Joe Biden was in office.) This primary season, about 81% of North Carolina’s nonmetropolitan, or rural, counties saw increased turnout in the Democratic primary compared to 2022\. During the 2022 season, about 36% of rural North Carolina voters who cast a ballot did so in the Democratic primary. This year, that number jumped to 42%, representing almost 17,000 more rural voters who showed up for the Democrats. Democratic turnout also increased the most in the state’s major metropolitan counties, or counties with cities that have more than one million residents. In 2022, 61% of major metro voters participated in the Democratic primary, compared to 79% of voters this season. The Republican primary saw a concomitant drop in participation, meanwhile. This year, 139,000 fewer voters participated in the Republican primary compared to 2022\. Participation in the Republican primary dropped by 18% this year compared to 2022. “Democrats appear to have generated disproportionate early energy, both among registered partisans and among unaffiliated voters,” political scientist [Michael Bitzer told a reporter from WRAL](https://www.wral.com/news/nccapitol/2026-north-carolina-primary-election-5-takeaways-march-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info). “The fact that more than half of unaffiliated voters chose the Democratic ballot — reversing the traditional ‘go where the action is’ pattern – is one of the cycle’s most intriguing developments.” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/u-s-senate-primaries-in-north-carolina-show-democratic-surge/2026/03/11/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Without a driver’s license, rebuilding after prison is harder. These clinics offer a path forward. by Rachel Crumpler, North Carolina Health News March 12, 2026 #### **By Rachel Crumpler** Brentley, a woman incarcerated at Western Correctional Center for Women in Black Mountain, is nearing her release from prison in June 2027\. She’s nervous about starting over from scratch. One question had been weighing on her: How would she rebuild her life with a suspended driver’s license? Finding housing and employment, attending health care appointments, buying groceries and meeting with probation and parole officers — nearly every essential task after release will require transportation. In western North Carolina, where Brentley — whom NC Health News is identifying by her first name — plans to stay after her release, public transportation options are limited. It’s the same in many counties across the state. So when she saw a flyer on a bulletin board at the prison advertising the driver’s license restoration clinic, Brentley signed up. ![The entrance to a women's prison surrounded by barbed wire](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_0966-scaled.jpg) Western Correctional Center for Women, a minimum-security prison in Black Mountain with the capacity to house up to 366 women. This week, she was one of 30 women who participated in a driver’s license restoration clinic led by [Duke University School of Law Pro Bono Program](https://law.duke.edu/publicinterest/probono/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Pisgah Legal Services](https://www.pisgahlegal.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit providing free legal assistance to low-income people in western North Carolina. Law students and pro bono attorneys met one-on-one with the women to review their driver’s license records and explain the steps needed for reinstatement. “I know my license is suspended,” Brentley said at the beginning of her meeting. “I don’t know what I need to do to get it back.” A shocking number of North Carolinians are in the same position — most often because of unpaid traffic fines and fees or missed court dates. [Nearly 900,000 people](https://wcsj-dukelaw.shinyapps.io/ftaftc-dashboard2/?ref=down-ballot.info) in North Carolina had suspended licenses for one of those reasons as of January 2025, according to a [report on driver’s license suspensions from the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law](https://wcsj.law.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Drivers-License-Suspensions-in-North-Carolina-Report-July-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). That represents about one in 10 of the state’s almost 8 million licensed adult drivers. #### **‘You need a license’** “Let’s be real: You need a license,” Brentley said. “You need a vehicle to be productive and to get around, to get a job. If you don’t, for a certain amount of time, usually, eventually you’re going to drive. I don’t want to do that anymore.” ![Two men and one woman sit at table during a driver's license restoration clinic held inside a women's prison](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_0962-scaled.jpg) Brentley meets with Will VanRenterghem, a first-year law student at Duke University, and Ed Treat, a Pisgah Legal Services staff attorney, during a driver's license restoration clinic held March 10, 2026\. It's one of seven such events that have been held inside North Carolina prisons since fall 2024. By the end of her meeting with Will VanRenterghem, a first-year law student at Duke, and Pisgah Legal Services staff attorney Ed Treat, Brentley knew her path forward — and her relief was visible. They explained that she had one suspension on her license tied to a 2019 DWI charge. After her release, they said, Brentley will need to meet with a substance use assessor — for a fee — who could require treatment before her license can be reinstated. Treat told her that a lot of classes are now offered online, which could help her fulfill the requirement. “I want to get out and just set a good foundation,” she said. Having a license is an important part of that. Others served by the clinic had multiple suspensions along with an accumulation of fees — some totaling in the thousands of dollars. Each woman left with an advice letter outlining next steps to take to get their license and an annotated copy of their DMV records explaining the causes of suspensions in plain language. Recognizing how often license suspensions complicate reentry to the community after release, the N.C. Department of Adult Correction has recently started holding driver’s license restoration clinics at prisons in partnership with North Carolina law schools and pro bono attorneys. “You cannot do anything without a license or an ID card, and so it is literally the foundational piece to everything else that you have to do when you release from prison,” N.C. Department of Adult Correction Secretary Leslie Cooley Dismukes told NC Health News. “We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got that in place so that people can succeed in the other areas.” ![Four women and a man stand in a room in front of law students assisting with a driver's license restoration clinic at a prison.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_0948-scaled.jpg) First Lady Anna Stein (left), alongside the first ladies of Oklahoma and North Dakota, and N.C. Department of Adult Correction Secretary Leslie Cooley Dismukes talk with Duke University law students helping run a driver's license restoration clinic at Western Correctional Center for Women. Stein and Dismukes said having a suspended driver's license is a major barrier for people reentering the community after incarceration. #### **A barrier to reentry** For many people leaving prison, a suspended driver’s license quickly becomes a [major obstacle to rebuilding their lives](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/12/19/reentry-simulation-highlights-challenges-after-incarceration/?ref=down-ballot.info). That was Greg Singleton’s predicament when he was released from prison in 1996. At first, he found a job at a dry cleaner in Raleigh that was within walking distance of the transitional house where he was living. After his background check came back, he said, he was fired. The next position he lined up was miles away. “I drove a couple of months without a driver’s license out of survival,” Singleton said. “I was trying to get my life in order, trying to get some income coming in. “I prayed every tire roll that I would not get stopped by the police.” Now Singleton works with formerly incarcerated people frequently facing similar dilemmas. As dean of academic programs at [Opportunities Industrialization Center of Rocky Mount](https://oicone.org/about/?ref=down-ballot.info), he helps connect people with education and job training. Singleton said he’s repeatedly seen how transportation access is crucial to reentry success. It’s how people connect to resources and support, such as taking courses at community colleges and seeking mental health and substance use treatment. The miles between locations can feel and practically be insurmountable, he said. Alternatives to driving — such as public transportation — often don’t reach where people need to go and services can be unpredictable. Uber and other ride-share services get expensive, especially for people just getting back on their feet. Relying on rides from family and friends only goes so far. He noted that trucking jobs, which require a Commercial Driver’s License, are one of the growing employment opportunities for people with criminal records. But that path isn’t available if someone doesn’t even have a regular driver’s license. Those connections were clear to the handful of women who participated in the driver’s license restoration clinic on March 10 and who are part of a [program where they are working to earn their commercial licenses while incarcerated](https://www.dac.nc.gov/blog/2024/04/05/cdl-program-grads-earn-class-drivers-licenses?ref=down-ballot.info). #### **‘Counterproductive’ policy** A driver’s license can be suspended for many reasons in North Carolina, but according to Duke’s Wilson Center, the two biggest causes of suspensions are for failure to pay fines and fees, and for failure to appear in court. **Top reasons a driver’s license can be suspended:** - **Failure to appear**: If a person misses their court date, the court sends notice to the DMV 20 days after the missed court date and adds a $200 fee for the non-appearance. The person has 60 days to resolve the matter or the DMV suspends their driver’s license. - **Failure to comply**: If a person does not pay their traffic fine or fee within 40 days of the due date, the court notifies the DMV. The person has 60 days to pay the amount owed or the DMV suspends their driver’s license. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/image.png) Failures to appear can be dismissed if the prosecutor agrees. Failure-to-pay suspensions remain in place until the person pays outstanding court fines and fees or successfully petitions the court to waive them. *Source: Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law* Laura Webb, project director of the [Fair Chance Criminal Justice Project](https://www.ncjustice.org/projects/fair-chance-criminal-justice-project/?ref=down-ballot.info) at the [North Carolina Justice Center](https://www.ncjustice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said these types of license suspensions can trap people in a vicious cycle. She’s helped hundreds of people restore their licenses. “They can’t pay their tickets,” Webb said. “They might get a seat belt ticket that is out of reach for them financially. They’re not able to pay it, their license gets suspended, and then because their license is suspended, they might lose their job, and then they’re definitely not able to pay it. “Suspending someone’s driver’s license and completely limiting their ability to get around does not help someone come to court,” Webb said. “They’re probably going to use limited resources to get to court or drive illegally, which we don’t want to see happen, and so it’s counterproductive. “It’s also counterproductive to suspend someone’s driver’s license who you want to see pay their debt, because often not having a driver’s license leads to you losing the job, the job that you need to get income to pay your debt,” she said. Whitley Carpenter, senior criminal justice counsel and policy manager at [Forward Justice](https://forwardjustice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said she’s seen the same thing. “Most people are not trying to buck the system,” Carpenter said. “What it creates is two tiers for the court system. Someone that comes in and has the resources can leave and go on about their life. They can pay the court fees and never be bothered again. Someone that has to choose between feeding their children or paying their court debt, then leaves, has a revoked license, has to figure out how to maneuver around life without a license, and then ultimately gets kind of caught in a system of driving on a revoked license because there’s not really any other alternatives. Then they incur more fees.” Data shows that resolving driver’s license suspensions often takes years. The statewide average time to resolve a failure to appear was 1,605 days — almost four and a half years. For failure to comply with fees, the average time to resolution was 927 days, according to [Duke Wilson Center analysis](https://wcsj.law.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Drivers-License-Suspensions-in-North-Carolina-Report-July-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), though times varied widely between counties. In recent years, [more than half of states nationwide have passed legislation to eliminate or curb debt-based suspensions](https://www.freetodrive.org/maps/?ref=down-ballot.info). North Carolina has not. Advocates have been pushing for change for years, highlighting the widespread impact of driver’s license suspensions on economic and health outcomes. “We are in the growing minority of states that still suspend driver’s licenses for these issues that are not related to public safety,” Webb said. [House Bill 980](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookup/2025/H980?ref=down-ballot.info), sponsored by Rep. Allen Chesser (R-Middlesex), includes reforms that would stop automatic notice to the DMV to suspend someone’s license when the failure to pay or failure to appear happens. The bill proposes appropriating $250,000 for a court text reminder system. “That doesn’t mean that the failure to pay would go away or the failure to appear would go away,” said Carpenter, who supports the legislation. “It’s just not directly tied to someone’s ability to legally drive in the state. We have to figure out another way to ensure compliance without taking away something that makes it harder to comply.” The bill hasn’t moved since it was filed in April 2025. People without a license remain in a bind — they drive anyway, which can fuel further criminal involvement. Driving while a license is revoked is a criminal offense resulting in an added fine and up to 20 days in jail. Despite this, every year, there are about 200,000 such cases in North Carolina, according to a [2025 report from Duke’s Wilson Center](https://wcsj.law.duke.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Drivers-License-Suspensions-in-North-Carolina-Report-July-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Singleton, a reentry advocate, said a policy change would make economic sense. “If we restore licenses to those that want it, we have an opportunity to improve the North Carolina workforce,” Singleton said. “If we improve the North Carolina workforce, we improve economic development.” #### **Expanding driver's license restoration clinics** State leaders say addressing license suspensions is one way to [reduce barriers to reentry](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/04/23/nc-prison-reentry-efforts-continue-in-second-year/?ref=down-ballot.info). Among the many goals of the Department of Adult Correction is to make sure that all of the more than 18,000 people released from North Carolina prisons every year leave with identification in hand — whether a driver’s license or state ID card. Holding these driver’s license restoration clinics inside prisons is a new strategy. So far, seven clinics have been held. Campbell University’s [Blanchard Community Law Clinic](https://law.campbell.edu/advocate/clinical-programs/the-community-law-clinic/?ref=down-ballot.info) partnered with the Department of Adult Correction to run the first clinic in fall 2024\. Now the school works with the department to hold a clinic each semester, giving students an opportunity to work with real clients. “The more people that we can help if there’s a way to restore their driver’s license, I think it really does benefit them and benefits their community and makes everyone safer,” said Kris Parks, a staff attorney at the Campbell clinic. Duke Law got involved in helping lead driver’s license restoration clinics inside prisons last fall and has now completed three, including 10 law students who spent part of their spring break helping 65 people at Western Correctional Center for Women on March 10 and Craggy Correctional Center on March 11. Secretary Dismukes wants to keep ramping up the number of clinics held at prisons across the state. She said she hopes to partner with all of North Carolina’s law schools to make that happen. For Treat, an attorney at Pisgah Legal Services, helping people restore their license is a crucial step toward stability and reentry success. “I think it’s really just sort of almost negligent for us as a society to send someone home from prison without a driver’s license,” he said. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/03/12/prison-drivers-license-restoration-clinic/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # New microschools education model growing across NC by Kate Denning, Carolina Public Press March 6, 2026 Alternative education models are on the rise in [North Carolina](http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). The number of the state’s private schooled and homeschooled students both reached record highs in the 2024-25 school year according to [data from the Division of Non-Public Education](https://www.doa.nc.gov/divisions/non-public-education?ref=down-ballot.info), with the [exception](https://www.doa.nc.gov/dnpe-home-school-statistical-history-pdf/open?ref=down-ballot.info) of the 2020-21 school year that was marked by the pandemic. Somewhere in between the two is a new alternative model, microschools. Microschools might not boast jaw-dropping statistics so far — but that’s sort of the point. An estimated [40 microschools](https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/think-big-by-thinking-small-nc-needs-more-microschools/?ref=down-ballot.info) were operating across North Carolina as of last year, though educators say more are likely not being included in that count. Microschools [tend to serve](https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-report-as-movement-grows-microschools-arent-so-micro-anymore/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Microschools%20are%20also%20less%20%E2%80%9Cmicro,as%20many%20as%20100%20students.) 22 students on average, though some around the country have grown to as many as 100 students. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** **Barnett Berry**, a senior research fellow at the Learning Policy Institute and education professor at the University of South Carolina, attributes the beginnings of the microschool movement to the COVID [pandemic](https://carolinapublicpress.org/30244/pandemic-at-home-learning-without-reliable-internet-service/?ref=down-ballot.info). While learning virtually, schools and families found themselves having to get creative with education in the midst of something unprecedented. The pandemic allowed, or even required, parents and educators to think differently, Berry said. But once kids went back to school, much of that excitement dwindled in traditional school settings. “Some of us were hoping that the pandemic would have served as a catalyst for this, but let me tell you what happened,” Berry said. “Immediately, the government came back in at the state level, and they were pulling their hair out over what they called academic learning loss, and they started pouring all this money into just trying to catch kids up. Don’t get me wrong, kids need loss of ground, but there was incredible innovation going on.” The microschool movement, not necessarily traditional schools, capitalized on that pandemic-era innovation. Microschools are at their best when educators, parents and students co-design the learning experience, Berry said. They are miniature hubs of what schools could be — deeper and more personalized lessons, project-based learning, a focus on what gets students excited and curious. That idea is what propelled **Margo Harper** out of her position teaching agriculture at a Lenoir County public school and into opening the SELAH Institute, an agriculture-focused microschool outside of Kinston with just 12 seats to go around once it opens to its first class this fall. She plans to have more teachers for several classes in the future, but the school will always maintain a 12:1 ratio, she said. Agriculture classes in K-12 often require time spent outside the classroom, whether it be working outdoors or traveling to Future Farmers of America events. Those field trips are essential to getting a well-rounded agriculture education, Harper said, but it can also result in lots of missed assignments and time in core classes. She found experiential learning to be the most impactful on her students and on her as an educator and imagined a school in which “extracurriculars” like agriculture didn’t take away from core classes but added to them. SELAH will operate on a hybrid model, so students will spend time at agricultural internships or part-time jobs Monday and Friday doing “work-based learning” and in-person instruction Tuesday through Thursday. At the end of the semester, students will have a portfolio of work they completed and what they learned. “That could be working on a watermelon farm, volunteering at an animal shelter, anything related to agriculture to get some experience,” she said. “So for our students, it looks different than homeschool because instead of that Monday and Friday being home work days where they’re largely spending their time continuing to learn about the things that we’re doing in class, they’re going to be spending eight hours each of those days on a work experience. That’s either them logging eight hours of practice on how to weld, or they might be working in their home garden and they eventually want to can strawberries and sell strawberry jam.” Harper could easily handle more than 12 students if she chose thanks to her public school background, but she finds microschools more conducive to mentoring and simply getting to know her students. “If 12 was enough for Jesus, 12 is enough for me,” she said. The hybrid schedule is similar to what homeschool advocates say makes homeschooling beneficial and unique, as many choose a mix of meeting weekly in homeschooling co-op groups, learning individually at home, taking classes at community college and working part-time. So what distinguishes microschools from the myriad of homeschool options? At Harmony Homeschool Academy in Cary, cofounders **Laura Greene**, a licensed psychologist with a background in school psychology, and **Angela Ruth**, a former federal employee turned educator,blend the two by bringing together homeschooled students for in-person instruction up to three days a week. In-person group learning for homeschooled students isn’t revolutionary, but Ruth said the primary difference between the typical homeschool co-op and their microschool is the background of the instructor. While homeschool co-ops can certainly be academically rigorous in their own right, Ruth said, Harmony employs either certified educators or subject matter experts to teach classes, which are capped at 15 students. Harmony’s approach as a microschool is that a child’s education be a dual effort between the educators and the parents. Harmony’s classes tend to act as supplemental where parents can’t fully meet their student’s needs. “Every single material given to the student is actually put in the classroom, and many of the parents take that material and build upon it at home,” Ruth said. “Because we’re hybrid, a lot of the work has to be done at home, and that’s where the parents come in, but we’re giving them the tools and the resources to be able to do that.” Harmony also places an emphasis on Social Emotional Learning and easing the anxiety many of their students have around school. The smaller class sizes make it easier to offer accommodations for learning disabilities and mental health that traditional private schools [often don’t](https://www.ncseaa.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1171/2020/10/CDGRecommendations.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Children%20who%20are%20placed%20in%20a%20nonpublic,for%20students%20who%20are%20children%20with%20disabilities.). That comes in the form of pass/fail homework grades, options to use talk-to-text technology and extensions on assignments when requested by the student. When it comes to accommodations, Harmony recognizes the value in students knowing how to ask for what they need. “Self advocacy plays a critical role here,” Ruth said. “We encourage the students to go to the teacher and say, ‘Hey, I have this soccer tournament,’ which is a real world, even adult-related kind of example. ‘Can I please turn in my work a little bit later without penalty?’ And the answer is always ‘Yes, you are advocating for yourself.’ That's actually an adulting skill that a lot of us don’t take to heart very often.” The Opportunity Scholarship, or private school vouchers, will be crucial to SELAH’s success and ability for families to afford the $10,000 yearly tuition, Harper said. SELAH was approved as an official private school in February, meaning it can now apply to receive Opportunity Scholarship funds from families. Because SELAH’s hybrid microschool model will have students working several days a week, Harper also plans to encourage parents to talk with their children about investing in their own education by paying for a portion of their tuition with funds made at their agriculture-focused job. Harmony, on the other hand, isn’t eligible to receive vouchers because its students are enrolled homeschoolers, but many of its families do pay with funds from Education Savings Accounts. Critics of vouchers often say private schools shouldn’t receive public funds because they [lack](https://publicschoolsfirstnc.org/resources/fact-sheets/facts-on-nc-school-vouchers/?ref=down-ballot.info) oversight and measurements for student success. Harper is tackling that by requiring every SELAH student take the SAT or ACT each year to track their progress. At Harmony, students receive grades from teachers and encourage parents to honor them, but ultimately it’s up to the parent whether they want to recognize the grade or assign one themselves. Older students tend to dual-enroll at a community college, which of course assigns grades and creates a traditional transcript to send to colleges. Most of Harmony’s students are college-bound, Ruth said. **Frederick Taylor**, an 18th-century engineer and the father of scientific management, is often invoked by critics of traditional education who say his ideas on [factory work](https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-principlesmanagement/chapter/scientific-management/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=He%20also%20proposed%20matching%20a,can%20execute%20the%20task%20efficiently.) were also used in the design and structure of modern-day “factory model schools,” though there are attempts to [debunk the connection](https://hackeducation.com/2015/04/25/factory-model?ref=down-ballot.info). The constant changing of classes and swapping of teachers Taylor’s model has resulted in today might lead to an efficient education but not a personalized one, Berry said. “That’s a system not designed for personalization, for every kid to be known, for kids to find passion in their learning as they develop the foundational skills, as well as now the age of AI having them prepared for jobs that haven’t been created yet,” Berry said. “But with that said everything that I’ve described right there, you can find in public school systems right now. The question is can microschools help us all get there?” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74758/new-microschools-education-model-growing-across-nc/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- This article was [originally published](https://www.votebeat.org/michigan/2026/03/06/ballot-verifier-macomb-county-anthony-forlini-ada-county/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [Votebeat](https://www.votebeat.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. # One of Michigan’s most populous counties will post all ballots online Hayley Harding, Votebeat Mar 6, 2026 at 10:51am EST *Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S.* [*Sign up for Votebeat Michigan’s free newsletter here.*](https://votebe.at/michigannewsletter?ref=down-ballot.info) Macomb County has begun to post online an image of every ballot cast in the pivotal swing county. The county, Michigan’s third most populous, is using a program called “Ballot Verifier” to upload scans of every ballot cast for anyone to see. [More than 80,000 ballots](https://pastelections.macombgov.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the November 2025 election are already online, as is the “cast vote record,” which shows how tabulators read each ballot. Images of cast ballots — which do not include a voter’s name, address, party affiliation, or other identifying information — are already public record and can be requested through local officials. Putting them online simply improves transparency, Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini said. “We all wonder, when we put our ballot in, ‘did it score it the right way?’” Forlini told Votebeat. “This takes a little bit of the mystery out of it and adds a little bit of accountability for all of us.” The premise is simple: Let voters see the ballots, and they can judge the results for themselves. Since Michigan votes on paper ballots, that means anyone can see the sometimes wacky ways people fill in bubbles by hand — an X where a bubble should be, a rant scrawled next to a candidate’s name — right alongside [write-in candidates](https://pastelections.macombgov.org/ballot/2025-11-04%5FROSEVILLE,-PCT-12%5F8127?ref=down-ballot.info), [undervotes](https://pastelections.macombgov.org/ballot/2025-11-04%5FNEW-BALTIMORE,-PCT-%5F60803?ref=down-ballot.info), and all the other markings that show the full range of voter intent. Macomb County plans to post images going back through the November 2024 election and will include future elections in the program as well, Forlini said. He is running for secretary of state as a Republican. Ballot Verifier caught his attention about a year ago, he said, after he saw how it worked. It’s been used in a few counties around the country in the past few years. In Ada County, Idaho, which adopted it [about two years ago](https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/04/25/ada-county-elections-office-unveils-online-ballot-verifier-tool/?ref=down-ballot.info), elections director Saul Seyler said the program “has helped build public confidence.” The program helped address election distrust at the roots, Seyler said. Ada County — Idaho’s most populous county and home to Boise — has worked to improve trust for years, including offering [constant livestreams](https://adacounty.id.gov/elections/ballot-cameras/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the facilities where ballots are handled and [adding more windows](https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/news/2025-10-23/ada-county-elections-vote-idaho?ref=down-ballot.info) when remodeling their offices. Ballot Verifier, he said, offered the chance for voters to ensure that the machines had counted their ballots correctly. Officials brought out some of the department’s “harshest critics” to provide feedback on the tool, Seyler said, and even they found it useful. “Realistically, probably 95% of the public won’t ever use the tool, but there is something to the fact that it’s available,” he said. “There’s a confidence that gets built just by knowing it’s there.” It has required some minor tweaks to protocol to ensure voters don’t accidentally violate their own right to a secret ballot. The county changed their ballot language, for instance, to make clear that ballots are public records and that voters shouldn’t leave identifying marks. Voter privacy is one of the greatest concerns about such programs. Michigan voters have a right to a secret ballot. Maintaining that is key, said Mark Lindeman, policy and strategy director at Verified Voting, because ballot secrecy laws exist to protect voters from coercion or vote buying. Stray marks or seemingly random write-in choices can still tie a ballot directly to a voter, he said. He pointed to the 2008 [Minnesota Senate election recount](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2008/12/18/infamous-lizard-people-ballot-rejected-by-board?ref=down-ballot.info), where a ballot that included several write-in spaces marked with “Lizard People” [was not counted](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/brett-favre-beats-lizard-people/?ref=down-ballot.info) because canvassers agreed with a challenge characterizing it as an identifying mark, which [goes against Minnesota’s laws](https://www.sos.mn.gov/media/3078/minnesotas-historic-2008-election.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Election officials need to find a “transparent way” to reject the ballots images that are “most blatantly potentially identifiable,” Lindeman said, which can look different depending on the ballot and an election’s circumstances. In Ada County, officials tried to address the potential issue by working with Civera, the company that produces Ballot Verifier, to ensure that voters are “masked” if something about their ballot would identify them, meaning it won’t be made publicly available. It’s not unheard of for only a single voter in a precinct to get a specific combination of taxing districts on their ballot, for example, and officials wanted to make sure that ballot would still remain private. That and other workflow changes can add yet another step to “an already kind of chaotic time,” Seyler said, but he believes the change has already saved Ada County money: he said the published ballot images and cast vote records have prevented at least two recounts by allowing potential challengers to review records without having to file for one. “This can not only be a resource to help build trust, but it can also just help you operationally,” he said. *Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at* *hharding@votebeat.org* *.* Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters [here](https://votebeat.org/newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # Boil water advisories, water main breaks stress cash-strapped New Orleans families by Robert Stewart, Verite News New Orleans March 10, 2026 A water main ruptured on Carrollton Avenue and Panola Street on Monday (March 9) morning, leaving much of New Orleans’ East Bank under a boil water advisory, according to the Sewage and Water Board of New Orleans. The advisory was lifted on Tuesday morning. It’s the third water main break that has resulted in a broad boil water advisory in a little over a month. The frequent advisories have left a number of residents feeling concerned about the persistent need to buy potable water for cooking, drinking and basic hygiene, all while they see the cost of living in the city going up. Central City resident Charles Brown, 70, and his childhood friend, Lanard Turner, 76, both said that they rely on social security and have limited incomes. Now, they feel like they have to choose between two drinking water options that neither feel is particularly safe — tap or bottled water because of the plastic. The two men were sitting with friends outside of the Lafayette Cemetery No. 2 Monday afternoon after the boil water advisory had gone into effect. “When the water comes back on you got rust in it, you got lead in it and all that, you know? You prefer to drink bottled water,” Turner said. Despite the additional costs, both men have opted to use bottled water for years. But this choice has gotten harder as it becomes more expensive to live in the city. But they think bottled water is a more reliable option than a water system that is plagued by repeated ruptures. ![Lanard Turner and Charles Brown sit outside of Lafayette Cemetery No. 2 in New Orleans on March 9, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/10165326/DSC_2892.jpg) Lanard Turner and Charles Brown sit outside of Lafayette Cemetery No. 2 in New Orleans on March 9, 2026. Turner said he usually needs five or six cases of water a month because he has a big family. Brown, who said he buys four cases of water every month, agreed that buying bottled water was better than tap, but he’s worried about contamination and pollution from the plastic bottles. “The chemicals that they make the bottles with, that they make the plastic with, \[online\] it says it's hurting you and hurting the environment too,” he said. According to neighborhood data analyzed by [The Data Center](https://www.datacenterresearch.org/data-resources/neighborhood-data/district-2/central-city/?ref=down-ballot.info), a New Orleans-based research nonprofit, Central City has a lower median household income compared to Orleans Parish overall. Along with many of the other neighborhoods in Uptown, Central City was under a boil water advisory starting on Feb. 23, after a [water main burst](https://www.swbno.org/PressReleases/Details/5059?ref=down-ballot.info) on South Claiborne Avenue and Toledano Street. Less than two weeks later, on March 4, another [water main ruptured](https://www.nola.com/news/water-pools-in-central-city-after-break/article%5F1ac86acd-1547-4ebd-8605-c3feab3a1f42.html?ref=down-ballot.info) on Magnolia Street and Jackson Avenue, though no boil water advisory was issued. The water, which neighbors say stinks in the morning, was still gushing from this break as late as 2 p.m on March 9\. The Sewage and Waterboard (S&WB) of New Orleans has not been able to isolate the break on the 30-inch water main because S&WB requires special equipment, according to Kaitlin Tymrak, the S&WB’s interim superintendent. The Magnolia Street water main is almost 100 years old. At a Public Works, Sanitation, and Environment Committee meeting on Tuesday (March 10), city council members grilled Tymrak and S&WB Executive Director Randy Hayman. The council members demanded a plan to deal with the recurring ruptures. Tymrak said S&WB is currently evaluating a timeline for the March 4 Magnolia and Jackson break. ![Executive Director of the Sewerage and Water Board Randy Hayman, left, and Interim General Superintendent of the Sewerage and Water Board Kaitlin Tymrak speak during the City Council Public Works Committee meeting at New Orleans City Hall on March 10, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/10165358/20260310_CZB_PublicWorks_1650.jpg) Executive Director of the Sewerage and Water Board Randy Hayman, left, and Interim General Superintendent of the Sewerage and Water Board Kaitlin Tymrak speak during the City Council Public Works Committee meeting at New Orleans City Hall on March 10, 2026. On Magnolia Street, just off of Jackson Avenue, water gushed from a gaping hole in the road and poured into the storm drains. Rhondel Jones, 47, spoke with Verite News while sitting on a neighbor’s patio chatting with some residents and overlooking what he described as a pool with “enough water for children to swim in.” Jones, who lives in Central City, said that he saw a work crew during the first two days of the Magnolia break but has not seen any since. “It’s getting ridiculous,” Jones said. Jones said the unfixed, leaking water main disrupts life in his neighborhood. Neighbors can’t park where they normally would. School kids, he said, had to move their bus stop. And residents have had their water pressure impacted by the broken pipe. But for Jones and other Central City residents, the water rupture is not the main problem. It’s the financial burden residents accrue through constantly purchasing bottled water due to their concern that the tap water isn’t clean or reliable. Central City residents reported using bottled water to drink, clean their teeth and to cook. Some said they distrusted the tap water so much that they don’t even give it to their pets. “I know they're dogs, but at the end of the day, I got to look out for them too,” said Chris Minor, 43 who said he has two dogs to whom he gives bottled water. The smaller of the two gazed out the window while Minor spoke to Verite. But Minor added that he was happy that at least he was not in other parts of Louisiana where the water comes out [brown](https://www.wdsu.com/article/madisonville-brown-water-concerns-continue/70595938?ref=down-ballot.info). During Tuesday’s Public Works Committee meeting, Hayman said that the city’s water distribution system, which consists of 1,600 miles of water lines and transmission mains, is facing a crisis. Hayman said S&WB is auditing its system to determine the best way forward but could not say when the audit would be ready. Tymrak said S&WB is focusing first on dealing with the roughly 34 miles of transmission mains, which are over 100 years old. ![Debra Smith and her daughter Claudette Smith stand outside of Debra Smith's home and talk about the boil water advisory in New Orleans on March 9, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/10165140/DSC_2860.jpg) Debra Smith and her daughter Claudette Smith stand outside of Debra Smith's home and talk about the boil water advisory in New Orleans on March 9, 2026. Debra Smith, 58, and her daughter, Claudette Smith, 36, were chatting on their front porch on the day this boil water advisory was issued. Debra Smith said that she has been cooking with bottled water since Hurricane Katrina to avoid another hazard: [lead leaching from pipes](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/19/exposed-toxic-tap-lead-in-water/?ref=down-ballot.info) into the tap water. She said she remembers hearing concerns about the city’s pipes since she was a kid. Although she’s used to using bottled water for her family — she said she even buys and brings water to her elderly mother — she still thinks people shouldn’t have to use bottled water to feel safe bathing and brushing their teeth. “Sometimes they tell us we can't shower. We don't know what the water will do to us and to our bodies. You can’t brush your teeth and all that stuff,” Debra Smith said. Claudette Smith said every time a boil water advisory happens it creates extra stress for her and her family. She said that she knows the city is capable of doing more, because she sees it operating efficiently during Mardi Gras. “The government period. They need to do better,” Claudette Smith said. “They need to do better.” **Update at 3:12 p.m. on March 11:** The New Orleans Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness [said](https://www.instagram.com/p/DVuJ9Gbj%5FnN/?hl=en&ref=down-ballot.info) that it is providing limited service and assistance through its community partners to residents whose homes were impacted by Carrollton Avenue and Panola Street water main break. Assistance includes: damage assessments, “muck and guck support,” clean up buckets and gift cards. Assistance can be requested by phone at: 504-250-9824 or by email at: ready@nola.gov. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/03/10/boil-water-advisories-sewerage-and-water/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=29240&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ### Brunswick County opposes Fuquay-Varina's interbasin transfer request URL: https://down-ballot.info/brunswick-county-opposes-fuquay-varinas-interbasin-transfer-request/ Last updated: 2026-03-12T09:00:49.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** **Previous coverage:** [UPDATE: NCDEQ to extend comment period for Fuquay-Varina Interbasin Transfer Certificate requestDec. 9 Raleigh hearing will also be accessible via livestream and comment period has been extended until April 1, 2026; Spartanburg City Council to meet Monday, Nov. 24, 2025![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1-3.png)Down BallotBen Ledbetter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1519873174361-37788c5a73c7)](https://down-ballot.info/update-ncdeq-to-extend-comment-period-for-fuquay-varina-interbasin-transfer-certificate-request/) [N.C. DEQ to hold public hearings on Transco and Fuquay-Varina’s Interbasin Transfer requestFuquay-Varina’s current water supply is projected to fall short of future demands by 2030![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1-4.png)Down BallotBen Ledbetter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1-6-2.png)](https://down-ballot.info/n-c-deq-to-hold-public-hearings-on-transco-and-fuquay-varinas-interbasin-transfer-request/) BOLIVIA, N.C. – Brunswick County's Board of Commissioners is encouraging community members to share concerns to the state about a proposed plan to divert millions of gallons of water out of the Cape Fear River, reducing the amount of available water for area residents The [Town of Fuquay-Varina in southern Wake County is seeking approval for an interbasin transfer (IBT)](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?ref=down-ballot.info) to transfer 6.17 million gallons of water per day from the Cape Fear River basin to the Neuse River basin to increase their water supply to meet the projected future demands for that area. According to the [N.C. environmental regulators,](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?ref=down-ballot.info) the town's current supply from Raleigh, Harnett County and Johnston County will not meet future demands. The proposed preferred alternative would involve Fuquay-Varina sourcing its entire water supply from Sanford's Water Treatment Plant in the Cape Fear River Basin. The town would continue sending the collected wastewater to both the North Harnett County Wastewater Treatment Plants in the Cape Fear River basin and the Terrible Creek and the Brighton Forest wastewater treatment plants in the Neuse River basin. The [Environmental Management Commission](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-resources-commissions/environmental-management-commission?ref=down-ballot.info), which oversees and adopts rules for several divisions of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), ultimately has authority in determining whether to approve the Town’s request. According to a [news release](https://www.brunswickcountync.gov/m/newsflash/home/detail/734?ref=down-ballot.info), the Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the Fuquay-Varina IBT on Nov. 17, 2025, due to serious concerns about the long-term repercussions to our county’s available drinking water supply, public health and economic future. “Having a stable and reliable source of drinking water for Brunswick County is imperative for the health and prosperity of our residents in the decades to come,” Chairman Mike Forte said. “We urge our residents to let DEQ know that they also do not support this IBT request and are worried about the threats it poses to Brunswick County’s long-term future.” Several other local governments and utilities passed similar resolutions or written letters opposing the IBT, including New Hanover County, City of Wilmington, Cape Fear Public Utilities Authority, and several municipalities in Brunswick County including Boiling Spring Lakes, Bolivia, Caswell Beach, Carolina Shores, Holden Beach, Leland, Oak Island, Ocean Isle Beach, Sandy Creek, Shallotte, Southport, Sunset Beach, and Varnamtown. The Commissioners’ resolution also asked DEQ to hold a public hearing in the Lower Cape Fear region where downstream communities are most likely to suffer consequences should they approve the Town’s IBT request. Despite submitting the resolution months ago, DEQ has not indicated any plans to hold a public hearing in our area. “We will not be deterred from voicing our frustration and opposition to this attempt to take away millions of gallons of water that our community depends on,” Forte said. “Pulling water away from one part of the state to give to another part only creates more problems rather than solutions and sets a terrible precedent for North Carolina.” ## Public Comment Opportunity Community members can still voice their concerns on the Fuquay-Varina IBT request by submitting written comments to DEQ. Those who plan to submit are encouraged to note if they live or work in Brunswick County. Residents are welcome to include any or all of the key concerns listed below as part of their comments to DEQ. **Comments must be postmarked or emailed by April 1, 2026.** ### Pricing Into Adulthood: Students Navigate Charlotte’s Housing Crunch URL: https://down-ballot.info/pricing-into-adulthood-students-navigate-charlottes-housing-crunch/ Last updated: 2026-03-11T09:00:38.000Z Link to original story: [Pricing Into Adulthood: Students Navigate Charlotte’s Housing Crunch - Queens University News ServiceIn Charlotte, cranes dot the skyline and “For Rent” signs line busy corridors — but for many college students, those signs signal competition rather than opportunity. The city continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the United States, bringing new businesses, residents and development. But that growth has come with a cost:![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/QNS-logo-21may24-1-300x300-1.jpg)Queens University News Service - The Queens News Service provides news for Charlotte-Metro and Mecklenburg Areas.Allison Chipps![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/tierra-mallorca-rgJ1J8SDEAY-unsplash-1024x576.jpg)](https://queensnewsservice.org/2026/03/05/pricing-into-adulthood-students-navigate-charlottes-housing-crunch/?ref=down-ballot.info) **Allison Chipps (Queens University News Service)** March 5, 2026 In Charlotte, cranes dot the skyline and “For Rent” signs line busy corridors — but for many college students, those signs signal competition rather than opportunity. The city continues to grow at one of the fastest rates in the United States, bringing new businesses, residents and development. But that growth has come with a cost: rising rent, shrinking availability and increased corporate ownership of housing. While conversations about the housing crisis are often framed around families and first-time homebuyers, college students are increasingly feeling the pressure as well. According to the 2024 State of Housing report released by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, rapid population growth combined with limited housing supply continues to drive up costs across the region. The report highlights how demand has outpaced new construction in several areas, pushing rent higher and reducing affordability for lower and moderate-income residents. For students attending colleges and universities across the city, those trends translate into difficult decisions about where, and whether, to live off campus. Over the past decade, corporate landlords and investor groups have purchased an increasing number of single-family homes and apartment complexes in Mecklenburg County. Research from UNC Charlotte’s Urban Institute shows that corporate-owned properties are concentrated in high-demand areas, including neighborhoods near universities and major transit corridors. These properties are professionally managed and priced at market rates, leaving students little room to negotiate. For students seeking independence from campus housing, corporate ownership can mean standardized leases and rising rent that increases year after year. Savannah Stuart, a senior at Queens University of Charlotte living in a corporate-owned apartment complex near campus, said the search process was more complicated than she expected. “My roommate and I really wanted a washer and dryer in unit, a kitchen and a common space that had enough room for a dining room table and a couch,” she said. “We also wanted two beds and two baths because we didn't want to share a bathroom. So, all of those combined in our price range, it was kind of difficult to find something near campus.” While more affordable options existed farther from campus, distance became another factor. “There were more options farther away, but that would’ve meant a 20-minute drive instead of 12,” she said. “Which does make a difference.” Students often rely on roommates to split costs, but even shared housing can stretch budgets. According to regional data, average monthly rents in Charlotte have risen steadily in recent years, especially in neighborhoods close to Uptown and in the University City area. City leaders have acknowledged the growing affordability challenge. The Charlotte City Council has made housing a priority, forming committees and expanding affordable housing initiatives aimed at increasing supply and preserving existing units. However, most of these programs focus on long-term residents and income-qualified families, not students. That leaves many college students in a gray area. They often do not qualify for traditional affordable housing programs but still struggle to meet market-rate rents while paying tuition and fees. Stuart splits the cost of a two-bedroom unit with a roommate and said that, overall, her off-campus housing has been comparable to what she might have paid to live on campus. “If I had done a shorter lease, it actually would’ve been less than living in a single room on campus,” she said. Still, she noted that pricing in the area continues to climb. “Even what we’re paying now is on the lower end,” she said. “Most places that have what you want are significantly more expensive.” As prices rise, students must weigh whether off-campus independence is financially worthwhile. Beyond finances, corporate ownership can affect the rental experience itself. In many complexes, interactions with management happen through online portals and automated emails rather than face-to-face conversation. Maintenance requests are ticket numbers, and lease renewals are system-generated notice. Stuart described a mixed experience with management. “Sometimes, management feels a little tone deaf,” she said. “It can feel like they care more about policies and certain tenants than about you as an individual.” Maintenance, she said, often feels impersonal and slow. “Our gate was broken for 10 out of 14 days,” she said. “And they left a hole in my wall for six months when they took out my fire alarm — and they still haven't come back to fix it.” These shifts reflect larger changes in priorities. When properties are owned by corporations, decisions are often guided first by return on investment. Rent increases, fees and policies are set according to market data and profit projections assert dominance over personal relationships and individual circumstances. In that environment, the renter’s experience can become secondary to financial performance, reinforcing the notion that housing is treated less as a home and more as an asset. For many students, off-campus housing represents independence and adulthood. But in Charlotte’s competitive market, that independence can come with financial strain. “Living off campus makes me feel like I’m ready for the next step,” Stuart said. “I’m building skills — budgeting, meal prepping, taking care of a shared space — that I wouldn’t get in a dorm.” At the same time, she believes affordability is becoming a growing barrier. “Students are definitely being priced out,” she said. “When off-campus housing costs almost the same as living on campus, I don’t really see the benefit anymore.” As Charlotte continues to grow, the housing crisis remains a citywide issue. Yet it is also shaping the daily lives of college students who are trying to balance tuition, work and rent. Their experiences highlight a broader question facing the Queen City: As development continues, who is Charlotte being built for — and who is being priced out along the way? *Queens University News Service stories are prepared by students in the James L. Knight School of Communication with supervision and editing from faculty and staff. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte provides the news service in support of local community news.* ### National EV funding fight hits home along Charlotte’s I‑77 corridor URL: https://down-ballot.info/national-ev-funding-fight-hits-home-along-charlottes-i-77-corridor/ Last updated: 2026-03-09T09:00:24.000Z by Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News March 5, 2026 **By Will Atwater** Ron Ross, 70, has spent decades in [Charlotte’s Historic West End](https://www.westendcharlotte.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) watching traffic thicken on nearby I‑77 and working alongside his neighbors to fight for cleaner air and a healthier future — one that includes electric cars. Now Ross and his neighbors are battling a North Carolina Department of Transportation [plan to add elevated toll lanes along I‑77 South](https://www.ninertimes.com/news/charlotte-residents-move-i-77-expansion-concerns-online-with-petition-over-1-500-signatures/article%5F74bc9d45-11db-49dd-a747-efaf6d81e3e3.html?utm%5Fsource=NC+Tribune+subscribers&utm%5Fcampaign=f7455d5b44-EMAIL%5FCAMPAIGN%5F2025%5F11%5F24%5F03%5F25%5FCOPY%5F02&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F-043feb34b2-122829856), a proposal critics warn would burden communities along the corridor with higher levels of air pollution, including particulate matter and carbon monoxide. The push to expand lanes along this already-busy interstate, Ross said, only intensifies the need to promote zero‑emission vehicles. Last month, state Sens. DeAndrea Salvador (D-Mecklenburg) and Caleb Theodros (D-Mecklenburg), whose districts include the I‑77 South corridor, [wrote Gov. Josh Stein ](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Letter-to-Governor-Stein-I-77-S-Express-Lanes.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)asking him to pause procurement on the express lanes project, saying the state is moving ahead without enough transparency or analysis of how more lanes could affect nearby residents’ health and risk of being displaced. Against that backdrop, and despite the loss of rebates that once helped people afford EVs, Ross has kept working to spread awareness, saying it “doesn’t preclude us from sharing with the community, informing them of the advantages of purchasing electric vehicles” — changes he hopes will help improve the air in his neighborhood. [The West End](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/12/27/in-underserved-communities/?ref=down-ballot.info), where Ross lives, is a historically Black community that lost homes, businesses and community institutions to highway construction during [the urban renewal era](https://www.blackenterprise.com/the-revitalization-of-charlottes-historic-west-end/?ref=down-ballot.info) that started in the 1960s. Now the area is working to attract new investment and promote green infrastructure. The district sits near one of the busiest stretches of I‑77 South, where about [160,000 vehicles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0lsbPYxwd8&ref=down-ballot.info) travel daily and emit tailpipe pollution that drifts over homes where thousands of people live. #### **National EV funding fight, local consequences** As a member of the [Historic West End Green District](https://cleanairenc.org/hwe-clt/?ref=down-ballot.info), Ross has worked with the City of Charlotte and other partners to bring electric‑vehicle charging options, including a PoleVolt charger at The Ritz at Washington Heights, a popular park and gathering spot in the neighborhood. The [National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure](https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/12744?ref=down-ballot.info) program aims to help by funding a nationwide network of public charging stations to make driving electric more practical. In January, [a federal judge blocked](https://www.selc.org/press-release/judge-protects-billions-for-reliable-ev-charging-cleaner-air-and-lower-driving-costs-across-the-country/?ref=down-ballot.info) the U.S. Department of Transportation from withholding NEVI funds, clearing the way for the program to move forward so more communities can see new charging stations built along major roads. ![A single electric vehicle charging station in front of a green parking space painted with the words ‘EV Parking Only’ and a white car-and-cord symbol, in Charlotte’s Historic West End Green District.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/OGQIgq6Q.jpeg) An electric‑vehicle charging station in Charlotte’s Historic West End Green District, one of the neighborhoods along the I‑77 corridor looking to federal NEVI funds to expand access to cleaner transportation options. The [Southern Environmental Law Center](https://www.selc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) was among the legal groups representing a coalition of states and advocacy organizations that intervened in the lawsuit to defend the program, including North Carolina-based [CleanAIRE NC](https://cleanairenc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the [West End Revitalization Association](https://weranc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Tailpipe pollution is a public health crisis — fueling asthma, heart disease, and respiratory illness in communities already overburdened by environmental harm,” wrote Jeff Robbins, executive director of CleanAIRE NC, in a [statement released](https://pluginamerica.org/press-release/nonprofits-sue-current-administration-over-illegal-freeze-of-billions-for-electric-vehicle-charging/?ref=down-ballot.info) when a national coalition of groups filed their lawsuit. The clash over EV charging money and [Clean Air Act protections](https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-air-act?ref=down-ballot.info) highlights a broader decision point for the country. One path speeds the shift to cleaner vehicles and offers some relief for communities living next to highways. The other doubles down on fossil fuels and slows cleaner energy, a course scientists and environmental advocates warn will intensify climate‑driven extreme weather and the health risks that come with it. “For people across the nation, this decision clears the way for long-delayed EV charging to finally be built,” said Megan Kimball, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, in a statement [released after federal judge Tana Lin made her ruling](https://www.selc.org/press-release/judge-protects-billions-for-reliable-ev-charging-cleaner-air-and-lower-driving-costs-across-the-country/?ref=down-ballot.info). “NEVI-funded stations will make long trips and everyday travel safer and more reliable — especially in places that have too often been passed over for infrastructure investment.” Andrew Whelan, communications director at CleanAIRE NC, said federal air quality regulations play a vital role in protecting communities like the Historic West End. “Federal standards provide the legal floor that prevents vehicle manufacturers from producing dirtier cars,” he said. Without those protections, he warned, “cars and trucks become less efficient and more polluting.” “A warmer climate leads to higher formation of ground level ozone or smog, which is a very dangerous air pollutant,” Whelan said. “Vehicle exhaust also emits high levels of fine particle pollution, [also known as PM 2.5 or soot](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/04/17/disrupted-systems-how-epa-cuts-are-shaking-up-community-health-and-climate-research/?ref=down-ballot.info) — and PM 2.5 is our nation’s deadliest air pollutant.” #### **Highway pollution and public health risk** [Tiny particles such as PM 2.5](https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/health-and-environmental-effects-particulate-matter-pm?ref=down-ballot.info) — matter small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream — are linked to asthma attacks, heart disease, stroke and premature death, especially in children, older adults and people with respiratory or cardiovascular illness. “When we talk about air pollution, we’re talking about the air that fills a child’s lungs on the playground or drifts through a bedroom window — especially for kids who live near power plants, factories, highways and port,” said Afif El-Hasan, a doctor and asthma specialist, during a national media call on [toxin exposure](https://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org/20260225%5Ftoxics-report-release/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Anything in the air that’s not supposed to be there creates a risk for their health.” On busy roads, a large share of those particles are produced by tailpipe emissions. Exhaust from internal combustion engines is a cocktail of [carbon dioxide](https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle?ref=down-ballot.info) and other greenhouse gases, along with fine particulate pollution that harms people’s hearts and lungs. Taken together, cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats and other vehicles make transportation [one of the largest contributors to U.S. climate pollution](https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions?ref=down-ballot.info). As temperatures rise and extreme heat becomes more frequent, communities already burdened by highway traffic, such as Charlotte’s Historic West End and [Durham’s Hayti neighborhood](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/10/28/rising-temperatures-in-durham-leaving-many-behind/?ref=down-ballot.info), face compounding risks: more days with unhealthy air, higher energy bills and greater strain on people with existing health problems. Those mounting health and climate risks, in recent decades, have been driving state and federal efforts to get more electric vehicles on the road. #### **Policy efforts to promote EV adoption** ​​At the federal level, programs like NEVI and the Environmental Protection Agency’s [$5 billion Clean School Bus Program established under the Biden administration](https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus?ref=down-ballot.info) were designed to speed a shift away from fossil fuels by expanding charging infrastructure and helping school districts replace diesel buses with electric models, with extra support for low‑income, rural and Tribal communities. In addition, North Carolina [received more than $92 million](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2018/03/30/nc-deq-unveils-early-plan-for-volkswagen-money/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the national [Volkswagen Clean Air Act Civil Settlement](https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/volkswagen-clean-air-act-civil-settlement?ref=down-ballot.info) and, between 2018 and 2024, used nearly all of it for grants and rebates to clean up transportation. However, no new grant rounds are expected, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. More than $41 million went to replacing older diesel school buses with cleaner diesel, propane, and 48 electric buses in 22 counties and for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The upgrades are expected to prevent about 10,220 tons of greenhouse gases and 165 tons of nitrogen oxides over the buses’ lifetimes, according to [NC DEQ data](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/air-quality/motor-vehicles-and-air-quality/volkswagen-settlement/volkswagen-settlement-clean-vehicle-replacements/volkswagen-settlement-school-bus-program-awards?ref=down-ballot.info). The settlement also helped expand charging infrastructure by funding both DC fast chargers and Level 2 stations, including more than $1.7 million for state agencies to install 151 Level 2 ports that can serve fleet, employee and in some cases public vehicles, with 30 projects still in progress. NEVI’s national clean‑energy initiatives align with goals established by former Gov. Roy Cooper. His 2018 [Executive Order 80](https://www.doa.nc.gov/mfm-pc-cooper-eo-80-2018-pdf/open?ref=down-ballot.info) directed state agencies to cut greenhouse gas emissions and increase clean transportation. The order included a goal of at least 80,000 registered zero‑emission vehicles by 2025\. The state reached that milestone two years early, surpassing 80,000 ZEV registrations in November 2023\. Cooper later expanded those ambitions with [Executive Order 246](https://governor.nc.gov/executive-order-no-246/open?ref=down-ballot.info), which calls for 1.25 million zero‑emission vehicles on North Carolina roads by 2030 and for ZEVs to make up half of new car sales by the end of the decade — a shift advocates say will depend not only on private car buyers, but also on public fleets such as state vehicles, city buses and school buses. As of 2024, there were more than 100,000 plug‑in hybrid and battery‑electric vehicles registered in North Carolina and more than 4,400 EV charging ports, according to [the Governor’s Office](https://governor.nc.gov/governor-proclaims-north-carolina-drive-electric-week-2024?ref=down-ballot.info). Those efforts now collide with a [competing vision from the Trump administration](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/unleashing-american-energy/?ref=down-ballot.info), which has prioritized expanding oil, gas and coal production while rolling back climate rules and support for electric vehicles — [part of a broader push](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/02/17/epa-endangerment-finding-north-carolina-environmental-justice/?ref=down-ballot.info) to weaken protections that limit greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. “Automakers know electrification is the future, and they know China is winning that race,” SELC Senior Attorney Garrett Gee told NC Health News. “Policies that were designed to put us on competitive footing with China and keep the American auto industry strong are now being rolled back, and that’s already slowing or canceling EV and battery projects — including in the Southeast and here in North Carolina, where a lot of those supply‑chain jobs were supposed to land.” Even as those policy shifts inject uncertainty into the pace of change, North Carolina’s transition has continued on the ground — from school districts adding electric buses and charging infrastructure to pilot projects that put zero‑emission vehicles directly onto the streets. Electric vehicles are still a small share of the cars on North Carolina roads, but they’re starting to show up in other parts of public life. The Town of Cary recently added the [East Coast’s first electric fire truck ](https://www.edf.org/electricfleetstories?ref=down-ballot.info)to its fleet. Officials said it will cut emissions and make the job quieter and safer for firefighters. Back in Charlotte’s West End, Ross and his West End neighbors envision a transformed community with greenways, more electric school and city buses, and accessible EV charging stations. They will also have to make room for new technologies, as [Waymo announced this past month that](https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/waymo-self-driving-cars-reportedly-seen-charlotte-north-carolina/275-a9ad53c6-72ba-40f5-9797-94d9e9451b0e?ref=down-ballot.info) it’s bringing electric, self‑driving cars to the Queen City’s streets. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/03/05/federal-ev-charging-funding-fight-reaches-charlottes-i-77-corridor/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) ### War puts Iran’s participation in World Cup, training plans in Tucson, Arizona in doubt URL: https://down-ballot.info/war-puts-irans-participation-in-world-cup-training-plans-in-tucson-arizona-in-doubt/ Last updated: 2026-03-12T17:37:43.000Z **It's Friday, March 6, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** War puts Iran’s participation in World Cup, training plans in Tucson in doubt, Voters push for change in closely watched NC primary contests, North Carolina Regulators Nix $1.2 Billion Federal Proposal to Dredge Wilmington Harbor, City of New Orleans might trash fully-funded residential recycling initiative, NC lawmakers consider options to force psychiatric treatment for people with severe mental illness, Medicaid fraud targeting Indigenous communities continues despite AHCCCS reforms, Opioid settlement applicants question ‘popularity contest’ grant review process as lawmakers weigh changes. **Media outlets and others featured:** Cronkite News**,** Carolina Public Press,The Marshall Project, Inside Climate News, Verite News, North Carolina Health News, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, Mississippi Today. --- *Editor's note: MultiState looks at different approaches states are taking towards energy and tax issues with data centers:* [State Data Center Legislation in 2026 Tackles Energy and Tax IssuesIn 2026, more than 300 state data center legislation bills have been filed across 30+ states in just six weeks, marking a shift from incentive-focused policies to regulatory oversight as energy demands become clearer. Several states including New York, South Dakota, and Oklahoma have introduced data center moratorium bills to pause construction while studying impacts on utilities, the environment, and local communities. States are reconsidering data center tax incentives, with Virginia, Georgia, and Oklahoma proposing to reduce or eliminate credits that previously attracted these facilities. New data center energy policy proposals aim to ensure facilities pay the full cost of grid connections and participate in demand response programs, preventing cost shifts to residential customers. At least 18 states have introduced bills creating special rate classes for large energy users, with some requiring data centers to fund infrastructure improvements and demonstrate benefits to ratepayers.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/multistate-favicon-16x16.png)MultiStateMultiState![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/NY-3fd4b6-1200px.jpg)](https://www.multistate.us/insider/2026/2/20/state-data-center-legislation-in-2026-tackles-energy-and-tax-issues?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # War puts Iran’s participation in World Cup, training plans in Tucson in doubt by Thomas Bonvehi, Cronkite News March 2, 2026 PHOENIX – Ongoing conflict in the Middle East has put Iran’s participation in the FIFA World Cup – and its training schedule at Tucson’s [Kino Sports Complex](https://www.pima.gov/1/zlib/trees?contentId=9442c016-07be-407a-99c1-027f34d5ff55&date=1-1-2025&ref=down-ballot.info) – in doubt. Facility director Sarah Horvath said she has not heard if the country’s plans have changed but is hopeful for clarity soon. “We see sports as a great unifier,” Horvath said. “Even when there’s all kinds of muck going on in the world, you have sports that unify us all. When it really breaks down to it, we are all a lot more alike than we are different.” Iran's top soccer official Mehdi Taj, a vice president of the Asian Football Confederation, was less optimistic. "What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope," he [told ESPN](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/%5F/id/48074546/iran-soccer-federation-world-cup-participation-doubt?ref=down-ballot.info). In late February, Kino Sports Complex received confirmation that it would serve as a base camp at which the Iranian national team would train. Now, the city and complex are on hold. “We really enjoy that aspect of our jobs that we get to focus on sports and not worry about the rest," Horvath said. Güneş Murat Tezcür, a professor of political science and the director of the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State, said banning Iran would be “extraordinary” but not unprecedented. “There’s always a kind of element of connectivity when it comes to what countries get punished and what kind of countries are not punished,” he said. “Typically, the more powerful hegemonic actors are the ones who get to decide what norms should be enforced and what norms should not be enforced. “Iran is a terrible dictatorship, but then again there are other terrible dictatorships in the world. At the same time, Iran did not start the war. It was being attacked and now it’s basically retaliating and then obviously attacking some other countries in the (Persian) Gulf.” Tensions between Iran and its neighbors have been ongoing, including drone attacks on countries such as Saudi Arabia, which is hosting the World Cup in 2034. The tensions reached a boiling point after a joint U.S.-Israeli airstrike that led to the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday. FIFA has banned multiple countries from World Cup participation in the past. The most recent example was Russia. Hosts of the 2018 World Cup, FIFA banned the country from World Cup play since its invasion of Ukraine, and its clubs are not allowed to participate in UEFA competitions such as the Champions League or Europa League. Iran, while not officially banned, could be next in line, whether it decides to boycott, is banned by FIFA or if President Donald Trump forces its hand. In 2024, FIFA built a new office and headquarters in the United States to manage the World Cup, but a second office was built in Trump Tower in New York City in July of 2025. FIFA also gave Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize during the World Cup draw, presented by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “FIFA had always (been) very political and not very transparent,” Tezcür said. “How FIFA evolved over the years, I think it became a success, commercially, in addition to this kind of U.S. connection. I think this has been a trend for a while and now we basically see the escalation of that trend.” If FIFA bans Iran or chooses not to play, the league's rulebook allows two options. One is to change the group from four teams to three teams, but the more likely approach will be to replace Iran with another team. It’s unknown if that new team’s training would be located in Kino, but it would be a challenge regardless, as FIFA would need to pick a new team before the tournament starts in June, giving the team a maximum window of three months for preparation. It could also leave Tucson officials out in the cold. On Dec. 5\. 2025, Iran was placed in a group with New Zealand, Egypt and Belgium during the World Cup draw. If Iran doesn't compete in the World Cup, the United Arab Emirates or Iraq are expected to replace them, depending on the World Cup playoffs that will be decided in late March, [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/mar/02/iraq-united-arab-emirates-uae-iran-fifa-world-cup-tournament-us-mexico-canada?ref=down-ballot.info) reported. If Iraq fails to qualify, it would likely be next in line to replace Iran. If Iraq qualifies, it would likely go to the UAE. Nothing remains concrete yet, but recent and possible future events may force the hand of Iran’s federation in the next three months. This [article](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2026/03/02/iran-soccer-tucson-kino-training/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&ssl=1) --- # Voters push for change in closely watched NC primary contests by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press March 4, 2026 He wasn’t on the ballot, but the biggest winner on primary Election Night may have been Democratic Gov. **Josh Stein**. The governor’s veto power just got quite a bit stronger, as several “[swing](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74590/swing-vote-mecklenburg-charlotte-lawmakers-democratic-primary/?ref=down-ballot.info)” Democratic state legislators lost handily to challengers who have pledged party loyalty. In northeastern North Carolina, **Patricia Smith** defeated Rep. **Shelly Willingham,** D-Edgecombe, by an 11-point margin, and Rep. **Rodney Pierce**, D-Halifax, kept his seat in a 2024 rematch against swing Democrat **Michael Wray** by 29 percentage points. In Charlotte, **Veleria Levy** ousted Rep. **Nasif Majeed** with 69% of the vote, and Rev. **Rodney Sadler** earned 70% of the vote against Rep. **Carla Cunningham**. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** While incumbents were backed by name recognition from years in the General Assembly and money from political action committees, it didn’t matter this time around. Sitting at a table at Sofie’s Steakhouse, after his supporters went home, Sadler reflected on the sweep by Democratic challengers. Money doesn’t win elections, he said; people do, and they have spoken. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_4630-scaled.jpg) Rob Stephens (left) introduces the Rev. Rodney Sadler to his supporters after Sadler's primary election victory in a Charlotte race for the NC House on March 3, 2026\. Sarah Michels / Carolina Public Press “There is a groundswell of change taking place, not just in North Carolina, but North Carolina has always been the litmus test for what takes place across the country,” Sadler said. “The country is changing, and the country is waking up. This is the 250th anniversary of our democracy, and I think that the people are saying, we want to keep the democracy.” ### Primary turnout Precinct officials and electioneers across the state used one word repeatedly to describe Tuesday’s turnout: “steady.” ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_3554-scaled.jpg) Guilford County primary election voters check in at the Lewis Recreation Center polling place in Greensboro on March 3, 2026\. Sarah Michels / Carolina Public Press Following high levels of early voting that nearly exceeded the 2024 presidential primary, Election Day was a bit slower. Overall, 19.5% of registered voters cast ballots in the primary election — about half voted early. That’s just shy of the 2022 midterm primary’s 19.8% turnout, and higher than the average midterm primary turnout. Across the state, voters, election watchers and precinct officials credited local races for sheriff, county commissioner and a few high-profile state legislative races for much of the attention. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/1000002462-1-scaled.jpg) Two Alamance County electioneers supporting opposing Republican sheriff candidates stand together to greet primary election voters on March 3, 2026, at the Swepsonville Volunteer Fire Department polling place in Swepsonville. Lee Hicks (left) encourages voters to back Billy Clayton, while David Vaughn favors the reelection of Sheriff Terry Johnson. Primary voters chose Johnson with about 57% of the vote. Frank Taylor / Carolina Public Press [Election officials](https://www.ncsbe.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) reported few issues Tuesday. Besides the usual confusion of voters who show up at the wrong precinct and have to be redirected to the right location, everything appeared to run smoothly. ### Berger vs. Page Rockingham County Sheriff **Sam Page** spent $51,736 on his primary [campaign](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74636/david-vs-goliath-in-nc-primary-sheriff-hopes-to-take-out-powerful-senate-leader/?ref=down-ballot.info), not including outside spending by third-party political groups, according to State Board of Elections data. Senate President Pro Tempore **Phil Berger**, who has led the state legislature for 15 years, spent $2.26 million. After all votes were tallied election night, the two were separated by two votes, with Page leading. The results are not final; during the period before the canvass on March 13, election officials will determine which provisional ballots should be counted in the race, and may have absentee votes received on Election Day left to count. However, the closeness of the race makes a recount nearly inevitable. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/b7oGX-scaled.jpeg) A precinct worker talks with Guilford County primary election voters at the Fire Station 28 polling place in Gibsonville on March 3, 2026\. Sarah Michels / Carolina Public Press Fire station #28 in Gibsonville, N.C., is tucked between miles-long stretches of farmland where cows leisurely graze. Tuesday afternoon, one couple was inside, voting. Precinct judge **Ann Hillman** said they’d received 96 primary voters, with a goal of 125\. While the rural site was one of the “slower” voting places, Hillman said the residents haven’t escaped the all-consuming battle between Berger and Page. Both are mainstays in the community; Page, a 28-year sheriff, and Berger, a 26-year state legislator. Hillman said she has been receiving about four flyers for Berger or Page a day. In the Rockingham County town of Madison, the choice was on most voters’ minds. One voter, Sandy, said she’s tired of “nonstop” ads. She’s not sure ads are truthful, and would prefer politicians stop “picking on one another” so much. She’s also skeptical of the district’s current representation. She said she prayed about it a lot before casting her primary ballot. “We tend to get where we elect the same guys over and over again,” Sandy said. “They start out well, I feel like they are concerned with local situations and issues and stuff among people, and then the longer they’ve been in office, you tend to go, ‘Hmm, not so sure anymore.’” Laura, a 25-year teacher, was on the same page. “I haven't had a pay raise as a teacher in two years thanks to somebody,” she said, referring to Berger. She wants someone to look after teachers, particularly veteran teachers, and thinks Page is the better man for the job. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_3524-1-scaled.jpg) Electioneers make a last effort to persuade Rockingham County primary voters at the Williamsburg Elementary polling place near Reidsville on March 3, 2026\. Sarah Michels / Carolina Public Press On the other side, Rockingham County Commissioner **Mark Richardson** wants to keep the county’s “good track record” going. “Mr. Berger is very important,” Richardson said. “And I know both folks personally. Berger is supremely competent, and it’s meant a whole lot to our county. He’s primarily responsible for our economic health, not just in this county, but throughout the state.” Page, conversely, has overseen a jail which has experienced issues in recent years, including several officers accused of wrongdoing, deaths from drug overdoses, a loss of liability insurance and ongoing investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation, Richardson noted. “I really think that's because our sheriff has not been here watching the pot,” Richardson said. “I've known him, and I've supported him every year since I've come back into this county, but not this time.” While dissatisfaction with Page’s work as sheriff has been a key talking point among Berger’s supporters, Republican voters in Rockingham County seem not to have gotten that memo. The sheriff had a landslide victory in the home county for both veteran politicians with about 67% of the vote. However, in the portions of adjacent Guilford County that are also part of the district, and where Page had a significant disadvantage in name recognition, Berger had about 68% of the vote, leading to the near tie in the final tally across both counties. ### Congressional primary battles One of the night’s first declared victories came from the expected U.S. Senate nominees: former Democratic Gov. **Roy Cooper** and former Republican National Committee chairman **Michael Whatley**, who both easily sailed to their respective party wins. On the U.S. House of Representatives side, each of the 13 incumbents running kept their seats. It was close for U.S. Rep. **Valerie Foushee**, who faced **Nida Allam**, a Muslim progressive Democrat who labeled herself as a more vocal opponent to President **Donald Trump**, Israel and artificial intelligence than Foushee. With all precincts reporting, Foushee led by just over 1,200 votes. Because that margin still represents less than 1% of the votes cast in that race, it could go to a recount, depending on how the margin changes with late-arriving absentee by-mail ballots and any provisional ballots. At Durham’s South Regional Library, voter **Graham Levy** said the U.S. Congressional primary race between incumbent Foushee and challenger Allam was their primary motivation for voting Tuesday afternoon. Levy told [Carolina Public Press](http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) that they were concerned about the flow of millions of dollars of PAC money into that race, particularly Foushee’s campaign, and wanted to support Allam for that reason. Foushee has historically been supported by PACs connected to Israel, and this year, by artificial intelligence groups. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/1000002463-1-scaled.jpg) Alamance County primary voters Sheldon and Sondra Jones prepare to cast their ballots at the Swepsonville Volunteer Fire Department polling place on March 3, 2026\. Frank Taylor / Carolina Public Press Most Congressional races will officially be decided in November. In the 11th Congressional District, Democratic candidate **Jamie Ager** secured his party’s nomination in a crowded field. He will face U.S. Rep. **Chuck Edwards**, who has been the subject of criticism over Hurricane Helene recovery. National Democrats put their support behind Ager as one of the candidates who may be able to flip national Republican seats, before the primary, which was a controversial move for some in the party. On the Republican side, **Laurie Buckhout** defeated four opponents in her bid to run against Democratic U.S. Rep. **Don Davis** in November. Last year, state legislators redistricted Davis’ seat to give Republicans a better shot at winning. **Asa Buck** placed second and State. Sen. **Bobby Hanig,** R-Currituck, placed third in the contest. ### Cunningham loses to Sadler As the sun set over Mallard Creek Elementary, electioneers supporting Sadler and Cunningham huddled together in the cold. The site got about 400 voters by 7 p.m., according to the precinct judge. One of those voters, **Toye Watson**, said voting against Cunningham was her primary motivation for showing up. While she respects Cunningham as a person, she thinks the representative no longer aligns with the district’s beliefs. Watson referred to Cunningham’s controversial floor speech about immigration, during which she said “all cultures are not equal” and appeared to pit Black North Carolinians against immigrants. “I feel like it's divisive in a way that does not propel society forward in any kind of way,” Watson said. “I don't think that what my ancestors did in any way is reduced by the immigrants’ presence. I think that we're all building on a foundation together.” ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/IMG_3581-1-scaled.jpg) Mecklenburg County primary election voters mark their ballots on March 3, 2026, at the Mallard Creek Elementary School in Charlotte. Sarah Michels / Carolina Public Press A bit later, another primary voter, Brian, expressed his support for Cunningham. He said he votes for people who are qualified for the position. “I supported Carla Cunningham because I value the independent thought and the willingness to move away from her party in this election,” he said. “While there has been some controversy around her stance, I do appreciate the fact that she is not scared — that is something that is unique in elected officials today, because they typically follow the party line.” Brian’s view of the race was clearly in the minority on Tuesday. Sadler defeated Cunningham with an overwhelming majority. At his victory party, dozens of supporters donned in purple cheered him on and prayed with him after the results came out. > "The time of governance by fear, governance by hatred, governance by scapegoating, and governance by division is over. It's now time for new politics based upon love, based upon lifting up those who've been left out." > > the Rev. Rodney Sadler of Charlotte, following his Democratic primary election victory for NC House **Lisa Hazirjian**, with NC Sierra Club, said they were excited to have a candidate who didn’t just “talk the talk” on environmental issues. “To have that contrast with someone who has been siding with Duke Energy, who doesn't care about the environment and doesn't care about affordability, was perfect.” Mecklenburg County Commissioner **Yvette Townsend-Ingram** said Sadler is a man of purpose and action who has the power to bring the state Democratic caucus back together. “Because in order to get anything done, even though we're in the minority, we still have to have consensus,” she said. Sadler, for his part, doesn’t quite know how to feel after the primary victory. He was overwhelmed by the support. He does know one thing, he said. “The time of governance by fear, governance by hatred, governance by scapegoating, and governance by division is over,” he said. “It's now time for new politics based upon love, based upon lifting up those who've been left out.” *CPP reporter Lucas Thomae also contributed to this article.* This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74725/voters-push-for-change-in-closely-watched-nc-primary-contests/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Challenges Await Mamdani as Hopes Rise for Closure of Notorious Rikers Island Jail Complex For New York City’s mayor, the hard part isn’t deciding whether or not to shut down Rikers, but figuring out how to do it safely and in a timely way. By [Wilbert L. Cooper](https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/wilbert-cooper?ref=down-ballot.info) *This article was first published by* [*The Marshall Project*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their* [*newsletters*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info)*, and follow them on* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/marshallproj/?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*TikTok*](https://www.tiktok.com/@marshallproj?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*Reddit*](https://www.reddit.com/user/marshall%5Fproject?ref=down-ballot.info) *and* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/TheMarshallProject.org). NEW YORK – Ever since Zohran Mamdani took office as New York City’s mayor in January, efforts to [close the long-troubled Rikers Island jail complex](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/03/22/inside-the-battle-to-close-rikers?ref=down-ballot.info) have received renewed attention. The facilities — plagued for years by violence, overcrowding, neglect and poor medical care — are required by law to be closed by 2027, but are way behind schedule. Mamdani — who [had long wanted to shutter](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/03/mamdani-protested-new-jails-now-hes-committing-to-building-them-00592455?ref=down-ballot.info) the facilities but opposed creating more jails to replace them — shifted his position during the mayoral campaign, saying he would follow the City Council plan to close Rikers, one of the world’s largest jail complexes, and move its occupants to four smaller jails to be built across the city. Now in office, Mamdani faces the challenge of delivering on the plan: balancing public safety, working with a federal court-appointed overseer charged with improving conditions at Rikers, and navigating the expectations of activists upset over what they saw as stalling and obstruction by Mamdani’s predecessor, Mayor Eric Adams. “I think they can be a historic administration in New York City and be the administration that oversees the closure of Rikers and the transformation of our jail system,” said Mary Lynne Werlwas, the director of The Legal Aid Society’s Prisoners’ Rights Project, which has been fighting to reform the city’s jails since the 1970s. Since taking the helm, Mamdani has issued an executive order to develop a plan to stop using solitary confinement in jails, announced a housing project on a hospital campus for people returning from incarceration with chronic physical and mental health issues, and appointed a new jails commissioner, who was once formerly incarcerated at Rikers. As construction continues on the replacement jails, the city is now contending with the possibility that the legally mandated 2027 closure will need to be pushed back again — potentially until 2032. Here’s a look at where the effort to close Rikers stands: ## What’s the latest at Rikers? The jail complex, which sits on an island in the East River between the boroughs of Queens and the Bronx, has eight facilities in use. As of mid-February, the population of New York City jails stands at [nearly 7,000](https://nyc-jail-population-tracker.datacollaborativeforjustice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a return to levels seen before the pandemic. Many experts agree that this influx of people supercharges all the other issues plaguing the jail, resulting in tragic outcomes — such as in-custody deaths. More than 30 people have died at Rikers [since 2022](https://www.vera.org/news/nyc-jail-deaths?ref=down-ballot.info), when the population first started to ratchet up after the end of the pandemic. At least [14 people died](https://queenseagle.com/all/2025/12/8/rikers-detainee-becomes-14th-to-die-in-doc-custody-this-year?ref=down-ballot.info) there last year, a decade since Rikers has been under federal oversight. ## More significant oversight In January, the judge overseeing the facilities, dismayed by the lack of progress in improving conditions, appointed an independent “remediation manager” named Nicholas Deml to take control of the jails to implement reforms. Deml has served as a CIA officer and as Vermont’s Department of Corrections commissioner. Deml will have more power than the mayor when it comes to implementing changes to the city’s jails. Although former Mayor Adams did not want to lose control of lockups to the federal government, Mamdani has signaled that he is looking forward to collaborating with Deml. City Council member Sandy Nurse, who organized protests against mass incarceration before she came to electoral politics, has faith in the new remediation manager. “You need an outside force with powers of the federal government that can do things a mayor cannot do,” including giving Mamdani cover to overcome political obstacles from potential budget constraints and opponents of Rikers’ closure, Nurse said. ## Under construction Although the city has closed some old facilities, it has failed to make the progress needed to shut down and replace Rikers by the 2027 deadline. Nurse attributed some of the building delays to the COVID-19 pandemic. But she and the other criminal justice reform advocates whom The Marshall Project spoke with put most of the blame on Adams. Although he initially backed the plan to close Rikers, Adams called to keep it open in 2025\. Nurse said this flip was a failed bid to shore up his support during his reelection campaign with some Trump-supporting Republicans. She believes their objection to borough-based jails “comes from a place of anti-Blackness, racism and just wanting to throw people away and never see them again.” Right now, [estimates for](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/whats-next-federal-court-takeover-rikers-island?ref=down-ballot.info) the plan to close Rikers and replace it with new borough-based jails put its completion at 2032 — several years after the 2027 deadline. “It seems far away, but it's very close,” Nurse said, noting that “there will be some kind of renegotiation to amend the legislation so that the city stays in compliance \[with the law\] and is forced to achieve benchmarks along the way.” ## Are there people against this plan? Some New Yorkers have objected to the replacement locations. One of the most outspoken groups is Neighborhoods United Below Canal (NUBC), a non-profit that represents business owners and residents in Manhattan’s Chinatown. That densely populated neighborhood is slated to house the world’s tallest jail. At around 300 feet, the new facility will tower over the area’s historic low-rise and tenement buildings. Although construction of the [new jail will be underway](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/23/chinatown-jail-manhattan-construction-rikers/?ref=down-ballot.info) soon, the NUBC is hopeful that there is still time to repurpose the site for housing. The site of this new megajail is where the [notorious “Tombs” jail](https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/16/archives/tombs-closing-inmates-to-go-to-rikers.html?ref=down-ballot.info) used to be. That jail was shut down for many years in the 1970s due to the same kinds of concerns that now plague Rikers. “We do want to close Rikers,” one of NUBC’s leaders, Vic Lee, recently told TMP, “but it should not come at the harm of the Chinatown community.” NUBC is calling for the city to build its new jail at a defunct federal corrections facility in a nearby neighborhood. Instead of a megajail, the NUBC wants Mamdani to build homes where the Tombs once stood. “This is a mayor that campaigned on housing, specifically affordable housing,” said Jan Lee, another NUBC leader, “There is no other site in Chinatown where we could build the amount of housing that we have the opportunity to do now.” ## Does anyone want to keep Rikers open? Although the closure of Rikers is broadly popular, Benny Boscio, the leader of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, a union that represents 15,000 active and retired NYC corrections officers, has called out the plan to shut down Rikers as inherently “flawed,” because the new borough-based jails will have a much lower capacity than the number of people currently incarcerated on the Island. The Marshall Project reached out to Boscio multiple times via email for an interview, but he has yet to respond. Meanwhile, advocates who applaud the lower capacity of the plan as a step towards decarceration wonder if COBA just wants more beds to justify more corrections jobs. ## Can the city afford to close Rikers? The cost of the plan to replace Rikers has ballooned from the initial estimate of $8 billion to at least $15 billion. Nurse attributes the increase to the rising costs of construction and the demand for the limited number of contractors who specialize in building large jails. At the same time, the Mamdani administration is facing a $7 billion gap in the city’s $116 billion budget. Werlwas believes the wealthiest city in the world has a long history of dealing with these gaps and still finding ways to pay for the things it deems important. In that sense, it’s less about the budget shortfall, and more about the priorities of the new mayor. Despite the increasing costs and potential budget gaps, the urgency to shutter Rikers remains. “The facilities on Rikers are falling apart, and the cost to fix them is more expensive than building the new jails,” she said. ## Was Mamdani always in support of the closure of Rikers? In 2019, Mamdani was actually against the city council’s plan for Rikers. It wasn’t that he wanted to see the jail complex stay open, it’s that he didn’t want to see the city replace it with new jails. But in last year’s mayoral election, his position shifted. He was the only candidate who vowed to follow through on closing Rikers, explaining it as a commitment to simply follow the law. Although executing the Rikers plan isn’t as radical as abolishing jails, Werlwas of Legal Aid Society said Mamdani still has a historic opportunity with Rikers — if he can couple its closure with more investment in the people who used to be incarcerated there. “It’s not enough to say don't invest in jail,” she said. “We need an affirmative investment in things that keep our communities safe, like supportive housing and mental health services. And it's absolutely essential that we find ways to take care of people, because incarceration is an expensive and dangerous way to do so.” ## What has Mamdani done so far? In addition to issuing the solitary confinement executive order, Mamdani appointed Stanley Richards, a man who was once incarcerated at Rikers, to lead the Department of Corrections. And now, Richards has the task of working with Deml, the federal remediation manager. “Stanley is someone who has dedicated his life to reentry programs, programs inside the jails, healing practices, mentoring, and really focused on reducing recidivism,” Nurse said. “So that to me is a tone that was set that everything else will flow from.” Mamdani has also introduced new initiatives focused on mental health and housing that the mayor and advocates hope could decrease the number of people the city incarcerates. On Martin Luther King Day, he announced that he would support Just Home, a supportive housing project in the Bronx that creates 83 rent-controlled apartments with onsite services for formerly incarcerated people with medical needs. Although the plan had been approved by the city council in 2024, Adams advocated against it during his mayoral campaign. After Mamdani’s election, he said: “My sincere belief is that soon Just Home will be seen as clear evidence of New York’s commitment to a new era where every one of our neighbors — even those who’ve made mistakes in their past — is entitled to dignity, safety, and a home they can call their own.” ## What do people who were formerly incarcerated at Rikers think? Darren Mack, a survivor of Rikers who witnessed brutality during his time there in the 1990s and who currently leads the decarceration advocacy group [Freedom Agenda](https://fa.urbanjustice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said he’s pleased with what he’s seen of Mamdani so far, but he is not satisfied. “We applaud it, but there is much more that needs to be done,” he said. “Rikers can't be fixed or reformed, and the only solution is closure.” --- # North Carolina Regulators Nix $1.2 Billion Federal Proposal to Dredge Wilmington Harbor U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to explain how it would mitigate environmental harms, including PFAS contamination. By Lisa Sorg February 25, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25022026/north-carolina-denies-army-corps-engineers-wilmington-dredging/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can’t dredge 28 miles of the Wilmington Harbor as planned, after North Carolina environmental regulators determined the billion-dollar proposal would be inconsistent with the state’s coastal management policies. Tancred Miller, director of the Division of Coastal Management (DCM), [sent a letter Feb. 24](https://www.deq.nc.gov/coastal-management/cd-2026009-usace-wilmington-harbor-fns-403-project-final/open?ref=down-ballot.info) to the Corps that listed reasons for the formal objection, including cumulative flooding impacts, sea level rise, PFAS contamination, the loss of freshwater wetlands and fisheries. The Corps also failed to provide adequate information in its Draft Environmental Impact Statement about how it would mitigate many of the harms incurred by the project, according to the letter. “The DEIS lacks rigorous analysis of net economic benefits and does not adequately evaluate potential economic losses associated with environmental degradation,” Miller wrote. The Corps had proposed dredging the Lower Cape Fear River from Bald Head Island to the Port of Wilmington to accommodate larger ships. The dredging would have deepened the shipping channel to 47 feet, from its current depth of 42 feet, and widened some segments by as much as 500 feet—equivalent of one and a half football fields. [The dredging would have excavated ](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11012026/cape-fear-river-dredging-environmental-impact/?ref=down-ballot.info)35 million cubic yards of silt and sand from the riverbed, half of which would have been placed on hundreds of acres of public beaches, bird-nesting islands and imperiled wetlands. The Cape Fear River is heavily contaminated with several types of PFAS, also known as forever chemicals; the dredged material would almost certainly have contained the toxic compounds. The cost of the project is estimated at $1.2 billion, a quarter of which—$339 million—would have been paid by the state. Kerri Allen, coastal management program director for the N.C. Coastal Federation, has been among the project’s critics. “Seeing DCM take a close look at the potential impacts to our water quality, fisheries, and wetlands—and thoughtfully weigh those resource concerns in this decision—is a powerful reminder of what responsible stewardship looks like,” she said. “Our coast is more than projects and infrastructure; it’s the natural systems and livelihoods that depend on them. When those impacts are carefully considered and public voices are heard, we’re making progress toward protecting what makes our coast so special.” The state issued the objection as part of the Federal Consistency Determination under the Coastal Zone Management Act. It authorizes DCM to review any proposed federal action within the state’s 20 coastal counties that could affect uses and resources in those areas. If DCM finds a proposal inconsistent with coastal policies, it can issue an objection. States are authorized to object to a proposal if a federal agency fails to provide sufficient information. “This objection is disappointing as we … felt we had been working hand in hand with all our state and federal partners and resource agencies since we began coordination regarding this project nearly three and a half years ago,” said Jed Cayton, an Army Corps of Engineers public affairs specialist, in a written statement. The Corps had assembled a technical working group, which included state agencies, to resolve concerns about the proposal. “Given all the integration and engagement throughout this process, the objection provided at this late stage in the process is disconcerting,” Cayton said. The State Ports Authority proposed the dredging project in 2020 and claimed it was essential for the viability of the port. However, federal reviewers criticized the findings, some of which they said were unfounded or downplayed the environmental harms. Congress subsequently authorized more than $839 million for the project, but it wouldn’t release the funding until the problems with the State Port’s proposal were addressed, in this case, by the Corps. Over the past three and a half years, environmental advocates, residents, state agencies and local governments submitted [hundreds of written and verbal comments ](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/division-coastal-management/coastal-management-permits/federal-consistency/usace-wilmington-harbor-403-dredging-project?ref=down-ballot.info#Tab-RelatedDocuments-20537)to the Corps and DCM opposing the project. As part of the consistency review process, DCM told the Corps it was concerned about many aspects of the proposal, particularly regarding the lack of information about how the Corps would mitigate the many environmental harms. Earlier this year, the Corps and the State Ports Authority requested DCM pause their deliberations on the consistency review while they tried to address those concerns. During the hiatus, Miller wrote, the Corps and DCM met to discuss possible resolutions that would allow state officials to find the project was consistent with coastal policy. By Feb.16, the Corps hadn’t provided DCM the requested information, but asked the agency to restart the consistency review process and complete it by Feb. 24. “This decision is welcome news for the people of Wilmington and beyond who cherish the lower Cape Fear River and its surrounding natural areas,” said Ramona McGee, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, in a written statement. “The Lower Cape Fear is already threatened by sea-level rise and industrial pollution—we shouldn’t be further damaging this special place with an unnecessary and costly project. We are grateful that the Division of Coastal Management is standing up for North Carolina’s coastal resources and communities.” The Corps could still enter mediation with the state environmental officials. Should that happen, DCM “is committed to working with the Corps to try to resolve the concerns detailed in this objection,” Miller wrote. Cayton said the Corps “remains committed” to finishing documentation related to the project, including a final Environmental Impact Statement. The Corps and the State Ports Authority are also determining how to proceed, but it’s too early in the process to give a specific date for completion, he said. --- # City of New Orleans might trash fully-funded residential recycling initiative by Katie Jane Fernelius, Verite News New Orleans February 25, 2026 A city of New Orleans initiative to expand residential recycling citywide might be dead in the water — despite the fact that the city has more than $5 million in financial backing from the Environmental Protection Agency and a national nonprofit. The[ fully-funded initiative](https://www.nola.com/news/environment/new-orleans-gets-5-million-for-faltering-recycling-program/article%5F23952f8e-a03f-11ee-9882-030056039032.html?ref=down-ballot.info), a partnership between the New Orleans Department of Sanitation and the Office of Resilience and Sustainability, would’ve provided recycling carts to all single and small multi-family residences across the city. It also would support the development of a 10-year Solid Waste Master Plan, along with a host of educational outreach programs. A little less than half of all New Orleans residents currently opt into recycling. And the city has a very low diversion rate, the rate at which waste is diverted from landfills into recycling or composting facilities, compared to similarly sized cities. The city has been working on the expanded recycling initiative since it was [awarded the federal money in late 2023](https://nola.gov/next/mayors-office/news/articles/september-2023/2023-09-15-federal-grant-for-residential-recycling/?ref=down-ballot.info). But this month, the New Orleans City Council announced internally that it was pumping the brakes on the project. The city was planning to purchase 83,000 recycling carts and educational materials from a contractor at [a proposed maximum cost of $4.7 million](https://cityofno.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=14798371&GUID=662BD56D-2BC5-49FB-850F-3FA303720A46&ref=down-ballot.info), with $3.3 million of that reimbursable by the EPA. The other $1.4 million would have been provided by matching funds from [The Recycling Partnership](https://recyclingpartnership.org/funding-partners/?utm%5Fterm=the%20recycling%20partnership&utm%5Fcampaign=Branded+Search&utm%5Fsource=adwords&utm%5Fmedium=ppc&hsa%5Facc=3429383944&hsa%5Fcam=16818966641&hsa%5Fgrp=134787721585&hsa%5Fad=591854068027&hsa%5Fsrc=g&hsa%5Ftgt=kwd-357498391119&hsa%5Fkw=the%20recycling%20partnership&hsa%5Fmt=b&hsa%5Fnet=adwords&hsa%5Fver=3&gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=16818966641&gbraid=0AAAAADHC3nHXFoj7Gu9YOWzmGxjn%5FgSXQ&gclid=CjwKCAiA2PrMBhA4EiwAwpHyC31wmjW-f4gvzB-EYVFWdasBq742k2SEqJmtI-p9zgn5ySPrgdkwrRoCjF0QAvD%5FBwE). But a proposed contract, with supplier Rehrig Pacific Company, would need council approval to move forward. In internal communications obtained by Verite News, a staff member in Council President JP Morrell’s office emailed the heads of the Office of Resilience and Sustainability and the Department of Sanitation on Feb. 10, informing them that there would be no public hearing on a contract to purchase new recycling carts for the program. “Due to the City’s current budget constraints, we cannot afford to move forward on the EPA grant,” wrote Julia Zuckerman, the legislative director for Morrell, in the email. “No matching funds can be allocated to this grant from the General Fund.” However, according to people with knowledge of the federal grant, the program does not require any matching funds from the city, as all costs are covered by the pair of grants. As for the cost of collection, expanded recycling will not affect the cost of servicing locations through sanitation contracts. According to the existing city trash and recycling contracts, waste haulers are currently paid to collect recycling based on all “eligible locations” in their service areas, rather than the actual number of households already opted into recycling. The deadline for the grant is fast approaching, according to those with knowledge of the project, with money needing to be spent in the next few months. If the city does not spend the money, it will forfeit the millions of dollars in federal funds. However, the city is facing cashflow issues that could make it difficult to front the money necessary for the project. It’s not only the expansion of residential recycling that is at stake, it’s also residential curbside recycling itself. As the city stares down a [more than $200 million budget deficit](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/27/new-orleans-moreno-cuts-layoffs-deficit/?ref=down-ballot.info), city leadership has been weighing whether to cancel the service outright. In a[ Feb. 11 interview with WWL-TV](https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/local/local-politics/moreno-calls-new-orleans-finances-unreal-appeals-to-feds-to-keep-funding-katrina-repairs/289-0055db62-772c-4ce8-b9eb-dbda85287201?ref=down-ballot.info), Mayor Helena Moreno floated the possibility of raising the city sanitation fee — which has not been increased from $24 per month since 2011 — and potentially eliminating curbside recycling altogether, saying it could save the city approximately $12 million a year. Universal recycling — as well as developing a solid waste master plan and increasing waste diversion from landfills — was listed as a key climate action priority in [the city’s 2022 Climate Action Plan](https://nola.gov/nola/media/Climate-Action/2022/Net-Zero-by-2050-A-Priority-List-for-Climate-Action-in-New-Orleans.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). The expansion of recycling also had broad political support. When the city [applied for the grant](https://nola.gov/nola/media/Resilience/IIJA/Narrative-Proposal-City-of-New-Orleans-SWIFR.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from the EPA, it included letters of support from then-Gov.John Bel Edward, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter and a slate of local environmental and economic organizations. Representatives for Moreno, Morrell and the EPA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Recycling Partnership declined to comment. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/25/new-orleans-curbside-recycling/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=28900&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # NC lawmakers consider options to force psychiatric treatment for people with severe mental illness by Taylor Knopf, North Carolina Health News March 2, 2026 #### **By Taylor Knopf** As North Carolina lawmakers grapple with how to keep people with serious mental illness out of jails and hospitals, one intervention that has piqued their interest is forcing people into treatment through involuntary outpatient commitment. It’s a court-ordered program that requires individuals with a severe and persistent mental illness to follow an intensive community-based treatment plan outside of a hospital. Forced treatment is a divisive topic in the mental health community. After several high-profile crimes in North Carolina, some think there is a need to force people with severe mental illness to get treatment when they refuse to get help on their own. Many believe it’s only necessary when someone is a danger to themselves or others — the standard that’s used to decide when a patient should be involuntarily committed to an inpatient psychiatric hospital. There are others who think that if someone doesn’t meet criteria for involuntary commitment, but they do not fully recognize they have an illness and refuse mental health services, they should be forced to adhere to psychiatric treatment and medication in the community. There are also many in the mental health community who have ethical concerns with coerced treatment because it ignores a person’s autonomy. Many [people who themselves have had involuntary hospitalizations say](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1YVsi4DFrzLvlo4X7deUkvc1RhQ%5FGCh0WIhcu6peAvgw/edit?slide=id.g58b638a3ba%5F0%5F151&ref=down-ballot.info#slide=id.g58b638a3ba%5F0%5F151) they were further traumatized by forced treatment. Some even say they are [reluctant to seek future mental health services](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/11/30/parents-allege-11-year-old-sexually-assaulted-in-nc-psychiatric-hospital/?ref=down-ballot.info) due to the fear of involuntary treatment. North Carolina lawmakers on a recently formed [committee tasked with examining the involuntary commitment process and public safety](https://ncleg.gov/Committees/CommitteeInfo/HouseSelect/232/Documents/?ref=down-ballot.info) met in January and February to learn more about outpatient commitments and heard from experts and state officials on these issues. Missing from the lineup of presentations were people with mental health issues who have been through the system and those who advocate for the rights of people with psychiatric disabilities. One thing committee members learned is that though North Carolina has had outpatient commitment law on the books for decades, there is no current data on how often it’s used. Meanwhile, the mental health infrastructure that supported outpatient commitments has deteriorated. Lawmakers heard from state officials about ways to make this controversial tool more effective. #### **Who is outpatient commitment for?** Committee members from the state House of Representatives say they’re [looking for ways to address the revolving door](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/02/26/involuntary-commitment-committee-lawmakers-mental-health-system-public-input/?ref=down-ballot.info) of people with severe mental illness who cycle in and out of emergency departments, jail cells and psychiatric hospitals. Since November, [the House Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety has been meeting](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/18/nc-psychiatric-commitment-process-under-scrutiny-after-irynas-law/?ref=down-ballot.info) monthly to better understand the effects of [Iryna’s Law, a bill passed hastily last year](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/24/nc-lawmakers-aim-to-curb-crime-with-stricter-pretrial-release-not-mental-health-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info) in response to the [fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, a passenger on a commuter train](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing%5Fof%5FIryna%5FZarutska?ref=down-ballot.info) in Charlotte. The man accused in the crime has a history of mental health issues and involvement with the state’s judicial and carceral system. During the hours-long monthly committee meetings, lawmakers have heard from experts and state officials about the problems plaguing the state’s intertwined mental health and criminal justice systems. In a presentation to lawmakers in January, Carrie Brown, psychiatrist and chief medical officer at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, was careful to note that involuntary outpatient commitments are not appropriate for the vast majority of people with a mental illness. ![A woman stands a podium speaking at a legislative IVC committee meeting](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-10.52.37-AM-e1772027137744.png) Carrie Brown, DHHS’ chief psychiatrist and chief medical director for North Carolina’s state-operated health care facilities, speaks to lawmakers about outpatient commitment during an IVC committee meeting on Jan. 14, 2026. The target population for involuntary outpatient treatment is narrow: people with severe psychotic disorders who lack insight into their own illness and, because of that, refuse treatment and medication. An additional criterion would be having a documented history of repeated hospitalization, incarceration or violence. For these people, when their treatment breaks down in the community, Brown told lawmakers, the system has almost no mechanism to re-engage them before things deteriorate. "We want to get upstream of that," Brown said. "We want to be able to prevent crisis episodes, rather than only intervene at the time of crisis." Brown also stressed that better training for mental health examiners and judges is needed so they understand that outpatient commitment exists as an option for people who don't meet the threshold for inpatient care but who still can't safely manage themselves in the community without structure. She said the tool only works if it operates seamlessly alongside the rest of the mental health system. That’s a tall order in North Carolina, where the behavioral health system has been in a state of near-continuous restructuring for nearly two decades. Many argue that [the system has also been underfunded for years](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/investing-behavioral-health-and-resilience/download?ref=down-ballot.info); it ranks near the bottom of all states in the U.S. in the amount of funding allocated to it. #### **North Carolina’s outpatient commitment law** North Carolina [is one of 47 states](https://www.tac.org/reports%5Fpublications/grading-the-states-an-analysis-of-involuntary-psychiatric-treatment-laws-2020/?ref=down-ballot.info) that have outpatient commitment laws on the books. However, Marvin Swartz, psychiatrist and researcher at Duke University, told the committee there is no reliable data on if or how often it’s being used in North Carolina. In 2001, Swartz [conducted a study in North Carolina](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.52.3.325?ref=down-ballot.info) on outpatient commitments and found that these patients — when paired with intensive mental health services — were about a third less likely to be rehospitalized, had shorter hospital stays and showed less aggressive behaviors. People benefited the most when the orders lasted six months or longer. However, he cautioned that the mental health system that existed when he conducted that study has eroded since the mental health reforms of the early 2000s. Swartz explained that when the state stripped counties of their responsibility to provide mental health care and shifted to privatized care, the responsibility for carrying out outpatient commitment orders became “very ambiguous.” And much of the funding to support these patients disappeared. “It sort of lost focus in that newly privatized system,” Swartz told the committee. “Privatizing the mental health system has been problematic. There's probably no going back.” While the outpatient commitment law in North Carolina still exists, Swartz said there’s no system capable of making it work. Swartz conducted [a follow-up analysis in 2002](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12108557/?ref=down-ballot.info) and found that people under outpatient commitments felt more coerced into treatment more often, particularly Black patients and those with longer periods of commitment. #### **Do court orders make a difference?** Some researchers argue the court-ordered treatment doesn’t really improve outcomes. Instead, they say, it’s the enhanced mental health services that people receive that lead to better outcomes. Mental health researcher [Nev Jones recently published an analysis and webinar series](https://www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/assisted-outpatient-treatment-a-summary?ref=down-ballot.info) discussing three randomized control trials of outpatient commitment conducted worldwide, including Swartz’s study in North Carolina. She concluded that there is no clear evidence that a court order — separate from the intensive services that typically accompany it — produces better outcomes than voluntary treatment. She wrote that voluntary programs such as [Assertive Community Treatment](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/8a-1-assertive-community-treatment-act-program/download?attachment&ref=down-ballot.info) and [supportive housing programs](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/mental-health-developmental-disabilities-and-substance-use-services/supported-housing?ref=down-ballot.info) have a well-established evidence base for improving outcomes for people with serious mental illness without being forced. ![A man in a suit stands at a podium talking about outpatient commitment at a legislative IVC meeting](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-01-14-at-9.35.33-AM.png) Marvin Swartz, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, speaks to lawmakers on Jan. 14, 2026, about the research he conducted in the early 2000s on involuntary outpatient commitment. Jones wrote that policymakers considering outpatient commitment “should weigh whether the documented costs of legal coercion, in combination with serious ethical concerns, are justified given the absence of evidence that court orders add benefit beyond what these voluntary services achieve.” For instance, California launched a [program called CARE Court in 2022](https://tradeoffs.org/2026/02/05/mental-illness-left-their-loved-ones-on-the-streets-californias-big-fix-hasnt-helped/?ref=down-ballot.info) in an attempt to get people with serious mental illness off the streets and compel them into treatment. Some families who had struggled for years to get their loved ones help hoped this would finally be the answer. A couple years into the program, though, many are disappointed by the outcomes. [Nonprofit newsroom CalMatters reported](https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/09/care-court-2025-data/?series=care-court-california-mental-health-treatment&ref=down-ballot.info) that over a two year period, 2,421 petitions for CARE Court were filed, 1,090 were thrown out, 514 voluntary agreements were reached and only 14 CARE plans were involuntarily enforced. That’s in a state with a population more than three times that of North Carolina. Rep. Tim Reeder (R-Ayden), co-chair of the committee and emergency physician at ECU Health, said that from his perspective the idea of forced treatment is hard to navigate. He made a comparison to a medical issue: “We have people who have heart attacks and strokes and they continue to smoke. When they do that, they're making bad health choices, but families don't go to the magistrate and take out papers and say they're not taking care of themselves,” he told NC Health News. “It's the balance of patient autonomy versus beneficence and trying to help people.” The issue of forced medication in the outpatient setting came up during the committee discussion. Rep. Charles Smith (D-Fayetteville), who said he approached the issue from his background as an attorney, pressed Swartz on whether requiring medication compliance in an outpatient setting could be justified, given that the patients in question may lack the capacity to meaningfully consent to — or refuse — treatment in the first place. Swartz acknowledged the tension but said the answer is as much political as clinical. Forced outpatient medication has been “a red line in every state,” he said. Over the last 30 years, there has been a shift toward giving people with disabilities, including mental illness, more autonomy. The 1990 [Americans with Disabilities Act](https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/ada/?ref=down-ballot.info) dictates they cannot be discriminated against for their disability and must be included in community life. The 1999 [Supreme Court decision](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmstead%5Fv.%5FL.C.?ref=down-ballot.info) *Olmstead v. L.C.* went a step further, mandating that people with disabilities live in the least restrictive settings possible. Meanwhile, [disability rights advocates contend](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/05/27/scathing-new-report-details-north-carolinas-involuntary-commitment-problem/?ref=down-ballot.info) that North Carolina already overuses and misuses involuntary inpatient treatment in a way that violates patients’ rights and causes long-term harm. In North Carolina, forced psychiatric medication can only happen under an involuntary inpatient commitment except in emergencies. Noncompliance with an outpatient order can trigger transport to a hospital for reevaluation of their mental state. A patient could be involuntarily admitted to a hospital if they meet the standard of danger to themselves or others, but that threshold requires more than refusing medication. #### **Proposed changes** **As the committee moves to wrap up its work, lawmakers launched** [**an online portal for public comment**](https://www.ncleg.gov/RequestForComments/50?ref=down-ballot.info) **that will close on April 1\.** The state Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a slate of changes to the committee to strengthen North Carolina’s outpatient commitment law. Under the department’s proposals: - Any petition for outpatient commitment would need to document why it's the most appropriate option for that individual. - Every court order would include a concrete treatment plan — specifying services, medications and a provider who has already agreed to accept the patient — so that expectations are clear from the start. - Each patient would be assigned a navigator responsible for ongoing monitoring and care coordination. DHHS proposed extending the maximum commitment period from 90 days to 180 days to allow enough time for stabilization. - The department proposed expansion and added accountability of intensive wraparound community services teams. - DHHS also proposed that noncompliance with an outpatient order would result in admission to psychiatric hospital. Whether lawmakers adopt these recommendations is only the first hurdle. The harder question is whether they can fund it. Any proposed reforms that emerge from this committee — scheduled to be released in a report this spring — will need to clear the legislature and come with real dollars attached. This could be a significant challenge given the budget constraints in Raleigh and in Washington, D.C. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/03/02/nc-lawmakers-consider-outpatient-commitment-severe-mental-illness/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Medicaid fraud targeting Indigenous communities continues despite AHCCCS reforms by Jasmine Demers, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting February 26, 2026 Nearly three years after Arizona uncovered an unprecedented $2.5 billion [Medicaid fraud scandal](https://azcir.org/news/2023/11/02/road-to-recovery-ahcccs-fraud/?ref=down-ballot.info) that targeted Indigenous communities, sober living program operators are still recruiting vulnerable residents into sham treatment programs and billing the state for questionable behavioral health services. Though Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System officials say the crisis has stabilized in response to ongoing investigations into providers, they acknowledge that fraudulent activity continues. New behavioral health fraud investigations had dropped from about 1,400 at the scandal’s peak in 2023 to 270 as of August 2025, according to AHCCCS. The figures include both civil and criminal cases, with some providers facing multiple investigations. By comparison, just nine cases were opened statewide in 2019, before the scheme came to light. Agency leaders say that decline reflects new safeguards, tighter billing controls and aggressive enforcement. But lawmakers, providers and tribal advocates contend the numbers tell only part of the story, as systemic oversight gaps persist and legitimate care for vulnerable patients is disrupted by payment freezes to address fraud. With investigations still open and AHCCCS undergoing its third leadership change since the crisis began, critics question whether the agency has effectively addressed the structural failures that allowed the fraud to flourish. --- --- “Despite public exposure, investigations, lawsuits, media coverage and legislative attention, the same harmful practices remain active,” said Reva Stewart, a Diné activist who has become a central voice for Indigenous communities affected by the crisis. “The system has not been fixed. It has only adapted.” Fraudulent providers continue to recruit people with American Indian Health Program coverage through social media and informal networks, steering them into unstable substance use treatment programs and billing arrangements designed to maximize Medicaid payments, Stewart said. Her nonprofit, [Turtle Island Women Warriors](https://www.turtleislandww.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), does on-the-ground outreach and works with victims and their families to report fraud. “This recruitment is happening in plain sight. It is ongoing, it is organized, and it is being used to funnel people into unstable, unsafe and exploitative environments for financial gain,” she said. “Why is this still being allowed to happen when regulators have known about this practice for years?” Previous [investigations](https://azcir.org/news/2025/01/27/arizona-deaths-sober-living-homes-fumbled-response-medicaid-fraud/?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica found that at least 40 Indigenous residents of Phoenix-area sober living homes and treatment facilities died between 2022 and 2024, as state officials struggled to respond to mounting evidence of widespread fraud. AHCCCS has yet to account publicly for the number of deaths tied to the scheme. Since August, lawmakers on the Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee have convened a series of [oversight hearings](https://www.azleg.gov/videoplayer/?eventID=2026011107&ref=down-ballot.info) to scrutinize AHCCCS’ fraud response and identify weaknesses. During the hearings, behavioral health providers testified that hundreds of thousands of dollars in claims had been delayed or withheld under heightened fraud controls, forcing them to reduce services, treat patients without reimbursement or consider shutting down altogether. Aimee Graves, chief executive officer of The Haven, a substance use recovery center for women in Tucson, said AHCCCS owes her organization more than $375,000 for services provided to Native American members since October 2023\. That shortfall forced the center to reduce the number of available beds last fall. “There is a severe and persistent access to care (issue) for Native and Indigenous women that we have seen at the Haven,” Graves said. “We absolutely need to be paid in order to keep our doors open and to be able to continue providing these high quality care treatment and programming services.” She said delays in approving services for Native American patients have continued, even after several one-on-one meetings with AHCCCS leaders. Agency officials, however, have defended their response, saying AHCCCS is required by law to act when potential fraud is detected, including suspending providers and placing claims under prepayment review. They said the vast majority of claims are paid without delay, and that less than 1% of claims have to go through the review process. “We know that we’re not completely out of the woods,” Marcus Johnson, AHCCCS deputy director of community engagement and regulatory affairs, said during a hearing. “But we have really gotten through the acute crisis phase of the sober living fraud.” --- The fraud at the center of the scandal emerged between 2019 and 2023, when thousands of unlicensed sober living homes and behavioral health providers started exploiting gaps in Arizona’s Medicaid system—particularly within the American Indian Health Program. Operators recruited members of Indigenous communities with promises of treatment, housing and transportation, then billed AHCCCS for services that were never provided. By the time the state publicly acknowledged the fraud in [May 2023](https://azgovernor.gov/office-arizona-governor/news/2023/05/governor-hobbs-announces-actions-against-fraudulent-medicaid?ref=down-ballot.info), the Medicaid system had already paid out billions of dollars in fraudulent claims. The federal Department of Health and Human Services has described it as the largest fraud scheme to have targeted a single demographic group in recent U.S. history. In an effort to stem the losses, AHCCCS suspended hundreds of providers in 2023 and enacted policies that halted or substantially delayed payments to those still operating. [Previous reporting](https://azcir.org/news/2024/09/10/arizona-medicaid-fraud-crackdown-harmed-native-american-patients/?ref=down-ballot.info) by AZCIR and ProPublica showed the state’s aggressive response left hundreds of patients homeless and without treatment. The agency struggled to rein in the crisis under several leaders. Records show that under former Director Jami Snyder, who stepped down in late 2022, AHCCCS [failed to alert the public](https://azcir.org/news/2024/03/14/state-leaders-misled-public-about-scope-of-medicaid-fraud-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info) even after receiving warnings that patients were being harmed. Her successor, Carmen Heredia, [resigned last May](https://azcir.org/news/2025/05/02/arizona-medicaid-agency-director-resigns-following-fraud-scheme-response/?ref=down-ballot.info) ahead of a confirmation hearing where she was expected to face questions from lawmakers about her handling of the fallout. Early this February, Director Virginia “Ginny” Rountree [announced plans to leave](https://azgovernor.gov/office-arizona-governor/news/2026/02/ahcccs-director-virginia-ginny-rountree-resigns-personal-health?ref=down-ballot.info) after just four months in the role, citing health reasons. Meanwhile, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, which is leading the criminal investigations into fraudulent providers, has so far recovered less than 6% of the taxpayer funds lost to fraud. The attorney general is also representing the state in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of thousands of victims. According to lawmakers, the recent Senate oversight hearings have revealed not just past failures but ongoing structural problems at AHCCCS, setting the stage for a wave of legislation aimed at reshaping how the agency oversees behavioral health care and the American Indian Health Program. Among the most consequential proposals is a [bill](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/2R/bills/SB1611P.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) that would require AHCCCS to contract with an outside entity to help administer AIHP. The agency would still oversee the program, but day-to-day administration and care coordination would shift to a managed care organization—like Mercy Care or UnitedHealthcare—starting in October 2027\. Those organizations would have the opportunity to compete for the contract. “AHCCCS’ testimony and written response to this committee confirms that the agency, in its dual role as Medicaid authority and the operational health plan for AIHP, is not adequately equipped to protect the safety of tribal members or the stability of the behavioral health system that serves them,” said Sen. Carine Werner, who introduced the bill. The Scottsdale Republican, who also chairs the oversight committee, said testimony from the hearings exposed deep breakdowns in the way AHCCCS operates the program. “I do believe the system is so broken that there's no going back,” Werner said. For Stewart, the Indigenous community advocate, the proposal to shift at least some management of AIHP to an external contractor is a welcome one, and a step she believes is necessary to get rid of bad actors for good. “I really think that is a legitimate solution,” she said “We've been pushing this for the last three years and asking for something to happen.” Tao Etpison, vice chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council, said during a committee meeting in February that the tribe supported the legislation in principle, but recommended several changes to the bill's language. “Our goal is to ensure that the law is clear, that it honors tribal sovereignty and federal obligations, and that our members can continue to receive timely, culturally appropriate, effective care,” he said. An AHCCCS spokesperson said agency officials are analyzing the bill and its potential impact, “including the likelihood of significant additional costs to the state.” They also expressed concern about the timeline of the bill’s implementation during the committee hearing, saying it’s not in alignment with federal requirements or their tribal consultation policy. Werner has introduced several other AHCCCS-related bills this session, including efforts to roll back or limit prior authorization requirements for behavioral health services under AIHP, tighten claims review processes and prohibit agency employees from working from home. “My hope, my prayer, is that the legislature will seize this moment,” Etpison said. “Close the loopholes, enforce real penalties, place tribes at the center of decision making and restore integrity to a system that must once again serve life and not exploit it.” **Proposed AHCCCS-Related Bills** Following months of oversight hearings scrutinizing the response to Arizona’s sober living fraud scandal, lawmakers this session have introduced multiple bills that would affect how the state’s Medicaid agency reviews claims, oversees behavioral health services and administers the American Indian Health Program. [**SB1114**](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/2R/bills/SB1114P.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info): Appropriates $1 million in state funds specifically to combat patient brokering in behavioral health. [**SB1115**](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/2r/bills/sb1115p.htm?ref=down-ballot.info): Prohibits remote work for AHCCCS employees. [**SB1116**](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/2r/bills/sb1116p.htm?ref=down-ballot.info): Requires an individual with relevant clinical experience to review claims denied based on the medical necessity of a behavioral health service covered by the American Indian Health Plan. [**SB1122**](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/2r/bills/sb1122p.htm?ref=down-ballot.info): Prohibits AHCCCS from requiring 100% prepayment review for behavioral health services under the American Indian Health Program, unless a provider fails to comply with a corrective action plan. [**SB1171**](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/2R/bills/SB1171P.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info): Requires AHCCCS to notify members also enrolled in federal health insurance marketplace plans about the potential risks, consequences and liabilities of dual enrollment. [**SB1346**](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/2R/bills/SB1346P.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info): Reforms fee-for-service procedures and requires AHCCCS to notify providers of any claim deficiencies within 72 hours of submission. [**SB1611**](https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/57leg/2R/bills/SB1611P.htm?ref=down-ballot.info): Requires AHCCCS to contract with a qualified external entity to handle administration, program integrity and care management for the American Indian Health Program, while retaining oversight authority. Builds in legislative review, including tribal and provider input, before contracts are issued. --- This [article](https://azcir.org/news/2026/02/26/medicaid-fraud-targeting-indigenous-communities-continues/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting](https://azcir.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/AZCIR_LOGO_SQUARE.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Opioid settlement applicants question ‘popularity contest’ grant review process as lawmakers weigh changes by Allen Siegler, Mississippi Today February 26, 2026 Emilee Shell tried to reconcile two conflicting messages from the state Legislature as staff and clients from the Jackson women’s addiction [recovery residence Grace House](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/09/26/save-a-life-day-naloxone-opioid-overdoses/?ref=down-ballot.info) filled the Mississippi Capitol. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22122728/Recovery-Day-7-Emilie-Shell.jpg) Emilie Shell is Director of Grace House for Women. That January morning was [Recovery Day](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/23/people-recovery-state-legislators/?ref=down-ballot.info), an event designed to connect politicians with those who have experienced substance use disorder in Mississippi. From the Senate floor, lawmakers clapped for Shell, Grace House’s director, and others in the gallery who were recovering from addiction, saying they were proud of everyone’s journeys. But that recognition came a month-and-a-half after a council [the Legislature had tasked](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/06/21/qa-the-opioid-settlements-explained/?ref=down-ballot.info) with managing hundreds of millions of opioid settlement dollars submitted [its recommendations](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/08/attorney-general-opioid-lawmakers/?ref=down-ballot.info) for the first round of state spending. The council members [ranked 127 applications](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/11/03/mississippi-opioid-settlement-meeting-grant-requests/?ref=down-ballot.info) last fall into tiers based on how highly they recommended funding projects that aim to address the opioid epidemic. Grace House’s [application was scored](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26358563-opioid-settlement-fund-council-recommendations-to-legislature-12-05-2025/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p19/a2803725) in the third of five tiers. [That application](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27355998-grace-house-2025-osfac-application-proposal-narrative/?ref=down-ballot.info), which asked for $600,000 to expand medical services for people who’ve completed intensive rehab and are starting to live independently, sat below some applications that proposed approaches [experts said](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/03/mississippi-opioid-group-last-plan/?ref=down-ballot.info) could be ineffective at preventing more overdoses. Shell said the decision was both surprising and expected. She and the Grace House staff were confident its proposal, if funded, would help keep women from relapsing. But Shell saw that in the [council’s initial scoring](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info), the majority of money the body recommended in the top two tiers was to [organizations with representatives on the council](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/11/18/mississippi-opioid-settlement-council-members-favor-own-organizations-for-grants/?ref=down-ballot.info). “When funding becomes available, it’s like a who’s who popularity contest,” Shell said on Recovery Day. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22122900/Recovery-Day-1.jpg) Brittany Denson, operations coordinator for Grace House and Peer Navigator for the Mississippi Harm Reduction Initiative (MHRI), places a pin on a state map marking her city of recovery during Recovery Day at the State Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026 in Jackson. Across the state, applicant organizations that work to treat and prevent opioid addiction have told Mississippi Today they worry the council did not fairly consider their plans to prevent more overdoses. They pointed to the potential for council member conflicts of interest and how the [subcommittee grading wasn’t standardized](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/03/mississippi-opioid-group-last-plan/?ref=down-ballot.info). Because of that, Shell said she thinks the state could miss out on funding Grace House and other organizations run by people with decades of experience addressing Mississippi’s addiction crisis — organizations with ideas that could save lives. “I feel like we were definitely overlooked,” she said. Some lawmakers who helped create the advisory council also question the public body’s recommendations. House Public Health and Human Services Chairman Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany, saw the advisory council process play out last fall as a non-voting committee member. As it did, he told Mississippi Today he saw both the amount of work council members put into reviewing the applications and the imperfections of the process. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/11180706/Sam-Creekmore-5.jpg) Rep. Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, discusses opioid settlement legislation during an interview at the Mississippi Capitol on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Jackson. Creekmore said he plans to spend time during the meeting of House Appropriations, the committee that is expected to review the applications and a body he’s a member of, revisiting lower-tier applications he thinks were scored incorrectly. A bill [lawmakers passed last year](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/pdf/SB/2700-2799/SB2767SG.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) allows the Legislature to accept or reject any of the advisory council’s recommendations, even those from the lower tiers. “We can award some deserving people,” he said. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, the chair of the council, did not respond to an email asking for her thoughts on lawmakers changing the council’s recommendations. Last fall, her office said the council has some rules to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing committee decisions. But this type of legislative intervention could signal that the advisory council process has gone awry, according to Tricia Christensen. An independent drug policy consultant in Tennessee, she said governments [across the country](https://www.opioidsettlementguides.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) task specialized committees with recommending how this lawsuit money should be spent. Few, however, have looked to reclaim most of the decision-making for themselves when elected officials don’t get the recommendations they want. “What’s the point of the process if the ultimate decision power is just going to come in and decide they want to fund this thing anyway?” Christensen asked. ### **‘We have the trust of our community’** When Jason McCarty was recovering from addiction in Mississippi, he didn’t initially know who could connect him with what he needed to stay sober, he said. For people in similar circumstances, access to [safe housing](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11922849/?ref=down-ballot.info), [steady employment](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41542-022-00123-x?ref=down-ballot.info), [support from those who’ve experienced addiction](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5047716/?ref=down-ballot.info) and other long-term resources help prevent relapse. Now six years sober and the program development strategist at the United Way of the Capital Area, McCarty said that’s a big reason why the organization applied for about $1 million of opioid settlement funds. The proposal seeks to enhance the nonprofit’s [211 phone and text line](https://www.myunitedway.com/211?ref=down-ballot.info), which helps connect people to resources like food banks, medical appointments and rental assistance. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/23202946/Jason-McCarty-1.jpg) Jason McCarty, United Way of the Capital Area program development strategist, shows a naloxone kit shortly before the start of a City Council meeting at City Hall in Jackson, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025\. Naloxone is a life-saving medication applied to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. [United Way submitted](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27359397-united-way-capital-area-opioid-2025-settlement-application/?ref=down-ballot.info) a proposal to employ phone operators with experience addressing addiction and tailor resources specifically for those with opioid use disorder, in addition to expanding its efforts to prevent teen drug dependence. The state advisory council [ranked the application](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26358563-opioid-settlement-fund-council-recommendations-to-legislature-12-05-2025/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p30/a2803810) in the lowest of the five tiers. McCarty said he tried reaching out to a committee member about why it scored so low, and he never heard back. He was disappointed that unlike some applicant organizations with representatives on the board, United Way didn’t get the opportunity to explain its proposal in front of the scorers. “Some of the applications basically got to do question-and-answer in the middle of the session,” he said. Each year since 2022, Mississippi has been paid tens of millions of opioid settlement dollars, money that is supposed to help respond to the overdose public health crisis. But 15% of those dollars — the money controlled by the state’s towns, cities and counties — is unrestricted and being spent with almost no public knowledge. Mississippi Today spent the summer finding out how almost every local government receiving money has been managing the money over the past three years. [Read The Series](https://down-ballot.info/projects/mississippi-opioid-settlement-funds/) At least one proposal from a smaller agency wasn’t even considered by the council. Leaders for the Corporation For Global Community Development, the nonprofit charity arm of the Jackson Revival Center Church in South Jackson, tried to [submit an application](https://legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/27359664-20250919170607634?ref=down-ballot.info) requesting $250,000\. It wanted to provide outreach, mental health services and other social services to people in underserved parts of Hinds County. But the application never showed up on any of the [public council drafts](https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/opioid-settlement-fund-advisory-council/?ref=down-ballot.info) that were supposed to list all applicants. Mississippi Today reviewed an email chain that shows the nonprofit submitted its proposal two minutes after the [council’s submission deadline](https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/OSC-Request-for-Grant-Applications-8.11.25%5Ffinal2.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Fitch did not respond to an emailed question asking whether the council received the corporation’s application. The council gave applicants only six weeks to finalize dozens of application pages, which smaller organizations said was difficult to accomplish. The committee itself missed a deadline [codified in state law](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/dt/SB/2700-2799/SB2767SG.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) last year to appoint [all its councilmembers by June 9](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/06/16/members-appointed-to-opioid-settlement-advisory-council/?ref=down-ballot.info), which it did about a week later. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/19142455/3X0A1920.jpg) Evelyn Edwards, the Corporation For Global Community Development’s executive director, discusses the organization’s opioid settlement application on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, at the Jackson Revival Center Church. Evelyn Edwards, the corporation’s executive director, said no one from the council ever told her or her staff why the committee members never listed the application. She said omitting the application will delay the organization’s work to reach people in Hinds County struggling with addiction, especially those who are distrustful of other medical systems. “We have the human capacity,” Edwards said. “We have the trust of our community, that’s number one. They’ll come, they’ll participate in those things.” Ruby Denson, a nurse practitioner who leads the organization’s current efforts to address addiction and mental illness, said she was also disappointed the advisory council ranked McComb-based clinic Healing Horizons in the third of five tiers. The application asked for $83,000 to make the [best treatments for opioid addiction](https://www.naco.org/resource/osc-incarcerated-pops?ref=down-ballot.info) and overdose prevention tools more available in Pike County. Denson said she’s worked with Laquana Daniels, the psychiatric nurse practitioner from McComb who runs Healing Horizons, and she thinks that organization is as well-equipped to address Pike County’s addiction crisis as any group could be. Denson said because of Daniels’ education and community involvement, Daniels could make a big public health impact with a relatively small amount of money. “It would definitely benefit her community in that McComb area,” Denson said. ### **Making changes with those most impacted** Senate Appropriations Chairman Briggs Hopson, a Republican from Vicksburg, said he expects his committee to review the advisory council’s opioid settlement recommendations soon after it is finished working on agency budgets. Like Creekmore, he thinks his chamber will review the recommendations of the council to see which projects should be funded. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/15115631/3X0A7122.jpg) Sen. Briggs Hopson listens to presentations during a Senate Appropriations Committee meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, at the State Capitol in Jackson. When making those decisions, Hopson said he’ll be looking for applications that will make strides toward stopping an epidemic that’s [killed over 10,000 Mississippians since 2000](https://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Christensen, the drug policy consultant, said legislative leaders should also consider revisiting the advisory council process that led them to question that body’s decisions. Senators and representatives [have taken steps](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/02/16/legislator-local-opioid-settlement/?ref=down-ballot.info) to ensure they can continue adjusting Mississippi’s opioid settlement laws before the end of the regular session. She thinks it would be worth using opioid settlement money, including the funds the Legislature and Fitch [have designated for general purposes](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/06/03/mississippi-plan-for-its-opioid-settlement-distribution/?ref=down-ballot.info), to help improve that process. If lawmakers make those adjustments, Christensen said she thinks it’s important for lawmakers to get input from Mississippians most affected by the crisis. While the state [doesn’t have a formal process](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/01/constituents-mississippi-legislature/?ref=down-ballot.info) for Mississippians to testify about legislation, Christensen said it should be on lawmakers to include the voices of those most impacted by the opioid epidemic, who might have effective ideas for improving the advisory council. “They shouldn’t just be making these decisions independently behind closed doors,” she said. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/02/26/opioid-settlement-lawmakers/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1169802&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- ### What does it mean to be a new national park? Ocmulgee Mounds in Georgia may soon find out URL: https://down-ballot.info/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-new-national-park-ocmulgee-mounds-in-georgia-may-soon-find-out/ Last updated: 2026-03-04T10:00:50.000Z **By Seth T. Kannarr, University of Tennessee** Ocmulgee Mounds, a site in central Georgia with [12,000 years of Indigenous history](https://www.nps.gov/ocmu/index.htm?ref=down-ballot.info), may be on the verge of [becoming the newest U.S. national park](https://www.mvskokemedia.com/ocmulgee-park-planners-push-forward-despite-shutdown/?ref=down-ballot.info). This is the flagship designation of the National Park Service system, which includes many types of properties in addition to formally designated national parks. Although this [redesignation](https://www.energy.senate.gov/hearings/2025/12/national-park-subcommittee-to-receive-testimony-on-pending-legislation?ref=down-ballot.info) may not include much change for the site itself, it could mean quite a lot to visitors, supporters and locals alike. The [3,000-acre park](https://www.nps.gov/ocmu/learn/news/acquisition-more-than-doubles-the-size-of-ocmulgee-mounds-national-historical-park.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) protects land and features important to the [Mississippian culture](https://www.nps.gov/ocmu/learn/historyculture/mississippian-culture.htm?ref=down-ballot.info), which built the mounds there starting roughly 3,000 years ago, and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, for which the site is an ancestral homeland. The site includes [seven enormous ceremonial and burial mounds made of earth](https://traveltheparks.com/journey-through-time-ocmulgee-mounds/?ref=down-ballot.info), the largest of which is 55 feet (15 meters) tall and covers about 2 acres, as well as a museum containing [millions of cultural artifacts](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/ocmulgee-mounds-national-historical-park?ref=down-ballot.info), including pottery, stone tools, jewelry and bells. The National Park Service has [managed the site since the 1930s](https://www.nps.gov/ocmu/learn/management/upload/OCMU%5FFD%5F2014%5F508.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), first as a [national monument](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/archeology/national-monument-facts-and-figures.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) and [since 2019](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/47/text?ref=down-ballot.info), as a [national historical park](https://www.nps.gov/articles/nps-designations.htm?ref=down-ballot.info). There are no legal or practical differences in protection between these redesignations, though the branding and marketing of the site may change. As a [geographer](https://sites.google.com/view/sethkannarr/?ref=down-ballot.info) who studies parks and the naming of places, I have seen that when a National Park Service unit is redesignated as a national park, as a pending [bill in Congress currently proposes](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2345?ref=down-ballot.info) for Ocmulgee Mounds, it does not typically change the funding available to run the site. That’s especially true at a time when [National Park Service funding and personnel are being cut](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/may/28/us-national-parks-trumps?ref=down-ballot.info). However, a park redesignation does serve political purposes and affects how visitors perceive that park. [](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26609838/?utm%5Fsource=embed&utm%5Fcampaign=visualisation/26609838) ## How parks are designated The National Park Service [manages 433 units](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/national-park-system.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) with [19 different designations](https://www.nps.gov/articles/nps-designations.htm?ref=down-ballot.info), such as “national battlefields,” “national lakeshores” and “national scenic trails.” Only [63 of these units](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/national-park-system.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) carry the formal title or designation of “national park.” All but one of these categories can be bestowed only by Congress. National monuments, however, can be created by the president directly, under the provisions of the [Antiquities Act of 1906](https://theconversation.com/national-monuments-have-grown-and-shrunk-under-us-presidents-for-over-a-century-thanks-to-one-law-the-antiquities-act-252707?ref=down-ballot.info). For example, the Antiquities Act allowed President Barack Obama to designate 1.3 million acres in Utah as [Bears Ears National Monument](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/12/28/proclamation-establishment-bears-ears-national-monument?ref=down-ballot.info) in a December 2016 proclamation. That same act allowed President Donald Trump to [shrink the protected area to 200,000 acres](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/08/deb-haaland-bears-ears-national-monument?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2017 – and President Joe Biden to [re-expand it to 1.3 million acres](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/10/08/a-proclamation-on-bears-ears-national-monument/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2021. ## Other examples of redesignation In rare cases, a community, group or other organization proposes adding an area that is not currently managed by the National Park Service to the system, but this [takes a lot of time](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RS20158?ref=down-ballot.info) and is different from the more common process of changing the formal designation of a property already within the system. For instance, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore became [Indiana Dunes National Park](https://www.nps.gov/indu/index.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2019\. That same year, White Sands National Monument in New Mexico became [White Sands National Park](https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm?ref=down-ballot.info). And in 2020, New River Gorge National River in West Virginia became [New River Gorge National Park and Preserve](https://www.nps.gov/neri/index.htm?ref=down-ballot.info). ## Why redesignations make a difference My analysis of the [contentious redesignation](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74653-6%5F8?ref=down-ballot.info) of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis to [Gateway Arch National Park](https://www.nps.gov/jeff/index.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2018 found that it was not done to offer additional protection to this site of national importance. Rather, the move was meant to take advantage of the [public significance of the “national park” label](https://doi.org/10.32469/10355/91514?ref=down-ballot.info) and thereby attract more tourists and tourism revenue to the local economy. The effort to make it a national park was part of a [local campaign to renovate the underground visitor center](https://www.archpark.org/updates/news/gateway-arch-national-park-designated-new-name-for-park?ref=down-ballot.info), revitalize the park grounds and increase tourism. But the [law that formalized the change](https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ128/PLAW-115publ128.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) included no additional funding, resources or protections for the Gateway Arch. Changing the designation contradicted the park service’s own declaration that the term “national park” should be used for an area that “[contains a variety of resources](https://www.nps.gov/articles/nps-designations.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) and encompasses large land or water areas to help provide adequate protection of the resources.” During congressional hearings, the deputy director of the National Park Service, Robert Vogel, recommended the site not be labeled a national park but rather a national monument, because the site “[is too small and limited](https://www.doi.gov/ocl/s-1438?ref=down-ballot.info) in the range of resources the site protects and interprets to be called a national park.” Gateway Arch National Park is now the smallest-area park in the U.S., at less than 200 acres, and is home to a [large steel arch, an open lawn area, a museum and a single historic building](https://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/the-significance-of-the-gateway-arch-landscape.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) – a courthouse where [one of the Dred Scott trials](https://www.nps.gov/jeff/planyourvisit/och.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) was heard, along with other civil rights cases. It does not have the wildlife viewing, spectacular geologic features, outdoor recreation opportunities and sense of wilderness that [the public has come to expect from national parks](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-74653-6%5F8?ref=down-ballot.info). The park’s website admits “[it is unusual for a national park to have no natural plant life](https://www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/nature/plants.htm?ref=down-ballot.info)” and describes the park as adjacent to the “[concrete jungle of downtown St. Louis](https://www.nps.gov/jeff/learn/nature/animals.htm?ref=down-ballot.info).” ## What actually would change for Ocmulgee Mounds? The redesignation effort for Ocmulgee Mounds has two primary aspects. First, it would declare the area a national park. Second, it would add additional land to this protected area, designating that portion as a national preserve. The distinction matters: Public hunting, including traditional Indigenous hunting, is not allowed in national parks, but it is allowed in national preserves. And while national parks are managed by the National Park Service under the Department of Interior, national preserves can be [managed in collaborative partnership](https://cepp.stanford.edu/focal-areas/wildfire-climate-resilience/tribal-stewardship-and-management-national-park-service?ref=down-ballot.info) with other groups, including local Indigenous people with cultural ties to the land. The changes for Ocmulgee Mounds are supported by members of [both political parties in both houses of Congress](https://www.macon.com/news/environment/article312215663.html?ref=down-ballot.info). And the redesignation does not appear to have triggered [opposition from local communities](https://www.njherald.com/story/news/environment/2024/04/21/delaware-water-gap-national-park-why-nj-legislators-are-fighting-it/73404753007/?ref=down-ballot.info), who in other places have objected for several reasons, including fear of increased tourism and desire to [preserve any long-standing uses of the land](https://scarab.bates.edu/honorstheses/181/?ref=down-ballot.info) that would be banned if it were to become a national park. There are redesignation efforts underway seeking to make national parks in other locations as well, including the [Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area](https://www.backpacker.com/news-and-events/news/delaware-water-gap-national-park/?ref=down-ballot.info) in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, [Chiricahua National Monument](https://www.thetravel.com/arizona-national-monument-converting-into-a-national-park-is-getting-mixed-reactions/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Arizona, [Buffalo National River](https://www.thetravel.com/americas-first-national-river-could-be-the-next-new-national-park-in-the-us/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Arkansas, and [Apostle Islands National Lakeshore](https://tiffany.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-tiffany-reintroduces-bill-create-wisconsins-first-national-park?ref=down-ballot.info) in Wisconsin. The only real changes in these places, though, would be in marketing – the signs, [brochures](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/a-brief-history-of-the-unigrid.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) and merchandise sold in gift shops. But these changes would have an important effect: The tagline of “new national park” [markets well](https://headwaterseconomics.org/public-lands/protected-lands/national-monuments-redesignated-national-parks/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is believed to [help attract more visitors](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R41816?ref=down-ballot.info) to the site. But it won’t actually protect these landscapes any better than they already are under the stewardship of the National Park Service. *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-268474)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Seth T. Kannarr*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/seth-t-kannarr-1390874?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-268474)*,* [*University of Tennessee*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-tennessee-688?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-268474) **Read more:** - [Hidden treasures of America’s national parks are closer than you might think](https://theconversation.com/hidden-treasures-of-americas-national-parks-are-closer-than-you-might-think-262585?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-268474) - [Yosemite embodies the long war over US national park privatization](https://theconversation.com/yosemite-embodies-the-long-war-over-us-national-park-privatization-261133?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-268474) - [National parks are key conservation areas for wildlife and natural resources](https://theconversation.com/national-parks-are-key-conservation-areas-for-wildlife-and-natural-resources-261644?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-268474) *Seth T. Kannarr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.* ### Taboo tics like shouting curses and slurs are uncommon in Tourette syndrome − but people who have them suffer harsh social stigma URL: https://down-ballot.info/taboo-tics-like-shouting-curses-and-slurs-are-uncommon-in-tourette-syndrome-but-people-who-have-them-suffer-harsh-social-stigma/ Last updated: 2026-03-02T10:00:45.000Z [Taboo tics like shouting curses and slurs are uncommon in Tourette syndrome − but people who have them suffer harsh social stigmaObscene language tics, called coprolalia, don’t reveal what people with Tourette’s think and feel. In fact, tics often compel people to say or do precisely what they most wish to avoid.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/web-app-logo-192x192-2d05bdd6de6328146de80245d4685946.png)The ConversationRena Zito![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/file-20260224-57-n9r6uh.jpg)](https://theconversation.com/taboo-tics-like-shouting-curses-and-slurs-are-uncommon-in-tourette-syndrome-but-people-who-have-them-suffer-harsh-social-stigma-276721?ref=down-ballot.info) **By Rena Zito, Elon University** John Davidson, whose life inspired the [award-winning biopic “I Swear](https://www.studiocanal.co.uk/title/i-swear-2025/?ref=down-ballot.info),” involuntarily shouted a racial slur during Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo’s speech at the BAFTA film awards in London on Feb. 22, 2026\. The moment went viral, and the ensuing backlash ignited public debate about Tourette syndrome and its most shocking symptom. Davidson has been a familiar figure to British audiences since his teenage years, when he first appeared in a [BBC documentary about Tourette syndrome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxfJDpd3XcY&ref=down-ballot.info). He has since devoted decades to public education about the condition, earning him a distinguished honor [from Queen Elizabeth II in 2019](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2n9709g0go?ref=down-ballot.info). The reactions to Davidson’s tics at the BAFTA awards make clear that Tourette syndrome remains a deeply misunderstood condition, especially when it comes to obscene language tics, called coprolalia. I am a sociologist who [studies the social dimensions of Tourette syndrome](https://www.elon.edu/u/news/author/rzito/?ref=down-ballot.info), including the stigma of coprolalia. I also live with Tourette syndrome. Most people with Tourette’s will never experience these taboo tics, but those who do bear the weight of society’s judgment. ## What is Tourette syndrome? Tourette syndrome is a [neurodevelopmental condition](https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/tourette-syndrome?ref=down-ballot.info) that affects about [0.5% to 0.7% of the population](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2022.08.010?ref=down-ballot.info). It is characterized by involuntary movements and sounds called tics that usually begin in childhood and, for some people, [continue into adulthood](https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-022-00258-0?ref=down-ballot.info). Tics consist of movements, such as eye blinking or shoulder shrugging, or vocalizations, such as throat clearing or brief sounds. Some involve a single movement or sound, while others combine several movements or involve longer verbalizations – for example, finger snapping followed by a head jerk, or repeated words or phrases. Coprolalia, or involuntary obscene or offensive speech, is one of the most widely misunderstood features of Tourette’s. [About 10% to 20% of people with Tourette syndrome](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2008.03135.x?ref=down-ballot.info) experience this type of tic. Tics often change over time in intensity, frequency and form, with relatively quiet periods followed by phases when symptoms are more severe. Many people feel an unpleasant building sensation before a tic, called a [premonitory urge](https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.16070141?ref=down-ballot.info), describing it like an itch that needs to be scratched. Others experience tics more suddenly, like an unexpected sneeze. Some can temporarily suppress their tics, often at the cost of greater discomfort later, while others are unable to suppress them. Tics can be physically taxing, leading to acute and chronic [pain and injury](https://doi.org/10.1089/cap.2024.0025?ref=down-ballot.info). People with Tourette syndrome also [frequently face stigma](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-83368-7?ref=down-ballot.info), discrimination and the pressure to monitor or hide their tics, which can take a serious psychological toll. People with Tourette syndrome are at [increased risk of self-harm and suicide](https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-102693?ref=down-ballot.info). The causes of Tourette syndrome aren’t fully understood, but it has a strong [genetic component](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2024.08.002?ref=down-ballot.info). Although it often runs in families, it can also be caused by [birth complications or infections](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bj.2022.01.008?ref=down-ballot.info). ## Understanding taboo tics like coprolalia Even though a minority of people with Tourette syndrome experience coprolalia, [media portrayals of Tourette’s](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-83368-7?ref=down-ballot.info) disproportionately focus on outbursts of profanity. This [“swearing disease” stereotype](https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2025.2531145?ref=down-ballot.info) misrepresents how most people with the condition experience it. But because taboo tics are shocking and unexpected, they loom larger in the public imagination than more common, less dramatic tics. Coprolalia is only one form of taboo tic. Others include copropraxia, or obscene gestures, and [non-obscene but socially inappropriate tics](https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00021?ref=down-ballot.info), such as making kissing sounds, spitting or touching others. One of the most confusing aspects of taboo tics is that they can be [contextually relevant](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2013.05.019?ref=down-ballot.info) while also being involuntary. Consider, for example, the person who tics “I have a gun!” when stopped by law enforcement. Cues in the social environment can trigger tics, especially in moments of heightened stress. Why profanity in particular? Tics arise from [dysfunction in neural circuits](https://doi.org/10.1002/ibra.12177?ref=down-ballot.info) involved in movement and impulse control. Taboo words are emotionally charged and socially significant, so they tend to be more strongly encoded in the brain’s language and emotional networks than neutral words. This helps explain why coprolalia can also occur, albeit rarely, in people with [brain lesions, neurodegenerative conditions](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK549763/%22%22?ref=down-ballot.info) and [seizure disorders](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yebeh.2016.04.040?ref=down-ballot.info). ## The challenges of living with coprolalia The social world can be precarious for people with Tourette syndrome who experience taboo tics like coprolalia. These tics are often associated with [more severe symptoms overall](https://doi.org/10.2147/ndt.s72284?ref=down-ballot.info), more co-occurring conditions and greater social difficulty. [My research on coprolalia stigma](https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2025.2531145?ref=down-ballot.info) reveals the depths of distress public misconceptions can cause. A common misconception is that tics reveal what people “really” think and feel. In reality, tics often compel people to say or do precisely [what they most wish to avoid](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-022-09881-6?ref=down-ballot.info). The stakes are especially high when tics involve slurs or insults. As one interview participant told me, “It’s like my brain weaponizes my most polite intentions and turns them into the cruelest things. And it’s scary to go outside … to have this sudden confrontation mechanism inside of me that I absolutely do not want.” These socially inappropriate tics can draw unwanted attention and lead to [exclusion](https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/EX52G?ref=down-ballot.info), [bullying](https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1007/s10882-019-09676-2?ref=down-ballot.info), [hostile encounters](https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-022-09881-6?ref=down-ballot.info) and [barriers to employment](https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-83368-7?ref=down-ballot.info). As another participant put it, “There’s no jobs I can work where I can get the accommodation that it’s okay for me to cuss at my boss.” Anticipating these reactions, many people with prominent coprolalia withdraw from public life or carry the burden of constant disclosure and education. A second misconception is that coprolalia always looks like someone shouting obscenities in public. While that does happen for some people, like Davidson at the BAFTA awards, others can suppress, mask or carefully manage their tics in social settings. Both experiences of coprolalia are stressful. Like other tics, coprolalia can come and go over time. The stress of taboo tics extends beyond the individual. [Families frequently describe](https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316669878?ref=down-ballot.info) feeling helpless in the face of their child’s distress, unsupported by schools and judged by others when these tics occur. People with Tourette syndrome, and especially those with taboo tics, need understanding and support to participate fully and safely in public life. *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-276721)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Rena Zito*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/rena-zito-2541566?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-276721)*,* [*Elon University*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/elon-university-2582?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-276721) **Read more:** - [I research Tourette’s – I Swear is an unflinching yet empathetic portrait of life with this condition](https://theconversation.com/i-research-tourettes-i-swear-is-an-unflinching-yet-empathetic-portrait-of-life-with-this-condition-266284?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-276721) - [How Tourette’s causes involuntary outbursts – and what people with the condition want you to know](https://theconversation.com/how-tourettes-causes-involuntary-outbursts-and-what-people-with-the-condition-want-you-to-know-276750?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-276721) - [Researchers uncovered hundreds of genes linked to OCD, providing clues about how it changes the brain − new research](https://theconversation.com/researchers-uncovered-hundreds-of-genes-linked-to-ocd-providing-clues-about-how-it-changes-the-brain-new-research-255572?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-276721) *Rena Zito does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.* ### Norman C. Francis, a stalwart New Orleans leader in civil rights, business and education dies at 94 URL: https://down-ballot.info/norman-c-francis-a-stalwart-new-orleans-leader-in-civil-rights-business-and-education-dies-at-94/ Last updated: 2026-02-27T10:00:32.000Z **It's Friday, February 27, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Norman C. Francis, who shaped Xavier and New Orleans, dies at 94, Judge says federal court can’t rule on challenge to Orleans sheriff’s ‘sanctuary’ policy, South Carolina Hospitals Aren’t Required to Disclose Measles-Related Admissions. That Leaves Doctors in the Dark, Expert says UMMC could face ‘weeks to months’ of recovery after cyberattack, Demolition of Mission Hospital’s St. Joseph’s campus appears imminent, This Ballad Hospital, Flooded by Hurricane Helene, Will Be Rebuilt for $44M in a Flood Plain, Roadless areas of national forests could go away under proposed rule change, Finding financial footing for Walthourville: One mayor’s journey. ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1167730&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) **Media outlets and others featured:** Verite News (2), ProPublica, Mississippi Today, Asheville Watchdog, KFF Health News, Carolina Public Press, The Current (Georgia). 💡 [Public Health Watch](https://publichealthwatch.org/2026/02/12/hydrogen-fluoride-refinery-map/?ref=down-ballot.info) has a map of refineries that use hydrogen fluoride. Use the organization’s interactive map to learn about the 40 refineries that use the potentially lethal chemical, their accident histories and their worst-case accident scenarios. [Do you live near a refinery that uses hydrogen fluoride? - Public Health WatchUse PHW’s interactive map to learn about the 40 refineries that use the potentially lethal chemical, their accident histories and worst-case scenarios.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-PHW_Circle_Logo-270x270.png)Public Health WatchShelby Jouppi![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Screenshot-2026-02-12-at-3.34.57-PM.png)](https://publichealthwatch.org/2026/02/12/hydrogen-fluoride-refinery-map/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Norman C. Francis, who shaped Xavier and New Orleans, dies at 94 by Josie Abugov, Verite News New Orleans February 18, 2026 Norman C. Francis, the stalwart city leader in civil rights, business and education who led Xavier University for nearly half a century, died early Wednesday morning (Feb. 18) at Oschner Hospital. He was 94 years old. One of the most influential figures in New Orleans’ recent history, Francis played key roles in both integration efforts of the local civil rights movement and recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. Though Francis built his career and his life in New Orleans, he garnered national and global recognition for his civic work: He was the recipient of dozens of honorary degrees and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and advised eight U.S. presidents on issues of education and civil rights. His six children — Michael, Tim, David, Kathleen, Patrick and Christina — survive him, along with 11 grandchildren. (David Francis cofounded Verite News and was the executive director of Verite until retiring in late 2025.) His wife of 60 years, Blanche Francis, died in 2015\. "With heavy hearts filled with love and gratitude, our family announces the passing of our beloved father, Dr. Norman C. Francis, who entered eternal rest on Feb. 18," reads a statement sent to Verite News by the Francis family. "Above all else, he was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend whose love, wisdom, and steadfast faith shaped our family and touched everyone who knew him. His Catholic faith was the foundation of his life, guiding the way he loved, served, and cared for others. He taught us to lead with compassion, to stand for justice, and to trust in God’s grace in all things." When Francis became the first Black and lay president of Xavier University in 1968, glass ceilings were nothing new to the 37-year-old, who had integrated Loyola University’s law school and represented, as a young lawyer, a civil rights case that rose to the Supreme Court. The decision to elect a lay person for the presidency of the country’s only Catholic HBCU was highly unusual, said Sister Patricia Suchalski, a member of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament religious order and former Xavier board member. In 1925, the congregation’s founder St. Katharine Drexel, who dedicated her life and family fortune to educating Black and Indigenous populations, established the college. Until Francis assumed the presidency, all of Xavier’s previous leaders were white nuns. “If we had not done that — given leadership to Dr. Francis — I’m sure Xavier would not be what it is today,” Suchalski said. Under Francis’ presidency, the university grew from a nascent college without a core curriculum to a leader among HBCUs in preparing students for health care careers. Now, Xavier sends more Black graduates to medical school than [almost any other college in the country](https://www.nola.com/entertainment%5Flife/health%5Ffitness/how-xavier-university-sends-more-black-grads-to-medical-school-than-almost-any-other-college/article%5Feff0555f-85cc-5878-ac16-9e07ae77a548.html?ref=down-ballot.info). With the expansion of permanent dormitories and a pharmacy college, enrollment [more than tripled](https://www.xula.edu/news/2024/02/xavier-university-of-louisiana-celebrates-black-history-month-with-unveiling-of-a-statute-of-distinguished-alumnus-and-former-university-president-dr-norman-c-francis.html?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Francis%20tripled%20university%20enrollment%2C%20expanded,United%20States%20President%20George%20W.) during Francis’ tenure. Though Francis retired from Xavier in 2015, his leadership paved a path for the school’s continued expansion, such as a plan announced in 2023 for a [new medical school](https://veritenews.org/2024/04/29/xavier-medical-school-announcement/?ref=down-ballot.info) aimed at building a pipeline of Black doctors into the nation’s health care system. “When I look back at it…I spent at least my whole life in education,” Francis said in a December 2023 interview with Verite News. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095612/francis3.jpg) Those closest to Francis described him as a courageous and visionary leader with a determined spirit, an outgoing personality and a deep respect for people from every walk of life. “The most defining part of his character is he treats every human being with dignity and respect,” said former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, a close family friend.“There is the promise of America that we’re all coming to the table of democracy as equals, and he’s the personification of it. What more can you say about a human being?” As Francis expanded Xavier, he simultaneously shaped some of the city’s most prominent cultural and economic institutions. He was a founder of Liberty Bank, one of the country’s leading Black-owned financial institutions, and an early investor in the New Orleans Saints. Throughout his life, Francis also served as a confidant to members of two key New Orleans political families, the Landrieus and the Morials. Following Hurricane Katrina, Francis was an integral figure in the city’s recovery. He chaired the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the group tasked with rebuilding the state in the aftermath of the storm. Francis also successfully re-opened Xavier on an expedited timeline, despite massive hurricane damage to the school’s campus. ### **An ability to make things happen** Francis was born in Lafayette on March 20, 1931 to Mabel Coco Francis and Joseph Abel Francis. Raised in a Catholic household as the fourth of five children, he spent his early days in his father’s barbershop. The Francises didn’t own a car, using bicycles to get around town instead. Joseph Francis milked the family’s cow every morning and tracked every cent he made at the barbershop. His father, who had also worked at bus stations, railroad stations and hotels, stressed the value of hard, honest work to his children — including Norman, who began working at age 10, delivering lunches to a local railroad supervisor. In a 2002 interview for The HistoryMakers, a leading digital archive of Black oral histories, Norman Francis called his father “tough” and his mother an “angel.” “We didn’t have what others had, but we didn’t long,” he said. Mabel Bailey, Francis’ youngest sister, said her parents instilled in the siblings the importance of treating everyone with dignity and never believing they were above anyone else, a belief system Norman held tight to throughout his life. “I deal with PhDs of every kind but I have not found any of them smarter than my mother or father who didn’t graduate high school,” Francis said in 2002. After graduating as the valedictorian of his high school class, Francis received a scholarship to work at the Xavier library in exchange for tuition, room and board. He boarded a segregated railcar from his hometown to the city where he would soon make an indelible impact. He excelled at Xavier, where he was his class president each year until he became the student body president his senior year, graduating with a degree in math in 1952\. Francis then enrolled in Loyola University Law School as the school’s first Black student. On the morning before classes started, Francis arrived early to the library, where a few students introduced themselves. One of them was Moon Landrieu, a future mayor of New Orleans who would go on to champion desegregation of the city. The lifelong friendship between Landrieu and Francis would shape the future of race relations in New Orleans. In law school, Landrieu’s time with Francis exposed him to the injustices of segregation that Francis already understood as a Black man raised in the Jim Crow South. In one instance, Francis, Landrieu and a few other white law students decided to go out for food following an evening study session. When a waiter refused to serve the group, Francis noted how “it had not dawned on them that segregation was a two-sided knife.” Following a brief stint in the Army that ended in 1957, Francis ascended the administrative ranks at Xavier while dedicating himself to civil rights in New Orleans over the course of the next decade. He had returned to New Orleans to help integrate federal agencies for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, while at the same time representing Xavier students Rudy Lombard and Oretha Castle Haley in a civil rights case over a lunch counter sit-in that rose to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also served as counsel for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which sponsored the 1961 Freedom Rides, where groups of interracial activists rode on buses across the South to protest segregation. Francis’ childhood experiences in a small segregated town, where he witnessed the “inhumanity created by the law,” motivated him to do the work of eliminating the Jim Crow system, he said in his HistoryMakers interview. Despite his legal training and accomplishments, Francis believed he could enact greater change as an educator than as a lawyer. He envisioned his work as an educator as having a ripple effect, he said. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095623/Screen-Shot-2012-05-03-at-5.53.35-PM.jpg) Just five years after graduating from Xavier, Francis was tapped in 1957 to become the school’s dean of men. One of his defining moments in the role came four years later, when he agreed to house Freedom Riders who had been attacked by a segregationist mob in Alabama. Francis secretly allowed the group of activists to stay for a week in Xavier’s dorms, to protect the group from the bomb threats and other risks of violence. The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, who led the university at the time, believed Francis would be the perfect person to usher Xavier into a new era in 1968, Suchalski said. Despite skepticism from the archbishop of New Orleans for promoting a lay person to the top post, the sisters saw Francis as a risk-taking, courageous leader with a hopeful vision for the school. Decades later, Francis demonstrated that will and vision in his efforts to resume classes at Xavier after Katrina damaged nearly every structure of campus in 2005 and scattered students, faculty and staff across the country. Kay Watkins, Francis’ longtime assistant at Xavier, recounted the “impossible return date” of January 17, 2006 that Francis set in the immediate aftermath of the storm. “I had my car and a few belongings and the furthest thing that I was thinking about was going back to work,” Watkins said. While sheltering in Houston, Watkins received a call. Francis needed her to come to Grand Coteau, a small town outside of Lafayette where Francis and some members of his family had evacuated, to help get the school back up and running. “Reluctantly, I agreed,” Watkins said. Between storm damage and lost tuition and scholarship revenue, the school suffered over $90 million in losses, administrators estimated at the time. The school’s endowment wouldn’t have covered the costs, and though Francis tried to secure donations to prevent layoffs, he ultimately had to lay off or place on leave more than 300 faculty and staff members. "If you bottled up all of the problems I've had in 38 years, it would only be half the bottle compared to what Katrina did," Francis said at the time. Still, from his sister’s house in Grand Coteau, Francis buckled down and made the seemingly impossible — reopening a campus partially submerged in water up to eight feet deep — a reality. More than three-quarters of students returned to campus in January for the spring semester, even as FEMA trailers still lined school parking lots. The commencement speaker that year was a young Illinois senator named Barack Obama. “It shows you his strength, his ability to make things happen,” said Alden McDonald, the CEO of Liberty Bank and a longtime friend and associate of Francis. “Even with the campus totally devastated, he knew he couldn’t let those kids not have their education.” At the same time that Francis and trusted associates at Xavier were working tirelessly to reopen the school, he took on another mighty task: chairing the Louisiana Recovery Authority at the request of Gov. Kathleen Blanco after the region incurred billions of dollars in storm damage from Katrina and Rita. The agency oversaw the Road Home program, the largest housing recovery program in the nation’s history, responsible for ameliorating hundreds of thousands of destroyed homes and businesses and compensating homeowners in the New Orleans area for property damages. But the organization he chaired was also flawed. [A 2022 analysis](https://www.propublica.org/article/how-louisiana-road-home-program-shortchanged-poor-residents?ref=down-ballot.info) found that the Road Home Program shortchanged people in poorer, Blacker neighborhoods while better compensating people in richer neighborhoods. ### **‘A village of people’** As the longest-sitting university president in the country, Francis developed a vision for Xavier rooted in equity, service and opportunity. He believed when institutions meaningfully supported young people who were disadvantaged, like Francis was himself when he arrived in New Orleans to attend Xavier, those students would excel. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095621/Andrew-Young.jpg) Justin Augustine, who graduated Xavier in 1980 and now chairs its board, remembered Francis as an outgoing president who would regularly stop to chat with students in the quadrangle, and once helped resolve a dispute his friends had with a professor. Francis’ extroverted nature also strained his work-life balance, Watkins recalled. After a day of meetings and conversations with students, staff and faculty members, some scheduled and some impromptu, Francis would procrastinate his other tasks until late into the evening, writing speeches and finishing projects well past a typical work day. While Norman Francis oversaw the university, regularly “burning the midnight oil” in his office, as Watkins put it, his wife Blanche Francis raised the family’s six children on Xavier’s campus. Kathleen Francis, their eldest daughter, recalled growing up surrounded by a village of people who “shared the interest in bettering lives.” That “privilege of exposure,” Kathleen said, was one of the greatest gifts her parents imparted on her and her siblings. The children knew people of all races, religions and socioeconomic statuses. It was just as common for Mr. Joe, a maintenance worker at Xavier, and Alex Haley, the author of “Roots” and collaborator on “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” to be seated at the family dinner table, Kathleen said. “We learned early on that these people were people like anyone else,” Kathleen Francis said. “We got to see that no one was more special than the next person.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095615/tf3.jpeg) A community blossomed between the Francises and two of the city’s other notable families in the years after Francis, Moon Landrieu and Ernest “Dutch” Morial began running in the same circles as young men. After a close friendship throughout law school, Francis and Moon Landrieu happened to schedule their weddings on the same day. Around the same time, Morial, a classmate of Francis’ at Xavier, was integrating Louisiana State University’s law school. As the three men gained prominence within the city, their children — five Morials, six Francises and nine Landrieus — grew uptogether. One of the Landrieu children, Mitch, followed in Moon’s footsteps as mayor. Mitch, who once called Francis his “second daddy,” often sought out Francis for advice as he navigated his political career. Mitch Landrieu commended Francis’ ability to keep the peace between his friends, including Dutch, known for his fiery personality. In a December 2023 interview with Verite News, Francis recalled that Sybil Morial, Dutch’s wife, would always instruct Francis to sit next to her husband at dinners, and hit him in the knee if he became “excitable.” Francis also had a fun-loving attitude that Blanche, especially, brought out of him, Watkins remembered. He was an avid sports fan, encouraging the athletic prowess of all of his children, two of whom went on to play baseball in college. At family karaoke renditions over the holidays, he’d playfully rib his oldest grandchild, Jasmine Francis, about her poor singing voice, she recalled. His former assistant also described Francis as a “chocoholic,” though the university president also loved Blanche’s crawfish étouffée and peanut butter sandwiches with strawberry jam. He relished eating fresh tomatoes and watermelon with salt sprinkled on top, Jasmine Francis remarked. Angela Vallot, who serves on Xavier’s board and whose mother grew up with Francis in Lafayette, described him as “the epitome of New Orleans culture” with a superpower memory. Francis and her mother were classmates, working on the school newspaper together and graduating first and second in their high school class. Vallot lost her mother when she was ten years old, and in recent years, Francis was one of the few living contemporaries of her mother. As an adult, Vallot grew closer to the Francis family, describing Francis as being like an uncle. He would always find a way to bring her mother into conversations, sharing stories about his roots in Lafayette, Vallot recalled. In 2020, after Francis’ retirement from Xavier, the New Orleans City Council voted to rename the street that runs along the university campus from Jefferson Davis Parkway to Norman C. Francis Parkway. The change marked the [first renaming](https://www.nola.com/news/city-council-renames-jeff-davis-parkway-for-norman-francis-other-street-park-names-could-follow/article%5F2b8f330a-e2f7-11ea-b2a4-175733f7b354.html?ref=down-ballot.info) of a local street following protests in 2020 over police brutality and white supremacy. Francis cut the ribbon on the street himself. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/16150137/IMG_1610-rotated.jpeg) Norman C. Francis with the Presidential Medal of Freedom he received from President George W. Bush in 2006. "His legacy lives on not only through his accomplishments and leadership, but through the countless lives he inspired, the students and communities he uplifted, the public officials he advised, and the values he passed on to us. We will remember his gentle strength, his unwavering integrity, and his deep passion for equity," his family said in a statement to Verite News. Reflecting on his legacy, Francis said in 2002 that he hoped he would be remembered as someone who “recruited and surrounded myself with people smarter than I was.” “I had no ego — well, I had an ego — but I had no ego in the sense that I needed to get credit for what was done,” he said. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/11103653/P7-1024x683.jpg) Xavier University Director of Advancement Communications and former student Leslie D. Rose adjusts the microphone for Norman C. Francis before his speech to the crowd at the statue unveiling ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. ![Ford&Students](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/11115917/FordNormanFrancis-1024x683.jpg) Dillard University President Rochelle Ford chats with Liberty Bank board chairman and former Xavier University President Norman C. Francis during a welcome reception at Liberty Bank headquarters in New Orleans East on August 31, 2022. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095614/tfs13.jpeg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095618/norman-blanche.jpeg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095618/obama.jpg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095619/tf4.jpeg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095620/award2.jpg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/11095625/whitney-young.1.jpg) *Josie Abugov reported and wrote this story before leaving Verite News in 2024.* This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/18/norman-c-francis-xavier-liberty-obituary/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=16939&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # Judge says federal court can’t rule on challenge to Orleans sheriff’s ‘sanctuary’ policy by Bobbi-Jeanne Misick, Verite News New Orleans February 23, 2026 A federal judge last week temporarily halted the state of Louisiana’s legal challenge to the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office’s longstanding immigration policy, which prohibits jail staff from honoring federal immigration detainer requests to hold local arrestees suspected of being in the country illegally past their release dates. On Wednesday (Feb. 18), U.S. Magistrate Judge Janis van Meerveld ruled that the central question in the case — whether a recently enacted state ban on so-called “sanctuary policies” requires the Sheriff’s Office to dissolve its pre-existing policy — is a matter of state, not federal, law and should be decided by the Louisiana State Supreme Court. In her ruling, van Meerveld wrote that of the legal questions now before the federal court in New Orleans, “Not one concerns a federal question. Not one question has been addressed by a Louisiana court, let alone the Louisiana Supreme Court.” “Considering the posture of this case, the Louisiana Supreme Court is in the better position to address these questions,” she added. In a statement, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who first filed the state’s challenge to the Sheriff’s Office’s policy early last year, blasted the ruling, calling it “just another delay tactic by the judge to resolve a very easy matter.” On Thursday, the state informed the court that it planned to appeal the ruling to the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. The Sheriff’s Office’s policy, enacted in 2013, stems from a settlement in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by two construction workers, Mario Cacho and Antonio Ocampo — who were arrested by New Orleans police on minor charges in 2009 and 2010 and were sentenced to jail time. The two men alleged that in response to a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the sheriff at the time, Marlin Gusman, illegally held them inside his facility for months after their release dates, well beyond the two days that federal law authorizes for immigration detainers. Under the settlement in the Cacho case, the policy is to remain in place “ absent a change in federal or state law applicable to immigration detainers.” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill initiated the challenge to the policy a year ago, arguing that such a change had occurred with the passage of a state anti-sanctuary law. [Act 314](https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1380786&ref=down-ballot.info), which became effective in May 2024, prohibits policies that limit the extent to which local agencies can cooperate with federal immigration investigations and demands that local law enforcement comply with any detainer requests. Murrill, whom van Meerveld has [allowed to intervene](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/07/louisiana-challenge-sanctuary-immigration-ice/?ref=down-ballot.info) as a party to the Cacho case, is demanding that the federal court order the policy dissolved, removing the primary barrier to state legal action against Sheriff Susan Hutson for declining to honor ICE’s requests. In his second term, President Donald Trump, who counts both Murrill and Gov. Jeff Landry as allies, has increasingly demanded that local governments assist with federal immigration investigations. And many local agencies in Louisiana — a deeply conservative state — have fallen in line. That has been the case even in New Orleans. Following last year's [dissolution of a long-running consent decree](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/19/judge-ends-long-running-nopd-consent-decree/?ref=down-ballot.info) over the New Orleans Police Department — which demanded strict limits on local cops participating in federal immigration enforcement — city of New Orleans officials working with the state [recently revoked](https://www.nola.com/news/crime%5Fpolice/nopd-immigration/article%5F1cf9b51e-4b6f-4008-81c4-8641d5289a2d.html?ref=down-ballot.info) a decade-old NOPD policy that restricted cooperation with agencies such as ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol. A win for the state in the Cacho case could ultimately force deputies working in the Orleans Justice Center, one of the state’s largest and busiest jails, to assist in Trump’s immigration crackdown as well. Van Meerveld, however, ruled on Wednesday that a federal court is not the proper venue for the decision on whether the policy should be thrown out. In her ruling, the judge said there are three questions that must first be resolved, all concerning state law: Can Act 314 be applied to a pre-existing legal agreement? Does the state law conflict with local autonomy granted in the state constitution to cities, such as New Orleans, that operate under a “home rule” charter? And, does Act 314 go against a provision in the Louisiana constitution that prohibits the state from imposing “unfunded mandates” on local agencies. “If Act 314 is invalid then it is not a change in law,” van Meerveld said in her ruling, responding to the state’s argument that change in state law made the consent judgement in Cacho and the consistent OPSO policy obsolete. “And even if it is valid, if it was not intended to apply to this consent decree, then it cannot be interpreted as triggering the ‘change in law’ provision.” The judge ordered the questions be put to the state Supreme Court. As of Friday, it was not clear when the state’s highest court would take them up. In a statement Mary Yanik, co-director of the Tulane University Immigrants Rights Law Clinic and an attorney for Cacho and Ocampo, said she is “encouraged” that van Meerveld “acknowledged that we have raised important legal questions about the state law that no court has yet to answer.” “This order confirms the \[legal settlement\] remains in place as the courts consider the State’s legal challenge,” Yanik said. “Sheriff Hutson has done exactly what she promised to voters and what her office requires: she is following the law.” The Sheriff’s Office, which is also [being sued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/13/ice-sues-orleans-sheriff-susan-hutson/?ref=down-ballot.info) over its refusal to comply with demands from ICE, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/23/orleans-jail-immigration-policy-murrill/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=28752&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # South Carolina Hospitals Aren’t Required to Disclose Measles-Related Admissions. That Leaves Doctors in the Dark. by [Jennifer Berry Hawes](https://www.propublica.org/people/jennifer-berry-hawes?ref=down-ballot.info) February 20, 2026, 3:15 pm In mid-January, an unassuming man in khakis and a button-down shirt walked to a wooden lectern at a school board meeting in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Most chairs in the audience were empty. The man, Tim Smith, was the only person signed up to speak during public comments. He had five minutes. “I trust that each one of you had a good Christmas and New Year’s,” he began. “Unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing.” His wife is an assistant teacher at a public elementary school in the county, epicenter of the state’s historic measles outbreak, and shortly before winter break she’d received a notice that a child in her classroom had measles. Given his wife is fully vaccinated, he wasn’t worried. Then, she began to get sick. And sicker. She got a measles test and, to their shock, it came back positive. She was apparently among the very rare breakthrough infections. Frightened, they took her to the hospital that night. “My wife was throwing up,” Smith said at the meeting. “She had diarrhea. She couldn’t breathe. All for what? This is — it’s absolute insanity.” Dr. Leigh Bragg, a pediatrician working a county away, wasn’t even aware that anyone in South Carolina had been hospitalized with measles-related illnesses until a short time later when she logged on to Facebook and saw someone relay the distraught husband’s comments. Part of the reason Bragg didn’t know is that South Carolina doesn’t require hospitals to report admissions for measles, potentially obscuring the disease’s severity. In the absence of mandatory reporting rules, she and other doctors are often left to rely on rumors, their grapevines of colleagues, and the fragments of information the state public health agency is able to gather and willing to share. With [973 reported cases](https://dph.sc.gov/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/measles-rubeola/measles-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info), South Carolina’s measles outbreak has ballooned into the nation’s largest since the virus was declared eliminated in the U.S. 25 years ago. Yet, since state health officials first confirmed the outbreak on Oct. 2, the state’s hospitals have reported only 20 measles-related admissions, or about 2% of cases. Some infectious disease experts say that the true number is likely much higher. Hospitalization rates can vary greatly by a measles outbreak’s location and who is getting infected. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates [about 20% of measles cases](https://www.cdc.gov/surv-manual/php/table-of-contents/chapter-7-measles.html?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) will result in admissions. “A hospitalization rate at 2% is ludicrous,” said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an infectious disease physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who served on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization advisory committee. “It’s vast underreporting,” Offit said. “Measles makes you sick.” Measles is among the most contagious of viruses. In 2026 so far, almost half of states have reported cases. Yet it’s left largely to each state to decide how much infectious disease reporting to require about it. “We don’t think we are getting an accurate picture at all of how these illnesses are impacting our community,” Linda Bell, the South Carolina state epidemiologist, said at a briefing last month. “We’re just not getting a picture of that now with the small number of hospitalizations that are known to us.” Bell said the state Department of Public Health is urging hospitals to report their measles-related admissions, and seven hospitals have done so. (There are at least a dozen acute care hospitals in the Upstate alone.) But the state cannot force them to do so. Bell also said that the agency, which sets infectious disease reporting requirements, hasn’t considered adding hospitalizations to the list because the primary purpose of public health surveillance is to understand disease transmission, frequency and distribution — not to track complications. That leaves doctors like Bragg advising patients, including vaccine-resistant parents, without the benefit of confirmed, real-time data about how many South Carolinians have been hospitalized with measles. Severe complications include pneumonia, dehydration and a potentially life-threatening brain swelling called encephalitis. “It’s a very big disservice to the public not reporting complications we are seeing in hospitals or even ERs,” Bragg said. “Measles isn’t just a cold.” > ProPublica contacted state health agencies across the South and found most do not require hospitals to report measles-related admissions. Alabama does. So does Virginia, although it doesn’t release that data to the public. Like South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas don’t require reporting of hospitalizations, but epidemiologists can identify them during case investigations. > During the Texas measles outbreak last year, 99 people were hospitalized out of 762 cases. > That’s a rate of about 13%. In South Carolina, the reported rate is 2%. Real-time hospitalization data can show where to target resources and help hospitals prepare for an influx of patients. “As vaccine rates decrease, it could also really help us understand the changing epidemiology of measles in this current context,” said Gabriel Benavidez, an epidemiology professor at Baylor University in Texas. > When ProPublica asked hospitals across the Upstate, the northwest quadrant of South Carolina where the outbreak is concentrated, if they are reporting their measles-related admissions to the state and how many patients they had treated, few responded. Only Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System shared its total. (As of mid-February, the number was four.) A spokesperson for Prisma Health, a Greenville-based nonprofit that owns eight acute-care hospitals in the Upstate, said its hospitals are “reporting everything we are supposed to report.” She wouldn’t say how many measles patients have been hospitalized at Prisma hospitals or how many the system has reported to the state. ### Doctors in the Dark Bragg, who is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric infectious disease, works in the region of South Carolina where the outbreak is concentrated. It’s a highly religious expanse with the state’s lowest student vaccination rates. She recently met with a parent questioning the recommended vaccines for a 1-year-old child, which includes a first dose of [measles vaccine](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/vaccines/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info). “We’re in the middle of a measles outbreak,” Bragg thought. Then she began a 30-minute discussion of the vaccine’s extreme safety and 97% lifetime effectiveness when two doses are given. She explained that 95% of people in South Carolina who have gotten measles were unvaccinated. She rattled off historic risks of measles complications. Yet Bragg couldn’t tell the parent just how severely ill their fellow South Carolinians were getting from the outbreak sickening people around them. She had heard about pneumonia, ICU admissions — and even a case of encephalitis. But she hadn’t been able to confirm it, or find out if it was a child, much less how the patient fared. (Shortly after, Bell announced that the state health agency had learned of encephalitis cases in children, but she didn’t provide the numbers of patients or their outcomes.) As president of the South Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Martha Edwards is connected to physicians across the state. “All I’m hearing about are ‘complications of measles,’” which can mean a lot of different things, she said. Communicating the risks of severe illness is all the more important because few of today’s parents have seen measles up close. Neither have most practicing doctors. Early in his career, Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University who focuses on the prevention of infectious diseases, worked with the CDC to implement the measles vaccine. When he tells medical students today that in the 1960s, before the measles vaccine, 400 to 500 kids died of measles and its complications each year, “They’re stunned.” “If the severity of the illness cannot be ascertained — if it can’t be determined — it can’t be appropriately communicated to the public,” Schaffner said. “And the public might get the false impression that measles is milder than it really is.” At a briefing, Dr. Robin LaCroix, a Prisma pediatric infectious disease physician, said the organization’s physicians “have seen the whole gamut of acute and post-measles infections that have afflicted these children. They are sick.” Children have become listless and suffered blotchy rashes, coughing and coughing spasms, dehydration and secondary infections including pneumonias. Measles infections are particularly dangerous for babies who cannot get vaccinated yet and young children who haven’t gotten the second dose. Infections during pregnancy also pose severe risks for mothers who are not vaccinated or immune, including miscarriage and a tenfold increase in death due to pneumonia. Mothers can pass on the virus to their babies, “which can be catastrophic,” said Dr. Kendreia Dickens-Carr, a Prisma OB-GYN. [More than 900](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) confirmed measles cases have been reported across the country already in 2026, compared with 2,281 in all of 2025\. Most of this year’s cases are in South Carolina, but Florida has reported 63 cases and neighboring North Carolina 15, including one hospitalization. “We really do need to think about the way in which we report these things, because viruses and bacteria don’t respect state lines,” said Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician running as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate in South Carolina. “Public health professionals from one state to another should be comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges.” The most advanced pediatric care in the state is provided at the Medical University of South Carolina’s campus in Charleston, several hours away from the Upstate on the coast. So far, its children’s hospital hasn’t admitted any measles patients, doctors said. Dr. Danielle Scheurer, the chief quality officer at MUSC, celebrated the state’s low hospitalization rate and said she doubted hospitals would object to required reporting of measles-related admissions if the state health agency were to change its rules. “Transparency here is going to help other states,” Scheurer said. “The more transparent we are about all of our statistics, the better off any other state is going to be in preparing.” ### Political Pressures Across South Carolina, large health care systems have bought up local hospitals and doctors’ practices. With that control, they can exert influence over what those doctors and hospital employees say publicly, especially when it comes to potentially controversial topics like vaccines. At the same time, they face pressure from Republican lawmakers and a growing segment of vaccine-wary patients. The result is often highly controlled information sharing, or a lack thereof. “There’s this level of caution that wasn’t there before,” Edwards said. She understands that hospitals don’t want to offend patients who are dubious of vaccines. Bragg agreed but said given that 93% of the state’s students are vaccinated, she worries the hospitals are “pandering to a small group.” A [pending bill](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126%5F2025-2026/bills/4009.htm?ref=down-ballot.info), sponsored by several of Spartanburg County’s state representatives, seeks to prevent hospitals and doctors from questioning or interfering “in any manner” with a patient’s right to refuse treatments or vaccines. During COVID-19, the bill contends, federal agencies collaborated with medical organizations and others “to orchestrate a coordinated and coercive propaganda campaign” to shame people who declined COVID-19 vaccines. Doctors and hospitals argue they must balance public health risks with individuals who decline to take vaccines. The state’s Republican governor, [Henry McMaster](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blB35m%5FicGs&ref=down-ballot.info), and major [GOP candidates](https://www.wyff4.com/article/sc-republican-governor-candidates-hit-stage-upstate/70386487?utm%5Fsource%3Dchatgpt.com&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1771605940154003&usg=AOvVaw2XLolUEAnDeFF6UmzBRw02) to replace him have largely framed their responses to the measles outbreak around the concept of [medical freedom](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/us/measles-outbreak-south-carolina-quarantine.html?ref=down-ballot.info), particularly when discussing vaccine mandates. Andrews, the pediatrician running for the U.S. Senate, said she’s experienced the “chilling effect” the GOP’s “anti-science movements” have had on health care systems and individual physicians. “If you speak up, you are at risk of being censored,” Andrews said. “If you speak up, you are at risk of losing your job. So everyone is just trying to keep their head down and do what’s best for their patients.” Bragg is among the declining ranks of doctors who run their own independent practices. She has the freedom to post what she wants to on social media and to wear pro-vaccine T-shirts that say things like, “Got polio? Me neither because I got the vaccine.” But one recent day, her 10-year-old son asked why she insisted on wearing the T-shirts. “Even a 10-year-old can tell you how polarizing vaccines have become,” Bragg said. Despite that, she has continued to wear them. --- ## Sign up for Down Ballot The best state and local government news Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. --- # Expert says UMMC could face ‘weeks to months’ of recovery after cyberattack by Gwen Dilworth, Mississippi Today February 24, 2026 University of Mississippi Medical Center clinics across the state will remain closed and elective procedures are canceled through Wednesday as officials respond to a cyberattack that targeted the state’s only academic medical center. Patients across Mississippi have [missed health care appointments](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/02/20/patients-ummc-cyberattack/?ref=down-ballot.info) and surgeries since the cyberattack, which occurred Feb. 19 and compromised the health care system’s IT network, forcing the shutdown of computer systems that hold patients’ electronic health records. The medical center has released few details about when it expects to resume normal operations, how extensive the attack was, what the attacker has demanded or whether any data was compromised. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for the medical center, confirmed the attacker has made financial demands in a Tuesday interview with SuperTalk. “Our highest concern is getting our services back open to be able to take care of our patients,” Woodward said. “But very quickly right after that is the integrity of our patient data.” Ransomware, or malicious software that holds computer systems or data hostage in demand for a payment, has increasingly targeted health care organizations with the aim of garnering large payouts by disrupting critical infrastructure, said Dr. Christian Dameff, an associate professor and co-director of the Center for Healthcare Cybersecurity at the University of California San Diego. Recovering hospital computer systems is often a labor and time-intensive process that involves rebuilding infrastructure, patching security gaps and ensuring that infiltrators no longer have access to the system, Dameff said. He said the breach at UMMC appears similar to other sophisticated attacks, which typically take more time to rebuild. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/24104420/1266452e-dd15-43b9-b6ff-3db2e5a25f81-e1771951500758.jpg) “It's not uncommon to see a ransomware attack like this last weeks to months,” Dameff said. He added that the impact of a cyberattack can persist for years after the intrusion. A 2020 cyberattack on the University of Vermont Medical Center resulted in the academic medical center losing access to its electronic medical record system for 28 days and cost the system about $65 million, [according to Vermont Public](https://www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2023-10-04/uvm-medical-center-hospital-president-testifies-to-congress-on-2020-cyberattack?ref=down-ballot.info). Like the attack on UMMC, it led to canceled health appointments and impeded residents' access to specialized care. Ashly Thompson is a Forest resident with neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes benign tumors to grow on nerve endings. She underwent surgery at UMMC on Feb. 11 to remove tumors on her arms, legs, face and stomach, a procedure that required a skin graft. Thompson was scheduled for follow-up appointments Feb. 19 — the first day of the cyberattack — and the following Wednesday, but both appointments were canceled. On Monday, she told Mississippi Today that her skin was growing over her stitches, a complication that has resulted in infection in the past, and that she had run out of pain medication. She went to a separate, local emergency department Monday, but staff told her they could not remove the stitches and recommended she return to her surgeon, which she said caused her anxiety because she did not know when she would be able to have her stitches removed or pain medication refilled. UMMC contacted Thompson Tuesday morning to inform her she is scheduled for a post-operative care appointment on Friday as a part of the medical center’s effort to schedule time-sensitive appointments. The public hospital system is operating a triage line as of Monday to field calls from patients, such as requests for medication refills or postoperative care visits, according to a hospital [social media post](https://www.facebook.com/ummcnews). The call line, which can be reached at 601-815-0000, will prioritize time-sensitive needs. “Teams are working around the clock to restore full operations and help as many people as quickly as we possibly can,” said the hospital’s statement. Large-scale attacks can also affect nearby hospitals that aren’t under attack, creating what Dameff called a cyberattack “blast radius.” His [2021 study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2804585?resultClick=3&ref=down-ballot.info) of a month-long ransomware attack on a single San Diego hospital found that emergency rooms at two nearby hospitals saw higher patient volumes, longer wait times, more stroke patients and more instances where patients left the hospital without seeing a doctor. This is not the first time a cyberattack has affected hospitals in Mississippi. In December, Singing River Health System on the Gulf Coast [shut down](https://www.wlox.com/2025/12/24/singing-river-health-system-responds-after-identifying-possible-cyber-incident/?ref=down-ballot.info) some computer systems after identifying a “potential cyber incident.” In 2023, separate attacks affected [Singing River Health System](https://singingriverhealthsystem.com/2023/10/notice-of-data-event/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [OCH Regional Medical Center](https://www.och.org/och-regional-medical-center-data-security-incident/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Starkville. There are few clear national standards for responding to cyberattacks on health care organizations, Dameff said. Plans for responding to the infiltrations are often not comprehensive enough or drilled in advance, and almost all hospitals struggle during the recovery process. Some states have made efforts to increase hospital security against cybersecurity intrusions. In 2024, the New York State Department of Health imposed [new cybersecurity regulations](https://regs.health.ny.gov/content/section-40546-hospital-cybersecurity-requirements?ref=down-ballot.info) for all general hospitals. Maine lawmakers are currently considering legislation that would require hospitals to develop plans for cybersecurity attacks after cyberattacks last summer shut down several Maine hospitals, [according to the Maine Wire](https://www.themainewire.com/2026/02/proposed-law-would-require-maine-hospitals-to-develop-cybersecurity-intrusion-response-plans/?ref=down-ballot.info). A comprehensive plan to respond to cybersecurity attacks requires both preventive measures and preparation for the worst, Dameff said. “We need to spend time and money trying to prevent these attacks,” he said. “But, we have to prepare for when we go down, because that is inevitable.” Cyberattackers frequently employ “double extortion” tactics, meaning they demand payment not only to restore access to a hospital’s computer system but also to prevent the release of stolen data, Dameff said. Paying the ransom does not necessarily accelerate the recovery of computer systems, he said, yet organizations sometimes choose to pay in order to avert a potential data breach. Federal agencies, including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, have been assisting UMMC in the recovery process. UMMC facilities include [seven hospitals and 35 clinics](https://web.archive.org/web/20251018083234/https://umc.edu/Healthcare/Patients-and-Visitors/Hospitals%20and%20Clinics.html) statewide, and it operates the state’s only Level 1 trauma center. Roughly 10,000 people work for UMMC, making the health care provider one of the state’s largest employers, and UMMC’s annual budget amounts to about $2 billion. Emergency departments at UMMC hospitals in Jackson, Grenada, Madison County and Holmes County remain open, according to a Saturday statement from the hospital. The shutdown also disrupted county health departments, which rely on the same electronic health record system. Although the system was taken offline as a precaution, health departments continue to accept patients as usual, said Mississippi State Department of Health spokesperson Greg Flynn. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/02/24/expert-ummc-recovery-cyberattack/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1169540&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- [Demolition of Mission Hospital’s St. Joseph’s campus appears imminent • Asheville WatchdogMore than a year after Mission Hospital announced that it planned to demolish its St. Joseph’s Hospital, work is set to begin to tear down the century-old facility. Permits have been filed and are pending with the city of Asheville, and staff have been told that they will no longer be able to park at \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-11.png)Asheville WatchdogTED CLIFFORD![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/FullSizeRender-1-scaled-1.jpg)](https://avlwatchdog.org/demolition-of-mission-hospitals-st-josephs-campus-appears-imminent/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Demolition of Mission Hospital’s St. Joseph’s campus appears imminent Corporate owner HCA Healthcare has applied for permits with the city of Asheville for a complete teardown of the facility by [TED CLIFFORD](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/ted-clifford/?ref=down-ballot.info) February 24, 2026 More than a year after Mission Hospital announced that it planned to demolish its St. Joseph’s Hospital, work is set to begin to tear down the century-old facility. Permits have been filed and are pending with the city of Asheville, and staff have been told that they will no longer be able to park at the St. Joseph facility beginning Friday. The permits call for a “complete demolition” of the facility, according to plans filed with the city. Last week, Mission CEO Greg Lowe told staff in a message that the parking lot is being permanently closed as part of upcoming “remediation” plans. St. Joseph’s Hospital was once one of the largest hospitals in western North Carolina, but its services have increasingly been phased out and parts of its campus have fallen into disrepair. Its problems only grew in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene, which devastated the region. Mission Hospital did not respond to requests to comment on this story. n December 2024, Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell told *Asheville Watchdog* that Helene had “exacerbated” the deteriorating condition of the facility. “The only real option for that campus is its eventual demolition,” Lindell told *The Watchdog* at the time. The origins of Saint Joseph’s go back to Nov. 23, 1900, when a group of nuns from the Sisters of Mercy arrived in Asheville and opened an 18-bed tuberculosis sanitarium on the corner of French Broad and Patton avenues. Almost 100 years later it had grown into a 338-bed facility. In 1996, Saint Joseph’s Hospital began an organizational partnership with Memorial Mission Medical Center to form Mission Hospital. Two years later, Mission bought Saint Joseph’s from the Sisters of Mercy for $90 million. When Nashville-based HCA Healthcare purchased Mission Hospital in 2019, it agreed not to shut down any part of the Saint Joseph’s site for two years, according to the asset purchase agreement. But the opening of Mission Hospital’s North Tower in 2019 was at least in part motivated by an awareness that Saint Joseph’s would have to be decommissioned in the near future. Dr. Scott Joslin, former head of the Asheville Specialty Hospital, located on the St. Joseph’s campus, previously told *The Watchdog* that the facility had a range of problems including water leaks and electrical issues. As a result, the hospital was becoming too expensive to maintain and was reaching the end of its useful life, Joslin said. #### **What do the permits say?** Since the beginning of the year, Mission Hospital has applied for two permits with the city of Asheville for work on the Saint Joseph Hospital campus. The city has approved a permit for the complete demolition of “all buildings and foundations” at the Saint Joseph Hospital complex located at 428 Biltmore Avenue. The application also states that the hospital will perform “selective demolition” of the pedestrian bridge spanning Biltmore Avenue. The bridge currently connects the Saint Joseph campus with Mission Hospital’s medical offices. The permit also states that the hospital intends to carry out selective demolition of some features including “paving, parking surfaces, hardscape, landscape and irrigation.” While the city has approved the permit, it still needs additional approval from the Municipal Sewerage District, according to city spokesperson Kim Miller. The second permit for commercial site works is on hold pending revision, Miller said. In December, the city issued a permit for interior demolition at the Saint Joseph campus. That permit allowed for a “total stripout” of four floors of the building, including internal demolition of plumbing, electrical and asbestos removal. However, that permit needs to be closed out as the scope of the work has changed, Miller said. While the new permit applications do not indicate when the demolition is set to begin, parking changes for staff will start almost immediately. Beginning Friday, staff will have access only to two levels of the five-story Biltmore parking deck, a surface lot and at the Dogwood lot located at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. Employees will need to take a shuttle from the Dogwood lot to the hospital. A new surface parking lot will be built on the Saint Joseph’s campus as part of the remediation, according to a Mission Hospital newsletter. --- *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on* [*our Facebook page*](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog)*. Please submit your comments there.* --- [*Asheville Watchdog*](http://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Ted Clifford is The Watchdog’s investigative reporter focusing on healthcare. He can be reached via email at tclifford@avlwatchdog.org*[*.*](https://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to* [*avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* --- # This Ballad Hospital, Flooded by Hurricane Helene, Will Be Rebuilt for $44M in a Flood Plain Brett Kelman February 9, 2026 A small Tennessee hospital that was [destroyed by a surging river](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/unicoi-hospital-helicopter-rescue-flood-risk-hurricane-helene/?ref=down-ballot.info) during Hurricane Helene will soon be rebuilt on low-lying farmland that could face several feet of flooding in a much smaller storm, risking another disaster if the new facility is not built to withstand extreme weather, according to a KFF Health News analysis. Ballad Health announced in January that it would spend about $44 million to rebuild the 10-bed Unicoi County Hospital in a field behind a Walmart in Unicoi, Tennessee, about 7 miles from the shuttered hospital that was the site of catastrophic flooding and a daring helicopter rescue on Sept. 27, 2024. But the new location also faces significant flood risk, according to a KFF Health News review of information from [Fathom](https://www.fathom.global/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [First Street](https://firststreet.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), two climate data companies whose flood modeling is considered more sophisticated than outdated flood maps published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Both Fathom and First Street estimate that a 100-year flood — a weather event more common and less intense than Helene — could cover much of the hospital site with more than 2 feet of water. “The proposed site is so obviously a flood plain geomorphologically,” said Oliver Wing, chief scientific officer at Fathom. “You don’t need a model to see that.” Wing said the new hospital site was actually more likely to flood than the old site and “very risky” for development due to a nearby creek and potential storm runoff from mountains to the west. But the flooding would be less powerful than at the old site, Wing said, and its impact could be lessened by elevating the hospital or building earthen embankments. Ballad Health confirmed the new hospital location but did not respond to questions about flood risk or defenses planned for the site. In a brief written statement, spokesperson Molly Luton said Ballad was working with geotechnical professionals, Zurich Insurance Group, and a high-profile architecture firm in Nashville, Earl Swensson Associates, to “plan and build a safe hospital for the Unicoi County community.” Luton said Ballad is also working with FEMA, which is providing about [$7.4 million for the rebuild](https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20250212/unicoi-countys-ballad-health-hospital-awarded-98-million-rebuild-after?ref=down-ballot.info). FEMA has served as the nation’s de facto authority for estimating flood risk for half a century, and its flood maps generally determine which buildings must be designed to withstand a flood. But those maps are often incomplete and do not account for the impacts of climate change. FEMA’s flood maps of Unicoi, last updated in 2008, do not identify the new hospital site as a flood hazard zone. Nationwide, FEMA maps don’t capture much of the flood risk identified by Fathom and First Street, which use sophisticated computer models and detailed terrain data to create flood simulations that are relied on by major developers, insurance companies, and government agencies. First Street publishes much of its modeling online, while Fathom shared data with KFF Health News through a data-use agreement. Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, said that while the hilly terrain of northeastern Tennessee may limit Ballad’s options to rebuild, it should not ignore the data from Fathom and First Street or rely purely on FEMA’s maps, which suggest the hospital could be built with minimal flood protections. If Ballad builds behind the Walmart, Berginnis said, it should follow the [latest standards](https://www.floods.org/news-views/flood-mitigation/asce-24-24-delivers-major-update-to-flood-resistant-design-standards/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the American Society of Civil Engineers, which recommend elevating hospitals enough to withstand a 1,000-year flood — like the one caused by Helene. According to those standards and Google Earth elevation data, that could require earthwork to raise the ground of the Unicoi site by at least 8 feet and as much as 18 feet before construction. “It’s going to require some elevation, and there is going to be some cost,” Berginnis said. “But, my God, you just lost your dang hospital.” The destruction of Unicoi County Hospital in 2024 prompted a [KFF Health News investigation](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/hospital-flooding-risk-investigation-trump-policies-fema/?ref=down-ballot.info) into hospital flood risk, which used Fathom data to identify more than 170 hospitals across the nation that face the greatest risk of significant or dangerous flooding. Of those hospitals, at least 39 faced circumstances similar to Unicoi’s: Nearby rivers or creeks were predicted to swell beyond their banks and engulf the facility. Ballad Health, which owns Unicoi and 19 other hospitals in Tennessee and Virginia, is the [nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly](https://kffhealthnews.org/the-only-hospital-in-town/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the only option for hospital care for most residents in a 29-county region of Appalachia. In a news release announcing the Unicoi reconstruction, Ballad said it was finalizing a land purchase for the new hospital site and expected construction to begin in the spring and last two years. Ballad Health Chief Operating Officer Eric Deaton said the reconstruction announcement was “a long-awaited step toward healing.” “Rebuilding Unicoi County Hospital is about more than bricks and mortar,” Deaton said in the release. “It’s about keeping care close to home for people who have been through so much.” Tennessee state Rep. Renea Jones, a Republican whose district includes both the old and new Unicoi hospital sites, praised the reconstruction plan in Ballad’s news release. The release did not mention that Ballad would buy about 15 acres of land for the new hospital from Jones’ family, which was first reported by [local television station WJHL](https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/ballad-announces-plans-for-new-unicoi-county-hospital/?ref=down-ballot.info) and later confirmed by Tennessee public records. Jones did not agree to be interviewed about the sale of the property or its flood risk. The destroyed Unicoi County Hospital, which cost $30 million, was built along a bend of the Nolichucky River even though FEMA had labeled that area a flood zone for decades. Mountain States Health Alliance began construction in 2017, then later became Ballad Health, which opened the hospital in 2018. Alan Levine, who was the CEO of Mountain States and now leads Ballad, told KFF Health News in a 2024 interview that Mountain States was aware of the flood risk when Unicoi was built but believed levees could protect the facility. “I feel like everything we did when we built it was done the right way,” Levine said. Helene proved too much to handle. As the hurricane carved a deadly path across Southern states and into Appalachia, heavy rainfall caused the Nolichucky to overspill its banks and engulf the hospital in as much as 12 feet of water. Floodwater pushed inside the hospital and cut the power, forcing patients and staff to evacuate to the roof in hopes of rescue. Ultimately, helicopters plucked 70 people from the roof and the rushing water, narrowly avoiding fatalities. Angel Mitchell, a Unicoi survivor who was airlifted to safety with her ailing mother, said she was appalled that the hospital would be rebuilt in an area vulnerable to another flood. But the worst part, Mitchell said, was that locals would have little choice but to tolerate the risk because of Ballad’s monopoly. “It’s ridiculous,” Mitchell said. “We want to go somewhere to heal, not somewhere to worry.” [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about [KFF](https://www.kff.org/about-us/?ref=down-ballot.info). ### USE OUR CONTENT This story can be republished for free ([details](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/ballad-health-copa-hospital-monopoly-underperformed-tennessee-lowered-standards-pubic-health-benefit-appalachia/view/republish/?ref=down-ballot.info)). [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [Subscribe](https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/?ref=down-ballot.info) to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. This [article](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/unicoi-county-hospital-tennessee-rebuild-flood-plain-risk-fema-ballad-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150) ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=2152309&ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0) --- # Roadless areas of national forests could go away under proposed rule change by Jack Igelman, Carolina Public Press February 25, 2026 Last summer, Southeast director at the Center for Biological Diversity **Will Harlan** spotted an eastern [hellbender](https://carolinapublicpress.org/64537/hellbenders-watauga-river-nc-salamander-mountains-dam-removal/?ref=down-ballot.info) through his fogged snorkeling mask during a river survey. “It’s magical to see them in the wild,” said Harlan of the elusive and threatened creatures which depend on clean water. The foot-long salamander was curled around a clutch of eggs beneath a rock in a streambed in the South Mills River watershed in the Pisgah National Forest, roughly 5 miles from Hendersonville. Portions of that watershed are within an Inventoried Roadless Area, or IRA, a designation intended to protect backcountry areas and watersheds within national forests. The federal designation restricts road building and logging in undeveloped portions of national forests, including tens of thousands of acres of IRAs in Western North Carolina. That protection, however, may end later this year. The US Department of Agriculture is weighing rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, commonly called the Roadless Rule, potentially opening tens of thousands of IRAs within the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forest to future road development. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Rescinding the Roadless Rule is intended to return some land management decisions to local Forest Service officials. Critics of the rule argue that in addition to limiting local control of federal land, it hinders wildfire management, restricts access to timber and complicates the active management of public forests. **Nick Smith** of the American Forest Resource Council, who favors rescinding the rule, said the forest products industry wants public lands to stay in public hands. But easing or eliminating the rule “gives some flexibility to local public land managers to consider limited access where it's necessary for things like forest health, wildfire mitigation or emergency response,” he said. Supporters of the Roadless Rule, however, such as Harlan, say it protects wildlife habitat, safeguards water quality, preserves scenic landscapes and supports the Western North Carolina outdoor recreation economy. “Rescinding the rule would be the single largest evisceration of public lands in US history. It’s been around for 25 years and protects millions of acres” including some of the Southern Appalachian’s best hellbender habitat, Harlan said. “It’s now all on the chopping block.” ### Environmental response In 1999, the USDA Forest Service placed a moratorium on road construction within areas identified as roadless. The agency released a draft rule the following year for public review. Attorney **Kristin Gendzier** of the Southern Environmental Law Center said about 95% of the 1.6 million public comments supported it. “It was just wildly, wildly popular,” she said. While a decade of litigation challenging the rule followed, a federal appeals court ruled in 2011 that the Forest Service legally adopted the Roadless Rule. The US Supreme Court declined to review the rule in 2012, upholding the regulation. The [Roadless Rule](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2001/01/12/01-726/special-areas-roadless-area-conservation?ref=down-ballot.info) is straightforward, Gendzier said: “It's just a couple of paragraphs and it says, for the most part, don't build roads and log in these special areas.” **Josh Kelly**, the resilient forests director of MountainTrue, said IRAs in Western North Carolina include some of the region’s best-known places such as Cheoah Bald near Bryson City, portions of the Black Mountains in Yancey County, the South Mills River watershed in Henderson County, Dobson Knob in McDowell County and upper Wilson Creek in Caldwell and Avery counties. “One of the justifications for the Roadless Rule is that it covers places that perhaps shouldn't be wilderness, but also shouldn't be developed,” he said. “It's this middle ground of places where the Forest Service has the latitude to do controlled burns, thinning, manage insect and disease control” yet the designation is not as restrictive as federal wilderness. Gendzier said rescinding the rule is unsound from both an environmental and economic standpoint. “They're roadless for a reason. These are areas that are rugged and steep. Cost effective timber is either gone or the forest service has already set it aside. So we're talking about a pretty small subset of timber that’s difficult to access in areas that are providing tremendous benefits.” ### Forest industry responds Smith of the AFRC supports a review of the Roadless Rule in order to better address severe wildfires, declining forest health, climate stress, and to expand access for the timber industry. “Our industry is not as big as it was 20 or 30 years ago, but we're still here,” Smith said. “We recognize that federal lands aren’t industrial tree farms, but our members still depend on lumber and wood fiber from federal lands to keep their doors open and workers on the job.” North Carolina has more than 18 million acres of timberland, much of which is privately owned. A labor force of roughly 70,000 work in forestry and logging operations, sawmills, furniture mills and pulp and paper industries across the state. Rescinding the Roadless Rule doesn't mandate building new roads or logging, Smith said. “The big picture is that we think the Forest Service is right to take a hard look at the rule, because in our opinion, it reflects an older way of thinking about forests as static landscapes which doesn't align with today's realities of severe disturbance” such as exotic pests and climate change, he said. The Pisgah and Nantahala national forests contain nearly 152,000 acres of IRAs within their 1 million acres. Under the Pisgah–Nantahala Forest Plan, IRAs are managed primarily as “backcountry” or under more restrictive designations such as the Appalachian Trail Corridor, Heritage Corridors or designated Wilderness. In an email response to [Carolina Public Press](http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a USDA spokesperson said the intent to rescind the Roadless Rule is to return land management decisions to local authorities, such as district rangers. Future land management decisions would still have to comply with existing forest plans, federal law and public review requirements. A land management plan for Pisgah and Nantahala was completed in 2023\. Plans are revised every 10 to 30 years. **David Whitmire** of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Council, an organization advocating for more active forest management to improve wildlife habitat in the Pisgah and Nantahala national forests, said there “is no need to change the plan or management concerning roadless areas. The plan identified enough acres outside of IRAs to support active management. We can’t get the work done where we can go, so I don’t see the benefits of going into roadless areas.” The USDA acknowledged that due to “steep terrain, remote locations and statutory limits, road construction in these areas is generally impractical, and the effect of rescinding the Roadless Rule on current management is expected to be minimal.” The statement said repealing the Roadless Rule nationally “is more important than ever because 24.5 million acres of the wildland urban interface are within or near IRAs.” The wildland urban interface, or WUI, refers to places where the built environment intermingles with nature. North Carolina has more WUI acres than any other US state. “Roads improve access for wildland firefighting when timing is critical and lives are at risk,” said the statement. According to the Forest Service, between 1984 and 2024, 13% of IRAs nationwide experienced high or moderate severity wildfire. However, opening more roads, Harlan said, may instead increase wildfire risk. “Wildfires are four times as likely in areas with roads than in roadless tracts, and 90% of all wildfires occur within half mile of a road,” he said, adding that road building in national forests is “reckless and dangerous. Roads are expensive to build and the Forest Service can’t maintain what we already have.” [Taxpayers for Common](https://www.taxpayer.net/energy-natural-resources/administration-seeks-to-repeal-roadless-rule-protections/?ref=down-ballot.info) Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said the USFS reported a $5.9 billion [maintenance backlog for road maintenance](https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fs%5Fmedia/fs%5Fdocument/FY24-forest-system-stats.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2024 and recommends the agency focus limited funds on repairing necessary transportation infrastructure rather than build new roads. “Rural economies have flourished because of recreation and tourism,” Harlan said. “Let's allow logging in places where it makes sense and protect the biologically and recreationally important places within IRAs.” ### Roadless Rule repeal proposal part of pattern Without the rule, forests could drop roadless protections either through a project-specific plan amendment or during the next forest management plan revision, Gendzier said. “Don't worry ‘we have forest plans and that nothing changes’ is not true,” she said. “Forest management plans are no substitute for the Roadless Rule. In fact, plans that protect IRAs generally do so because the rule requires it.” Gendzier also questioned whether the USDA’s stated push to rescind the rule is genuine. “This isn’t about wildfire and it’s certainly not about a need for more roads,” she said. “The Forest Service already has over double the miles of our federal highway system. This proposal is another move to elevate the interests of extractive industries above those of the public when it comes to managing public land.” Kelly of MountainTrue said he believes a nationwide effort is underway to push regulatory boundaries and pressure local rangers to implement a Project 2025 vision to roll back environmental rules and favor industry. Project 2025 is a set of conservative policy recommendations for Trump’s second term. Among their recommendations was to update the “endangerment finding,” the scientific conclusion that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare. The Trump administration revoked the finding on Feb. 12. “I would expect to see further envelope pushing locally from top down pressure from Washington,” Kelly said. Gendzier also believes the proposed recision of the Roadless Rule is part of an across-the-board attack on public lands that includes the adoption of loopholes exempting national forest projects from environmental review and staffing reductions. The Trump administration has taken steps to reduce environmental regulations and long-standing land protection rules to promote the active management of forests and increase timber sales. Among several actions, Trump has weakened the National Environmental Policy Act, considered the bedrock of environmental law, by reducing the scope of environmental reviews, shortening project approval timelines and limiting public participation. “On its own, rescinding the Roadless Rule is a terrible idea that would do irreparable harm,” Gendzier said. “But in tandem with the other rollbacks, it’s mind-boggling.” ### What’s next for Roadless Rule? Changing a USDA administrative rule requires a formal, public process, usually initiated by submitting a petition for rulemaking and influenced by thousands of comments received during a 21-day comment period. A proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule and a draft Environmental Impact Statement are expected in March 2026\. Following another public comment period, a final decision is expected in late 2026. “It's a big decision, and one that shouldn't happen quickly if done responsibly,” Gendzier said. “That is not the kind of stability and rational policy decisions that our public lands need and deserve.” Gendzier urged the public to contact elected officials and submit comments opposing any proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule. Congressional Democrats have also proposed legislation, the Roadless Rule Conservation Act, to cement the Roadless Rule in law. Harlan supports a new law, but regardless of congressional action, he predicts that a deluge of public comments will win the day. “Roadless areas are far too valuable to the American public,” he said, pointing out that the rule has survived multiple repeal attempts over the last two decades because of overwhelming public support. “Each time, the public and a few key leaders have stepped up to save it,” he said. A [Susquehanna Poll](https://www.pew.org/-/media/assets/2026/02/national-poll-on-roadless-rule.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) released on Feb. 2 surveyed attitudes and opinions toward the Roadless Rule regulation. It found that 72% oppose repeal. Opposition to repeal is broad-based, including 71% of Republicans, 73% of Democrats and Independents and 71% of Trump voters. Despite strong public support for the rule, Smith of the AFRC said they will also continue to share their expertise about best forest practices they believe are necessary to improve forest health and support the timber industry. “Everybody deserves a voice, whether it's AFRC or an environmental group. We're going to continue to speak our truth and we think it’s a good time to look at policies that are 20 or 30 years-old,” he said. “We represent an industry that has been in the forest for a long time and see ourselves as an important part of the equation when it comes to public lands.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74604/roadless-areas-of-national-forests-could-go-away-under-proposed-rule-change/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Finding financial footing for Walthourville: One mayor’s journey by Robin Kemp, The Current February 12, 2026 Which bill to pay first — thousands of dollars to the county landfill? More to Georgia Power or Coastal Electric? Insurance? Sewer? Last winter, Walthourville Mayor Sarah B. Hayes sat at the conference table with City Clerk Shana Moss, agonizing how to prioritize the debts facing their town of 4,000\. Founded by strongwilled local women wanting independence from unhelpful Liberty County leaders, Wathourvile had thrived on one source of revenue: an independent water system. The city had a budget surplus in 2017\. But after Covid rocked the country and the economy, its finances went off the rails. The city [passed an unbalanced budget](https://thecurrentga.org/2023/10/28/walthourville-to-hold-millage-rate-budget-hearings-after-election/?ref=down-ballot.info) with no funding mechanism in 2023, and owed years of mandatory state financial audits and reports. Monthly cash flow didn’t cover bills. Meanwhile, others in the county, she was told, were hoping to annex Walthourville. City council members bickered with Hayes, blaming her for the city’s woes. The depth of Walthourville’s financial problems mirrors those of hundreds of rural Georgia towns and the state’s rural counties. Most struggle with shrinking populations and ways to pay for vital services that authorities must provide to retain their charter. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/20251112-Mayor-Hayes-100-1024x683.jpg) Walthourville Mayor Sarah Hayes. Nov. 12, 2025, in Walthourville. Despite the hurdles, by the end of 2025, Hayes, a retired Army drill sergeant, had put her town on the path to financial solvency. Her victory amid small town rivalries illustrates how valuable strong public servants are to the fabric of Georgia communities. “The military taught me organizational skills, how to work with people from all races and walks of life, and the concept of teamwork,” Hayes said. “And always do what is ethically and morally correct.” ### An outsider ascends to power Walthourville is a quiet town of modest single-family and mobile homes that has become a draw for retirees from Fort Stewart. The CSX railroad track runs past City Hall and the old train depot. Other than the train horn, nights are mostly quiet. City leaders tout its economic potential: A bypass road 20 years in the making is expected to spark new mixed-used developments and bring new sales and property taxes. Yet one of Walthourville’s assets is sometimes its Achilles heel. Five miles from Hinesville, its social and political life are intricately entwined with the rest of Liberty County, and strong family and social ties cross pollinate city and county politics. ![Walthourville's incumbent Mayor Larry Baker outside the polls, Nov. 5, 2023. (Photo: Robin Kemp/The Current)](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/IMG_7163.jpg) Former Walthourville Mayor Larry Baker outside the polls, Nov. 5, 2023. For example: Walthourville’s former mayor Larry Baker, who held that seat for four years after 12 years as councilman, served alongside his father, James Hendry, and his uncle, Charlie Anderson. Baker’s grandfather was former councilman, mayor, and civil rights pioneer Henry Frasier, Sr., uncle of Liberty County Commissioner Justin Frasier. Such relationships are not uncommon in rural Georgia. At their best, family ties can offer closeness that can help build up a community. At their worst, they can work to shut out newcomers and new ideas. Hayes, who is devoted to her church and the local seniors group, didn’t see her outsider status as a problem in 2011 when she ran for public office as another way to serve her adopted community. She won Baker’s vacated seat, served one term, lost reelection, then won again in 2019\. When Covid struck, Hayes lost 11 relatives to the deadly virus. Yet she soldiered on. For a brief time, city finances were buoyant — Walthourville received millions in federal funds to upgrade public safety and the water system. But financial oversight slipped. The city’s former accountant, Matthew Caines, resigned after the council failed for four months to approve his pay. State-mandated financial [audits for 2021, 2022, and 2023](https://www.cityofwalthourville.com/sites/default/files/uploads/minutes/2024%20Minutes/may-14-2024-minutes.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) were left unfinished. Yet the council also approved spending decisions that exacerbated cash flow problems. In 2022, Baker appointed Hayes mayor pro tem. That role put her into conflict with him and other long-term council members, especially when Hayes started [questioning city spending](https://www.cityofwalthourville.com/sites/default/files/uploads/minutes/2022-city-of-walthourville-mayor-and-council-meeting-minutes.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), including a new city vehicle for Baker. Hayes complained that the council was prioritizing personal needs over public ones: “The city cannot move forward with this infighting. One member doesn’t like this member; therefore, they will not support what could be good for the city. That isn’t fair to citizens.” The council also balked at [the unpopular task of discussing whether to levy the city's first property tax.](https://thecurrentga.org/2023/11/11/walthourville-citizens-confront-city-officials-at-first-millage-rate-hearing/?ref=down-ballot.info) Walthourville needed a major sustainable revenue source. The county was set to collect almost $1 million annually on part of a large residential development inside the city limits straddling the Liberty-Long county line. Walthourville couldn’t afford to leave that kind of money on the table. ![Sarah B. Hayes speaks with supporter Ellen Neal during the Nov. 5, 2023 mayoral runoff in Walthourville. Hayes unseated incumbent mayor Larry D. Baker.](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/WV-MayoralRunoff-5Dec23-15-1024x576.jpeg) Sarah B. Hayes speaks with supporter Ellen Neal during the Nov. 5, 2023, mayoral runoff in Walthourville. Hayes unseated incumbent mayor, Larry D. Baker. Such shortsightedness prompted Hayes to run for mayor in 2023 against Baker and win with a commanding 55% of the vote. The city, she thought, needed to make tough choices to stay solvent — a position backed by the city’s accountant. Caines, at the end of 2023, warned the city lacked enough revenue to cover municipal salaries and public safety. The only solution, he said, was a millage rate — the formula to calculate property taxes — and a fee for fire services. [A Georgia Municipal Association consultant agreed.](https://thecurrentga.org/2023/10/13/walthourville-spending-may-force-property-tax/'?ref=down-ballot.info) Yet Baker’s loss appeared to sharpen opposition to Hayes’ ideas among the former mayor’s relatives and allies. ### Under fire Georgia cities must provide at least three services like public safety, sanitation, and water to keep their charter. [As mayor](https://thecurrentga.org/2023/12/05/hayes-elected-walthourville-mayor/?ref=down-ballot.info), Hayes was one of four elected officials authorized to sign checks. In her first year in office, she gained in-depth knowledge of the city’s debts that threatened her ability to pay for city services. One constant drain was a monthly loan payment of $20,000 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture dating back to [2011\. ](https://coastalcourier.com/news/local-news/walthourville-awarded-627k-loan-for-water-system-infrastructure/?ref=down-ballot.info) Without reliable city budgets to consult, Hayes and Moss tried to manage. City staff spent hours on the phone, negotiating payment arrangements from grumpy creditors, begging for goodwill and borrowing time. As early as October 2023, Hayes said she wasn’t opposed to a millage rate but that citizens must be afforded the chance to give their input at public meetings. ![Walthourville's new mayor, Sarah B. Hayes (foreground) leads the new council's first work session at City Hall, Jan. 17, 2024. Clockwise from left: Councilmembers Patrick Underwood, Bridgette Kelly, Robert Dodd, Luciria Lovette, and Mitchell Boston.](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/WV-Work-Session-Jan-17-2024-1024x768.jpg) Walthourville's new mayor, Sarah B. Hayes (foreground) leads the new council's first work session at City Hall, Jan. 17, 2024\. Clockwise from left: Councilmembers Patrick Underwood, Bridgette Kelly, Robert Dodd, Luciria Lovette, and Mitchell Boston. [Council members agreed during their first work session to expedite millage rate hearings](https://thecurrentga.org/2024/01/19/new-budget-new-leadership-for-walthourville/?ref=down-ballot.info). Boston and Dodd also advocated privatizing city services. But the inability to pay for those services could put the city charter in peril if Walthourville were unable to bring and keep its bills current. Instead of collaboration, Hayes faced whisper campaigns. Council members blamed her, alleging she had kept them in the dark about the financial woes. City records, however, show that council members knew, or should have known, the extent of the problems. Two elected officials must sign every check: the mayor and one councilmember. Three councilmembers -- Boston, Bridgette Kelly, and Robert Dodd -- are authorized co-signers, a robust oversight for spending. With financial problems mounting, Hayes perceived that some on council might have an ulterior motive against saving the town. Hinesville, she came to believe, wanted Walthourville to go bankrupt so it could annex the smaller city for its own gain. ![Walthourville Mayor Sarah B. Hayes (seated, center) and Councilmembers Bridgette Kelly, Marcus Boston, Luciria Lovette, Patrick Underwood, and Robert Dodd (L-R), Jan. 23, 2024.](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/IMG_0010-1024x768.jpeg) Walthourville Mayor Sarah B. Hayes (seated, center) and council members Bridgette Kelly, Marcus Boston, Luciria Lovette, Patrick Underwood, and Robert Dodd, Jan. 23, 2024. Hayes appealed to civic pride when financial common sense had failed. “I had a public official come to me and say, ‘I need to talk to you about annexing.’ I said, ‘You talking about Walthourville, it’s gonna be a short conversation. That ain’t happening.’” she told council members. “And I know y’all feel the same way.” Rather than create camaraderie, Hayes’ actions spurred deeper conflict. Boston and Councilmember Patrick Underwood later told *The Current GA* they felt Hayes talked down to them. Underwood began openly disrespecting Hayes during council meetings, sometimes even shouting her down. Hayes kept to her strategy of taking the high road. “I learned you can’t approach everything the way a drill sergeant would,” she told *The Current GA.* Through 2024, council arguments ranged from petty to monumental. For example, the council decided, over Hayes' objection, [for taxpayers to fund their hotel rooms in Savannah for annual training. ](https://www.cityofwalthourville.com/sites/default/files/uploads/agendas/cow-amended-agenda-and-packet-for-07-22-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) The council then stopped attending pre-meeting work sessions, the time when policy discussions occur. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/WV-26Aug25-0202-2-1024x683.jpg) Councilman Mitchell Boston, Walthourville, August 26, 2025. Boston, [who ran for office on “growth and change,”](https://thecurrentga.org/2023/10/09/walthourville-candidates-talk-water-finances/?ref=down-ballot.info) kept pushing to privatize city services like sanitation, as well as ending employee health insurance coverage. That, he said, would erase the city’s growing annual deficit for basic operating expenses. Boston had an ally in Dodd, and contacted two companies, [Atlantic Waste Services and ABC Waste of Atlanta](https://thecurrentga.org/2024/08/21/walthourville-citizens-invited-to-comment-on-sanitation-companies/?ref=down-ballot.info), ahead of any city council decision. To cover the city’s debts to the landfill, he suggested selling the city's recently-purchased $250,000 garbage truck. In August 2024, the city held [a public hearing for citizens](https://thecurrentga.org/2024/08/29/walthourville-citizens-seek-answers-on-garbage-contract/?ref=down-ballot.info) to ask about Boston’s proposal to privatize sanitation services. ![(L-R) Sam Sullivan of Atlantic Waste and Charles Stewart of ABC Waste listen during Walthourville's public hearing on privatizing sanitation, Aug. 22, 2024.](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ContractBidders-WVSanitation-24Aug2024-1024x576.jpg) From left, Sam Sullivan of Atlantic Waste and Charles Stewart of ABC Waste listen during Walthourville's public hearing on privatizing sanitation, Aug. 22, 2024. Some residents accused city officials of hiding information about the plan from the public — and Hayes lost momentum. Council members approved Boston’s idea, ignoring advice from the city accountant that it wouldn’t save money. ### Cash flow woes At the end of 2024, Hayes’ financial juggling act crashed. At a meeting to approve the 2025 budget, Hayes told the council a sewer emergency had put the city at risk of massive fines. The city’s private contractor refused to fix the problem because of a delinquent payment. Hayes said she transferred $300,000 from the city’s special transportation fund called TSPLOST to its water fund. “I did not want the sewer backed up into citizens’ homes,” Hayes told the council. The episode reflected a years-long practice by which city officials moved cash from dedicated budgets to pay bills for other services, Hayes said. Although City Attorney Luke Moses told the council he was “certain” the transfer was legal, the council was skittish. They refused to pass the budget on time until Moses suggested they do so on the condition of amending it after the first of the year. Begrudgingly, the council passed the budget, on time. At its next meeting, the council moved the money back to TSPLOST. Another crisis erupted in the summer of 2025. Atlantic Waste, the private sanitation contractor, demanded immediate payment of $116,086.80 in unpaid invoices within the week or it would cut all service to the city. Hayes pleaded with council members to participate in a special-called meeting to handle the crisis. “You know our funds situation,” she wrote. “Not enough revenue to pay everything.” Instead, three council members used the fragile financial situation as further ammunition against Hayes, accusing her again of financial mismanagement. The city attorney has told *The Current GA* that, while Hayes’ maneuvers are not best practice, moving money between city funds in such a situation is not illegal. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AtlanticWasteTruck-WV-1024x768.jpg) An Atlantic Waste Services garbage truck parked outside Walthourville's public works yard, Feb. 6, 2025\. Atlantic Waste serves both Walthourville and Allenhurst in Liberty County. News of the garbage crisis spread quickly, and angry residents mobbed the Aug. 22 council meeting. Minutes before it started, Hayes ensured pickup services by paying [$38,000](https://thecurrentga.org/2025/08/21/atlantic-waste-halts-walthourville-garbage-service-aug-24/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the outstanding bill. But Hayes delivered other bad news: The city had not paid its portion of Liberty Transit bus service for two years and thus owed Hinesville over $42,000. This sent the council over the edge. The council censured Hayes [at the August 25, 2025, council meeting](https://www.cityofwalthourville.com/sites/default/files/uploads/agendas/coiw-mayor-and-council-meeting-amended-agenda-and-packet-for-08-26-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Boston accused Hayes of prioritizing city staff payroll over garbage pickup residents had paid for. Underwood called for Hayes to resign: “You have not demonstrated transparency with the city council. As a mayor, you are expected to lead and manage day-to-day operations. But your actions continue to show a lack of accountability.” Hayes said she was trying to be a good financial steward, while council members spread “lies and half truths” about her. “I don’t understand all this hate,” she said. “I haven’t done anything to anybody” Over the next few weeks, Hayes kept untangling the red tape and mopping up the red ink. She approved [state-mandated Report of Local Government Finance forms for 2022 through 2024, prepared by Moss and submitted to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.](https://ted.cviog.uga.edu/financial-documents/budget%5Fdocs%5Fview?og%5Fgroup%5Fref%5Ftarget%5Fid%5B%5D=718&field%5Ffiscal%5Fyear%5Fvalue%5Bmin%5D%5Byear%5D=&field%5Ffiscal%5Fyear%5Fvalue%5Bmax%5D%5Byear%5D=&field%5Freport%5Ftype%5Ftarget%5Fid%5B%5D=5&ref=down-ballot.info) Meanwhile, political backlash against Hayes continued. During the Oct. 14 council meeting, Kelly called a town hall meeting, in response to what she said were “many” citizens’ questions about the millage rate and fire fee. Only three residents showed up, along with Kelly, Lovette, Boston, Underwood, and the fire chief. Afterward, the four council members told *The Current* that their driving motivation to oppose the mayor was rooted in personal dislike. “I think it’s personality,” Lovette said, “I was going to say it was control,” Kelly added. Boston agreed. “Yeah, definitely control.” The bottom line for Kelly: “She’s not from here.” But through the political theatrics, financial realities finally started to sink in. The city’s new accountant, Eon van Wyk, told the council that while the fund transfers weren’t absolutely orthodox, he had not found any misuse of resources or fraud. “We have not come across any suspicious payments,” he said. By November, Hayes seemed to have hit on an argument that would hold water with residents and her council members. The 12-mil tax rate, she said, could be a temporary measure until the city could get its financial house in order. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/WV-MillageRateVote-1-5-1024x576.jpg) Walthourville Mayor Sarah B. Hayes presents a slideshow during the final millage rate hearing, Nov. 10, 2025\. Councilmembers voted 4-1 to pass a 12-mil property tax; Hayes does not get a vote. She told one citizen at the final budget hearing, “We have very high hopes for the future that these things will be taken care of, and with the income coming in we can pay down these bills, and hopefully roll back the millage rate. So don’t give up on us.” On Nov. 11, Hayes called for a vote on the proposal to enact a 12-mil property tax measure, which is projected to raise just over $1 million. The council was silent for several seconds until Moses prompted them for a motion. Underwood took a gulp from a bottle of water and made the proposal. “Is there a second?” Hayes asked. After a long pause, Boston said, “Second,” then scooted his chair forward. Hayes called for the vote. Silently, Boston, Kelly, Dodd, and Underwood raised their hands. Lovette did not reply when asked what her vote was. “Motion carries,” Hayes said. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/WV-MillageRateVote-1-1024x564.jpg) Walthourville's City Council votes 4-1 to impose a 12-mil property tax, the city's first-ever property tx. The city has been battling years of mounting expenses and unpaid debt without a steady source of revenue. ### One battle at a time With that victory under her belt, Hayes pushed through the next challenge: a balanced budget. Hayes, van Wyk and his accounting team guided council members through the cold, hard facts during six budget workshops between November and December. When they asked the accountants to show them different scenarios to test their own political priorities — ending the unpopular fire fee, privatizing more services — they could see what for years had been clear to Hayes. The city would need all its fees to balance the budget until the first property tax payments arrive. Hayes won over enough opponents to narrowly pass a $6 million balanced budget. Lovette and Dodd voted against it, with Lovette saying she didn’t want to break her promise to voters that the fire fee would be temporary. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/WV-26Aug25-0221-1024x683.jpg) Walthourville City Council. August 26, 2025. Hayes described the victory as bittersweet. “I had to balance the needs of the city with the needs of the citizens, to make sure that all our bases were covered and that we were really looking out to make sure the citizens and the City of Walthourville didn’t go under,” she said. Moving into 2026, Hayes hoped to start a new cooperative chapter with her council members. Over the Christmas holidays, Hayes paid out of her pocket to spruce up the council chambers, refreshing the brown 1970s-era wall paneling, replacing the stained carpet and painting the walls a warm, pale yellow, Even the old stacking chairs got a makeover with fresh seat covers. The move channeled the spirit of Walthourville’s first mayor, Lyndol Anderson, who is revered, in part, for donating her salary to help fund the new city’s first annual budget. Hayes says the move was “a statement. This city is making a fresh start.” Bookkeepers are still working on four years of mandatory audits that Walthourville must file to be eligible for state and federal grants. At publication time, [state records show related budget reports for 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2024 have been submitted.](https://ted.cviog.uga.edu/financial-documents/budget%5Fdocs%5Fview?og%5Fgroup%5Fref%5Ftarget%5Fid%5B%5D=718&field%5Ffiscal%5Fyear%5Fvalue%5Bmin%5D%5Byear%5D=&field%5Ffiscal%5Fyear%5Fvalue%5Bmax%5D%5Byear%5D=&field%5Freport%5Ftype%5Ftarget%5Fid%5B%5D=5&ref=down-ballot.info) Reports for 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2023 are outstanding. Meanwhile, Hayes’ political rivals have circled. Boston, now mayor pro tem, is demanding more cuts to overworked city staff. He pushed through a $20,000 payment for consultants to update job descriptions and evaluate employee benefits packages. Boston has said he sees no reason for the city to pay for its employees’ healthcare when the state could pick up the tab. Kelly, meanwhile, has announced another town hall at the Liberty County College and Career Academy to be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21\. No agenda was available at publication. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/20251112-Mayor-Hayes-101-1024x683.jpg) Walthourville Mayor Sarah Hayes at her desk. Nov. 12, 2025, in Walthourville. Hayes said she plans to continue shepherding the flock so that the city can survive. “My goal, my focus is, you know, to balance things where we’re getting the bills paid, but people can afford to live in Walthourville,” Hayes said. “And I think once we get through this transition period, it’ll be okay.” This [article](https://thecurrentga.org/2026/02/12/finding-financial-footing-for-walthourville-one-mayors-journey/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Current](https://thecurrentga.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-TheCurrent_site-icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://thecurrentga.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=97659&ga4=G-L05EDNCRHK) ### BREAKING: Spartanburg County Council calls meeting for Friday regarding possible new data center URL: https://down-ballot.info/breaking-spartanburg-county-council-calls-meeting-for-friday-regarding-possible-new-data-center/ Last updated: 2026-02-26T19:51:49.000Z **Previous coverage:** [BRIEFS: Spartanburg County could get another data centerProposed project needs to pass two more votes before approval by county council![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1-2.png)Down BallotBen Ledbetter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/photo-1584169417032-d34e8d805e8b)](https://down-ballot.info/briefs-spartanburg-county-could-get-another-data-center/) SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A new data center for Spartanburg County could be approved tomorrow afternoon. Spartanburg County Council called a [special meeting](https://www.spartanburgcounty.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/%5F02272026-2010?ref=down-ballot.info) for Friday, February 27, 2026 at 3 p.m. The meeting can be viewed on YouTube and the link is on the agenda: [Spartanburg County ITVideo’s delen met vrienden, familie en de rest van de wereld![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/favicon_144x144.png)YouTube![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/AIdro_md2bLIf1N56n7TCkQIIHwhbjH9XuYEgQJu0nfiOPLoQQ-s900-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj)](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7gqyyNDZ0uoyo%5Fg7qCsoCw?view%5Fas=subscriber&ref=down-ballot.info) The sole item on the agenda is to consider giving the third and final reading of the ordinance that would be needed to approve the Project Spero data center. ### California Pays Farms to Make Biogas from Hog Waste in North Carolina, Where Locals Say It’s Fueling Pollution URL: https://down-ballot.info/california-pays-farms-to-make-biogas-from-hog-waste-in-north-carolina-where-locals-say-its-fueling-pollution/ Last updated: 2026-02-25T10:00:29.000Z # By Blanca Begert February 15, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15022026/north-carolina-hog-waste-biogas-fuels-california/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* TURKEY, N.C.—The Align RNG biogas processing facility here is so small, you would miss it if you weren’t looking for it. Just four small silver mounds beside a massive 100-foot grain silo under which trucks drive day-in, day-out loading up with hog feed. [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/02/IMG_2023.png)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NCMap-doton-Turkey.PNG?ref=down-ballot.info#mw-jump-to-license) Location of Turkey within North Carolina / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS In a landscape dominated by the infrastructure of hog and poultry farming—slaughterhouses, barns, slat manufacturers and truck washers—the mounds could be mistaken for backup generators or small storage tanks from a distance. But they’re actually part of a boom in turning hog waste into renewable natural gas (RNG) that’s building out hundreds of miles of underground pipelines, catching locals off guard and raising concerns across eastern North Carolina about the technology’s potential to increase pollution that isn’t carried away in the pipes. Adding even more complexity to the biogas controversy in the region is the fact that a California-funded project sits at its heart. “We’re asking people in the community, ‘What’s in your backyard?’” said Devon Hall, an environmental justice organizer who founded the Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help (REACH) in Warsaw, North Carolina, about fifteen minutes down the road from the facility. “Some of this is happening under the radar.” REACH is based in Duplin County, the second-most [hog-dense](https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics%5Fby%5FState/North%5FCarolina/Publications/County%5FEstimates/Hogs.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) county in the U.S. after neighboring Sampson County, where the Align RNG plant is located. Pigs outnumber people in the region about 40 to 1, but you can’t see the hundreds of combined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, where pigs live crammed tightly into pens, from the road. They’re hidden behind screens of trees. Small markers telling delivery trucks which road to turn onto are often the only indication that they’re there. Decades of research and reporting since the 1990s have shown the [harmful impacts](https://corporate.dukehealth.org/news/nc-residents-living-near-large-hog-farms-have-elevated-disease-death-risks?ref=down-ballot.info) of the pork industry on rural communities in [Sampson](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/sampsoncountynorthcarolina/PST045224?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Duplin](https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/duplincountynorthcarolina/POP815223?ref=down-ballot.info) counties, where about a quarter of the population is Black, about a quarter is Latino and over 20 percent of residents live below the poverty line. Manure sprayed on agricultural fields drifts into people’s homes, [contaminating them](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/06/07/scientists-find-dna-proof-of-swine-feces-in-north-carolina-homes/?ref=down-ballot.info) with dangerous bacteria. Phosphorus and [nitrates from wastewater](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/10/20/environmental-justice-and-industrial-farming-in-eastern-nc/?ref=down-ballot.info) seep into the groundwater, poisoning local rivers and drinking wells. Hog manure lagoons also drive climate change, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas more than 80 times more potent than carbon-dioxide over a 20-year span, into the atmosphere. Biogas production, where farmers install methane-trapping devices known as digesters over their manure lagoons and turn the captured gas into fuel, is promoted by the pork and biogas industries, and utilities, as a way to address some of these problems—namely, the methane emissions and noxious odors from manure ponds. “Few technologies can achieve so much good, so broadly across the community,” said Aaron Ruby, a spokesperson for Dominion Energy, a partner on the Align RNG project, a $500 million joint venture between the utility and the agricultural conglomerate Smithfield. But since the technology has started becoming more prevalent in the region, it’s [spurred new concerns](https://grist.org/justice/making-fuel-from-pig-poop-sounds-exciting-unless-you-live-nearby/?ref=down-ballot.info) among local residents. “Communities have been suffering with the swine CAFOs for many years,” said Hall. “Whenever you begin to talk about biogas, then it just further embeds the problem.” Advocates say that instead of reducing the number of hogs on farms, or encouraging [cleaner](https://waterkeeper.org/news/we-have-technology-to-manage-hog-waste-better-we-need-to-use-it/?ref=down-ballot.info) alternative manure management systems to reduce air and water pollution, biogas production locks in the current manure lagoon system with all its potential for groundwater seepage and [spills during floods](https://www.publicradioeast.org/pre-news/2023-03-07/hog-waste-has-many-contaminants-raising-concerns-about-nearby-water-quality-but-a-study-out-of-ecu-seeks-solutions?ref=down-ballot.info). And while covering lagoons to capture methane can potentially lower greenhouse gases and pathogens, it alone does nothing to limit many of the other pollutants in hog waste, like fine particulate matter, nitrogen, and phosphorus, which still get sprayed onto nearby fields. Some studies have even shown that digesters, depending how the devices are operated, can increase livestock waste’s [releases of ammonia](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19092022/dairy-digesters-methane-california-manure/?ref=down-ballot.info), a toxic gas linked to [12,400 deaths](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/05/10/farm-pollution-deaths/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the U.S. per year. The United States Department of Agriculture warns that the methane capture process can [exacerbate certain water quality issues](https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-08/Anaerobic%5FDigester%5F366%5FCPS%5FOct%5F2017.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by increasing the water-solubility of nitrogen in livestock waste. That raises the risk of nitrate contamination of drinking water which is linked to miscarriages and infant mortality and is a particular concern in an area where most residents draw their water from wells. “We’ve been using the term ‘pollution swapping’ to acknowledge that this is a technology for which there’s evidence that it may reduce some pollutants while also making others worse,” said Brent Kim, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Department of Environmental and Engineering who was part of [a recent literature review](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40572-025-00512-8?ref=down-ballot.info) that concluded digesters should not be promoted as a manure management and energy solution. Digesters can also introduce new pollutants when they flare, or burn excess biogas, he added. “You might get byproducts like nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, particulate matter and other things that pose respiratory risks for people.” ## **Biogas Spreads Controversy East and West** All the way across the country in California, a program called the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) has long been a point of conflict between environmental justice groups, state air regulators and the renewable natural gas industry, especially when it comes to its incentives for dairy and swine biogas. The program launched in 2012 with the aim of reducing transportation emissions in the state. It sets an average, gradually lowering carbon intensity threshold for fuels, and requires higher carbon fuel producers, like oil refiners, to buy credits from lower carbon fuel producers, such as solar developers or companies that make biogas from livestock and landfill methane. The expectation is that the alternative fuels will displace fossil fuels in the mix over time. Dairy and swine biogas generates about a fifth of the credits in the program, earning hundreds of millions in subsidies each year. The state says the program as a whole has reduced the carbon intensity of the fuel mix by 15 percent since it launched, and California dairy farmers say it provides them with the money they need to install methane capture devices to lower their climate impact, technologies for which there aren’t many other funding streams available. > “This is not only counterproductive and a distraction from real climate solutions. It’s also having serious environmental and public health consequences for communities across the country.”— Amanda Starbuck, Food & Water Watch But environmentalists and environmental justice advocates say the program vastly overcredits CAFOs for these reductions, diverting precious resources from electrification to reduce fossil emissions toward a fuel that may exacerbate local pollution around farms and still emits carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants when combusted in trucks and buses. Even more egregious, they say, is the fact that the program allows farms in Wisconsin, Texas, New York, Missouri and several other states to sell biogas credits into the California market for fuel that never makes it into California pipelines. About 45 percent of the biogas credits in the program go to 196 out-of-state farmers, according to the environmental group Food & Water Watch. “This is not only counterproductive and a distraction from real climate solutions. It’s also having serious environmental and public health consequences for communities across the country,” said Amanda Starbuck, the group’s research director, [in a statement](https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/11/18/lcfs-bigger-factory-farms-more-pollution-nationwide/?ref=down-ballot.info). Last year the program accepted credits for the first time from dairy farms in Iowa, where state law allows dairy farms to [exceed established herd limits](https://www.thegazette.com/agriculture/more-manure-means-more-energy-iowa-dairies-with-biogas-digesters-are-growing-their-herds-which-c/?ref=down-ballot.info) if they install methane capture devices on their manure lagoons. One Iowa farm that entered the program leaked [over 375,000 gallons](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2022/07/06/company-filled-massive-manure-container-despite-signs-of-a-leak-dnr-says/?ref=down-ballot.info) of manure from a digester lagoon into a nearby creek in 2022\. And 2025 was also the first time the program touched the epicenter of pork production—North Carolina. ## **Who Is Buying Biogas?** Years before the LCFS existed, utilities in North Carolina were required by a 2007 state law to source some of their power from renewable sources, including 0.2 percent from swine biogas by 2018\. It’s the only state in the country that mandates sourcing electricity from animal waste. Since the law passed, a handful of North Carolina farmers and project developers have earned income from installing digesters, which look like domed tarps, over swine lagoons, and using the captured methane gas to power on-site generators to produce electricity. They [sell the electricity to local utilities](https://www.reflector.com/duplin/news/local/renewable-energy-certificates-spark-swine-industry-concerns/article%5Fbce7c8a5-3322-4b9c-a08a-25b416ff1b7c.html?ref=down-ballot.info), but several deadline extensions later, the utilities [aren’t even close](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17042022/north-carolina-biogas-justice/?ref=down-ballot.info) to reaching their biogas targets. “That speaks to how expensive the technology is, how difficult it is to get off the ground,” said Blakely Hildebrand, a lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center, or SELC, which has represented groups suing the state over digester permits. More recently, [larger-scale projects](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/04/17/601857456/in-north-carolina-hog-waste-is-becoming-a-streamlined-fuel-source?ref=down-ballot.info) to collect methane gas from farms and refine it into renewable natural gas that can be injected directly into pipelines have garnered interest from developers and utilities. In 2018, a project called [Optima KV](https://pig.energy/?ref=down-ballot.info#contact) in Duplin County became the first in the area to do that, injecting RNG produced from a cluster of five Smithfield swine farms directly into a pipeline owned by Piedmont Natural Gas, a subsidiary of Duke Energy. Purchasing the gas to use in its power plants earns the utility [renewable energy credits](https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-inks-second-innovative-swine-waste-power-deal-in-2016?ref=down-ballot.info) that count toward its requirements under the 2007 law. Around the same time, a company called [Carbon Cycle Energy](https://www.villarifood.com/blog/warsaw-north-carolina-carbon-cycle-energy-biogas-facility/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Carbon%20Cycle%20Energy%2C%20LLC%20%28%E2%80%9C,operations%20into%20its%20anaerobic%20digesters.) was[ promoting its own partnership with Duke](https://www.villarifood.com/blog/warsaw-north-carolina-carbon-cycle-energy-biogas-facility/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Carbon%20Cycle%20Energy%2C%20LLC%20%28%E2%80%9C,operations%20into%20its%20anaerobic%20digesters.) to provide renewable energy credits for biogas made from swine and food waste in Warsaw, although the build-out was delayed several years. And Duke in 2023 signed [a 15-year renewable energy credit agreement](https://www.bioenergy-news.com/news/montauk-announces-duke-partnership-for-north-carolina-waste-to-energy-facility/?ref=down-ballot.info) with a project called Montauk Renewables in Sampson County that is currently under construction at the site of an old furniture factory in Turkey. Dominion and Duke did not answer questions about if and how the Align RNG project ties into their state-mandated renewable portfolio targets. But the project has another deep-pocketed funder—California, which is directing subsidies towards biofuel production in North Carolina to help meet its transportation emissions targets. Smithfield and Dominion did not respond to requests for comment as to how important the California credits are to their operation and whether or not they had them in mind when they began to develop their project [as a joint venture in 2018](https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/dominion-energy-smithfield-foods-form-rng-joint-venture-15781?ref=down-ballot.info). They first submitted paperwork to sell credits into California’s transportation emissions trading market in August 2023, and their full application was [finalized in March 2025](https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic/fuels/lcfs/fuelpathways/comments/tier2/b0771%5Fsummary.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). But analysts and economists say the program has been integral to getting dairy and swine manure biogas projects off the ground nationwide. “The cost of building and operating digesters is on the order of nine to ten times the cost of producing natural gas just by pulling it out of the ground. So it only is going to make economic sense with policy help,” said Aaron Smith, a professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California, Berkeley. He said at the moment, the two main sources of policy help nationwide are the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, which credits farmers for producing biogas, and the LCFS in California, which contribute about equally to the subsidies producers can get. “In North Carolina, companies would be making a decision whether they’re getting more value out of the LCFS versus out of the state program,” he said. ## **A Civil Rights Complaint Against California-Backed Digesters** The California-funded Align RNG project sits at the center of the biogas debate in eastern North Carolina. The project aims to connect 19 hog farms via 30 miles of pipeline to a central processing facility known as the Grady Road Project, which came online in November 2022\. Six of the farms are already hooked up to the project. Located in a 13-mile radius around the facility, the farms are all owned by or on contract with Smithfield, a Chinese-owned company that’s the world’s largest pork producer and processor and contracts with about [1,000 farms](https://businessnc.com/smithfield-foods-plans-ipo-invests-in-n-c-hog-producers/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the state. Three of the farms—the Kilpatrick farm, M&M-Waters farm and Goodson farm—are owned by Murphy-Brown LLC, a subsidiary of Smithfield. The other three—the Dell farm and two DM farms—are owned by Ironside Investment Management, part of [a trust](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/91388/000119312513345433/d559173d10ka.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) created by Murphy-Brown’s founder, Wendell H. Murphy, which contracts with Murphy-Brown. Each farm has between about 10,000 to 20,000 hogs. The farms send their raw biogas via underground pipelines to a compression facility, where it’s transformed into biomethane to meet utility pipeline specifications and injected into a Piedmont Natural Gas pipe. The fuel powers homes and businesses in the area, while the “environmental attributes” are sold separately to offset transportation emissions across the country in California. The project claims it will eventually be able to capture [142,000 metric tons](https://alignrng.com/projects.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info) of methane each year, the equivalent of taking 30,000 cars off the road. But in 2021, as the Grady Road Project was being developed and farms were starting to install digesters over their manure lagoons, two groups, the Environmental Justice Community Action Network, or EJCAN, and Cape Fear River Watch, sued the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) over its permitting of digesters at four farms, three of which are currently selling credits into the LCFS. As is common practice when installing digesters, the farms that participate in the Grady project cover their original manure lagoons to capture methane and then pump the remaining wastewater to other open lagoons built to store post-digester waste. That waste is ultimately sprayed onto fields. The groups alleged that digester waste produces more harmful ammonia emissions and contains phosphorus and nitrogen in more water-soluble forms than waste stored in conventional lagoons. They argued that the state failed to consider waste systems that would be less harmful to health and have fewer environmental impacts when they granted the digester water permits. “These digesters leave in place the harmful lagoon and spray field system, and digesters, without doing anything else, can exacerbate the pollution problems associated with industrial animal agriculture,” said Hildebrand, the lawyer with the Southern Environmental Law Center, or SELC, which represented the groups. “The state did nothing to address that.” SELC also filed a Title VI Civil Rights Act [complaint](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26976494-2021-09-27-epa-title-vi-complaint-final-exhibit-index/?ref=down-ballot.info) with the Environmental Protection Agency against the DEQ on behalf of the Duplin County NAACP and the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign. They said that in granting the four permits, and then [the following year](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26976497-2022-12-22-supplement-to-title-vi-complaint-05rno21r4/?ref=down-ballot.info) [creating a statewide general permit](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31082021/north-carolina-farm-bill-biogas-smithfield/?ref=down-ballot.info) for digesters that streamlined approvals for similar projects, the state was discriminating against people of color. “There’s pretty ample evidence that industrial hog operations and the pollution disproportionately impact Black, Latino and Native American communities in eastern North Carolina,” said Hildebrand. “Based on our analysis, these new permits were also disproportionately harming communities of color.” In 2022, the state’s chief administrative law judge, a former DEQ secretary, [sided with the agency](https://ncnewsline.com/briefs/in-role-as-judge-donald-van-der-vaart-rules-on-behalf-of-deq-hog-farms-and-against-enviro-groups/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the legal case over the digester permits in the New Hanover County Superior Court. But the EPA decided to [investigate the Title VI complaint](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25012022/epa-north-carolina-cafo-biogas-permit/?utm%5Fsource=InsideClimate+News&utm%5Fcampaign=c9f4ae988d-&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F29c928ffb5-c9f4ae988d-329214841), and that probe [remains open.](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/05/06/13-epa-civil-rights-complaints-including-one-targeting-poultry-farm-pollution-in-limbo/?ref=down-ballot.info) [In 2022](https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-09/2022.10.03-rec-ncdeq-tolling-epa-case-no-05rno-21-r4.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the agency said it commenced “informal resolution agreement discussions” with NC DEQ. The EPA press office declined to comment on the case. Kemp Burdette, the Cape Fear riverkeeper who was also involved in the lawsuits, said he no longer bothers testing the water quality in Stewart’s Creek, which runs near the farms, because of how contaminated it is year after year. He said he wasn’t aware until ICN reached out that California’s LCFS program was one of the funding vehicles behind the digesters. “I guess they think they’re doing the right thing by buying swine biogas credits in North Carolina,” said Burdette. “But all they’re doing is shifting the burden to the poorest, most desperate North Carolinians.” A spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board didn’t answer the question of whether CARB knew about the civil rights complaints against digester permits for the Kilpatrick, Goodson and Waters farms when it certified the Align RNG project for credits. But she said that the agency could revoke the credits if the facility was found to be in violation of any laws. “CARB evaluated the LCFS pathway applications associated with the RNG project based on applicable LCFS pathway certification requirements,” said spokesperson Lindsay Buckley. “CARB may invalidate LCFS credits generated or transferred in violation of laws, statutes or regulations other than the LCFS itself.” ## **More Pipelines Could Be Coming** On a rainy day, Sherri White-Williamson drives east from her office in an old armory in the town of Clinton, in Sampson County, and down Highway 24 to point out some of the biogas buildout in the area. White-Williamson, executive director of the EJCAN group that sued the state over digester permits in 2021, has been organizing against biogas for the past six years, since around the time when Align RNG’s first air permit hearings were announced in 2020\. “We went out to get people engaged to be on that public comment call, especially people that were right across the road and down the road from the Align facility,” said White-Williamson, who was working for the North Carolina Conservation Network at the time. “What we learned was that no one realized what it was.” Beyond concerns about pollution from manure lagoons and digesters on farms, White-Williamson says residents are worried about pollution from the biogas pipeline and processing infrastructure itself. According to the Align RNG’s air quality permit, the Turkey facility plant could emit 64 tons to 220 tons of pollutants each year. Last year, when White-Williamson brought a group of EPA officials to tour the area, they stood in front of the processing plant for about 10 minutes while gas flared from the facility, releasing pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which can cause respiratory issues, into the air. Behind a chain link fence five miles down the road loom the three towers of Carbon Cycle Energy biogas facility, which had [a spill](https://www.wral.com/story/biogas-facility-contains-spill-to-82-acre-property-in-duplin-county-ncdeq-says/21500643/?ref=down-ballot.info) two summers ago. As climate change intensifies storms and makes them more frequent, the chances of accidents increase. “When you’re concentrating that much methane in pipelines and storage tanks, there are risks of fires and explosions,” said Kim, the researcher at Johns Hopkins. EJCAN has limited resources to learn more about the digester and biogas projects in Sampson and Duplin counties, especially after the Trump administration cut a $417,000 [research grant ](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06092025/trump-cancels-hog-farm-biogas-health-study/?ref=down-ballot.info)the nonprofit was a part of to study the health impacts of biogas production in the state. And the funding for the projects cropping up in the region is opaque. Utilities in North Carolina report to the North Carolina Utilities Commission on their [plans for biogas sourcing](https://starw1.ncuc.gov/NCUC/ViewFile.aspx?Id=5df4152b-9606-4673-af39-9b71f7b19aa5&ref=down-ballot.info) but the details are redacted from public documents. And while CARB posts new LCFS[ fuels pathways](https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic/fuels/lcfs/fuelpathways/comments/tier2/b0771%5Fcover.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) on its website, it shares limited information about what the other subsidies and credits projects might be receiving. The [LCFS application](https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic/fuels/lcfs/fuelpathways/comments/tier2/b0771%5Freport.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) for the Align RNG Grady Road project notes the project earns credits from the federal Renewable Fuels Standard Program, which sets minimum volumes of renewables in transportation fuel and pays developers for delivering it. The project also sells North Carolina renewable energy credits and carbon credits for electricity production, and the application says the gas used to make electricity is accounted for separately from the gas sent to the refining facility that gets credited by California’s program. Ruby, the Dominion spokesperson, said the amount and cost of the credits, as well as what buyers might be purchasing from the facility, is “proprietary business information.” Dominion and Smithfield didn’t respond to a request for comments as to whether they were seeking additional certifications from the LCFS as they look to connect 13 more farms to the Align RNG project. They also didn’t say what funding streams they plan to use as they look to build a second processing facility in Bowdens, just north of Warsaw, that would serve 35 more farms, according to [the Align RNG website](https://alignrng.com/projects.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info). CARB didn’t say whether it was working on certifying any more fuel pathways from North Carolina swine farms. But it’s likely more North Carolina agribusinesses and developers will be seeking credits from the program. As of August 2025, the state already has [30 permit applications](https://www.deq.nc.gov/water-resources/animalops/digester-permit-update-october-2024/open?ref=down-ballot.info) for digesters waiting in the queue, in addition to the 59 already permitted, most of them in Duplin County. Smithfield has announced it wants digesters on 90 percent of its farms in the state. The uncertainty over where the money is coming from has local residents and advocates on edge. “If there’s this boom, then what I want to know is, what other farms are connected to the California carbon trade?” said Hall, at REACH. ### N.C. continues to pursue cleanup of illegal mine in Mitchell County URL: https://down-ballot.info/n-c-continues-to-pursue-cleanup-of-illegal-mine-in-mitchell-county/ Last updated: 2026-02-24T22:37:08.000Z [Previous coverage of Horizon 30 in Mitchell County](https://down-ballot.info/nc-deq-obtains-preliminary-injunction-against-illegal-mining-operation-in-mitchell-county/) **Down Ballot Staff Reports** The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and North Carolina Department of Justice have taken additional legal measures to ensure an unpermitted Mitchell County mine site is properly returned to a safe and stable condition, according to a [news release](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/40b5ed4?ref=down-ballot.info) from the environmental regulatory agency. On Feb. 17, 2026, DEQ and NCDOJ filed a supplemental complaint and motion for preliminary and permanent injunctive relief related to reclamation at the Carter Mine site operated by Horizon 30, LLC in Mitchell County, which has been the subject of numerous violations and a court order since last year. On Aug. 13, 2025, a Watauga County Superior Court judge found Horizon 30 was operating a mine without a permit in violation of the Mining Act and issued a preliminary injunction ordering the company to immediately cease mining and seek approval for reclamation of the mine site. Since the August order, DEQ has conducted multiple inspections at the mine and has observed that Horizon 30’s attempt to stabilize the site and prevent erosion and sedimentation was not successful, that the site is substantially destabilized and that the resulting sediment is now harming off-site areas, including the Nolichucky River and a tributary called Hollow Poplar Creek. “The Horizon 30 mine continues to violate the Mining Act, causing significant damage to the site and nearby waterways including the Nolichucky River,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “DEQ will continue to use its authority under law to make sure this site is cleaned up and does not have long-term negative effects on communities in Mitchell County and downstream.” > “At this point, this mining company knows it’s breaking the law, but it’s doing it anyway,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “We shut down their illegal mining operation in western North Carolina and now we’re going back to court with DEQ to force them to clean up their mess.” DEQ is asking the court to issue an injunction requiring Horizon 30 to implement the approved reclamation plan, prevent further off-site damage from occurring, and obtain and implement a sediment removal plan for Hollow Poplar Creek approved by DEQ's Division of Water Resources. A full timeline of events prior to the August court order can be found [here](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2025/08/12/deq-obtains-preliminary-injunction-against-illegal-mining-operation-mitchell-county?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). Copies of recent legal filings can be found [here](https://portal-nc.tylertech.cloud/Portal/DocumentViewer/DisplayDoc?caseId=109563046&caseNum=25CV001176-600&docName=2026-02-17+Motion+to+Supp+Inj.pdf&docType=Public&docTypeId=1418&documentID=103902765&eventName=Supplemental+Proceedings&isVersionId=false&locationId=101061001&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) and [here](https://portal-nc.tylertech.cloud/Portal/DocumentViewer/DisplayDoc?caseId=109563046&caseNum=25CV001176-600&docName=2026-02-17+Supplemental+Complaint+and+Motion.pdf&docType=Public&docTypeId=1418&documentID=103903165&eventName=Supplemental+Documentation&isVersionId=false&locationId=101061001&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). More information regarding [Horizon 30’s application](https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/EnergyMineralLandResources/DocView.aspx?dbid=0&id=18218&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery), the Division's[ documentation](https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/EnergyMineralLandResources/Browse.aspx?dbid=0&startid=18214&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) regarding Horizon 30, information about the [public hearing](https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/EnergyMineralLandResources/Browse.aspx?dbid=0&startid=22140&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) that was held in July and information regarding the [permit denial](https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/EnergyMineralLandResources/Browse.aspx?dbid=0&startid=49107&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) can be found on the DEQ website. ### Who gets a bed in NC’s state psychiatric hospitals — and who waits? URL: https://down-ballot.info/who-gets-a-bed-in-ncs-state-psychiatric-hospitals-and-who-waits/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T10:00:30.000Z by Rachel Crumpler and Taylor Knopf, North Carolina Health News February 12, 2026 #### **By Rachel Crumpler and Taylor Knopf** North Carolina’s three state-run psychiatric hospitals — Cherry, Central Regional and Broughton — serve about 570 patients each day. But hundreds more who need inpatient treatment wait weeks — even months — for a bed to open. The [three state-operated facilities](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/state-operated-healthcare-facilities/facilities/state-psychiatric-hospitals?ref=down-ballot.info) are designed to serve North Carolinians with the most complex mental health needs, including those who can’t be treated safely in community-based facilities. They provide inpatient mental health care regardless of a person’s insurance status or ability to pay, and patients often stay for long periods — more than 100 days on average, [according to state data](https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewDocSiteFile/104701?ref=down-ballot.info). ![map visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/27415963/thumbnail) There could be more capacity for care, but about 300 of the state’s 901 psychiatric hospital beds sit empty every day because of [persistent staffing shortages](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/02/28/worker-shortages-mean-hospitals-cant-admit-mental-health-patients/?ref=down-ballot.info), leaving roughly one-third of the system’s capacity offline amid widespread need. Exacerbating the need, more of the limited bed space is being occupied by [people involved in the criminal justice system who need court-ordered treatment before proceeding to trial](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/02/27/incapable-to-proceed-defendants-wait-months-in-jail-for-treatment-capacity-restoration/?ref=down-ballot.info). That can mean that more people from the community experiencing mental health crises end up [waiting weeks — or even months — in emergency rooms](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/08/22/emergency-department-burden-shown-in-mental-health-data/?ref=down-ballot.info) for beds to open. This bottleneck has caused the total number of annual admissions to state-run psychiatric hospitals to fall sharply over the past decade — despite no decrease in the need for care. In fiscal year 2013, 3,210 patients were admitted, and in fiscal 2025, there were just 875, according to N.C. Department of Health and Human Services data. That’s a 73 percent decline. The state has relied on Broughton, Cherry and Central Regional hospitals to serve North Carolinians with inpatient psychiatric needs since 2013, and since that time, staffing capacity and the acuity of the patient population has shifted over time — contributing to the decline in annual admissions. State health officials expect pressure on the already overburdened state psychiatric hospitals to intensify with implementation of [Iryna’s Law](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/24/nc-lawmakers-aim-to-curb-crime-with-stricter-pretrial-release-not-mental-health-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info), passed in response to a fatal stabbing in August on a light rail train in Charlotte. The man accused of the crime has a criminal history and severe mental health challenges. A provision in the law, which is scheduled to take effect this December, [orders more mental health evaluations to determine if people who are arrested should be involuntarily committed](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/18/nc-psychiatric-commitment-process-under-scrutiny-after-irynas-law/?ref=down-ballot.info) to receive forced treatment at a psychiatric facility. This would likely funnel more patients into an already-strained system that is struggling to keep up with demand for care. [No additional mental health funding or staffing resources were included](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/24/nc-lawmakers-aim-to-curb-crime-with-stricter-pretrial-release-not-mental-health-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Iryna’s Law. “We are fully expecting, along with other inpatient hospitals, to see an increase in demand,” Karen Burkes, deputy secretary for facilities and licensure at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, told state lawmakers in December during a meeting of the [House Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety](https://www.ncleg.gov/Committees/CommitteeInfo/House/232?ref=down-ballot.info). The legislative committee, formed in response to passage of Iryna’s Law, [has met monthly since November](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/18/nc-psychiatric-commitment-process-under-scrutiny-after-irynas-law/?ref=down-ballot.info) to study the existing involuntary commitment process and propose administrative and policy changes to improve it. The committee is expected to generate a report with its findings and recommendations in April. The limited capacity at state psychiatric hospitals has surfaced repeatedly in these discussions. To understand this challenge, NC Health News took a deeper look at who is in the state psychiatric hospitals and how the patient population has significantly changed over the past decade. #### **Who is in NC’s state-run psych hospitals?** Criminal defendants with deteriorated developmental or psychiatric status, and who are found to be unable to understand their court process are deemed [“incapable of proceeding](https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByArticle/Chapter%5F15a/Article%5F56.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)” to trial. These defendants account for more than one-third of patients in the state psychiatric hospitals — the largest share of patients. Often they cannot understand what is happening to them, nor can they help their attorneys with their defense. For their criminal cases to move forward, they must [receive psychiatric treatment to restore their mental capacity](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/02/27/incapable-to-proceed-defendants-wait-months-in-jail-for-treatment-capacity-restoration/?ref=down-ballot.info). Patients [under involuntary commitment orders](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2020/12/14/more-nc-psych-patients-are-ending-up-handcuffed-in-a-police-car-why/?ref=down-ballot.info) make up more than one-quarter of the patient population, the second-largest group. Most often, these patients come from hospital emergency departments across the state. They’re commonly [brought to an emergency department during a mental health episode](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/09/08/what-happens-when-you-take-someone-in-a-mental-health-crisis-to-the-e-r/?ref=down-ballot.info) by a concerned family member or by police who have responded to a 911 call. If a medical provider determines that the patient is a danger to themselves or to those around them, they will file a petition with the courts for an involuntary commitment custody order. These petitions have increased significantly — [by at least 97 percent](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/08/22/emergency-department-burden-shown-in-mental-health-data/?ref=down-ballot.info) — over the past decade, according to data compiled by NC Health News. Patients under involuntary commitment temporarily lose the right to make their own decisions while being treated for psychiatric problems or substance use. The patients with the most complex needs — and frequently who lack a way to pay for care — end up at the state’s psychiatric hospitals. Due to the complexity and high acuity of patients in these facilities, most beds do not turn over quickly, and there’s a wait to get in. ![A room with a built in white set of shelves and a bed with a blue and mattress inside a state psychiatric hospital](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/BroughtonOpening1000px-11.jpg) A patient room at Broughton Hospital, one of North Carolina's three state-run psychiatric hospitals. The hospitals are struggling to meet the demand for care. #### **Why are there so many criminally charged patients in state psych hospitals?** The number of people referred by the courts for capacity evaluations and restoration services has ballooned in North Carolina — [mirroring a national trend](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bsl.2620?ref=down-ballot.info) — and state-run psychiatric hospitals have long been the default site for that care. In 2024, more than 2,600 capacity evaluations were completed, according to N.C. Department of Health and Human Services data provided to NC Health News — a 33 percent increase from 2020\. Although the number of evaluations in 2025 declined for the first time in five years, 1,951 evaluations were nonetheless completed. About 55 percent — nearly 1,100 people — were found incapable of proceeding to trial and required long admissions for [capacity restoration services](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/state-operated-healthcare-facilities/forensic-services?ref=down-ballot.info#Capacity-SPH). As more defendants require capacity restoration, they are taking up a growing share of space in the three state psychiatric hospitals. The shift over time is stark. In fiscal year 2005, patients deemed incapable to proceed accounted for just over 1 percent of annual admissions to the state’s psychiatric hospitals. By fiscal year 2025, the share had surged to 36 percent of admissions, filling beds that otherwise would serve people from the community in mental health crises. Until December 2022, the three state-run psychiatric facilities were the only places where court-ordered capacity restoration treatment was available. In an effort to ease the pressure on those facilities, North Carolina has launched three community-based and [three-jail based capacity restoration programs](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/03/03/jail-capacity-restoration-treatment/?ref=down-ballot.info). Even so, most court-ordered capacity restoration treatment is still in a hospital setting. Demand consistently exceeds capacity. While criminally charged patients now occupy about one-third of hospital beds, [many more wait in jail for months](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/02/27/incapable-to-proceed-defendants-wait-months-in-jail-for-treatment-capacity-restoration/?ref=down-ballot.info) for an open bed. Their conditions often deteriorate during the wait because jails are ill-equipped to address serious mental health needs. As of Jan. 22, 122 people deemed incapable to proceed were waiting for admission to a state psychiatric hospital, according to DHHS data provided to NC Health News. During the first quarter of fiscal year 2026 — from July to September 2025 — the average wait time before admission for capacity restoration was 148 days, or about five months. Once admitted, these patients receive capacity restoration services for an average of about 120 days before they are deemed restored or non-restorable, according to DHHS. The rise of incapable to proceed patients has ripple effects across the mental health and justice systems. “It affects multiple systems — the courts, the jails, the hospitals, the EDs, even private hospitals,” Robert Cochrane, DHHS’ statewide director of forensic services, previously told NC Health News. “They’re all impacted in some shape or form by this.” #### **How long do patients wait in the ER for a state psychiatric bed?** As more criminally charged patients fill the state’s psychiatric hospital beds, the number of operational beds has also declined, limiting overall admissions. This means community members in mental health crises in the community face [longer waits for care](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2020/10/13/mental-health-patients-fill-the-er-waiting-weeks-for-help/?ref=down-ballot.info) — often in the ER — as they seek access to the same limited beds. The state health department [tracked and published the number of patients and how long they waited in emergency departments](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/state-operated-healthcare-facilities/facility-data-reports?ref=down-ballot.info) for admission to a state psychiatric bed from 2018 through 2022\. The wait times increased through those years, even as the number of total patients declined. DHHS [stopped tracking and releasing those reports in 2022](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2016/05/24/ed-wait-times-not-budging-for-mental-health-patients/?ref=down-ballot.info), and instead DHHS [tracks the availability of psychiatric beds in the state](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/mental-health-developmental-disabilities-and-substance-use-services/crisis-services/behavioral-health-statewide-central-availability-navigator?ref=down-ballot.info) and keeps a waitlist for beds at the state hospitals, a department spokesperson told NC Health News. ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/27551989/thumbnail) Health officials have acknowledged that an emergency department is not the ideal place for people in mental health distress. It’s a bright, noisy and chaotic environment meant to stabilize acute medical needs. Some patients who end up languishing there for days or weeks at a time [report being more traumatized by their experiences](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/09/06/when-the-emergency-room-is-the-only-option/?ref=down-ballot.info) waiting for a psychiatric bed. With the dwindling capacity at the state hospitals, more mental health patients waiting in emergency rooms are treated at the growing number of private psychiatric facility beds. Unlike state hospitals, private facilities can refuse to admit patients who don’t meet their specific clinical, safety or insurance criteria. As of September 2025, North Carolina had [3,403 licensed behavioral health beds](https://www.ncpsychiatry.org/assets/2025AnnualMeeting/Brown%20-%20State%20of%20the%20State.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), with just over a quarter of those in the state’s three psychiatric hospitals. #### **Why is the wait for a state psychiatric bed so long?** [Staffing shortages are a primary barrier](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/02/28/worker-shortages-mean-hospitals-cant-admit-mental-health-patients/?ref=down-ballot.info) preventing the state hospitals from serving more patients. A DHHS spokesperson told NC Health News on Feb. 4 that 12 of the 47 patient units across the three state-run psychiatric hospitals are not in operation due to insufficient staffing — roughly one-quarter of all units. At a December meeting of the House Select Committee on Involuntary Commitment and Public Safety, Burkes, deputy secretary for facilities and licensure at DHHS, said that as of November 2025, the three state facilities had 380 health care technician and 314 registered nurse positions vacant — roles she described as critical to safely manage high-need patients. “Those are the backbone to our health care system,” Burkes said. “It’s a much larger number \[of vacancies\] than we would like, and it’s something that we are working actively to reduce.” To operate a single inpatient unit serving around 20 patients, Burkes said it takes 17 registered nurses, 42 health care techs and two psychiatrists. Over the past decade, overall staff vacancy rates at the three state psychiatric hospitals have ticked up from nearly 13 percent in fiscal year 2015 to about 26 percent in fiscal year 2025. Low pay has been a significant factor hindering hiring and retention, Burkes said. North Carolina is the only state in the country without a state budget; General Assembly lawmakers [are locked in a stalemate over a final plan](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/25/nc-budget-stalemate-strains-safety-nets/?ref=down-ballot.info). This means that state-employed staff, largely making less than market rate, have not received a raise in more than a year. Gov. Josh Stein called attention to the issue during the signing of [an executive order on mental health and public safety](https://governor.nc.gov/executive-order-no-33-protecting-north-carolinians-through-stronger-behavioral-health-and-criminal?ref=down-ballot.info) last week. “The units are there and they are empty, even though there is a long line of people waiting to get that kind of care,” Stein said. “Why? Because we’re not paying the nursing assistants enough money to hire enough of them to serve those people. It’s a travesty.” Another contributing factor to extended waits is the dozens of patients who are clinically ready for discharge from the state hospitals but for various reasons can’t leave — whether waiting for a court date or lacking appropriate community placements. “We have limited discharge options, especially for those with a history of aggressive and sexualized behaviors,” Burkes said. As of Jan. 29, DHHS told NC Health News that 118 patients — nearly 21 percent of the patients at the state’s hospitals — had been identified as ready for discharge. “We pride ourselves on actually not discharging individuals until they are ready,” Carrie Brown, DHHS’ chief psychiatrist and chief medical director for North Carolina’s state-operated health care facilities, told lawmakers. “Our average length of stay is well over 100 days, which is incredibly thorough compared to the average private psychiatric hospital that sits around five days.” #### **With state psych hospitals at capacity, where else do patients go?** The number of state hospital beds has declined over the past 30 years. Large mental health institutions such as Dorothea Dix Hospital and John Umstead Hospital closed their doors nearly two decades ago. An overall [shift toward prioritizing treatment based in community settings](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/08/23/changes-needed-to-turn-the-tide-of-ncs-mental-health-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info) rather than hospitals was never fully realized in North Carolina as [lawmakers failed to appropriate](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2015/05/15/ncga-house-health-and-human-services-budget-first-look/?ref=down-ballot.info) adequate funding. With fewer mental health treatment services overall, the need grew in numbers and acuity. When the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, [emergency departments saw a surge in patients in mental distress](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/08/22/emergency-department-burden-shown-in-mental-health-data/?ref=down-ballot.info) who had nowhere else to go. Now the pendulum is swinging back toward inpatient psychiatric care and the creation of more inpatient beds. The state legislature [allocated $835 million for behavioral health](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/04/03/where-835-million-new-mental-health-money-is-being-spent/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2023\. Health officials have used some of that funding to create more [facility-based crisis beds for short-term hospitalizations](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/04/21/alamance-crisis-hub-mental-health-services-keep-people-out-of-jails-ers/?ref=down-ballot.info). The call for more psychiatric beds has resulted in the expansion of private psychiatric hospital beds. Last year, ECU Health and the for-profit behavioral health giant Acadia launched [a new psychiatric hospital for adults and children in Greenville](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/03/ecu-health-and-for-profit-giant-acadia-team-up-to-open-new-psychiatric-hospital/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2023, UNC Health partnered with the state health department to open a [youth psychiatric facility in Butner](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/11/09/new-youth-psychiatric-hospital-will-have-specialized-units-for-substance-use-disabilities/?ref=down-ballot.info). Nearly 75 percent of the inpatient psychiatric beds in North Carolina are outside of the three state-run psychiatric facilities, and for-profit facilities make up a growing portion of them. Some of these [for-profit facilities have been repeatedly sanctioned](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/05/10/nc-psych-hospital-failed-to-provide-safe-and-therapeutic-environment-feds-say/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [federal and state regulators for providing poor quality care](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/08/18/holly-hill-under-scrutiny-again-state-finds-repeated-failures-after-violent-patient-uprising/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [unsafe conditions for patients and staff.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/05/06/former-employees-say-short-staffed-nc-psych-hospital-rife-with-violence-abuse/?ref=down-ballot.info) Behavioral health groups such as Acadia and Universal Health Services — which operate four psychiatric hospitals in North Carolina — [were called out in a U.S. Senate Committee report](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/06/27/universal-health-services-owner-nc-psych-hospitals-under-scrutiny-from-us-senate/?ref=down-ballot.info) and accused of putting profits over patient care. As more North Carolinians receive inpatient psychiatric care in these facilities, [state officials are having ongoing conversations](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/08/18/holly-hill-under-scrutiny-again-state-finds-repeated-failures-after-violent-patient-uprising/?ref=down-ballot.info) about how to ensure quality treatment and safety within private facilities. [Mental Health Timeline Infographic](https://www.canva.com/design/DAHBEcmzUcY/DO0O1gVsaQ4KJGUTtguYwA/view?utm%5Fcontent=DAHBEcmzUcY&utm%5Fcampaign=designshare&utm%5Fmedium=embeds&utm%5Fsource=link) by Taylor Knopf This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/02/12/who-gets-bed-in-nc-state-psychiatric-hospitals-and-who-waits/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- ### Lawmakers seeking answers following FAA restrictions in El Paso, Texas region URL: https://down-ballot.info/lawmakers-seeking-answers-following-faa-restrictions-in-el-paso-texas-region/ Last updated: 2026-02-21T22:04:54.000Z **It's Friday, February 20, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Lawmakers demand answers after unprecedented FAA flight restrictions disrupt El Paso region**,** It’s anyone’s guess when Beacon Hill will agree on an immigration response**, ‘**We as a state failed them’: Senators call for improved disaster response after winter storm, Pesticide use and cancer risk rise together across America’s heartland, Costco withdraws application for highly anticipated Asheville location, Virginia Supreme Court: April 21 redistricting referendum can move forward, Tribal court hearing for former Swain sheriff delayed, Local group works to improve conditions for Mardi Gras clean-up workers. ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1167730&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) **Media outlets and others featured:** El Paso Matters, CommonWealth Beacon, Mississippi Today, Investigate Midwest, Asheville Watchdog, Cardinal News, The Beacon: Kansas City, Carolina Public Press, Verite News. --- # Lawmakers demand answers after unprecedented FAA flight restrictions disrupt El Paso region by Robert Moore, El Paso Matters February 12, 2026 U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar of El Paso and three members of the New Mexico congressional delegation are asking the Trump administration for a classified briefing on this week’s airspace restrictions that they say “created widespread fear, uncertainty and chaos in the region while disrupting commercial, medical, private, and military aviation activities.” The letter was sent Thursday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy from Escobar and Rep. Gabe Vasquez and Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico. All four members of Congress are Democrats. Late Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary flight restrictions over El Paso and a broad area of southern New Mexico west of Santa Teresa that would have barred all flights – including military, medical and public safety missions – for 10 days. [**READ MORE**: FAA lifts unprecedented El Paso airspace restrictions after seven hours; 14 flights canceled](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/unexplained-faa-order-shuts-down-el-paso-southern-new-mexico-airspace-for-10-days/?ref=down-ballot.info) The sweeping restrictions were unprecedented in U.S. aviation history, and were issued without notice to local or state governments, and without any public explanation. The El Paso restrictions were lifted seven hours after they were issued, and following intense criticism from Escobar and widespread anxiety and fear in El Paso. The New Mexico restrictions remain in effect. “We are urgently requesting a classified briefing on what occurred, with representatives from your agencies made available to speak to the roles they played, acknowledge where the failed communication occurred, and share the steps you are taking to ensure a future crisis of this nature will not reoccur,” the letter from the four members of Congress said. “Events like this are inexcusable and cause lasting degradation of trust among communities with their local and national leaders.” A spokesperson for the Department of Defense, which the Trump administration calls the Department of War, told El Paso Matters the Pentagon will respond directly to the authors of the letter. Spokespersons for Noem and Duffy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from El Paso Matters. The Trump administration provided El Paso Matters a statement that said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford “decided to close the airspace without alerting White House, Pentagon, or Homeland Security officials.” The statement said the Pentagon and Department of Transportation, which oversees the FAA, have been “working together for months regarding drone incursion operations.” The statement made no mention of the Department of Homeland Security, which multiple media reports have said was involved in high-energy laser testing that preceded the FAA airspace restrictions. [**SEE ALSO**: El Paso airport closures spur fear, confusion – and questions](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/11/el-paso-airspace-shutdown-impact-airport-closures-restrictions-lifted/?ref=down-ballot.info) Federal officials have not explained the reasons for the airspace restrictions, other than a comment from Duffy that they were issued after a drone crossing from Mexico was taken down. Escobar, Vasquez and other members of Congress said that was untrue. Vasquez said he learned from federal and local officials that restrictions were a “disproportionate response” by the FAA after the aviation safety agency “was tracking the DOD’s counter drone tests for multiple days.” Multiple media outlets have reported that Customs and Border Protection officials were also involved in the tests with a high-energy laser and [shot down a party balloon](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/cbp-shot-party-balloons-anti-drone-tech-faa-closed-el-paso-airspace-so-rcna258731?ref=down-ballot.info) that was mistaken for a drone entering from Mexico. Officials have not explained why the air restrictions remain in place over a southern New Mexico area stretching from the Mexican border on the south to Organ Mountains-Desert Peak National Monument on the north. The area covers more than 2,000 square miles, more than twice the size of El Paso County. The Border Patrol is active in the southern part of the restricted area. The border in the restricted area is part of a National Defense Area established last year by the Trump administration. This [article](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/12/airspace-restrictions-escobar-new-mexico-democrats-el-paso-southern-new-mexico/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [El Paso Matters](https://elpasomatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # It’s anyone’s guess when Beacon Hill will agree on an immigration response by Chris Lisinski, CommonWealth Beacon February 19, 2026 **THE DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY** was quick to act on legislation prohibiting cooperation agreements between local police and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and the governor signed it into law less than a week later in a clear rebuke of the Trump administration. That wasn’t Massachusetts, however, but Maryland, where state lawmakers [voted last week to establish a clearer firewall](https://marylandmatters.org/2026/02/12/black-caucus-lays-out-legislative-priorities-for-2026-session/?ref=down-ballot.info) between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. On Tuesday, Gov. Wes Moore signed the measure, [declaring](https://marylandmatters.org/2026/02/18/moore-signs-bills-banning-agreements-between-local-police-federal-immigration-agencies/?ref=down-ballot.info) that his state would not allow its law enforcement “to be deputized by agencies that do not hold the same standards.” Bay State leaders are responding to the same current of growing national outrage about ICE actions in Minnesota and elsewhere, but exactly what they plan to do and when they’ll do it is still taking shape. The lack of cohesion has left some activists and insiders impatient. “There are so many states that have already taken some type of action, and we hope that Massachusetts passes something quickly, especially now that we have a lot of solid proposals on the table,” said Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy coalition. On January 28, the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus [rolled out a sweeping proposal](https://www.statehousenews.com/news/federal%5Flocal/caucus-leader-reports-robust-talks-on-immigration-bill/article%5F1627a4c4-d8fd-4ae3-bea1-9f20e88aef5f.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that would reshape how police work intersects with immigration status in Massachusetts, including a ban on civil immigration arrests in and around courthouses, new limits on sharing some information with federal authorities in civil immigration cases, and a prohibition on agencies entering into so-called 287(g) agreements with ICE, deals that allow local law enforcement to investigate and in some cases make arrests over civil immigration violations. A day later, Gov. Maura Healey [offered her own plan](https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2026-01-29/healey-seeks-to-limit-courthouse-immigration-arrests-cooperation-with-ice?ref=down-ballot.info). She signed an executive order that bans agencies under her purview from striking new 287(g) agreements and bars the use of state property for immigration enforcement staging activities. Healey separately filed legislation that would bar ICE from “sensitive locations” like courthouses, schools, and churches and allow parents to designate guardians for their children in case they are deported. But three weeks later, it’s still not clear how the Democrats who wield supermajority margins in the House and Senate intend to stitch all the varying pieces together or on what timeline they intend to act, other than with vague promises of “urgency.” Asked last week whether his chamber planned to take up immigration legislation or a long-awaited energy cost bill first, House Ways and Means Committee chair Aaron Michlewitz said he did not “want to put a definitive timetable on anything.” Although he hopes to see action on both topics before the House launches its annual state budget debate in April, Michlewitz cautioned about “complexities” that cloud the picture. Top Senate Democrats added another variable last week, when they floated another legislative measure dealing with legal action against federal officers. The new bill, authored by Sen. Will Brownsberger of Belmont, would allow residents to sue for deprivations of constitutional rights by any official acting under the authority of federal or state law, closing what [he described](https://willbrownsberger.com/protecting-the-civil-rights-of-persons/?ref=down-ballot.info) as a gap that currently limits redress only to cases involving officials acting with state authority. Sweet said the proposal tackles an important issue. MIRA regularly hosts presentations to educate immigrants and others about their rights if they’re stopped by federal officials. “One of the questions that we get again and again is, ‘Telling us our rights is well and good, but we’re seeing regularly that ICE is violating those rights, and what do we really do about that?’” she said. “So we appreciate legislation that attempts to address that very real situation that we’re hearing play out in the day-to-day.” Sen. Cindy Friedman of Arlington, who chairs a Senate panel tasked with forging a response to the Trump administration, said her hope is for the new bill to be added to the conversation as lawmakers figure out their bigger-picture plan. “We’re getting our pieces together. We’re vetting, we’re making sure that they can hold muster in terms of what our abilities are as a state,” said Friedman, alluding to the complicated interplay of state and federal powers that the immigration debate has raised. The so-called PROTECT Act championed by the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, which drew co-sponsorship from [86 of the Legislature’s 198 current members](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/HD5608/Cosponsor?ref=down-ballot.info), is the most wide-reaching of the three major bills in play. Representatives held a series of closed-door meetings earlier this month to discuss the proposal. House Minority Leader Brad Jones called the discussion “frank and honest,” [according to State House News Service](https://www.statehousenews.com/news/economy/immigration/top-republican-calls-private-immigration-talks-frank-and-honest/article%5F256d166f-ae38-4b06-b8da-561fe9ca6615.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Other Republicans have been more critical of the push to more forcefully limit cooperation with ICE. Gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy said Healey’s executive order and legislation “definitively make Massachusetts a sanctuary state,” invoking the term many immigration opponents use to describe states that have restricted local law enforcement from aiding ICE operations. Sweet said MIRA and its allies in the Protecting Massachusetts Communities Coalition have three primary priorities: banning 287(g) agreements, prohibiting “informal collaboration” between local law enforcement and ICE, and securing state funding for immigration legal services. The group does not have a preference on which bill Beacon Hill chooses as the means to advance reforms, but is simply “appreciative that there are now multiple vehicles on the table,” Sweet said. Only one Massachusetts entity still has a 287(g) agreement in place with ICE: the state Department of Correction. Under the terms of that deal, which Healey has defended, the department can notify the feds about people being released from DOC custody who do not have lawful immigration status. Corrections officers can also execute some of the duties typically performed by ICE agents, such as serving arrest warrants over immigration violations and write charging documents. DOC turned over 164 people to ICE in 2023 and 2024, most of whom had been convicted of drug or violent offenses, [according to *The Boston Globe*](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/24/metro/ice-doc-massachusetts-agreement/?ref=down-ballot.info). While the bill filed by the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and Healey’s executive order both prohibit new 287(g) agreements, neither proposal would end the existing DOC deal, and the legislative caucus’s bill explicitly excludes the state correction department from its ban on executing or renewing such arrangement. “When you’re incarcerated under the care, the custody of the Department of Correction, that means you’ve done something pretty bad. This is prison,” Healey said at the January 29 press conference where she rolled out her order and bill. “At the end of that sentence, I think it is appropriate for our Department of Correction to notify ICE ... and to give ICE the opportunity to take into custody and deport that individual.” According to *Bolts,* a nonprofit publication covering democracy and the criminal justice system, Massachusetts is [the only state](https://boltsmag.org/massachusetts-prisons-contract-with-ice/?ref=down-ballot.info) that voted against Donald Trump in 2024 and has a Democratic governor that still has a 287(g) agreement in place after newly elected Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger ordered her state’s Department of Corrections to terminate its ICE deal earlier this month. Questions about parliamentary process further cloud the outlook for action under the Golden Dome. Healey attached her immigration enforcement reforms to [a $411 million spending bill](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H5050?ref=down-ballot.info) that would address funding shortfalls at the Group Insurance Commission, Department of Transitional Assistance, Department of Correction, and more. The House could surface the bill at any point, and lawmakers typically eschew formal public hearings on supplemental budgets submitted by governors. Top representatives might rewrite Healey’s immigration language along the way to incorporate other ideas, or leave it as is. Meanwhile, on February 2, the House moved to send the PROTECT Act to the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee for additional review. However, the Senate has not followed suit, leaving the measure in legislative limbo, unable to formally reach the panel that ostensibly could convene a public hearing on the topic. A spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka declined to comment on the bill’s committee status. In the past, one branch’s sluggishness on the normally routine decision of which committee should review a bill has at times [signaled broader House-Senate disagreement](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/guns/another-house-senate-squabble-this-time-over-gun-legislation/?ref=down-ballot.info) that slows down action. It’s unclear in this case whether there is real conflict between the branches over how to deal with the immigration enforcement debate that’s swallowed national attention, or if it’s simply another big topic caught in the slowly turning wheels of Beacon Hill policymaking. “This is a complex issue. Obviously, we’re in complex times related to that particular issue on immigration,” Michlewitz said. “So, you know, we’ve got some work to do.” This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/immigration/its-anyones-guess-when-beacon-hill-will-agree-on-an-immigration-response/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=312639&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) --- ## Sign up for Down Ballot The best state and local government news Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. --- # ‘We as a state failed them’: Senators call for improved disaster response after winter storm by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today February 13, 2026 North Mississippi senators pleaded for an improved disaster response from the state Thursday as thousands of their constituents still lacked power nearly three weeks after the January winter storm. Sen. Rita Potts Parks, a Republican from Corinth, repeatedly told her colleagues "we have work to do" to better prepare for future disasters. Her district includes Alcorn and Tippah counties, two of the hardest-hit areas in Mississippi. "I hope you remember how my people were cold, and we as a state, we failed them," she said during an emotional speech on the Senate floor. "I'm included." In her district, hospitals and nursing homes went more than four days without power or water, Parks said. "Can you imagine what those smells were like, what those cries were like by that second day?" she said. "And those people being placed with more and more blankets on them just to keep them warm." Parks and her colleague Sen. Neil Whaley, a Republican from Potts Camp, mentioned the response times of specific agencies as areas for improvement. "Us getting resources from (the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency) took days," she later told Mississippi Today. "I'm not throwing darts, I'm just saying it was a fact we didn't see supplies coming to us until Tuesday. That's water, MREs, cots. This event happened on Saturday, Sunday. You're Tuesday night, Wednesday getting us what we needed." She said about five or six counties went over two days without any power transmission because Tennessee Valley Authority lines were down. "That's historical, that's never supposed to happen," Parks said. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/12155611/parks.jpg) Sen. Rita Potts Parks, a Republican from Corinth. She and other senators spoke during discussion of [Senate Bill 2632](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/SB/SB2632.xml?ref=down-ballot.info), which passed in the chamber. The bill, which now heads to the House for discussion, would create a "disaster recovery emergency loan program" to aid counties included in the [recent federal disaster declaration](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/02/09/trump-mississippi-disaster-declaration-winter-storm/?ref=down-ballot.info). Sen. Scott DeLano, a Republican from Biloxi who introduced the bill, said the state's damages from Winter Storm Fern will likely reach $400 million. He described the proposed program as a "revolving loan fund," meant to get [public assistance money](https://www.msema.org/about/about-mema/recovery/public-assistance?ref=down-ballot.info) to counties and cities on the front end as they await reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Parks said FEMA payments to local entities could take anywhere from 18 months to two years. DeLano said Tennessee did [something similar](https://www.tn.gov/tema/recover/heal-program.html?ref=down-ballot.info) in response to Hurricane Helene in 2024. While the bill doesn't include a dollar amount, DeLano said the plan is to request $50 million in appropriations later in the session. Counties would have five years to repay the loans, and would also have to pledge a source of revenue in the event FEMA didn't reimburse the funding. For any projects that FEMA rejects for reimbursement, local entities would have two years to repay the loan. Sen. Sollie Norwood, a Democrat from Jackson, expressed concern that counties in those situations would be left on the hook for recovery spending. DeLano responded that lawmakers could use the two-year period to address any such shortfall. The state couldn't offer the funding as a grant because it could be seen as a duplication of benefits, he added. Whaley, who spoke after Parks, expressed a similar sentiment. "I live in an area where the district lines of the Mississippi Department of Transportation meet, and for some reason that plow truck blade just would not stay on the ground when it got to that district line," Whaley said. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/04140642/3X0A7269.jpg) Sen. Neil S. Whaley gives his comments on the issues with the Holly Springs Utility Department during a Mississippi Public Service Commission hearing at the municipal court in New Albany, Miss., on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. The senator added that "a lot of things have to be answered," and that he intends to bring "a lot of this out to light." Delano said later: "We are going to have a lot of discussion over the next year about how we better prepare for these types of events." About 1,700 Mississippians still didn't have power as of Thursday afternoon nearly three weeks after the storm, according to poweroutage.us. That number, though, doesn't include all electric utilities in the state. Northern District Public Service Commissioner Chris Brown said municipal systems, such as the beleaguered Holly Springs Utility Department, aren't included. As of Thursday that system still had about 500 outages. Another measure, [House Bill 1645](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/30/mema-warns-disaster-recovery-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info), would create state versions of FEMA programs as [Mississippi officials prepare](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/30/mema-warns-disaster-recovery-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info) for reduced federal disaster support. That bill passed the House on Thursday and moves onto the Senate. ### Other federal aid kicks in for recovering Mississippians On Wednesday, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced low interest loans were available for certain private nonprofits in Alcorn, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Grenada, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Leflore, Montgomery, Sharkey, Sunflower, Warren, Washington, Webster and Yazoo counties as well as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Eligible organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges. Then on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a number of assistance measures for Mississippians, including a 90-day foreclosure pause for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. [Click here](https://www.hud.gov/news/hud-no-26-012?ref=down-ballot.info) for a full list of those measures. *Taylor Vance contributed to this report.* This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/02/13/senators-blast-winter-storm-disaster-response/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1168247&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Pesticide use and cancer risk rise together across America’s heartland by Ben Felder, Investigate Midwest February 18, 2026 Lisa Lawler wasn’t surprised when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2025\. Her mother had breast cancer and died in 2016\. It seemed like cancer had become a common diagnosis for many of her neighbors and friends. “With how many people seem to get cancer in our community, you just assume you will get it,” said Lawler, who lives in rural Hardin County, Iowa. “But no one really talks about what’s causing it.” After 10 rounds of radiation and a surgery to remove the tumor, Lawler’s cancer was in remission. Last year, she took a test to determine if her cancer was likely genetic, meaning a high chance of recurrence, which could lead her to have her entire breast removed. She was surprised by the results. “The genetic test they ran for me was one that covered 81 genes that are typically related to breast cancer,” Lawler said. “After the test, they told me my cancer is likely not genetic, but likely environmental, based on these 81 genes. “Your next thought is, then what’s in the environment that caused my cancer?” Increasingly, pesticides are being blamed for rising cancer rates across America’s agricultural communities. Hardin County, home to around 800 farms, has a pesticide use rate more than four times the national average and a cancer rate among the highest in the state. Most of the 500 counties with the highest pesticide use per square mile are located in the Midwest. Sixty percent of those counties also had cancer rates higher than the national average of 460 cases per 100,000 people, according to an analysis of data from both the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Cancer Institute. Last year, Investigate Midwest, [in partnership with the University of Missouri](https://investigatemidwest.org/unyielding/?ref=down-ballot.info), investigated the link between agrichemicals and cancer in Missouri, finding that many were rural communities that already lacked access to healthcare. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Copy-of-quote-social-teasers-Poster-Square-2-1024x1024.png) Investigate Midwest expanded on that coverage by analyzing data across the country, along with interviewing more than 100 farmers, environmentalists, lawmakers and scientists as part of a partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. Fellowship. The result was the picture of a nation at a crossroads in dealing with this public health crisis that has not just been ignored by state and federal health officials, but aided. This story was also supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism. “Cancer is everywhere and it's an experience that is unfortunately all too common,” said Kerri Johannsen, senior director of policy and programs at the Iowa Environmental Council, a Des Moines-based nonprofit that has been studying the state’s growing cancer rate. Agrichemicals have helped America become a crop-producing power, increasing yields of commodity crops — such as corn and soybeans — used for food, fuel and animal feed. Sprayed from airplanes, drones, tractors and handheld devices, these chemicals can drift through the air or run off into nearby rivers and streams. And for decades, some farmers and pesticide users have developed neurological and respiratory issues. Thousands of lawsuits have alleged that pesticides and the companies that make them were to blame. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Kerri-Johannsen-August-2022-250x250-1-edited.jpg) Kerri Johannsen, senior director of policy and programs at the Iowa Environmental Council Pesticide manufacturers often rejected those claims while [sometimes concealing research](https://usrtk.org/pesticides/landmark-glyphosate-safety-study-retracted-for-monsanto-ghostwriting/?ref=down-ballot.info) by their own employees that raised similar concerns. These companies — such as Bayer, Syngenta, Corteva and BASF — have also spent millions to lobby federal and state lawmakers for laws that would limit their legal liability and continue to allow them to sell agrichemicals. “This is one of the most transparently reviewed products ever,” said Jessica Christiansen, the head of crop science communications for Bayer, speaking about her company’s production of Roundup, a glyphosate-based pesticide. “This product is so well studied … been on the market for over 50 years with thousands and thousands of studies. There is no linkage to cancer, there just isn’t.” Under the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture have also hired dozens of former pesticide executives and lobbyists, some of whom have already pushed for deregulation of their industry. The Department of Health and Human Services has also altered its own reports to downplay the harm of pesticides. Two states — North Dakota and Georgia — recently passed laws limiting their residents' ability to sue pesticide companies, and at least a dozen other states will consider similar laws in the coming months. “We’ve gotten to a point in the U.S. … where we’ve stopped treating pesticides as if they are dangerous tools,” said Rob Faux, who manages a small Iowa farm and has advocated against pesticide liability shield laws. “Instead, these companies tell these stories that these pesticides are completely safe and we are encouraged to use them anytime. We’ve been convinced that we must use them or we are not going to have enough food to eat.” In Iowa, a state with heavy pesticide use — 53 million pounds last year — and the nation’s second-highest cancer rate, doctors and health officials have been sounding an alarm for years. The state has become ground zero in the fight to limit the impact of pesticides on health and the environment. Farmers have gathered at the state Capitol to advocate for increased laws and funding to address the rising cancer rate. That advocacy likely helped defeat a bill last year that would have protected pesticide makers from some lawsuits. > I call myself a Republican, but this is not about politics; this is about money, about the almighty dollar." > > Bill Billings, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 “I believe the groups wanting this (bill) to go through didn't expect any substantial resistance, but there was enough resistance,” said Faux, who also works for the Pesticide Action and Agroecology Network, a nonprofit advocating for less agrichemical use. The Iowa bill was strongly opposed by environmental and health organizations, which have traditionally been left-leaning. But there was also strong opposition from many conservative residents and farmers. “I call myself a Republican, but this is not about politics; this is about money, about the almighty dollar,” said Bill Billings, a resident of Red Oak, Iowa, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2024\. Initially, doctors told Billings, then 61, he would likely be dead in a matter of months after discovering lymphoma in his lungs. A health enthusiast and hospital administrator, Billings had been a regular user of Roundup, the popular Bayer pesticide used on farms and residential properties. “The cancer specialist said, very directly, (my) cancer is a result of being exposed to chemicals,” Billings said. “In my records, it literally says that I have cancer as a result of exposure to Roundup and agrochemicals.” Billings was prescribed a five-drug regimen, along with chemotherapy. In September, he was declared cancer-free. Last year, he hired a lawyer to file a lawsuit against Bayer. “The irony is … Bayer Pharmaceuticals makes one of the drugs that treated my cancer,” Billings said. “It's disturbing to find out you are in this financial circle — not only as a consumer, but as a patient.” ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-21-26-pesticide-cancer-Bill-Billings-016-1024x683.jpg?ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-21-26-pesticide-cancer-Bill-Billings-012-1024x683.jpg?ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-21-26-pesticide-cancer-Bill-Billings-005-1024x683.jpg?ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-21-26-pesticide-cancer-Bill-Billings-008-1024x683.jpg?ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-21-26-pesticide-cancer-Bill-Billings-010-1024x683.jpg?ssl=1) *Bill Billings, his home, and surrounding neighborhood in Red Oak, Iowa, photographed Jan. 21, 2026\. photos by Geoff Johnson, for Investigate Midwest* ## **Research increasingly links pesticides to growing cancer risk** Cancer is a complex disease and can be caused by numerous environmental and genetic factors. Some links have been clear — such as smoking and lung cancer — while other forms can be impossible to trace back to an original cause. But scientific research linking pesticides with certain types of cancers has been growing. “Our findings show that the impact of pesticide use on cancer incidence may rival that of smoking,” scientists wrote in a [2024 study](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26158424-comprehensive-assessment-of-pesticide-use-pattersna-dn-increased-cancer-risk-study/?ref=down-ballot.info), which was published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society. The study linked pesticides to prostate, lung, pancreas and colon cancers. Pesticides have also been associated with lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease, the study claimed. Many doctors in agricultural communities say the link with pesticides is hard to deny. “Iowa has a super high rate (of cancer) and when you look at all of our modifiable risk factors … tobacco, obesity, too many calories, highly processed foods, lack of physical activity, alcohol consumption, getting vaccinated for HPV, sun exposure, and so on, Iowa doesn’t really stand out dramatically at any of those,” said Dr. Richard Deming, medical director at MercyOne Cancer Center in Des Moines. “But one thing that distinguishes Iowa from other states is our environmental exposure to agricultural chemicals.” ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/49d69593bc4c62e6b1eae5998f0c092f-edited.avif) Richard Deming, medical director at MercyOne Cancer Center in Des Moines Deming and other health experts also point to Iowa’s high radon levels, a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by uranium and radium. The state also has high levels of fertilizer-derived nitrate in its water, which has been associated with increased cancer risk. “But we use tons of ag chemicals that make it quite likely that the volume of these chemicals is contributing to what we're seeing in Iowa in terms of the increased incidence of cancer,” Deming said. A direct correlation can be difficult to determine, as cancer development times can range from months to decades. Overlaying cancer rates onto a map, however, highlights the nation’s top crop and vegetable growing regions, where pesticide use is highest. The Midwestern states of Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Missouri — leading corn-growing states — had the highest rates, while rates were also high in California and Florida, high fruit-growing states. Lawler, who developed breast cancer in Hardin County, grew up on her family’s 400-acre farm, where her father grew corn and used 2,4-D, a pesticide made by Dow Chemicals. She and her siblings moved out of state after high school, but Lawler returned in 2010\. Pesticides have become indispensable in farming, Lawler acknowledged, but she wishes more people would ask questions about the risks. “We change products all the time when we learn about the health impacts,” Lawler said. ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-19-26-Lawler-pesticides-cancer-008-1024x1024.jpg?ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-19-26-Lawler-pesticides-cancer-004-1024x1021.jpg?ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-19-26-Lawler-pesticides-cancer-007-1024x1024.jpg?ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-19-26-Lawler-pesticides-cancer-006-1024x673.jpg?ssl=1) ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1-19-26-Lawler-pesticides-cancer-003-1015x1024.jpg?ssl=1) *These family photos show Lisa Lawler with her mother and siblings over the years. Lawler was recently diagnosed with breast cancer; her mother later died after a cancer diagnosis. The family believes years of farm pesticide and herbicide exposure may have contributed. All photo provided by Lisa Lawler*. ## **As lawsuits mount, Bayer pushes state laws to limit liability** In early 2022, Rodrigo Santos had just been promoted to the head of Bayer’s crop sciences division, a prestigious position within the German-based chemical company. But a global pandemic, climate change and a pending war in Ukraine were disrupting the global production and sale of crops — a direct hit to the company’s pesticide sales. “The global food system is in crisis,” Santos wrote in a column for the World Economic Forum, going on to say that the world needed to grow more food without a significant increase in the amount of land devoted to crops. But beyond the pandemic and war, another crisis presented an existential threat to one of the company’s top-selling products. Roundup, the glyphosate-based weed killer produced by Monsanto, which Bayer bought in 2018, had been blamed for causing cancer in thousands of lawsuits. In 2019, a California jury [ordered Bayer to pay $2 billion](https://www.npr.org/2019/05/13/723056453/california-jury-awards-2-billion-to-couple-in-roundup-weed-killer-cancer-trial?ref=down-ballot.info) in one lawsuit ([the amount was later reduced](https://www.wisnerbaum.com/toxic-tort-law/monsanto-roundup-lawsuit/pilliod-trial-2019-/?ref=down-ballot.info)). Since then, [more than 65,000 lawsuits have been filed](https://www.leadingjustice.net/news/08/14/2025/bayer-allocates-another-1-37-billion-for-roundup-litigation/?ref=down-ballot.info) against the company, according to Bayer, and the company has agreed to pay more than $12 billion in settlements. Since purchasing Missouri-based Monsanto, Bayer's stock price has dropped more than 90% over five years. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/standalone-logo-1-1.png) #### **Become a member for $5/month and help fund more investigations** like this. This investigation looks at the relationship between pesticide use and rising cancer rates across the heartland. It’s the first in a series and part of a larger reporting effort that takes time, data, and sustained work. In recent years, Bayer executives, including Santos, openly discussed discontinuing glyphosate production. We are “evaluating all the alternatives that we have for the business,” [Santos told investors](https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/bayer-eyes-exit-popular-roundup-amid-us-legal-risks-2025-03-07/?ref=down-ballot.info) last year when asked about a possible sale of its Roundup division. But while Bayer publicly said it was reconsidering its glyphosate business, a review of lobbying disclosure statements, campaign finance records, state legislative records and other documents reveals the world’s largest pesticide company remains committed to expanding its sales. Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the EPA regulates the warning labels on pesticide products. While state-level lawsuits have claimed that federal labeling is insufficient, pesticide companies, including Bayer, have argued that federal regulations should trump state laws. Bayer, along with other corporate agriculture groups, has pushed for bills in more than a dozen states that would codify the view that federal labeling regulations are sufficient warning, effectively voiding state-level lawsuits. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/christiansen-2023-1-768x1024.avif) Jessica Christiansen, head of crop science communications for Bayer Christiansen, the head of crop science communications for Bayer, disputed that these laws will stop lawsuits and said courts have yet to begin interpreting those that have passed. “Folks can still sue a company, and they should if there's a problem,” Christiansen said. “But the litigation industry has a lot to lose with these (bills) that are out there.” Founded by Bayer, the Modern Ag Alliance has lobbied for these bills and promoted opinion articles downplaying the health impacts of pesticides. “If farmers lose access to crop protection products because of misguided ideological agendas, U.S. agriculture would be upended, potentially forcing many family farms to shut down and driving up food costs for every American,” said Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, executive director of the Modern Ag Alliance. The Modern Ag Alliance has spent more than a quarter of a million dollars on state lobbying since 2024. In Idaho, [the organization spent one in four lobbyist dollars last year](https://idahocapitalsun.com/briefs/new-data-visualization-shows-out-of-state-lobbying-money-flowing-into-idaho/?ref=down-ballot.info). In Iowa, Bayer has spent $209,750 on lobbying since 2023, double what the company spent in the previous decade. Most of the bills came up short in 2025, but Georgia and North Dakota passed liability shields that will complicate local lawsuits. Georgia’s [Senate Bill 144](https://legiscan.com/GA/votes/SB144/2025?ref=down-ballot.info), which took effect Jan. 1, received some bipartisan support but was mostly approved by the Republican majority and opposed by Democrats. Similar bills have been filed in at least 10 states for this year's legislative sessions. In 2024, the Iowa bill was passed by the state Senate with a [30-to-19 vote](https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/SJNL/20240402%5FSJNL.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info#page=12). Ahead of a vote in the House last year, farmer and environmental groups [lobbied against the bill](https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Cancer-Gag-Act-Letter-IA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). The session ended without the House taking up a vote. The bill could return in 2026, but Faux, the Iowa farmer, said he also worries about it being “snuck into” another bill or budget agreement. “I don’t think we can just assume this fight is over,” Faux said. In other states, backlash seemed to stop liability shield bills before they got started. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Kerbs_Dell_b7036d1b23-819x1024.jpg) Rep. Dell Kerbs, R-Oklahoma In Oklahoma, Rep. Dell Kerbs, a Shawnee Republican, authored a pesticide liability shield bill he said was meant to end “frivolous” lawsuits against pesticide makers. “What’s happened in our country is we have … judges that have decided they need to be in the labeling business,” Kerbs said when introducing his bill at a Feb. 11, 2025, hearing of the House agriculture committee. State Rep. Ty Burns, another Republican, asked Kerbs why he chose to author the bill. “I was first approached by Bayer,” Kerbs responded. “But this is a labeling bill; it is not an immunity bill. It is just clarifying on EPA labeling regulations,” Kerbs added. “There is nothing that prevents a lawsuit from any single person. This is not giving a free pass to kill people. This simply is saying that a frivolous lawsuit to potentially pad the pocket of somebody who was not reading the label is not a justification to add that to a label through a state district court.” But when Burns asked Kerbs about opposition to the bill, especially from many farmers, Kerbs denied receiving any complaints. “That is hard to believe,” Burns told Kerbs, “because I have been bombarded.” The bill was never presented to the House for a vote. ## **After early promises, MAHA walks back pesticide oversight** While liability shield laws have been largely advanced by Republican lawmakers, the push to further regulate pesticides has transcended partisan lines. Both left-leaning environmental groups and conservative health movements, which have targeted agrichemicals and some vaccines, have called for reducing or eliminating the use of pesticides. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been a longtime critic of pesticides. In a May 2025 report, his Make America Healthy Again commission linked pesticide overuse to children’s health issues, which drew praise from both political camps. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/54539007057_7b7b2a9dbc_o-1024x683.jpg) Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. makes remarks at an event announcing the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) Commission on May 22, 2025, in the East Room of the White House. photo by Joyce N. Boghosian, The White House George Kimbrell, co-executive director of the Center for Food Safety, which has advocated for stronger pesticide regulations, called the initial report a “baby step” forward and said he was encouraged after decades of inaction by the federal government. “Going back my entire career, 20-plus years now of doing this work, it doesn’t matter if it’s a Democratic administration or a Republican administration, they have been beholden to and done the wishes of the pesticide industry,” Kimbrell told Investigate Midwest last year. “So, this is a unique moment where … there’s a chance that there could be some positive change in terms of responsible oversight for these toxins.” Corporate agriculture groups heavily criticized the report, [including the American Farm Bureau Federation](https://www.fb.org/files/2025.8.01.AFBF-MAHA-Policy-Recommendations.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) and CropLife America, a national organization representing many large agrichemical companies, including Bayer, Corteva Agriscience and Syngenta. Many of those groups and companies had been large financial backers of Trump. But Kennedy downplayed any concerns that the president would avoid taking a hard position against pesticide companies because of that support. “I’ve met every president since my uncle was president, and I’ve never seen a president (like Trump), Democrat or Republican, that is willing to stand up to industry when it’s the right thing to do,” Kennedy said at a May 22, 2025, MAHA commission meeting as the president sat smiling to his right. Three months later, Kennedy’s MAHA commission published its final report, which contained no calls to further regulate pesticides. In fact, it called for the federal government to work with large agrichemical companies to ensure public “awareness and confidence” in the EPA’s current pesticide regulations. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment from Kennedy. [MAHA-Report-The-White-House](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/MAHA-Report-The-White-House.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Many of the groups that expressed optimism over the initial report were outraged over the change. “This report is … a clear sign that Big Ag, Bayer, and the pesticide industry are firmly embedded in the White House,” said David Murphy, the founder of United We Eat and a former finance director for Kennedy’s presidential campaign. The Trump administration has employed several pesticide executives, researchers and lobbyists at the EPA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kyle Kunker, who was a registered lobbyist for the American Soybean Association, an organization that has advocated for the legal liability shield laws at the state level, was hired last year to oversee pesticide policy at the EPA. Three weeks later, the EPA recommended expanded use of dicamba-based herbicides, which federal courts had previously restricted. The EPA proposal was closely aligned with the position of the American Soybean Association. In 2025, the EPA also hired Nancy Beck and Lynn Ann Dekleva, both of whom worked with the American Chemistry Council. Last month, a coalition of MAHA supporters called for the removal of Lee Zeldin, administrator of the EPA. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Lee-Zeldin-1024x683.jpg) Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, testifies during his Senate Environment and Public Works confirmation hearing on Jan. 16, 2025\. photo by Tom Williams, CQ Roll Call via AP Images Recent EPA decisions around pesticides “will inevitably lead to higher rates of chronic disease, greater medical costs, and tremendous strain on our healthcare system,” the group stated in a petition circulating online. Several prominent MAHA influencers have joined the petition, posting anti-pesticide messages on social media under handles such as The Glyphosate Girl and the Food Babe. “The EPA is acting like the Everyone Poisoned Agency,” wrote Kelly Ryerson, on her Glyphosate Girl Instagram feed. As the EPA advances pesticide use, the Trump administration has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that federal labeling laws invalidate state-level lawsuits. “After careful scientific review and an assessment of hundreds of thousands of public comments, EPA has repeatedly determined that glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic in humans, and the agency has repeatedly approved Roundup labels that did not contain cancer warnings,” Trump’s solicitor general wrote in an [amicus brief](https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-1068/386073/20251201170732560%5F24-1068%20--%20Monsanto%20v.%20Durnell.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) with the Supreme Court. However, one of the studies the EPA has often cited in claiming pesticides are safe was recently retracted due to concerns about its authorship and potential conflicts of interest. The report, published in 2000 by the scientific journal *Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology*, claimed Roundup “does not pose a health risk to humans.” The report has [been the foundation](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901125001765?ref=down-ballot.info#bib24) for numerous other studies, court cases and policy decisions. The journal retracted the study last year, noting that court cases had revealed that Monsanto employees had contributed to[ the study](https://usrtk.org/monsanto-roundup-trial-tracker/praise-polo-shirts-more-evidence-of-scientific-influence-seen-in-newly-released-monsanto-papers/?ref=down-ballot.info). “This lack of transparency raises serious ethical concerns regarding the independence and accountability of the authors of this article and the academic integrity of the carcinogenicity studies presented,” the retraction stated. “This is just one example of how the current process of certifying these chemicals is broken in the U.S.,” said Colleen Fowle, water program director at the Iowa Environmental Council. “At the very least, we're hoping that this (retraction) eliminates this specific research article from being cited in the future and concentrates more on independent peer-reviewed research as our basis to determine the safety of glyphosate.” This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/02/18/pesticide-use-and-cancer-risk-rise-together-across-americas-heartland/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=758033&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- [Costco withdraws application for highly anticipated Asheville location • Asheville WatchdogCostco, the wholesale retail giant that planned to bring a store to Asheville after decades of searching for a site, has withdrawn its application for the new location. In a Thursday email to City Council members obtained by Asheville Watchdog, City Manager DK Wesley said, “The applicant indicated that required on-site and off-site improvements have \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-10.png)Asheville WatchdogJOHN BOYLE![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/iStock-458717513-scaled-1.jpg)](https://avlwatchdog.org/costco-withdraws-application-for-highly-anticipated-asheville-location/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Costco withdraws application for highly anticipated Asheville location by [JOHN BOYLE](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/jboyle/?ref=down-ballot.info) February 19, 2026 Retailer had been searching for Buncombe location for decades; mayor calls withdrawal ‘a tragedy’ Costco, the wholesale retail giant that planned to bring a store to Asheville after decades of searching for a site, has withdrawn its application for the new location. In a Thursday email to City Council members obtained by *Asheville Watchdog,* City Manager DK Wesley said, “The applicant indicated that required on-site and off-site improvements have increased the project’s overall scope, timeline and anticipated costs.” Wesley said the city was notified Wednesday of the withdrawal for the proposed store in the Enka Commerce Park site. “As is not uncommon in large or complex projects, development applications are occasionally withdrawn for business reasons, including those unrelated to the city’s review process,” Wesley wrote. Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer called the withdrawal a serious blow to the city. “It is a tragedy, and I’m very disappointed,” Manheimer said. “I’m learning more about what the challenges are, and I’ll work to try to address any of them that I can.” Councilmember Sage Turner said Thursday morning that the withdrawal is “disappointing news for our residents and the greater region.” “The community was incredibly vocal in their support and desire for this new option,” Turner said. “I’ll be following up with their \[Costco’s\] team to learn more.” Costco has been searching for a Buncombe location for decades, and locals often drive about 70 miles to Spartanburg, the nearest Costco location, or Greenville, South Carolina, to shop at the retailer’s nearest store. Last year [the company submitted an application to the city](https://avlwatchdog.org/asheville-has-received-plans-for-a-costco-at-enka-commerce-park/?ref=down-ballot.info) for a store with 839 parking spaces on 25 acres within Enka Commerce Park, a request that would have required the city to approve a conditional zoning amendment. The letter of withdrawal came from the BL Companies, an architecture, engineering and environmental land surveying company that was working for Costco on the project. Nettie Boyle, project manager for BL Companies, requested the application be withdrawn “from the current review process before the Planning & Zoning Commission and City Council.” “Since submitting the application, additional requirements from reviewing agencies related to both on-site and off-site improvements have increased the project’s overall scope, timeline, and anticipated costs,” Boyle wrote. “As a result, the applicant has elected to withdraw the current submittal from the review process at this time.” At a [community meeting](https://avlwatchdog.org/costco-officials-plans-for-enka-site-will-be-submitted-to-city-of-asheville-in-2-to-4-weeks/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Get%20Watchdog%20news%20delivered%20free,but%20it%20will%20take%20time.) in August near the site, neighbors expressed enthusiasm about Costco coming but also concerns about increased traffic on Sardis and Sand Hill roads, as well as Smokey Park Highway. At the meeting, Renee Rutherford, director of real estate with Costco, said the company’s stores, which are open seven days a week, can draw about 600 vehicles an hour, although she stressed that occurs at peak shopping times. The Biltmore Lake neighborhood, consisting of more than 800 homes, sits just across Sand Hill Road from the proposed site. A busy Ingles grocery store is nearby, as well as several other industrial and warehousing operations in Enka Commerce park or nearby. At the August meeting, Costco officials said they were working on a traffic study, and that the approval process for a store could take 12 months and actual construction another year after that. *The Watchdog* reached out to Rutherford and Boyle, Enka Commerce Park owner Martin Lewis and the North Carolina Department of Transportation for comment. In October, the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County came out in [opposition](https://avlwatchdog.org/proposed-costco-location-in-enka-opposed-by-economic-development-coalition/?ref=down-ballot.info) to locating Costco in the Enka Commerce Park, citing wage concerns, diminished property taxes and the potential loss of the city’s last remaining industrial development site to retail. The site, the former location of the American Enka rayon plant that dates to the 1920s, received more than $15 million in tax dollars for improvements to roads, bridges, sidewalks, and greenway design, all in support of potential industrial employment. The funding came from Buncombe County (more than $10 million), NCDOT ($2.5 million) and the Appalachian Regional Commission ($3.1 million) While industrial jobs typically pay more than retail, Costco is something of an outlier when it comes to wages. Costco did not comment last year on the Economic Development Commission’s position, but it did provide a fact sheet on its employment benefits and wages, as well as store performance. Average annual sales per store/warehouse worldwide are $260 million, according to the sheet, and Costco “pays among the highest wages in the industry.” U.S. hourly wages run as follows: - Service assistant: $20 to $30.20 per hour - Service clerk: $21 to $31.90 per hour - Meat cutters $21.50 to $33.40 per hour That would put annual salaries, based on a 40-hour workweek, in the low-to-mid $40,000s to a top rate of nearly $70,000. The Costco store proposed for the Enka Commerce Park would have required “conditional zoning” approval from Asheville. While Costco had submitted plans, held a community meeting and completed its initial Technical Review Committee hearing, [it still had a lot of hoops to jump through](https://avlwatchdog.org/the-year-in-review-sure-there-were-more-important-issues-around-here-in-2025-but-nothing-electrified-readers-like-costco-news/?ref=down-ballot.info) before it could start building. The retailer was going to have to revise plans before the application would go to the Planning and Zoning Commission and ultimately to the City Council, Clay Mitchell, an urban planner with the city, said in December. *\[Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:44 a.m., Feb. 19, to include additional background.\]* --- *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments about this story, which has been republished on our* [*Facebook page*](http://facebook.com/avlwatchdog)*. Please submit your comments there.* --- [*Asheville Watchdog* ](http://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. To show your support for this vital public service go to* [*avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* --- [Virginia Supreme Court: April 21 redistricting referendum can move forwardThe state’s highest court is expected to hear Democratic lawmaker’s appeal of the Tazewell County Circuit Court’s decision to halt the redistricting effort after the referendum.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-9.png)Cardinal NewsElizabeth Beyer![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/virginia_supreme_court.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2026/02/13/virginia-supreme-court-april-21-redistricting-referendum-can-move-forward/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Virginia Supreme Court: April 21 redistricting referendum can move forward The state’s highest court is expected to hear Democratic lawmaker’s appeal of the Tazewell County Circuit Court’s decision to halt the redistricting effort after the referendum. by [Elizabeth Beyer](https://cardinalnews.org/author/elizabeth-beyer/?ref=down-ballot.info) February 13, 2026 The Supreme Court of Virginia on Friday said that the April 21 redistricting referendum can move forward. The state supreme court is expected to hear an appeal of the Tazewell County Circuit Court’s January ruling — which sought to halt the redistricting effort — after the referendum is scheduled to take place. The date for oral arguments has not yet been set. General Assembly Republicans filed a complaint in Tazewell County Circuit Court in October, seeking a judgment on the constitutionality of the attempt to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Chief Judge Jack Hurley Jr. sided with the Republican lawmakers, in what Democratic House Speaker Don Scott called an “overreach.” That ruling was appealed by Democratic lawmakers to the Virginia Supreme Court. “I think the Virginia Supreme Court made the right choice, made the right decision,” Scott, of Portsmouth, said during an impromptu press conference on Friday. “Virginia voters will have the final say on redistricting in Virginia, as they should.” Scott said that the high court’s decision will allow for the ballots to be printed with the referendum language and for the process to move forward. House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott County, was among the plaintiffs who filed a complaint against the redistricting effort in the Tazewell County Circuit Court. “That just shows that we’ve got to win the referendum and we’ve got to win in court,” he said, in response to the Virginia Supreme Court decision on Friday. “I think we can do both.” Both Scott and Kilgore expressed confidence that the court will rule in their favor, though that ruling is not expected until after the April 21 voter referendum has concluded. Early voting for the referendum is expected to start on March 6\. “Today’s order is a huge win for Virginia voters,” said Dan Gottlieb in a statement. Gottlieb is a spokesperson for Virginians for Fair Elections, a group in favor of the redistricting effort. “The Court made it clear that nothing in this case stops the April 21 referendum from moving forward and that Virginians will have the final say.” Jason Miyares and Eric Cantor, co-chairs of Virginians for Fair Maps, called the referendum “illegal,” while acquiescing that the state’s highest court has allowed the effort to move forward before final judgment. Virginians for Fair Maps is an organization against the mid-decade redistricting process. “All across Virginia, voters are speaking out against this brazen political power grab that allows politicians in Richmond to choose their own voters. It’s wrong, it’s illegal, and it will fail,” Cantor and Miyares said in a joint statement. General Assembly leadership released a map for their mid-decade redistricting effort in early February, with 10 districts that Democratic lawmakers said they feel confident their party can win in November. [The map](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/lisfiles/20261/Proposed%20VA%20Congressional%20Map%202026.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) is available on the [General Assembly’s Legislative Information Service website under HB 29](https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB29?ref=down-ballot.info). That bill has passed the House of Delegates and is expected to be voted on by the Democratic-controlled state Senate on Monday. Then it will head to the desk of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who could sign the legislation, line-item veto or opt not to sign it, in which case the bill will automatically become law after a period of time. Spanberger declined to comment on the Virginia Supreme Court decision. Instead, she said she is focused on the importance of clarity for Virginia voters regarding when and if the referendum would take place. Virginia Democrats have called the redistricting effort necessary, after Republican President Donald Trump called on conservative-led states to change their congressional maps in favor of GOP candidates ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. To redraw congressional maps outside of the normal 10-year cycle, Democrats proposed and passed a constitutional amendment that would suspend Virginia’s bipartisan redistricting commission. The General Assembly would go back to the redistricting commission after the 2030 Census to again redraw the commonwealth’s congressional map. The constitutional amendment must go before the voters in a referendum before it is enacted. If voters approve the effort in a referendum, the new maps will exist for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 midterm elections. --- # Working homelessness: When ‘getting a job’ isn’t enough in KC by Thomas White, Beacon: Kansas City February 5, 2026 Five mornings a week for the past few months, Jalisa Bennett runs through the halls of a Kansas City homeless shelter with a singular mission — find someone with car keys willing to drive her to work. “I go up and down, running around this whole building. Everybody who comes past with car keys (I’m asking), ‘Hey, you want to make $10?’” Bennett said. “I’m going to work, and I’m going to make it there on time.” Takeaways 1. About half of people in homeless shelters work at least part time, challenging the assumption that employment prevents homelessness. 2. The minimum wage is $15 an hour in Missouri, but the living wage in KC requires $22.75 an hour — a gap that makes working families more susceptible to slipping into homelessness. 3. An estimated 80% of people experiencing homelessness are “hidden” — couch surfing, doubled up or living in cars — making them hard to count and harder to help.. Bennett, a single mother of two young boys, arrived in town nearly two years ago after leaving an unsafe domestic situation. Money was tight, but at first she found a way to get by. Since then she’s navigated a sequence of setbacks that led her to living in a shelter. Through it all, though, she kept working. “I’m very determined,” Bennett said. “I have to provide for my kids, because I am the only provider they have.” Bennett is not alone. She’s part of a widely unacknowledged community of working homeless people. Brooke VanHecke is chief development officer for [reStart](https://www.restartinc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), one of the city's most prominent nonprofits serving the homeless population — including the shelter where Bennett has been getting back on her feet. VanHecke estimates that “roughly half, if not a little more than half” of the people in their shelters are working at least part time. “I still get those looks,” Bennett said. “It doesn’t matter how many times I tell a person I have a job. If they have a preconceived notion in their mind about you, that’s how they treat you.” ## The numbers behind working homelessness Stephanie Boyer, CEO of reStart, says the organization has seen an increase in working families needing assistance. She sees the trend as an indicator of underlying weakness in the economy. “We’ve definitely seen an uptick, particularly in our families who, yes, absolutely are working,” Boyer said. “I think we should be concerned. This isn’t about people making poor choices or decisions, it’s about economics.” As the costs of basic needs like housing and child care rise faster than wages, roughly four in 10 people in Kansas and Missouri [aren’t making enough to live comfortably](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/11/20/kc-workers-struggle-inflation-affordability-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Working a job while being homeless is tough, because a lot of people, even in the workforce, never talk about it,” Bennett said. “You’ll never know who’s dealing with housing issues at work.” > “Working a job while being homeless is tough, because a lot of people, even in the workforce, never talk about it. You’ll never know who’s dealing with housing issues at work.” > > Jalisa Bennett This gap can also be measured by the [United Way’s ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) metric](https://unitedforalice.org/national-overview?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=17215472393&gbraid=0AAAAADwfo%5FVQ2sTO59CNUX0QRJysqb2i6&gclid=Cj0KCQiA-YvMBhDtARIsAHZuUzI-P7A5qT-1piXMCq9Y9LOffJ6uJo7BYPqSaui-i5KaYOHe4lnBo1waAousEALw%5FwcB&ref=down-ballot.info#4.25/36.334/-95.747). The ALICE metric tracks households that earn more than the federal poverty line but less than what’s actually needed to afford housing, child care, food, and health care. When the ALICE metric is combined with traditional poverty figures, that number is called the ALICE threshold. In 2023, an estimated 38% of Kansas households lived below this threshold. In Missouri, it was 40%. These are the families falling through the cracks in the economy. In Missouri and Kansas, there were just less than 1 million households that made too much to qualify for assistance, but too little to afford their basic needs. “Your job isn’t keeping up with your housing, which is the biggest issue,” said Kansas City Houseless Prevention Coordinator Josh Henges. “We’ve seen over the last five years that wages are not even coming close to matching the cost of housing.” In Kansas City, that math is stark. According to the [MIT living wage calculator](https://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/28140?ref=down-ballot.info), a single adult with no children needs to make $22.75 an hour working full time to pay for typical expenses. A single parent with two children needs to earn $49.92 an hour. While the minimum wage rose this year in Missouri to $15 an hour, it’s only $7.25 in Kansas. ## The ‘hidden homeless’ are hard to count The annual Point-in-Time Count was conducted locally the night of Jan. 28-29\. The survey provides a snapshot of homelessness — counting people staying in shelters, transitional housing or places not meant for human habitation on a single night. While people living in shelters like Bennett or in known street encampments are counted, many of the working homeless are hard to reach and count because they are often not visibly unhoused. “Homelessness is a spectrum,” Henges told The Beacon. “The overwhelming majority of people who are homeless are folks who are housing unstable but you don’t see them.” Henges, who helped write the city’s [Zero KC](https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/housing/zero-kc?ref=down-ballot.info) plan to end homelessness, explains that there are roughly four types of homelessness. - **Chronic homelessness** is what most think of and see. This group is made up of people who’ve been on the street the longest — at least a year. Very few in this group have formal employment and a higher than average number have a serious mental illness or substance use disorder. - **Episodic homelessness** is when someone is cycling in and out of homelessness, often with many of the same characteristics of people experiencing chronic homelessness. Henges says chronic and episodic homelessness account for roughly 20% of people experiencing homelessness. - **Transitional homelessness** is when someone goes through a shorter period of homelessness of a few months often due to a crisis, like losing a job. - **Hidden/invisible homelessness** is the most common. This is when a person or family is staying with friends, couch surfing or temporarily doubling up. According to Henges, they make up nearly 80% of the city’s homeless population and heavily overlap with the transitional homelessness category. The most recent [HUD Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress](https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2024-AHAR-Part-1.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) found 771,480 people were experiencing homelessness in the 2024 Point-in-Time Count. That was the highest recorded number nationally since it began being counted in 2007\. Journalist and anthropologist Brian Goldstone wrote in his 2025 book “There is No Place For Us” that a true measure of homelessness would likely be far higher than official figures. When accounting for the hidden homelessness population — those omitted from official statistics who are staying in cars or extended-stay hotels or are doubled up with family — Goldstone estimates the full number would be more than [4 million homeless people](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/26/books/review/there-is-no-place-for-us-brian-goldstone.html?ref=down-ballot.info) in the U.S. Research from the [University of Chicago in 2021](https://bfi.uchicago.edu/insight/research-summary/learning-about-homelessness-using-linked-survey-and-administrative-data/?ref=down-ballot.info) estimated that nationally 53% of people living in homeless shelters and 40.4% of the unsheltered population were employed during the time they experienced homelessness. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness puts the figure of working homelessness [between 40% and 60%](https://www.usich.gov/guidance-reports-data/data-trends?ref=down-ballot.info). Henges said local statistics on working homelessness are largely anecdotal because data systems and federal funding are both focused on helping the chronically homeless population. ## Challenges of working homelessness For Bennett, the biggest obstacles have been child care and transportation. To get to her full-time job as a production operator at a construction site in the Northland of Kansas City, after sending kids off to school Bennett starts looking around the shelter for anyone willing to give her a ride to work. She doesn’t have a car and the bus doesn’t get very close to her workplace. If she took the bus, it would require a 35-minute walk from the last stop to her job site. So each week she sets aside $50 from her paycheck for car rides. That lesson was learned from when she first moved to Kansas City. Bennett connected with [Avenue of Life](https://www.avenueoflife.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), which helped get her and her two children settled into her own place after a temporary stay with her mother. She took a job as a housekeeper and had an arrangement with her mother to help pick up and drop off her kids from the school bus. Not long after moving in, her car was stolen. Bennett then needed to take a three-hour bus ride each way to work. The six-hour daily commute plus work hours meant her mother was watching her kids much more than planned, and before long it became burdensome. Child care for two children costs an average of $24,131 a year in Kansas City, according to the [MIT living wage calculator](https://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/28140?ref=down-ballot.info). ![Jalisa Bennett, a single mother of two, has been working full-time while living in a shelter.](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Untitled-1024x1024.png) Jalisa Bennett, a single mother of two, has been working full-time while living in a shelter. (Thomas White/The Beacon) Bennett didn’t realize how much she was relying on her mother until she said she couldn’t watch the kids anymore. Now she had to rearrange her life again, and had a tough talk with her manager. “I would hate to lose this job, but I would also hate to lose my kids,” Bennett recalled. “At this point, I have to make an extremely important decision, and I’m gonna choose my children.” Bennett is a licensed cosmetologist, so she did hair, sold art, did graphic design projects and did anything she could to make ends meet while still being able to watch her kids. But she wasn’t making enough money and fell behind. After a few months she was evicted and bounced between shelters before being placed in reStart’s program. Boyer and VanHecke said the biggest issues they see contributing to homelessness among working people are housing costs, low wages and high child care costs with limited options. “You have to think of three things: housing, transportation and child care,” said Henges. “If you have those three things covered, you will reduce or eliminate a huge portion of folks who fall into homelessness.” ## Possible solutions Restart [recently purchased](https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2025/12/29/restart-quality-inn-hotel-midtown-family-housing.html?ref=down-ballot.info) the former Quality Inn in Midtown with plans to add support for 44 more suites for transitional housing by April. Although this expansion means reStart can serve more people, Boyer said the organization doesn’t have the capacity to solve the issue alone. She says reStart had to turn away 414 families in 2024 and 600 in 2025. “We’re making a dent, but that doesn’t touch the 600 that called,” said VanHecke. “This is a great step for our city but with continued prices, with the current economic situation … we’re just going to see that number continue to rise.” ![The former Quality Inn at 35th and Main streets in Kansas City.](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IMG_2014-1024x683.jpg) ReStart plans to convert the former Quality Inn at 35th and Main streets into 44 family housing suites by April. (Courtesy/reStart) The metropolitan area has a shortage of 64,000 affordable housing units, according to [2023 research](https://www.marc.org/news/economy/affordable-housing-gap-even-wider-some-households?ref=down-ballot.info) from the Mid-America Regional Council. While a myriad of possible remedies exist, increasing the amount of affordable housing is widely considered a key action to help stave off rising homelessness. Henges notes that housing prices will not likely come down without applying an external force to the market. He pointed to successful models used in other cities like Houston, which went “all-in” on a housing-first approach in 2012\. Since then, CBS news reported in 2024 that [homelessness in Houston is down 63%](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-houston-successfully-reduced-homelessness/?ref=down-ballot.info) and more than 30,000 people have been housed. The city used roughly $100 million in COVID aid to help pay for rentals, buying apartments so they could move people from encampments to permanent housing quickly. Boyer said she’d like to see more [accessory dwelling units](https://www.marc.org/news/economy-housing/accessory-dwelling-units-continue-be-important-housing-solution-kansas-city?ref=down-ballot.info), which are small lower-cost housing units that can be built “by right” — meaning without a special-use permit — in the city on an owner’s existing property. She’d also like to see by-right duplex or multiplex conversions of large older houses in the urban core. Kansas City’s [Housing Trust Fund](https://www.kcur.org/housing-development-section/2025-12-29/kansas-city-affordable-housing-trust-fund?ref=down-ballot.info), Henges said, is a promising start but still relatively small compared with places like Boston. He’s “really glad” it exists but stresses that “we’ve got a while to go” before it’s fully built out. He argues the fund should be used not just to finance new construction, but to create affordable housing quickly with tools like [master leasing](https://www.urban.org/apps/pursuing-housing-justice-interventions-impact/master-leasing?ref=down-ballot.info) existing apartments or creating a municipal voucher program. “If you care about crime, if you care about education or you care about the workforce, then you need to care about housing, because homes are where all those people live,” Boyer said. “Once communities decide to heavily invest in housing, everything changes.” Henges said from a cost perspective, prevention is much preferable to intervention. He suggests a city flex fund as a homelessness prevention tool to catch issues at the earliest moment possible. He said that unless wages increase or housing becomes more affordable, Kansas City will see more working people slip into homelessness due to only being a crisis away from it. “These folks are working extraordinarily hard. There’s just very little reward for their work in the ability to live their lives,” Henges said. “We’re not even talking about taking a vacation or buying boats. We’re talking about the ability to buy name brand cereal. That’s not asking too much.” ## ‘I’m optimistic for the future’ The path forward is coming into focus for Bennett. After months of saving while at reStart, she’s found a 24-hour day care that accepts state assistance, has landed a better job with room for advancement, and has several apartment viewings lined up. “I’m positive, I’m optimistic for the future,” said Bennett. “I really think that people who are going through a hardship or trial like this, it boils down to mindset.” But she is quick to note that mindset alone isn’t enough. She says the shelter’s services like meals, case management and a stable address helped her get back on her feet. “Most of the people who are working while homeless … they’re working for a reason,” said Bennett. “They’re working to get out of the situation that they’re in, so given the adequate resources, people will be able to make a positive transition.” This [article](https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2026/02/05/working-homelessness-kc-affordability/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Beacon: Kansas City](https://thebeaconnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://thebeaconnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/iconbeacon-150x150.png?crop=1) --- # Tribal court hearing for former Swain sheriff delayed by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press February 18, 2026 A jury trial for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ prosecution of former Swain County sheriff **Curtis Cochran** won’t be scheduled until at least this summer, according to the latest tribal court filings. Cochran, 73, had been set to appear in tribal court in Cherokee on Tuesday, Feb. 17\. However, the judge presiding over the case, the tribal prosecutor and Cochran’s attorney agreed over email to continue the pre-trial hearing to June 8, assistant clerk **Keanu Crowe** told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). In the motion for continuation filed Tuesday morning, defense attorney **Jack Stewart** cited Cochran’s “age and poor health” as reasoning for him not to appear Tuesday. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Cochran was arrested by Cherokee, state and federal authorities last year for sex crimes he’s alleged to have committed against multiple women in his police vehicle. District Attorney **Ashley Hornsby Welch** filed a legal petition to remove him as sheriff, a position he had held since 2005, but Cochran abruptly announced his retirement before a judge could rule on the matter. Notably, Cochran is facing concurrent prosecutions by the state of North Carolina and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which is considered its own sovereign entity and has the legal authority to prosecute non-Indians for certain violent crimes committed on native lands. Double jeopardy isn’t an issue in this situation because the criminal charges originate from two different sovereigns. Cochran has pled not guilty to four violations of the Cherokee Code and five state criminal charges, including second degree forcible rape. Pre-trial proceedings in both cases are ongoing. Cochran had hearings in Swain Superior Court pushed back twice already, and his next scheduled appearance there is April 29. It’s not unsurprising for a case with this level of novelty and jurisdictional complexity to undergo a long wait before going to trial — or, in this case, trials. Until now, the little information available about the legal battle facing Cochran has come from Welch’s petition for removal, the arrest warrants and arraignment documents. However, Stewart’s references to Cochran’s advanced age and potential health issues in his most recent motion for continuance could offer a first glimpse into the defense’s strategy for the tribal charges. As for the state criminal charges, Cochran appeared in person at Swain County Superior Court in September and December, where his case was continued to a later date both times. The reason for the most recent rescheduling was “receipt of new information,” the Smoky Mountain Times reported. No public records with more detail of those continuances exist because they were granted in open court and not through a court filing, the Swain clerk of court said. Both Welch and **Michael McConnell**, attorney general of the Eastern Band, declined to comment on their respective prosecutions of Cochran. ### Pressure on sheriffs in NC's far west Cochran isn’t the only sheriff in the 43rd prosecutorial district to have lost his job, at least in part, because of actions of the district attorney’s office. On Jan. 29, Welch filed a petition for the removal of Graham County Sheriff **Brad Hoxit** for improper involvement in a criminal investigation to which the sheriff had a conflict of interest. According to the petition for removal, Hoxit sought search warrants for Graham County Commissioner **Jacob Nelms** and asked for the help of Department of Insurance special investigators all while having a secret romantic relationship with Nelms’ now ex-wife. Hoxit failed to disclose that relationship to the district attorney’s office when seeking Welch’s help in prosecuting Nelms, the petition stated. One of Hoxit’s deputies had previously obtained warrants in Buncombe County to place trackers on Nelms’ car. It wasn’t until after that meeting that Welch became aware of the affair between Hoxit and Nelms’ ex-wife. He continued to have future meetings with Welch to talk about the criminal investigation into Nelms, making several “concerning” statements, despite being told repeatedly not to involve himself, the petition said. “Defendant's never ceasing obsession surrounding Jacob Nelms, failure to stay out of the investigation, attempting to influence state law enforcement agencies, being dishonest about what the undersigned District Attorney said, obtaining search warrants for car trackers and cell phones of Jacob Nelms without disclosing the romantic conflict, is inherently unfair and appears to be targeted,” Welch wrote in the petition. Superior court judge **Tessa Sellers** temporarily suspended Hoxit from office until a hearing and final determination could be made on the petition for his removal. Hoxit seems poised to fight the removal proceedings. He secured a continuance on the final hearing, originally scheduled for Friday, Feb. 20, so that he could have more time to prepare a defense. The sheriff’s office in neighboring Cherokee County has been similarly upended. Just a day before Welch filed the petition to remove Hoxit from office, she sent a letter to Cherokee County Sheriff **Dustin Smith** requesting his resignation because of “continuous negligence.” That letter said that for years her office had received complaints from citizens about Smith’s administration of the sheriff’s office. Specific incidents Welch cited were the 2022 shooting of an unarmed man who later sued the department, as well as the fatal shooting of a Cherokee County detention officer by a federal inmate in 2025. “The continuous negligence has resulted in the loss of confidence, trust, and respect for the office of Sheriff by a significant number of the residents of Cherokee County and the district,” Welch wrote. “My hope is that you will recognize the harm that is being done and that you will make the decision to resign,” she continued. Welch ended the letter by implying that if Smith didn’t resign, she would file a petition for his removal from office, bringing “all the evidence and proof into the public record.” Smith heeded the warning, [announcing](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1aCaB3qg39/) on his re-election campaign’s Facebook page that he was suspending his campaign and retiring effective Feb. 6. UNC School of Government professor **James Markham** said a situation like this, where multiple sheriffs in the same prosecutorial district have had removal proceedings or threats of removal brought against them by the district attorney, is rare. “That said, each case stands on its own facts, and from what has been reported publicly, these appear to involve separate and unrelated circumstances that happened within a similar timeframe,” he added in an email to CPP. “Under North Carolina law, a district attorney has statutory authority to initiate removal proceedings against a sheriff for misconduct in office. That authority serves as an important accountability mechanism, particularly given the scope of a sheriff’s responsibilities, which include law enforcement, management of the county jail, and courthouse security.” The future of all three of those sheriff’s offices is up in the air with elections later this year. Voters will soon head to the polls to vote in the primary elections where candidates have lined up to replace the embattled predecessors. *Editor's note: This article has been updated after initial publication to include new information that became available.* This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74522/tribal-court-hearing-for-former-swain-sheriff-delayed/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Local group works to improve conditions for Mardi Gras clean-up workers by Madhri Yehiya, Verite News New Orleans February 13, 2026 Every year, hundreds of clean-up workers take to the streets following the largest [Mardi Gras](https://veritenews.org/tag/mardi-gras/?ref=down-ballot.info) parades, cleaning up thousands of pounds of throws, wrappers, food, drinks and other trash. Residents and visitors who’ve attended parades the night before are often awestruck at how clean the parade routes are the next day. But after speaking with several workers on-the-ground during last year’s parade season, the [New Orleans Worker’s Center for Racial Justice](https://www.nowcrj.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) (NOWCRJ) — a labor rights and economic empowerment organization — heard that the workers who get the routes in pristine condition do not receive adequate personal protection equipment (PPE) and food and water to get them through clean-up shifts that last several hours. In order to draw attention to and improve conditions for the workers, the organization launched a campaign this year called “We Are Not Disposable” to recruit volunteers to hand out food, water and PPE to the clean-up crews. Volunteers with NOWCRJ will be offering supplies to clean-up workers at two stations along the route during parades such as Muses and Iris — at Harmony Circle and outside of Fresh Market at the intersection of Louisiana Ave. and St. Charles Ave — in addition to at the start of the route where clean-up workers meet. Some workers are employed by the Department of Sanitation, but most are hired on a short-term contract basis through the city’s workforce platform [JOB1](https://job1nola.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and through Ramelli Janitorial Services. Workers use a combination of rakes, shovels, roll carts and debris blowers. In a written statement emailed to Verite News, Isis Casanova, communications director for Mayor Helena Moreno and the city of New Orleans, said workers are provided with safety glasses, face masks and rain ponchos as requested, in addition to food and water. “Clean-up workers are provided with water and snack pack (chips, cookies, fruit snacks, granola bar, blow pop) daily,” the statement read. “On parade days where clean-up workers report in the morning, a sandwich is provided.” ![The package that the city of New Orleans provides Mardi Gras clean-up workers.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/12164955/MGWORKERS02.jpg) The package that the city of New Orleans provides Mardi Gras clean-up workers. A Ramelli representative refuted claims that workers don’t receive adequate gear, telling Verite News the company provides gloves, reflective gear and goggles as needed and that workers are “well-taken care of,” often only working about 4 to 5 hours after the parade ends. Volunteers have been conducting street interviews with workers throughout Carnival season and will continue to do so to understand how workers are being treated. The organization said the items that are being provided are based on information gathered from more than 40 interviews since early 2025. NOWCRJ organizers said sandwiches often aren’t provided, water is limited, workers are not made aware that they can ask for extra PPE and the PPE offered is inadequate for the type of work they are doing. The Mayor’s Office and the Department of Sanitation did not respond to questions from Verite News about the alleged lack of food, first aid and high-quality supplies necessary to protect the health and safety of clean-up workers. ### **Safety concerns** Clean-up workers are assigned to a parade route on a first-come, first-serve basis. Shifts can be between 10 to 20 hours long, according to a statement from the Mayor’s Office, with many workers arriving back at home past midnight, sometimes only to wake up early for another shift the next day. Jordan Bridges, organizing director of NOWCRJ, started contacting workers to learn about their working conditions in 2025 because of his interest in labor rights within Black and Brown communities. He also participated in clean-up efforts in 2025 and 2026 because, in his eyes, “you can’t organize for people \[who\] you have no idea what they’re going through.” Bridges said for weeks after his clean-up shifts in 2025, he dealt with severe nasal congestion that turned into a sinus infection. His eyes were red for days, and dirt and other particulate matter he had breathed in during the clean-up kept coming out of his nose. This year, Bridges said he wore a mask during the clean-up efforts after the Oshun and Cleopatra parades last Friday (Feb. 6), but has still been dealing with congestion for days. Magali Ortiz, a community organizer at NOWCRJ, ran public training sessions in January and February to invite volunteers to learn more about what carnival season clean-up workers face and how to engage them in conversation. She said although the city claims to offer many kinds of protective equipment, workers are rarely made aware of the option to request more PPE, most of which is too low quality for the task at hand. “People are mostly raking, but from time to time they have to actually put their hands in a lot of this trash … \[The gloves\] are not waterproof, they’re not resistant to things like glass or other trash that might be in there,” Ortiz said. “Imagine you're next to somebody with a massive leaf blower,” she added. “There's all this particulate matter that's just getting thrown around and getting in your eyes.” The clean-up shift often begins hours after workers receive their food and drink. Bridges received only a snack pack, a vest, gloves and a bottle of water for a 10-hour shift on Feb. 6\. He said he did not pre-pack extra food in order to get the full experience of relying solely on the city’s provisions. The Mayor’s Office said that “clean-up workers take periodic breaks along the route as the water truck refills and in between clean-up segments” but did not respond to questions from Verite News about how often breaks are allowed. “It’s not a break,” Bridges said. “Anybody that’s ever been on-call knows that if I'm on-call I'm basically working. … We have to move away from devaluing people's time.” He added that many of the “breaks” involve workers standing around waiting for work to be done. There are also very limited opportunities to find and use a bathroom. Bridges said while he loved being a part of the camaraderie that builds over working alongside the same people for several hours, the clean-up is especially exhausting for those who sign-up for double shifts — 10-hour shifts two days in a row. “Workers I've seen sleep in cars, I've seen just wander for a few hours. I've seen people sleep on the sidewalk next to Fresh Market, exhausted from either the previous shifts they've done or just trying to catch a nap,” he said. Bridges said clean-up routes are randomly assigned. If assigned to Route B or C, workers can watch the parade and begin cleaning up once it passes. If assigned to Route A, workers must follow the parade, right behind the debris blowers, and do not get to participate in the festivities of the day. The Mayor’s Office said between 200 to 500 clean-up workers are deployed each parade day. Bridges added that JOB1 recruiters make the clean-up seem like easy work and easy money because of how much standing around there is, instead of disclosing how the work can be physically taxing. JOB1 did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. “Even if you're standing for 10 hours, it takes a reasonable amount of vitality and dexterity to do that,” he said. “Even if you have a rake, you still have to have a moderate amount of fitness to walk that distance and work that distance.” Although workers provide an emergency contact prior to the clean-up, Bridges said there is no first aid available on site in case of an injury. He added that the Red Cross tent packs up and leaves once parades end because their focus is to care for parade-goers. The Red Cross did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. ![A clean-up crew worker during Mardi Gras 2024.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/12165412/IMG_4294.jpg) A clean-up crew worker during Mardi Gras 2024. ### **Lack of city support** NOWCRJ’s new campaign should not be interpreted as “antagonistic” by city leadership and JOB1, according to Ortiz. However, she added that talks with JOB1 regarding the clean-up workers’ rights have been disappointing at times. “I think nobody in the city seems to be wanting to take responsibility for how to determine what protective equipment is actually needed, based on the conditions on the ground,” she said. “If the Department of Sanitation is saying that they’re not the ones in charge, and JOB1 is saying that they’re not the ones in charge, then you know they’re constantly passing the buck.” Ortiz added that the city and JOB1 seemed more concerned about the cost of providing PPE than the health concerns of failing to do so. “They were like, ‘Well, you should really just get equipment that’s as disposable as possible, because the workers are going to lose them, or it’s not really worth it to really invest in that kind of stuff, because some of the workers don’t bring it back.” The Department of Sanitation and JOB1 did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. ### **Reforming clean-up efforts** City-funded clean-ups began last Friday, following the Krewe of Cleopatra. NOWCRJ organizers said that larger krewes are provided with clean-up services for free, while smaller ones have to pay for their own clean-up efforts. Parades on the West Bank, such as NOMTOC on Feb. 14 (Saturday), do not get a city-funded clean-up. Bridges said he’s seen trash blow into people’s yards for days after a parade. “I think it just brings in a bit of a question of who deserves to have their neighborhood cleaned up, and why are we doing that cleanup?” Ortiz said. “And when is that being done for tourists, as opposed to the people who are actually living in the neighborhoods that are being impacted?” Bridges also pointed out the city’s racial disparities that are on display during the clean-up efforts. He said he has seen wealthy college students laughing and recording clean-up workers, many of whom are Black and are tasked with cleaning up high-income Uptown neighborhoods. “I've watched people bring trash out of their houses and throw it right on the ground when they see us coming,” he said. “People throw pizza — take a bite of it, don't want it no more, and just throw it into the trash pile.” With greater effort and cooperation on the city’s part, Bridges said he believes better pay and working conditions for clean-up workers is possible. “At the end of the day, are the workers that are doing the Mardi Gras clean-up and staying up and sacrificing their bodies and time and lungs and health and don't get to enjoy Carnival — are they being taken care of?” he asked. “The answer is, we can do a lot better.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/13/mardi-gras-clean-up-workers-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=28391&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ### A ‘servant leader’ honored: The nation pays tribute to Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon URL: https://down-ballot.info/a-servant-leader-honored-the-nation-pays-tribute-to-jesse-jackson-civil-rights-icon/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T20:08:50.000Z by Shauneen Miranda and Jacob Fischler, [SC Daily Gazette](https://scdailygazette.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) February 17, 2026 WASHINGTON — Tributes poured in across the country for the revered civil rights figure the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., who died Tuesday morning at 84. The two-time Democratic presidential hopeful and Greenville, South Carolina, native died peacefully, surrounded by his kin, according to his family. Jackson, who was active in the civil rights movement as a college student, worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a young adult before King’s 1968 assassination. Leading his own political movement, Jackson became known for his populist message, charismatic delivery and organizing prowess that elevated the role and influence of Black political leaders and helped shape the modern Democratic Party. “Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” Jackson’s family said in a [statement](https://www.jessejacksonlegacy.com/?ref=down-ballot.info). “We shared him with the world, and in return, the world became part of our extended family,” his family added. “His unwavering belief in justice, equality, and love uplifted millions, and we ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by.” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, [ordered](https://x.com/GovPritzker/status/2023770820221255903?ref=down-ballot.info) flags to fly at half-staff Tuesday in Jackson’s honor in the state where he lived and worked for many years. The family statement did not list a cause of death. Jackson was diagnosed in 2013 with Parkinson’s disease. His diagnosis was updated last year to progressive supranuclear palsy, according to a November [statement](https://www.rainbowpush.org/pr%5F112425?ref=down-ballot.info) from the Rainbow PUSH Coalition that Jackson founded. #### Tributes from Obama, Trump and Biden Former President Barack Obama, the first Black president, and his wife, Michelle Obama, said Jackson’s runs for the presidency “laid the foundation” for Barack Obama’s successful 2008 campaign. And Chicago native Michelle Obama’s “first glimpse of political organizing” was at the Jacksons’ kitchen table, they said. “From organizing boycotts and sit-ins, to registering millions of voters, to advocating for freedom and democracy around the world, he was relentless in his belief that we are all children of God, deserving of dignity and respect,” they wrote. “Reverend Jackson also created opportunities for generations of African Americans and inspired countless more, including us.” President Donald Trump paid tribute, dubbing Jackson “a force of nature like few others before him” and a “good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts,’” in a [social media](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116086206069142759?ref=down-ballot.info) post Tuesday. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the highest-ranking Black member of Congress, honored Jackson as a “legendary voice for the voiceless, powerful civil rights champion and trailblazer extraordinaire,” in a [social media](https://x.com/RepJeffries/status/2023745674584764880?ref=down-ballot.info) post. “For decades, while laboring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all,” the New York Democrat said. Jeffries expressed gratitude for Jackson’s “incredible service” to the country and “profound sacrifice as the people’s champion.” Former President Joe Biden [called](https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/2023783159196754048?ref=down-ballot.info) Jackson “a man of God and of the people. Determined and tenacious. Unafraid of the work to redeem the soul of our Nation.” #### South Carolina legacy U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat and longtime friend of Jackson, said the civil rights leader lived a life “defying odds,” in a statement Tuesday. “Reverend Jackson showed us that if we all work together – we can bend the arc of the moral universe and change history,” Clyburn said while also pointing to Jackson’s impact on “the nation, Black Americans, and movements to encourage civic participation around the world.” U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican who is the party’s highest-ranking Black elected official, honored Jackson’s legacy as a leader and role model. “I don’t have to agree with someone politically to deeply respect the role Jesse Jackson, a South Carolina native, played in uplifting Black voices and inspiring young folks to believe their voices mattered,” Scott wrote on social media. “Those that empower people to stand taller always leave a lasting mark. Rest in peace.” Jackson’s legacy will live on in the next generation, South Carolina state Sen. Deon Tedder said during a news conference Tuesday. “The future generation, they’re picking up that torch, they’re picking up that mantle,” said Tedder, a Democrat, gesturing to students from the state’s historically Black colleges and universities. “The baton has been passed, and now what you see is the future.” South Carolina state Rep. Hamilton Grant recalled seeing Jackson at the July 9, 2015, signing ceremony of the law that removed the Confederate flag from Statehouse grounds entirely. The flag was [taken down](https://apnews.com/general-news-83acf6f3ed7645168d4b9606bc94abcc?ref=down-ballot.info) the next day, 15 years after it came off the Statehouse dome in a compromise Jackson opposed. “For him, being from South Carolina, to see that moment, and me being there in close proximity with him, meant the world to me,” Grant told the South Carolina Daily Gazette. He said Jackson paved the way for Black leaders like him and helped instill in him pride in his identity. The South Carolina House and Senate held moments of silence in Jackson’s honor Tuesday. “There are so many little boys and little girls in South Carolina who can look in the mirror now and say, ‘I am somebody!’ because of this native son,” state Sen. Karl Allen, a Democrat, said. #### Shaping Democratic politics Jackson leaves behind a legacy of political and social justice work that spanned decades. He founded the [Rainbow PUSH Coalition](https://www.rainbowpush.org/brief-history?ref=down-ballot.info), a national social justice organization whose name evoked Jackson’s multiracial voter base and the theme of his 1984 Democratic National Convention speech. That organization was formed by a merger between Operation PUSH, which Jackson founded in 1971, and the Rainbow Coalition. In his 1988 bid for the presidency, Jackson [based his campaign in Iowa ](https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/archiveComponent/876727415?ref=down-ballot.info)prior to that state’s presidential caucuses and made the official announcement of his candidacy at a farm in Greenfield on Oct. 10, 1987\. He finished in fourth place in the caucuses but went on to briefly become the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination by winning a coalition of Black and Latino voters and white liberals, though he ultimately came in second in delegates to Michael Dukakis. Similar blocs propelled Obama to victory two decades later and continue to form national Democrats’ base. Two of Jackson’s sons, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Jonathan Jackson, would represent Illinois in the U.S. House. Jonathan Jackson remains in office after first winning election in 2022. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont who endorsed Jackson’s 1988 campaign, said in a Tuesday statement Jackson had been a friend and ally for nearly 40 years and credited Jackson with founding modern progressivism. “His creation of the Rainbow Coalition, a revolutionary idea at the time, that developed a grassroots movement of working people — Black, white, Latino, Asian-American, Native-American, gay and straight — laid the foundation for the modern progressive movement which is continuing to fight for his vision of economic, racial, social and environmental justice,” Sanders wrote. “Jackson has had a profound impact upon our country. His politics of togetherness and solidarity should guide us going forward.” #### ‘Equal justice is not inevitable’ Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat and a Baptist pastor, recalled the influence Jackson’s presidential runs had on a young Warnock growing up in public housing. “With an eloquence and rhythmic rhetoric all his own, Jesse Jackson reminded America that equal justice is not inevitable,” he said. “It requires vigilance and commitment, and for freedom fighters, sacrifice. His ministry was poetry and spiritual power in the public square. He advanced King’s dream and bent the arc of history closer to justice.” Jaime Harrison, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Jackson’s 1988 run, which culminated with a speech at the party convention that lauded the United States’ multiracial identity, inspired him. As “a poor Black kid from South Carolina,” Harrison said he was drawn to Jackson’s command of the convention hall after accumulating more than 1,000 delegates. “He did not win the nomination,” Harrison wrote. “But he won our imagination.” *Adrian Ashford contributed to this report.* [SC Daily Gazette](https://scdailygazette.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. --- ## How Jesse Jackson was shaped by Southern segregation − and went on to reshape American political life A civil rights activist who ran for president twice and became a Democratic power broker, Jackson was an American political icon. But above all, he was a Southerner **By Gibbs Knotts, Coastal Carolina University and Christopher A. Cooper, Western Carolina University** Holding hands with other prominent Black leaders, the Rev. Jesse Jackson crossed the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 9, 2025, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of “[Bloody Sunday](https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/picture-gallery/news/2025/03/09/selma-bridge-crossing-commemorates-the-60th-anniversary-of-bloody-sunday/82155201007/?ref=down-ballot.info).” Like several survivors of that violent day in 1965, when police brutally attacked civil rights protesters, Jackson crossed the bridge in a wheelchair. Jesse Louis Jackson was born [Oct. 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina](https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/jackson-jesse-louis/?ref=down-ballot.info), a town firmly entrenched in the racially segregated Deep South. This time and place aren’t footnotes to Jackson’s life, but rather key facts that shaped his [civil rights activism](https://books.google.com/books/about/Jesse%5FJackson.html?id=k1seAAAAMAAJ&ref=down-ballot.info) and [historic runs for the U.S. presidency](https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=g9p4kh-l7ioC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=jesse+jackson+presidential+campaign+political+science&ots=%5FkD53Sad9y&sig=9r17aIk39e3XXgOikJle%5F9rfm4I&ref=down-ballot.info#v=onepage&q=jesse%20jackson%20presidential%20campaign%20political%20science&f=false). [Jackson died on Feb. 17, 2026, at age 84](https://www.npr.org/2026/02/17/963124454/jesse-jackson-civil-rights-leader-rainbow-coalition-dies?ref=down-ballot.info). Growing up in the segregated South shaped Jackson’s attitudes, opinions and outlook in ways that remain apparent today. While he lived in Chicago for most of his adult life, he [remained a Southerner](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYoWdjDGgaA&ref=down-ballot.info). And other Southerners viewed him as such. Jackson biographer [David Masciotra said](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYoWdjDGgaA&ref=down-ballot.info) the South gave Jackson “a sense of the oppression and the persecution that he wanted to fight.” As scholars of Southern politics, we see Jackson’s Southern identity as essential to understanding his life. [Southerners often identify](https://uncpress.org/book/9781469631059/the-resilience-of-southern-identity/?ref=down-ballot.info) with the region, even after leaving the geographic South. As sociologist John Shelton Reed once wrote, Southernness has [more to do with attitude than latitude](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2576184?seq=1&ref=down-ballot.info). ## A segregated childhood In the South Carolina of Jackson’s youth, water fountains, bathrooms, swimming pools and lunch counters [were all segregated](https://theconversation.com/separate-water-fountains-for-black-people-still-stand-in-the-south-thinly-veiled-monuments-to-the-long-strange-dehumanizing-history-of-segregation-222106?ref=down-ballot.info). While white people his age attended Greenville High School, Jackson attended the all-Black Sterling High School, where he was a star quarterback and class president. His experience of segregation shaped how Jackson viewed his life. “I keep thinking about the odds,” Jackson told his biographer and fellow South Carolinian [Marshall Frady](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Jesse/Marshall-Frady/9780743291446?ref=down-ballot.info) in 1988, marveling at the “responsibility I have now against what I was expected then to be doing at this stage of life.” “Even mean ole segregation couldn’t break in on me and steal my soul,” [he later told Frady](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Jesse/Marshall-Frady/9780743291446?ref=down-ballot.info). If Jackson had been white, a star student like him might have enrolled at Clemson University or the University of South Carolina. Or he might have said yes when he was [offered a contract to play professional baseball](https://books.google.com/books/about/Jesse%5FJackson.html?id=k1seAAAAMAAJ&ref=down-ballot.info). Instead, Jackson rejected the contract because the pay would be approximately six times less than a white player’s and went North, to the University of Illinois. He did not find a more welcoming atmosphere in Champaign, Illinois. According to biographer [Barbara Reynolds](https://books.google.com/books/about/Jesse%5FJackson.html?id=k1seAAAAMAAJ&ref=down-ballot.info), the segregation that he thought he had left behind “cropped up in Illinois to convince him that was not the place to be.” In the fall of 1960, Jackson transferred to North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, a [historically Black college](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-power-of-black-excellence-9780197776599?cc=us&lang=en&&ref=down-ballot.info) in Greensboro, North Carolina, to complete his sociology degree. His return to the South marked Jackson’s emergence as a leader in the growing Civil Rights Movement. Greensboro was [a center of this struggle](https://books.google.com/books/about/Jesse.html?id=zC6u20RcEeIC&ref=down-ballot.info), with large, regular demonstrations, often led by local students of color. Six months prior to his arrival in Greensboro, four Black students from North Carolina A&T [refused to leave the whites-only Woolworth lunch counter](https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/odyssey/educate/lunch.html?ref=down-ballot.info), launching a sit-in movement that soon drew national attention. Jackson himself [led protests to integrate Greensboro businesses](https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/jackson-jesse-louis?ref=down-ballot.info). After one [pivotal student march](https://gateway.uncg.edu/crg/essay1963?ref=down-ballot.info) on City Hall, he was arrested and charged with inciting a riot. In jail, Jackson wrote a “[Letter From a Greensboro Jail](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/E0/05/43/74/00001/DONALDSON%5FA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info),” a rhetorical tip of the hat to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” ## A move north Jackson’s second move north, in 1964, stuck. Like so many other Black Southerners who participated in what later became known as the “[second great migration](https://faculty.washington.edu/gregoryj/2nd%20great%20migration%5FJames%20Gregory.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info),” Jackson went to Chicago. He attended Chicago Theological Seminary, inspired not by a deep love of scripture but by what Jackson perceived as the church’s ability to do good on this earth. As North Carolina A&T’s president, Dr. Sam Proctor, [advised Jackson](https://books.google.com.cy/books?id=QeXuaFDq4p4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs%5Fatb#v=onepage&q&f=false), “You don’t have to enter the ministry because you want to save people from a burning hell. It may be because you want to see his kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” [Jackson thought his time in Chicago](https://books.google.com/books/about/Jesse%5FJackson.html?id=k1seAAAAMAAJ&ref=down-ballot.info) “would be quiet and peaceful and I could reflect.” It was anything but. Following the path of King and other religiously inspired civil rights activists, Jackson continued his civil rights organizing, leading Operation Breadbasket, an initiative of King’s to [boycott businesses that did not employ Black workers](https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/jackson-jesse-louis?ref=down-ballot.info). ## Presidential aspirations Over the next few years, Jackson took on ever more high-profile organizing, patterned after the life and work of King – another Southerner. As the former King [aide Bernard Lafayette once said](https://books.google.com.cy/books?id=QeXuaFDq4p4C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs%5Fatb#v=onepage&q&f=false), “I mean, he cloned himself out of Martin Luther King.” In 1984, Jackson turned to politics, running for the nation’s highest office. [Announcing his bid](https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/04/us/jackson-declares-formal-candidacy.html?ref=down-ballot.info) for the presidency, Jackson pledged to “help restore a moral tone, a redemptive spirit, and a sensitivity to the poor and dispossessed of this nation.” But the campaign always represented more than a policy platform. Jackson wanted to mobilize more Americans to vote and to run for office, especially the “voiceless and the downtrodden.” Jackson finished third in the 1984 Democratic primary but with a remarkably strong showing, taking 18% of all primary votes. He performed especially well south of the Mason-Dixon Line, winning both [Louisiana and the District of Columbia](https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/06/us/jackson-takes-louisiana-vote-in-low-turnout.html?ref=down-ballot.info). He also performed well in the [Mississippi](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/03/21/jackson-wants-mississippi-results-probed/898bc165-22b1-4e5b-a66b-11b160a43745/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [South Carolina Democratic caucuses](https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/15/us/campaign-notes-jackson-wins-delegatesin-south-carolina-tally.html?ref=down-ballot.info). This surprising success inspired Jackson to run for president again. In 1988, he did even better, [winning nearly 7 million votes and 11 contests](https://uselectionatlas.org/WIKI/index.php/1988%5FPrimaries?ref=down-ballot.info#Tennessee), and sweeping the South during the primary season. He won the [South Carolina](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/03/13/jackson-wins-with-majority-in-south-carolina-caucuses/b3179850-3023-43b3-ac31-98c5b412e019/?ref=down-ballot.info) caucuses and the [Super Tuesday states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Virgina](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/10/us/after-super-tuesday-super-tuesday-primaries-the-results.html?ref=down-ballot.info). In his second run, Jackson [more than doubled his share of the white vote](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/13/us/jackson-share-of-votes-by-whites-triples-in-88.html?ref=down-ballot.info), from 5% in 1984 to 12% in 1988. Jackson finished second in the Democratic primary to Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, who would go on to [lose the 1988 presidential election to George H.W. Bush](https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1988?ref=down-ballot.info). But Jackson’s strong results solidified his position as a major figure in American politics and a [power broker in the Democratic Party](https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/apr/17/uselections2000.usa?ref=down-ballot.info). A towering figure in American politics Jesse Jackson’s two presidential runs fundamentally altered the U.S. political landscape. Beyond being the first Black candidate to win a state primary contest, Jackson also helped [end the primary system by which the winner of a state would receive all the state’s delegates](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/21/opinion/abby-phillip-political-legacy-jesse-jackson.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Jackson claimed the system [hurt Black and minority candidates](https://www.politico.com/story/2008/02/proportional-primaries-working-for-democrats-008698?ref=down-ballot.info) and advocated to implement reforms that had been first recommended following the 1968 Democratic primary. Back then, the party had pushed for a system in which delegates could be allocated [based on the proportion of the vote won by each candidate](https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3329&context=vlr&ref=down-ballot.info), but it wasn’t adopted in every state. Starting in 1992, following Jackson’s intervention, [candidates receiving at least 15%](https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/the-modern-history-of-the-democratic-presidential-primary-1972-2008/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the vote officially received a proportion of the delegates. These reforms opened up the possibility that a minority candidate could secure the Democratic nomination through a more proportional allocation of delegates. Jackson’s background also reinforced the [importance of the Black church in Black political mobilization](https://books.google.com/books/about/Steadfast%5FDemocrats.html?id=-%5F-tDwAAQBAJ&ref=down-ballot.info). Perhaps most importantly, Jackson expanded the size and diversity of the electorate and inspired a [generation of African Americans](https://books.google.com/books?id=hYNSEAAAQBAJ&printsec=copyright&ref=down-ballot.info#v=onepage&q&f=false) to seek office. “It is because people like Jesse ran that I have this opportunity to run for president today,” [said Barack Obama](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jesse-jackson-endorses-barack-obama/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2007. ## The long Southern strategy Jackson’s political rise coincided with [and likely encouraged](https://books.google.com/books/about/The%5FLong%5FSouthern%5FStrategy.html?id=08ObDwAAQBAJ&ref=down-ballot.info) the exodus of racially conservative white voters [out of the Democratic Party](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/13/us/jackson-s-success-earns-the-trust-of-many-who-once-feared-him.html?ref=down-ballot.info). The Republican Party’s [Long Southern Strategy](https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-long-southern-strategy-9780197579039?ref=down-ballot.info) – an opportunistic plan to cultivate Southern white voters by capitalizing on “[white racial angst](https://books.google.com/books/about/The%5FLong%5FSouthern%5FStrategy.html?id=08ObDwAAQBAJ&ref=down-ballot.info)” and conservative social values – [had been underway before](https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/exclusive-lee-atwaters-infamous-1981-interview-southern-strategy/?ref=down-ballot.info) Jackson’s presidential bids. But his focus on social and economic justice undoubtedly helped [drive conservative Southern whites to the GOP](https://books.google.com/books/about/The%5FTwo%5Fparty%5FSouth.html?id=8hsSAAAAYAAJ&ref=down-ballot.info). Today, [some political thinkers question](https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674032491?ref=down-ballot.info) whether a distinct “[Southern politics](https://books.google.com/books/about/Southern%5FPolitics%5Fin%5FState%5Fand%5FNation.html?id=LiESAAAAYAAJ&ref=down-ballot.info)” continues to exist. The life and career of Jesse Jackson reflect that place still matters – even for people who have left that region for colder pastures. *This story, originally published on March 12, 2025, has been updated with Jackson’s death on Feb. 17, 2026.* *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-247435)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*Gibbs Knotts*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/gibbs-knotts-1402490?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-247435)*,* [*Coastal Carolina University*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/coastal-carolina-university-4744?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-247435) *and* [*Christopher A. Cooper*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/christopher-a-cooper-1455289?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-247435)*,* [*Western Carolina University*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/western-carolina-university-2695?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-247435) **Read more:** - [How Jesse Jackson’s populist fight for economic and racial justice resonates today](https://theconversation.com/how-jesse-jacksons-populist-fight-for-economic-and-racial-justice-resonates-today-239169?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-247435) - [How Obama’s presidential campaign changed how Americans view black candidates](https://theconversation.com/how-obamas-presidential-campaign-changed-how-americans-view-black-candidates-71455?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-247435) - [Before Kamala Harris, many Black women aimed for the White House](https://theconversation.com/before-kamala-harris-many-black-women-aimed-for-the-white-house-149729?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-247435) *The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.* ### The whistleblower, the Forest Service, and an endless battle in North Carolina’s mountains URL: https://down-ballot.info/the-whistleblower-the-forest-service-and-an-endless-battle-in-north-carolinas-mountains/ Last updated: 2026-02-18T10:00:23.000Z by [JACK EVANS](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/jack-evans/?ref=down-ballot.info) January 25, 2026 [The whistleblower, the Forest Service, and an endless battle in North Carolina’s mountains • Asheville WatchdogOn April 22, 2021, 19 acres burned on a sloping face south of Double Knob, a modest peak nestled just south of the Buncombe-Henderson County line. A day later, mountainside still aflame, Scott Ashcraft arrived to document the damage from what would become known as the Seniard Creek Fire. Ashcraft had been a U.S. Forest \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-9.png)Asheville WatchdogJACK EVANS![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/image-3.png)](https://avlwatchdog.org/forest-service-whistleblower-archaeologist-cherokee-north-carolina/?ref=down-ballot.info) On April 22, 2021, 19 acres burned on a sloping face south of Double Knob, a modest peak nestled just south of the Buncombe-Henderson County line. A day later, mountainside still aflame, Scott Ashcraft arrived to document the damage from what would become known as the Seniard Creek Fire. Ashcraft had been a U.S. Forest Service archaeologist in the Pisgah National Forest for nearly three decades. Assignments like this were routine. But Seniard would prove unusually consequential for Ashcraft: In the five years since the fire, it has become both a site of great scientific promise and a symbol of what Ashcraft describes as a culture of mismanagement, destruction and retaliation. Over three days, Ashcraft documented enough artifacts, many at an ancient quarry and all dating to the millennia before Europeans came into contact with Native Americans, to come to a tantalizing conclusion. For decades, the Forest Service has relied on a probability model that suggests most such artifacts will be found in relatively flat areas. This rule of thumb has left steeper slopes, which make up the vast majority of North Carolina’s national forests, largely uninterrogated in any formal sense. Yet archaeologists’ work in these mountains has often led them past intriguing sites on hillsides — things that, by the model’s lights, weren’t supposed to be there. By 2021, [Ashcraft](https://www.scottashcraft.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) had begun documenting these occurrences whenever he could, developing a theory that the Forest Service’s guidelines had, the whole time, been horribly wrong. Seniard was steep and artifact-rich, and the damage assessment would open up funding, making it an ideal laboratory for exploring his ideas. Ashcraft brought in leading scientists, who saw the same promise: They believed the site held rich information about the labor, commerce, and spiritual lives of the Cherokee and Muscogee people who once inhabited the land and whose descendants needed to know what they’d found. “We had an opportunity as a forest to actually do our job and get something really neat and a major, possibly (a) large-scale discovery, documented and described, so that other archaeologists and tribes can use our data moving forward,” Ashcraft said. “It was a great opportunity.” Today, though, Seniard is a battleground in a yearslong war between Ashcraft and the Forest Service. In a 277-page document shared last month with five tribes — the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, the Catawba Nation and the Muscogee Nation — Ashcraft accused his former employer of failing to protect sites of cultural importance and systemically keeping tribal agencies and the public in the dark. He hopes its release will halt what he alleges are violations of laws including the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Protection Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. The agency’s “internal processes have prioritized expedient project approval over lawful heritage protection and consultation,” he wrote. The document, styled as a rejoinder to a 2024 report in which the Forest Service largely cleared itself of wrongdoing in a dozen projects about which Ashcraft had raised concerns, is the latest salvo in a fight that has consumed his life. In 2023, he filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that Forest Service officials were shirking their legal obligations and jeopardizing Native American artifacts as they sidelined science in a rush to get projects done. In the years after, he alleges, he faced a campaign of workplace harassment that spanned colleagues, forest rangers and the top-ranking Forest Service official in North Carolina. Ashcraft was stripped of projects and responsibilities, including his authority to communicate with tribal officials, with whom he’d developed relationships over many years. In 2024, he was relegated to one of what archaeologists call the “scary rooms,” vast backlogs of uncataloged artifacts dating back decades. To the Pisgah’s most seasoned archaeologist, the assignment felt like a final betrayal: He retired last March, days short of his 32nd anniversary with the agency. Ashcraft’s case now sits before the Merit Systems Protection Board, a quasi-judicial agency that handles appeals from federal employees. Even if it rules in Ashcraft’s favor, its authority is limited to his allegations of workplace retribution. Neither the Forest Service nor several current employees named in Ashcraft’s allegations responded to specific questions for this story. In a written statement, a Forest Service spokesperson said the agency could not comment on personnel matters and “takes concerns raised by its employees seriously.” It noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General referred Ashcraft’s complaint to the Forest Service, which conducted an “independent review” in which “a team of subject-matter experts found that the Forest Service followed all legal requirements.” “The Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests are the ancestral homelands of a dozen tribes with enduring connections to these lands,” the statement continued. “Honoring this rich Tribal heritage along with co-stewardship of these lands with Tribal Nations is a top priority for the Forest Service. That’s why we work in close coordination and consultation with Tribal Nations and state preservation officials.” But Ashcraft’s growing alarm has paralleled the deterioration of the relationship between the National Forests in North Carolina and tribal officials, said Beau Carroll, the lead archaeologist for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ tribal historic preservation office. (Historic preservation officials for the four other tribes that received Ashcraft’s document did not respond to requests for comment.) For years, Carroll and his colleagues trusted the forest archaeologists to proactively engage them on projects and treat them as collaborators, he said. Recently, though, communication from Forest Service officials has been perfunctory at best, and he believes that in some cases, the agency is falling short of the consultation required under federal law. Ashcraft’s allegations of destroyed artifacts and marginalized science would be alarming in any context, Carroll said, but both also fit into a much larger picture. Since the first Trump administration — and especially in its second — tribal officials have witnessed the widespread degradation of important regulations, from [the USDA’s plan to repeal the so-called Roadless Rule](https://avlwatchdog.org/federal-rollback-of-roadless-rule-could-imperil-some-of-north-carolinas-last-wild-lands-experts-say/?ref=down-ballot.info), which prohibits development and resource extraction in America’s wildest places, to Congress’s recent gestures toward gutting the National Historic Preservation Act’s requirements for tribal consultation. In that context, Carroll said, the failures Ashcraft describes are harbingers of a greater catastrophe. “They have the dominoes set up,” he said. “They haven’t pushed them yet. I’m just waiting.” Several other people important to Ashcraft’s allegations declined to comment because they still work for or with the Forest Service. But thousands of pages of documents reviewed by *Asheville Watchdog* — including legal filings, emails, draft reports, interagency communications and personnel investigations — shed light on the conflict. They show that officials and colleagues largely dismissed Ashcraft’s expertise and slope-site findings; that they removed him from projects without telling him; that they overrode his scientific opinions and ordered projects to continue despite his concerns; and that they filed workplace harassment grievances against him for alleged violations such as asking questions about projects he’d worked on and responding to emails on which he’d been copied. They also show that some officials and colleagues found Ashcraft stubborn, prone to missed deadlines and sometimes dismissive of the agency’s bureaucracy, especially once he seized on the slope-site phenomenon. “(Ashcraft) is an extremely passionate Archaeologist,” the agency wrote earlier this year in an MSPB filing, in which it denied that he had faced retaliation. “So passionate that his emotions and/or beliefs often get the best of him.” Ashcraft described himself as hyperfocused, intense and sometimes perfectionistic; he could be demanding of colleagues. But all those traits were in service of archaeology done the right way, he said. His battle against the Forest Service has come at the cost of his reputation, his mental health and tens of thousands of dollars. “I couldn’t live with myself if I always had that overhanging in the background, that I didn’t stand up in the moment,” he said. “That’s far worse than trying to repair my reputation.” The sites themselves are caught between this battle of wills. Seniard is one of many, but in some ways, it embodies the struggle. On the first page of the new document, Ashcraft wrote that it “has now been fully sabotaged by the Forest Service.” Among the specialists brought in to work on Seniard was Philip LaPorta, a researcher at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and director of The Center for the Investigation of Native and Ancient Quarries. He thinks the work there could mark a start to better understanding religious practices and tribal relationships dating back 5,000 years or more. But he believes the Forest Service is uninterested in accepting evidence that would force it to change its presumptions about where artifacts are likely to be found, which puts sacred sites at risk of development and desecration. “It would be analogous to taking away the churches of a group of people and letting them simply pray in the fields,” he said. “It’s decapitating the culture.” Ashcraft, 58, was a workaday government scientist, not a big name in the field. And he had come into the profession a little sideways, studying physical geography at Western Carolina University before belatedly recognizing archaeology as his calling. He learned on the job, through a field course with the Office of State Archaeology and consulting gigs, before landing a position at the Forest Service in 1993. When Ashcraft arrived, the agency’s relationship with archaeology was barely out of its infancy. In 1982, the National Forests in North Carolina hired Mark Mathis, an archaeologist for what was then the North Carolina Division of Archives and History, to evaluate its cultural resources management and map out its future. If there had been any effort to organize the relevant files, he wrote in his resulting report, it had been an utter failure. Mathis gave the NFNC generalized tools to standardize the agency’s archaeological work. One was a rule of thumb about where artifacts may be found: Level ground, especially near water, was a good bet; any slope of more than 15 or 20 percent, not so much. The Forest Service still relies on that predictive metric. But Mathis, who died in 2005, never meant for the concept to be a permanent policy. His report noted that two types of important sites – quarries and rock shelters – were quite likely to be found on slopes, and that his model “should be used only for initial planning.” He also said as much to colleagues, said David Moore, a retired archaeologist who worked with Mathis in Raleigh. “Mark would never have wanted that model to be used without adaptation over 40-plus years,” said Moore, a professor emeritus at Warren Wilson College who was an early mentor to Ashcraft. “The people working on the ground will tell you that there are a lot more potentially significant sites than would be suggested in medium or low probability areas.” Ashcraft soon learned that the model’s shakiness was an open secret among archaeologists at the NFNC. But his colleagues, he said, were hesitant to suggest to the bosses that they needed to do more intensive surveys, which would make projects slower and more expensive. David Dyson, a retired Forest Service archaeologist and close friend of Ashcraft, said the dynamic spoke to a tension at the heart of the agency: Specialists tend toward preservation, but the Forest Service stewards the land in order to use it — for recreation and for natural resources such as timber — and prizes efficiency. “It’s a give-and-take situation, archaeologically,” Dyson said. “I had to accept that, which was difficult. The resistance that I got with everything, it was like, you get the feeling that you’re not wanted here. You’re not part of the program. You’re just an impediment.” Still, Ashcraft and colleagues made fitful efforts to document slope phenomena. He eventually came to believe that the rule of thumb was backward. Slopes, Ashcraft maintains now, are even more likely than level areas to contain important artifacts. He has seen telltale signs of cultural import on slopes from the edge of the Piedmont all the way to the National Forest land just beyond his own property in Yancey County. In 2021, Ashcraft came across a geologic jumble under his back deck while renovating his home. The rocks reminded him of what he was seeing at Seniard. The experts he was working with looked at some specimens and concurred: It seemed to have once been a quarry, filled with the remnants of tools used in mining. The objects also lined up with ones he’d found, along with rock cairns that he believed might mark burial sites, all over the federal land abutting his property. It was all part of one site, he thought: ancient quarries and workshops, covering perhaps a hundred acres or more. Now he couldn’t ignore the evidence even if he wanted to, he thought. It was right under his house. There were signs that Ashcraft’s research was gaining traction with some Forest Service officials, especially once the Seniard project was underway. Wayna Roach, the top heritage official for the Forest Service’s southern region, visited in late 2022\. “This work will reframe how archaeologists see the native American lithic traditions of the Pisgah Forest in North Carolina,” she wrote in an enthusiastic internal report. “Further, this work will likely have ramifications much wider than the forest, and will need to be seriously considered by all archaeologists working in the southeastern region.” In January 2023, Ashcraft’s supervisor, Jason Herron, whose job was to make sure that projects complied with federal environmental laws, sent an email to archaeologists and forest rangers in which he emphasized the significance of the shifting understanding around the slopes. “At this point, it is reasonable to believe that the sites they are finding are of immense age and contain some of the best preserved artifacts,” he wrote. “It is also reasonable to believe that these sites may have been sacred areas to tribes as they were the direct connection between the land and their tools and ceremonial objects. In this case, these could be very important areas for the tribes.” By then, LaPorta, the Columbia geoarchaeologist, was involved; so was Larry Kimball, a renowned archaeologist and professor emeritus in Appalachian State University’s anthropology department, who affirmed the veracity and importance of Ashcraft’s findings. “I went into this very skeptically — like, ‘Yes, Scott, maybe, maybe, maybe,’” said Kimball, whose work involves analyzing the edges of rocks under powerful microscopes to determine if they’ve been used as tools. “Sure enough, they were in fact used, and they were used in a way that he had hypothesized.” And as word of Ashcraft’s research spread, archaeologists told him that they’d made similar findings in east Tennessee and southwest Virginia. But Ashcraft still had a hard time persuading decisionmakers and other rank-and-file archaeologists to take what he was seeing seriously. “His interest is misguided,” Nick Larson, the ranger overseeing the Pisgah’s Grandfather Ranger District, told a Forest Service investigator in 2023. “He sees things he believes are artifacts however other archeologists agree that these are rocks and are not humanly altered,” another Forest Service archaeologist told the same investigator, according to an agency document. “The general idea floating out there is that no one else can see what you are seeing,” Roach told Ashcraft in a 2024 email urging him to extricate himself from the Seniard project. “So any movement toward others … to be able to ‘learn’ to see those things as well is totally a win.” In 2021 and 2022, the NFNC had worked to revise its programmatic agreement, which governs how the Forest Service division works with state and tribal agencies. Ashcraft argued for the Mathis model to be thrown out, as did his counterpart for the Nantahala, an archaeologist named Shawn Jones, who wrote in an internal document that testing on low-probability landforms should be expanded, as “sites within the low probability landforms are underrepresented in the archeological record and have very little defining research to build a base of knowledge and represent the cultural activities taking place within the sites.” They were unsuccessful. A little over a month after Herron’s email, James Melonas, the top-ranking Forest Service official in North Carolina, sent a letter to district rangers in which he emphasized that the old way of doing business would continue. “The current PA emphasizes pedestrian survey of the entire project and subsurface testing strategies in high probability areas,” he wrote. “This survey strategy and methodology must be followed.” The last eight words were underlined. Three months later, Ashcraft blew the whistle. In a complaint filed with the Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General, he outlined how he believed the Forest Service was failing to preserve cultural heritage sites and listed a dozen projects that he said had damaged or threatened important areas. Melonas asked the regional office to review the projects. Though the resulting document never referenced Ashcraft’s whistleblower complaint, it served as a way for the Forest Service to largely absolve itself of his allegations. The initial findings, compiled later that year, found procedural errors in only two of the projects, both of which the NFNC later sought to pin on Ashcraft. In the fall of 2024, it released an expanded version of the report to state and tribal agencies, prompting Ashcraft’s new document. Carroll, the EBCI archaeologist, said he was skeptical of this process from the beginning. “If there was a doctor that you suspected of malpractice, would you trust him enough to investigate himself?” he said. “And then would you trust him enough after that to find himself guilty and then punish himself?” The construction of a network of hiking and mountain-biking trails just north of Old Fort was particularly contentious. A partnership [between the Forest Service and a nonprofit](https://www.g5trailcollective.org/about?ref=down-ballot.info), it involved private money and public promises of some 40 miles of trail. The arrangement put pressure on the Forest Service to live up to a timeline committed to the public, a stressor referenced repeatedly by employees in emails shared by Ashcraft and in documents included in the agency’s MSPB filing. A consultant hired by the Forest Service to survey the area ran out of money before finishing. Ashcraft argued with outside archaeologists, brought in by the Forest Service-nonprofit partnership, who disagreed with his ideas on slopes. And he and Herron clashed with Larson, who was overseeing the project, and with Herron’s boss, Appalachian District Ranger Jennifer Barnhart, over what they felt were unrealistic deadlines for a report that they suspected would take months of work and several hundred pages to complete. (It was ultimately finished in late 2021\. Herron, who later moved to a different position within the Forest Service, declined to comment.) In the spring of 2022, the Forest Service was supposed to send a revised version of that report to interested tribes and the State Historic Preservation Office, a step that would allow it to construct a parking lot and some trails. It included a recommendation from Ashcraft for close monitoring of construction near a sensitive site. As internal emails later described, Larson told one of the Forest Service archaeologists working on the report that he would print and mail the documents. They weren’t sent — a fact that only came to light months later, after Larson had signed off on the project. The state was belatedly informed and, in early 2023, concurred with Ashcraft that the site was important and damage should be monitored and mitigated. By then, it was, as Ashcraft wrote in his recent report, “buried underneath the trailhead and parking lot area.” “It appears that the NFsNC holds itself to a different standard than that applied to private individuals or looters,” Ashcraft wrote. “No person caught damaging or destroying archaeological site contexts could plausibly claim their actions were a ‘procedural error’ and avoid legal consequences.” Later, according to documents included in the Forest Service’s filing in Ashcraft’s MSPB case, Larson told a Forest Service investigator that the whole thing was Ashcraft’s fault. Larson had made the call to begin construction without having all the necessary approvals, he admitted, but the problem was “rooted in Scott’s inability to complete the report and consultation in a timely manner.” Larson didn’t mention that the documents weren’t sent. (The investigator did not find Ashcraft at fault.) Another conflict involved a wildlife clearing near Devil’s Courthouse, proposed as part of a larger project in the early 2010s. Ashcraft and others had surveyed the area then, but they didn’t look at spots, including the land slated for the clearing, that had been surveyed as part of a late 1980s timber project. Over time, the Forest Service lost confidence in many old surveys, so when a specialist on the project asked Ashcraft to tag along in early 2023, he thought it a good idea. He found enough artifacts that he thought a thorough survey was in order. In Cherokee lore, Judaculla is a giant who rules over hunting practices and game animals, and the cave below Devil’s Courthouse is his home. “I had intended to find a way to push this forward right now, but the artifact recovery became enough to persuade me into caution,” Ashcraft wrote in an email to another specialist on the project in February 2023\. “I wish I had better news for moving forward immediately with this (wildlife clearing) construction, but it’s the process we are supposed to go through.” Two months later, in April 2023, the ranger overseeing the project, Dave Casey, emailed Ashcraft. “I made the decision today to move forward with the wildlife opening,” he wrote. He cited the surveys from more than a decade earlier that had left out the area. A letter from Casey to the SHPO showed that he’d actually made the decision a month earlier. That May, Casey told other employees to go ahead with the wildlife clearing. The silviculturalist who’d gone to the area with Ashcraft was puzzled. “Are you telling us to move forward with implementation without the arch survey and documentation?” she asked. “Yes,” Casey responded, “I’m saying to move forward without any additional arch surveys or documentation.” Ashcraft heard through the grapevine months later that another archaeologist had been to the area and found nothing. Confused, Ashcraft emailed Casey, asked about the project’s status and offered to give his input. Casey told Ashcraft to turn in any artifacts he had collected from the site. He wasn’t involved in the project anymore, Casey said. That was news to Ashcraft. Herron, his supervisor, said he hadn’t heard that, either. Casey’s email was how they learned that Ashcraft had been stripped of his assignments: not just the clearing, but every project, aside from Seniard, that he had raised concerns about. They had all been reassigned to archaeologists in Melonas’s office. ![](https://i0.wp.com/avlwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Watchdog-paw-print-e1618865793222.png?resize=25%2C25&ssl=1) Carroll, who has lived his whole life on the Qualla Boundary, the home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was drawn to archaeology in part because he saw it as an opportunity to help develop the story of the Cherokee, a narrative that has largely been told through the lens of extractive outsiders. Finding people who say they’ve worked with the tribe is easy, he said; far fewer are those who can claim a truly reciprocal relationship. “The way that I know that you actually collaborate with us is that I see you on our front porch at the office,” he said. “And I’ve seen Rodney (Snedeker, Ashcraft’s late boss and mentor) and Scott on that porch a lot.” That process, at its best, is about far more than a simple consultation between the tribe and the U.S. government, Carroll said. After centuries of colonialism and oppression, tribal histories, tens of thousands of years old, are as patchwork as they are rich. Archaeological findings help fill in the gaps. Consultations give occasion for experts like Carroll to ask elders about specific places. “It’s like a spider web, because it connects to other stuff, too,” Carroll said — geography and history and medicine and spirituality, all branching and weaving. “A lot of those older people that have that knowledge aren’t around anymore, or they’re not going to be around. … A lot of the stuff that we lost is just gone.” Compromise is an unavoidable part of Carroll’s work: The EBCI’s tribal historic preservation office has six employees and reviews federally funded projects on ancestral Cherokee territory in eight states — everything from the rerouting of hiking trails to the construction of “hundreds of cell towers,” he said. For every idealistic specialist on the federal side, there’s a boss who wants the job done quickly and cheaply. For years, Carroll said, he and his colleagues could count on the Forest Service archaeologists to keep them informed enough to make the right decisions. Snedeker retired in 2017 and died in 2021\. Around the same time, Carroll said, the relationship between his office and the Forest Service darkened. NFNC archaeologists stopped showing up at the office. The EBCI specialists started hearing secondhand about projects on which they should have been consulted but hadn’t. Ashcraft has pointed to one key change from that period that he believes was especially disruptive: In 2022, Melonas instituted policy requiring that any communication with tribal and state agencies be channeled through a select Forest Service official. To Ashcraft, the shift seemed intended to keep the tribes in the dark. The new policy cut off Ashcraft’s permission to talk to the EBCI in an official capacity, but he still called his contacts there to tell them what he was finding on the slopes. Carroll was intrigued. He trusted Ashcraft as an archaeologist, and he could believe that he was on to something. To his ancestors, Carroll knew, the land’s material qualities — that a spot could make a good quartz quarry, for example — were intertwined with its spiritual aspects, which would determine whether that quartz was useful for infrastructural or medicinal purposes. So much of that land was mountainous; why should those principles apply only to the flat parts? Still, he said, Ashcraft’s claims were exceptional, in that they flew in the face of widely accepted guidelines. He wanted exceptional evidence. He wanted to see it himself. Those involved in the Seniard project now see it as a missed opportunity in this regard. Ashcraft asked for an EBCI representative on the team from the beginning; he’s alleged the Forest Service failed to meaningfully involve the tribe. Kimball, the Appalachian State professor emeritus, believed the findings warranted more research and a recommendation that the site be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places — a process that he said was “pretty standard.” “But, and this is the big but, there was no consultation with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the tribal historic preservation office there, and they have archaeologists,” he said. “Normally one would bring the people who are most interested in the cultural patrimony — number one, to see what’s out there, and number two, to make their interpretations and preferences known. … That didn’t happen.” Carroll has been particularly struck by Ashcraft’s descriptions of destroyed rock piles. These features are often assumed to have been incidentally created sometime in the past few centuries by land-clearing farmers — and many are, Carroll acknowledges. But these sites can look quite similar to cairns marking locations of cultural significance, including Native American burial sites, the desecration of which is a major violation of federal law. Telling them apart would take extra work by the Forest Service. “They’ve been in those forests long enough to know the places where there are cultural resources, when they should consult,” Carroll said. “It’s just, it costs money, takes time, and it keeps them from getting the projects that they want done.” The Forest Service is aware of this problem. Amid his whistleblowing, Ashcraft came across a relatively obscure document that startled him. The United South and Eastern Tribes, a nonprofit that represents more than two dozen tribes for political and governmental purposes, had issued a resolution asking federal agencies to do a better job consulting with tribes when it came to “sacred ceremonial stone landscapes,” which had been “used … to sustain the people’s reliance on Mother Earth and the spirit energies of balance and harmony” but which had largely been written off by archaeologists as “the efforts of farmers clearing stones for agricultural or wall building purposes.” To Ashcraft, the document showed that many of his concerns had been brought forth by the tribes already. He was shocked he’d never seen it. It was signed in 2007. Here, for the Cherokee, the stakes are clear, Carroll said. Matters involving the dead go beyond any notions of laws or cross-cultural respect. In the Cherokee belief system, death is a contaminant. Failure to approach the dead properly can bring bad luck, illness, more death — not just to the actor but to those around him. It spreads like a virus, and it threatens everyone. “We’re trying to protect everybody — ourselves, the people that are working — because we believe there’s real, serious implications for doing things,” Carroll said. “There’s always a consequence. And there’s no way for us to mitigate that, especially if nobody’s asking us what those are.” ![](https://i0.wp.com/avlwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Watchdog-paw-print-e1618865793222.png?resize=25%2C25&ssl=1) Ashcraft now sees the termination of his authority to talk to the tribes as a prelude to what he has described as a sustained campaign of workplace harassment. In January 2023, days after Herron’s supportive email about Ashcraft’s slope-site findings, Barnhart filed a harassment complaint with the Forest Service, alleging that Ashcraft had become known for “explosive outbursts” and lashing out at colleagues in after-hours text messages. Ashcraft had texted colleagues outside work hours, he admitted to an investigator, and he’d had one heated conversation with a fellow archaeologist, to whom he apologized the following day. But he denied that he made a habit of it. Ashcraft ultimately received a written warning but no punishment. Between September 2023 and April 2024, Ashcraft’s bosses and colleagues filed five more such grievances. They complained to investigators about hearing from his lawyer regarding the whistleblower case; about him having a lawyer at all; about his questions about projects he didn’t know he’d been removed from; about him responding to emails on which he’d been copied. In none of those cases did investigators find any wrongdoing by Ashcraft. But only once did the Forest Service tell him so. He had one consistent ally in his supervisor, Herron. In the summer of 2023, Herron recommended Ashcraft for a $1,000 performance bonus; Melonas denied it, according to internal documents, citing his dissatisfaction with the Seniard project. At the end of that year, emails show, Herron sparred with Barnhart when she demanded he give Ashcraft a poor performance review. Soon after Herron moved to another job within the Forest Service in 2024, Ashcraft’s supervisors reassigned him to organize a backlog of artifacts that he and other archaeologists had collected over decades. The Forest Service has contended that this was an important task, not a demotion. But Ashcraft thought the message was clear: For an archaeologist late in his career, being assigned to the “scary room” was a professional death sentence. ![](https://i0.wp.com/avlwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Watchdog-paw-print-e1618865793222.png?resize=25%2C25&ssl=1) Some of Ashcraft’s work has continued without him. A draft of a report on Seniard, completed in 2024, ended by describing the site as a “complex natural and cultural landscape” and “a singular example of this type of poorly documented cultural resource, which only reinforces the need to develop ways to identify, evaluate, and manage such complex sites.” But Ashcraft is not optimistic that the slope-site findings will be taken seriously. He said he was told by the contractor finishing the project, Paul Webb of TRC Companies, that Forest Service officials had pushed him to de-emphasize slope-site findings in the final report. Webb declined to comment, but early 2024 emails he shared with Ashcraft show that Casey, the forest ranger over the project, questioned whether Seniard had cultural significance or was simply “natural rock within a mountainous landscape.” Ashcraft has also alleged that the Forest Service persuaded Webb to change a recommendation of the site’s eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places to ineligible. LaPorta said in an interview that, as far as he knows, the outside specialists’ findings — including a new probability model to help locate and identify high-elevation quarries — have been largely written out of the final report, which has yet to be released. “We did all the work,” he said. “And the work is stuffed into an appendix no one will ever see.” The Seniard project area borders private land and has no public trailhead. Other sites are more accessible. One afternoon this fall, Ashcraft and Dyson parked near a trailhead and ascended into the hills outside Old Fort. After a few minutes, they passed a ravine, choked with rhododendron. It looked as elemental as any of the surrounding slopes and ridges. But this gash in the mountain was manmade, Ashcraft said — a quartz mine dating back some 10,000 years. Buried under the earth’s surface, he believed, was millennia of cultural refuse, and perhaps more. This was hard, dangerous work. It stood to reason that there would be gravesites nearby. Farther up the trail was the site that Ashcraft and Dyson had come for. On the upward slope to their left, stacks of wide, flat rocks peeked from behind roots. Pieces of stone studded the trail and the downslope to their right. Based on his reconnaissance and conversations with experts, Ashcraft believed the area had once featured a series of terraces and walls. This was the type of feature he had tried to warn forest officials about. It looked to him like a trail crew had plowed through it, then used the debris to shore up the trail. “It’s not their fault,” he said. “It’s the Forest Service management’s fault for not listening. The trail crew didn’t know any better.” Ashcraft scrambled up the slope, where he pointed out a circular heap of rocks; another sat nearby, still covered by autumn detritus. He suspected they were burial cairns. A few feet away, a hunk of metal and rotting wood jutted from the forest floor. Ashcraft recognized it. “That’s my tool!” he said with a smile. He’d surveyed this area four years earlier, frantically documenting as many artifacts as he could, and left it behind in his haste. Now it seemed almost a piece of the landscape, a distinctly modern implement juxtaposed with the millennia-old cairns. This piece of forest had been left enough alone for so long that the now and the long-ago could rest side by side. The undisturbed place was what bridged the vast gulf between points in time. He was desperate to keep the tether from fraying. “That’s my gift, my offer to the site,” Ashcraft said, gesturing at the tool. “It stays right there.” --- *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on* [*our Facebook page*](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog)*. Please submit your comments there.* --- [*Asheville Watchdog*](https://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Jack Evans is an investigative reporter who previously worked at the Tampa Bay Times. You can reach him via email at jevans@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to* [*avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info). ### N.C. announces $5.7M for Flood Resilience Projects in the French Broad River Basin URL: https://down-ballot.info/n-c-announces-5-7m-for-flood-resilience-projects-in-the-french-broad-river-basin/ Last updated: 2026-02-16T20:32:47.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** Today in Woodfin, Governor Josh Stein [announced $5.7 million in grants](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/409fd4d?ref=down-ballot.info) from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Flood Resiliency Blueprint to reduce flood risk in the French Broad River Basin. The announcement includes eight projects that will create new floodwater storage, restore and reconnect floodplains, relocate facilities and infrastructure out of harm’s way, and improve water quality. “Rebuilding western North Carolina after Helene means rebuilding stronger and smarter to prepare for future storms,” **said Governor Josh Stein.** “These grants not only rebuild and restore the French Broad River Basin but also help protect the surrounding communities so generations of North Carolinians can live in safety.” The Flood Resiliency Blueprint previously funded $3.16 million for eight projects dedicated to long-term flood resilience in the French Broad River Basin in 2024 and 2025\. Overall, the Blueprint has now funded 81 projects totaling more than $40 million. “Communities throughout our mountains were devastated by Helene, and we know that storms are becoming more intense and more frequent throughout North Carolina,” **said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson**. “These Flood Resiliency Blueprint projects will make communities less vulnerable to future flooding in the French Broad River Basin and will help save lives, homes, and businesses. We appreciate the General Assembly’s strong support of the Flood Resiliency Blueprint.” The NC Flood Resiliency Blueprint is the state’s science-based and stakeholder-driven initiative designed to support the planning, evaluation, and implementation of flood resilience strategies. It is the largest statewide flood mitigation investment in North Carolina history. The Blueprint equips local governments, the state, and supporting organizations with data, tools, and processes to guide strategic investments to reduce flood risk, fund priority projects, and address gaps in mitigation efforts. The program will deliver a set of projects and funding strategies to reduce flooding, lessen damage, and strengthen communities’ ability to recover quickly from future disasters. As directed by the NC General Assembly, the Blueprint invests in community-identified priority flood mitigation projects across the Cape Fear, French Broad, Lumber, Neuse, Tar-Pamlico, and White Oak river basins. The NC General Assembly provided a total of $96 million for Blueprint implementation projects. Governor Stein and DEQ Assistant Secretary for Resilience Kathie Dello announced the following projects today: **Town of Woodfin Riverside Park Flood Mitigation and Stormwater Improvements:** Woodfin’s Riverside Park is a linear park located between Riverside Drive and the French Broad River. During Hurricane Helene, the park and adjacent roadway experienced significant flooding damage. Woodfin’s ongoing expansion and improvements for the park have provided an opportunity to integrate flood resilience in several forms, including riverbank stabilization and erosion control measures (boulder toe walls, bank stabilization, silt curtains, stone check dams, and temporary protection measures), stormwater infrastructure (bioretention cells, underdrains, stormwater wetlands, and pocket wetlands), grading and native plantings, and the enhancement of public access structures to withstand periodic inundation. These improvements will reduce riverbank erosion during high-flow events, improve the absorption of rainwater into the ground, slow peak flows, expand flood storage, and prioritize public safety. This award supports Woodfin’s Strategic Priorities (2025) and stormwater management goals of the town’s Comprehensive Plan (2024). **Award:** $284,000 **Town of Clyde Downtown Floodable Riverfront Park:** This project will transform 1.08 acres of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) buyout properties into a public floodable park space along the Pigeon River. This project is planned as part of an integrated suite of resilience-building projects in downtown Clyde that will support local businesses, provide new recreational opportunities, and help define Clyde’s post-Helene identity. The floodable park will direct and contain flooding, reduce damage to adjacent roads, and improve the water quality of storm runoff with native-planted zones. This project aligns with the priorities of the Town of Clyde Land Use Plan (2012) and Pedestrian Master Plan (2012). **Award:** $401,226 **Town of Canton Park Street River Access and Stormwater Improvements:** Canton’s Park Street project will provide new community amenities designed with flood resilience in mind. The Haywood Waterways Association will lead the project, located directly along the Pigeon River in Canton and the Hellbender Regional Trail. The new park will provide Haywood County’s first public river access point, along with new walking trails and flexible open space. The one-acre floodable park will be designed for stormwater treatment and flood storage, supporting the goals of the town’s Stormwater Management Plan (2020), the Canton Land Use Plan (2022), and the Upper Pigeon Flood Risk Reduction Plan (2024). This project continues the town's history of long-term investments in public access, stormwater improvements, and flood resilience. **Award:** $450,000 **Town of Canton Chestnut Mountain Floodplain Restoration:** The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy will lead the restoration of just over four acres of land in the floodway of Hominy Creek. The parcel is located directly upstream of and adjacent to the entrance to Chestnut Mountain Nature Park and along U.S. 19/23 (Asheville Highway). This property has experienced major flooding impacts four times in the past 25 years. Its restoration will protect U.S. 19/23 from flooding, reduce damage at the entrance to the public park, and provide approximately six acre-feet of flood storage. The parcel will be added to Chestnut Mountain Nature Park, enhancing recreational and ecological benefits in the region, and it will support the Chestnut Mountain Master Plan (2020) and Canton Land Use Plan (2022). **Award:** $470,000 **Town of Canton Property Acquisition to Support School Relocation:** Haywood County Schools has proposed to relocate vulnerable school buildings and sports facilities out of the floodway. The relocation is informed by a 2025 engineering study and an alternatives analysis in the Upper Pigeon Flood Risk Reduction Plan (2024). This award will help fund the acquisition of a suitable parcel for the school buildings and facilities relocation, supporting a safer, more flood-resilient future for the community. County school-owned parcels currently located in the floodway will be repurposed for future flood resilience efforts, including flood storage. **Award:** $2,000,000 **Town of Black Mountain Veterans Park Floodplain, Wetland, and Green Infrastructure Complex:** Veterans Park will host three interconnected projects to create a cohesive system that reduces local and downstream flood risk, reduces erosion, treats stormwater runoff, and enhances long-term resilience. Veterans Park is located in the Swannanoa River Corridor, which has experienced repeated and severe flood damage, most recently during Hurricane Helene (2024). Because the park is bisected by Interstate 40, the Town of Black Mountain will collaborate with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), aligning with the recommendations of the Swannanoa Flood Risk Management Study (2004). Improvements will include flood benching (the creation of a “shelf” where water can spread out safely from the main channel), constructed wetlands, natural stormwater infrastructure, and stream restoration. **Award:** $1,650,000 **City of Hendersonville Lower Mud Creek Floodplain Restoration Phase I:** Hendersonville is leading the Lower Mud Creek Floodplain Restoration Project, focused on reducing flooding and restoring natural floodplain functions in one of the city’s most flood-prone areas. The 27-acre floodplain and stream corridor is being restored to increase floodwater storage capacity, reduce flooding damage in nearby neighborhoods, and improve water quality and habitat. The community will also be able to enjoy recreational trails and open space on the site.This award will support construction, administration, and invasive species removal. This project is consistent with the City of Hendersonville Comprehensive Plan (2024). **Award:** $100,000 **City of Hendersonville Municipal Stormwater Infrastructure Improvements:** Hendersonville will upgrade and relocate undersized stormwater infrastructure that has caused flooding in pervious storms, threatening public safety, private property, and public roads. This project is consistent with the City of Hendersonville Comprehensive Plan (2024). **Award:** $356,000 **About the** [**North Carolina Flood Resiliency Blueprint**](https://www.deq.nc.gov/energy-climate/flood-resiliency-blueprint?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) In 2021, the North Carolina General Assembly directed the DEQ to develop a statewide Flood Resiliency Blueprint. The Blueprint serves as the backbone of NC’s flood resiliency planning and is based on the best available science, stakeholder engagement, and sound decision-making to develop cost-effective projects. At the heart of the Blueprint is an online decision-support tool to help local governments, agencies, and non-governmental partners develop, evaluate, and prioritize resilience actions as well as plan and marshal funding to implement those priorities. The Blueprint supports a wide array of potential actions such as floodplain restoration, stream debris removal, elevation of utilities, stormwater controls, and policy changes. The Blueprint will make North Carolina more resilient to flooding by funding projects that limit flood extent and severity, allowing communities to recover more quickly and limit future risk as storms become more frequent and severe. ### A Troubled Hog Farm in Wayne County, North Carolina, Is Hit With a New String of Violations URL: https://down-ballot.info/a-troubled-hog-farm-in-wayne-county-north-carolina-is-hit-with-a-new-string-of-violations/ Last updated: 2026-02-16T10:00:04.000Z By Lisa Sorg February 4, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04022026/north-carolina-hog-farm-violations/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* FREMONT, N.C.—On a chilly afternoon in early January, Samantha Krop, the Neuse riverkeeper, and Taylor Register, a water quality specialist, trekked along a ditch near White Oaks Farm in Wayne County. They work for the nonprofit, Sound Rivers, and had received a tip that something was amiss. It hadn’t rained in two weeks, yet there were several large puddles of what looked like black tar in the ditch. “I hesitate to call it dirty water,” Krop said. “It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” The pair dipped their plastic sampling vials into the black slurry. The containers exploded, Krop said, “like a middle school science experiment.” The contents of the puddles had reacted with the sulfuric acid in the vials, which, like a volcano, spewed their contents onto Register, covered her glove and melted a hole in it. Sulfuric acid is a stabilizer used in sampling kits. So began the latest chapter in this saga of a troubled commercial hog farm—one of 2,200-plus concentrated animal feeding operations in the state: a controversial biodigester technology, an even more controversial waste spraying system, a farm foreclosure after the pandemic, an unconventional attempt to produce methane using hotdogs and old deli meats, and a corporate purchase that most recently led to a string of environmental violations. Biox Renewables, a waste-to-energy company in Raleigh, runs the former family CAFO, White Oaks Farm. At one point it housed 5,000-plus hogs but has been closed since 2023\. Biox plans to generate methane from existing anaerobic digesters—covered lagoons that trap the potent climate-warming gas wafting from giant lagoons filled with hog waste—that were shuttered by the previous owners who lost the property in foreclosure. But first Biox had to clean up the old mess. It received a state permit to remove sludge from the digesters and two uncovered lagoons brimming with millions of gallons of hog waste. Now it also has to clean up a mess of its own making. In mid-December Biox received its operating permit for the waste management treatment system from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Within two weeks, Biox had already violated the terms, state records show. After four visits to the farm in January, state inspectors found multiple violations: - Workers had sprayed waste from the lagoons into ditches, fields and woods. - DEQ sampling showed the ponded water contained bacteria associated with waste. - Workers failed to inspect the irrigation areas to ensure the wastewater was not ponding. - There was no certified operator in charge of operating the waste management system. - The digester cover, which is supposed to capture methane for energy, was “deteriorated,” DEQ records show, and had holes in it. The violations underscore the environmental problems posed by industrialized hog farms. Even when the farms are outfitted with a digester system, which the pork industry touts as a solution to reducing methane emissions and stench, they still must dispose of waste from the secondary lagoons that are not covered, spraying the hog excrement via large irrigation guns onto farm fields, which can contaminate groundwater and run into wetlands and streams. The situation at White Oaks Farm is even more tenuous because its four lagoons lie 250 to 500 feet from the 100-year flood plain. Biox President Wallace Green told Inside Climate News that the water in the ditch was the result of rainwater runoff from agricultural fields. When Green received the notice of violation from the DEQ on Jan. 27, it had rained the day before, but the citations stemmed from inspections conducted on Jan. 6, 9, 13 and 14\. At that time, it had not rained for two to three weeks, historical weather data show. Inspectors wrote that waste had been sprayed at “excessive rates to fields and woods; the ground could not absorb the overload and it ran into the ditches.” Green said the company is investigating how much runoff “is coming off surrounding cornfields and how much is coming off our property.” Incidental water that had collected on top of the lagoon cover became contaminated by waste seeping through the holes, DEQ records show. That tainted mixture was then pumped through the removal system and onto an easement. Green said the company “thoroughly inspected the \[lagoon\] cover” and “found some minor openings that we are now working diligently to repair.” The deterioration of the cover also defeats the purpose of the methane capture system, which is intended to prevent the release of the potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. It is reminiscent of a lagoon disaster that occurred at the same farm when Todd and Deborah Ballance owned it. The Ballance family had farmed for decades, and at one time had more than 5,000 hogs, state records show. During the pandemic, that number dwindled to 50, state records show, and they produced too little waste to generate a viable amount of methane. That’s when the Ballances focused on [mixing old deli meats and hot dogs,](https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/WaterResources/PDF10/ee2ebe8f-400d-40ae-84d8-8b999668948c/2482749?ref=down-ballot.info) including some from Smithfield Foods, with dead hogs, softened into a “pumpable slurry,” state records show, to generate methane for sale to Duke Energy. In May 2022, part of the digester cover ruptured. The underlying lagoon released at least 1 million gallons of foam and slurry composed of liquified dead hogs, swine feces and urine, and discarded hot dogs and deli meat, according to state records. More than 10,000 gallons of waste entered the nearby Nahunta Swamp. Krop and other river advocates sampled the swamp and waterways downstream of the facility which revealed extremely high levels of nitrogen, fecal coliform and E. coli. The advocates notified DEQ, which launched its own investigation that culminated in a requirement to close the existing covered lagoon. Over the next two and a half years, DEQ cited the Ballances for multiple violations and eventually fined them $34,000\. The Ballances closed the farm. After the property was sold at a public auction in 2024, Biox filed a permit application to desludge the anaerobic digester and the open and closed lagoons. Green said he plans to sell the sludge to a fertilizer company that would remove it from the farm. “Our goal is to capture methane and recover organic nutrients for agricultural sustainability and rural economic growth,” Green said. Only then would Phase II of the project begin, which entails restarting the biogas digester and again raising hogs—to keep the waste and methane flowing. ### Young, undocumented immigrants are finding it increasingly hard to attend college as South Carolina and other states restrict in-state tuition or ban them altogether URL: https://down-ballot.info/young-undocumented-immigrants-are-finding-it-increasingly-hard-to-attend-college-as-south-carolina-and-other-states-restrict-in-state-tuition-or-ban-them-altogether/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T17:55:06.000Z William McCorkle, College of Charleston, The Conversation (The Conversation) December 9, 2025 **By William McCorkle, College of Charleston** The Trump administration’s [aggressive deportation](https://www.nilc.org/resources/the-anti-immigrant-policies-in-trumps-final-big-beautiful-bill-explained/?ref=down-ballot.info) [policies have](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/10/29/ice-immigration-tactics-obama-trump?ref=down-ballot.info) [heightened stress](https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/immigrants-report-rising-fear-negative-economic-and-health-impacts-and-changing-political-views-during-the-first-year-of-president-trumps-second-term/?ref=down-ballot.info) among the country’s approximately [14 million immigrants](https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2025/08/21/u-s-unauthorized-immigrant-population-reached-a-record-14-million-in-2023/?ref=down-ballot.info) who are living in the U.S. without legal authorization. The [sharp rise in](https://www.axios.com/2025/12/04/trump-ice-immigration-arrests-deportations%20dramatic?ref=down-ballot.info) [dramatic arrests](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/they-thought-they-were-in-court-for-a-routine-immigration-hearing-but-walked-into-a-deportation-trap?ref=down-ballot.info) [and deportations](https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-dhs-ice-secret-police-civil-rights-unaccountable?ref=down-ballot.info) of immigrants over the past year has received [widespread media](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/us/politics/los-angeles-immigration-enforcement.html?ref=down-ballot.info) attention. A less publicized issue is that many young, [undocumented immigrants are also finding](https://theconversation.com/a-fragmented-legal-system-and-threat-of-deportation-are-pushing-higher-education-out-of-reach-for-many-undocumented-students-266324?ref=down-ballot.info) it harder to apply to and stay in college. As [someone who researches teacher training](https://charleston.edu/school-education/faculty/mccorkle-william.php?ref=down-ballot.info) and was a high school teacher in South Carolina, I have researched how [restrictive education policies](https://doi.org/10.1080/08865655.2018.1462239?ref=down-ballot.info) make it harder for immigrant students, particularly undocumented students, to receive a college degree. ## Bumpy path to higher education for undocumented students In 1982, the [Supreme Court ruled](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/457/202/?ref=down-ballot.info) that students could not be discriminated against based on their immigration status. This ruling ensured that immigrant students could not be denied entrance to public K-12 schools. The caveat is that the ruling did not extend to higher education. In 1996, Congress approved the [Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/illegal%5Fimmigration%5Freform%5Fand%5Fimmigration%5Fresponsibility%5Fact?ref=down-ballot.info), which made it harder for undocumented immigrants who are deported to reenter the U.S., among other changes to increase border security. This law also said that states could not provide [in-state tuition](https://floridacollegeaccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/PRB-Undocumented-students.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to undocumented students at public universities, unless they gave the same benefits to out-of-state American citizens. Then, in the early 2000s, a [bipartisan group of Texas representatives](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/06/texas-gop-in-state-tuition-undocumented-students/?ref=down-ballot.info) helped [pass a bill](https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texas-dream-act-house-bill-1403?ref=down-ballot.info) that opened up in-state tuition to undocumented students. The bill based tuition and scholarships on [specific residency requirements](https://www.nilc.org/resources/basic-facts-instate/?ref=down-ballot.info), such as graduating from high school in the state, allowing the bill to circumvent the 1996 federal law. Also in the early 2000s, [California](https://www.cccco.edu/-/media/CCCCO-Website/Files/General-Counsel/x%5Fab-540-flyer-ada.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), [Illinois](https://open.illinois.edu/legislation-policies/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com), [Washington](https://wsac.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2015.1079Report.pdf?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) and [New York](https://dreamact.info/students/in-state/new-york?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) also passed similar legislation that allows undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition – and in some cases, state scholarships – at state universities. Even some conservative states, [such as Utah](https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/8228ef9c-712a-4df8-a759-99d218c2c716/content?ref=down-ballot.info), [Oklahoma and](https://law.justia.com/codes/oklahoma/title-70/section-70-3242/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Kansas](https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch76/076%5F007%5F0031a.html?ref=down-ballot.info), passed such legislation during the early 2000s that let undocumented immigrants pay in-state tuition at public universities and colleges. ## The tide turns But just a few years later, things began to shift. In 2008, [South Carolina became the first state](https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/state/south-carolina/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) to ban undocumented students from studying at public colleges and universities altogether. [Georgia](https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/us/14georgia.html?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Alabama](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/us/04immig.html?ref=down-ballot.info) quickly followed suit with similar bans. In 2012, after Congress created the [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals](https://www.nilc.org/work/daca/?ref=down-ballot.info) program to allow immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to temporarily work, study and stay in the U.S., some schools in South Carolina [briefly banned DACA students](https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/dreams-derailed?ref=down-ballot.info#:%7E:text=South%20Carolina%20enacted%20the%20enrollment,on%20the%20states'%20economic%20vitality.) from attending public universities – despite the new federal law. The schools [reversed course](https://che.sc.gov/sites/che/files/Documents/Meetings/2019/Residency%5FRegional%5FWorkshop%5F2019.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the next year [following a lawsuit](https://www.aclusc.org/press-releases/aclu-of-sc-challenges-state-institutions-to-comply-with-federal-guidance-on-higher-education-admission-for-immigrant-students/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) by the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, but still required DACA students to pay out-of-state tuition. Until 2015, South Carolina even denied in-state tuition for some [American citizens with undocumented parents](https://www.splcenter.org/resources/stories/splc-lawsuit-south-carolina-tuition-policy-discriminates-against-students-violates-us/?ref=down-ballot.info). The state reversed the policy following a lawsuit. The trend toward more restrictive policies toward undocumented students has continued during the Trump administration. In February 2025, Florida passed a law that [revoked in-state tuition](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/state-policy/2025/02/20/florida-ends-state-tuition-undocumented-students?ref=down-ballot.info) for undocumented students. Florida [still allows](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2025/244/ByVersion?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) undocumented immigrants to enroll at public colleges and universities, as long as they pay full tuition. And over the summer, the Department of Justice [challenged Oklahoma’s](https://oklahomavoice.com/briefs/in-state-tuition-no-longer-offered-to-some-immigrant-students-in-oklahoma/?ref=down-ballot.info) [and Texas’](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-texas-reach-agreement-end-state-tuition-illegal-aliens?ref=down-ballot.info) in-state tuition policies, which had allowed all undocumented students to pay in-state tuition. Both [states quickly](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2025/06/05/texas-ends-state-tuition-undocumented-students?ref=down-ballot.info) [ended their](https://oklahomavoice.com/briefs/in-state-tuition-no-longer-offered-to-some-immigrant-students-in-oklahoma/?ref=down-ballot.info) policies. [Texas and](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/26/texas-colleges-undocumented-students-guidance/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Oklahoma still](https://www.uscisguide.com/education/state-legislation-supporting-immigrant-access-to-higher-education-in-oklahoma/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) allow DACA recipients to attend public universities and pay in-state tuition rates. As of 2025, [22 states and Washington D.C.](https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/states/?ref=down-ballot.info) allow undocumented students to pay [in-state tuition](https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/states/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com). The remaining states, meanwhile, either do not have a state policy, require undocumented immigrants to pay out-of-state tuition, or bar them entirely from attending public universities. ## A challenging environment Overall, these shifts make it harder for many undocumented students to go to and stay in college. The price of in-state tuition at public universities varies, but it typically offers [in-state residents a much lower tuition](https://finaid.org/otheraid/stateresidency/?ref=down-ballot.info) rate than students coming from out of state. While the average in-state tuition at public colleges [costs about US$11,610](https://www.bestcolleges.com/resources/in-state-vs-out-of-state-tuition/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) for the 2024-25 school year, out-of-state students paid $30,780, on average, during this same time frame. Undocumented students [do not qualify](https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out/undocumented-students?ref=down-ballot.info) for federal financial aid, so paying out-of-state tuition at a public university usually prevents immigrants from pursuing a college degree. Some research shows that in-state tuition policies help reduce [undocumented college students’ dropout rates](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2013.12.009?ref=down-ballot.info) by about 8%. In-state tuition policies also [increase college enrollment](https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ875718&ref=down-ballot.info) of noncitizen Latino students by 54%. ## A blockade for students I began teaching social studies at a high school in South Carolina in 2012, soon after many of these restrictions on immigrant students were enacted. I found that many educators and students were not aware of these restrictions until students applied to colleges or sought state licenses. My students included DACA recipients who completed a two-year program in areas like cosmetology, only then to be told they would not be allowed to practice in the state. My later research focused on [DACA students who aspired to become](https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2021.1995388?ref=down-ballot.info) educators but had to either stop pursuing that goal or go out of state to teach. Other immigrant students I surveyed in my research said they lost motivation in the high school classroom due to the restrictions to pursue higher education. ## Carryover effects Policies that make it easier for undocumented immigrants to attend college don’t just affect individual students and their families – they also have a positive effect on local economies. [Research from 2025](https://doi.org/10.1177/23315024241287505?ref=down-ballot.info) shows that when undocumented students can pay in-state tuition, they become more likely to have a job after graduation. Another study from Clemson University and the nonprofit group Hispanic Alliance found that South Carolina could be losing [up to $68 million](https://www.postandcourier.com/news/daca-south-carolina-jobs-licensed-fields-economy/article%5F559ea88a-e878-11ee-b525-2b0996e72e82.html?ref=down-ballot.info) a year in revenue due to the license policy for DACA recipients. I have known undocumented people who are aspiring doctors and teachers and moved to other states since they could not study or receive professional licenses in South Carolina. Restrictive education policies could mean that some of the most talented immigrant students [will leave](https://hispanicalliancesc.com/allied4work/?ref=down-ballot.info) their respective states. However, the average undocumented immigrant student will not [usually pursue or delay](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/students-legal-immigration-status-drop-delay-college-states-take-away-rcna228737?ref=down-ballot.info) higher education if the tuition is not affordable. I believe these policies will ultimately mean a less educated and productive society. *This article is republished from* [*The Conversation*](https://theconversation.com/us?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link-0&utm%5Fcontent=article-267597)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by:* [*William McCorkle*](https://theconversation.com/profiles/william-mccorkle-1449242?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-267597)*,* [*College of Charleston*](https://theconversation.com/institutions/college-of-charleston-734?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=byline-link&utm%5Fcontent=article-267597) **Read more:** - [A fragmented legal system and threat of deportation are pushing higher education out of reach for many undocumented students](https://theconversation.com/a-fragmented-legal-system-and-threat-of-deportation-are-pushing-higher-education-out-of-reach-for-many-undocumented-students-266324?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link0&utm%5Fcontent=article-267597) - [African immigrant students draw on family and community strengths in quest for college](https://theconversation.com/african-immigrant-students-draw-on-family-and-community-strengths-in-quest-for-college-235087?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link1&utm%5Fcontent=article-267597) - [A century ago, anti-immigrant backlash almost closed America’s doors](https://theconversation.com/a-century-ago-anti-immigrant-backlash-almost-closed-americas-doors-228589?utm%5Fsource=wp&utm%5Fmedium=related-link&utm%5Fcampaign=related-link2&utm%5Fcontent=article-267597) *William McCorkle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.* ### Extreme drought impacts three North Carolina counties URL: https://down-ballot.info/extreme-drought-impacts-three-north-carolina-counties/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T17:44:20.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** **RALEIGH –** Drought conditions have worsened across North Carolina amid record-low rainfall for many areas across the past six months, with three counties now experiencing extreme drought, and most counties experiencing moderate or severe drought. > According to the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council’s latest classifications issued Thursday, 72 counties in the state are in severe drought, 24 counties are in moderate drought and one county is abnormally dry. Parts of three counties are in extreme drought: Cabarrus, Stanly and Union counties. > “Except for a small area around Carteret County, the entire state is classified as in moderate drought or worse,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the DMAC. “Based on [data from the Southeast Regional Climate Center](https://sercc.com/climate-perspectives/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery), many locations across the state have seen their driest six months on record. In many areas, we are seeing a rainfall deficit of more than 10 inches since August 2025.” For counties in extreme drought, or D3 conditions, water systems are advised to follow their Water Shortage Response Plans and adhere to water use reduction measures. They must report weekly water use and conservation status online through the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resource’s [Local Water Supply Plan website](https://www.ncwater.org/WUDC/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). Negative impacts are expected to be limited in the cooler months due to lower water demand. However, Albertin said dry conditions are leading to below-average stream flow across the state. As of Feb. 10, [U.S. Geological Survey stream gage](https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/index.php?m=pa07d&r=nc&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery&w=map)[s](https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/index.php?m=pa07d&r=nc&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery&w=map) across the state were recording well below normal seven-day average flows. “Impacts are still limited, but we can expect to see water restrictions being implemented if we don’t see a shift towards a wet pattern,” Albertin said. “Stream and reservoir levels are already low, and water demand will increase as we get into spring.” DMAC is a collaboration of drought experts from various government agencies in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, and organized by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources. Members of DMAC meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a map of the nation’s drought conditions. DMAC’s drought map is updated weekly on Thursdays, based on conditions through the previous Tuesday. To view North Carolina’s drought map, visit [ncdrought.org](https://www.ncdrought.org/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). To learn more, visit [https://www.ncdrought.org/education](https://www.ncdrought.org/education?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). ### Britain quit coal, but changed to burning Louisiana's trees URL: https://down-ballot.info/britain-quit-coal-but-changed-to-burning-louisianas-trees/ Last updated: 2026-02-13T10:00:58.000Z **It's Friday, February 13, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Britain quit coal, but changed to burning Louisiana's trees**,** Medicaid’s retroactive safety net is shrinking — patients, hospitals could feel the fallout, DHS buys El Paso warehouses for $123 million ICE mega detention center as deportation capacity expands nationwide, Inside Minnesotans’ moonshot to cover rent for their immigrant neighbors, Investing in rural health. Federal program holds promise for NC, but faces significant challenges, People in 15 Mississippi counties can receive replacement SNAP benefits without application, City Hall Hires Just 31 From 80,000 Applicants in Mamdani’s Job Portal, Michigan drinking water expert ousted from EPA council. ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1167730&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) **Media outlets and others featured:** Verite News, North Carolina Health News, El Paso Matters, MinnPost, Carolina Public Press, Mississippi Today, THE CITY, Planet Detroit. --- *Editor's Note: Bolts has a guide on elections to watch in February.* [The 20 Elections to Watch This February - BoltsDemocrats hold the narrowest of majorities in Maine and Pennsylvania’s state Houses. They now need to defend vacant seats to retain their edge in each through the end of the... Read More![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-New-color-B@3000x-270x270-2.png)BoltsDaniel Nichanian![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/22312425546395-scaled.jpg)](https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/february-2026-elections-guide/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # Britain quit coal. But is burning Louisiana’s trees any better? by Tristan Baurick, Verite News New Orleans February 6, 2026 *This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Verite News and* [*Grist*](https://grist.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit,* independent media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change*. This story is the third of a* [*three-part series*](https://veritenews.org/burned-wood-pellet-drax-biomass/?ref=down-ballot.info)*. Read part one* [*here*](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/23/drax-air-pollution-louisiana-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info) *and part two* [*here*](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/30/drax-air-pollution-green-energy-urania/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* BARLOW, ENGLAND – Kathleen Watts’ flowers bloom much brighter now that the wind no longer blows black. Pulling weeds in the garden outside her red brick house, she recalled when coal dust would sometimes drift through her quiet corner of northern England, a rolling patchwork of farms and villages under the shadow of what was once the United Kingdom’s largest coal-burning power station. “When the dust came our way, we’d have to come out and clean our windows,” said Watts, who has lived in the North Yorkshire village of Barlow for more than 30 years. “And when we’d get snow in winter, there’d be a lot of black over it.” Thankfully, she said, the wind usually blew northeast, pushing the station’s smoke and dust toward Scandinavia. Locals liked to joke that the air pollution was mostly Norway’s problem. There, it caused bouts of acid rain that damaged forests and poisoned lakes. The U.K. has quit coal — a lengthy process culminating in the closure of the country’s [last deep-pit coal mine](https://www.wsj.com/articles/pit-closure-marks-dying-embers-of-british-coal-industry-1449837861?gaa%5Fat=eafs&gaa%5Fn=ASWzDAiLS6%5Fp9n04%5FhOlTsXgFb47kOW4Y7kX2%5Ft5MYluUw5-ma9H5ajQjfiSPUglOEw%3D&gaa%5Fts=68507c50&gaa%5Fsig=K%5FR7bUwjkuhTJHmFI7zcu09qxGZ6qOpTAYiUIcZ9XwH6xpDXU6lhL6SzaPLNgdJo1nb%5F3ChrZ61AfpT%5FbwnJfA%3D%3D&ref=down-ballot.info) in 2015 and the shutdown of the U.K’s [last coal plant](https://grist.org/energy/the-end-of-an-era-britains-last-coal-fired-power-plant-shuts-down/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2024\. The giant station near Barlow, however, is busier than ever, fueled now by American forests rather than English coalfields. Trees felled, shredded, dried, and pressed into pellets in Louisiana and Mississippi are shipped across the Atlantic Ocean, loaded onto trains, and then fed into the station’s immense boilers. Operated by Drax Group, the station gradually stopped burning coal until it made a full switch to wood in 2023\. It now burns enough pellets to generate about 6 percent of the country’s electricity. ![The Drax power station towers over a village in North Yorkshire, England. The station used to burn coal, sometimes casting black soot across the region. It’s now powered by wood from Louisiana and Mississippi.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05160249/9608DB64-6929-4F90-80B6-3A576DEA1315_1_201_a.jpeg) The Drax power station towers over a village in North Yorkshire, England. The station used to burn coal, sometimes casting black soot across the region. It’s now powered by wood from Louisiana and Mississippi. The U.K. government, in a bid to meet its ambitious climate goals, is giving Drax the equivalent of [$2.7 million a day](https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/drax-biomass-subsidies-in-2024/?ref=down-ballot.info) in subsidies to keep burning pellets, which the company touts as “environmentally and socially sustainable woody biomass.” But a growing number of Brits aren’t buying it. After years of celebrating the shift away from coal, U.K. residents are realizing that wood pellets aren’t the cleaner, greener alternative they were supposed to be. “I still have difficulties in my little brain figuring out how you can grow wood at the other end of the Earth, chip it, ship it to here … and then burn it, and say, ‘Isn’t that nice and green?’” said Steve Shaw-Wright, a former coal miner who serves on the North Yorkshire Council. Burning wood for power instead of one of the dirtiest fossil fuels offers the illusion of sustainability and robust climate action, said William Moomaw, an emeritus professor of international environmental policy at Tufts University. But in reality, it’s doing more harm to the environment than burning fossil fuels, he said. “England is off coal — isn't that wonderful?” Moomaw said. “But there’s no mention of the fact that it's because they're now burning wood from North America, which emits more carbon dioxide per kilowatt of electricity than does coal.” The Drax station in North Yorkshire emitted more than 14 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2024, making it the largest single source of CO2 in the U.K., according to a [report](https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/07/Drax-is-still-the-UKs-largest-emitter.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) last year from the climate research group Ember. That amount is more than the combined emissions from the country’s six largest gas plants and more than four times the level of the U.K.’s last coal plant. ![Caption: Purple flowers crowd a field near the Drax power station in Drax, England. The former coal plant now runs entirely on wood pellets, which the company markets as “sustainable biomass.”](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05160529/DSC_0171.jpg) Purple flowers crowd a field near the Drax power station in Drax, England. The former coal plant now runs entirely on wood pellets, which the company markets as “sustainable biomass.” A Drax spokesperson called Ember’s research “deeply flawed” and accused the group of choosing to “ignore the widely accepted and internationally recognized approach to carbon accounting,” which is used by the United Nations and other governments. But several scientists say burning wood can’t help but produce more emissions. Wood has a lower density than coal and other fossil fuels, so it must be burned in higher volumes to produce the same amount of energy. Between 2014 and 2019 — a period when coal was in steep decline — the country’s CO2 emissions from U.S.-sourced pellets nearly doubled, according to a [report](https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/2021-10/2021-10-14-woody-biomass-us-eu-uk-research-paper%5F0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Chatham House research institute in London. “Almost all of this U.K. increase was associated with biomass burnt at Drax,” the report’s authors wrote. The station’s cross-continental supply chain is also heavy on emissions. For every ton of pellets Drax burns, about 500 pounds of CO2 are released just from making and transporting the product, according to Chatham House. About half of Drax’s supply chain emissions are tied to production, while transportation via trucks, trains, and ships accounts for 44 percent, according to the company’s estimates. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/29154122/Verite-Tristan-WoodPellet-Process-01.jpg) The switch from coal to pellets created a new [pollution problem in Louisiana and Mississippi](https://grist.org/health/europe-green-energy-wood-pellets-mississippi-louisiana/?ref=down-ballot.info), where most of the station’s fuel is produced. Drax’s pellet mills have repeatedly violated air quality rules at its two Louisiana mills, located near Bastrop and Urania, and its mill in Gloster, Mississippi. The mills emit large quantities of formaldehyde, methanol, and other toxic chemicals linked to cancers and other serious illnesses, according to [regulatory findings and public health studies](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/23/drax-air-pollution-louisiana-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info). Residents of these poor, mostly Black communities say the mills’ dust and pollution are making them sick. In October, several Gloster residents sued the company, alleging that Drax has “unlawfully released massive amounts of toxic pollutants” in their community for nearly a decade. The Drax spokesperson said the company is improving its mills’ pollution controls in line with a longstanding dedication to “high standards of safety and environmental compliance.” On its website, Drax says the company is “committed to being a good neighbor in the communities where we operate,” offering funding for environmental education programs, ensuring its wood is sourced from “well-managed forests,” and supporting land conservation efforts, including the establishment of a 350-acre nature reserve near Watts’ home in Barlow. Much of the timber that Drax harvests comes from private lands in the Southern United States that function more as tree farms than natural forests. But in recent years, Drax has sourced an increasing share of its wood from western Canada, including from British Columbia’s [treasured old-growth forests](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63089348?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05161147/Verite-Tristan-WoodPellet-Location-Map-01.jpg) In 2024, Drax agreed to pay a nearly $32 million penalty after [U.K. energy regulators determined](https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ofgem-decision-investigation-drax-power-limited?ref=down-ballot.info) the company had been misreporting data on where it sources its wood and how much of it comes from environmentally important woodlands. The practice of pelletizing Canada’s mature trees appears ongoing, according to a recent [report](https://stand.earth/forest-eye/2025/11/09/forest-biomass-research-2025/?ref=down-ballot.info) by the environmental group Stand.earth. Citing logging data from 2024 and 2025, the group claims Drax has been accepting truckloads of trees from British Columbia that were hundreds of years old. Drax downplayed the report, emphasizing that the logs were legally harvested and of insufficient quality to go to sawmills. Drax sees itself as one of the most environmentally conscious companies on the planet. “Sustainability is the cornerstone of long-term success and the transformation of our business,” said Miguel Veiga-Pestana, Drax’s chief sustainability officer, in a statement. While most pellets Drax makes in the U.S. are derived from logged trees, the company also uses sawdust and other leftovers from lumber mills. The company supports forest thinning, a practice it says can ease crowding in densely planted timberlands, improve the health of the remaining trees, and diversify habitat for wildlife. “By ensuring that we source sustainable biomass, and that we embed sustainable practices into every facet of our operations, we can build lasting value,” Veiga-Pestana said. ![Water vapor escapes a cooling tower at the Drax power station in Drax, England. The station is the largest wood pellet-burning facility in the U.K. and was originally developed to burn coal.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05160127/GC0808202420-a1a6e6fbfdf3497f74a434c2008ce006a622319c.jpg) Water vapor escapes a cooling tower at the Drax power station in Drax, England. The station is the largest wood pellet-burning facility in the U.K. and was originally developed to burn coal. ### **The loophole that gave rise to an industry** The value of the entire utility-scale wood pellet industry depends on what many scientists call an “accounting loophole” entrenched in some of the earliest international policies aimed at combating climate change. During the 1990s, the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol [established land use and energy use as two separate categories](https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/10/greenhouse-gas-emissions-burning-us-sourced-woody-biomass-eu-and-uk/01-introduction?ref=down-ballot.info) for counting a country’s greenhouse gases. To avoid double counting wood burning across both land-use and energy-use categories, the U.N. assigned wood pellet emissions only to the land-use sector, believing that normal forest regrowth would keep pace with the modest harvests for pellet production. The wood pellet industry at the time was tiny, selling the bulk of its products to homeowners with small pellet-burning stoves. Any carbon released by burning would be balanced by new trees that work as natural CO2 absorbers, the thinking went. The effect, though, was that regulators would count CO2 from burning oil and coal, but CO2 from burning timber could stay off the books. “Drax and other bioenergy companies took that and said, ‘Look, we have no impact — we’re instantly carbon neutral,’” said Mary Booth, director of the environmental organization Partnership for Policy Integrity. This exemption was incorporated into the Kyoto Protocol, the first international treaty that set legally binding greenhouse gas reduction targets. Experts were soon warning of troubling consequences. In [a study](https://www.princeton.edu/news/2009/10/22/study-accounting-error-undermines-climate-change-laws?ref=down-ballot.info) published in the journal Science in 2009, scientists said the exemption was an “accounting error” that could spur deforestation and hinder attempts by governments to curb emissions. “The error is serious, but fixable,” said Tim Searchinger, a Princeton University energy policy expert, in a statement at the time. “The solution is to count all the pollution that comes out of tailpipes and smokestacks whether from coal and oil or bioenergy, and to credit bioenergy only to the extent it really does reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Other scientists challenged the industry’s claim that planting trees would neutralize power station emissions. According to a [study](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aaa512/meta?ref=down-ballot.info) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, it can take 44 to 104 years for forest regrowth to pay back the carbon debt from pellet burning. While the planet waits decades for the trees to regrow, glaciers melt, seas rise, and weather from droughts to hurricanes grows more extreme. ![Trucks haul logs to the Amite BioEnergy wood pellet production facility operated by the Drax group in Gloster, Mississippi, on September 24, 2025.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05160439/8W3A8603.jpg) Trucks haul logs to the Amite BioEnergy wood pellet production facility operated by the Drax group in Gloster, Mississippi, on September 24, 2025. Despite these warnings, the European Union latched on to wood burning as a relatively quick and cheap way to meet tighter climate mandates. Rather than blanket the landscape with wind turbines and solar panels, countries could dust off old coal plants and put them on a diet of “carbon-neutral” pellets. The shift toward bioenergy accelerated in 2009, when the EU set a target of getting 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020\. Pellet demand in Germany, Belgium, Italy, and other EU countries immediately began to increase, but in the U.K., the growth was explosive. Between 2012 and 2018, the U.K.’s pellet consumption surged by [471 percent](https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/report/downloadreportbyfilename?filename=Biofuels%20Annual%5FThe%20Hague%5FEU-28%5F7-15-2019.pdf&ref=down-ballot.info), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.K. left the EU in 2020, and it remains the world’s biggest buyer of wood pellets. In 2024, the country imported [nearly 10.3 million tons](https://apps.fas.usda.gov/newgainapi/api/Report/DownloadReportByFileName?fileName=Wood%20Pellets%20Annual%5FLondon%5FUnited%20Kingdom%5FUK2025-0032.pdf&ref=down-ballot.info), a record high spurred partly by a dip in pellet prices. Wood burning has helped the U.K. come within striking distance of its goal to eliminate oil and gas from its electrical generation by 2030\. Nearly 74 percent of the national grid is powered by what the government calls “low carbon” energy sources. Wood pellets and other forms of bioenergy supply about 14 percent of the low-carbon mix, with wind, solar, and hydropower accounting for the rest. ### **From coal to pellets** Every workday, Ian Cunniff climbs into his orange overalls, pounds his helmet tightly on his head, and steps into a cage that drops 459 feet into a maze of dark tunnels littered with old machinery. The stout Yorkshireman is one of the last miners still working in the coal pits, but now his job is to lead tours along the rich seams he once risked his life to dig out. Cunniff is a guide for the [National Coal Mining Museum](https://www.ncm.org.uk/?ref=down-ballot.info) at Caphouse Colliery, a former West Yorkshire mine dating back to the 1790s. His last “real” mining job was at Kellingley Colliery, the U.K.’s last deep coal pit and a major feeder of Drax’s power station before it switched to wood. In the depths of the Caphouse mine, Cunniff grew wistful over the coal still embedded in the walls. The seams once provided nearly everything a man and his family needed, he said. “It was your future; it was your retirement. So much of it has never been touched.” ![Miners, union members and the local community take part in a protest march from Knottingley Town Hall to the Miners Welfare Center marking the end of deep coal mining in Britain on December 19, 2015 in Knottingley, England.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05155912/image17.jpg) Miners, union members and the local community take part in a protest march from Knottingley Town Hall to the Miners Welfare Center marking the end of deep coal mining in Britain on December 19, 2015 in Knottingley, England. Wood pellets didn’t kill the U.K.’s coal industry. It began to wither as the country shifted from cheaper, imported coal in the 1980s to [natural gas](https://obr.uk/box/a-history-of-natural-gas-in-the-uk/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the 1990s. Coal’s decline left gaping holes in Yorkshire’s economy and social fabric. The wood pellet industry has contributed some jobs and tax dollars, but it can’t replace what the region once had, said Shaw-Wright, the county council member. “With coal, you didn't really need to get an education much because you were going to get a job at the pit,” he said. “And if you had a job at the pit, you would have it for life.” At its height between the two world wars, the industry employed [1.2 million people](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/employment-in-the-coal-industry-in-the-united-kingdom?ref=down-ballot.info) in the U.K. In some northern England counties, [1 in 3 residents](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10887-021-09187-w?ref=down-ballot.info) was employed in coal mining. The Selby Complex, a group of deep-pit mines near the Drax power station, employed about 3,500 workers before it shut down in 2004\. The industry also supported cooperative groups that funded social halls, community brass bands, libraries, sports clubs, and welfare programs for injured miners and their families. In contrast, the Drax-dominated bioenergy industry employs about 7,400 people across the U.K., including about 1,000 people at the Drax station. The increasingly automated industry has seen its job numbers fall by more than a third since 2014, according to data from the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics. A similar trend is playing out in Louisiana and Mississippi, where the three Drax wood pellet mills employ far fewer people than the older pulp and paper mills that once played a dominant role in the Deep South. The paper mill in Bastrop, for instance, once employed 1,100 people. Drax’s pellet mill near the town has just 71 workers on its payroll. Shaw-Wright appreciates the economic activity the wood pellet industry brings to Yorkshire but said most of the region’s recent job growth actually comes from a surge in distribution centers for online retailers — a trend that has turned Yorkshire into the country’s “[capital of warehousing](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1epx41yxg1o?ref=down-ballot.info).” Many of these massive facilities now sit on former coal fields, including the old Kellingley Colliery, yet the work of unloading and sorting parcels doesn’t provide [the pay, stability, or sheer number of jobs that mining once did.](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/25/the-job-is-not-human-uk-retail-warehouse-staff-describe-gruelling-work?ref=down-ballot.info) After giving another tour, Cunniff rested in the colliery’s old locker room. He knows coal isn’t coming back, but he doesn’t believe cutting and burning trees to power the grid is any better — for Yorkshire or the planet. “So you’re taking away what’s cleaning the atmosphere, and you’re burning it?” he said. “That’s the big picture, isn’t it?” ### **Growing skepticism, rising awareness** The Drax power station is the dominant feature across several miles of North Yorkshire countryside. Its 12 cooling towers are each big enough to hold the Statue of Liberty. Every day, about 17 trains full of pellets arrive to top off four storage domes with a combined 360 million-ton capacity. The pellets are pulverized as fine as flour and blown into several boilers. Stored in hangar-like structures in the station’s center, the boilers consume some 8 million tons of pellets each year with fires that reach 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Just outside the station’s 3 miles of razor-wire fencing is a village, also called Drax, with one tiny pub. Inside, there was little love for the big neighbor. “They’re taking wood from where they shouldn’t be taking it,” Tony Emmerson said as he sipped a beer at The Huntsman’s bar. “I think we should go back to coal, personally. We’ve got a hundred years of coal right here just waiting to be burned.” Many of Drax’s post-coal era promises — [lower energy bills, cleaner air, and a decarbonized grid](https://www.drax.com/opinion/price-matters-lowering-the-cost-of-the-energy-transition/?ref=down-ballot.info) — have proven hollow, Emmerson said. “They get all this tax money but we don’t get cheaper power bills,” said Peter Rust, The Huntsman’s owner. “And they say they’re carbon neutral, but how’s that possible when you have to bring the pellets across an ocean?” ![Trains unload wood pellets into giant storage domes each day at the Drax power station in Yorkshire, England.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05160417/GC0808202417-800241252567c5b940ebb66a9146fdf73a143fa6.jpg) Trains unload wood pellets into giant storage domes each day at the Drax power station in Yorkshire, England. The growing doubts about the wood pellet industry are seeping into public debate, leading the government to rethink its support for Drax. Last February, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government decided that the current subsidies for Drax would be [cut in half](https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-02-10/debates/3C5B1FDA-CDE6-45BF-8720-63EB2F0F5974/BiomassGeneration?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2027\. The subsidy renewal, which lasts until 2031, also requires Drax to increase the proportion of “sustainably sourced” biomass from 70 percent to 100 percent. Michael Shanks, the energy minister, told Parliament that the government made the move because Drax was making “unacceptably large profits” and “simply did not deliver a good enough deal for bill payers.” Shanks, however, emphasized that wood pellets will still play a key role in powering the U.K.’s grid, and he welcomed Drax's new efforts to bolster its green credentials. That includes a massive [investment in carbon capture and storage technology](https://www.drax.com/press%5Frelease/drax-submits-plans-to-build-worlds-largest-carbon-capture-and-storage-project/?ref=down-ballot.info). For years, Drax has been planning a pipeline that would divert about 8.8 million tons of the station’s CO2 emissions into storage under the North Sea. Reduced subsidies, though, are likely to slow these projects, the company has warned. Many Yorkshire residents knew exactly — and proudly — where the Drax station’s coal came from. They’re much less sure about where the wood is sourced. Watts, the gardener in Barlow, assumed the trees were grown on English farms. Shaw-Wright was also far off the mark, thinking the pellets came from Australia. At The Huntsman, guesses were slightly closer, with people calling out South America and Eastern Europe — regions that together supply only 10 percent of the station’s fuel. The fact that the U.S. meets nearly 80 percent of the station’s demand was a surprise to many. Environmental groups, meanwhile, have been campaigning for a broader understanding of the industry’s impacts. U.K.-based Reclaim the Power and Biofuel Watch have been highlighting the concerns about emissions as well as the pollution affecting mill towns in Mississippi and Louisiana. Several groups had planned to stage a large protest outside the Drax station in August 2024\. Drawing hundreds of activists from around the country, the “Drax Climate Camp” was to feature five days of “communal living and direct action.” But police [preemptively arrested 25 protesters](https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/25/police-acting-as-private-security-for-drax-power-station-say-climate-activists?ref=down-ballot.info) and halted a convoy of vehicles carrying tents, composting toilets, wheelchair-accessible matting, and other gear. Activists staged a much smaller protest outside the police station where their fellow campaigners were held, but the groups decided the camp couldn’t continue without the equipment. ![Climate protesters hold signs outside a police station in York, England in August 2024. Several of their fellow activists were arrested during preparations for a protest near the Drax power station in rural Yorkshire.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05160348/GC0808202410-12e99cbd06623a52e30a3431c056fc42e6e80e2c.jpg) Climate protesters hold signs outside a police station in York, England in August 2024\. Several of their fellow activists were arrested during preparations for a protest near the Drax power station in rural Yorkshire. ![Police from across Great Britain gathered in rural Yorkshire to stop a protest encampment planned near the Drax power station. Protesters say the wood pellet-burning facility speeds climate change and harms the Louisiana and Mississippi communities that produce the pellets.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/05160015/GC0808202411-c9bded7a9803a3e6bf7764f9b8137a730fa68c0a.jpg) Police from across Great Britain gathered in rural Yorkshire to stop a protest encampment planned near the Drax power station. Protesters say the wood pellet-burning facility speeds climate change and harms the Louisiana and Mississippi communities that produce the pellets. The aborted protest got Shaw-Wright thinking more about the connection between the pellet mills in the Deep South and the electricity that lights his home. > “Louisiana, that’s where they make the ‘gumba’ and they love cooking crocodiles, right?” Shaw-Wright said, half joking. “I think people will be surprised where the wood comes from and … know nothing of how it's produced or what it entails. We need to be educated more about the communities that, in essence, benefit the Drax power station. And we all benefit from it. But if it’s at the expense of others, it gives you a different perspective.” Rust, the pub owner, wasn’t so reflective, but he was deeply disappointed the camp was quashed. “I thought we were going to get loads more customers,” he said. “I bought loads more bottles when I heard about it. I thought finally Drax was going to do some good for me.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/06/drax-coal-air-forests-urania-gloster/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=28208&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # Medicaid’s retroactive safety net is shrinking — patients, hospitals could feel the fallout by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News February 6, 2026 #### **By Jaymie Baxley** When people qualify for Medicaid after a medical emergency, the program can currently reach back up to three months to pay for care they received before they applied — a safeguard that often prevents a hospital stay or ambulance ride from turning into lifelong debt. That protection is about to shrink. Beginning in January 2027, federal changes will sharply limit how far back Medicaid can cover medical bills for newly approved enrollees. For adults covered under Medicaid expansion — a group that now includes more than [700,000 North Carolinians](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/reports/medicaid-expansion-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info) — retroactive coverage will drop from three months to just one. Other Medicaid populations, including children, seniors and people with disabilities, will see the window reduced to two months. State officials say the changes are largely outside North Carolina’s control, but consumer advocates, legal aid attorneys and hospital groups warn that the shorter timeline could leave patients and providers burdened by costs that Medicaid would previously have covered. #### **How retroactive coverage works — for now** Sarah Gregosky, chief operating officer for NC Medicaid, said the current rules allow people applying for Medicaid to request coverage for medical services they received before submitting their application, as long as they were [qualified at the time](https://medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/eligibility?ref=down-ballot.info) they received care. When an applicant requests retroactive coverage, the state reviews their eligibility month by month — both prospectively and retroactively — which can result in Medicaid paying claims for care that occurred as much as 90 days before the person ever realized they qualified. “What’s going to happen is the periods in which we’re reviewing retrospectively, when folks indicate on their application, is going to shorten,” Gregosky said. “For our traditional Medicaid programs, \[...\] folks will have a 60-day period that they can say, ‘Hey, I had medical claims. Can you review my eligibility in those months?’ And for our expansion population, it will be limited to the 30 days prior to eligibility.” Gregosky said the state has little flexibility in how the change, part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act [signed into law](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/07/10/big-beautiful-bill-impacts/?ref=down-ballot.info) last summer by President Donald Trump, is implemented. “It’s largely prescribed by federal rules,” she said. “We don’t have discretion in extending that period.” #### **A safety net in case of emergency** Retroactive coverage is most commonly used by people who only realize they qualify for Medicaid after something goes wrong — a hospitalization, accidental injury or sudden illness that forces them into the health care system. “Typically, folks who are looking for that retrospective coverage had some sort of event that is triggering them to apply,” Gregosky said. (The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services was unable to provide NC Health News with data for how many retroactive claims are submitted and approved each year.) Health care navigators who help people enroll in Medicaid say the three-month window has been crucial since North Carolina expanded the entitlement program to cover more low-income adults in 2023. “That three months retroactive coverage has been a big lift for a lot of people who really need emergency services, \[who\] go in and are hospitalized for a certain amount of time and are not able to enroll before that,” said Nicholas Riggs, director of the [NC Navigator Consortium](https://ncnavigator.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Or they had some sort of life change or experience and just haven’t had a chance to get coverage.” Riggs said navigators regularly work with people who assumed they weren’t eligible for Medicaid until a health crisis forced the issue. That’s especially true, he said, for people [who qualify through expansion](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/12/01/medicaid-expansion-faq/?ref=down-ballot.info), which raised the state’s strict income threshold for Medicaid. The measure opened up the program to many working adults with lower incomes who previously made too much money to qualify. “A lot of folks deem that they’re ineligible for coverage, when the contrary is true,” Riggs said. “They would have been eligible the whole time.” With less time for coverage to be applied retroactively, Riggs said even small delays or misunderstandings during the application process could carry far greater consequences for patients who qualify for Medicaid but don’t realize it until after an emergency. “My biggest advice to folks is don’t wait to enroll,” he said. “If you have any change in eligibility, even if you don’t think that you’re eligible for coverage, try to enroll because you never know.” The looming changes come as enrollment assistance resources are thinning. Riggs said federal funding cuts forced the NC Navigator Consortium to reduce its staff by about 25 percent last year, which limited the group’s capacity to help people understand their eligibility and complete applications. “We are worried about being able to reach the number of people that we were before with so many policy changes going into effect,” he said, adding that the state’s need for navigators “has never been more critical.” #### **Less room for mistakes** Attorneys at [Pisgah Legal Services](http://google.com/search?q=pisgah+legal+services&oq=Pisgah+Legal+Services&gs%5Flcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDQgAEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyDQgAEAAYgwEYsQMYgAQyBwgBEAAYgAQyDQgCEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyDQgEEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQyEAgFEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQYjgUyBggGEEUYPDIGCAcQRRg80gEHODEwajBqNKgCALACAQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit law firm serving western North Carolina, are anticipating an increase in clients facing medical bills they would previously have been able to resolve through retroactive Medicaid coverage. “If you’re not navigating eligibility and not navigating these systems and seeing what goes wrong, you could think, ‘Well, what’s the big deal between one month and three months?’” said Thomas Lodwick, a managing attorney at the firm who specializes in cases concerning health and income. “But the big deal is that stuff goes wrong all the time. Applications get lost. They get erroneously denied.” Lodwick said the existing three-month window acts as a “buffer,” giving applicants time to identify and fix issues that might otherwise derail their enrollment after an expensive emergency. “Even if something goes wrong the first time \[they apply\], you can kind of clean it up and get them covered for that same period, and then they can avoid a crushing medical debt,” Lodwick said. “Frankly, a lot of times it can take months for that initial application to get processed or for the person to even find out that they were denied.” With that buffer shrinking, Lodwick said the financial consequences will not stop with patients. “Realistically, if you’re visiting the ER in an ambulance and you’re someone who qualifies for Medicaid, you’re not going to be able to pay these thousands and thousands of dollars,” he said. “At some point, that means the hospitals and other emergency service providers are going to be providing uncompensated care, further straining their abilities to provide care to everyone.” Shortened retroactive coverage, he added, “affects everybody who wants hospital or ambulance services that are well-funded and running as well as they can be.” #### **Hospitals brace for higher unpaid bills** When North Carolina became the 40th state to [expand Medicaid](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/11/20/north-carolina-expects-challenges-medicaid-expansion-dec-1/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2023 (Washington, D.C., has also expanded), lawmakers imposed a special tax on hospitals to help offset the cost of covering hundreds of thousands of newly eligible residents. It was a worthwhile tradeoff for hospitals, which saw significant reductions in uncompensated care as more patients gained health insurance. But advocates and hospital groups say the reduction in retroactive Medicaid coverage threatens to shift some of those costs back onto providers — particularly when patients qualify for Medicaid but miss the narrower retroactive window. In a statement to NC Health News, the [North Carolina Health Care Association](https://www.ncha.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) said the changes are “likely to create additional administrative challenges” for the more than 130 hospitals it represents across the state. “There is also a heightened risk of uncompensated care during potential administrative gaps,” an association spokesperson said. “Hospitals that serve a higher percentage of low-income individuals may feel these impacts more acutely, with smaller, community hospitals facing a disproportionate burden.” Uncompensated care costs have contributed to the closure of nearly 200 financially struggling hospitals in rural communities across the United States. At least 12 rural hospitals in North Carolina [have shuttered](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/03/14/martin-county-seeks-operator-to-bring-rural-hospital-back-to-life/?ref=down-ballot.info) since 2010, [according to data](https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-hospital-closures/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill. #### **Cuts collide with other changes** Navigators and legal aid attorneys worry that the loss of retroactive coverage comes at the worst possible moment — just as new work requirements and reporting rules increase the risk of coverage lapses that people may not discover until they need emergency care. “This is just another thing that we need to make sure that folks are aware of as they apply,” Gregosky said. “There’s a lot of changes that are going to happen for beneficiaries." The One Big Beautiful Bill law also introduces a federal [work requirement](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/01/30/medicaid-funding-strategy/?ref=down-ballot.info) for Medicaid. Beginning Jan. 1, 2027, many beneficiaries will be forced to prove they are working, volunteering or attending school for at least 80 hours a month to maintain benefits. Advocates fear the work requirement will result in an untold number of beneficiaries [losing coverage](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/01/14/medicaid-work-burden/?ref=down-ballot.info) — not due to unemployment, but paperwork issues. Most of the enrollees who will be subject to the requirement, which applies only to expansion beneficiaries, [already have jobs](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/06/18/work-requirement-numbers-for-nc/?ref=down-ballot.info), according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. But technological limitations, language barriers and other challenges could prevent many from regularly submitting the documentation needed to confirm their employment status. Lodwick said even brief lapses caused by missed notices, processing delays or confusion over the new rules could leave people uninsured when an emergency strikes, with fewer options to retroactively fix the problem afterward. “You could be cut off and not know it, and then find out when you end up in the emergency room,” he said. “I think there are a lot of us who kind of use health care as needed and, fortunately, don’t need it very often. But then when you do, you really need that retro coverage to get you back on.” This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/02/06/retroactive-medicaid-reduction/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # DHS buys El Paso warehouses for $123 million ICE mega detention center as deportation capacity expands nationwide by Cindy Ramirez, El Paso Matters February 6, 2026 The federal government has purchased industrial park warehouses in Far East El Paso County for nearly $123 million to be used as a massive ICE detention center, according to newly filed deeds. The purchase comes as hundreds of residents speak out against the project and city and county leaders question what authority, if any, they have to intervene. A general warranty deed filed with the county this week shows the property transfer from El Paso Logistics II LLC in Delaware to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was executed Jan. 17\. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans a 8,500-capacity mega detention facility on the property off Gateway Boulevard East near Clint. The property falls within the boundaries of the city of Socorro. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Logistics-Park-Map.png) The three-warehouse Eastwind Logistics Center in Far East El Paso County was recently purchased by the Department of Homeland Security for an ICE detention facility. (CBRE commercial development brochure) The property in an industrial zone – Eastwind Logistics Center – comprises three reinforced concrete warehouses of about 296,000 square feet each, with an adjacent plot of land available for expansion, a commercial real estate brochure indicates. The park was previously available for lease, but disappeared off real estate and developer websites the past month. A second deed filed with the county this week sets up long-term drainage and stormwater obligations for the property, with an effective date reversing back to Jan. 1\. That includes shared stormwater detention ponds for multiple parcels – including future development. The effective date indicates the infrastructure work likely began before the land sale was complete. The facility falls within the Lower Valley Water District service area, raising questions about the availability of water to the facility housing thousands of people. Officials with the water district didn’t return calls for comment. [**READ MORE:** Planned ‘mega’ ICE detention center in Far East El Paso County has rocky start with tribe-owned businesses](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/01/25/ice-open-mega-detention-center-clint-el-paso-tx-warehouse-tribe-owned-businesses/?ref=down-ballot.info) State Rep. Vincent Perez, D-El Paso, on Friday warned about potential fires at the planned mega center, citing the lack of water pressure and infrastructure as dangerous. He urged El Paso County Emergency Services District No. 2 that serves the area to deny a permit for the center. He noted the [2023 fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez](https://elpasomatters.org/2024/03/19/juarez-migrant-detention-center-fire-investigation-anniversary/?ref=down-ballot.info) that killed 40 detainees and injured 27 others as an example of the potential dangers. “It's one thing to have these facilities as they currently exist as industrial warehouses for that purpose, but it's a whole other ball game if you have intentions of housing thousands of detainees,” Perez said. [**READ MORE**: Misplaced fire extinguishers. No sprinkler system. A key missing in plain sight. How a Juárez migrant detention center fire turned into a death trap.](https://elpasomatters.org/2024/03/19/juarez-migrant-detention-center-fire-investigation-anniversary/?ref=down-ballot.info) Because federal facilities are largely exempt from local zoning and building rules, cities have limited leverage over detention centers — a concern echoed by community leaders in Oklahoma City, Kansas City and Orange County, New York. But certificates of occupancy are often required from local planning and fire departments, though it’s unclear how or if the federal government would seek those out. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Eastwind-Park-Warehouse-Interior-e1770415229535-1024x595.png) A detailed rendering of an Eastwind Logistics Center warehouse purchased by the Department of Homeland Security for an ICE detention facility i El Paso. (CBRE commercial development brochure) The El Paso property is one of several [recent warehouse purchases by the DHS](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-01-29/us-spends-hundreds-of-millions-on-warehouses-for-ice-detention-centers?ref=down-ballot.info) under the Trump administration’s latest efforts to expand immigration enforcement and deportations. The plan includes creating a fast-moving pipeline where detainees would be shuffled from processing centers that hold about 1,500 people to the mega facilities of up to 10,000 people that would serve as deportation staging sites. DHS has [reportedly spent](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-01-29/us-spends-hundreds-of-millions-on-warehouses-for-ice-detention-centers?ref=down-ballot.info) $120 million for a Maryland facility and $70 million for one in Arizona. The purchases don’t include the costs of converting the warehouses into detention centers complete with sleeping quarters, kitchens, restrooms, showers and other amenities. DHS officials didn’t respond to El Paso Matters’ request for comment, but in a statement last month said “it should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space.” El Paso is a strategic location for the Trump administration because of Biggs Army Airfield, where deportation flights have increasingly taken place. More than 1,130 immigration enforcement departure flights, including removal and shuffle flights, took place in El Paso all of last year, according to the [Human Rights First immigration flight monitor.](https://humanrightsfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ICE-Flight-Monitor-US-Immigration-Enforcement-Flights-Report%5FDec2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Only Alexandria, Louisiana, and Harlingen, Texas, recorded more flights – about 2,430 and 2,430, respectively. Shuffle flights refer to those between detention facilities. El Paso was also among the top three immigration enforcement destination cities last year, recording more than 1,030 arrivals. [**SEE ALSO:** ICE custody death, immigration raids in El Paso spark calls to action, pleas for enforcement without cruelty](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/01/16/migrant-death-homicide-ice-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss-east-montana-detention-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) The detention expansion comes as calls grow louder for the closure of Camp East Montana – a tent complex that opened on Fort Bliss property in El Paso in August. The facility has been inundated with allegations of human rights violations, and has recorded [three detainee deaths in two months](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/01/16/migrant-death-homicide-ice-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss-east-montana-detention-center/?ref=down-ballot.info). The facility holds the [largest number of ICE detainees](https://tracreports.org/immigration/quickfacts/detention.html?ref=down-ballot.info#detention%5Fheld) in the nation, averaging nearly 3,000 a day as of January. About 70,780 people were being held in ICE detention centers nationwide – about 18,700 in Texas alone. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/CB_SnowCampMontana-6-1024x683.jpg) The Camp East Montana migrant detention facility, shown Jan. 25, holds thousands of detainees from across the country. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, who visited Camp East Montana for the sixth time Friday, said there’s no need to build additional detention sites that are only making private contractors richer. “Not only have things not improved, but everything we have flagged over and over again persists,” Escobar said. “The level of dysfunction inside the facility is shocking and the services DHS is paying for are not being delivered – and that’s fraud.” In a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons this week, Escobar said El Pasoans do not want more detention centers in their community and urged the agency to suspend any and all plans to build new ones. El Paso city and county leaders this week formally opposed a proposed mega detention center, acknowledging their limited authority over federal immigration matters. On Monday, the El Paso County Commissioners Court directed the County Attorney’s Office to review the legal framework surrounding detention facilities and report back within 30 days, while also calling for a stakeholder task force to address future proposals. The court will also send a formal letter opposing the facility. A day later, the El Paso City Council asked city attorneys to develop a plan to block ICE detention centers within city limits, including protocols requiring judicial warrants for federal enforcement actions in city or county facilities. The city will also explore a moratorium on permitting, zoning and licensing for ICE facilities. “El Paso must stand firm. There will be no concentration camps here. We want ICE out now. Make no mistake, ICE is prepared to expand in El Paso, and if they are successful, it will mean more civil rights violations, more human rights violations, more violence and more death,” Tonya Hall said during the meeting. Hall is with Indivisible the 915, a grassroots group that has been leading protests and vigils against the controversial immigration enforcement and setting up campaigns for residents to call and write lawmakers at every level. Ruben Garcia, founder and executive director of the Annunciation House network of migrant shelters, said he applauds the local government’s response and people being vocal about their stance. But he warns that even if the Trump administration decided not to open the facility in El Paso, it would do so elsewhere. “Even if that were to happen that it’s not built here, it’s not going to be something that you celebrate because it won’t be about one less detention center, just one less detention center here,” Garcia said. “I think we’re saying, or should be saying, don’t build these. Don’t build these at all. We’re saying if Camp East Montana is your poster child for detention facilities, it’s woefully, woefully inadequate, so, don’t build them at all.” ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/CB_CampEastMontana-1-1024x683.jpg) A protester who wishes to remain anonymous stands at the entrance to Camp East Montana, a migrant detention facility on Fort Bliss property, Nov. 15, 2025\. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) Nonprofits such as Annunciation House are extending help to migrants stranded in the city after being released from Camp East Montana with only the clothes on their backs. The vast majority don’t get back their cell phones or documentation – IDs, passports, birth certificates, work authorizations – and are left stranded, Garcia said. Many of them are immigrants arrested in Minneapolis, one of a handful of cities where thousands of ICE and Border Patrol agents have been deployed. More than 3,000 people have been arrested by immigration officers there. Federal officials this week said they were withdrawing hundreds of agents following growing protests over violent enforcement tactics and the deaths of two U.S. citizens by federal agents. “This – the release of migrants from the facility – has been going on even before all the activity in Minneapolis. We’ve been getting those releases, but yes, we’ve seen a lot more recently,” Garcia said, noting that Annunciation House received 15 people released from Camp East Montana on Thursday alone. In January, Annunciation House took in more than 180 migrants – about 50 who were arrested in Minneapolis. [**LEARN MORE:** El Paso judge: Trump-backed immigration appeals rulings deny migrants long-standing bond rights](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/03/el-paso-judge-david-briones-trump-immigration-bond-cases/?ref=down-ballot.info) Garcia said he has been working with organizations in Minneapolis and other cities to help people released from El Paso detention centers get back to their families. But, he said, it’s important to note that the vast majority of those migrants who are released have support systems – family, friends, coworkers – who are able to gather funds to pay for attorneys and bonds. “When people are fortunate enough to have a lawyer to be able to petition a judge to set a bond, those are the releases we are getting,” Garcia said. “So, the question becomes, what about all those who can’t get attorneys? Who can’t get bonds? … So, if you’re feeling like you want to help, that’s one way – one meaningful and significant way – to help.” This [article](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/02/06/el-paso-texas-dhs-buys-warehouses-ice-mega-immigration-detention-center-clint/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [El Paso Matters](https://elpasomatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Inside Minnesotans’ moonshot to cover rent for their immigrant neighbors by Trevor Mitchell, MinnPost February 9, 2026 On a recent weekday morning as Ashley Fairbanks sat in a salon chair getting her hair done, she [put out a call to her 49,000 followers](https://bsky.app/profile/ziibiing.com/post/3me2dgsm3fk2f?ref=down-ballot.info) on BlueSky: Twelve families needed their rent paid, urgently. There was no time for fundraisers or applications for emergency rental assistance; they needed the money now. If anyone had the means to help, she said, they could send money directly to families through Venmo. Two hours later, those families had their rent paid. Twelve hours later, 43 families had been helped. The trend caught on: [Others on social media](https://bsky.app/profile/lookitup.baby/post/3me4nutyq3k2t?ref=down-ballot.info) took up the challenge and launched their own successful campaigns. Despite talk of a drawdown, the ongoing presence of ICE and other federal law enforcement officers continues to compel thousands of immigrants to stay [in their homes and out of work](https://www.minnpost.com/economy/2026/01/immigrant-run-restaurants-minneapolis-twin-cities-determined-to-survive-ice-crackdown/?ref=down-ballot.info). ### Even without work, rent is still due Still, rent is due. Many, [including the Minneapolis and St. Paul city councils](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/minneapolis-city-council-members-twin-cities-elected-officials-push-the-limits-of-their-power-against-ice-on-the-job-and-off/?ref=down-ballot.info), have called on Gov. Tim Walz to implement an eviction moratorium, which would allow more time for residents to come up with the necessary cash. But even as people like Fairbanks raise thousands of dollars, local leaders and immigrant activists know the need is far greater. Some compare it to the need for rent relief in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, the federal government pitched in, providing Minnesota with [$673 million for emergency rental assistance](https://mhponline.org/wp-content/uploads/ERA%5FReport%5FV6%5F06.15.23.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) on top of $100 million provided through state funds. “This is not something that we will GoFundMe our way out of,” said Minneapolis Council member Robin Wonsley (Ward 2). Jessica Mathias, executive director of [Open Your Heart To The Hungry And Homeless,](https://oyh.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) is using a COVID-era playbook to meet the current moment. During the pandemic, her organization quickly raised funds to assist renters in need. Today, Mathias and her team are managing funds [from existing fundraisers](https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-pay-rent-for-families-impacted-by-events?ref=down-ballot.info) as well as organizing their [own rent relief](https://oyh.org/get-help/emergency-rent-relief-fund/?ref=down-ballot.info), prioritizing households with children and those at immediate risk of eviction. ### [*Related: Mothers of massive resistance: PTA members organize Minneapolis relief efforts*](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/mothers-of-massive-resistance-pta-members-organize-minneapolis-relief-efforts/?ref=down-ballot.info) “Minnesota is a very generous state,” Mathias said. After opening up applications for assistance on Jan. 28, she said the first round of rent relief reached 12 households within a week. The current crisis is a reminder, she said, of how many people are one paycheck away from losing their housing, particularly those without a safety net of friends or family. For anyone who is able to help, she said, “I think it’s our calling to be able to do so.” ### ‘It’s not sustainable’ Fairbanks, a former Minneapolitan who now lives in Texas, says she’s “just a lady with a website.” But that website, [Stand With Minnesota](https://www.standwithminnesota.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), has had 2 million hits since she created it about two weeks ago. The site is a massive repository of Minnesota-based fundraisers, organizations and mutual aid networks that are looking for donations, including a number of rental assistance funds. Fairbanks has taken a special interest in those, noting that as larger funders begin the slow work of processing applications, the need for rental assistance continues to grow — especially as residents approach the period when the eviction process can begin. ### [*Related: County attorneys nix proposal for Minnesota sheriffs to coordinate with ICE*](https://www.minnpost.com/national/washington/2026/02/county-attorneys-nix-proposal-for-minnesota-sheriffs-to-coordinate-with-ice/?ref=down-ballot.info) Both the response to her website and what she’s started to call the “adopt-a-rent” campaign have been inspirational, she said — and evidence that elected officials need to step up with more robust efforts. “It’s not sustainable,” Fairbanks said. “People are maxing out their credit cards and emptying their savings accounts to pay other people’s rent.” Yusra Murad, an organizer with United Renters for Justice, said many Minnesota renters faced challenges even before Operation Metro Surge. Nearly half of the state’s renters are [housing cost-burdened](https://www.mncompass.org/data-insights/featured-trend/housing-affordability-trends-minnesota?ref=down-ballot.info), meaning they pay more than 30% of their income for housing. And those figures are higher for immigrants and people of color. When those same renters feel unsafe going to work, the upshot is a crisis unfolding indoors — one that’s less visible than arrests and detentions on the streets, but still deeply unnerving. People in Minnesota and beyond have responded with overwhelming generosity, Murad said. She tried to keep track of fundraisers that cropped up, but found it an impossible task. Some had raised thousands for rental assistance, others had raised hundreds of thousands. “I still know that it’s not enough,” Murad said. “It’s not enough even for the month of February.” She mentioned one fundraiser that had raised $200,000, focused solely on a community centered around a school. “It was gone within the first two days of February,” Murad said. ### ‘A drop in the bucket’ on rent On Feb. 5, the Minneapolis City Council approved sending $1 million in funds to Hennepin County to support one-time rental assistance, but only after a grueling two-hour discussion on the topic that saw two failed votes regarding where to find the money. Council member Aisha Chughtai said the funds would help about 250 families, calling it “a drop in the bucket.” ### [*Related: Twin Cities elected officials push the limits of their power against ICE, on the job and off*](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/minneapolis-city-council-members-twin-cities-elected-officials-push-the-limits-of-their-power-against-ice-on-the-job-and-off/?ref=down-ballot.info) The city’s $1 million will add on to the estimated $9.6 million that Hennepin County expects to have available for emergency rental assistance, according to Will Lehman, who works for the county in homelessness prevention. That’s enough to help about 2,500 families avoid eviction, he said. How great is the need? It’s a tough question and one that cities ask regularly to determine appropriate budgets, said Nick Graetz, a sociology professor at the University of Minnesota. Graetz reiterated that while the work of mutual aid groups is inspiring, “we need to be serious about the scale of need.” [A 2025 report from Minnesota Housing](https://mnhousing.gov/documents/35906/2025%5Fannual%5Femergency%5Frental%5Fassitance%5Festimation%5F-%5F1152025/view?ref=down-ballot.info) found that the estimated annual cost of meeting emergency assistance just for the state’s low-income households is $350 million. The report notes dispassionately that the $28 million available to such households through the state’s Emergency Assistance, Emergency General Assistance and the Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance programs will “fall short.” And those are rough estimates for one segment of the population, under significantly different circumstances. It is, as nearly everyone admits, an impossible sum of money to raise through well-meaning individuals. But as calls for an eviction moratorium grow louder, residents show little sign of flagging in their efforts to help their neighbors as best they can. “Every single avenue that could possibly keep a family housed is worth pursuing,” Murad said. This [article](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/02/inside-minnesotans-moonshot-to-cover-rent-for-their-immigrant-neighbors/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MinnPost](https://www.minnpost.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/favicon.png) ![](https://www.minnpost.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=2221857&ga4=3376753669) --- # Investing in rural health. Federal program holds promise for NC, but faces significant challenges. by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press February 9, 2026 The federal government pledged to give North Carolina $1 billion over the next five years to “transform” rural health care. Now, the NC Department of Health and Human Services must devise a plan to maximize the return on that investment. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [announced](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2025/12/29/north-carolina-awarded-213-million-rural-health-transformation-program-strategic-roadmap-and-federal?ref=down-ballot.info) in December that it was awarding North Carolina $213 million for the first year of the program. That funding originated from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress last year, which committed $50 billion to rural health initiatives in all 50 US states. Rural communities face unique health challenges requiring an approach different from urban areas, said **Debra Farrington**, DHHS Deputy Secretary for Health, whose many roles include overseeing the agency’s [Office of Rural Health](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/orh?ref=down-ballot.info). ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** North Carolina boasts the second-largest rural population among U.S. states, behind only Texas. Nearly one-third of the state, more than 3.5 million people, live in rural areas as defined by the US Census Bureau. People living in rural areas experience higher rates of diabetes compared to their urban counterparts. Mothers are more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications, and medical professionals of all types tend to be few and far between in these places, from primary care physicians to mental health workers to dentists. In many ways, it’s an economic story. Rural hospitals are facing significant financial stressors, Farrington said. Since 2006, 12 rural hospitals across the state have closed or been forced to change their operating models because of shortfalls caused by low patient volumes and inadequate reimbursements from insurers. Meanwhile, many of the graduates coming out of the state’s medical schools are going to where they’ll make the most money: places like the Triangle or Charlotte metros. North Carolina is betting that this new tranche of federal dollars will attract more medical service providers to underserved communities. “This plan enables us to be able to directly place resources toward efforts to address the gaps and shortages that we see in workforce,” Farrington said. “Specifically, we want to build on some existing efforts that are already ongoing in our state: to expand rural training centers, to expand rural fellowship programs and certification programs and rural residency incentives.” For **Nicole Barnes**, the director of the Martin-Tyrrell-Washington District Health Department, a true transformation of rural health care would mean equity. “Rural residents should have the same opportunities for health as someone living in an urban area,” she told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “A transformed system would look like no one delaying care because of distance or cost, reliable access to primary and maternal health services locally, strong telehealth connectivity throughout our region, a stable healthcare workforce and preventative services that reach families early rather than reacting to a crisis.” Barnes said her public health district — as well as partners including county governments, local health care providers and nonprofits — has been actively engaged in conversations with DHHS regarding the federal funding. “Our goal is to maximize every dollar through coordinated planning to ensure greatest impact,” she said. The specifics of how North Carolina will implement its Rural Health Transformation Program have yet to be solidified. DHHS is awaiting approval of its first-year plan by CMS before it opens applications for subgrants later this year. The primary goal of year one is to broaden the scope of existing state programs aimed at improving health outcomes, Farrington said. According to the state’s [plan](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/north-carolina-rural-health-transformation-application/download?attachment&ref=down-ballot.info), that means expanding behavioral health clinics, crisis services, mobile outreach, school-based care, and access to opioid treatment and mental health services. Meeting rural residents where they’re at, rather than making them go out of their way to receive care, is the philosophy which undergirds the initiative. The state has already identified two future subgrantees: the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill and the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy. Both research centers confirmed to CPP that they’ve already made plans with DHHS to help with implementation of the program. “Duke-Margolis can help the state with coordination across multiple initiatives supported by Rural Health Transformation Program funds, as well as other ongoing state and federal programs, to advance the impact and sustainability of the state’s investments in improving rural health,” **Rebecca Whitaker**, a research director with Duke-Margolis said in an emailed statement. Two other educational institutions which are perhaps better positioned, at least geographically, to contribute to rural healthcare initiatives preferred to stay quiet on their potential involvement. ECU Health, whose stated goal is to be a “national model for rural health and wellness,” declined to be interviewed for the story. The health system launched a bid last year to revive Martin General Hospital as a “rural emergency hospital,” a plan which has since [stalled](https://carolinapublicpress.org/72288/martin-county-nc-hospital-rebirth-medicaid-cuts-ecu/?ref=down-ballot.info) because of cuts to Medicaid which were included in the same bill that created the Rural Health Transformation Program. DHHS, through spokesperson **James Werner**, stopped short of saying that the federal funding would help Martin General to reopen. “While the program prioritizes rural emergency hospitals as part of its broader goals, NCRHTP resources will focus on creating conditions that make rural hospitals more viable long-term, such as improving care coordination, expanding telehealth, and supporting value-based payment models,” he said in an email. Campbell University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine also didn’t respond to several requests for comment before the publication of this story. Osteopathic medicine is a practice unique for its holistic approach which emphasizes preventative care and treating the root causes of health problems. Osteopathic doctors are licensed by the North Carolina Medicine Board and prescribe medicine and perform surgery just as MDs can. Osteopathic physicians “fill a critical need by practicing in rural and medically underserved communities,” Campbell’s website states. DHHS currently runs an incentive program which helps with student loan repayment for allopathic and osteopathic physicians who operate private practices in rural and underserved areas of the state. Whether that program specifically will receive increased funding is unclear. Health care partners of all types, from large health systems to community-based groups, will be brought to the table to execute the state’s plan, Farrington said. It involves lots of moving parts and the meshing of old systems with new ideas, some of which aren’t fully fleshed out yet. Barnes, who oversees public health in some of the state’s least populated counties, said she’s excited about the effort but emphasized the need to simplify its implementation as much as possible. “For us, transformation isn't about building more systems on top of what we already have,” she said. “It's about making care simpler, closer and more connected for those we serve.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74410/investing-in-rural-health-federal-program-holds-promise-for-nc-but-faces-significant-challenges/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # People in 15 counties can receive replacement SNAP benefits without application by Gwen Dilworth, Mississippi Today February 6, 2026 The federal government approved mass replacement of benefits for recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in 15 Mississippi counties hard-hit by the treacherous January ice storm that swept through Mississippi, the state Department of Human Services [announced Friday](https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/post/mdhs-announces-replacement-benefits-for-counties-affected-by-winter-storm-fern/?ref=down-ballot.info). The benefits will be automatically uploaded to beneficiaries’ accounts in the selected counties without an application and are expected to appear in accounts in the next few weeks, said spokesperson Mark Jones. He said he did not yet know the specific date. “We’re working quickly to try to get those out,” Jones said Friday afternoon. SNAP recipients in an additional 28 counties will receive an extension until Feb. 23, 2026, to apply for replacement benefits. Only existing SNAP clients are eligible to receive these benefits. All people who lost power for more than four hours during the storm were [eligible for replacement benefits](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/28/snap-winter-storm-benefits/?ref=down-ballot.info). These benefits are available year-round in case of food destroyed due to a natural disaster, including flood, fire and severe weather. However, recipients are normally required to apply for replacement benefits within 10 days of the outage. When applying for replacement benefits, recipients are asked to report the value of the food lost in the disaster. If approved, replacement benefits equal to the lost food’s value will be issued, up to the maximum amount of SNAP benefits issued for the month, according to [MDHS’ website](https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/help/snap/current/snap-replacement-benefits/?ref=down-ballot.info). Winter Storm Fern struck Mississippi the weekend of Jan. 24-25, causing up to 180,000 power outages at its peak. The storm covered roads with ice, snapped trees and downed powerlines across north Mississippi. On Friday, at least 22,000 utility customers in Mississippi remained without power, according to [poweroutage.us](http://poweroutage.us/?ref=down-ballot.info). Jones advised people applying for replacement benefits to ensure that all information submitted is accurate. “Please make sure that the power outage documents you use are for your address,” Jones said. SNAP recipients in the following 15 counties do not need to apply for replacement benefits. Eligible clients will be issued benefits automatically. - Alcorn County - Choctaw County - Claiborne County - Grenada County - Holmes County - Humphreys County - Lafayette County - Montgomery County - Panola County - Sharkey County - Tallahatchie County - Tippah County - Tishomingo County - Yalobusha County - Yazoo County SNAP recipients in the following 28 counties who suffered food loss as a result of the winter storm must apply for replacement benefits by Feb. 23, 2026. - Adams County - Attala County - Benton County - Bolivar County - Calhoun County - Carroll County - Chickasaw County - Coahoma County - DeSoto County - Issaquena County - Itawamba County - Jefferson County - Lee County - Leflore County - Lowndes County - Madison County - Marshall County - Pontotoc County - Prentiss County - Quitman County - Sunflower County - Tate County - Tunica County - Union County - Warren County - Washington County - Webster County - Wilkinson County To access the replacement request form (MDHS-EA-508), households should visit the MDHS website at [https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/economic-assistance/snap/snap-replacement-benefits/](https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/economic-assistance/snap/snap-replacement-benefits/?ref=down-ballot.info). The completed form may be submitted by mail, email, or uploaded directly to the MDHS website using the document upload feature at the SNAP Replacement Benefits page. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/02/06/replacement-snap-benefits/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1167730&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # City Hall Hires Just 31 From 80,000 Applicants in Mamdani’s Job Portal The successful 0.039% includes new Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn — a DOT veteran who had also been selected as a member of Mamdani’s transition team. by [Katie Honan](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/katie-honan/?ref=down-ballot.info) Feb 6 3:07pm EST ![Mayor Zohran Mamdani highlighted his number days on the job during a press conference at a Far Rockaway NYCHA complex,](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/020426_mamdani_calendar.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) Days after he won the mayoral election, Zohran Mamdani [unveiled a job portal](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/25/city-jobs-exam-civil-service-mamdani-application/?ref=down-ballot.info) so his team could hire for his incoming administration with an eye on transforming government. “For too long in city government it’s been more to do with who you know than what you do, and we want to turn that on its head,” he said in a [television interview](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1388741099483778). “We want it to actually be about the work.” Within a week, 50,000 people had submitted their resumes, his team said, with 30,000 more applying in the following two weeks. Mamdani boasted that his transition team had received applications from nearly every ZIP code in New York City. But three months after launching the portal and more than a month after Mamdani was sworn in as mayor, just 31 people who applied through it have been hired by the new administration to work inside of City Hall, according to mayoral spokesperson Dora Pekec. That amounts to just under 21% of the administration’s 149 new hires so far — and to an overall success rate of 0.039% for the portal’s 80,000 applicants. (Pekec said that the total number of applicants hadn’t increased substantially since the end of November.) While there are thousands of jobs open for New Yorkers who want to work for the city in various roles, many fewer are hired through City Hall to work in the administration. One of the few successful job-seekers on the portal included new Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn, who told [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/nyregion/mike-flynn-nyc-transportation-commissioner.html?utm%5Fsf%5Fpost%5Fref=654471796&smtyp=cur&utm%5Fsf%5Fcserv%5Fref=5281959998&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwY2xjawPx5YxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETE4TmtQckFTbmVzOU5IUzI0c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHgVIZpgWIEnrIMztlegAVWqzfDln1WOWqK1iFofgvOtBhAPUSzNgrDwQUY0n%5Faem%5FHrCuVL3o8c7ELRy%5FfBmTvQ&ref=down-ballot.info) that he applied for his gig through it. Flynn, however, was also selected for the transition team, and had more than a decade of prior experience at the DOT. Pekec did not answer questions about who controls the portal now that the transition is over or whether its applicants are being shared with city departments. The new mayor has brought back many officials who worked under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, including Dean Fuleihan who returned as first deputy mayor and former commissioner Steve Banks as [corporation counsel](https://www.nycla.org/resource/statement-letter/nycla-president-commends-mamdani-appointment-of-steven-banks/?ref=down-ballot.info). He’s also kept many high-level employees who worked under former Mayor Eric Adams, including the city’s sheriff, Anthony Miranda, the acting sanitation commissioner Javier Lojan, and [Michael Garner](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/07/michael-garner-mwbe-diversity-mta-inspector-general/?ref=down-ballot.info), the city’s chief diversity officer. ## **Looking Far and Wide?** Mayor Mamdani’s goal of demystifying city government — and bringing a fresh perspective and team to City Hall — helped him win an historic election last year. But that goal is in real tension with the city’s hiring processes. New York City’s government employs more than 300,000 people in hundreds of roles, from teacher to firefighter to gardener. Many employees working in agencies outside of City Hall are hired through [civil service exams](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/25/city-jobs-exam-civil-service-mamdani-application/?ref=down-ballot.info). There are currently thousands of open civil service [gigs](https://cityjobs.nyc.gov/jobs?ref=down-ballot.info) at more than [100 city agencies](https://www.nyc.gov/main/your-government/agency-directory?ref=down-ballot.info) who won’t be hired through the portal. That hiring process often takes months, if not longer, to onboard candidates. Applicants who submitted their resumes through the portal — and who declined to use their names for fear of retribution — told THE CITY they hadn’t heard much after sending in their applications. “I’ve never received any call back or anything,” one longtime government staffer who submitted their resume through the portal told THE CITY, calling the process “total BS.” Others said they’d heard of a “friends and family” portal for people working on the transition. An administration spokesperson said transition members had recommended their own applicants, but said there had not been a separate portal for them. There were other doorways to having a resume seen by the administration. The Progressive Talent Pipeline, a national organization launched in 2018 to push progressives into federal government jobs, set up its own portal to recommend candidates to the Mamdani administration even before he’d won the general election in November. Executive Director Becca Watts said in an email that it had done so because so many people expressed interest in working for the Mamdani administration. The group began working on a way to recommend potential employees – particularly those who left the federal government in 2025 as newly elected President Donald Trump declared war on much of the federal workforce – in September or October, she said. When Mamdani announced his own portal, they connected with his transition team. “This isn't an alternative or priority portal — and we encourage people to submit to the main portal as well,” she told THE CITY, noting that they hadn’t been asked by the transition team to launch it. “Since we've done this as a project to encourage public service since 2018 in DC, relative to Congress and the Biden transition, it was a natural fit to orient towards New York with such a surge in need/interest there.” Joe Calvello, another spokesperson for Mamdani, said he found three of his six deputy press secretaries through the portal, although some were already working at city agencies. “We made sure to look far and wide at the diverse backgrounds of people who wanted to work for this administration,” he told THE CITY. Calvello, a former aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders, said he also applied through the portal as soon as it went up, eager to be part of the next mayor’s plan for New York City. But he acknowledged that may not be how he was hired. Mamdani reportedly showed up at a bar in Greenpoint in late December to personally pitch Calvello to join his administration, according to [POLITICO](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/02/mamdani-one-month-bloomberg-de-blasio-00758491?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # Michigan drinking water expert ousted from EPA council: A warning to whistleblowers? by Nina Misuraca Ignaczak, Planet Detroit January 28, 2026 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has dismissed Michigan-based drinking water engineer Elin Betanzo from the National Drinking Water Advisory Council, months after placing her under investigation for signing a public letter criticizing Trump administration environmental policies. Betanzo was notified last week that her “services are no longer needed” on the 15-member advisory council, according to an email obtained by Politico. The dismissal follows a seven-month period during which she was barred from participating in council activities while the EPA reviewed her “potential signature” on a declaration of dissent opposing federal rollbacks on science and environmental protections. The decision appears to single out Betanzo rather than reset the full council, which has remained largely intact since its membership was last amended in 2024. “As far as I can tell, I’m the only council member who has been removed,” Betanzo told Planet Detroit. “That’s what makes this so unusual.” ### Investigation without explanation Betanzo said the dismissal email is the agency's first substantive communication since she was placed under investigation last July. “They never asked me any questions. They never explained the scope of the investigation or told me what conclusions they reached,” she said. “Seven months later, out of nowhere, I’m just told I’m done.” An EPA spokesperson declined to answer questions about Betanzo’s dismissal or whether other council members were affected, citing a policy of not commenting on individual personnel matters. The advisory council provides recommendations to EPA on drinking water regulations and includes water utility executives, state regulators, and public health experts. Members serve as special government employees and are paid for time spent participating in meetings and committee work. ### Role on the council Betanzo served one full three-year term on the council during the Biden administration and had just begun a second term in January before being sidelined. She worked on the council’s microbial and disinfection byproducts committee, which produced a detailed set of recommendations for EPA as the agency prepares to revise national drinking water rules. “That work was significant,” Betanzo said. “It highlighted real weaknesses in how we regulate drinking water and reflected consensus across industry, public health, and state regulators.” EPA had asked her to return for a second term based on that work, she said. In a statement, the EPA said it is “committed to ensuring all Americans have access to clean drinking water” and emphasized that it intends to continue collaborating with its advisory committees as it carries out its mission of protecting human health and the environment. The agency added that, “in keeping with longstanding practice, EPA does not comment on individual personnel matters.” ### Broader pattern of retaliation concerns Betanzo’s dismissal comes amid broader scrutiny of EPA actions targeting employees and advisors who signed the “Stand Up for Science” declaration of dissent. According to union leaders and reporting by Politico’s E&E News, dozens of EPA staff were investigated, suspended, or fired following the letter’s release. Planet Detroit previously reported that Betanzo and another scientist were barred from advisory roles as part of that investigation, raising concerns about whether scientific advisors are being punished for protected speech. “When I agreed to serve, no one ever told me I was giving up my First Amendment rights,” Betanzo said. “This feels like a targeted effort to remove advisors who prioritize science, data, transparency, and the needs of communities dealing with unsafe water.” EPA has said the dissent letter misled the public and violated agency policies but has not identified which rules were broken. Unlike other EPA advisory panels that were fully reset after Trump took office, the drinking water advisory council has largely remained unchanged — making Betanzo’s removal stand out. “It shows a willingness to go out of their way to cut out advisors they previously valued,” Betanzo said. “That should concern anyone who cares about independent, science-based drinking water policy.” This [article](https://planetdetroit.org/2026/01/betanzo-removed-drinking-water-council/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Planet Detroit ](https://planetdetroit.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://planetdetroit.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/cropped-globe-1-150x150.png) ![](https://planetdetroit.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=27806&ga4=G-5QQJ9SVV07) --- ### N.C. Judge Upholds the State’s Limits on 1,4-Dioxane Pollution in Utilities’ Wastewater URL: https://down-ballot.info/n-c-judge-upholds-the-states-limits-on-1-4-dioxane-pollution-in-utilities-wastewater/ Last updated: 2026-02-12T21:47:42.000Z By Lisa Sorg February 11, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11022026/nc-1-4-dioxane-pollution-limits/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* A Wake County Superior Court judge has [ruled against](http://www.selc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/24CV032664-910-NCDEQ-v-Asheboro-Greensboro-Reidsville-Wake-County-Superior-Court-02-06-2026.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the cities of Asheboro, Greensboro and Reidsville, concluding that state environmental regulators can legally limit the amount of 1,4-dioxane, a likely carcinogen, that they discharge into the drinking water supply. Judge Graham Shirley, a Republican, wrote in his opinion that the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality followed state and federal protocols in creating the limits in the cities’ wastewater, and did so “for the purpose of protecting the health and well-being of North Carolinians.“ Attorneys for the cities filed a motion to stay the judge’s order while they appeal. DEQ could not be reached for comment. The decision reverses a previous ruling by Administrative Law Judge Donald van der Vaart, who in 2024 found in favor of the cities after they formally contested discharge permit limits set by DEQ. Van der Vaart served as a DEQ secretary under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, and often espoused anti-regulatory views. Van der Vaart determined DEQ had “acted arbitrarily and capriciously” in “improperly calculating” the 1,4-dioxane limits and had not gone through the proper rulemaking process to set them. The ruling nullified the 1,4-dioxane permit limits. Shirley disagreed. “Compliance with regulations and a desire to maintain or improve public health cannot be said to be a bad faith decision,” he wrote. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not established legally enforceable maximums for the chemical in drinking water, but has issued a health advisory goal of 0.35 parts per billion; DEQ based the cities’ discharge limits on EPA guidance. Often used in solvents, degreasers and some consumer products, 1,4-dioxane is a likely carcinogen, according to the EPA. Long-term exposure can harm the liver and kidneys. Industries that produce 1,4-dioxane, either as a compound or as a byproduct of manufacturing, discharge it in wastewater that they send to municipal treatment plants. Since traditional treatment technologies can’t remove 1,4-dioxane, it passes through the plants, then enters rivers and streams, many of which are drinking water supplies. For years the cities named in the lawsuit discharged high concentrations of the compound. Greensboro sharply reduced the amount in its discharge as part of a 2020 consent order with the state, stemming from litigation filed by the nonprofit Haw River Assembly. Reidsville did so after its industrial customers reduced or replaced the compound in their manufacturing processes. However, Asheboro has continued to discharge 1,4-dioxane at levels as high as 3,520 parts per billion, in January 2025, state records show. That is 160 times greater than DEQ’s original permit limit of 22 ppb, which was based on several scientific calculations to protect the safety of the drinking water in cities and towns downstream. The chemical originates at StarPet, a plastics manufacturer, and the Great Oak Landfill, which discharge or ship 1,4-dioxane to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. As recently as last November, Asheboro discharged wastewater containing 651 ppb of the compound, 30 times greater than the original permit limit. In the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration, the EPA [formally objected ](https://www.selc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/EPA-Specific-Objection-Letter-for-Asheboro-NC-January-3-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)to Van der Vaart’s removal of the 1,4-dioxane limits from the permit. The agency held a public hearing last fall in Asheboro to receive comments on the objection but has yet to announce a finding. Stephanie Stephens is the riverkeeper for the Deep River, which receives contaminated discharge from the cities upstream. She spoke in favor of the limits at the EPA public hearing. Stephens said on Wednesday she was relieved at the Wake judge’s ruling. “The original pollution discharge permit issued by NCDEQ was absolutely right to limit 1,4 dioxane discharge levels,” Stephens said. “This is a victory and I am happy to hear it.” The Southern Environmental Law Center had filed a brief in Wake County court in support of DEQ. “The court confirmed that the law not only allows DEQ to protect our families from toxic 1,4-dioxane in our drinking water—it requires it,” said SELC Senior Attorney Jean Zhuang in a prepared statement. “Asheboro, Greensboro, and Reidsville have spent years arguing for downstream communities to shoulder the health and monetary costs of the cities’ pollution. The Wake County Superior Court saw through the cities’ arguments and restored a key tool that can be used to protect families, communities, and drinking water utilities downstream.” SELC is representing the Haw River Assembly and Cape Fear River Watch in a separate lawsuit against the cities over their 1,4-dioxane discharges. An SELC spokesperson said their litigation would continue. The Wake judge’s ruling coincides with the opening of a 60-day public comment period on the [controversial 1,4-dioxane minimization rules](https://edocs.deq.nc.gov/WaterResources/DocView.aspx?id=4213440&dbid=0&repo=WaterResources&ref=down-ballot.info) that DEQ has proposed under the EMC’s direction. The rules would require industrial dischargers and wastewater treatment plants to conduct quarterly sampling for the compound. At the direction of DEQ, industrial dischargers with consistent levels of 1,4-dioxane at levels above the lowest reporting concentration—1 part per billion—would have to develop a minimization plan to reduce or eliminate the compound in the receiving stream. The proposal has received pushback from environmental advocates because it does not contain legally enforceable surface water or drinking water standards. A public hearing will likely be held, but it has not yet been announced. EMC Chairman J.D. Solomon told Inside Climate News the Wake judge’s ruling would not affect the draft rules or the public comment period. “Judicial rulings and information provided by EPA will certainly be part of the future rule making,” Solomon said. “For now, the EMC is focused on getting public comments on the monitoring and minimization plans, which is a necessary part of any rulemaking we do.” ### Their value attacked and funding cut, universities and colleges start fighting back URL: https://down-ballot.info/their-value-attacked-and-funding-cut-universities-and-colleges-start-fighting-back/ Last updated: 2026-02-11T10:00:45.000Z By Jon Marcus (The Hechinger Report) January 27, 2026 A narrator speaks over images of busy cityscapes, children playing in a field and ominous scenes of natural disasters and civil unrest. “There’s no sugarcoating it,” [the deep voice warns](https://whycollegematters.org/the-campaign/?ref=down-ballot.info). “America’s future is under attack.” Its salvation: higher education, personified by young people shown listening attentively in classrooms and busy at work in high-tech labs. “College,” the speaker concludes with the heroic inflection of a movie cowboy: “Proud sponsor of America at its best.” This 60-second public service spot is part of a small but growing response by the higher education industry to more than a decade of plummeting public confidence and falling enrollment followed by a year of political attacks against which insiders and advocates concede it has until now been mostly silent. “We have let the narrative take on a life of its own,” said Tamalyn Powell, senior vice president of higher education practice at the advertising agency BVK, which developed the campaign. That’s been true not only since the start of the second Trump administration — which cut billions of dollars in federal research funding and cracked down on diversity policies and international students — but before then, when state legislatures were imposing their own restrictions and public support was already plunging. Now the sector is peering over the top of the trenches and launching initiatives like this “Proud Sponsor” campaign in the hope of reclaiming the message about itself. “After years of headlines questioning the value of college,” [the campaign’s creators explained](https://whycollegematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ProudSponsorLaunchPressRelease.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) when they unveiled it, they were “reminding Americans that higher education remains vital to the nation’s future.” **Related: Interested in innovations in higher education? Subscribe to our free biweekly** [**higher education newsletter**](https://hechingerreport.org/highereducation/?ref=down-ballot.info). That’s become a tougher sell than it once was. The proportion of Americans who say college is “very important” has slid from three-quarters when Gallup first asked the question in 2010 to [about a third](https://news.gallup.com/poll/695003/perceived-importance-college-hits-new-low.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info) today. Judging by Google search data, questions about [“college value,”](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=college%20value&ref=down-ballot.info) [“college cost”](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=college%20cost&ref=down-ballot.info) and [“college return on investment”](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&geo=US&q=college%20return%20on%20investment&ref=down-ballot.info) continue to grow. The proportion of high school graduates going directly to college has fallen from a high of [70 percent](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cpa/immediate-college-enrollment-rate?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2016 to [61 percent](https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2024/61-4-percent-of-recent-high-school-graduates-enrolled-in-college-in-october-2023.htm?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2023. “When all they’re hearing is ‘It costs so much’ or ‘You’ll end up as a barista in a coffee shop,’ then it’s harder to break through,” said Charles Welch, president and CEO of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, or AASCU, a membership group of public higher education institutions. “We’ve let that narrative be crafted for us.” Even the marketers emphasize this isn’t just a marketing problem. Higher education has to understand why people have lost faith in it, they say, and address those issues. AASCU has begun to put alumni forward as what it calls “a powerful source of evidence for demonstrating the true value of postsecondary education.” It’s publicizing [new survey results](https://aascu.org/resources/leveraging-alumni-voices-to-drive-value/?ref=down-ballot.info) that show state university and college graduates are generally satisfied with their educations. “We have not done a good job of making a case for our value,” said Welch. “We’ve got to get out there and tell that story.” The Big Ten Academic Alliance of the athletic conference with the same name [has rolled out an ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWmchknZ1yM&ref=down-ballot.info) highlighting not the usual scenes of exuberant students on leafy campuses but how those campuses produce “the medicine that keeps your family healthy” and “the discoveries that drive the nation and economy forward.” Purdue University’s [new promotional campaign](https://vimeo.com/1146708544/ea39144630?ref=down-ballot.info), which shows students transforming their personal interests into careers, is “a love letter to the promise of college” meant “to win the hearts and minds of the skeptics,” spokesman Trevor Peters said. And Johns Hopkins University has [created a campaign](https://brand.jhu.edu/applying-the-brand/campaigns/research-saves-lives/?ref=down-ballot.info) in response to federal research funding cuts called “Research Saves Lives,” making the logo and other elements available for free for anyone else who wants to use them. These efforts may be mostly just getting under way, but they show that “there’s at least recognition that we have to do something” in response to the relentless criticisms, said Terry Flannery, chief operating officer of the industry marketing and communication association CASE, or Council for Advancement and Support of Education. **Related:** [**From Google ads to NFL sponsorships: Colleges throw billions at marketing themselves to attract students**](https://hechingerreport.org/with-competition-up-enrollment-down-colleges-are-spending-billions-on-marketing-and-advertising/?ref=down-ballot.info) That things like medical and scientific research are important was previously assumed by higher education leaders to be self-evident, said Jenny Petty, co-chair of the American Marketing Association’s higher education committee and former vice president of marketing communications at the University of Montana. “The fact that they are saying, ‘We have to tell the world about our research’ is evidence that this is changing,” Petty said. That change has been slow. It took two years to develop the “Proud Sponsor” campaign, which was created pro bono by BVK; the reason most Americans haven’t seen it yet is because CASE is still trying to raise funding to air it from corporate and philanthropic sponsors. It’s not that higher education doesn’t have money for marketing. Colleges and universities spend, on average, nearly $4 million a year apiece on marketing and communications, or the equivalent of $607 per student, according to data provided by the higher education marketing agency SimpsonScarborough, [which tracks this](https://simpsonscarborough.com/complimentary-resources/higher-ed-cmo-study-info/?ref=down-ballot.info). The biggest institutions have an average of 51 marketing and communication employees. Those numbers [have been going up](https://theconversation.com/why-universities-are-hiring-more-chief-marketing-officers-even-as-budgets-shrink-262007?ref=down-ballot.info), even as college budgets are being cut and staff laid off, researchers at Kennesaw State University and the University of Mississippi and Southern Mississippi University found. But institutions have directed almost all of these resources toward the increasingly tough job of attracting applicants to their own campuses, said Greg Summers, a senior strategic advisor at BVK and a former university provost — not to addressing mounting skepticism about whether college in general is worth the cost to families and taxpayers. “Most institutions, for understandable reasons, want to talk about themselves,” said Summers. “And they particularly want to do that in the context of recruiting students.” Speaking with a single voice is even harder in a higher education sector that ranges from community colleges to giant research universities — public, private, nonprofit and for-profit — with different missions and interests. But by failing to respond to larger criticisms, universities and colleges have become an easy target for critics of such things as their purported ideological leanings, said R. Ethan Braden, vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at Texas A&M University. > [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DGRLwb6Pksf/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) > > [A post shared by Johns Hopkins University (@johnshopkinsu)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DGRLwb6Pksf/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading) **Related:** [**Trump’s attacks on DEI may hurt men in college admission**](https://hechingerreport.org/an-unexpected-target-of-federal-college-admissions-scrutiny-men/?ref=down-ballot.info) “If you have a void in how you’re being understood, you have a choice,” said Braden: “You can either fill that void or someone else will fill it for you.” That’s what experts say has happened — that universities and colleges have let others commandeer the message, including about whether the returns on a degree are worth the price. Even as pressure built for universities and colleges to confront this trend, however, they found themselves a target of the unprecedented onslaught by the Trump administration. Instead of speaking out, they shut down. “They said, ‘We can’t really talk about this and we can’t really talk about that,’ ” said Powell. Added Jason Simon, CEO of SimpsonScarborough: “It’s a challenging political and social environment for any institution. So higher ed is doing what they typically do, which is to be risk-averse and put their heads down in the sand.” There are new reasons for caution, including concern about retaliation. “It’s not an irrational fear,” said Petty. The presidents of the University of Virginia and Texas A&M and Northwestern universities, for example, all resigned in the past year under political pressure. **Related:** [**Colleges ease the dreaded admissions process as the supply of applicants declines**](https://hechingerreport.org/colleges-ease-the-dreaded-admissions-process-as-the-supply-of-applicants-declines/?ref=down-ballot.info) What responses have occurred to date have been low-key. Three months into President Donald Trump’s second term, for example, 400 of the nation’s 4,000 college presidents and chancellors [signed a letter](https://www.aacu.org/newsroom/a-call-for-constructive-engagement?ref=down-ballot.info) calling for “constructive engagement.” Seventy presidents used their spring commencements [to speak out](https://collegepresidents.org/insight/class-of-2025-democracy-depends-on-you-watch-the-video/?ref=down-ballot.info) for civil discourse. Higher education’s broader defense of itself has been [“muted or mostly nonexistent,”](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/02/21/college-presidents-stay-mostly-silent-trump?ref=down-ballot.info) as the industry publication Inside Higher Ed put it. “Say something,” Wesleyan University’s Michael Roth, one of the few presidents who was publicly critical of Trump administration actions in the spring and summer, [implored his counterparts](https://slate.com/life/2025/02/colleges-universities-trump-policy-resistance.html?ref=down-ballot.info), in an op-ed in Slate. “Higher education moves slowly and deliberately and this past year it was moving against forces that were moving so much faster,” said Rajiv Vinnakota, president of the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, which encouraged those presidential remarks at the spring’s commencements. “It’s only now that it’s catching up.” Even today, much of the response is coming from associations such as CASE and AASCU, rather than from individual institutions. The six principal associations that collectively represent almost all colleges and universities are also trying to align their messages, said Welch, at AASCU. “There’s this thought that if you stand up, you’re sort of a fish in a barrel. But if you do it together, that’s safer,” Powell said. Among the members of the Big Ten conference, for example, there was a push “to come together and show our impact” collectively, said Kelly Hiller, chief marketing officer at Purdue, which is part of the Big Ten. “It definitely seems like there’s this snowball of groups joining together to take a unified stance.” There’s not much choice, said Simon, as colleges and universities now face the added challenge of [a demographic decline](https://hechingerreport.org/the-impact-of-this-is-economic-decline/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the number of traditional-age students. “Just playing it safe is not the right strategy anymore,” he said. “Less because of politics and more because of social reality, they’re beginning to do things they should have been doing already, which is to really care about what consumer sentiment is and deal with typical marketing problems, like price and competition,” he said. That’s about more than just marketing, Petty said. Higher education needs to pay attention to what’s keeping customers away. “I get a little tired of people saying we just need to tell our story better,” she said. “There’s a product problem” — legitimate questions about the outcomes provided by higher education institutions for their cost. **Related:** [**Students worried about getting jobs are adding extra majors**](https://hechingerreport.org/students-worried-about-getting-jobs-extra-majors/?ref=down-ballot.info) That [alumni survey](https://aascu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Leveraging-Alumni-Voices%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) AASCU hopes will help rekindle public confidence in college, for instance, found that — while most graduates were satisfied with their educations and careers and expected to earn more than their parents — only around 40 percent said that their resulting debt was manageable or that their colleges helped them network with employers to find jobs. It’s still early to know how effective higher education’s revamped sales pitches might be. Nearly 4 million social media users have viewed Johns Hopkins’ Research Saves Lives initiative, a university spokeswoman said. [Perceptions of the value of higher education improved](https://whycollegematters.org/the-campaign/?ref=down-ballot.info#a-proven-message) among more than 2,000 Americans who were shown the “Proud Sponsor” campaign, according to BVK, including people without degrees and in rural areas, who have been particularly skeptical. One thing is clear, said Ted Eismeier, senior vice president and head of postsecondary communications at the communications strategy firm Whiteboard Advisors: Being absent from the conversation hasn’t worked. “Maybe the default is to say nothing or clamp down on communication and maybe that eliminates risk in the short term, but it’s not really a long-term growth strategy,” Eismeier said. “Institutions are going to have to emerge from this bunker and be a lot more vocal. Clamming up and treating public communication as this highly controlled exercise in risk mitigation — I don’t think that’s the path for higher education to restore public trust in what it’s doing.” *Contact writer Jon Marcus at 212-678-7556,* *jmarcus@hechingerreport.org* *or* *jpm.82 on Signal.* *This story about* [*higher education marketing and PR*](https://hechingerreport.org/value-policies-funding-cut-universities-colleges-start-fighting-back/?ref=down-ballot.info) *was produced by* [The Hechinger Report](https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Additional reporting by Nichole Dobo. Sign up for our* [*higher education newsletter*](https://hechingerreport.org/highereducation/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* The post [Their value attacked and funding cut, universities and colleges start fighting back](https://hechingerreport.org/value-policies-funding-cut-universities-colleges-start-fighting-back/?ref=down-ballot.info) appeared first on [The Hechinger Report](https://hechingerreport.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). ### Federal Funding Cuts Hit Queens University Programs, Forcing Hard Choices as Merger Looms URL: https://down-ballot.info/federal-funding-cuts-hit-queens-university-programs-forcing-hard-choices-as-merger-looms/ Last updated: 2026-02-09T10:00:42.000Z **Sawyer Davis (Queens University News Service)** **December 20, 2025** Queens University of Charlotte is entering a year of major transition as federal funding cuts, enrollment struggles and the looming merger with Elon University converge to reshape the future of the century-old institution. While the university maintains that its core mission will remain intact, administrators and faculty [acknowledge that the financial pressures facing private colleges](https://www.theassemblync.com/education/higher-education/why-queens-and-elon-are-merging/?ref=down-ballot.info), particularly those tied to federal support, are now being felt close to home. One of the sharpest impacts comes from a significant loss of anticipated federal and state funding tied to the university’s Center for Digital Equity (CDE). The program, nationally recognized for its work in expanding internet access, distributing devices and training digital navigators across Charlotte, expected roughly $7 million to support its programming. Those funds now remain uncertain, leaving the organization to navigate a path forward with fewer resources and rising community needs. The CDE operates as a partnership between Queens, Mecklenburg County and local nonprofits, aiming to close digital gaps that disproportionately affect low-income neighborhoods. Without federal dollars, expanding those services, or even maintaining them at current levels, becomes a challenge. “The loss of that money has held us back from being able to provide resources to residents in Charlotte,” says CDE executive director Bruce Clark. “That money would have helped residents gain access to technology in order to access telehealth, contact government officials, or gain access to jobs.” The funding disruption comes at a moment when Charlotte’s population continues to grow, and the demand for digital-access support is climbing. Many residents depend on CDE for help securing devices, accessing low-cost internet programs, and receiving one-on-one digital training. Community partners say Queens’ work plays a vital role in bridging racial and economic divides across Mecklenburg County. #### Federal Student Aid Changes Beyond the digital equity setback, Queens University is also managing its own internal financial strain. In the past year, the school announced that it had [missed its enrollment target](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article289983149.html?ref=down-ballot.info), resulting in budget shortfalls that required spending reductions, staff restructuring, and broader cost-cutting measures. Although Queens is a private institution, federal student aid funds, including Pell Grants, federal loans, and FAFSA-dependent awards, make up a significant share of the aid packages students rely on to attend. Delays and complications in [federal aid processing have made it harder](https://www.marketplace.org/story/2025/05/21/financial-aid-information-delayed-after-dept-of-education-cuts?ref=down-ballot.info) for private institutions nationwide to project tuition revenue and match incoming classes with available resources. At Queens, those patterns are beginning to show. Administrators have not indicated immediate threats to academic programs or faculty positions, but they have acknowledged the need to operate “more efficiently” and “reallocate resources strategically” as the institution balances short- and long-term pressures. Students say they are feeling the effects in more subtle ways: fewer campus events, slower staffing in some offices, and a sense of uncertainty about how the upcoming merger with Elon University will reshape their experience. “I think a lot of us are just waiting to see what this means for our degree and our day-to-day life,” said one Queens student, who asked not to be identified. “We hear about cuts and funding changes, but no one knows what it will look like for us.” The [merger with Elon University](https://www.queens.edu/blog/2025/09/19/bold-vision-shared-values-stronger-together/?ref=down-ballot.info), announced to take effect in phases over the next few years, adds another layer to the story. Queens’ leadership said the decision was driven in part by financial realities facing small private colleges across the country. Many institutions are responding to declining enrollment, rising operational costs and shrinking external funding by seeking strategic partnerships, consolidating programs or merging with better-resourced peers. The Queens-Elon partnership will place Elon in operational control of Queens, though Queens will continue to operate under its name and maintain its Charlotte campus. University leaders describe the move as a stabilization strategy that will expand academic offerings, strengthen financial foundations and ensure long-term sustainability. But behind that optimism lies the broader context: colleges are navigating an era where federal funding, especially for research support, community programs, diversity and equity grants, and student financial aid, faces increased uncertainty. For some institutions, especially those without large endowments, unexpected federal cuts can have immediate and visible consequences. “Our work being housed at Queens is at the center of providing digital equity to the community, and highlights the role that institutions of higher ed play in solving bigger community challenges,” Clark says. In Charlotte specifically, the landscape is shifting. UNC Charlotte recently lost more than a dozen research grants after federal cutbacks, and Johnson C. Smith University has publicly said it is preparing for reduced federal support that could affect student access and programming. The financial pressures are affecting private and public institutions alike, especially in regions where universities play key roles in research, community partnerships and workforce development. Queens University’s challenges fit into that pattern. While the school has long been known for its community engagement and personalized academic experience, sustaining those strengths may require greater reliance on private donors, philanthropic partners and strategic collaborations, all while adjusting to a new institutional identity under Elon. Still, campus leaders say they remain committed to the university’s mission and to Charlotte’s evolving needs, especially around digital inclusion, community engagement and preparing students for a changing economy. “I like the quote, ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’ by Winston Churchill. Although the cuts have helped us back in some ways, they have allowed us to restructure and rethink some of the ways that we provide to the community. This allows us to come up with new and better ways to provide for residents and continue the work that we have always done,” Clark says. For now, the university is navigating a delicate balance: addressing immediate financial pressures, supporting community programs at risk from federal cuts, earning student trust during a merger, and preparing for a future where colleges must adapt quickly to survive. The coming year will reveal how effectively Queens can manage those competing demands, and how deeply the loss of federal funding will shape its next chapter. [*Queens University News Service*](https://queensnewsservice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *stories are prepared by students in the James L. Knight School of Communication with supervision and editing from faculty and staff. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte provides the news service in support of local community news.* ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2026/02/Federal_9199.jpg) ***Shifting Ground** **is a reporting project from the Charlotte Journalism Collaborative. The series explores how federal policy and funding changes are impacting Charlotte residents, neighborhoods, and organizations — and how communities are responding.* ### Hmong refugee stranded in Texas after release from ICE detention URL: https://down-ballot.info/hmong-refugee-stranded-in-texas-after-release-from-ice-detention/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T10:00:03.000Z **It's Friday, February 6, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Hmong refugee stranded in Texas after release from ICE detention**,** 2 doctors fled Ukraine for Wisconsin. They’re still trying to get their careers back. Services, workers at risk from second year of developmental disabilities budget cuts, Despite improvement, Mass. unemployment system remains one of the worst in the country by some measures, NC prisons face ‘dire’ staffing crisis, Studying law in the Queen City. How Elon’s efforts are restoring legal education in Charlotte, The New Orleans residents trying to make Mardi Gras more sustainable, How unsheltered New Yorkers face down the cold, In Iowa, many rivers and lakes improve briefly, then fall back into impairment. **Media outlets and others featured:** Sahan Journal, Wisconsin Watch, Maryland Matters, CommonWealth Beacon, North Carolina Health News, Carolina Public Press, Verite News, THE CITY, Investigate Midwest. --- ## ‘I felt hopeless’: Hmong refugee stranded in Texas after release from ICE detention Thi Dua Vang is one of a growing number of Minnesota refugees targeted in a federal operation and rapidly transferred to immigration holding facilities out of state. Katelyn Vue and Andrew Hazzard (Sahan Journal) February 5, 2026 [‘I felt hopeless’: Hmong refugee stranded in Texas after release from ICE detentionThi Dua Vang, a Hmong refugee fleeing religious persecution, was arrested by ICE. When a judge ordered her release, she was left alone outside the detention center. Her story isn’t rare, experts say.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-sahan-favicon-nobg-4.png)Sahan JournalKatelyn Vue, Andrew Hazzard![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5048.jpg)](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/ice-detainees-stranded-after-release/?ref=down-ballot.info) Thi Dua Vang had just heard from federal officials that she was going to be released after two weeks of immigration detention in Texas. “Are you going home by car or plane?” a Hmong interpreter asked the St. Paul woman, who speaks little English, over the phone. Vang didn’t have an answer. Alone in Houston, Vang said she asked if she could wait inside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing center for a relative to pick her up. But Vang said federal agents refused. “They forced me outside and told me they didn’t care if I lived or died,” she told Sahan Journal through a Hmong interpreter. Vang isn’t the only Minnesotan released from immigration detention with no way home. In the last two months, hundreds of Minnesota residents have been swept up in an operation that brought as many as 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents to Minnesota. The operation, which [began Dec. 1](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/immigration-enforcement-ramping-up-minneapolis-twin-cities-fraud/?ref=down-ballot.info) with a focus on undocumented immigrants, took on an additional target in January with Operation PARRIS, which called for additional scrutiny of [5,600 Minnesota refugees](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/minnesota-refugees-immigration-operation-parris/?ref=down-ballot.info) already in the pipeline to legal permanent residency. Many of those detained were rapidly shipped to out-of-state facilities in Texas or Louisiana after their arrest. On Jan. 28, a federal judge in Minnesota [ordered ICE to release and return all refugees](https://www.kare11.com/article/news/politics/immigration-news/judge-orders-ice-release-detained-lawful-refugees-minnesota/89-392b19ad-aba6-4c9d-a7b0-f4b2bbdf2207?ref=down-ballot.info) arrested in Operation PARRIS. In recent weeks, lawyers have filed a flurry of successful court challenges compelling the government to release their clients, but that has left an increasing number of Minnesotans stranded outside detention facilities far from home. In some cases, ICE has refused to return identification cards or work permits to those released from detention, attorneys say. “I was happy that I was released, but scared that I was thrown out there when I didn’t have my brother and husband there,” Vang said. “It was so late and I’m scared there might be bad people out there and there’s no one to help me.” ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not respond to requests for comment on this story. ## **A frantic pickup** Wa Chi Minh Vang, Thi Dua’s brother, said he drove with her husband, A Pao Giang, from Minnesota to Houston because she couldn’t fly back since ICE had not returned important documents, like her Social Security card or state ID. An immigration judge granted her bond on Jan. 20\. The two men started driving that day to meet Thi Dua so they could help her back home. The next day, Wa Chi Minh said he received an email in the afternoon saying that Thi Dua was scheduled for release. The email had no details on how to pick her up or whether ICE would return her on a plane home. The men arrived in Houston that night and drove all over the city to find Thi Dua Vang. With her phone, she took a photo of the outside of the ICE detention processing center to show her location. “We were so happy when we saw her,” Wa Chi Minh told the Sahan Journal. Thi Dua had waited there for nearly three hours outside the ICE facility. Thi Dua Vang was arrested on the morning of Jan. 8\. She was held for a day in the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at Fort Snelling, which houses ICE offices and a processing center for detainees, before she was transferred to Texas. She stayed in the El Paso Service Processing Center for a couple of days and then transferred to the Joe Corley Processing Center in Houston, Texas. She was detained for nearly two weeks. Since her release, Thi Dua Vang said she still feels unsafe. Federal agents have visited her St. Paul home three times and she’s not sure why, she said. “It traumatized me, and it reminded me of what I went through in Vietnam,” she said. “It’s going to be a couple of long years because of the president and his policies, and I’m waiting for the time to feel free again.” ## **No recourse after ICE release** When someone is arrested by immigration agents, a first step for family members is to check the [ICE detainee locator.](https://locator.ice.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) But 10 immigration attorneys who spoke with Sahan Journal said it’s taking longer for that site to update. Some detainees are transferred out of state within hours of their arrest, before they can contact an attorney. “There’s a part of me that wonders, given the speed of the transportation to Texas, I’m not even sure that they know who that person is before they put them on a plane,” said Linus Chan, an immigration attorney and director of the [Detainee Rights Clinic](https://law.umn.edu/course/7844/detainee-rights-clinic?ref=down-ballot.info) at the University of Minnesota Law School. Minnesota immigration attorney Nico Ratkowski has won multiple habeas cases this month for clients held out-of-state. Habeas corpus cases force officials to justify the legal basis of a person’s detainment or imprisonment. While the filings often lead to the client’s release from immigration holding centers, they also create tension, he told Sahan Journal. “Do we want them released because it’s a terrible situation? Or is it better to sit for two days and be shackled on a plane ride home?” he said. “There’s a different answer for every person.” A few members of a local church drove to Texas in January to pick up one client who had a pending refugee application, Ratkowski said. Another client decided to spend a few more days behind bars to get a free ride back. When ICE releases someone after a judicial order, there’s no apology or funding to get back home. “As far as recourse goes, there’s none,” Ratkowski said. Tracking people arrested by ICE isn’t easy. Detainees are often shipped out of Minnesota to detention centers in Louisiana or Texas within 48 hours. Immigration lawyers and family members rely on the ICE detainee locator system, but it can be unreliable. “ICE and their attorneys have been unable to answer for the number of people they are arresting, or follow through the logistics,” said St. Paul immigration attorney Graham Ojala-Barbour said. ## **Fleeing religious persecution in Vietnam** Thi Dua Vang came to the United States in 2023 as a refugee after her brother, Wa Chi Minh Vang, sponsored her. As Christians, she and her brother fled religious persecution from her home country of Vietnam. She has a pending application for permanent residency status, also known as a green card. She doesn’t speak English well, so after her arrest, she constantly worried about where federal agents were taking her, she said. “I was very sad that I couldn’t call my family to tell them where I was going, and I was afraid they couldn’t find me,” she said. “I was crying hard and I felt hopeless.” At least 150 Minnesota refugees, including Thi Dua Vang, were arrested in January as part of Operation PARRIS spearheaded by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security. Most of them were transferred to Texas, and some have been released and left to find their own way home. ## **Detainees lost in the system** When an attorney wins a habeas petition case and their client is released, that’s not the end of the battle. Next they have to find them. Ojala-Barbour said sometimes even the U.S. attorney working the case doesn’t know where someone is being held, and has to call ICE to track them down. His client, [Juan Tobay Robles,](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/judge-orders-ice-leader-todd-lyons-appear-court-minnesota/?ref=down-ballot.info) didn’t make it home to Minnesota until Jan. 31, more than two weeks after Chief U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Schiltz ordered his release. Tobay Robles, originally from Ecuador, was detained by ICE agents on Jan. 6\. A dozen or so agents hauled him to the Whipple Building near the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Within 48 hours he was in Texas. On Jan. 14, Schiltz granted a habeas petition releasing Tobay Robles. But a week later he remained in custody, prompting his attorney, Ojala-Barbour, to ask the court for his immediate release. The case drew national headlines when Schiltz [ordered Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/judge-orders-ice-leader-todd-lyons-appear-court-minnesota/?ref=down-ballot.info) to either appear in court to explain himself or be held in contempt. Tobay Robles wanted to be brought back to Minnesota, where he has lived for more than two decades. But after an additional week in a detention center where he was suffering from insufficient treatment to a medical condition, according to Ojala-Barbour, he just wanted to get out. ICE released Tobay Robles from the El Valle Detention Center in southeast Texas on Jan. 27\. A relative drove from the Twin Cities to a town on the border to pick him up. Tobay Robles may have had one of the better outcomes, after his arrest. Some clients are not showing up on the ICE website for days, while others have not shown up since the beginning of Operation Metro Surge on Dec. 1, according to local attorneys. “There is no uniformity or consistency as to why Minnesotans are disappearing in the government’s system, nor is there a justifiable basis for that either,” said Irina Vaynerman, CEO of Groundwork Legal, a statewide legal nonprofit working on immigration cases. The post [‘I felt hopeless’: Hmong refugee stranded in Texas after release from ICE detention](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/ice-detainees-stranded-after-release/?ref=down-ballot.info) appeared first on [Sahan Journal](https://sahanjournal.com/?ref=down-ballot.info). *This story is being shared with permission by the Sahan Journal, a local newsroom in St. Paul, MN. To learn more, please visit https://sahanjournal.com/.* --- # The transplants: 2 doctors fled Ukraine for Wisconsin. They’re still trying to get their careers back. by Natalie Yahr / Wisconsin Watch and Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch January 29, 2026 Click here to read highlights from the story - Anna Mykhailova and Sasha Druzhyna fled Ukraine after Russia invaded, leaving behind careers as physicians. - Wisconsin needs more medical professionals, including physicians. But those with foreign training face hurdles that can keep them from filling that gap. - State officials recently eased requirements for foreign-trained doctors, but Mykhailova isn’t sure what the change means for her. - Anna works as a sonographer at a Madison hospital, while Sasha is studying for a master’s degree in medical perfusion at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. - The family is among 100,000 Ukrainians with Temporary Protected Status, allowing them to live and work in the United States for renewable 18-month stretches. Sasha Druzhyna knows all about transplants. As an anesthesiologist and perfusionist in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sasha used specialized equipment to keep patients’ blood pumping during heart transplants and keep donor organs alive until they reached their recipients. Now, after fleeing Russia’s full-scale invasion, the 52-year-old is learning his profession all over again as a student in Milwaukee School of Engineering’s medical perfusion program. Eighty miles away, his wife Anna Mykhailova, 42, is starting over, too. In 2024, she started a job as a cardiac sonographer at a Madison hospital, using skills she refined as a cardiologist in one of Ukraine’s top heart hospitals. She’s also studying for the medical board exams in hopes of one day practicing medicine in the United States. But as they work to rebuild their careers, they still don’t know if they’ll be allowed to stay. “It’s so stressful because of this immigration process. I will do these really hard exams and they (might) say, ‘Oh, you have to leave this country,’” Anna said of the family’s immigration limbo. Wisconsin [needs more medical professionals](https://www.wha.org/getmedia/d2b089ab-077a-4d9f-8898-e91333edff5b/Workforce-Report-2025-web.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), including physicians. But as the couple’s experience shows, those who arrive in the country with foreign training [face hurdles](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/growing%5Fdemand%5Fhealthcare%5Fworkers%5Fwisconsin.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that can keep them from filling that gap. ![Two people are seen with their backs to the camera watching a youth soccer game on a grassy field, where players in blue and orange uniforms run with a goal to the left.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-002-782x770.jpg) Anna Mykhailova, right, worked as a cardiologist in Ukraine before fleeing with the couple’s daughter in 2022 when Russia invaded the country. Sasha Druzhyna worked as an anesthesiologist and perfusionist. He stayed in Ukraine to work for a year after his wife and daughter left. ![People stand in a line on a grassy field, exchanging high fives with soccer players in orange and blue uniforms.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-003-782x770.jpg) Sasha Druzhyna, left, and Anna Mykhailova settled in Madison with the help of friends. The family has Temporary Protected Status, which allows them to stay in the U.S. for 18-month stretches. ![Two people stand outdoors wearing jackets, smiling and looking ahead, with trees, a grassy area and a brick building visible in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-001-782x782.jpg) Anna Mykhailova, left, works as a sonographer at a Madison hospital while her husband, Sasha Druzhyna, studies for a master’s degree in medical perfusion at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. ## **A new life begins** Had the couple fled to Europe instead, their career paths might have been simpler. Sasha might be the teacher instead of the student. Anna might still be a doctor. But the invasion left no time to deliberate. Anna and her colleagues moved their patients to the hospital’s basement, then brought their own families to shelter there, too. Anna and Sasha brought their daughter, Varya, who was 6 years old at the time. They listened to the news as Russian troops occupied the suburbs around Kyiv. “When they showed civilian kids killed by Russians … I realized that nobody will protect us and (we) just have to go,” Anna said. A friend with military connections warned that Ukrainian forces would soon blow up Ukraine’s own bridges to stop Russian troops from taking more ground. “They told us, if you want to leave, you have to leave right now,” Anna said. Sasha drove his wife and daughter west, past sirens and explosions, toward the border with Poland. A week later, Anna and Varya were on a plane to Boston, where Anna had a friend from medical school. Arriving with tourist visas, she thought they’d be away for just a few weeks. Sasha, who didn’t speak English, opted to stay. “Coming here, starting from zero, no money, no nothing, no job — he didn't want to come and wash floors in a supermarket … It's really difficult to immigrate when you already had something in your home country,” Anna said. ![A person lies on a light-colored couch holding a phone, wearing red plaid pants, with sheer curtains and a window behind the couch.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-011-782x770.jpg) Anna Mykhailova and Sasha Druzhyna’s 10-year-old daughter, Varya, plays on her mother’s smartphone at their home in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 25, 2025\. Varya was 6 years old when she fled Ukraine with her mother. ![Two drawings are taped to a wooden door, one showing a trident symbol on lined paper and the other a colorful drawing with a blue-and-yellow flag, hearts and peace symbols.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-010-782x770.jpg) Drawings by their daughter hang on the front door of Anna Mykhailova and Sasha Druzhyna’s home on Oct. 25, 2025\. It might have been easier for the couple to practice medicine if they immigrated to somewhere in Europe, but they said they don’t want to uproot their daughter again. ![Three people sit close together on a light-colored couch, with one in the middle wearing red plaid pants, while the others look toward each other.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-012-782x770.jpg) From left, Sasha Druzhyna, Varya and Anna Mykhailova sit on the couch together at their home on Oct. 25, 2025\. They try to stay positive. Druzhyna sees his graduate degree program as an adventure, and Mykhailova is thankful for the support they’ve received from Americans. He kept working in the hospital, caring for his usual patients and the war-wounded. They figured the fighting would end soon. But about a year later, Sasha joined his family in Madison, where friends helped them get settled. “We realized that this war is going to be forever,” Anna said. “I don’t believe that they will stop it.” The three are among more than [100,000 Ukrainians](https://forumtogether.org/article/temporary-protected-status-fact-sheet/?ref=down-ballot.info) who’ve been granted Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, because the federal government deems it unsafe to return. The status allows them to live and work in the United States for renewable 18-month stretches. Almost four years later, they’re still here — and hoping to stay. The war rages on, and they’ve embraced their new home. Varya, 10, now speaks mostly English. “She doesn’t want to speak Ukrainian anymore,” Anna said in an interview at her Madison apartment building in September. “So for her to go back to school in Ukraine … it’s possible, but it’s going to be really difficult.” But staying isn’t easy either. Restarting their careers has come with significant personal and financial costs, and there’s no guarantee their efforts will pay off. ## **Covert cardiologist** Until recently, all foreign-trained physicians seeking to practice medicine in Wisconsin had to pass three licensing board exams — offered only in English — then compete against recent medical school graduates for a three-year residency at a U.S. hospital. To Anna, the process seemed daunting. The tests cost around $1,000 each — not counting textbooks and study materials — and she was still taking classes to improve her English. She heard that hospitals preferred recent graduates, and she feared they’d be particularly reluctant to accept someone whose immigration status expires every 18 months. Meanwhile, she and her husband struggled to find a place to live. The prestige they commanded back home was irrelevant to U.S. landlords running background checks. “Could you imagine? I'm in my 40s. I don’t have any credit score … I just got my work permit. I couldn’t find a job,” Anna said. “Nobody wants me. They don’t know who I am (or) what is our culture; everybody’s afraid of us.” ![A person wearing blue scrubs and an ID badge stands beside a doorway, with two other people in scrubs seated at desks in a room behind the open door.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-007-782x770.jpg) Anna Mykhailova poses for a portrait on Oct. 27, 2025, at SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital in Madison, Wis. Mykhailova worked as a cardiologist in Kyiv, Ukraine, before fleeing to the United States and having to start over due to the Russian invasion. She began applying for research jobs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I don't know how many interviews I had,” Anna said. “Everybody was so nice, but (they said), ‘You are overqualified for this job.’” Then the mom of one of her daughter’s soccer teammates mentioned that her employer, SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital, was hiring student sonographers. She encouraged Anna to apply. The roles are designed for people currently studying medical sonography, but Anna already had the relevant training: Ukrainian doctors regularly do their own sonography. She applied for the job with help from teachers at the Madison nonprofit Literacy Network, where she’d been taking classes to improve her English and prepare for next steps in school or work. She started the job in 2024, running ultrasounds to aid in medical procedures and to diagnose things like heart attacks, heart murmurs, strokes and birth defects. She was promoted to a full-time position soon after. On a typical day, she might see half a dozen patients. She doesn’t tell them she’s a doctor. “Nobody knows,” Anna said. Some patients get rude when they hear her accent. “I had a couple patients, they told me, ‘Don’t touch me. Call somebody else. I don’t trust you,’” she said. Once a hospital security officer heard the way a patient spoke to her and urged her to file a report. The hospital sent a letter threatening to deny care if the patient acted that way again. “I have a really good experience working here,” Anna said. “I really like my job right now.” ![A tree with green and yellow leaves stands beside a sidewalk and street, with a modern building and glass skyway visible in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-006-782x770.jpg) Leaves change colors on Oct. 27, 2025, outside SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital where Anna Mykhailova works as a sonographer. Mykhailova already had the relevant training: She regularly did her own sonography as a physician in Ukraine. In October, Wisconsin [eased requirements for foreign-trained doctors](https://dsps.wi.gov/Documents/NewsMedia/20251010ProvisionalPhysicianLicenseNewsRelease.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), joining several other physician-strapped states that have [recently made such changes](https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/03/03/nx-s1-5313856/doctor-shortages-licensing-foreign-trained-physicians?ref=down-ballot.info), but Anna isn’t sure what the change means for her. Under the new rules, qualifying foreign-trained physicians can work under the supervision of another physician without repeating residency training if they’ve passed U.S. board exams and have a Wisconsin job offer. Anna heard the news from a friend and asked about it at work. “I showed this bill to people in the medical field here, and they were just like, ‘Oh, we don’t know,’” Anna said. “So I don’t know how does it work here, or where to go and who to ask.” It’s also not clear she’d qualify. The new rules require applicants to have practiced medicine in their home country for at least one year in the last five years. She left her job nearly four years ago, and she figures it will likely be a couple years before she passes the board exams. Lately, she’s been reading up on the licensing rules in other states and contemplating a move after her husband finishes school. She wonders if things might have been easier if the family had immigrated to Poland, say, or Italy, instead of the United States. Back in Ukraine, her husband ran a perfusion school certified by the European Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion, and he received his own training in Europe. But she doesn’t think it’s worth emigrating again. “It doesn’t matter where you go, everything is going to be different,” Anna said. “If I go to Europe, I have to start over. I have to study a new language, and then all of the education and activities for our daughter, and she also has to study a new language. So I just don’t want to do it a second time. I don’t have the energy to do it.” ## **From professor to pupil** Sasha, meanwhile, decided not to try to become a doctor again. His top priority was perfusion, the field to which he dedicated two doctoral dissertations and decades of work. In the United States, perfusionists don’t need to be doctors, but they do need specialized training. “The perfusion specialty board, they do not recognize European diplomas,” Anna said. “They want them to go back to school here. But he’s happy to do it. He was so happy that they admitted him.” Last fall, he started the two-year master’s degree program at MSOE. “This wasn’t about choosing an easier path. Perfusion is a highly specialized and demanding field … This is where my experience is most relevant,” Sasha said, “and it’s work I genuinely value.” ![A person sits on a table in a room with white brick walls and periodic table posters, seen through a glass panel with a vertical frame dividing the view.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-009-782x770.jpg) Sasha Druzhyna takes classes on Nov. 5, 2025, at the Milwaukee School of Engineering in Milwaukee. Druzhyna worked as an anesthesiologist and perfusionist in Kyiv, Ukraine, before fleeing to the U.S. and having to start over due to the Russian invasion. He takes classes Monday through Friday and returns to his family in Madison on weekends. Anna teases him about being so much older than the other students in the program. “He’s like a father for all his classmates,” Anna said. “The first day, he brought actual paper, a notebook with different colored pens. His classmates brought just iPads. They were like, ‘What is that? Are you a dinosaur?’” Paying for tuition for the first semester took most of the couple’s savings, Anna said. Their immigration status makes them ineligible for federal student loans. She’s not sure how they’ll cover the remaining costs. Sasha was also accepted to the perfusion school at ​​State University of New York Upstate Medical University, which offered him a job that would have offset his tuition costs, but he didn’t want to uproot his family again. “My daughter would need to change her school, leave her friends,” Sasha said. “You know how important it is for a girl of 10 years, your friends? It’s the most important thing in your life.” But being in school has meant far less time with her. Since September, Sasha has spent his weekdays in Milwaukee, attending classes and shadowing other perfusionists during surgery. When he’s not in the operating room, he spends the night in a spare room he rents from a friend. ![A city street lined with buildings, trees and parked cars is seen through a window, with a crosswalk and pedestrians visible below and glass office buildings in the distance.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-008-782x770.jpg) The Milwaukee School of Engineering campus is seen on Nov. 5, 2025\. Sasha Druzhyna is studying for a master’s degree in medical perfusion, a profession he dedicated two dissertations and decades of work to in Ukraine. Back in Madison, Anna is “basically a single mom” five days a week. On Fridays, Sasha drives home to see his family and work on a transplant team at UW Health, where he uses perfusion techniques to keep donated organs alive and healthy until they’re transplanted. With luck, he’ll move back to Madison after he finishes his coursework in May. He’s hoping to do his second-year rotations at Madison hospitals. ## **Status: Pending** Back in Kyiv, the couple’s condo stands vacant, full of the things Anna left behind when she packed hurriedly for a few weeks away. The high-rise penthouse, located beside the many bridges on Kyiv’s east side, boasts an impressive view of the city and the river — and Russian missile strikes. The couple can’t sell it, or go back, until the war ends. “Nobody wants to live on the 27th floor when you don’t have electricity, elevator or water, and you can see rockets and jets in front of your eyes,” Anna said. Meanwhile, despite the time and money the two doctors have invested in their new lives, their future in the United States is uncertain. The family’s Temporary Protected Status expired in April, and they still haven’t received an answer on the renewal application they submitted a year ago. “The Homeland Security office said that our work permits are still valid (while) we are waiting for their decision,” Anna said. “We’re just waiting to see.” If their application is approved, they could be on the hook for thousands of dollars. The Department of Homeland Security announced in October that Ukrainians’ applications, including those already waiting to be processed, will be [subject to a new fee](https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-implements-new-immigration-parole-fee-required-by-hr-1?ref=down-ballot.info) of $1,000 per person. Anna has been looking into other visa options, too. Many foreign doctors practice in the United States on H1-B visas, an employer-sponsored visa for workers with specialized skills. If Sasha can eventually get one of those visas as a perfusionist, Anna will get a work permit, too. But in September, the Trump administration announced a [$100,000 fee on most new H1-B visas](https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-urges-dhs-exempt-physicians-new-100000-h-1b-visa-fee?ref=down-ballot.info), raising concerns that employers — including hospitals — will cut back on those visas. ![Three people are seen from behind walking across a grassy soccer field, with one wearing a blue jersey numbered “74” and carrying a bag, as a soccer ball rests nearby with parked cars in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/asse20251119-Ukraine-Doctors-Public-Square-Timmerman-005-782x770.jpg) Sasha Druzhyna, right, and Anna Mykhailova head home after their daughter’s soccer game on Oct. 25, 2025, in Oregon, Wis. Even if the family is able to renew their status, it will end in October unless the Department of Homeland Security extends Ukraine’s TPS designation. Since President Donald Trump took office last year, his administration ended TPS for immigrants from 10 countries, [revoking legal status for more than 1.6 million immigrants](https://www.npr.org/2025/12/23/g-s1-103001/trump-immigration-deportation-migration-legal-status?ref=down-ballot.info), NPR found. Anna worries that she and her family could become targets for deportation before they ever get a decision on their application. “I don’t feel safe,” Anna said. “When you are waiting, you are legally in the United States, but this new administration and ICE police, they think that you are illegal here.” Still, she said, she and Sasha try to stay positive. “My husband says this is a good opportunity. He feels so young because he is studying as a student, and he says it’s just an adventure,” Anna said. She looks for the bright side, too. She points to the support and kindness Americans have shown her and the fact that she’s learned she can survive “without anything.” “I feel like a homeless person. I feel like Ukraine is not my home anymore, and the United States is not my home yet,” Anna said, “but people are trying to make it feel like home.” *This story is part of* [*Public Square*](https://wisconsinwatch.org/series/public-square/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, an occasional photography series highlighting how Wisconsin residents connect with their communities. To suggest someone in your community for us to feature, email Joe Timmerman at* *jtimmerman@wisconsinwatch.org* *.* *Natalie Yahr reports on pathways to success statewide for Wisconsin Watch, working in partnership with* [*Open Campus*](https://www.opencampus.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*. Email her at* *nyahr@wisconsinwatch.org* *.* This [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/01/wisconsin-ukraine-family-doctors-careers-madison-milwaukee/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1313648&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB) --- # Advocates: Services, workers at risk from second year of developmental disabilities budget cuts by Danielle J. Brown, [Maryland Matters](https://marylandmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) February 2, 2026 Baltimore County resident Tracie Feron is the mother of 30-year-old Connor Feron, who has autism and other medical conditions that require round-the-clock care. She said residential facilities in the area have rejected Connor, because they cannot provide the care he needs. He uses a Medicaid waiver that lets him and his family hire support personnel instead to assist him in his home. But a recent proposal to cut funding from the state agency that oversees Conner’s services may put those supports at risk. Gov. Wes Moore’s fiscal 2027 budget proposal, released this month, calls for $150 million in “cost containment” measures in the budget for the Developmental Disabilities Administration. Reductions in spending on provider wages is just one of the proposed cuts. Feron and her son both worry about what will happen if wages drop too low to attract qualified candidates. “It takes a village to support him,” she said. “What happens when that village is gone?” It’s a concern shared by thousands of people with developmental disabilities and their families as they eye the DDA cuts in Moore’s budget. The administration includes a series of “cost containment” measures it says are needed to help curtail what officials call “unsustainable” spending from the agency. The DDA administers Medicaid waivers that let Marylanders with developmental disabilities receive a wide variety of services, from live-in caregiver support to transportation, respite care, employment services and more. > [Moore’s fourth budget uses cuts, fund shifts to close $1.5 billion budget gap](https://marylandmatters.org/2026/01/21/moores-fourth-budget-uses-cuts-fund-shifts-to-close-1-5-billion-budget-gap/?ref=down-ballot.info) Through reductions in spending on wages for specific service personnel and a cap on how much the state will provide for each personal budget, the governor hopes to reduce $150 million in state spending from the DDA. But advocates note that the Medicaid waivers primarily are split between state and federal funding, meaning a state cut triggers a similar reduction in federal dollars, so that a $150 million cut in general funds is closer to a $300 million cut overall when factoring in federal match dollars. “These proposals will have severe consequences,” said Alicia Wopat, president of the Self-Directed Advocacy Network of Maryland. It’s the second year state officials have looked at cuts to the DDA for potential savings. Last year, Moore’s initial budget slashed DDA funding as the state looked to close a $3 billion budget gap, prompting an outcry from advocates. Hundreds of people with developmental disabilities, their families and caretakers rallied in Annapolis on a cold January evening, with additional advocacy efforts throughout the session. After significant discussion, lawmakers and the administration restored much of the proposed reduction – though there was still a $164 million cut to the agency for fiscal 2026. Now, the administration is looking to tap DDA funds again. Laura Howell, CEO of the Maryland Association of Community Services, says that communications with the health department about the budget challenges at the DDA have improved since last year, but she is concerned about how the current budget proposal could impact access to services. “They’ve (state officials) been very engaged with members of the DD coalition,” she said. “We’ve had multiple meetings, they very much want to continue discussions during session on a routine basis. They are very open to questions, feedback, alternative proposals.” From left, Maryland Association of Community Services CEO : Laura Howell, The Arc of Maryland Executive Director Ande Kolp and People on the Go of Maryland Executive Direcor Mat Rice, testify in 2025\. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters) Announcing the budget proposal earlier this month, acting Budget Secretary Yaakov “Jake” Weissmann said the administration was taking a “balanced approach” to the DDA cut, but was not “wedded to it as the only solution.” “This is a tough issue, but it’s one that we must tackle in a collaborative and a bipartisan manner,” he said. “Making this program more sustainable, so families in the future can rely on this, is essential.” There are two ways to receive services from the DDA. According to 2024 data, about 16,800 people received services from a community provider, an established organization that provides disability care, while another 3,600 people chose the self-directed model, where the waiver recipient or their family hires individual employees for services. State officials say the DDA has struggled to keep up with spending at the agency due to “unsustainable” program growth in recent years, an issue that has now spanned two health secretaries. The Department of Health said that cuts are necessary to protect “the future existence of the … program.” “Maryland’s goal is to have a sustainable, accessible, equitable, and effective program of meaningful services that promote community living through both self-directed and community provider delivery models,” the department said in a statement Friday. “We continue to be mindful of our mission to serve Marylanders with intellectual and developmental disabilities while meeting federal requirements, preserving the future of the program, and mitigating affordability challenges. But with more than 20,000 people on waivers, advocates for the developmental disability community say that some of the state’s largest budget cuts come down on the backs of the highest-need people. “It’s almost 20,000 people, a small group of Marylanders, targeted for the second year for substantial reductions,” Wopat said. “Every individual person with a developmental and intellectual disability is different from the other ones … The impact on these people will be huge.” #### Self-directed personnel wages Last year, officials blamed part of the unsustainable program growth on higher enrollment in self-directed services, which grew over 30% in both 2023 and 2024. > [How did we get here?: Analysts, officials unsure how disability agency overspent](https://marylandmatters.org/2025/02/10/how-did-we-get-here-analysts-officials-unsure-how-disability-agency-overspent/?ref=down-ballot.info) Howell said that officials want to reduce the wages that self-directed service providers, who are currently allowed higher pay than those who work in community provider settings. The rate reduction would bring the self-directed and community providers wages closer to parity, officials say, saving the state around $62 million in the fiscal 2027. Wopat argues that self-directed personnel need additional funds to do the same work because they are not get the benefits that a community provider may be able to offer its employees. “Self-directed staff have already left, over cuts made to wages last year,” Wopat said. Feron from Baltimore County can attest. She said a special educator who had worked with her son for more than 20 years decided to resign, due to the cuts last session. Many people also argue that costs to the state for self-directed individuals may actually be lower than those of community providers. “We are supporting our loved ones in the homes, providing brick and mortar and all of the supplies and all of the meals, etc., at no cost to the state,” Feron said. “Why do they keep coming after the most vulnerable?” #### Dedicated hours for community providers At the budget announcement, Weissman said that the state is taking another look at a proposal from last year to ensure “better enforcement of the dedicated hours policies,” which refers to community provider staff who provide one-on-one support due to an individual’s high medical or behavioral needs. Howell says the state believes it can save some $54 million through the “better enforcement” of dedicated hours policies, which will likely result in fewer people qualifying for those additional supports. “It’s has become increasingly difficult to get dedicated hours approved in the last two years. We’ve seen people losing approval of dedicated hours who absolutely need them,” Howell said. “This affects people with more significant disabilities, higher-intensity support needs,” she said. “That’s a real concern, because if people need dedicated hours to be safe and they can’t access them, then what happens?” #### Limits on personal budgets The last cost containment strategy would place a $500,000 cap on how much in state funds each person with a DDA waiver can receive for their “personal budget,” which varies greatly depending on need. The state would need to provide a process for granting an exception for those who need additional funds. “That’s clearly a big budget,” Howell said, but warned that the cap would again hit those with higher support needs. > [Hundreds of developmental disability advocates rally against DDA budget cuts](https://marylandmatters.org/2025/02/03/hundreds-of-developmental-disability-advocates-rally-against-dda-budget-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info) “Some people might cost $20,000, some people might cost $700,000\. It depends on what level of what supports they need,” she said. Howell said that 824 people currently cost the state more than $500,000. “People in the self-direction model or the provider model, generally, do not spend all of what is budgeted,” she added, noting having a higher budget gives flexibility to families and individuals that already face significant challenges. Meanwhile, Howell argues that some of the rising costs in DDA services is simply because more people with developmental disabilities are living longer, which is “a great thing.” “It’s largely due to no longer living in institutions, but living in the community has correlated with better health care, better life quality and longer lives,” Howell said. “That is fantastic, but it does mean that it costs more.”With over 70 days left in the 2026 session, both advocates for both self-directed and community services plan to be very engaged with budget conversations as the days go on. “We’ve had some really wonderful supporters in the legislature and I don’t expect that to be different this year, although I think we all need to acknowledge the state’s financial woes,” Wopat said. “But the fact that there’s such a small number of people with such a great need — I am hoping legislators will be able to figure out the budget.” She said it is hard to express “the level of concern and stress that participants and their support teams are feeling now.” “Their jobs are being threatened. Their services are being threatened,” Wopat said. “I think it’s pretty – I mean, I think I’m going to say a simple word – it’s pretty awful.” *— Maryland Matters reporter Christine Condon contributed to this story. This story was updated on Feb. 2 to correct Connor Feron’s age.* [Maryland Matters](https://marylandmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. --- # Despite improvement, Mass. unemployment system remains one of the worst in the country by some measures by Jordan Wolman and Chris Lisinski, CommonWealth Beacon February 4, 2026 **NEW DATA FROM** the Massachusetts unemployment insurance system shows how far the agency’s performance came in the final two months of 2025 — and how far it still has to go to climb out of its place near the bottom of the national rankings. The state’s Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) issued nearly 74 percent of initial payments to eligible claimants within 35 days in December, up from just 49 percent in October, according to new data that *CommonWealth Beacon* obtained via public records request. That’s an improvement of 25 percentage points within two months, but it still ranks among the slowest in the country in distributing the benefits and remains far below federal benchmarks. In the meantime, the leadership on Beacon Hill has remained largely silent on the months-long upheaval that pushed Massachusetts to become the worst performer in the nation for much of 2025. While rank-and-file lawmakers report a surge in calls from constituents who waited weeks or months for jobless aid, legislative leaders have either declined to comment about the situation or sent one-line statements, and the heads of the House and Senate oversight committees did not respond to requests for comment. The latest data provides a more complete picture of how the Massachusetts unemployment insurance system fared in 2025\. After a [major overhaul in May](https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-launches-new-modernized-unemployment-insurance-technology-system?ref=down-ballot.info) that sought to improve accessibility to the platform on phones and in multiple languages and boost fraud prevention tools, an initiative that won Gov. Maura Healey’s praises for promising to turn Massachusetts into a “top performing state” for the delivery of jobless benefits, [the system cratered to an all-time low](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/government/state-government/massachusetts-set-out-to-modernize-its-unemployment-insurance-system-then-it-hit-a-new-low/?ref=down-ballot.info). “We did notice that there were significant challenges that we had to address head on, which is exactly what we have been doing, and we will continue to punch through to ensure that eligible claimants are able to receive their benefits and receive their benefits timely,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Lauren Jones, who oversees the state’s unemployment system, said in an interview. “We're trying to think creatively. The governor calls for us to think efficiently as well, and we're doing exactly that, and we're continuing to stay focused on it and will continue as we move forward in this year, knowing how important improving customer service is.” In each month between June and October, immediately after the system overhaul in May, at least 4 in 10 new unemployment claims filed in Massachusetts by eligible workers went unpaid for 35 days or longer, according to [federal data](https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/btq.asp?ref=down-ballot.info). By that measure, Massachusetts posted some of its worst-performing months in state history and was the slowest state in the nation in issuing benefits over that span. A tax on Bay State businesses funds the jobless benefits, which are some of the most generous in the country. Payments began moving more quickly in November, the newly released data show. That month, Massachusetts distributed aid to about 65 percent of initial claimants within 35 days. In December, that rate rose again to 74 percent, the highest that metric has been since April, which was prior to the launch of the new system. However, it’s still about 20 points shy of the national average and a federal performance benchmark that calls on states to administer 93 percent of initial payments within 35 days. Jones said that the new system replaced an “archaic, broken” one and is a modernized platform that is in fact working. But she acknowledged that there’s been a “learning curve” for agency staff. Questions that staff need to sort through on a claimant’s application to determine eligibility look differently under the new system compared with the old one, for instance. “Did that cause some challenges? Yes, it did,” Jones said. “And did we work through those? Absolutely.” DUA is also hiring additional adjudicators and seasonal staff to help process claims and manage the call center and extended a [pilot program](https://www.mass.gov/news/department-of-unemployment-assistance-adjusting-call-center-hours-to-improve-claims-processing?ref=down-ballot.info) the agency credits for helping workers move through claims. Healey, when asked about the situation last month, said that Jones “has done a great job with reforms and staffing new systems.” “As you might remember when I began as governor, there was a system where they did things that ended up costing the state billions of dollars,” Healey said, referencing a blunder under former Gov. Charlie Baker where the state [erroneously used](https://www.statehousenews.com/news/executive/mass-owes-feds-2-1-billion-to-resolve-unemployment-mistake/article%5Ffd2975b8-d75f-11ef-bf0b-477db136bbcd.html?ref=down-ballot.info) federal pandemic funds to cover unemployment benefits that should have been paid with state dollars. “And we worked hard immediately under Secretary Jones's leadership to fix that.” *CommonWealth Beacon* requested data about how timely the system made payments in November and December because it’s still missing from a [public federal database](https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/btq.asp?ref=down-ballot.info). As of Wednesday morning, Massachusetts is the only state without November data posted there, and one of three without December data. The state’s Department of Unemployment Assistance maintains that it submitted its data to the US Department of Labor and doesn’t know why it isn’t yet posted. US Labor officials didn’t return multiple requests for comment. Other metrics show the state’s system is continuing to struggle in areas crucial for administering benefits and resolving issues quickly. The state’s already-dismal recent record on resolving issues pertaining to an employee’s separation from their employer actually got worse in December. Roughly 11 percent of these decisions were made within 21 days after that number had improved slightly in both October and November. The federal performance benchmarks call for 80 percent of these issues, once they’re detected, to be resolved within 21 days. Of the separation determinations made in December, just 44 percent were resolved within 70 days, according to DUA’s data provided to *CommonWealth Beacon*. Even those numbers obscure mounting issues that transcend the typical increase in claims in winter months. There are more than 70,000 issues pending as of Jan. 13, according to a second data request reviewed by *CommonWealth Beacon.* That’s a substantial jump from the fewer than 40,000 outstanding issues in April before the new system launched in May. There were also more than 12,000 appeals pending a hearing decision this past December, nearly 9 times as many appeals pending decisions in December 2024. That’s despite initial unemployment insurance claims in Massachusetts in 2025 falling to their lowest since 2019, according to [federal data](https://oui.doleta.gov/unemploy/claimssum/5159report.asp?ref=down-ballot.info). Hannah Tanabe, a senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, said in a statement that she’s “heartened” to see improvement in the timeliness of initial payments for November and December, but that overall, DUA “continues to lag far behind expected levels of performance.” “These ongoing challenges — and the hardship they are causing claimants — show the need for DUA to identify and systemically address the underlying causes of these delays,” Tanabe said. Ironically, a pair of newcomers to the State House have mounted the most robust response under the Golden Dome so far. First-term Reps. Hadley Luddy and Josh Tarsky filed a bill on Jan. 20 — six days after *CommonWealth Beacon*’s [initial story](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/government/state-government/massachusetts-set-out-to-modernize-its-unemployment-insurance-system-then-it-hit-a-new-low/?ref=down-ballot.info) — that would create a special commission tasked with recommending how to fix “timeliness and equity issues in the processing of claims for unemployment insurance.” “We’re just not convinced that the changes that have been made \[at DUA\] are substantial enough to really move the needle in the ways that we want it to be,” Tarsky, who represents Needham, Dover, and parts of Medfield, said in an interview. “That’s why we thought the commission was a good idea, to just look into it in a deeper way.” Both representatives said they began to feel that something was amiss last year. New representatives and their aides typically work in a shared space known as “the bullpen” while awaiting office assignments, and they noticed they all were receiving an unexpectedly high volume of calls from constituents struggling to access unemployment benefits. Most of the time, Luddy and Tarsky or their aides are able to help laid-off workers cut through the bureaucratic thicket. The lawmakers’ offices can contact liaisons at DUA, which often results in a case that’s been stalled for weeks or months suddenly moving. They worry, however, about the impact of what Tarsky aide Kyle McGrath described as “survivorship bias.” “I’m getting phone calls from people that know that they can reach out to their state rep. It gets handled within two weeks because I’m able to reach out to my liaison, and there's a process for it,” McGrath said. “But who are we missing? Who are those people that don’t know to reach out to us, that don’t know that they can reach out to their senator, whoever it might be? Because that’s who we're missing, and ideally, having the study, having a commission to look into this is going to find those gaps.” The delays could also carry economic consequences, according to Luddy, who represents a Cape Cod district that traditionally relies on a surge in seasonal employment. “If we can’t count on folks being able to receive their unemployment insurance in these off months, it has a huge impact on our businesses,” she said. It’s not clear what path the bill will take or if it will earn enough support from legislative leaders — who have remained quiet on the issue — to advance. *CommonWealth Beacon* asked aides to both House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka when they became aware of the problems paying claims in a timely fashion, if they are satisfied with how the Healey administration has responded to the upheaval, and if they believe the Legislature should be involved. Mariano did not comment, and Spilka’s office responded with a one-sentence statement. “Massachusetts has a strong commitment to supporting workers during periods of unemployment, and Senate President Spilka knows the administration is working to ensure the unemployment system serves residents effectively and with care,” a spokesperson said. Occasionally, lawmakers will convene oversight hearings to probe a headline-grabbing problem in the executive branch, such as the safety problems at the MBTA that prompted federal intervention. The House and Senate each have their own Post Audit and Oversight Committee, which at times host public sessions to probe an administration’s work. In the past year, the Senate panel led by Sen. Mark Montigny has [questioned the T](https://www.statehousenews.com/news/transportation/publictransit/senate-panel-tracking-south-coast-rail-service-disruptions/article%5Fd872a858-c9a4-4c19-a618-e872944fa75d.html?ref=down-ballot.info) about service disruptions on the new South Coast Rail commuter rail extension, scheduled hearings to examine the [highway service plaza kerfuffle](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/26/business/applegreen-global-service-plazas-healey/?ref=down-ballot.info) that erupted when a losing bidder complained, and hosted a nearly two-hour session about [commercial sea scallop fishing.](https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/5323?ref=down-ballot.info) Neither Montigny nor his House counterpart, Rep. John Mahoney, responded to multiple inquiries about whether they feel the UI delays warrant attention by their committees. *Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the region that Rep. Hadley Luddy represents. Her district covers parts of Cape Cod.* This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/government/state-government/despite-improvement-mass-unemployment-system-remains-one-of-the-worst-in-the-country-by-some-measures/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=312191&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) --- # NC prisons face ‘dire’ staffing crisis by Rachel Crumpler, North Carolina Health News February 5, 2026 #### By Rachel Crumpler Five prison employees were killed in North Carolina in 2017 — four from a [failed escape attempt at Pasquotank Correctional Institution](https://www.ncdps.gov/blog/2022/10/12/five-year-anniversary-prisons-remembers-pasquotank-tragedy?ref=down-ballot.info) and another in an [attack at Bertie Correctional Institution](https://www.dac.nc.gov/inmate-charged-murder-bertie-correctional-sergeant%E2%80%99s-death?ref=down-ballot.info). It was the deadliest year for prison staff in state history. [Investigations that followed](https://www.wfae.org/local-news/2018-01-26/doj-report-staff-shortage-cut-corners-at-nc-prison-where-4-died?ref=down-ballot.info) pointed to understaffing as a central factor. At the time of the incidents, correctional officer vacancy rates at the two prisons ranged from roughly 20 percent to 28 percent, according to [reporting by The Charlotte Observer](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article183187781.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Eight years later, that worst-case scenario is looming large for corrections leaders. Staffing levels across most of North Carolina’s prisons are as bad — or worse — than they were in 2017\. Prison officials and advocates say the shortages have reached a dangerous tipping point, heightening the risk of another catastrophic incident. “The way those prisons were staffed when those murders happened is the average way prisons are staffed now,” said Ardis Watkins, executive director of the [State Employees Association of North Carolina](https://www.seanc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), which advocates for state employees, including those working in prisons. “What we thought were terrible vacancy rates eight years ago are pretty average right now.” About one in four state prisons — 14 facilities — have half or more of their correctional officer positions vacant, according to December 2025 staffing data from the Department of Adult Correction provided to NC Health News. Vacancy rates by facility range from a low of about 5 percent to as high as nearly 69 percent. N.C. Department of Adult Correction Secretary Leslie Cooley Dismukes described staffing at North Carolina’s 55 state prisons in stark terms during a recent meeting of the [Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety](https://www.ncleg.gov/Committees/CommitteeInfo/NonStanding/427?ref=down-ballot.info). Dismukes told lawmakers on Jan. 15 that the department employs 4,979 correctional officers statewide. However, to fully staff all posts across North Carolina’s prisons, she said, the department needs 9,682 officers — a shortfall of 4,703 people, or an overall vacancy rate of nearly 49 percent. ![A woman in a suit stands at a podium talking to lawmakers about critical staff shortages at the N.C. Department of Adult Correction](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Screenshot-2026-01-15-at-3.12.45-PM.png) N.C. Department of Adult Correction Secretary Leslie Cooley Dismukes talks to lawmakers about critical staffing shortages faced by the department on Jan. 15, 2025, during a meeting of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice and Public Safety. That wide gap is pushing prisons to the brink. Dismukes said the department has determined that the absolute minimum number of officers needed to staff only “critical” posts is 4,651\. Current staffing exceeds that bare-bones threshold by only 328 officers — a precarious margin as mandatory overtime, rising workloads and low pay continue to fuel burnout and departures. “Our staffing situation is dire, and it is dangerous — dangerous to my staff, dangerous to the people in my custody and dangerous to the people of North Carolina,” Dismukes told lawmakers. “Our vacancy rates have grown higher and remain at unsustainable levels, leaving us with fewer staff to run safe prisons,” she continued. “This problem has compounded year over year, as salaries of our employees have not kept up with the cost of living — much less the market rate.” North Carolina’s starting salary for correctional officers is $37,621 — second-lowest in the nation and thousands of dollars below the [average starting salary of $45,594 among neighboring Southeastern states](https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewDocSiteFile/105008?ref=down-ballot.info), according to Department of Adult Correction data. Dismukes said low pay is the primary barrier to hiring and retention, and she urged lawmakers to allocate funding for raises. “We need your help, and we need it now,” Dismukes said, noting that she was before lawmakers to “sound the alarm” on the agency’s staffing crisis. “If we do not address these issues immediately, something bad will happen,” she said. “It is not a question of if. It is a question of when.” #### **Fewer staff, high turnover** Wendell Powell has worked for the North Carolina prison system for more than 20 years, starting as a correctional officer. Now a captain at [Harnett Correctional Institution](https://www.dac.nc.gov/divisions-and-sections/institutions/prison-facilities/harnett-correctional-institution?ref=down-ballot.info) in Lillington, he helps manage staffing at a facility grappling with shortages typical across the state’s prisons. Powell, who also serves as president of the [State Employees Association of North Carolina’s executive committee](https://www.seanc.org/executive-committee?ref=down-ballot.info), said he has seen shifts that once had 40 people working a decade ago plummet to 15. “The least you had in a building was four people — that was considered short,” he said. “Now you have one or two. “Back in the day, we would have thought that was the skeleton crew.” Now, Powell said, it’s the norm. The work hasn’t changed, but with fewer people to oversee the state’s prison population of about 32,000, workloads have intensified. Shifts are longer with more tasks to complete, breaks are fewer and days off are harder to come by. Staffing has long been a challenge in prisons because of the nature of the job and work environment, Dismukes said, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed staffing to new lows as the coronavirus [swept through facilities](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2020/10/21/deaths-in-prisons-continue-even-as-nc-covid-cases-stabilize/?ref=down-ballot.info) and added another layer of risk to the job. [Staffing levels have not rebounded](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/01/29/shortage-of-correctional-officers-leaves-prison-staff-stretched-thin/?ref=down-ballot.info) and appear to be far from doing so. In 2025, the Department of Adult Correction hired 2,647 employees across all job classes, according to data shared with NC Health News. That’s a ramp up in hiring from previous years, Dismukes said. But nearly as many people — 2,483 — left during the same time period. Turnover is particularly high among correctional officers. The department recorded a 24 percent turnover rate for those positions last year. Despite hiring 1,530 correctional officers in 2025, the Department of Adult Correction ended the year with 38 fewer filled positions than in 2024\. Nearly half of the state’s correctional officers have been on the job less than five years, according to department data provided to NC Health News. “The bottom line is that unless I can pay them the raises that they deserve, I will not keep them my employee,” Dismukes said. “We cannot provide adequate staffing levels needed for our current population.” In addition to custody staff, prison health care positions are also experiencing high vacancies, with the highest rate among nurses. As a result, shortages have forced some prison medical units to close, pushing more care to community providers — at a higher cost. To help fill staffing gaps, the Department of Adult Correction has about 760 private security contractors working at 34 prisons, a spokesperson told NC Health News. Those contractors provide perimeter security, freeing up state correctional officers for other duties inside the prisons. Additionally, about 65 percent of the Department of Adult Correction’s nursing and medical providers are contract workers who are more expensive than employees. Most staff are also working mandatory overtime to keep prison operations going. In 2025, prison staff logged between 150,000 to 225,000 overtime hours per month, according to Department of Adult Correction data provided to NC Health News — a tab of roughly $6 million to $8 million monthly. Over 12 months, the department spent $73.5 million on overtime. “That overtime is for people who are already working a 12-hour shift and who are sometimes driving an hour to an hour and a half to and from work each day,” Dismukes told lawmakers. “That is a really long day, and it’s a really long month, and it is a very dangerous environment when people get tired in prison.” Powell has seen the toll firsthand. He and other prison management staff routinely step in to help complete the day-to-day tasks of line-duty correctional officers, such as supervising meals, showers and medical and transfer trips. As a result, Powell said that can put him behind on his administrative work, including completing investigations, safety reports and ordering supplies. Staff shortages exacerbate an already demanding work environment, fueling a cycle that drives even more people away. Powell said burnout is a top concern, but options to delegate the workload are limited. “In our profession, fatigue and bad decisions can lead to someone getting hurt or killed,” Powell said. “If we see that a person’s working more, we try to schedule them off or put them on an assignment that’s easier.” #### **Shortages disrupt prison operations** Amid worsening staff shortages, North Carolina’s prison population has ticked up. In 2025, Dismukes said admissions outpaced releases by more than 50 people per month on average. At the same time, the Department of Adult Correction has fewer beds available to house them. Insufficient staffing has forced the temporary closure of 4,281 beds across 19 prisons. For example, [Bertie Correctional Institution](https://www.dac.nc.gov/divisions-and-sections/institutions/prison-facilities/bertie-correctional-institution?ref=down-ballot.info) in Windsor — the state’s newest and one of its largest prisons — has a capacity to house 1,504 men. But it is operating at roughly half that level due to lack of staffing, Dismukes said. ![A presentation slide with various numbers on prison staffing and population size](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Screenshot-2026-02-04-at-2.07.30-PM.png) A presentation slide shown to lawmakers on Jan. 15 by Department of Adult Correction Secretary Leslie Cooley Dismukes to illustrate the impact of staffing shortages. Staff shortages affect nearly every aspect of daily prison life. Correctional officers are responsible not only for security, but also for distributing meals, transporting people to medical care, supervising education and rehabilitation programs and more. Some days, the staffing just doesn’t add up, Powell said, forcing tough operational decisions that directly affect those in custody. “Sometimes facilities have to just lock it down,” Powell said, referring to days when some activities and programs are suspended for safety, leaving people confined in their cells for longer periods. Those cancellations may solve an immediate staffing problem, but they come with ramifications. “If you cut out programs and school, a lot of offenders look forward to that,” Powell said. “When they’re stuck in the building all day, tension rises. Tempers flare. It does have a short-term fix, but long term it’s not a good situation.” ![beyond a fence two fences, one topped with razor wire, about a dozen men play on a bleak basketball court. Many people with mental illness end up in the prison system](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DSCF7838-e1520430100560.jpg) Men at Central Prison in Raleigh play basketball in the recreation yard at the facility. Photo credit: Rose Hoban/NC Health News With staffing margins already razor-thin, unexpected emergencies can be precarious to manage. Powell recalled a recent day when multiple medical transports — each requiring two officers — depleted staff working inside the prison. He made it work by calling in other officers, but Powell said sustaining operations with a smaller workforce is increasingly tough. “Sometimes you just pray and take a deep breath, and you try to put your most advanced staff where you may have the most issues,” Powell said. Years ago, Powell said, he didn’t have to worry as much. There were more staff on hand each shift — and many were seasoned officers — to step in if problems arose. Today’s less-experienced workforce adds another layer of concern, he said. And with thousands of prison beds offline, staff have less flexibility to move people between housing units, custody levels or facilities. “We cannot move them out of restrictive housing or into restrictive housing if we need to,” Dismukes told lawmakers. “We cannot move them into maximum custody if we need to, because we don’t have the staff to run those beds.” Staffing shortages also hurt the prison system’s ability to support people as they near release and to reduce recidivism — a key priority as [North Carolina works to improve outcomes for formerly incarcerated people by 2030](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/04/23/nc-prison-reentry-efforts-continue-in-second-year/?ref=down-ballot.info). “We cannot assign them to programming,” Dismukes said, noting that prisons often only have enough staff for primary security functions. “We are warehousing people if we cannot use programming for them, and we are not releasing them any better than when they came into our custody.” #### **Need to pay more** Dismukes described the staffing situation as a “crisis” — one she said is not sustainable. She knew [staffing would be her biggest challenge when she took the job.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/01/16/nc-department-of-adult-correction-new-leader-what-challenges-will-she-face/?ref=down-ballot.info) More than a year into the role, it still is. Low pay, she said, is one of the biggest barriers to recruiting and keeping staff. “The police pay more. The sheriffs pay more, and often, even fast food restaurants pay more,” Dismukes told lawmakers as she urged them to approve raises. Powell said the compensation doesn’t match the demands of the job, which he described as physically and mentally taxing. “In some areas, you have prisons competing with Burger King and Subway,” Powell said. “That says a lot — that someone can go work fast food or work in the supermarket and make more than at a prison securing and keeping offenders safe and keeping the state safe.” For many, the math doesn’t add up — particularly given the risks of the work. Studies show that correctional officers across the country have [higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder](https://desertwaters.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/PTSD%5FPrev%5Fin%5FCorrections%5F09-03-131-1.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) and are at [greater risk of suicide](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1009677102357?ref=down-ballot.info) compared with the general population. The average life expectancy of a correctional officer in the United States is about 59 years — substantially shorter than the national average of 75 years, [according to a national 2024 study](https://www.mdpi.com/2813-1851/3/1/5?ref=down-ballot.info). “The idea that you would risk your safety in that way for no more pay than you could get working in a fast food restaurant is simply not adding up,” said Watkins, executive director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina. “The mental, the emotional, the stress and the toll it takes on you is something that literally changes and shortens your life, but you’re not paid as though you’re making that kind of sacrifice.” Powell said he has stayed at the Department of Adult Correction because he believes it’s a good career, but he maintains that it needs to be compensated as such. He plans to retire with the department, but he’s watched others head for the door. Dismukes said she wants 2026 to be the “year of retention,” but she needs lawmakers' financial backing to help make that happen. Gov. Josh Stein, as well as lawmakers in the state House and Senate, supported raises for correctional officers in their proposed budgets last year. But last year’s salaries are unchanged because the Republican leaders of the House and Senate are [locked in a budget stalemate](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/25/nc-budget-stalemate-strains-safety-nets/?ref=down-ballot.info) that has left the state without a new budget more than halfway through the fiscal year. “No one’s gotten pay raises,” Powell said. “Your insurance is going up … your cost of living is going up. But your pay is not moved. It’s very frustrating.” Powell said raises could be one of the most effective ways to stabilize the prison workforce and give people a reason to stay, but it’s not clear if or when that will happen. “Right now there’s not a relief in sight,” Powell said. The stakes of understaffing are high, Watkins said, and prison staff are increasingly voicing concerns. “If we don’t \[solve staff shortages\], someone will die again in a prison because of understaffing,” Watkins said. “People know when they take the job it’s dangerous, but they don’t need to die because of understaffing.” That’s what Dismukes wants to avoid. “We are doing everything we can,” she told lawmakers. “But these conditions are unsustainable.” **In addition to the staffing crisis, Dismukes told lawmakers, the Department of Adult Correction is facing several other challenges:** - **Fire safety system failures:** Many prison fire safety systems are not functioning and need major upgrades or full replacement. The department needs $23.6 million to fix systems at 13 prisons that are under intermittent or constant “fire watch,” which requires a worker to be assigned to patrol the prison and look for smoke because alarms aren’t working. - **Widespread deferred maintenance:** A facility condition assessment conducted in late 2024 identified an estimated $1.7 billion in deferred maintenance across the state prison system. No prisons evaluated were rated in “good” condition. - **Rising medical costs:** [Prison medical costs continue to climb](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/03/11/nc-prisons-face-growing-health-care-costs/?ref=down-ballot.info). The department’s health services budget for fiscal year 2024-25 was $362.2 million, but costs exceeded that by $82.5 million. The department entered the current fiscal year with $52.5 million in unpaid medical bills, and projects a similar — if not larger — shortfall this year. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/02/05/nc-prisons-face-dire-staffing-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Studying law in the Queen City. How Elon’s efforts are restoring legal education in Charlotte. by Kate Denning, Carolina Public Press February 4, 2026 Elon University is filling a longtime gap in the Charlotte market with the announcement of its new law school program that will accept applications this fall and begin operating in the city in the fall of 2027\. The part-time flex program and full-time Juris Doctor program options will both be based at the Queens University campus, shedding further light on the [merger](https://carolinapublicpress.org/72976/will-elon-merger-with-queens-be-a-trend-setter-for-nc-colleges/?ref=down-ballot.info) announced between the two universities in 2025. Elon has made no secret of its desire to establish roots in Charlotte over the years. The university launched its part-time law flex program in the Queen City in 2024, recognizing the [“unmet demand” in the area](https://www.elon.edu/u/law/charlotte/part-time-flex-jd/?ref=down-ballot.info) and offering specialized courses pertaining to Charlotte’s biggest industries like banking, health care and sports and entertainment. Then the 2025 merger with Charlotte-based Queens University sent shockwaves through higher education as Elon made its biggest swing yet toward the state’s largest city. The new program is sure to shake up the legal education scene, seeing as all six of North Carolina's law schools are currently concentrated in the closeby Triangle and Triad regions of the state. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** **John Lassiter**, president of Carolina Legal Staffing and former president of the Mecklenburg Bar Association, said Charlotte has benefited from the North Carolina law schools as well as University of South Carolina School of Law as far as hiring new graduates. The real detriment has been to law students who might be interested in a summer internship in Charlotte but find it difficult to accomplish due to the distance. Elon Law is a respected, nationally recognized program with an already growing footprint in Charlotte, Lassiter said. The flex model, which Elon has been running in Charlotte’s South End since 2024, has also been successful in other urban markets like Boston and Chicago in opening up opportunities for those who want to transition into law from another field. “When people are at different life stages or different places in their career, the ability to access a legal education without having to, in the case of Elon’s Charlotte flex program, potentially, uproot from your family and from your job for up to three years to move to the Triad or the Triangle,” said President of the Mecklenburg Bar Association **Sarah Motley Stone**. “It’s a tremendous way to give people access to legal education in a way that fits with where they are.” The flex program has already seen steady growth. Even so, while the part-time, night classes are desirable for many, that’s not what every prospective law student is looking for, Elon Law dean **Zak Kramer** said. The Juris Doctor path will appeal to the other sect who are looking for a full-time experience. It’s also designed to be completed in two and a half years rather than the standard three. This gets students to graduate earlier and therefore become licensed faster, Kramer said. It also lowers costs by effectively requiring one semester less of tuition. Elon Law’s Greensboro program is intended to fully immerse its students in the local community. That’s led to a lot of success in its 20 years, so Kramer hopes to apply those lessons as they put roots down in Charlotte. “Because of the success we’ve had and what we’ve learned in the process to really make it a special program, we think that’s a plus that we can expand and grow our network and really enjoy the relationships we’ve created in Charlotte over the years,” he said. “Because although we’ve been in Greensboro for 20 years, we’ve always been in Charlotte in some sense because we’ve always had graduates who are going to Charlotte, we’ve had students who are doing internships in Charlotte. So we have strong relationships, and this is an opportunity to create more relationships, enjoy and strengthen the relationships we have and bring what I think is a very special form of legal education to a city that otherwise isn’t educating lawyers.” ### Past law school education in Charlotte Prior to the flex program opening in 2024, Charlotte was the largest city in the country without a law school. But Charlotte wasn’t always a law school desert. The state’s largest city once also boasted the largest law school in the Charlotte School of Law, founded in 2005 by the now defunct InfiLaw System. Charlotte Law operated for about 10 years until the American Bar Association placed it on probation in 2016 and ordered the school to [inform students of “failings of its admissions policies and curriculum.”](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article122650944.html?ref=down-ballot.info) The government subsequently revoked its access to federal student loans. Students then filed a class action lawsuit in late 2016 against the school for misleading students and applicants when it did not abide by the ABA’s order. The school was unable to requalify for its license once it expired in 2017, leading to its immediate closure. Lassiter recalled when InfiLaw first expressed interest in opening a law school in the city. Once the school opened, it was clear the for-profit, venture capital-backed company was going in a different direction than what was initially conveyed, Lassiter said. “They did not stay small. They didn’t stay focused. They got kind of caught up in trying to grow as fast as they could to generate revenue and not necessarily maintain the integrity of the program,” he said. National law school rankings are partially determined by bar passage rates and employment outcomes for graduates. While open, Charlotte Law sustained a number of low-performing stats in these areas that garnered criticism from the legal community, particularly because of its exorbitant price tag. [WFAE reported in 2016](https://www.wfae.org/local-news/2016-11-17/charlotte-school-of-law-hit-with-probation?ref=down-ballot.info) only 45% of Charlotte Law graduates passed the bar on their first attempt, a stark difference from the state average of about 65% at the time. And in 2014, just 34% of graduates found full-time jobs that required passing the bar. Of the school’s last crew of graduates to take the bar in February 2018, [zero out of 11 passed](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article209000844.html?ref=down-ballot.info). ### Restoring legal education in Mecklenburg Bringing a law school back to the Charlotte area, especially one as established as Elon, creates opportunities to grow networks and engagement in a new place seeing as students are likely to practice in the area they attended school, Kramer said. “It makes a huge difference to kind of do your education in the place where you’re going to be,” he said. “I think that really matters, and the law school is excited to be doing its part. I mean, more generally, Elon is eager to provide educational opportunities that will benefit Charlotte.” Elon isn’t the only higher education institution eyeing Charlotte for graduate programs. Wake Forest University welcomed its first class of [medical students to its Charlotte campus](https://news.wfu.edu/2025/06/06/wake-forest-expands-to-charlottes-innovation-district-marking-historic-milestone-in-education/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2025, making it the first four-year medical school in the city. [UNC-Chapel Hill’s prestigious business school](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article263870812.html?ref=down-ballot.info) also began offering an MBA program based in Charlotte in 2022, the university’s first expansion beyond Chapel Hill. Stone said Elon’s decision and the expansion of other institutions’ educational programs speaks to Charlotte’s rapid growth and identity as a young, vibrant city. “You look at the population growth we’ve had over time, you look at the number of companies that have moved to the region and, in many cases, relocating headquarters,” she said. “It’s a booming city. And with that comes people who are looking to further their education and have additional job opportunities. So naturally, you’re going to see an interest in MBA programs, in law programs and in medical school.” The Mecklenburg Bar Association looks for ways to support legal aid and advocacy programs, and groups like Legal Aid of North Carolina and the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy are experiencing somewhat of a funding crunch at the moment, Stone said. The local legal scene has been looking for ways to support those organizations and others geared toward increasing access to justice regardless of people’s ability to pay. Part of that is ensuring there is an abundance of well-trained attorneys available to them, so Stone views Elon’s new venture as a piece of that puzzle. “From the vantage point I have on serving at the bar, I see adding a high-quality law school to the community is only going to make the city and county a better, stronger place, and I look forward to finding ways to collaborate with them and in doing that,” Stone said. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74378/law-school-charlotte-elon-queens-restoring-legal-education-nc/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Balancing joy and responsibility: The New Orleans residents trying to make Mardi Gras more sustainable by Jasmine Robinson, Verite News New Orleans February 4, 2026 Brett Davis has been going to Mardi Gras parades since he was a young boy in the 1980s. He said parades looked a lot different back then than they do today. “When I went to parades, everything that was thrown off of a float was scrambled to, fought over and kept by the people out at the parades,” Davis said. The snap-on beads, plastic cigars and doubloons of the time were treasured by parade-goers. Any trash left on the streets afterwards was mostly beer cans, as he remembers it. In 2016, Davis realized that the Mardi Gras parades of his early years had changed dramatically. That year, he attended a parade after being away from New Orleans for some years. He was stunned by the amount of waste that accumulated in the streets from unwanted throws, like abandoned toys and countless plastic beads. He described the sight as a river of glowing, light-up plastic. “People aren't keeping it for a reason, because there's too much of it and it's just cheap crap,” he said. Millions of pounds of waste are produced during dozens of Mardi Gras parades. This drove Davis to start his nonprofit organization Grounds Krewe, which sells sustainable throws to krewes that are functional, locally-made and plastic-free. Grounds Krewe is leading a growing effort in New Orleans to make Mardi Gras more sustainable. Those efforts are targeting cheap parade throws — many of which are thrown away, caught and dropped, or land on the ground and stay there. (It’s considered bad luck to pick up beads off the ground.) Advocates want to shift toward throws that parade-goers want to catch, keep and reuse. But because cheap throws are a significant source of funding for parades, there’s a steep economic cost to sustainable alternatives. And there’s a push and pull with maintaining the spirit of Mardi Gras. “This whole thing is a dance between joy and responsibility. You can't let joy overwhelm responsibility, because then we won't be able to have joy in the future. And you can't let responsibility completely tamp it down because then people will just disengage entirely.” said Suzannah Powell, a musician known by her stage name Boyfriend. ![Franziska Trautmann, the co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, at a sustainability event in New Orleans on Jan. 21, 2026. Trautmann was named Queen of the 2026 Krewe Du Vieux parade.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/04133108/20260121_CZB_SustainableMG_03.jpg) Franziska Trautmann, the co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, at a sustainability event in New Orleans on Jan. 21, 2026\. Trautmann was named Queen of the 2026 Krewe Du Vieux parade. ### Turning glass into beads Another of the leaders in the push to make Mardi Gras more sustainable is Franziska Trautmann, founder of Glass Half Full. The glass recycling organization is best known for its efforts in coastal restoration. They also partner with [Recycle Dat!](https://www.instagram.com/recycle%5Fdat/?ref=down-ballot.info), a Mardi Gras recycling program first piloted in 2023. This year, Trutmann took on a new task: using recycled glass to [create glass beads](https://www.instagram.com/p/DTeBkR2gSMh/?ref=down-ballot.info). Using only glass bottles that Trautmann considers the prettiest – usually blue ones – the glass gets melted down and formed into long, thin rods. Those rods get chopped to tiny bits, which are then shaped into beads one-by-one by glass artist Andrew Barrows. “For us, it's never about ‘Stop doing Mardi Gras, stop doing parades.’ I love Mardi Gras. It's my favorite. It's more like, ‘How can we implement systems into our already functioning Mardi Gras programs?’” Trautmann said. ![Andrew Barrows of NOLA Alchemy demonstrates how to create beads from recycled glass at the New Orleans GlassWorks and Printmaking Studio at New Orleans ArtWorks on January 29, 2026. Barrows recently made approximately 2,500 beads that Franziska Trautmann, co-founder of the Glass Half Full, strung into necklaces for Krewe Du Vieux.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/04133127/20260129_CZB_Glassworks_040.jpg) Andrew Barrows of NOLA Alchemy demonstrates how to create beads from recycled glass at the New Orleans GlassWorks and Printmaking Studio at New Orleans ArtWorks on January 29, 2026\. Barrows recently made approximately 2,500 beads that Franziska Trautmann, co-founder of the Glass Half Full, strung into necklaces for Krewe Du Vieux. She strung together 75 necklaces. To get from recycled glass to a beaded necklace is an expensive and timely process. She said it’s so costly that it’d be hard to sell them to krewes for what they’re worth, who would want to sell them to riders for a profit. To her, it made more sense to just throw them for free. That’s what she did at Saturday’s (Jan. 31) Krewe du Vieux parade, in which she was crowned a monarch. Cheap plastic beads dominate the throws market and are an iconic symbol of Mardi Gras. The beads, most of which are manufactured in China, are made of post-consumer, industrial-grade waste that are harmful to [humans and the environment](https://www.wwno.org/news/2020-02-18/plastic-mardi-gras-beads-are-cheap-fun-to-throw-and-toxic-for-the-environment?ref=down-ballot.info). [A 2013 study](https://www.urbanconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Bead-Health-Report.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that tested Mardi Gras beads found that a majority of beads have dangerously high concentrations of lead and other toxic chemicals. The colorful coating of beads is just as toxic as the plastic inside. These beads and other low quality throws are inexpensive, and they’re bought and thrown at a high volume. “When the system is built on importing and selling these throws, it's hard to disrupt that cycle,” Trautmann said. ![Franziska Trautmann, the co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, holds up glass beads she is using to make sustainable Mardi Gras throws for the Krewe Du Vieux parade.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/04133044/20260121_CZB_SustainableMG_01.jpg) Franziska Trautmann, the co-founder and CEO of Glass Half Full, holds up glass beads she is using to make sustainable Mardi Gras throws for the Krewe Du Vieux parade. ### Taking on the ‘throw economy’ Davis’ organization Grounds Krewe is working to disrupt this system, which he calls the “throw economy.” He said that krewes are driving a culture of “the more you throw, the better.” Krewes that parade generate revenue largely in two ways: membership dues and selling throws to their riders, who purchase them and throw them at parades. He said that for larger krewes, selling throws to riders can make up up to 60 percent of a krewe’s revenue. Smaller krewes usually have a smaller share of its revenue coming from throws. Krewes purchase throws from throw distribution companies, who get their supply from manufacturers overseas. Davis said that locally, the market is dominated by two distributors: Plush Appeal and Beads by the Dozen. Davis estimates that some large krewes need to sell millions of throws to riders to make a profit. “The throws are literally funding the show in the absence of ticket sales and corporate sponsors,” Davis said. Years ago it became clear to Davis that making Mardi Gras sustainable meant targeting this excess of cheap throws that end up in landfills. In 2023, [2.5 million pounds of waste](https://nola.gov/next/resilience-sustainability/waste-diversion/recycle-dat-mardi-gras-recycling/?ref=down-ballot.info) were sent to a landfill over an 11-day period of Mardi Gras. “Our task is to figure out how to unwind the economics of this huge celebration from being dependent on high volumes of throw sales, and it is tough,” Davis said. ![Brett Davis, the founding director of Grounds Krewe, outside their facility in Uptown New Orleans on February 3, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/04133250/20260203_CZB_GroundsKrewe_190.jpg) Brett Davis, the founding director of Grounds Krewe, outside their facility in Uptown New Orleans on February 3, 2026. ![Brett Davis, the founding director of Grounds Krewe, holds up a postcard—a new sustainable throw this year—at their facility in Uptown New Orleans on February 3, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/04133314/20260203_CZB_GroundsKrewe_246_2.jpg) Brett Davis, the founding director of Grounds Krewe, holds up a postcard—a new sustainable throw this year—at their facility in Uptown New Orleans on February 3, 2026. Grounds Krewe is reducing waste by offering sustainable throw alternatives that they hope people will want to keep and use. Their inventory includes food products such as red beans and jambalaya mixes in miniature sacks, eco-friendly hygiene products, and items traditionally associated with Mardi Gras such as reused glass beads and biodegradable glitter. They partner with local small and medium-sized businesses for his supply. Volunteers and paid workers assemble the throws. The organization produced 200,000 throws this year, all of which are sold out beside their t-shirts. Davis said it’s the most successful year so far. But it’s only a small dent in the market: he estimates that there are 25 million throws each year. He said he recognizes it’s hard to compete cost-wise with Chinese manufacturing, even if the scale of Grounds Krewe was expanded significantly. But he’s seeing a growing demand for sustainable throws from krewes and riders alike. “Everyone is now talking about creating a more sustainable Mardi Gras, and everyone agrees that the era of plastic beads is on the decline,” Davis said. Sustainability is costly. But Davis doesn’t want higher costs to result in the commercialization of parades for financial support. “We don't want to \[pay for\] tickets to go to Mardi Gras. We don't want corporate sponsorship … the Morris Bart float, the Exxon float, the Bank of America float. We don't want that,” he said. ### The rider experience Powell is in charge of deciding throw packages for the Krewe of Freret. The krewe has three tiers of packages ranging up to $1,000\. The more expensive packages contain more big ticket items like the krewe’s sought after hats and ferret plushies. She’s called the sustainability adviser. In this role, she’s able to try to make decisions for the krewe to make its environmental footprint smaller. “A lot of krewes are in this position where it's like, if \[riders\] don't have the money for the throws, they can't afford to put on the parade. Whereas \[for\] ours, we're excited to break even anyways, so we might as well be making strides and leading the change,” Powell said. Powell’s focus is on offering throws that are functional and reusable, and throwing at a lower volume. But efforts to be sustainable are at odds with keeping the experience affordable for riders. They still sell plastic throws to riders because they’re cheap, but she tries to ensure the items are at least useful. In 2024, Freret made a splash when it announced that riders would no longer throw plastic beads. But it impacted the cost-per-throw greatly. Whereas a single plastic beaded necklace could cost under 10 cents, she said that now the average throw costs Freret riders $1.10. And in strategizing toward sustainability, the experience for riders goes beyond what they can and can’t afford. ![Sustainable throws packaged at Grounds Krewe in Uptown New Orleans on February 3, 2026.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/04133228/20260203_CZB_GroundsKrewe_036.jpg) Sustainable throws packaged at Grounds Krewe in Uptown New Orleans on February 3, 2026. She likened the rider experience to “playing catch with the whole city.” Each small interaction with a parade-goer is a moment of joyful connection for riders, she said. By shifting to more sustainable throws and reducing the number of throws, she recognizes that there are going to be fewer opportunities for that connection. “That is such a privileged group of people, myself included, that get to experience that side of things. We as riders and what our experience is, is actually a huge aspect of how this can change,” she said. Powell envisions a sustainable Mardi Gras of the future as one that includes more handmade throws and more locally sourced items. She said Grounds Krewe — which she’s a board member of — is setting the bar for sustainable throws. Having locally sourced items takes sustainability to another level by decreasing the carbon footprint and keeping the money circulating in the region, as opposed to paying manufacturers overseas. “And so the difference between catching something that comes from an entirely different place and then catching something that someone who lives here spent time making and decorating and pouring their creativity and their energy into it, that really feels like the epitome of Mardi Gras to me,” she said. ### Recycling initiatives for Mardi Gras Recycle Dat! has [eight initiatives](https://www.groundskrewe.org/recycle-dat?ref=down-ballot.info) this Mardi Gras season including a recycling program at select bars on parade routes, beads recycling at select hotels and more. Last year, Recycle Dat! diverted more than 70,000 pounds of cans, bottles and beads that would have gone to the landfill. Recycle Dat! was initially supported by the city of New Orleans. But the city’s funding for the program was cut due to [cost-cutting measures](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/27/new-orleans-moreno-cuts-layoffs-deficit/?ref=down-ballot.info) at the Office of Resilience and Sustainability. Davis’ Grounds Krewe organization helps run Recycle Dat! Initiatives. He said the city is no longer involved in any efforts with Mardi Gras sustainability. “Whenever a budget deficit comes around, the first thing that's going to go out the window is environmental initiatives,” Davis said. Isis Casanova, communications director for Mayor Helena Moreno, said that despite not providing direct financial support, the city is actively coordinating sustainability efforts for Carnival. “This includes working with the Department of Sanitation, Parks and Parkways, and NOPD on logistics tied to this year’s Recycle Dat recycling operations,” Casanova wrote in a statement emailed to Verite News. “These efforts are part of the City’s broader commitment to reducing waste and keeping public spaces clean during and after Mardi Gras celebrations.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/02/04/glass-half-full-grounds-krewe-mardi-gras/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=28102&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # How Unsheltered New Yorkers Face Down the Cold: ‘It’s Survive or Die’ ### Some unsheltered New Yorkers say they prefer the freedom of the streets. Others say they have not been asked in. by [Haidee Chu](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/haidee/?ref=down-ballot.info) Jan. 30, 2026, 5:00 a.m.Updated Jan. 30, 2026, 8:43 a.m. ![William Galarza set up a makeshift shelter in Union Square to help keep himself and his pet cat warm during the winter,](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/012726_homeless_cold-1.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) William Galarza awoke to chills that felt like 10 degrees in Union Square Park Tuesday morning, his corner of the public space still cordoned off by the foot of snow that descended Sunday — the most New York City has seen in five years. “I didn’t know the snow was coming that day, so I got stuck here,” Galaraza, 40, said. A blanket of snow swallowed his surroundings, and a single pair of footprints — Galarza’s own — marked the way to his camp. None of the city’s 400-plus homeless outreach specialists, he said, had come to visit so far during the cold spell. “Nobody even shoveled anything over here,” he added, pointing to a small clear patch in front of his fort, assembled with cardboards and folded tables and covered overhead with tarps held down by cinder blocks. “Look at all this snow, I was pushing all of this,” he said. “But someone took my shovel.” ![William Galarza set up a makeshift shelter in Union Square to help keep himself and his pet cat warm during the winter,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/012726_homeless_cold-2-1024x683.jpg) William Galarza set up a makeshift shelter in Union Square to help keep himself and his pet cat warm during the winter, Jan. 27, 2026. Homeless outreach specialists have placed 170 unhoused New Yorkers into shelters and transitional housing since Jan. 19 as the agency began to prepare for record snowfall, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a briefing Monday. The Department of Homeless Services could not immediately provide an update to that figure Thursday, but spokesperson Neha Sharma said outreach workers have made 620 referrals to its facilities from Jan. 19 through Wednesday afternoon — a number that counts an individual for each night they’re placed into a shelter. Most of those referrals, Sharma added, involved people who’d previously resisted offers to move into shelters. Those numbers account for a fraction of the more than 4,500 New Yorkers who live on the street, according to the [city’s latest point-in-time estimate](https://hoperegistration.cityofnewyork.us/about-us/previous-results/?ref=down-ballot.info), tallied last winter. Many, like Galarza, have remained unsheltered throughout the frigid stretch, sleeping between interruptions on street corners, above heat vents, inside parks, subway stations, fast food restaurants and bank vestibules. Some unsheltered New Yorkers who have remained outside told THE CITY this week that they do so by choice, preferring the freedoms of the streets to the curfews and restrictions of the shelter system. Others say they’ve simply fallen through the gaps. The consequences of being unsheltered in the cold can be dire, however. Since Saturday, 10 New Yorkers have been found outside in the extreme weather and pronounced dead. Six of them, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Wednesday, were people known to the shelter system. ## **‘I Got No Home’** During “Enhanced Code Blue” events — a city designation for [special protocols](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/22/freezing-shelter-code-blue-dhs-homeless-services/?ref=down-ballot.info) that take place during snowfalls and long stretches of below-freezing days — outreach workers pay special focus to the approximately 350 unsheltered individuals on their priority lists, with a goal of visiting them once every two hours from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. These lists [broadly cover](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/22/freezing-shelter-code-blue-dhs-homeless-services/?ref=down-ballot.info) individuals who live with medical, mental health or substance use conditions, who are older, or who appear to be chronically underdressed. Some agencies step in to help cover the rest of the city’s unhoused population during the weather emergency. Homeless assistance requests to 311, the city’s service line, for one, are rerouted through 911 to police officers and emergency medical technicians to speed up response times. Parks Department officers, too, canvass more than 100 parks where unhoused people gather, beginning patrols at around 6 a.m. through midnight, said Parks Enforcement Patrol Inspector Cynthia Thompson. ![A homeless person tries to stay warm during a brutal cold snap,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/012726_homeless_cold-6-1024x683.jpg) An unhoused person sits amid their belongings in the recent snowfall, Jan. 27, 2026. Mamdani on Tuesday also announced additional emergency outreach protocols on the heels of the 10 deaths, including requests to shelter providers and faith-based organizations to have staff “canvass nearby blocks and engage anyone who needs assistance” every few hours. City Hall spokesperson Sam Raskin told THE CITY Thursday that several of DHS’s usual partner agencies are also involved in carrying out the new measure, including the Parks Department, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Emergency Management Department and the city’s public hospital system. Since then, no deaths of people found outside in the extreme cold have been reported, a police spokesperson said Thursday evening, even as temperatures have remained frigid. While Galarza said Tuesday that he had not been contacted by any of the city’s contracted outreach specialists during the cold spell, he noted that Parks Department officers had twice connected him with a room within the city’s shelter system over the summer. “But they took me out of the place,” he said, referring to shelter staff. Galarza, who makes some income guarding chess players’ tables and pieces in Union Square, said he suspected it was because he had violated curfews while working. “I don’t know what’s the problem,” he said. “Why I’m outside on the streets, why the police be harassing me everywhere I go.” He said he hasn’t thought much about returning to the shelter system since, mostly because of his new companion: Casi, a tabby cat who had found her way to Galarza from the Union Square Holiday Market. (Pets are generally not allowed in shelters, [with some exceptions](https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/08/30/keeping-new-yorkers-and-their-pets-together-in-shelters/?ref=down-ballot.info).) Galarza said he wished outreach specialists would help find an accommodation for him and Casi. “I just want to have a home. That’s why I come here to work,” said Galarza, stationed not far away from the park’s chess players. “But I got no home.” ## **‘Nothing You Could Really Do’** Several feet underneath the park, a man who asked to be identified as John Lancaster sat along a staircase ledge inside the Union Square subway station. Lancaster, 32, said he had just returned to the city from working a 13-hour shift at a warehouse in New Jersey. He became homeless shortly after his mother died two years ago, he said, and has been working a seasonal job at the warehouse since October. He had been staying with friends at the time, though that changed two months later. ![Homeless man John Lancaster finds shelter at the Union Square station during brutally cold day,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/012726_homeless_cold-5-1024x683.jpg) John Lancaster finds shelter at the Union Square station during a brutally cold day, Jan. 27, 2026. “People — when they know you need them, they become predators, so I had to leave,” said Lancaster. One of [DHS’s drop-in centers](https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-02528&ref=down-ballot.info) had connected him to a Brooklyn hotel shelter then, he said, where he was granted an exception to the curfew because of his night shifts at the warehouse. But by the time he returned from work in the daytime, shelter staff had already given his bed away to someone else. He tried walking into shelters on a freezing day two weeks ago too, with hopes of making use of the [open-door policy](https://www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/22/freezing-shelter-code-blue-dhs-homeless-services/?ref=down-ballot.info) during Code Blue events, which circumvent normal intake procedures while they’re in effect from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next morning. “But they tell me it’s only at night,” he said. “And I work at night.” Sharma, however, said the open-door policy extends to the daytime during “Enhanced Code Blue” events, when freezing conditions stretch for days at a time, as has been the case since Jan. 23. Other times, Lancaster said, he’s sent on a runaround from one shelter to another. “They say the same thing. They’ll say, ‘We don’t have room,” and then they’ll say, ‘Go talk to that shelter too.’ And then you talk to that shelter and they tell you to talk to that other shelter,” Lancaster recalled. “There’s nothing you could really do.” In the meantime, he’s been sleeping on bus rides provided by his company to and from his job — two hours on the way there, and two hours on the way back. The rest of the time, he said, he tends to stay underground, bouncing from one subway station to another to keep warm. “Right now, it’s survive or die,” Lancaster said. “And I’m just not the type to sit and die.” ## **‘Puzzles and Survival’** Jojo was rolling up a cigarette in a corner of the main hall of Grand Central station as noon approached on Tuesday. The 54-year-old, who asked only to be identified by his nickname, said he’d spent the night earlier sleeping in a vestibule. He doesn’t carry around blankets, and said he tends to sleep in just his clothes — a black puffer and several sweaters underneath — at night. ![Jojo rolls a cigarette while seeking warmth in Grand Central Terminal during a brutal cold snap](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/012726_homeless_cold-4-1024x683.jpg) Jojo rolls a cigarette while seeking warmth in Grand Central Terminal during a brutal cold snap, Jan. 27, 2026. “I basically wander around ‘til I’m tired, and I fall asleep,” he said. “And then I do this,” he continued, gesturing to how he’d tuck his hands into his puffer sleeves at night. Jojo said he prefers to sleep on the streets because of the surveillance at shelters. “I was in prison for 10 years, and the shelter system gets very complicated with the police — and it should, because it’s got so many people and they want to get into each other’s things,” he said. “But I can’t be around any police.” Some of his personal belongings, he added, are also prohibited in shelters. He pulled out a small round case from his puffer pocket, unfolding a nail clipper that he keeps in it along with pendants collected from the ground. One resembles a heart, another a ribbon, a third a skull with wings, and the last the Ankh — the ancient Egyptian symbol of life, sometimes used as a protective amulet in everyday life. Jojo pointed to the nail file attached to the clipper. “This is considered a knife, and they break it off,” he said. “But I use it to clean my nails.” His clipper is an especially essential part of his personal hygiene routine, he continued, recalling a time when he’d avoided a job interview because of his nails. “I cleaned up to go to a business interview that was put together, but my nails weren’t good enough for me to go see these people,” he said. “And I didn’t go anywhere because my nails were a mess.” These days, Jojo mostly spends his days in Midtown Manhattan — charging his phone on a LinkNYC tower while playing his favorite video game on his phone: “Puzzles and Survival.” He likes to stop at a church near Grand Central to sip on a hot cup of coffee, too, he said. “It’s usually open, warm, but \[Monday\] it was closed. And the other places were closed, so I figured they were snowed in,” he added. Jojo said he’d spent the rest of the Sunday at Grand Central and the Bryant Park subway station. But for the past six months, he said, he's been thinking about leaving New York to get out of the cold for good. “I want to get to Nevada, get some ID, apply for services, and be in the shelter again,” Jojo said. “In Nevada, I can begin all again.” ## **‘The Devil You Know’** Outside the Columbus Circle subway station, Alex, 42, organized his shopping cart as he prepared to duck underground. The former theater teacher said he became unhoused about three years ago, after his job was eliminated amid the [post-pandemic theater slump](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/theater/broadway-musicals-finances.html?ref=down-ballot.info). “COVID happened, and the loss of theater came, and it seemed like it hasn’t really picked up the same way,” Alex, who asked to be identified only by his first name. “I guess I’ve just been discouraged.” He makes money these days by collecting recyclables and selling abandoned furniture and electronics online. And once in a while, he said, his friends would invite him to spend the night in their apartments — as they’ve done twice during this cold snap, including during Sunday’s snowstorm. Alex, in exchange, would do chores around the house to help out. ![Alex braves a blast of cold weather around Columbus Circle while dealing with homelessness,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/0127726_homeless_cold-7-1024x683.jpg) Alex braves a blast of cold weather around Columbus Circle, Jan. 27, 2026. “When I don’t want to impose on them, I go to the subway stations,” he added. “Because when I’m on the train overnight I feel like I’m imposing on the other passengers and whatnot.” Many of his unsheltered peers, he added, would gather in the cavernous 181th and 168th Street 1 train stations because they’re deep underground and provide better insulation from the cold. “Unfortunately the police have been bothering us which is really odd because it’s Code Blue,” Alex said, noting how officers have been evicting them from those stations “hard core.” Still, he continued, he turns to those stations for warmth: “I’ll spend the day there, choosing to be warm over being frozen.” Outreach specialists, he noted, reach out to him “all the time,” with offers to get him placed into one of DHS’s facilities. He’s once taken up their offer to shelter in a single-room occupancy building, but quickly decided it was not for him. “Upon arrival, I was told, ‘Oh, your room doesn’t have a lock, but don’t worry, it’s cool,’ and it’s just like an instinct. Something just doesn’t seem right. It’s just a big red flag right away,” said Alex, who finds the curfews and visitation rules at shelters restrictive. “There just isn’t a good place to go to, where you actually have your own space. So sleeping on the street is like the devil you know.” The mid-afternoon sun was now tucked behind the clouds. The numbing wind whipped through Columbus Circle as Alex contemplated his plans for the evening. “Honestly, right now, I’m just about to go to the bathroom, just to wash up. Stay there for an hour or so, go to the next spot. It really is like moment to moment,” he said, his voice trembling from cold as he spoke. “When you’re homeless you just kind of want to get through the day. You try to make enough money so you can have some food.” He pushed his shopping cart towards the subway station elevator. “Being homeless, I’m not sitting around at home watching the Weather Channel,” Alex continued before stepping into the elevator. “The cold sneaks up on you. First it’s uncomfortable, then painful, before you’re like ‘This is dangerous.’ Frostbite is no joke." Then in swift seconds the door closed, and the elevator carried Alex underground. --- ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=73261&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) # In Iowa, many rivers and lakes improve briefly, then fall back into impairment by Mónica Cordero, Investigate Midwest, Investigate Midwest February 2, 2026 When Kim Hagemann moved to Iowa in the late 1980s, the state’s lakes and parks were among the first places she explored. She had come from Wisconsin to attend graduate school at Iowa State University, newly married and short on money. For recreation, Hagemann and her husband drove to public lakes and parks across the state, places that, on paper, defined Iowa’s natural landscape. But the outings quickly became discouraging. “After you’ve gone to your third park and it’s smelly and there’s nobody on the beaches, you start to get discouraged,” she recalled. Nearly four decades later, Hagemann, now retired and living in rural Polk County, said her view of Iowa’s water has not improved. “Here we are in 2025, and the water is actually worse,” she said during an interview last month. Hagemann’s experience mirrors what state data shows. An analysis by Investigate Midwest, based on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ biennial impaired and delisted waters lists, shows that progress in removing river segments from the impaired waters list has been limited over the past eight years. While 2018 marked a high point, when 12% of impaired river segments were delisted, subsequent cycles saw far smaller shares, with about 2% delisted in 2020 and roughly 7% in 2022. Lake segments showed a different pattern. Beginning in 2020, a higher proportion of impaired lake segments were reported as partially or fully recovered, with 32% delisted in 2020 and 35% in 2022. ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/27381215/thumbnail) However, being removed from the impaired waters list does not necessarily mean a river or lake has fully recovered. Of the 17 rivers and lakes removed from the 2016 impaired water report, seven showed only partial improvement, continuing to struggle with certain uses or pollutants even as conditions improved elsewhere. A similar pattern emerged in 2022\. Of the 54 river and lake segments removed after meeting water-quality standards, 22 had not fully recovered. In those cases, impairments persisted across multiple designated uses, within a single use affected by more than one pollutant, or across multiple uses affected by multiple pollutants. The analysis excluded fish kill events, which are considered isolated incidents rather than indicators of long-term water-quality conditions. ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/27381490/thumbnail) Michael Schmidt, general counsel at the Iowa Environmental Council (IEC), said the pattern reflects how water pollution is — and is not — regulated. Under the federal Clean Water Act, most farm field runoff is treated as nonpoint-source pollution and is generally exempt from the permit requirements that govern industrial and municipal “point source” discharges. As a result, Schmidt said, improvements tied to regulated point sources tend to persist, while pollution from agriculture can fluctuate with weather and farming practices. [Polluted runoff](https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-09/documents/ag%5Frunoff%5Ffact%5Fsheet.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) occurs when rain or melting snow flows across the land instead of soaking into the soil, carrying fertilizers, manure and other contaminants along the way. Those pollutants are eventually washed into rivers, lakes, wetlands and other waterways, and in some cases into underground sources of drinking water. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, runoff from agricultural land is the leading cause of impairments in rivers and lakes. “You might have water that is cleaner in dry years, so it gets delisted, and then is more polluted in wet years and gets relisted,” Schmidt said. One lake, Schmidt said, illustrates how those wins can crumble. At [Lake Darling in southeast Iowa](https://www.iowadnr.gov/media/6589/download?inline&ref=down-ballot.info), the state undertook a major restoration project funded by federal, state and local sources, investing about $13 million, including almost $7.3 million for watershed and in-lake improvements. A 2024 study by Drake University, commissioned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, found that conditions within the lake, including low oxygen levels and elevated phosphorus near the bottom during summer months, may be contributing to recurring algal blooms. “The growth of cyanobacteria in the lake and E. coli in beach sands is likely being driven by nutrient loading from the watershed,” the report said, adding that the implementation of best management practices would help ensure long-term water-quality improvements. The problem, Schmidt said, was not the work done within the lake itself, but what remained upstream. “We just addressed what was in the lake,” he said, but “we didn’t clean up the pollution sources upstream.” ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/9-17-2014-Iowa-water-impairment-Cordero-003-1024x705.jpeg) A section of ADA fishing trail is seen as a pontoon boat navigates the water at Lake Darling State Park in Brighton, Iowa, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014\. photo by Jim Slosiarek, The Gazette Last year, [Investigative Midwest reported](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/03/19/iowas-polluted-waterways-rarely-see-improvement-lawmakers-still-resist-efforts-to-regulate-industrial-ag/?ref=down-ballot.info) that nearly eight out of 10 river segments in Iowa have remained continuously impaired for at least a decade, according to an analysis of state reports. During the same period, 43% of lake segments experienced similar long-term impairment. In fact, 65 river segments (15%) and six lake segments (11%) have fallen short of a key water quality standard for a specific use and impairment for at least 20 years. Taken together, the data suggest that while some Iowa waters show signs of improvement, lasting recovery remains elusive, and that for many rivers and lakes, coming off the impaired list is not the end of the story. State monitoring captures only part of what is happening in Iowa’s waterways. The Iowa DNR assesses slightly more than half of the state’s designated water bodies. In 2024, 27% of these segments were classified as healthy waters, while just over half were categorized as impaired. Meanwhile, slightly more than one-fifth [require further investigation](https://programs.iowadnr.gov/adbnet/Docs/Codex/WINOFI?ref=down-ballot.info), as they are identified as “potentially impaired.” Heather Wilson, the Midwest Save Our Streams coordinator at the Izaak Walton League of America, a nonprofit focused on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, said Iowa’s water pollution crisis is not new, but that last year feels different. She said the issue has drawn an unusual level of public engagement. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/9-17-2014-Iowa-water-impairment-Cordero-004-1024x661.jpeg) Riprap protects the shoreline from erosion during a rededication ceremony for Lake Darling State Park in Brighton, Iowa, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014\. photo by Jim Slosiarek, The Gazette “More than any year \[2025\], citizens and people who are part of these grassroots organizations should feel more empowered than ever,” Wilson said. “More and more people are becoming engaged.” Wilson pointed to a surge in public participation following a series of high-profile events, including the [lawn-watering ban](https://www.ciww.gov/news-1/ciww-issues-lawn-watering-ban-effective-immediately?ref=down-ballot.info) in central Iowa, the release of the [Central Iowa Source Water Research Assessment](https://harkininstitute.drake.edu/water-quality-resources/?ref=down-ballot.info), and the [fish kills in the Nishnabotna River](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/03/27/fertilizer-killed-more-than-750000-fish-in-nishnabotna/?ref=down-ballot.info) in southwestern Iowa. Through the league’s Nitrate Watch program, she said, the number of volunteers requesting test kits and reporting data has increased significantly. “What that represents is people who are becoming more informed,” she said. “They’re learning about their local water quality and the impacts that that might have on their health.” ## **Lawmaker changes strategy in pushing for new regulations to improve Iowa lakes and rivers** Despite years of analysis and repeated findings, Schmidt said, many of the policy debates around water quality have gone unresolved. “The legislature has not been interested in doing more, at least the legislative leadership, or the majority of the legislature, has not taken action,” Schmidt said. Schmidt said the state has long known what would reduce nutrient pollution. Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy, adopted in 2013, outlined a path forward, but progress has been limited and legislative action has not followed. The strategy aims to cut annual nitrogen and phosphorus losses by 45%. For agriculture, which is considered a nonpoint source of pollution, the strategy relies on the voluntary adoption of conservation practices intended to reduce the amount of nutrients that leave farm fields into nearby waterways. For point sources, including certain municipalities and industrial facilities, the strategy calls for evaluations of existing nutrient controls and, where feasible, upgrades to treatment capacity. “We identified what we should do to reduce nutrients in 2013,” Schmidt said. “We are not making great progress, so we need to be doing more.” That lack of movement has been visible in recent legislative sessions. Last February, Sen. Art Staed, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, again introduced the Clean Water for Iowa Act, a bill he had previously proposed that would require large animal feeding operations to obtain water pollution permits and conduct effluent monitoring. As in prior years, the proposals did not advance. For 2026, Staed said he is trying a different strategy after repeated legislative setbacks. Instead of reintroducing a single water-quality bill, he said he is breaking the proposal into at least a dozen narrower measures, focused on better monitoring of the water-quality system, stricter enforcement, giving the Department of Natural Resources more authority and improved field practices, including buffers between row-crop farmland and waterways. Staed said the bills are still being drafted and that the volume of legislation this year has slowed the process, but expects most to be ready to file next week. The goal, he said, is to move individual provisions that could attract bipartisan support, as broader reforms have continued to stall. [![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Mailchimp-ads-2-576x1024.png)](http://investigatemidwest.org/donate-3?ref=down-ballot.info) “It is my fundamental belief that all Iowans deserve access to clean water. If there’s one bit of silver lining to come from our state’s current predicament, it’s that water quality is now front of mind for far more Iowans than in recent memory,” he said. “The question now to lawmakers in 2026 is whether or not we can meet the moment.” Concerns about water quality have increasingly intersected with broader public-health anxieties in Iowa. The state has the [second-highest](https://shri.public-health.uiowa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/cancer-in-iowa-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) age-adjusted rate of new cancers diagnosed and is one of only two states with a rising age-adjusted rate of new cancers. While advances in treatment have increased the number of cancer survivors, researchers and physicians have warned that the trend also brings rising costs and renewed urgency to better understand potential environmental risk factors. Those concerns gained momentum in 2025 among community groups, researchers, advocates and lawmakers, as questions mounted about how pollution could affect long-term health outcomes. This month, at the [opening meeting](https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/briefs/iowa-senators-highlight-water-quality-improvement-in-natural-resources-committee/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the Iowa Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee, water quality dominated lawmakers’ remarks. Staed, a member of the committee, said the heightened attention reflects growing political awareness but no meaningful change. “They’ve done a lot,” he said, referring to state leaders’ water-quality initiatives. “But it’s not enough to change the trajectory of nitrates in the water, the quality of water, and of course, rare cancer rates, and so on, that might be part of it.” Looking ahead to the 2026 legislative session, which began Jan. 12, advocacy groups including the IEC have outlined a short list of priorities they say could shape the debate over water-quality policy. At the top of the list is restoring funding for Iowa’s water monitoring network, the Iowa Water Quality Information System. The network, led by the University of Iowa with support from federal agencies, uses real-time sensors to track nitrates, phosphorus and other pollutants at about 60 sites statewide. State funding for the system ended in 2023, forcing the network to rely on temporary private and local support. Sensor coverage has since declined, and university officials have warned the system could be shut down by mid-2026 without new funding. The council is urging lawmakers to restore funding for the Iowa water monitoring network. About $600,000 a year is needed to support the system. The original appropriation was $500,000, which would not be sufficient to fully reinstate the network’s previous capacity of 70 sensors; the IEC cited inflation as the reason the higher annual amount is now required. Kerri Johannsen, senior director of policy and programs at the IEC, said restoring funding for water monitoring network is the group’s top priority this year. “It’s common sense,” Johannsen said. “\[It’s\] essential to even have a benchmark ... know where we’re going and if what we're doing is working.” Johannsen said the council is also pushing for expanded monitoring tied to pollution sources, including closer oversight of large animal feeding operations to detect whether waste is leaking into groundwater. Without consistent monitoring, she said, it is difficult to identify problems early or stop pollution where it is occurring. Another priority is protecting Iowa’s waterways from coal-plant pollution, including proposals to restrict or prohibit coal-ash discharges into state waters. Staed said public pressure on water quality issues is unlikely to fade. “This issue isn’t going away,” he said. “Our farmers want to be good stewards of the land, and their voluntary efforts have helped, but the state needs to do more. More and more Iowans are speaking up on this issue and I’m hopeful that their voices can finally lead to a shift at the Capitol; that we can finally begin to address the problem and bring clean water to Iowans in every corner of the state.” This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2026/02/02/iowa-impaired-water-list-data-analysis/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=757879&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- ### N.C. A&T students take lead on early voting URL: https://down-ballot.info/n-c-a-t-students-take-lead-on-early-voting/ Last updated: 2026-01-30T10:00:50.000Z **It's Friday, January 30, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** NC A&T students take the wheel on early voting**,** Why It’s Hard to Sue ICE Officers for Abuse**,** Minnesota churches respond to ICE presence with prayer, solidarity, Tazewell County judge sped up redistricting ruling to beat General Assembly vote to move the case, New Family Childcare Models Are Bringing Business and Families Back to Main Street, Europe gets ‘green energy’. These Southern towns get dirty air, State election officials project confidence after FBI search of Georgia elections office. **Media outlets and others featured:** Carolina Public Press, The Marshall Project, MinnPost, Cardinal News, The Daily Yonder, Verite News, Votebeat. 💡 **Editor's note: Bolts published information about the counties that are having elections for sheriffs and prosecutors in 2026\. The link is below:* [Which Counties Elect Their Prosecutors and Sheriffs in 2026? - BoltsThere are roughly 2,400 elections for prosecutor and sheriff in 2026\. Below is our Bolts database of those local elections. Also: read our preliminary overview of these elections, published in January 2026,... Read More![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-New-color-B@3000x-270x270-1.png)BoltsDaniel Nichanian![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/elections_prosecutor_2026.png)](https://boltsmag.org/whats-on-the-ballot/prosecutor-and-sheriff-elections-in-2026/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # ‘Protect Ours.’ NC A&T students take the wheel on early voting. by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press January 27, 2026 A NC A&T student came up to county elections board Democrat **Carolyn Bunker** in tears after the North Carolina State Board of Elections’ January meeting. The board had just voted 3-2 to exclude two Guilford County college campuses from early voting primary plans. Unlike many of her fellow students, the student had a car. She told Bunker she felt pressure to drive her friends, her friends’ friends and her classmates to the polls — all while trying to balance schoolwork and a job. Election boards shouldn’t put that burden on anyone, Bunker told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). But at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, the largest HBCU in the nation, a group of students are shouldering it proudly. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Juniors **Terrence Olu Rouse** and **Shia Rozier** recently launched Protect Ours, a movement to get students from campus to the polls this March. Since 2004, the NC A&T site has been used for presidential general elections, according to data provided by Guilford County elections director **Charlie Collicut**. A University of North Carolina - Greensboro site was added in 2012\. The county board added both campus sites to presidential primary early voting plans in 2020\. However, neither NC A&T site has ever been used during midterm or municipal election cycles as early voting sites. Students want that to change. Ideally, they’d like to be on the list for every election, no matter how small, Rouse said. “This was no goof of the system or administrative error; this is a modern day poll tax on a student,” he said. “There are thousands of students who do not have accessible transportation from campus to polling sites off campus, or students that cannot financially afford it or do not have the time to figure out another means of transportation.” But it’s too late to change election board members’ minds for this election, so NC A&T students are taking the primary into their own hands. That means tackling the biggest barrier to student voter participation: transportation. ### Letting the ‘grown ups’ decide? Rozier has gone to the county elections board three times in her three years to advocate for the inclusion of NC A&T campus voting sites. This time, she didn’t succeed. Republican State Board member **Stacy “Four” Eggers**, for one, doesn’t buy that an urgent need exists to add campus early voting sites in Guilford County. He cites the historical record; in 2022, a majority Democratic county board voted unanimously to approve early voting plans that did not include campus sites. If there was such a need, Democrats should have included the sites then, he said. “Now we're being asked, suddenly, you must add seven sites and double the amount of sites, otherwise you're discriminating against someone?” Eggers asked. Guilford County Republican elections chair **Eugene Lester** is of the same mindset. Campus sites will be open on Election Day, and mail-in absentee voting is available, he said in a December interview with Carolina Public Press. Plenty of options exist, he said, because the board chose 10 sites he thinks serve the entire community. “We're certainly not going to look at one group and say that that group is more important than any other group,” Lester added. Democratic State Board member **Siobhan Millen** thinks excluding students sends the wrong message. “What you've done, is you've said in the primary, the grown ups are going to pick the candidates, and then in the fall, you all can vote or not vote as you want to,” she said. “What my point is, is that I think the primary sites should be as representative as possible and as similar, demographic-wise, to the general so that it's the same group that's doing the choosing.” After the Guilford County portion of the meeting, dozens of NC A&T students stood in front of board members with signs, asking why they weren’t included. In a [video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTdZI6WDeEu/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D) of the exchange, one student suggests that if their skin color were different, the outcome would have been too. Republican board chair **Francis De Luca** firmly rejected that idea. At the January meeting, the State Board also upheld the Jackson County election board’s majority plan, which cuts a historical Western Carolina University campus early voting site that has been proven to [increase youth voter turnout](https://chriscooperwcu.substack.com/p/why-campus-voting-sites-matter-the?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd4d1cfc1-6cbc-4de7-a011-383e511a019d%5F1946x866.png&open=false). ### Building a movement at NC A&T Transporting students to the polls won’t be cheap. Rozier and Rouse are raising funds for a shuttle to take students from campus to the Old County Courthouse, a 1.5-mile journey, for five days of early voting. Each day would cost about $1,500\. As of Monday afternoon, they had [raised](https://johnlewisyoungleaders.funraise.org/fundraiser/protect-ours?ref=down-ballot.info) $1,370. In the meantime, they plan to stage a march on Feb. 12 from NC A&T’s Dudley Lawn to the Old County Courthouse. The students are in discussions to partner with several local and statewide organizations in their effort, but were not ready to share a finalized list Monday. Their effort is not connected in any way with the university. State Rep. **Pricey Harrison**, D-Guilford, said NC A&T students have always been engaged in the voting process. “It's really commendable how energetic students are about voting, and I think this is a great commentary on that commitment to making sure that their votes are recorded,” she said. In the longer term, Rozier hopes this is a “turning point” for current and future NC A&T students. They want to work with county boards of election, not against them. They’d like to address and resolve any barriers in the way of placing early voting sites on their campuses so they don’t have to continuously relitigate the issue, she said. That will be difficult. Early voting decisions often hinge on turnout, which tends to be lower on college campuses. But while those numbers are important, they aren’t everything, Bunker said. “Students are our future,” she said. “... We have to be cultivating our students into being lifelong voters, and if we don't provide the sites for them to be able to vote, then we are doing a disservice to our future generation.” In addition, early voting on college campuses has always been a “partisan battle,” Harrison said. Republicans perceive campus sites as boosting Democratic turnout. It’s also sometimes hard to justify “student-specific” early voting sites that may have difficult parking situations for outsiders, she added. “But the population centers at these campuses are tremendous, and so from my perspective, it makes sense to locate them there,” Harrison said. Rozier and Rouse at NC A&T plan to coordinate with other student leaders across the state moving forward — both those who have lost early voting sites and those who want to maintain them. “We won't see these different attempts to get college voting to stop anytime soon,” Rozier said. “There is power in strategy, power in community. We hope to build a larger community where we can strategize together about what's coming next, what we're doing.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74308/protect-ours-nc-at-students-take-the-wheel-on-early-voting/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- ## Sign up for Down Ballot The best state and local government news Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. --- # Why It’s Hard to Sue ICE Officers for Abuse The civil rights law that has allowed lawsuits against local and state police doesn’t apply to federal agents. By [Cary Aspinwall](https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/cary-aspinwall?ref=down-ballot.info) Additional reporting contributed by [Jesse Bogan](https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/jesse-bogan?ref=down-ballot.info) *This article was first published by* [*The Marshall Project*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their* [*newsletters*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info)*, and follow them on* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/marshallproj/?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*TikTok*](https://www.tiktok.com/@marshallproj?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*Reddit*](https://www.reddit.com/user/marshall%5Fproject?ref=down-ballot.info) *and* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/TheMarshallProject.org). In 1871, bands of masked men were riding through southern states, terrorizing Black people with [murders, beatings and rapes](https://www.fjc.gov/history/spotlight-judicial-history/ku-klux-klan-trials-1871-1872?ref=down-ballot.info). Local officials did little to stop the violence because many of them supported, or in some cases were members of, the Ku Klux Klan. In response, Congress passed a law, often referred to as the [Ku Klux Klan Act](https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/ku-klux-klan-act-of-1871-april-20-1871-an-act-to-enforce-the-provisions-of-the-fourteenth-amendment-to-the-constitution-of-the-united-states-and-for-other-purposes?ref=down-ballot.info), meant to protect people from civil rights violations by state and local officials. The law has become a key piece of police accountability, granting Americans the ability to file civil rights lawsuits in federal court against state and local officers. But one important group remains exempt — federal agents. Following the recent slayings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minnesota, along with other violence against civilians, some experts are questioning why that same 155-year-old law doesn’t apply to employees of the federal government. Scenes of brutal arrests and violent encounters with federal agents have become commonplace in U.S. cities where the Department of Homeland Security has launched immigration crackdowns in recent months, especially in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Pretti, [a 37-year-old ICU nurse](https://www.kgw.com/article/syndication/associatedpress/the-man-killed-by-a-federal-officer-in-minneapolis-was-an-icu-nurse-family-says/616-fdcb2cee-12da-4a8b-9659-24800e63fe63?ref=down-ballot.info) for the Veterans Administration, was fatally shot in Minneapolis by Border Patrol agents on Saturday after he tried to protect a woman an officer had shoved to the ground. When federal agents use excessive force, infringe on people’s civil rights or fail to offer medical aid, experts say it’s especially difficult to hold them accountable in federal court. “There’s basically no right to sue federal officers for almost anything, including constitutional violations and including use of deadly force,” explained Joanna Schwartz, a law professor at UCLA who is an expert on police misconduct lawsuits. When local or state police use excessive force, victims or their families often file federal civil rights lawsuits. [Cleveland paid Tamir Rice’s family $6 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/26/us/tamir-rice-family-cleveland-settlement.html?ref=down-ballot.info); Baltimore agreed to [$6.4 million](https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/09/us/baltimore-freddie-gray?ref=down-ballot.info) for the family of Freddie Gray; and Minneapolis awarded George Floyd’s family a [$27 million settlement](https://act.bencrump.com/a/george-floyd-civil-lawsuit?ref=down-ballot.info). Schwartz said it is “a cruel irony” that Congress originally passed the civil rights law in response to masked men committing abuses allowed by state and local officials following the Civil War. “And here we are, 150 years later, and we are seeing federal officers blatantly violate the Constitution and laws,” she said. “And states are beginning to recognize that they need to step in to protect the citizenry — their residents — from violence and overreach by federal officers.” > In a recent [opinion piece for The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/opinion/renee-good-civil-rights-constitution.html?ref=down-ballot.info), two legal scholars argued that the loophole for federal officers should be closed and the new law should be named in Good’s honor. Jonathan Ross, the officer who killed Good, [could possibly face state criminal charges, but legal experts say the prosecution would face a number of challenges](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/01/17/ice-minnesota-officer-renee-good?ref=down-ballot.info). > Lawmakers’ refusal to [close this loophole](https://www.cato.org/blog/what-good-right-without-remedy?ref=down-ballot.info) in the 1871 act for federal officers is a bipartisan policy failure that has persisted for decades, said Alex Reinert, a professor at New York City’s Cardozo School of Law who is an expert in civil rights and constitutional law. “The Supreme Court has [made it hard](https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/court-again-rejects-extension-of-bivens-suits-against-federal-officials/?ref=down-ballot.info) and Congress has done nothing about it,” he said. “The other piece of it is: Every presidential administration, every Department of Justice of every presidential administration for the last 45 years, has argued vigorously for a limitation of the right to sue federal officials. So, whether it’s a Democratic administration or a Republican administration, they are all responsible for the space in which we find ourselves today — even as the current administration must be held accountable for flouting constitutional bounds in unprecedented ways.” Reinert said the killings of Pretti and Good have brought national attention to this issue, and that “has the potential to generate momentum for change,” but that effort may face significant resistance from the administration and Congress. Illinois passed [a law](https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/gov-pritzker-signs-bill-to-protect-immigrants-from-unjust-federal-actions?ref=down-ballot.info) last year that would allow people to sue federal officers in state court for violations of their civil rights while conducting immigration enforcement. The Trump [administration quickly sued to nullify it](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/trump-administration-sues-illinois-over-state-law-limiting-federal-immigration-actions/?ref=down-ballot.info). Ken Wallentine is the retired chief of the West Jordan, Utah, Police Department and the former chief of law enforcement for the state attorney general, and has served as a consultant on civil and criminal use-of-force investigations. He has concerns about what he’s seen unfolding lately in Minnesota. “I have a lot of questions about the tactics and use of force,” Wallentine said. If these deadly and violent encounters involved Minneapolis or St. Paul police instead of ICE and Border Patrol agents, he said, there would likely be some level of accountability happening, at least on the city, county or state level. There would be an investigation by internal affairs or the local prosecutor, or possibly an inquiry by another elected official or public body. For instance, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin received more than 22 years in prison for the [2020 killing of George Floyd](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/05/25/george-floyd-police-murder-anniversary-minneapolis?ref=down-ballot.info). To be sure, not all incidents involving excessive force claims against local police end in criminal convictions or lawsuit victories. But in Wallentine’s previous roles, he had to answer to a mayor or an attorney general who could fire him. And state and local police have to obtain and maintain licensure through a state board that can revoke it. That same system doesn’t exist for federal officers, he said. “There are so many accountability tools that don’t apply to federal agents,” he said. In fact, [several Trump administration officials](https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2011213308968538361?s=20&ref=down-ballot.info) have told ICE officers that they have [“absolute” immunity](https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/do-ice-agents-truly-have-absolute-immunity?ref=down-ballot.info). In the wake of Floyd’s death, [dozens of states passed laws](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/state-policing-reforms-george-floyds-murder?ref=down-ballot.info) aimed at reducing use of deadly force by police and creating a duty for officers to intervene in cases of excessive or illegal force or misconduct. This month, Colorado officials launched [a system for reporting complaints](https://coloradosun.com/2026/01/21/colorado-reporting-system-alleged-federal-agent-misconduct/?ref=down-ballot.info) of misconduct by federal agents. “Nobody is above the rule of law, including federal agents such as ICE or border patrol,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser [said in a statement](https://coag.gov/2026/attorney-general-phil-weiser-launches-online-tool-to-report-federal-agent-misconduct/?ref=down-ballot.info). Minnesota’s attorney general [has a form for reporting violations](https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Federal-Action/?ref=down-ballot.info) of civil rights by federal officers. The state also has a [specific law](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609.662?ref=down-ballot.info) requiring someone who fires a gun and knows or suspects they have injured someone to immediately render aid. [Some experts have argued](https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/minnesota-can-prosecute-jonathan-ross-but-it-may-not-be-easy?ref=down-ballot.info) that the agents present at Good’s death could be prosecuted under that law, because they reportedly never rendered aid and [prevented a physician from doing so](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/doctor-blocked-helping-renee-good-120017641.html?guccounter=1&guce%5Freferrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce%5Freferrer%5Fsig=AQAAAHeyPHM8JauTAc6NNQFuLVZspYjDsuGjyh0k4oFds-aSV-7vYambZ1Fl65ZFhnn4%5Fsi5ad70T7WLRtEnsqe522ZhjTdKaWRh7rySidd3EDRQYbb%5F1p8jnmWtrfJ-RW7ZHuaLitToseMjVVbjmKhb-MNAy5F4p96uXSM2dirSIJOE&ref=down-ballot.info). After agents shot Pretti, they didn’t perform CPR and initially refused to allow a doctor to examine him before relenting, according to the doctor’s [account in court records](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.229758/gov.uscourts.mnd.229758.109.0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). In the case of Good’s death, Wallentine noted, “you’ve got the head of the agency jumping up and down and thumping her chest and saying [this was a bad person](https://www.politifact.com/article/2026/jan/08/Renee-Good-Noem-domestic-terrorism-Minneapolis/?ref=down-ballot.info),” leading him to believe [any internal investigation](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5694955-noem-confirms-ice-review-renee-good-shooting/?ref=down-ballot.info) may not be fair or impartial. Similarly, within hours of Pretti’s death on Saturday, [Trump administration officials labeled him](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/us/trump-administration-minneapolis-shooting-response.html?ref=down-ballot.info) a “domestic terrorist” and someone trying to “massacre law enforcement.” Wallentine said he was a vocal advocate for a Utah law passed in 2022 that set minimum standards for an officer’s duty to intervene and report misconduct. He’s authored articles for police publications examining lawsuits in which courts held officers liable for [not intervening when witnessing](https://www.police1.com/legal/arresting-officer-liable-for-failure-to-intervene-in-force?ref=down-ballot.info) excessive force. “We require of our state and local officers a high standard of conduct, and we have a number of means to ensure that that standard of conduct gets met,” Walletine said. “And we ought to, as a society, expect the same out of anyone that we give a badge and a gun and the right to infringe on constitutional liberties. We ought to have the same standards of accountability \[for federal law enforcement\] — and we don’t.” Federal officers have used violent tactics during a number of incidents in Minneapolis-St. Paul: A family with six young children [had tear gas thrown at their vehicle](https://archive.ph/iGOl0?ref=down-ballot.info) when they were trapped in protest traffic. The mother had to perform CPR on her infant, and the other children were treated at a hospital for smoke exposure, the [Minnesota Star-Tribune reported](https://www.startribune.com/family-recounts-danger-chaos-after-being-caught-in-unrest-after-man-shot-by-federal-agent/601567401?cx%5FtestId=5&cx%5FtestVariant=cx%5F1&cx%5FartPos=1&cx%5FexperienceId=EXVOZKTWRZEY&cx%5FexperienceActionId=showRecommendationsYT9A9TEY4SF9344&ref=down-ballot.info#cxrecs%5Fs). Agents mistakenly [arrested a U.S. citizen at gunpoint in his own home](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/ice-elderly-hmong-american-citizen-arrested-st-paul/?ref=down-ballot.info), hauling him out in his underwear. Protesters have been sprayed in the face [at close range with chemical irritants](https://www.startribune.com/border-patrol-greg-bovino-smoke-canister-chemical-spray-ice-protests-observers-minneapolis-dhs/601568184?ref=down-ballot.info). On the morning of Jan. 11, Orbin Mauricio Henríquez-Serrano reportedly was on his way to work when he stopped to fuel up at a gas station in St. Paul. As Henríquez-Serrano sat in his car at the gas pump, Border Patrol agents in military-style fatigues and tactical gear swarmed his vehicle and ordered him out. In bystander video of the incident, Henríquez-Serrano appears to be on his phone when federal officers surprise him. Within seconds, they smashed the window and [forcibly removed the 27-year-old from a Jeep](https://www.reddit.com/r/Minneapolis/comments/1qc2o6r/border%5Fpatrol%5Fwith%5Fbovino%5Fpresent%5Fmightve/?ref=down-ballot.info), flipping him face down on the ground, cuffing his hands while at least one agent knelt on his back. He was soon limp and unconscious before agents took him away in a minivan. Some who watched the footage of Henríquez-Serrano’s arrest initially feared he might have died. He survived, and records show he was held at an ICE detention facility in El Paso the following week. HuffPost reported on Monday that [he was deported](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/orbin-mauricio-henriquez-serrano-arrest-interview%5Fn%5F69739043e4b0a02ab3a0f811?ref=down-ballot.info). Homeland Security officials didn’t respond to questions about the incident. The agency addressed criticism of the arrest in [a public post on X:](https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2010802240517521519?s=20&ref=down-ballot.info) “The subject refused to obey lawfully given orders and during that time a crowd formed. After multiple warnings and several minutes, Border Patrol broke the vehicles \[sic\] window and arrested the illegal alien.” His sister, Consuelo Henríquez-Serrano, told The Marshall Project in a phone interview that her brother did not have legal immigration status but planned to seek asylum, fearing gangs and corruption in his native Honduras. She spoke to her brother briefly on the phone from the detention camp, but was unsure about the extent of his injuries. “He’s not a criminal, he didn’t harass anybody, he didn’t have guns — they just took him,” she said. --- # Minnesota churches respond to ICE presence with prayer, solidarity by Brian Arola, MinnPost January 27, 2026 ST. PETER, Minn. — Pastors read Bible verses and a choir sang hymns, giving it the feel of a standard church service. The timing, social-justice themed scriptures, and songs and excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.’s writings set it apart. While demonstrators marched in downtown Minneapolis and businesses closed across Minnesota in protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Trinity Lutheran in St. Peter and other Minnesota churches opened their doors for prayer Friday. These services, held by [dozens of Christian congregations](https://www.iceoutnowmn.com/prayervigils?ref=down-ballot.info) in Greater Minnesota and the Twin Cities, coincided with “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth & Freedom,” a day of pause from regular activity, organized by faith leaders, unions and community groups. ### [*Related: Minnesota protesters brave subzero temps to oppose federal immigration enforcement*](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/minneapolis-gears-up-for-a-mass-anti-immigration-federal-enforcement-protest-despite-the-dangerous-cold/?ref=down-ballot.info) During a time when community members are feeling real fear, said Trinity pastor Scott Kershner, churches showed a commitment to the common good. “It’s to provide an opportunity for people to gather, to gain hope from coming together, to lift up our neighbors and support one another in a challenging time,” he said. ### **Church leaders respond to ICE activity** Some leaders of mainstream churches have been actively responding to Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s largest immigration crackdown yet. After an ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, ISAIAH, a coalition of faith organizations, [organized vigils](https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota/2026/01/vigils-spring-up-in-greater-minnesota-after-ice-shooting-rocks-state/?ref=down-ballot.info) and demonstrations. About 100 clergy members got arrested Friday after an ICE Out demonstration at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. They chose the airport because ICE’s deportation flights take off from there, and clergy wanted airlines to call for an end to the federal government’s operation in Minnesota. As outspoken as many Minnesota church leaders are against ICE, [protestors also recently targeted a church](https://www.minnpost.com/glean/2026/01/minnesota-ice-official-is-also-a-pastor-protesters-showed-up-to-his-church-on-sunday/?ref=down-ballot.info) where an ICE official reportedly serves as a pastor. Three activists were charged by the Trump administration after a demonstration at Cities Church in St. Paul. ### [*Related: St. Paul's Women with Walkers protest ‘the best way we can.’*](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/st-pauls-women-with-walkers-protest-ice-the-best-way-we-can/?ref=down-ballot.info) Friday’s service at Trinity Lutheran, part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, wasn’t a protest or rally, Kershner said, but rather a way to hold space for spiritual support. Nine clergy members from area churches came together for the event. John Odegard, pastor at Grace Lutheran in Mankato, said in an email that a service at his church on Friday was in part a response to the increasing number of people who are upset about ICE’s tactics. “People in our community are afraid to do normal things because they do not know if they will be racially profiled as they simply try to go about their day,” he stated. “In addition, there are many in our community who have expressed to me that they feel helpless to do something meaningful in the face of so much hurt.” Mankato and St. Peter, like other Greater Minnesota cities, [saw spikes in ICE activity](https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota/2026/01/ice-takes-operation-metro-surge-into-greater-minnesota/?ref=down-ballot.info) after Operation Metro Surge launched in December. Some St. Peter residents are afraid to leave their homes right now, said Bill Nelsen, a retired pastor who attended Friday’s service. “We have people who are watching out for each other, and particularly for our Hispanic and East African folks,” he said. Nelsen co-founded St. Peter’s Good Neighbor Diversity Council with Mohamed Abdikadir, a local imam. The community group, under new officers, recently voted to create an emergency response fund to support the needs of residents from vulnerable communities. ### **‘Foundational’ work** Spaces for prayer are important amid all the hurt that Minnesotans are feeling, Odegaard said. A church can be a space for grieving, hope and resilience. “My hope is that we will also be able to provide a little push for people to take even small actions of love toward their neighbors,” he said. “That active love is central to my faith, and it is what will help lead us forward. Faith should be a catalyst for a changed life, one that is focused on loving others in tangible ways.” As in St. Peter, services in Mankato, including one at Hilltop United Methodist, came together through a group effort from congregants and faith leaders. Other congregations scheduled services in Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding suburbs, plus Rochester, Duluth, Moorhead and other Greater Minnesota cities. In the 1960s, Nelsen served as a Civil Rights activist in Alabama under King’s leadership. Friday’s service included readings from King’s [“Letter from a Birmingham Jail,”](https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles%5FGen/Letter%5FBirmingham.html?ref=down-ballot.info) reminding Nelsen of the Civil Rights leader’s eternal hope for common good. “You don’t give up,” he said. “You keep working on it in any way you can.” Among the scriptures at Friday’s service, a passage from Leviticus stated its readers “shall not oppress the alien.” The alien, it continued, “shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself.” A faith leader representing more conservative Christian churches also cited scripture in calling for compassion toward immigrants. Lucas Woodford, a Minnesota district president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, pointed to verses from the Book of Matthew about loving a neighbor as yourself and welcoming strangers [in a public letter](https://www.mnsdistrict.org/engaged-in-mission/2026/1/9/pastoral-letter-epiphany-light-in-times-of-crisis?ref=down-ballot.info) following Good’s death. Church teachings can equip people for moments like now, said Elizabeth O’Sullivan, pastor at the Congregational United Church of Christ and Spirituality Center in Austin. She led a service at her church Friday. “It seems very foundational to the church to respond when our community members are afraid and literally hungry,” she said. She geared her service toward children, aiming to be a night of fun and connection for people who desperately needed it. Prayers focused on calls for peace, for a time when people can live without fear and with dignity, and for a place where might doesn’t equal right, she said. “These are really divided times,” O'Sullivan said. “There’s room to have different ideas about what would constitute a good immigration policy, and still say this is too much.” This [article](https://www.minnpost.com/greater-minnesota/2026/01/minnesota-churches-respond-to-ice-presence-with-prayer-solidarity/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MinnPost](https://www.minnpost.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/favicon.png) ![](https://www.minnpost.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=2220998&ga4=3376753669) --- # Tazewell County judge sped up redistricting ruling to beat General Assembly vote to move the case The judge had given both sides until next week to provide written arguments but acted before then to head off a Democratic attempt to relocate the case to Richmond. [Tazewell County judge sped up redistricting ruling to beat General Assembly vote to move the caseThe judge had given both sides until next week to provide written arguments but acted before then to head off a Democratic attempt to relocate the case to Richmond.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-8.png)Cardinal NewsDavid M. Poole![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/TazewellCoCH.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2026/01/29/tazewell-county-judge-sped-up-redistricting-ruling-to-beat-general-assembly-vote-to-move-the-case/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [David M. Poole](https://cardinalnews.org/author/david-m-poole/?ref=down-ballot.info) January 29, 2026 For Judge Jack S. Hurley, Jr., it was now or never. Hurley is the Southwest Virginia judge whom Republicans selected to hear their lawsuit seeking to block Democrats’ plans to gerrymander the state’s 11 congressional districts. The judge had given both sides until next week to provide written arguments about the applicability of a 100-year-old law dealing with public notice before the state constitution can be amended. But legislative Democrats — who accused Republicans of “judge-shopping” — turned the tables on Hurley by fast-tracking legislation that would transfer the case to Richmond Circuit Court and retroactively repeal the law in question. So on Tuesday afternoon, an hour after the state Senate voted along party-lines to approve legislation fashioned to take the case out of his hands, Hurley issued a six-page order finding in favor of Republicans. He ruled that legislative Democrats had sidestepped both state law and their own rules in a rush to redraw congressional districts before the midterm elections this November. Changing Virginia’s rules for drawing legislative districts became no easy task after 2020, when voters overwhelmingly agreed to enshrine a bipartisan redistricting commission in the state constitution. Amending the constitution requires voter approval, but only after the legislature approves the language twice, the second time occurring after a November general election for the House of Delegates. The process usually takes more than two years, but Democrats believe they have found a way to get it done in six months. The General Assembly first approved the redistricting amendment in a special session held Oct. 31, just a few days before in-person voting for state House elections. The second approval came this month during the opening days of the regular legislative session. Democrats are planning to hold a statewide ballot initiative on April 21 that would give voters the final word whether or not to approve a limited carve out, allowing the Democratic-controlled legislature to draw new congressional districts that would be used this November. Virginia Democrats point their finger at President Donald Trump, who has encouraged Republican states to gerrymander their congressional districts to flip as many Democratic seats as possible this fall. Texas was the first to comply, which prompted strongly Democratic California to respond in kind. Virginia Democrats — who control both chambers of the General Assembly — say they can’t sit idly by as Trump rigs elections in other Republican states. A Democratic group calling itself “Virginians for Fair Elections” sent out a fundraising appeal on Wednesday that blasted Hurley’s ruling as part of a GOP bid to silence voters from being heard in a referendum. “Right now, Republicans are trying to run out the clock, muddy the process and keep Virginians from voting on fair elections and leveling the playing field all across the county.” Those who oppose the plan note that the Democrats’ answer to more fair national elections seems to be sticking Virginians with manifestly unfair districts. Democrats say they may try to draw lines that create Democratic majorities in four of the five districts now represented by GOP members of Congress. “There is nothing fair about the map that’s going to be released on Friday,” said Brian Cannon, who led a bipartisan effort to approve the redistricting commission. “Gerrymandering disenfranchises voters and is fundamentally unfair. It’s morally wrong.” Few people were surprised that a judge from Southwest Virginia found in favor of Republicans. After all, Democrats will tell you that Judge Hurley ran for the state legislature in 1999 as a Republican. What was unexpected was that Hurley felt compelled to act before the deadline he had given to both sides. In his order, Hurley indicated that legislation ([SB769](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1095247.PDF?ref=down-ballot.info)/[HB1384](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1095034.PDF?ref=down-ballot.info)) that Democrats introduced last week made the case “ripe” for immediate action. The identical bills — which are expected to pass by the end of the week — would amend the current 2025-26 state budget to include $5 million for an April 21 statewide vote. The measures also include language that would stipulate that all litigation related to redistricting should be heard by the Richmond Circuit Court. More significantly, the budget bill includes language that would eliminate a state law that a notice of proposed changes to the state constitution must be displayed on the door of every courthouse in Virginia for at least three months before the state House election sandwiched between the two legislative approvals. The bill includes unusual language that would eliminate the law retroactively, all the way back to 1971 when Virginia adopted a new state constitution. In their Tazewell lawsuit, Republicans said the legislature’s first approval of the redistricting amendment last October was invalid because voters were not given the notice required by law. The legislative action took place only four days before the November 2025 state House elections. Democrats dismiss the law as an outdated remnant of the 1902 state constitution written in the days when people traveled by horse or foot once a month to the county seat for court day. In a floor debate Tuesday, House Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax County, noted that the three-month notice provision was removed from the 1971 constitution and only by oversight was the provision not excised from the state code. Surovell said the retroactive nature was simply a safeguard so no one could question the validity of any constitutional amendment passed in the last half-century. “It was thought it would be safer to repeal the statute effective to 1971,” he said. State Minority Leader Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover County, congratulated Surovell on his attempted verbal slight of hand. “If the law was in place, you can’t come back and say, ‘Whoops….I’m going to go back and undo that,’” McDougle said. > In his opinion, Judge Hurley ruled that a lack of required public notice was a fatal defect in the legislature’s approval of the constitutional amendment last October. > Hurley’s order uses ALL CAPS for emphasis. One paragraph reads: “Likewise, even if said passage HAD been valid, that no ‘NEXT ENSURING GENERAL ELECTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES’ has occurred the court ORDERS that any 2026 Regular Session vote on a proposed constitutional Amendment SHALL BE and IS construed as a FIRST vote under Article XII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution.” Hurley declined to be interviewed for this article. There’s no way to know if he watched the live Senate floor debate on Tuesday, but his order makes it clear he has been keeping close tabs on the legislation in Richmond aimed at his case in Tazewell. At the end of his order, Hurley took a swipe at the constitutionality of the bills. He questioned the notion that the legislature could pass a bill that would retroactively apply to the past. He noted the state constitution mentions only the application of laws in the future. Hurley also questioned the constitutionality of language that would transfer the Tazewell case and any other redistricting litigation to Richmond Circuit Court. He said the measure would be a “direct violation” of a constitutional prohibition on special legislation that includes “a change of venue in civil or criminal cases.” --- # Plexes, Pods, and Micro-Centers: New Family Childcare Models Are Bringing Business and Families Back to Main Street by Anne Vilen, The Daily Yonder January 26, 2026 When LeyAnn Gehlen-Wampler of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, gave birth to her son last year, she faced a common dilemma in rural communities: She needed to work to pay her living expenses, but the cost of childcare—if she could find it—would be more than she could earn in most jobs. The ideal solution, she thought, would be to take care of baby Kaysyn herself and get paid to take care of other children, too, but the childcare center where she once worked had closed. She thought about applying for a state license as a family childcare home, but “My house is too small, and there’s no way we could afford the start-up costs on our own,” she said. Then, opportunity knocked. Recruited by Julie Warner, an early childhood consultant for the city who had once been a family childcare provider herself, Gehlen-Wampler opened her Shining Stars family childcare home in [*Medicine Lodge Daycare*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxp6Q7rUBkI&ref=down-ballot.info), a model that could reshape childcare in rural communities. The Medicine Lodge Daycare flex-plex is a cluster of small, fully equipped childcare businesses in a mainstreet building. Crucially, although Medicine Lodge Daycare occupies a commercial space in the heart of downtown, the building was renovated into five separate rooms with separate entrances and outside playgrounds ideal for five independent family childcare providers, each caring for a small group of mixed-age infants and toddlers. “That’s where the innovation is,” said City Administrator Brian Withrow. The space, owned by a non-profit, complies with state regulations for childcare centers, but is occupied by licensed *family* childcare providers who don’t need to meet the more rigorous standards for childcare center administrators. Through a mix of local, state, and federal grants, the town also paid for furniture, curriculum materials, licensing support, and even the first year of liability insurance. “It’s the only way I could have opened,” Gehlen-Wampler said. “Here I also have a supportive community of other providers to turn to. This opportunity has truly been life-changing for my family.” It’s also been life-changing for the town’s businesses and families, said city councilman Matt Forsyth. “What it means for downtown is huge. It keeps Main Street alive in a small town where most main streets are dying. I'm a business owner myself. I've had trouble finding spots for my own kids, and this is going to allow everybody to have a spot for their children and know that they're well taken care of in this great facility.” ### **A Housing Model That Works for Child Care—and for Rural Economies** The “plex” concept seems simple: Build or convert small homes—typically one- or two-bedroom units—and lease them at below-market rates to licensed family childcare providers. In reality, implementing the concept is more complicated. States have different regulations for and even definitions of family childcare; many explicitly or implicitly require that family childcare providers live in the residence where they care for children. Kansas is one of just seven states (the others are Alaska, Missouri, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, and Wisconsin) that allow family childcare providers to operate in non-residential settings such as schools, businesses, or hospitals, according to [Opportunities Exchange](https://www.oppex.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a non-profit working to transform early education programs so that they can be sustainable and also high quality. This allowance paved the way for the state to allow the Medicine Lodge businesses to operate under *family* childcare licenses with fewer restrictions than those regulating larger childcare centers. A center has to have a director who doesn’t care for kids, multiple teachers, commercial insurance, and expensive building upgrades like sprinkler systems, according to Julie Lyon, a consultant who helped shepherd the development of a childcare triplex in nearby Greensburg, Kansas. “It’s cost-prohibitive for a small town,” Lyon said. By contrast, Greensburg’s three single-family units cost $417,028 in total to build. The city of Greensburg and its partners used American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, grants from regional foundations and the childcare coalition, and local development funds to cover construction, sidewalks, playgrounds, furnishings, and materials. An added bonus: If the community someday needs more housing instead of childcare, each unit could be converted to a rental home, increasing the town’s affordable housing stock. ### **A New Business with Work-Life Balance** For Kasha Unruh, a mother of three and longtime caregiver, the flex plex model was the only viable path to opening a licensed family childcare home. Her mortgage agreement prevents running a business in her own home. But in October 2025, with support from Lyon and the city, she opened her family childcare program in the Greensburg triplex. She now cares for seven children—including two of her own—and because the program isn’t in her actual home, enjoys a work-life balance that is rare for home-based childcare providers. After a city rent subsidy, Unruh pays just $300 a month for the space. She covers her own insurance, utilities, and licensing fees, while the nonprofit owner handles building maintenance and ensures the facility meets licensing requirements. The lower overhead lets her keep childcare affordable: less than $150 per week per child—far below the U.S. average. ### **Shared Community, Shared Costs, Shared Solutions** One of the biggest advantages of placing multiple providers together is the built-in community**.** In both Medicine Lodge and Greensburg, providers can collaborate on vacation schedules, hire a shared substitute teacher for the day, and use the same research-based multi-age curriculum designed by a retired local educator. The towns also offer backend administrative support—something typically available only in larger commercial centers. Consultants help providers write business plans, file taxes, and develop sustainable operating strategies. Lyon manages a provider substitute pool that serves the whole county and has become a recruitment tool to bolster the childcare supply. Two of the three substitutes she hired later opened their own home-based childcare businesses. To encourage long-term stability, the local economic development commission also created a $5,000 retention bonus for providers who keep their businesses open beyond the first year. Ninety percent of recipients spent the money on critical business needs like insurance, transportation, and building repairs, according to Lyon. ### **Micro-Centers are the “Right Size” for Many Communities** While the flex plex model is working well in Kansas, another small-scale childcare model allows greater flexibility and possibility, said Louise Stoney, the co-founder of [Opportunities Exchange](https://www.oppex.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “If you want childcare supply in rural areas, we have to think differently, and we have to think small, and we have to make small possible,” she said. Micro-centers, like flex plexes, are operated by family childcare providers caring for small groups of up to 30 children in mixed-age classrooms. But, they operate in *commercial* spaces, often spaces that are provided free-of-charge by an employer, city, or housing development. The model is based on [Chambliss Center for Children](https://www.chamblisscenter.org/micro-centers?ref=down-ballot.info) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which operates 24-hour care serving infants through 12-year olds in microcenters located in local schools. “The most essential thing for sustainability for a childcare program is full enrollment every day, every seat,” according to Stoney. To achieve that in small towns, it needs to be regulated the way family childcare programs are – allowing for mixed ages of children and not requiring a supervising teacher with an advanced degree. Stoney has worked with policy makers in places like North Dakota and Indiana to [“rightsize” their licensing](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f4d7a7ef6c82325c5ec80c0/t/672e3138d893cb6b3fbb4113/1731080505462/OppEx%5F2024%5FIssue+Brief%5FLicensing+Regs.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), zoning regulations, even building and fire codes to allow family childcare providers to expand into microcenters that operate outside their own homes and closer to where people work. In [Indiana](https://www.in.gov/fssa/carefinder/oecosl-micro-facility-pilot-program/?ref=down-ballot.info), the Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning (OECOSL), streamlined its licensing categories to support a Micro-Facility Pilot program that launched in early 2025\. Six existing childcare centers applied to open smaller satellites in rural or small town libraries, schools, and shopping centers. The new regulations are tailored to smaller settings; they allow children to bring their own lunches and snacks, support mixed-age groups, and draw on the resources of the larger micro-facility hub for staffing and administrative support. ### **Child Care That Fits Families, Providers, and Employers** Several small towns in [rural Minnesota](https://replica.startribune.com/infinity/article%5Fpopover%5Fshare.aspx?guid=87c65278-9ae9-4a46-8887-2291087caa09&share=true&ref=down-ballot.info), which allows family childcare providers to operate a business outside of their own homes (though not in commercial spaces), are building flex plexes, or “childcare pods” as they call them. One consulting firm, [The Business of Childcare](https://businessofchildcare.com/mapleton-mn/?ref=down-ballot.info), even offers communities a [pre-fabricated childcare home](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GcY3RQ4hCrIJl-PywNAcht%5FYt-zNuTRT/view?usp=sharing&ref=down-ballot.info) designed specifically for family providers. For about $288,000, said President Jeff Andrews, towns get a home built to licensing standards and a turnkey support package: project management, operator recruitment, communications, and onboarding until the provider is fully licensed. Andrews’ vision aligns closely with Stoney’s micro-center model. Whether a community needs a single childcare house or a micro-center serving 30 kids with three or four staff depends on the scale of childcare needs and accommodation outside of the provider’s own residence, but both can provide mixed-age, family-like settings. Furthermore, Andrews pointed out, a manufacturing site that operates two or three shifts would really benefit from a nearby childcare facility that is open 24-7\. Three family childcare providers could all operate out of the same childcare house, serving parents who work non-traditional hours as well as the 9-to-5ers. That could help alleviate the chronic shortage of workers that manufacturing plants in rural areas often face. The smaller mixed-age setting of family childcare is also [preferred by many families](https://homegrownchildcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Home-Grown-Child-Care-Fact-Sheet-final.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), especially those with infants or multiple children in daycare. It is often “the most familiar, flexible, convenient, personal, and affordable option for families,” according to [Home Grown](https://homegrownchildcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Home-Grown-Child-Care-Fact-Sheet-final.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), a funding collaborative that advocates for home-based care. It’s also an option that works for aspiring childcare providers like [Brooke Garvey,](https://businessofchildcare.com/tiny-roots-child-care/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Mapleton, Minnesota. The support she received from [The Business of Childcare](https://www.lmc.org/news-publications/magazine/sep-oct-2025/fosc-sep-2025/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the town finally made her long-held goal attainable, she said. Her business, Tiny Roots Childcare, located right on Main Street, will serve up to ten children, including her infant and toddler. “Quality childcare should feel like a second home,” Garvey said. “I want parents to feel their kids are safe, growing, and connected to the community. I want to be part of the parades, the town days, everything.” For her—and for employers and families in Mapleton—that’s a dream come true. --- *Support for this reporting came from the Better Life Lab at New America.* This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/plexes-pods-and-micro-centers-new-family-childcare-models-are-bringing-business-and-families-back-to-main-street/2026/01/26/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=236748&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # Europe gets ‘green energy’. These Southern towns get dirty air. by Tristan Baurick, Verite News New Orleans January 23, 2026 *This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Verite News and Grist, a nonprofit,* independent media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change*. This story is the first of a three-part series.* It almost felt like old times for the friends and family gathered at Robert Weatherspoon’s house. The living room couches and chairs were filled, a football game was on the TV, and the aroma of bacon and butter beans drifted in from the kitchen. What was missing was Weatherspoon’s voice. While his friends usually bring the food or cook during get-togethers, Weatherspoon is counted on to supply the laughs. The 67-year-old with an expressive, cherubic face has a reputation for devastating one-liners, off-color game commentary, and stories — skewed somewhat for comedic effect — about people everybody knows in Gloster, a mill town in southern Mississippi too small to have strangers. But shuffling from his bed to the living room had left him breathless. Weatherspoon took a puff from his inhaler, but his throat was locked and his chest was tight. He tried a joke on an old high school buddy across the room, and it fell flat, stalled between labored breaths. His next utterance was darker, whispered to the person with the closest ear. “I thought I was dying last night,” Weatherspoon said. “For 20 minutes, I couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t move.” An odd thought crossed his mind as he lay there, struggling for air. “I said, ‘Let me write something before I go. I want to tell about my life. I want to put it all down.’” ![Robert Weatherspoon sits in his living room in Gloster, Mississippi. Weatherspoon used to garden and jog but he says air pollution from a nearby wood pellet mill has harmed his health and curtailed his outdoor activities.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22171303/8W3A8793.jpg) Robert Weatherspoon sits in his living room in Gloster, Mississippi. Weatherspoon used to garden and jog but he says air pollution from a nearby wood pellet mill has harmed his health and curtailed his outdoor activities. The story of Weatherspoon’s late middle age might have chronicled an energetic man who still liked to jog, grow okra and peppers in his garden, chase after women, and make his friends laugh. But in 2014, a massive mill that turns trees into peanut-size pellets opened in Gloster, and “everything changed for everybody,” he said. Operated by the British energy giant Drax, the mill and two newer ones in Louisiana — near Urania in the center of the state and Bastrop near the Arkansas line — churn out billions of pellets each year to meet surging overseas demand for electricity produced by burning wood, what the company markets as “sustainable biomass.” Alongside the mills, in communities of mostly poor, Black residents, the air is tainted with cancer-causing gases and tiny particles that can burrow deep into people’s lungs and trigger a long list of health troubles. It’s not clear whether Drax’s activity has caused any particular individual’s health problems, but the mills release chemicals at levels federal regulators and scientists say can be toxic to humans. In living rooms around Gloster, on front porches, and between the crumbling facades and boarded windows along the town’s main street, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t believe their life was better before the mill, called Amite Bioenergy. “When I go out, I can’t hardly catch my breath,” said Helen Reed, a Gloster native. “Everything is worse since Drax came here.” ![Robert Weatherspoon other residents of Gloster, Mississippi, say pollution for a large British-owned wood pellet mill has caused a host of health problems in the small town.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22171224/8W3A8962.jpg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22171116/8W3A0045.jpg) ![Robert Weatherspoon and other residents of Gloster, Mississippi, say pollution for a large British-owned wood pellet mill has caused a host of health problems in the small town.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22171145/8W3A0452.jpg) Robert Weatherspoon and other residents of Gloster, Mississippi, say pollution for a large British-owned wood pellet mill has caused a host of health problems in the small town. Tucked into a remote corner of southwest Mississippi, Gloster is exposed to more particulate matter and releases of toxic air than most parts of the country, according to data from the [Environmental Protection Agency](https://pedp-ejscreen.azurewebsites.net/?ref=down-ballot.info). Rates of cancer, asthma, and heart disease are substantially higher than the national average. Gloster has other industrial facilities, but the [EPA](https://veritenews.org/tag/environmental-protection-agency/?ref=down-ballot.info) lists the Drax mill as the region’s only major emitter of toxic air pollutants. Wood pellets have been touted by European countries as a greener, climate-friendly alternative to coal and gas. Made from sawdust and comparatively cheap trees grown in the American South, pellets now power a large share of the United Kingdom’s electrical grid. Drax has turned the U.K.’s largest coal power station, a mile-wide complex in rural Yorkshire, into what is essentially an immense wood stove fueled with Mississippi and Louisiana pine. Raking in billions of dollars in both [profits](https://ember-energy.org/latest-updates/drax-profits-rise-as-electricity-generation-falls-show-new-figures/?ref=down-ballot.info) and government [subsidies](https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/drax-biomass-subsidies-in-2024/?ref=down-ballot.info), Drax foresees substantial growth in the coming years — especially in the U.S., where it’s planning new mills and an ambitious push into the booming carbon capture and storage business. ![The Amite BioEnergy wood pellet production facility in Gloster.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22171044/8W3A9474.jpg) The Amite BioEnergy wood pellet production facility in Gloster. In Gloster, the industry promised prosperity for the town’s 850 residents when Drax’s mill opened 11 years ago. Gloster, Urania, and Bastrop had once been booming mill towns, producing pulp, paper, and lumber for a global market. When those mills closed in the 2000s, the local economies collapsed. Drax was seen as a godsend — a rejuvenator of the jobs, money, and pride that come with a mill that roars with life. But many people say they’ve received little more than noise, dust, and toxic air: The three nearly identical Drax mills in Mississippi and Louisiana have been forced to pay millions of dollars for hundreds of pollution violations over the past five years. In Urania, a central Louisiana town about two hours northwest of Gloster, the penalties are having little effect, said Glen Henderson, a longtime Urania resident who lives a mile from Drax’s LaSalle BioEnergy mill. “I was born and raised in the area, and I love it here,” he said. “But if I get a chance, I’m definitely going to move.” Hassled by the mill’s lights and noise at night and sawdust coating his car in the morning, the peace and quiet Henderson hoped to enjoy in retirement disappeared when Drax opened the mill in late 2017\. ![map visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26770498/thumbnail) “We’ve always been a mill town,” he said. “I worked in the old mill after high school. But the mills we had around here weren’t like this. This is something else.” Michelli Martin, a Drax spokesperson, said the company is making strides to reduce pollution. “The safety of our people and the communities in which we operate is our priority, and we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously,” Martin said. “As a company dedicated to sustainable energy production, high standards of safety and environmental compliance are always our top priority.” Drax’s mill has only hastened Gloster’s decline, said Carmella Wren-Causey at her home on the town’s edge, where subsidized apartments abut a dense monocrop of loblolly pines. “We’re being poisoned slowly, right before our eyes,” she said. Tears ran down her cheeks and slid under the plastic tubes funneling oxygen to her nose. Diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Wren-Causey’s breathing has become so difficult that she can barely keep up with her grandson, a toddler who was scooting his bike near her oxygen tank. “God gave me breath when he gave me life,” said Wren-Causey, who blames the mill for her declining health. “Nobody should tamper with that. But Drax took it away.” ![Carmella Wren-Causey has had trouble breathing after Drax moved into her town of Gloster.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22171005/8W3A9257.jpg) Carmella Wren-Causey has had trouble breathing after Drax moved into her town of Gloster. ### **Breaking rules again and again** When Patrick Anderson, an environmental attorney, first tried to convince Mississippi’s environmental regulators that Drax was violating the state’s pollution laws, he boiled things down to a simple equation: 1 = 1\. Because testing showed one large pellet mill in Florida had been emitting about 1,000 tons of volatile organic compounds, known as VOCs, every year, it stood to reason that the virtually identical mill in Gloster was emitting roughly the same amount, he told the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in 2017\. But Drax was claiming its Gloster mill was keeping its emissions lower than 250 tons per year, the threshold that distinguishes “minor” from “major” sources of VOCs, a classification of pollutants that are harmful to breathe, especially for children, elderly people, and those who suffer from asthma and other lung conditions. The minor-source designation allowed Drax to avoid more stringent regulations and higher costs associated with installing and maintaining pollution-control technologies. “One of the most troubling trends in the wood pellet industry is that facilities that should face the most rigorous air permitting standards are actually the least controlled and the dirtiest,” Anderson wrote in a 2018 report for the Environmental Integrity Project. A year after the report, Anderson was proved right. In 2019, Drax disclosed to Mississippi regulators that the Gloster facility had been emitting an average of 796 tons of VOCs per year — more than three times the limit allowed under its permit, according to documents obtained through public records requests. The revelation resulted in a $2.5 million fine from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in 2020 and elicited surprise and anger from Gloster’s residents, many of whom said they were unaware the mill posed risks to their health. “When I first started having trouble breathing, I thought God was punishing me — but it wasn’t God doing that,” said Weatherspoon, who believes the mill’s emissions and his declining health are linked. ![Krystal Martin, a community leader in Gloster, Mississippi, shows a photo of the Amite BioEnergy wood pellet mill. She says air pollution from the mill is hurting her predominantly Black, low-income town.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22170929/8W3A8402.jpg) Krystal Martin, a community leader in Gloster, Mississippi, shows a photo of the Amite BioEnergy wood pellet mill. She says air pollution from the mill is hurting her predominantly Black, low-income town. In a letter to Mississippi’s regulators a few years later, Drax attributed its underestimated emissions for the Gloster mill to a lack of experience with pellet production. “The pellet production industry is a relatively young industry,” the letter said. “Several wood pellet facilities, not only Amite BioEnergy LLC, initially underestimated emissions in connection with the permitting of these facilities.” In neighboring Louisiana, state regulators also found that Drax had been breaking air quality rules. Drax’s mill near Bastrop, for instance, was supposed to cap its VOC emissions at 250 tons but had actually been releasing about 1,100 tons per year, according to a company filing with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. In 2022, the state agency reached a legal settlement in which Drax paid $3.2 million but admitted no wrongdoing. That settlement was the largest in more than a decade for Louisiana’s environmental regulators. But to Anderson, who now works for the Southern Environmental Law Center, it was also the extent of any serious efforts to rein in Drax’s pollution in Louisiana. When Mississippi determined in early 2023 that the Gloster mill had also far exceeded the allowable limits of what regulators call “hazardous air pollutants,” Anderson asked Louisiana’s regulators if the mills in Urania and Bastrop were doing the same. It was a question they couldn’t answer. A Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson said the agency doesn't require Drax to conduct routine testing for hazardous air pollutants, which include nearly 190 chemicals known or suspected to cause cancer, birth defects, and other serious problems, or a similar group of chemicals the agency refers to as “[toxic air pollutants](https://www.deq.louisiana.gov/page/taps-not-on-the-federal-hap-list?ref=down-ballot.info).” The state’s regulators also don’t conduct their own testing at Drax’s mills. In Mississippi, the hazardous pollutants [Drax released](https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Additional-Information-Received-for-Air-Application.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) into the air above Gloster included methanol, acrolein, and tons of formaldehyde, a chemical that’s far worse than being merely carcinogenic. “It’s also mutagenic and neurodegenerative, which is as awful as that sounds,” said Aisha Dickerson, an environmental health researcher at Johns Hopkins University. Formaldehyde has the potential to both mutate human cells and trigger brain disorders, affecting memory, learning ability, and behavior. Anderson said it’s mind-boggling that Louisiana won’t test for chemicals it knows can cause cancer and a host of other illnesses. In his yearslong campaign to get the state to change its ways, he attempted the 1 = 1 tactic, demonstrating that the Gloster mill is comparable to the Bastrop mill in Louisiana and likely has similar pollution levels. Drax itself has called the Gloster and Bastrop mills “nearly identical.” In letters to Mississippi’s regulators, the company attempted to avoid additional emissions testing by arguing that the Bastrop mill in Louisiana was so similar to the one in Mississippi that testing from one should apply to the other. “The (Bastrop) facility was built at the same time and is very similar to Amite, such that it has the exact same process design, equipment, production, rates, and the fiber is procured from a similar wood basket,” the company wrote. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22173319/3X0A2304.jpg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22173347/3X0A1797.jpg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22173257/3X0A2114.jpg) Drax’s Louisiana and Mississippi mills turn ground-up trees and logging debris into tiny pellets that are shipped overseas and burned in a power station in rural England. (Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today) In 2024, Drax admitted to what Anderson had been saying for years. Buried several pages into the company’s permit updates, Drax noted that both of its Louisiana mills had exceeded their “minor source” limits for hazardous air pollutants. Drax didn’t say specifically how much it had been violating the 25-ton limit for these contaminants, but the company noted a “proposed emission rate” of nearly 40 tons, according to permitting documents. Despite Drax’s admission, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has yet to issue fines, and a spokesman declined to say what steps, if any, the agency has taken to get Drax to comply with its emissions rules. The spokesman also did not answer several questions about its enforcement actions and air quality monitoring practices. Allegations about Drax have also come from within. In 2020, Louisiana regulators received an anonymous [complaint](https://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view?doc=12242295&ref=down-ballot.info) from someone with intimate knowledge of Drax’s two mills in the state. It contained a host of allegations about chemical releases, manipulated data, ignored safety testing, and poor wastewater management. The most serious accusation was that “each facility has literally hundreds of hours of uncontrolled venting” of harmful chemicals annually, including episodes that “would easily” exceed limits on acrolein, a chemical that can irritate eyes and lungs and, according to scientists, is “[probably carcinogenic](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045%2820%2930727-0/abstract?ref=down-ballot.info).” “Any mention of these items will cause senior management to threaten termination,” the complaint said. It also alleged that the two mills “manipulate” data “to avoid defined permit deviations.” When the state’s inspectors followed up, they found no evidence of emissions violations in data and equipment records provided by Drax. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s inspection report did not address the alleged threats of firings or manipulated data. Inspectors partially substantiated the allegations about improper waste disposal: During an inspection of the Urania mill, they found that Drax was burning waste sludge without a permit. Drax denied the allegations, noting that the waste-disposal issue was “not a normal condition” and that the company continually works with regulators to address environmental concerns. The ultrafine dust expelled by Drax’s mills is another major health concern, Dickerson said. The particles released during a mill’s operations are so tiny that they can slip past the lung’s defenses and penetrate the bloodstream. “Eventually, these particles can be transported to the brain and other organs,” Dickerson said, listing cognitive impairment and stroke among the problems that can develop. “You may not see symptoms immediately, but constant exposure could mean issues down the line.” Drax has made several upgrades and changes to reduce emissions, particularly VOCs. In 2021, the company installed a thermal oxidizer at the Gloster mill that breaks down these compounds. “We care deeply about the safety of our people and the residents of the communities in which we operate, and we take our environmental responsibilities and compliance extremely seriously,” said Matt White, vice president of Drax’s North American operations. “Compliance is at the foundation of everything we do, and we have invested a lot of hours and resources with the goal of continuously improving our operations.” Despite the upgrades, Drax continues to incur fines for pollution violations. In late 2024, Drax agreed to [pay $225,000](https://mississippitoday.org/2024/09/12/drax-receives-another-fine-for-air-pollution-violations-in-gloster/?ref=down-ballot.info) for exceeding the Gloster mill’s limits for hazardous air pollutants, particularly methanol. The state also cited Drax for failing to conduct required emissions tests and maintain pollution controls and proper records. The company’s financial penalties, which add up to about $6 million, are dwarfed by its profits, which have [topped $1 billion in recent years](https://www.drax.com/investors/financial-performance/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Drax is so profitable and so subsidized that it powers through all of this,” Anderson said. “The fines don’t hurt their bottom line.” In April 2025, amid complaints from residents, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, or MDEQ, denied Drax permission to increase its emissions. Six months later, it [reversed that decision](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/10/16/state-changes-course-gives-wood-pellet-maker-drax-a-permit-to-increase-emissions/?ref=down-ballot.info), allowing the Gloster mill to become a “major source” of hazardous air pollutants. The October 15 permit ruling essentially gives Drax permission to release pollutants at the levels that got it in trouble when it was classified as a minor emitter. A group of Gloster residents immediately [filed a federal lawsuit](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/17/mississippi-suit-drax-biomass-air-pollution?ref=down-ballot.info) against Drax, alleging that the company unlawfully exposed people to “massive amounts of toxic pollutants.” Drax has “consistently failed to meet their legal obligations not to dump pollutants … and have continued to denude U.S. forests, all for the benefit of a British company,” the lawsuit alleges. In a motion to dismiss the case, Drax’s lawyers argued that the lawsuit fails to show “particularized injury that is traceable to (the Gloster mill’s) conduct.” A representative from the MDEQ declined to comment on the permit decision and lawsuit but said that “MDEQ takes seriously its obligations to protect human health and the environment.” A Drax spokesperson said the company was “pleased that (MDEQ) has listened to the clear recommendations of its own technical staff and the voices of Gloster community leaders, local businesses, and a large number of our neighbors in Gloster,” adding that the “permit will allow our plant to continue to operate, enabling us to continue providing much needed well-paying jobs in this rural corner of Mississippi, and support hundreds more across the state’s forestry and lumber industries.” The spokesperson said that "MDEQ's conditions, inspection regime, and our commitment to continue to invest in compliance and improving operational standards will ensure that Drax at Amite operates as safely and efficiently as possible.” ![A crane whisks logs into the Drax wood pellet mill in Gloster, Mississippi.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22170848/8W3A9136.jpg) A crane whisks logs into the Drax wood pellet mill in Gloster, Mississippi. ### **The pellet town ‘algorithm’**? Pellet manufacturers seem to have a particular set of criteria that guides them to places like Gloster, Urania, and Bastrop, said Erika Walker, an epidemiologist at Brown University who has been researching the effects of noise and pollution in communities that host pellet mills. “It’s like there’s an algorithm that tells you where vulnerable communities are, and where people are not going to ask questions,” she said. “If you need to piss on the side of the road, where do you go? A dark area where nobody’s looking.” Pellet mills in the South are 50 percent more likely to be located in communities with a high proportion of poor and nonwhite residents, according to a 2018 study by researchers from Tufts University and the Dogwood Alliance, a forest conservation group based in North Carolina. Of the 32 mills assessed in nine Southern states, including Mississippi and Louisiana, 18 were in counties or parishes with poverty rates above the state median. Louisiana and Mississippi are tied for the highest levels of poverty in the United States at 14 percent, according to [federal data](https://hdpulse.nimhd.nih.gov/data-portal/social/table?age=001&age%5Foptions=ageall%5F1&demo=00007&demo%5Foptions=poverty%5F3&race=00&race%5Foptions=race%5F7&sex=0&sex%5Foptions=sexboth%5F1&socialtopic=080&socialtopic%5Foptions=social%5F6&statefips=00&statefips%5Foptions=area%5Fstates&ref=down-ballot.info). The national rate is just under 9 percent. Across the Deep South, state and local leaders are so desperate for economic activity that they don’t ask critical questions about what the facilities may mean for the environment or people’s health, said Dickerson of Johns Hopkins. “These communities all seem to have low-income, historically marginalized residents who might not have the time or resources to fight a permit allowing a pellet mill to come in,” she said. ![Krystal Martin operates the Greater Greener Gloster organization from a small office in downtown Gloster, Mississippi. The group opposes the Drax wood pellet mill, arguing that it pollutes the town while providing few economic benefits.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22170815/8W3A8167.jpg) Krystal Martin operates the Greater Greener Gloster organization from a small office in downtown Gloster, Mississippi. The group opposes the Drax wood pellet mill, arguing that it pollutes the town while providing few economic benefits. In Gloster and Bastrop, Black residents make up nearly 80 percent of the population, and more than 30 percet live under the poverty line, making less than $15,650 a year. Urania’s 700 residents are mostly white but look worse off economically. According to census data, the town had a poverty rate of 40 percent and a median household income of $12,400 — about a fifth of the national average. Martin, the Drax spokesperson, denied that Drax is drawn to areas with few white people and high poverty. “The inference that Drax uses an 'algorithm’ to take advantage of communities is untrue,” she said. “Drax uses a number of criteria to identify and select pellet mill locations, including proximity to low-grade roundwood and sawmill residuals, transport links, and access to local supply chain.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22180358/Verite-Tristan-WoodPellet-HeatMap-dBA-01.jpg) ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22180405/Verite-Tristan-WoodPellet-Location-Map-01.jpg) Walker said that Drax could alleviate many concerns about pollution if the company built its mills far from where people live. The best place to put a mill is “in the middle of the woods,” she said. The Drax mill near Bastrop may approach this ideal. Located 10 miles north of the town, the mill is surrounded by forested tracts interspersed with logging roads. “Honest to pea, I didn’t even know it was there,” said Linda Coker, who lives nearly 2 miles from the mill and is one of its nearest neighbors. In Urania, Drax’s LaSalle BioEnergy sits just outside the town’s limits, but a school, medical center, two churches, and several homes sit within a mile of it. The facility's location in Gloster is particularly troubling, Walker said. It abuts a mobile home park and other houses and is about a mile from a children’s day care center. “Literally, my first question when I visited Gloster was, ‘Who zoned this?’” she said. “It’s right out in the open. No acoustical barriers, no buffer of trees. It was shocking to see it operating right in the middle of the community.” ![Children walk home after being dropped off from their school bus in Gloster, Mississippi.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22170738/8W3A9364.jpg) Children walk home after being dropped off from their school bus in Gloster, Mississippi. ### **Noise, dust and questions** When the town of Urania was carved out of pine forests more than a century ago, its founder, a timber baron with a visionary streak, promised two often-incompatible things: industry and tranquility. In the late 1890s, Henry Hardtner knew “the living was really rough” around his expanding lumber mill, so he platted Urania far enough away from his business that his workers could enjoy “a welcome relief” from the noise, dust, and smoke, a local newspaper recounted in 1968\. The town, nestled among towering, sweet-scented longleaf pines, was named after the Greek goddess of the stars because, in Hardtner’s view, the site was downright “heavenly.” Henderson, the Urania resident who lives a mile from the Drax mill, wishes Hardtner could see Urania now. He’d have Hardtner sit with him on his porch at 2 a.m. to listen to the near-constant clanging and banging from the LaSalle BioEnergy mill and see its lights glowing over the tops of an ever-thinning band of trees nearly a mile away. At daybreak, Henderson would show off the powdery substance coating his truck. “This noise and dust — what are the long-term effects of all that?” he asked. “Nobody seems to know, or they don’t want to know.” There has been little scientific research into the environmental and health impacts of the relatively new wood pellet industry, but that’s starting to change. In 2024, Walker received a $5.8 million federal grant to conduct the first study of emissions from wood pellet mills on human health in the U.S. Awarded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the grant is funding a research team that’s in the early phases of a five-year study focusing on the noise, particulate matter, VOCs, and other emissions from Drax’s Gloster mill. The [first study](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667010024001902?ref=down-ballot.info) by Walker’s team, which includes researchers from the University of Mississippi and Drexel University, found that the noise levels in the small towns with pellet mills approach those of big cities. “The noise pollution in Gloster rivals my neighborhood, which is by an interstate in a big, industrial city,” said Walker, who lives just outside Providence, Rhode Island. Noise from the Gloster mill’s operations and a steady stream of truck traffic to and from the facility sometimes topped 70 decibels and rarely fell below 41 decibels. The rural Mississippi town of Mendenhall, which is similar in size to Gloster but lacks a pellet mill, was typically 10 decibels quieter. “That’s an enormous difference,” Walker said. “It’s like turning a faucet into Niagara Falls." In Urania, Henderson said the mill seems loudest at night and in the early morning, producing a discordant clattering when he’s trying to sleep. It’s especially bad on windy nights. “Get a north wind, and it’s rockin’ and rollin’,” he said. “It sounds like logs tumbling in a dryer.” The impacts of noise pollution on human health are often overlooked or ignored, but a growing body of research has linked chronic exposure to high blood pressure, heart attacks, anxiety, and depression. “Noise disrupts your sleep, disrupts your mood, and sets off a stress response that’s like your ‘fight or flight’ response, which makes your body ready to fight a threat or run from it,” Walker said. “The constant stimulation of that response can cause all kinds of health problems.” Drax says it follows all federal guidelines on noise abatement and conducts annual surveys of its mills’ sound levels, which it characterizes as no worse than other industrial facilities. “We also go above and beyond to insulate our buildings to mitigate any noise that would come from the hammermill and help prevent it from being audible beyond the fence line,” Martin said. “The noise from facility operation is consistent with the surrounding industrial plants and does not contribute to significant impacts above existing background noise.” Walker’s research is ongoing, but a few preliminary findings have emerged. One is that air pollution is magnitudes higher in Gloster, especially with VOCs, she said. Data from dozens of air pollution monitors installed around the town show clouds of pollutants concentrated around the mill and in neighboring residential areas. It also showed unexpected spikes during the night. That matches the experiences of some in Gloster who said they notice foul odors and find it more difficult to breathe after dark. “At night, it’s always worse,” Weatherspoon said. “It smells disgusting.” This could indicate pollution “dumping” during certain hours when people are less aware of the pollution, Walker said. Drax denied that the mill releases more pollution at night. “Any suggestion that we manipulate our operations to avoid complaints or detection is completely false,” Martin said. Another surprising trend was found in Gloster’s children. The closer a child lived to the mill, the heavier their body weight, the researchers found. “That was shocking,” said Walker, who has visited Gloster and communicates regularly with residents. “It fits with some of the things we heard at community meetings. People are steeped in the idea that you don’t want your kids playing outside because the air’s polluted. If they’re staying inside, how are they getting physical activity?” The widening base of research is leading some residents to think that the pervasive health problems in Gloster may be tied to the air they breathe, said Wren-Causey, who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Drax. “It’s not just people’s lifestyles or the work they do,” she said. “It’s about what Drax is putting into the air. Now people are making a ruckus. People are starting to open their eyes.” ![Robert Weatherspoon washes dishes at his home in Gloster, Mississippi. Weatherspoon says air pollution from a nearby wood pellet mill has harmed his health, and he now mostly stays indoors.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22170624/8W3A8858-2.jpg) Robert Weatherspoon washes dishes at his home in Gloster, Mississippi. Weatherspoon says air pollution from a nearby wood pellet mill has harmed his health, and he now mostly stays indoors. Sitting in his living room while his friends watched football, Weatherspoon said witnessing the dual decline of his body and his town has sparked an anger that his doctor warned could further harm his health. “The doctor tells me, ‘Don’t get pissed off or you’re gonna die,’” he said. A friend nodded in agreement, telling Weatherspoon he really should take it easy. Weatherpoon shook his head. “When I think about what’s happened to me and what’s happening here, I get pissed off in a heartbeat,” he said. Late in the football game, an out-of-town guest got up to leave. Weatherspoon tossed him a little gallows humor on the way out. “Don’t come back here if you want to keep living,” he said. “It’s no joke.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/23/drax-air-pollution-louisiana-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=27762&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- This article was [originally published](https://www.votebeat.org/2026/01/29/election-officials-respond-fbi-search-georgia-elections-office/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [Votebeat](https://www.votebeat.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. # State election officials project confidence after FBI search of Georgia elections office Jessica Huseman, Votebeat Jan 29, 2026 at 2:02pm EST *Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for* [*our free weekly newsletter*](https://votebe.at/nationalnewsletter?ref=down-ballot.info) *to get the latest.* The [FBI’s search of a Fulton County, Georgia, election office](https://apnews.com/article/fbi-georgia-elections-office-fulton-county-28e736037521b17197760d2394f0ab43?ref=down-ballot.info), sent shock waves through election offices nationwide that have spent years responding to [lawsuits](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7733m2rmz5o?ref=down-ballot.info), [audits](https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-55224511?ref=down-ballot.info), and investigations driven by President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. But state election officials — many of them gathered this week for a national conference — projected confidence afterward, saying their work has already withstood years of scrutiny following the 2020 election, and they have followed federal and state law. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, said election officials are “concerned” and “upset,” and believe “a certain individual is trying to intimidate us” ahead of the 2026 and 2028 elections. At the same time, he said, officials want voters to know they are running “safe, secure, and accessible elections,” with safeguards that are continually reviewed and improved. Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican and the state’s chief elections officer, said the only response to heightened scrutiny is strict adherence to the law. “We’re committed to orderly and fair elections, no matter what political party the voter belongs to,” she said. “But we live in a reality where politicians politicize stuff.” Those comments came as the National Association of Secretaries of State met this week for its annual winter conference, with the FBI’s search in Georgia hanging over the gathering. The conference schedule shifted amid the uncertainty, with NASS officials offering late confirmation that Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard would address the group on Friday. Tensions surfaced Thursday as speakers addressed the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive push for greater federal control over elections. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat and former secretary of state, referenced the Fulton County search and called it a “wake-up call” for election officials. Later, West Virginia Secretary of State Kris Warner, a Republican, introduced Jared Borg, a special assistant to the president and deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, noting that Borg had been asked to speak about the administration’s future plans — including the possibility of a second executive order on elections. Borg did not address that issue during his remarks and declined to comment when asked about it afterward. The FBI on Wednesday executed [a broad search warrant](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26514574-georgia-warrant/?ref=down-ballot.info) at a Fulton County elections office as part of a federal investigation into the handling and preservation of 2020 election records. A federal judge authorized agents to search for ballots, tabulator records, ballot images, and voter rolls, citing potential violations of federal election law. The search came a week after Trump [repeated his claims](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfa3FJfumzo&ref=down-ballot.info) that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and said “people will soon be prosecuted for what they did.” Trump-appointed officials at the Justice Department and [other agencies](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/joint-statement-elections-infrastructure-government-coordinating-council-election-infrastructure?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2020 said they had found [no evidence](https://apnews.com/article/barr-no-widespread-election-fraud-b1f1488796c9a98c4b1a9061a6c7f49d?ref=down-ballot.info) of fraud swaying the outcome of the election, and allegations of it from Trump and his allies were rejected [by courts](https://campaignlegal.org/results-lawsuits-regarding-2020-elections?ref=down-ballot.info), [election officials](https://www.npr.org/2024/09/03/nx-s1-5089981/election-vote-certification-concerns-georgia?ref=down-ballot.info), [and experts](https://lostnotstolen.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) after multiple audits and reviews found Trump lost the election to Joe Biden. The raid in Fulton County, which [Gabbard was present for](https://apnews.com/article/fbi-georgia-elections-office-fulton-county-28e736037521b17197760d2394f0ab43?ref=down-ballot.info), is the latest escalation of Trump’s efforts to use the federal government’s authority and resources to continue pursuing those allegations over elections. And it’s the most visible federal law enforcement step to date connected to Trump’s long-running claims of widespread election misconduct, raising concern among election administrators about continued scrutiny years after the election. Last week, Bondi [sent a letter](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/politics/pam-bondi-voter-rolls-minnesota-ice?ref=down-ballot.info) to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pressing the Justice Department’s demands for voter roll data amid tense discussions over immigration enforcement efforts there, prompting Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon to call it “an outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota into giving the federal government private data on millions of U.S. Citizens in violation of state and federal law.” Election officials have openly said they are preparing for a range of scenarios including potential federal intervention in the administration of the 2026 midterm elections. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, framed the FBI action as politically motivated. “This administration is weaponizing law enforcement across the board and in this case for the purpose of satisfying the president’s obsession with his 2020 election loss,” Fontes told Votebeat in a statement. “If Arizona is next, so be it. We’ve got nothing to hide and they’ve got nothing to prove.” ## Warrant leaves key questions unanswered The search warrant stands out for its breadth and timing: Issued more than five years after the 2020 election, it authorizes federal agents to seize nearly all of Fulton County’s election records from that contest, including ballots, tabulator tapes, ballot images, and voter rolls, rather than just materials tied to specific allegations. The warrant cites federal records-retention and election-crime statutes, though required retention periods have long since passed, and allows government attorneys to take custody of and independently review the seized materials. Both statutes are typically subject to a five-year statute of limitations, which would have expired in 2025 for conduct related to the 2020 election. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said he is not aware of any evidence that Fulton County destroyed election records before retention requirements expired and said the county appears to have preserved its ballots. Becker said the five-year limitation has run out and leaves “no possible claim” tied to how the election was conducted. Becker added that seizing ballots years after an election raises separate concerns, including new chain-of-custody problems that could undermine the integrity of any evidence gathered. “We have no idea what’s going to happen to those ballots once they’re seized,” he said, warning that such uncertainty could itself create evidentiary issues. ## A rare federal search, in a county long targeted by Trump Fulton County is Georgia’s most populous county, and encompasses most of Atlanta. Its unique position helps explain why federal investigators are still seeking access to physical ballots and detailed election records years after the election. The county has faced sustained litigation, audits, and public-records disputes tied to the 2020 vote, creating pressure to retain ballots and related materials long after many states stopped keeping them. That prolonged scrutiny overlaps with Fulton County’s central role in Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in Georgia, a Republican stronghold that flipped for Biden and also elected two Democratic senators in the same election cycle. Trump and his allies repeatedly singled out the county as evidence of a stolen election, even after recounts, audits, and court rulings upheld the results, keeping local election officials under pressure long after most jurisdictions moved on. The FBI search followed earlier attempts by the Justice Department to obtain 2020 election records through the courts. [In December](https://georgiarecorder.com/2025/12/12/trumps-justice-department-sues-fulton-county-to-force-release-of-2020-ballot-documents/?ref=down-ballot.info), the department sued Fulton County after officials declined to turn over ballots and related materials without a court order, arguing the records were sealed. The lawsuit sought access to the same categories of records later named in the search warrant, marking a shift from civil litigation to criminal process. Fulton County did not respond to an interview request, and the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office declined to comment. ## States say their systems have already been tested For election officials elsewhere, the Georgia search underscores just how atypical Fulton County’s situation has become. Many states say their 2020 election systems were examined exhaustively and are governed by clear legal timelines for record retention, making similar searches for 2020 records less likely. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the FBI’s search in Fulton County was rooted in “unproven conspiracy theories” about the 2020 election. While election officials welcome good-faith questions, Benson said, they reject efforts “driven by conspiracy theories” and “verifiably untrue claims” to use the federal government to intimidate election workers or interfere with elections for political purposes. Calli Jones, a spokesperson for the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, said the agency is notifying county election officials about the situation in Georgia but is not issuing formal guidance. She said the office is preparing in case a similar situation were to arise in Arizona and is available, along with its legal staff, to assist counties with questions about record retention. She added that Arizona no longer has 2020 ballots, because state law requires counties to destroy ballots within 24 months of an election. Pennsylvania election officials were “not aware of similar activity taking place in Pennsylvania,” a spokesperson for the Department of State said in a statement, emphasizing that the state’s 2020 election “was free, fair, safe, and secure,” with results upheld repeatedly by state and federal courts. *Jessica Huseman is Votebeat’s editorial director and is based in Dallas. Contact Jessica at* [*jhuseman@votebeat.org*](https://www.votebeat.org/2025/11/01/justice-department-monitor-new-jersey-california-elections-2025/jhuseman@votebeat.org?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* *Carrie Levine is Votebeat’s editor-in-chief and is based in Washington, D.C. Contact Carrie at* *clevine@votebeat.org* *.* *Nathaniel Rakich is Votebeat’s managing editor and is based in Washington, D.C. Contact Nathaniel at* *nrakich@votebeat.org* *.* Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters [here](https://votebeat.org/newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- ### BRIEFS: Spartanburg County could get another data center URL: https://down-ballot.info/briefs-spartanburg-county-could-get-another-data-center/ Last updated: 2026-01-28T21:20:49.000Z **DOWN BALLOT STAFF REPORTS** SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Spartanburg County is on track for another data center. The county is located on the North Carolina border and both interstates 85 and 26 go through the area. It's near Greenville, S.C., Charlotte and Asheville. According to a story from [WSPA](https://www.wspa.com/news/local-news/secret-deals-group-raises-concern-about-data-center-planned-for-upstate-industrial-park/?ref=down-ballot.info), a company announced plans to build a data center at the Tyger River Industrial Park near Highway 290\. TigerDC [announced](https://whosonthemove.com/tigerdc-announces-second-spartanburg-county-investment-with-project-spero/?ref=down-ballot.info) the data center and its $3 billion investment. Spartanburg County Council gave the proposed investment its first approval in November 2025 and there are two more votes needed for the project to be approved. Spartanburg County Council's next meeting is in February 2026. TigerDC developed a [bitcoin mining facility](https://whosonthemove.com/tigerdc-announces-second-spartanburg-county-investment-with-project-spero/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Spartanburg County that has been open since 2022. According to [Data Center Map](https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/south-carolina/?ref=down-ballot.info), the Palmetto State currently has 33 data centers. Spartanburg has four, Greenville has three, Columbia has five. Charleston has 15, the highest for the state. The state with the most data centers in the country is [Virginia,](https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/virginia/?ref=down-ballot.info) which has 568\. The Loudoun County community of Ashburn has 128 while Sterling, in the eastern end of the county near neighboring Fairfax County has 89. ### Feds restore mental health funds URL: https://down-ballot.info/feds-restore-mental-health-funds/ Last updated: 2026-01-23T10:00:58.000Z **It's Friday, January 23, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Feds restore over $14M in Mississippi mental health grants, two days after terminating them**,** Rural Communities Stand With Somali-American, Other Vulnerable Neighbors Amidst ICE Siege on Minnesota, Minnesota detainees denied visitors at Fort Bliss following 3rd death at ICE facility, Parents worried that proposed CO2 pipeline could have ‘catastrophic’ effects on nearby school, neighborhood, Building on a legacy of nonviolent faith-based activism in NC, Duke Energy Plans to Build a Massive Natural Gas Power Plant in Davidson County. **Media outlets and others featured:** Mississippi Today, The Daily Yonder, El Paso Matters, Cardinal News, Verite News, North Carolina Health News, Carolina Public Press, Inside Climate News. --- # Feds restore over $14M in Mississippi mental health grants, two days after terminating them by Allen Siegler, Mississippi Today January 15, 2026 Less than 48 hours [after terminating](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/14/federal-cuts-mississippi-mental-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) over $14 million of Mississippi mental health grants, the federal government informed organizations that their funding will be fully restored. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration cancelled nearly $2 billion of grants across the country Tuesday, [according to NPR](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/14/nx-s1-5677104/trump-administration-letter-terminating-addiction-mental-health-grants?ref=down-ballot.info). In Mississippi, government health centers, private nonprofits and universities were told to stop all work funded by those grants — mainly related to addiction and children’s services. By Tuesday evening, Mississippi Today had learned about roughly $9.2 million of cancelled Mississippi grants. Later that night, the state Department of Mental Health [accounted for](https://www.dmh.ms.gov/dmh-receives-notice-of-federal-grant-terminations/?ref=down-ballot.info) an additional $4.9 million that had been terminated to Mississippi State University, University of Southern Mississippi and the Mississippi Public Health Institute. Wendy Bailey, the mental health department’s executive director, said Wednesday night there could have been other terminated grants her agency hadn’t learned about yet. A Tuesday letter the federal mental health department [sent to grantees](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26474242-termination/?ref=down-ballot.info) said the cancellations were final because “no corrective action could align the award with current agency priorities.” But by Thursday morning, the agency sent the same organizations [a short message](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26484101-recission-of-award-termination-notice/?ref=down-ballot.info) to “disregard the prior termination notice and continue program activities as outlined in your award agreement.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/06073824/3X0A9364-scaled.jpg) Wendy Bailey, executive director of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, speaks to lawmakers during a Department of Mental Health appropriations hearing at the State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Nationwide, all $2 billion of the cuts from earlier this week were reversed, [according to Roll Call](https://rollcall.com/2026/01/14/hhs-cuts-2-billion-in-mental-health-addiction-grants/?ref=down-ballot.info). A spokesperson for the federal agency did not answer Mississippi Today’s call and email about the terminations and restorations. Four of Mississippi’s 12 community mental health centers, local public organizations that serve people regardless of their ability to pay, were set to lose $8.7 million. Phaedre Cole, the Mississippi Association of Community Mental Health Centers president and the executive director of a center that serves the Delta, called the unexpected terminations and restorations “whiplash.” She said she was encouraged by the swift, bipartisan pushback to protect critical Mississippi mental health services that were already underfunded. But the previous 48 hours had left her and other executive directors frazzled. “It’s terrifying to us because we know we are the place of last resort for thousands of people across the state,” she said. “If we are to disappear, we will not disappear quietly.” Shortly after receiving notice that the Department of Mental Health’s grant had been restored Thursday, Bailey said the last two days had been a whirlwind. But she’s grateful Mississippi mental health providers can continue providing important services. “We must remember that behind these dollars are services and supports that are being provided to our neighbors, friends, family members, and people throughout our communities,” she said. Communicare, the community mental health center serving Oxford and the surrounding counties, was set to lose more than any other organization [Bailey’s department heard from.](https://www.dmh.ms.gov/dmh-receives-notice-of-federal-grant-terminations/?ref=down-ballot.info) Melody Madaris, Communicare’s executive director, said the losses would force her agency to cut back on preventing opioid overdoses, restructure services for school children and halt other planned programs. Thursday morning, before she had officially heard that the federal government would restore her grant, Madaris said services funded by federal grants are often the ones most people don’t notice unless they need them — transporting people from rural homes to receive antipsychotic medications, working with food banks to deliver meals to patients and other resource-intensive services. “Those are the things we do to keep our community healthy,” she said. “Without the federal funding, these are things that we won’t be able to do as much of.” Right after the federal government sent her an email restoring the funds, she texted Mississippi Today: “A sigh of relief and back to work as usual helping the citizens of Mississippi struggling with mental health and substance use issues.” *Correction 1/15/2026: This story has been updated to show that Wendy Bailey's initial comments were made Wednesday night.* This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/15/fed-mental-health-funds-restored/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1164979&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Rural Communities Stand With Somali-American, Other Vulnerable Neighbors Amidst ICE Siege on Minnesota by Betsy Froiland, The Daily Yonder January 21, 2026 President Donald Trump inaugurated his government’s massive[ ICE operation targeting Somali-Americans in Minnesota](https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/12/02/report-ice-headed-to-twin-cities-targeting-somali-immigrants/?ref=down-ballot.info) in early December by calling the entire group of people, among other racist and xenophobic slurs, “[garbage](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/us/politics/trump-somalia.html?ref=down-ballot.info).” In his tirade, Trump blamed the entire Somali-American population in Minnesota, which includes about [80,000](https://www.npr.org/2025/12/03/nx-s1-5631809/somali-immigrants-minnesota-twin-cities-trump-ilhan-omar?ref=down-ballot.info) residents across the state, for the actions of a few dozen [Somali-Americans](https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/07/17/a-somali-american-investigator-heres-why-youre-hearing-so-much-about-fraud-in-my-community/?ref=down-ballot.info) involved in a [fraud scandal](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/us/fraud-minnesota-somali.html?ref=down-ballot.info) already adjudicated in court. He also echoed the [erroneous claims](https://www.startribune.com/city-journal-fraud-story-seattle-detective/601537870?ref=down-ballot.info) of right-wing Internet commentators that stolen money was used to fund terrorism. Not wasting any time, a clergy rapid response team gathered in a Minneapolis mosque the following weekend for an [emergency press conference](https://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-religious-leaders-unite-to-support-somali-community-and-condemn-trump-attacks/601539354?fbclid=IwY2xjawPUXUpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEyQ2E0ZTA1WEFnYUtPTGlVc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHlbBkHp9GZn4X2r-s0TTugON7kJMH4te-njafVcicH5gl8%5FEJvI1ZKaPGXfe%5Faem%5FiVRL7ch7Rw65yQ250kLQNg&ref=down-ballot.info) organized by statewide coalition [ISAIAH](https://www.isaiahmn.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). Rabbis, imams, and pastors from across the state gathered to collectively condemn the President’s hateful rhetoric and express solidarity with Somali-Americans in their state. “No human being is garbage, Mr. President, and shame on you for saying so,” said Reverend Paul Graham, a pastor from rural Northfield, Minnesota, who was serving at St. Ansgar’s Lutheran Church in rural Cannon Falls, Minnesota, at the time. Hundreds of thousands of viewers watched a [video](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DR-hcN2kdH7/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fweb%5Fcopy%5Flink) of Graham’s speech after it was shared online and reposted by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Cory Booker. Graham told the Daily Yonder what troubled him most about Trump’s rhetoric: “as soon as leaders who have a lot of power start talking about a whole group of people as something less than human, that is a huge problem.” Not only does it dehumanize people, Graham said, but it authorizes and even emboldens political violence against them. Indeed, since Trump’s “garbage” comment, his administration has unleashed [thousands of ICE agents](https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/report-another-2000-ice-agents-are-coming-to-the-twin-cities/?ref=down-ballot.info) upon Minnesota, raiding homes, businesses, and workplaces across Minnesota and arresting over 3,000 people at the time of this publication, often [violently](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/ice-citizen-observer-detainment-minnesota-whipple-building/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [without legal reason or proper warrant](https://apnews.com/article/ice-immigration-arrest-warrants-093a91cf0d3b2a93247dd83e9e5fac03?ref=down-ballot.info). While the hotspots remain in urban centers like Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the siege has spread to [other parts of the state](https://www.startribune.com/with-ice-surge-spreading-across-state-rumors-and-anxiety-grow-in-greater-minnesota/601562255?ref=down-ballot.info), including [small towns](https://www.wctrib.com/news/minnesota/ice-activity-reported-across-greater-minnesota?utm%5Fsource=email&utm%5Fmedium=newsletter&utm%5Fcampaign=dailyam&utm%5Fmarket=wctrib) like St. James, St. Peter, Detroit Lakes, Willmar, and Faribault. Rural Minnesotans are not standing idly by. Faith leaders, community workers, and ordinary residents are coming together to protect their neighbors. Somali-Americans are not new to Willmar, Minnesota, a town of 21,015 about two hours northwest of the Twin Cities. Somali refugees came to the town as early as the 1990s, according to Willmar Director of Community Growth Pablo Obregon, many resettling from the Twin Cities or other nearby towns. Obregon estimates that about 1,200 Somali-American residents currently live in Willmar. And Somali-Americans are not the first immigrants to call Willmar their home. “Willmar has been an immigrant community for a hundred years at least,” Obregon said. Before the wave of immigration from East Africa, there was a wave of immigration from Hispanic countries. Before that, a wave of immigration from European countries like Norway and Sweden. No matter the country of origin, motivations for moving to Willmar have looked similar: job opportunities and the generally welcoming culture of the town. Despite Trump’s baseless claim that Somali-Americans “aren’t people who work” or ““say, ‘let’s make this place great,’” Willmar’s Somali-American community has breathed new life into the town’s economy. Beyond contributing to the workforce at the local Jennie-O turkey plant, many have started their own businesses, turning a strip of shuttered storefronts in a downtown previously in decline into a vibrant business district some call [“Little Mogadishu”](https://www.wsj.com/us-news/a-small-minnesota-town-defends-somali-residents-as-critical-to-the-economy-41c0b57b?gaa%5Fat=eafs&gaa%5Fn=AWEtsqejUX9s7CgjaCu6RlJafbZd1%5FpXUyNJMKGGxKJPKh1FyCrVk%5FydzZgf7IbW8MQ%3D&gaa%5Fts=696640f8&gaa%5Fsig=TzAp5Gxd9nfQMuiPwmQ0wagr7PBsujaHQskPsdzajsrFOOp9zI9Rc6vbjo74YsKunbcnVY9jlDoAr0-nrSULTw%3D%3D&ref=down-ballot.info) due to the number of Somali-owned restaurants and grocery stores thriving next to long-established businesses in the community. “Many of our downtown businesses are now Somali-owned,” Obregon says, a story of resilience not only for the Somali-American business owners but also for the Willmar community as a whole. “They’re paying rent, they’re paying taxes, they’re complying with Minnesota and federal requirements. And that benefits the entire economy of Willmar,” Obregon said. Safe to say, Somali-Americans have done much to make Willmar great. For its part, Willmar strives to be a welcoming town for all residents. Obregon says there has been a sustained community effort to create stability and belonging for everyone in Willmar through equal access to wellness and health resources, children and youth programs, and leadership development opportunities. Despite their contributions to the community, Somali-Americans and other immigrant groups are under attack in Willmar as ICE presses into greater Minnesota. Willmar lies within Kandiyohi County, one of eight counties in the state that has[ agreed to assist ICE’s escalated operations in the state](https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/11/07/eight-minnesota-counties-have-signed-agreements-with-ice/?ref=down-ballot.info) and one of three with a longstanding agreement with immigration authorities to detain people in local jails. Just in the last few weeks, ICE has abducted several people in Willmar. On January 12, ICE agents[ violently arrested a 19-year-old Somali high schooler](https://www.wctrib.com/news/local/federal-immigration-agents-make-arrests-monday-in-willmar?ref=down-ballot.info) in downtown Willmar, dragging her into an unmarked vehicle as residents shouted in protest and recorded on their phones. On January 14, ICE agents ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant in town, left, and returned later that day to [arrest its owners and a dishwasher](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/willmar-ice-federal-agents-restaurant-workers-detained/?ref=down-ballot.info). Those are the arrests that made headlines. Longtime resident Julie Vossen-Henslin says that ICE has arrested many others too: a Somali woman taken outside her apartment complex, a woman taken in the parking lot of the local Goodwill, a person taken from their car, left damaged and abandoned in a snowbank. “It’s horrific,” Vossen-Henslin said. “\[My neighbors are\] being treated like animals.” The effect on the community has been palpable. The day after the 19-year-old Somali woman was arrested, 90% of Somali students did not attend school. Even before then, hundreds of children in Willmar have been [missing school](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/12/19/ice-rumors-cause-hundreds-to-miss-school-in-willmar-minnesota?ref=down-ballot.info) since December for fear of ICE. “People don’t want to send their kids to school, or get out of their houses, or go grocery shopping, or to doctor appointments, or even to work,” Obregon said. “And \[it’s\] not because they don’t have documents,” Obregon explained, as indeed the [majority](https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/most-somali-people-in-america-and-minnesota-are-citizens/?ref=down-ballot.info) of Somali-Americans in Minnesota are U.S. citizens. Even citizenship has not proven to be enough for ICE, with agents arresting many U.S. citizens including a [20-year-old Somali-American citizen](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/12/10/ice-agents-tackle-arrest-american-citizen-in-minneapolis?ref=down-ballot.info) in Minneapolis last month. Vossen-Henslin said that many of her Black and brown neighbors are afraid to do simple things like walk to their cars, whether or not they are citizens. “The fear, the anxiety, the uncertainty is present,” Obregon said. “And that affects the mental health of the families – children, parents – and affects the economic life of our community as well.” With a cloud over the community, Willmar residents are trying to build cover for each other. Vossen-Henslin says that a group of Willmar residents – lawyers, church folks, and high-schoolers alike – have been working together to protect their neighbors, from watching and documenting ICE arrests in real time to picking up the pieces after an arrest, identifying abducted neighbors so they can alert their family members, return their cars and belongings, and care for the homes, pets, and children left behind. Some residents are sending care packages to residents afraid to leave their homes to buy things like groceries and toiletries. Some have been sitting outside the local mosque almost everyday with orange whistles around their necks to alert the community if ICE agents show up. A 15-year-old resident has been checking in on classmates that have been missing school. The community has also been protesting. After the [fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/10/us/ice-shooting-minneapolis-renee-good?ref=down-ballot.info) in Minneapolis, Willmar residents held a [candlelit vigil](https://www.wctrib.com/news/local/willmar-community-honors-memory-of-renee-nicole-good-in-candlelight-vigil?ref=down-ballot.info) honoring Good and protesting ICE’s actions in the state. One local performed ‘This Little Light of Mine’ on a harmonica. Another sang and played ‘This Land is Your Land’ on his guitar. The day after the 19-year-old Somali woman was arrested, community members protested in downtown Willmar, holding signs with messages like “Jesus told us to love your neighbors, not deport them!” and “Stay warm, melt ice.” “We’re energized to help, but the heartbreak is deep,” Vossen-Henslin said. She worries about what will be left of Willmar if and when ICE leaves the town: the experience has left scars that she doesn’t see going away anytime soon. “People are going to need help if this ever ends,” she said. Still, the community is not relenting. “We are not letting \[our Somali-American neighbors\] walk alone during these challenging times,” said Obregon. “We are in solidarity with them. We work with them in their successes and we tell the stories about their successes. And these days, we are also working with them in their challenges. They are not alone. Pastor Graham is also standing in solidarity with fellow Minnesotans faced with ICE attacks, living up to his words in his viral speech last December. The key, he says: “sustained, local, strategic efforts.” These efforts started long before Trump ever uttered the word “garbage” about Somali-Americans in Minnesota. Since the dawn of the second Trump administration, Graham has been a part of a network of faith leaders from urban and rural parts of the state organizing through ISAIAH to resist Trump’s immigration policies. Just a month after Trump was inaugurated, hundreds of Minnesota faith leaders held a prayer vigil as Kristi Noem held a press conference at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis. “Many pastors and faith communities are saying, ‘we know this is wrong,’” Graham said. To Graham, this kind of community action is important because, as he put it, “once that kind of power starts being taken, as we've seen with the current administration, they don't give it back voluntarily. It's got to be people that rise up and say, ‘we're going to use our democracy and put a stop to this nonsense.’” Graham is not naive to the fact that things look grim in the state. But instead of falling into despair, Graham is falling into community. At the end of December, Graham and other rural pastors [visited](https://www.southernminn.com/faribault%5Fdaily%5Fnews/news/community-leaders-show-solidarity-with-somali-community-at-faribault-mosque/article%5F7818f252-db0c-4783-8ee3-7bc9f31d699b.html?utm%5Fcampaign=blox&utm%5Fsource=facebook&utm%5Fmedium=social&fbclid=IwY2xjawPBUSBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeVz5ZbEYT9EJkn-ihWeZQvPCUpM2RyeGJl5tWs9UjnoJMR2ebs4Ba4kDZUkA%5Faem%5FxCCpYuFu9VZgbr9-z72iZw) an Islamic Center in Faribault, meeting with Somali-American faith leaders to express their support for the community during this difficult time. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Faribault-Islamic-Center-1-1296x864.jpeg) Graham and local pastors meet with faith leaders at Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center in Faribault, Minnesota, to express their solidarity with Somali-American community. (Photo courtesy of Chloe Kucera from the Faribault Daily News) The greater Faribault community is standing in solidarity with their Somali-American neighbors, too. As ICE has deployed more and more agents into urban and rural parts of the state in recent weeks, community members in Faribault have started taking to the streets. Over 100 students [walked out of Faribault High School](https://www.southernminn.com/faribault%5Fdaily%5Fnews/news/over-100-fhs-students-walk-out-of-school-protest-ice/article%5F0173db96-e4a7-48e1-801c-495e23020320.html?ref=down-ballot.info) on January 12 in protest of ICE’s actions in Minnesota. Days prior, residents held a [protest](https://www.southernminn.com/faribault%5Fdaily%5Fnews/news/protest-held-in-downtown-faribault-following-killing-of-renee-good/article%5Fb1f62c31-0a19-4b18-9eea-c1f1492f8264.html?ref=down-ballot.info) on a busy downtown street corner with signs reading “I love my immigrant neighbor” and “Together we stand strong.” ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Faribault-Protest-5-1296x864.jpeg) Faribault residents gather to protest ICE’s actions in downtown Faribault. (Photos courtesy of Chloe Kucera from the Faribault Daily News) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Faribault-Protest-6-1296x864.jpeg) Faribault residents gather to protest ICE’s actions in downtown Faribault. (Photos courtesy of Chloe Kucera from the Faribault Daily News) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Faribault-Protest-4-1296x864.jpeg) Faribault residents gather to protest ICE’s actions in downtown Faribault. (Photos courtesy of Chloe Kucera from the Faribault Daily News) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Faribault-Protest-1-1296x864.jpeg) Faribault residents gather to protest ICE’s actions in downtown Faribault. (Photos courtesy of Chloe Kucera from the Faribault Daily News) “We are all interconnected,” said Graham. “We're all brothers and sisters. What's happening to Somali people is happening to my brothers and sisters.” Bringing it back to his faith, Graham said, “It's not overly complicated. Jesus said, ‘love your neighbor.’” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/rural-communities-stand-with-somali-american-other-vulnerable-neighbors-amidst-ice-siege-on-minnesota/2026/01/21/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=236810&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # Minnesota detainees denied visitors at Fort Bliss following 3rd death at ICE facility by Robert Moore and Cindy Ramirez, El Paso Matters January 18, 2026 People attempting to visit detainees from Minnesota at the Fort Bliss immigration holding facility have been turned away in recent days following the death of a Nicaraguan man transferred from Minneapolis, according to multiple sources. Victor Manuel Diaz, 36, was found unresponsive in his room Jan. 14 at the nation’s largest immigration detention facility, and attempts to revive him were unsuccessful, [the Department of Homeland Security said in a news release Sunday](https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-reports-death-illegal-alien-custody-el-paso?ref=down-ballot.info). The cause of death is presumed to be suicide, but the official cause of death remains under investigation, DHS officials said. Starting the next day and continuing through Sunday, people seeking to visit detainees at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility known as Camp East Montana have been told they can’t see people brought from Minnesota, multiple people told El Paso Matters. They asked not to be identified out of concern they could lose their ability to visit detainees. “I was told by the guards there, ‘Oh, are the people you’re coming to see from Minnesota?’ And we’re like, ‘Yes.’ And she's like, ‘They're not allowing the people from Minnesota to have visitors. They're out in Echo,’ which I'm assuming is part of the camp,” said a person who attempted to visit a detainee from Minnesota on Thursday, less than 18 hours after Diaz’s death. Others who regularly visit detainees at the Fort Bliss ICE facility as part of a humanitarian response have also been turned away, including Sunday morning, multiple people told El Paso Matters. Families around the country have relied on the El Paso visitation response to check on people detained at Fort Bliss and other area detention facilities as the Trump administration has taken tens of thousands of people in custody to deport them. ICE policies allow visitors to its detention facilities, including at Fort Bliss, but under tight controls. The prohibition on visitors to detainees apprehended in Minnesota did not occur before Thursday, multiple regular visitors to Fort Bliss said. DHS officials didn’t respond to questions from El Paso Matters about whether they were denying visitors to detainees from Minnesota held at Fort Bliss or whether the Trump administration was making any changes at the facility after the third death at the facility in seven weeks. Diaz was taken into custody Jan. 6 in Minneapolis as the Trump administration launched a massive effort to apprehend undocumented immigrants in Minnesota. Many of those being apprehended in Minnesota have been transported to Fort Bliss to prepare for possible deportation. An aggressive ICE enforcement surge in Minnesota – marked by the fatal shooting of [Renee Nicole Good](https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-immigration-enforcement-shooting-crackdown-surge-173e00fa7388054e98c3b5b9417c1e5a?ref=down-ballot.info) by a federal agent – has triggered [large-scale protests](https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-immigration-crackdown-51a05ca22098e07fa0499e59e49e6b22?ref=down-ballot.info), legal challenges and a [federal court order](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/16/ice-minneapolis-arrests-judge-protests-00735416?ref=down-ballot.info) restricting how immigration agents can engage with protestors. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/CB_CommunityPresser-15-1024x683.jpg) Protesters unfurl a large sheet painted with the preamble to the constitution during a press conference of religious and civil leaders who sought to encourage the El Paso community in the face of escalating ICE raids, Jan. 16, 2026\. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters) In El Paso, community, faith and civil rights leaders in El Paso gathered Friday and Saturday in Downtown to condemn what they call an [“alarming escalation” of violent immigration enforcement](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/01/16/migrant-death-homicide-ice-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss-east-montana-detention-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) and detention following the detainee deaths and immigration raids throughout the borderland. Charlotte Weiss of the Texas Civil Rights Project said over the last month or two, detainees’ attorneys have been required to make appointments at least 24 hours in advance to see their clients at the Fort Bliss detention facility. That poses challenges when detainees have medical issues, she told El Paso Matters on Friday after the protest outside the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse. “Because of the medical issues that I'm hearing – and I’m not getting emails daily since this week – for individuals that have severe health needs that are not being met, individuals who are not getting insulin, individuals who have broken body parts that are not being tended to, 24 hours could be enough for some cases, but it may not be for others,” Weiss said. Diaz is the third person to die in custody of the immigration enforcement agency in El Paso. [**READ MORE:** ICE custody death, immigration raids in El Paso spark calls to action, pleas for enforcement without cruelty](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/01/16/migrant-death-homicide-ice-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss-east-montana-detention-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, of Cuba, died at the Fort Bliss facility on Jan. 3\. Citing a recorded conversation between a medical examiner’s office employee and Campo’s daughter, the [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2026/01/15/ice-detention-death-homicide/?ref=down-ballot.info) last week reported that the employee stated the cause of death would likely be listed as asphyxia – and the death would likely be ruled a homicide. The El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office said Friday that the autopsy report is pending and that it does not release preliminary information. DHS in a news release said Campos was attempting to take his own life when security “intervened to save his life,” but that he stopped breathing and lost consciousness during the struggle. [**LEARN MORE**: Guatemalan held at East Montana Detention Facility dies after months of medical treatment under ICE custody](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/12/09/ice-detainee-death-immigrant-camp-east-montana-fort-bliss-el-paso-texas/?ref=down-ballot.info) On Dec. 3, [Francisco Gaspar-Andres](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/12/09/ice-detainee-death-immigrant-camp-east-montana-fort-bliss-el-paso-texas/?ref=down-ballot.info), 48, of Guatemala, died in an El Paso hospital after months of illness and hospital visits while detained. ICE said in a news release that medical staff attributed his death to natural liver and kidney failure. At least four other [ICE detainee deaths](https://www.ice.gov/newsroom?ref=down-ballot.info) have been reported by the agency since January, including a 34-year-old Mexican who died in Georgia; a 46-year-old Cambodian who died in Philadelphia; a 68-year-old Honduran who died in California; and a 42-year-old Honduran who died in Houston. The deaths remain under investigation. [**SEE ALSO**: $1.2B ICE detention complex opens at Fort Bliss in East El Paso under Trump’s mass deportation strategy](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/08/18/ice-east-montana-detention-center-el-paso-fort-bliss-enhanced-hardened-facility/?ref=down-ballot.info) The Trump administration last year initiated a significant expansion of immigration enforcement, using U.S. military bases as detention centers – with Fort Bliss serving as the flagship facility. ![](https://elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Camp-East-Montana-deport-1024x590.jpg) A Guatemalan man was moved from California Nov. 17 to this Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility to prepare him for deportation to Guatemala, despite a court order prohibiting that action. A federal judge in El Paso has ordered his return to the United States. (Cindy Ramirez/El Paso Matters) The $1.2 billion tent facility opened Aug. 1 while it was still being erected and expanded, taking in about 1,000 people within two weeks. The center averaged about 2,774 detainees per day as of November – the most than any other detention facility nationwide, according to the latest data available at the [Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse](https://tracreports.org/immigration/detentionstats/facilities.html?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonpartisan research center at Syracuse University. More than 65,700 people were reported being under ICE custody nationwide as of November. The Fort Bliss center’s capacity is expected to grow to about 5,000 detainees, making it the largest federal detention center for civil detainees in the country. [**READ MORE**: ACLU: ICE detainees at Camp East Montana beaten, threatened with illegal removal to Mexico](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/12/08/fort-bliss-east-montana-ice-detention-camp-el-paso-texas-aclu-letter-third-country-deportations/?ref=down-ballot.info) The detention center has been under scrutiny since it opened, with an internal ICE inspection report obtained by the [Washington Post in September showing dozens of violations](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/09/16/ice-detention-center-immigration-violations/?ref=down-ballot.info) of federal immigration detention standards. The [ACLU and other human rights organizations](https://elpasomatters.org/2025/12/08/fort-bliss-east-montana-ice-detention-camp-el-paso-texas-aclu-letter-third-country-deportations/?ref=down-ballot.info) in early December after a site visit released a scathing report alleging detained immigrants were subject to beatings and sexual abuse by officers, as well as medical neglect, hunger and insufficient food, and denial of access to attorneys. This [article](https://elpasomatters.org/2026/01/18/third-death-suicide-ice-custody-camp-east-montana-el-paso-texas-fort-bliss/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [El Paso Matters](https://elpasomatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/elpasomatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/cropped-epmatters-favicon2.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- [Mothers, daughters, Girl Scouts traveled to Richmond to watch the first woman become governor of Virginia“I am just so excited that our state is finally making this history-changing moment,” said a former history teacher from Wythe County who attended the inauguration.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-7.png)Cardinal NewsSamantha Verrelli![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_8578-scaled.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2026/01/17/mothers-daughters-girl-scouts-traveled-to-richmond-to-watch-the-first-woman-become-governor-of-virginia/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Mothers, daughters, Girl Scouts traveled to Richmond to watch the first woman become governor of Virginia “I am just so excited that our state is finally making this history-changing moment,” said a former history teacher from Wythe County who attended the inauguration. by [Samantha Verrelli](https://cardinalnews.org/author/samantha-verrelli/?ref=down-ballot.info) January 17, 2026 Sue Sprano spent most of her 23 years as a teacher focused on Virginia history. She taught students about the first governor, “some good governors and some bad governors” in between and the first Black governor in Virginia. Now she can tell students about Abigail Spanberger, the first woman elected governor of Virginia. Girls and women like Sprano came to Richmond from across Southwest Virginia to witness the historic event firsthand on Saturday. Sprano has been the school librarian at Spiller Elementary School in Wythe County for five years, after two decades of teaching. “I am just so excited that our state is finally making this history-changing moment,” Sprano said in an interview prior to the inauguration weekend. “I have two teenage daughters, and I am just so excited that every little girl can see that they can do whatever they want to do, and there is no stopping them.” She only had one ticket for the inauguration ceremony, but plans to bring her daughters to the Executive Mansion open house on Sunday so they can still experience the weekend, she said. Spanberger’s three daughters sat behind her during her speech, beaming at her, as Spanberger addressed the historical importance of her election. “On these steps, Virginia’s suffragists brought their cause to the General Assembly, session after session, decade after decade,” she said. “And though these brave women were voted down, time and time again, they refused to give up.” Sprano, who said this was the first inauguration she has attended, said she’s worried about issues affecting women, like “our freedom to choose what we do with our bodies.” She said while she likes to keep politics out of her conversations with students, she’ll definitely teach them about Spanberger — especially with Women’s History Month coming up in March. Some kids at her school, Sprano said, are told things at home that “are not the way things are really done in democracy and in the government.” “I try to be truthful with them and explain to them that there are politicians there that are working hard to make their lives better and to make Virginia a better place,” she said. Sprano said later that she was “stunned” as she sat in the stands, watching the inauguration. “She’s not afraid to say what she thinks. And I appreciate that,” Sprano said. “It was just wonderful.” Nikki Williams, chief executive officer of the Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline, which covers the southwest part of the commonwealth, said the experience of being at the inauguration was educational “in and of itself” for the girls. More than 200 Girl Scouts from across the state marched in the parade following the inauguration, and scouts from Southwest Virginia ran a booth during the Made in Virginia Market on Friday afternoon. London Graham, a 9-year-old scout from Dublin, helped sell cookies at the market. She said her favorite part of the Girl Scouts is selling cookies to make money to go on trips, like a recent trip she went on to a water park in Massanutten. When asked if she might like to be governor one day, she grinned shyly and nodded. Williams said Spanberger has been “incredibly supportive” of the Girl Scouts, as she was a troop leader herself and her daughters were involved in Scouting. She said the Girl Scouts can earn democracy badges and participate in Advocacy Day, where they learn about public policy and the government. Participating in the inauguration weekend helps the girls understand “how connected we all are,” Williams said. “It really is united in all of Virginia and allows us to be a part of that, and feel like we’re all one big family.” Meghan Carty, who lives in Bristol, said in an interview Wednesday that she’d be traveling almost five hours to witness the inauguration in person. “I’ve been there and experienced it,” she said of events like this one, “and then looked at how the TV portrayed it and it’s just not the same. There’s just something really magical when you’re at an event and to feel all the excitement of the crowd. The excitement of a woman taking the highest office in our state is something you can’t really experience on TV.” She compared that excitement to watching a favorite football team win the playoffs. Carty brought her 13-year-old daughter, Caroline, who loves learning about history. This will be a memory “she can take with her forever,” Carty said. “I work in a predominantly male industry, and those glass ceilings are really hard to break,” she said. Carty said her daughter recently told her that during the election cycle, a boy at school said he didn’t want to have a woman as Virginia’s governor. Carty said she wishes the political landscape weren’t so “divisive.” “I try to teach my kids to not demonize people for their beliefs,” Carty said. “Sometimes I think when we look and see where someone is coming from, it might make more sense and we can compromise more.” Standing beneath the stage where Spanberger had been inaugurated just an hour before, Carty and Caroline were excited to have been in the stands when the new governor took her oath. “It was amazing,” Carty said. “And I thought it would be a lot bigger. So it made it feel even more special.” “It’s really exciting,” Caroline agreed, nodding and smiling as her mother spoke about the day. --- # Parents worried that proposed CO2 pipeline could have ‘catastrophic’ effects on nearby school, neighborhood by Safura Syed and Eva Tesfaye, WWNO, Verite News New Orleans January 15, 2026 As a resident of heavily industrial Ascension Parish, Kheri Monks is no stranger to living near petrochemical facilities. Monks has been living in Gonzales for more than a decade. In that time, she had three children. All of them have asthma and were born prematurely. Monks thinks that exposure to pollutants might have led to their health concerns. “I just can't help but think, ‘Should I have not given birth here in Louisiana? You know, with all of the environmental concerns that we have?”’ Monks said. “I can't believe I'm living, like literally living in Cancer Alley.” Monks’ home is in the middle of “Cancer Alley,” the petrochemical corridor between New Orleans and Baton Rouge that is home to more than 200 chemical-emitting industrial facilities, which many researchers and environmental groups have linked to disproportionately [high rates of cancer](https://law.tulane.edu/news/tulane-study-louisianas-severe-air-pollution-linked-dozens-cancer-cases-each-year?ref=down-ballot.info), [pre-term births](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-5309/ad3084?ref=down-ballot.info) and respiratory diseases. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/15104435/20251207_CZB_SorrentoCO2_24.jpg) "I just can't help but think, ‘Should I have not given birth here in Louisiana?’” Kheri Monks has expressed concern over a CO2 pipeline being built near Sorrento Primary School, which her three children attend. Now Monks is worried about yet another petrochemical project in the works, one that would be built, in part, near her kids’ school. For the past several years, Pennsylvania-based chemical company Air Products has been working toward building a new hydrogen plant in Sorrento. The plant will process natural gas, separating hydrogen from carbon dioxide. But instead of having excess carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere, the company would capture the byproduct greenhouse gas and pipe it through Ascension, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Tangipahoa and Livingston Parishes, before storing it underground beneath Lake Maurepas. Because of its relatively low-carbon footprint, the project is being promoted as a “green” energy solution. Air Products declined an interview for this story. During a public meeting in November, Air Product's vice president, Andrew Connelly, said the project will, “dramatically reduce the world's potential impact on the environment and the surrounding community.” The project would be the largest carbon sequestration and storage project in the world, according to [Air Products](https://www.airproducts.com/energy-transition/louisiana-clean-energy-complex?ref=down-ballot.info), and will prevent most of the plant’s carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere and contributing to climate change. But critics have said the pipeline project puts vital wetland, including Lake Mareupas, at risk. Monks, though, worries about how the pipeline will affect her family. The hydrogen plant is being built near Sorrento Primary School, where her children are currently enrolled. The school, and the Orange Grove subdivision that it’s located in, would be just half a mile away from the proposed carbon dioxide pipeline if the project continues. And having a carbon dioxide pipeline can be risky — a report from [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/are-there-risks-transporting-carbon-dioxide-pipelines?ref=down-ballot.info) found that there are at least three carbon dioxide pipeline leaks every year. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/15104414/20251207_CZB_SorrentoCO2_22.jpg) Kheri Monks plays with her youngest son, Jon, 4, at Ascension Parish Library in Gonzales, La., on December 7, 2025\. Monks’ three children have asthma and were born prematurely, and she thinks that exposure to pollutants might have led to their health concerns. Although the chemical compound is naturally present in the air, high concentrations of it can cause dizziness, headache, and in extreme cases, [suffocation](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5380556/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2020, a leak in [Satartia](https://www.npr.org/2023/05/21/1172679786/carbon-capture-carbon-dioxide-pipeline?ref=down-ballot.info), Mississippi led to 45 hospitalizations and forced 200 residents to evacuate. Stricter regulations had been proposed to prevent future leaks near the end of Joe Biden’s presidential term, but those [proposals were tabled](https://veritenews.org/2025/03/07/trump-carbon-dioxide-pipeline-louisiana/?ref=down-ballot.info) when President Donald Trump entered office. To continue, the project needs a [coastal use permit](https://sonlite.dnr.state.la.us/dnrservices/redirectUrl.jsp?dID=15230517&ref=down-ballot.info) from the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy and a [Clean Water Act permit](https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll15/id/10016?ref=down-ballot.info) from the Army Corps of Engineers. Air Products submitted the applications early last year. Representatives from both departments said they will consider the project’s impacts on the community when granting the permits, but are more concerned about impacts to coastal waters and wetlands. Federal and state regulations require pipelines to avoid populated places like business, schools, and neighborhoods, said Patrick Courreges, spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy. But pipelines can still be within 50 feet of those populated places if they have additional cover to protect against surface ruptures. In fact, there are already [two active hydrogen pipelines](https://pvnpms.phmsa.dot.gov/PublicViewer/?ref=down-ballot.info) surrounding the school, one of which is owned by Air Products. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/15104351/20251207_CZB_SorrentoCO2_12.jpg) A new housing development is being built between the CO2 pipeline and Sorrento Primary School in Sorrento, La., December 7, 2025. The potential adverse health effects and little documentation of Air Products’ plans in case of an emergency, prompted environmental law nonprofit Earthjustive to partner with a scientist who modeled the CO2 pipeline rupture in Satartia and commission a [model](https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/co2-la-report-nov-2025-v2%5F11-10-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) of what a rupture could look like near Sorrento Primary School. “What this report shows is that the pipeline would put these kids and teachers in harm's way,” said Earthjustice scientist Cyndhia Ramatchandirane. “There would be a very large cloud of CO2 that would cover the area, the houses, the school very quickly — within like 10 minutes.” Because carbon dioxide is so dense, concentrations of it would be higher near the ground, where children are, Ramatchandirane said. The model predicts that the levels of carbon dioxide released could trigger respiratory distress and elevated heart rates in healthy adults, based on thresholds set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But it's unclear how the effects of CO2 exposure would be different for children who already have respiratory illnesses, such as Monks’ kids. Even if a leak is discovered and the pipeline is shut off relatively quickly, the model still predicts “serious health effects” for those in the school and in the neighborhood, Ramatchandirane said. And emergency response could also be slowed down in the event of a leak, as high levels of carbon dioxide in the air [prevent combustion engines](https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2020/02/27/yazoo-county-pipe-rupture-co-2-gas-leak-first-responders-rescues/4871726002/?ref=down-ballot.info), which need oxygen to work, from starting. Emergency response is just one thing that parent Estefania Aultman, who has been working to inform her community about the plant to prevent its construction, worries about when it comes to the project. Aultman’s son attends Sorrento Primary School, and she said the town doesn’t have the infrastructure to deal with a full response to a leak. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/15104520/20251207_CZB_SorrentoCO2_05.jpg) Estefania Aultman, a former insulator at Exxon who used to patch leaks, said that a leak near the school would be “catastrophic.” In an email to WWNO and Verite News, Air Products said it has engaged with local first responders through the [Ascension Parish Community Awareness and Emergency Response group](https://www.facebook.com/APCAER/), a collection of chemical and industrial companies that have plants in Ascension Parish working with local government to prepare for industrial emergencies. James LeBlanc, the group’s chairman and Ascension Parish’s fire chief, did not make himself available for an interview for this story. As part of an effort to improve community relations, Air Products has also made a $280,000 [donation](https://www.rpcc.edu/news/1801890/air-products-commits-280-000-to-empower-community-and-workforce-development-programs-at-river-parishes-community-college?ref=down-ballot.info) to the River Parishes Community College to start a year-long afterschool STEM program at Sorrento Primary and Lowery Elementary schools. The [program](https://epiclouisiana.org/e3-academy?ref=down-ballot.info), which started this fall and currently serves third graders, is meant to boost career readiness so that students can one day join the energy industry. Aultman said that students at Sorrento Primary don’t often have opportunities to pursue specialized afterschool programming. She has criticized the program and sees it as a way to keep parents from speaking out against the plant. “Do you think parents really want to talk about how they're against Air Products if they just funded \[this program\]?” Aultman said. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/15104455/20251207_CZB_SorrentoCO2_29.jpg) Estefania Aultman holds her son Lucas, 6, outside their home in Sorrento, La., December 7, 2025\. Aultman has expressed concern over a CO2 pipeline being built near Sorrento Primary School, which her son attends. Aultman and Monks said there has been little communication from Air Products and the parish about the project and its potential risks. Aultman said she’s reached out to members of the school board and Sorrento Primary’s principal, Honey Lundin, to ask if they’ve received information about the project from Air Products, but hasn’t received a response. In a statement to Verite News, Ascension Parish Schools spokesperson Jackie Tisdell said the district is committed to providing safe learning environments and collaborating with community partners. “Ascension Public Schools is focused on educating students and supporting their success,” Tisdell said. “We value our relationships with community and business partners who share in that commitment.” Aultman, a former insulator at Exxon who used to patch leaks by tanks and pipes, said that a leak near the school would be “catastrophic.” It’s not a risk she’s willing to take. Aultman said her family will move if the project continues. “We started looking for homes,” Aultman said. “We're willing to fight this, but if we can't get our voices heard and get enough community involved and engaged, like if it is just me speaking or a handful of people, it's just not gonna be enough. And I can't, I can't have my family here for that.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/15/air-products-carbon-pipeline-school/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=27661&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # 10 things to know about measles as cases rise in North Carolina by Michelle Crouch and Charlotte Ledger, North Carolina Health News January 16, 2026 #### **By Michelle Crouch** Co-published with [The Charlotte Ledger](https://charlotteledger.substack.com/) Measles, once considered eliminated in the U.S., is back in a big way. > Driven by declining vaccine rates and growing vaccine hesitancy, the United States experienced its largest number of measles cases in decades in 2025, with [2,242 cases reported across the country](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) and outbreaks in Texas, New Mexico, Utah and South Carolina. > In North Carolina, seven cases [have been confirmed](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/epidemiology/communicable-disease/infectious-respiratory-diseases/measles-rubeola/measles-cases-and-outbreaks-north-carolina?mc%5Fcid=ea05c7dbf5&mc%5Feid=3eb4740f0c&ref=down-ballot.info) since early December. Most are linked to a fast-spreading outbreak in Spartanburg, S.C., near the state border, where more than 430 cases have been reported. > Measles was also detected on Jan. 12 in Charlotte-area wastewater samples. It’s a sign the virus may be circulating in one of the state’s most populated metro areas, although no cases have been confirmed. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services recently [launched a dashboard](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/epidemiology/communicable-disease/infectious-respiratory-diseases/measles-rubeola/measles-cases-and-outbreaks-north-carolina?mc%5Fcid=ea05c7dbf5&mc%5Feid=3eb4740f0c&ref=down-ballot.info) that will be updated twice a week with new information about cases and sites where people could have been exposed. The state’s hospitals, clinicians and infectious disease experts are bracing for more infections, said David Wohl, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious disease at UNC Chapel Hill. “It’s not a matter of if, it’s when,” he said. “This virus doesn’t care about state lines, and the outbreak in South Carolina is growing really at a rapid clip. We are going to get more cases and have to deal more and more with what to do about measles in North Carolina.” Here are 10 things you need to know about measles as cases rise: #### 1\. **Measles spreads shockingly easily** Measles is one of the most contagious diseases in the world. Each infected person typically infects 12 to 18 unvaccinated others. It’s about 12 times more contagious than influenza, six times as contagious as Ebola, and three times as contagious as the original COVID-19 virus. The disease is so highly infectious “that you can actually get it if the person with measles was in the room two hours before you entered,” said Amina Ahmed, chief medical director of pediatric infectious diseases at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte. “Given how contagious it is, you need a very high percentage of the population to be immune for it not to spread like wildfire.” (That number — called herd immunity — is 95 percent. Read more about herd immunity below.) #### 2\. **The measles vaccine is by far the best way to protect yourself** The measles vaccine is safe, effective and usually protects for life, with few side effects, Ahmed said. In the U.S., the measles vaccine is part of a combination shot: either the MMR (which covers measles, mumps and rubella) or the MMRV, which adds chickenpox to the mix. There is no standalone measles shot. One dose of measles vaccine is 93% effective, and a two-dose regimen is 97% effective at preventing infection, according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/vaccines/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Unlike the COVID shot — which helps keep you from a serious case that can land you in the hospital but may not completely protect you from getting sick — the measles vaccine “is like a force field” that blocks you from getting infected in the first place, Wohl said. Federal health officials recommend getting the first dose at between ages 12 months and 15 months and the second dose between ages 4 years and 6 years. If you’re unvaccinated, you can request the shot at any time. You can get the vaccine from your health care provider or your local health department. #### **3\. Yes, measles really is that dangerous** People who have never seen measles may think it’s a mild childhood disease, but it can have devastating consequences, Wohl and Ahmed said. About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the U.S. who contract measles have to be hospitalized, with an even higher risk in children younger than age 5, according to the [National Foundation of Infectious Diseases](https://www.nfid.org/infectious-disease/measles/?ref=down-ballot.info). In addition, about [one out of every 1,000](https://www.nfid.org/infectious-disease/measles/?ref=down-ballot.info) people with measles will develop brain swelling that can cause convulsions, deafness or permanent intellectual disability. [One to three of every 1,000](https://www.nfid.org/infectious-disease/measles/?ref=down-ballot.info) will die, even with the best care. And measles can delete your immune system’s memory of how to fight other types of germs, Ahmed said. Doctors call it “immune amnesia,” and it leaves you more vulnerable to serious consequences other infections long after the measles rash fades. Recent research estimates that, historically, this immune deficiency [contributed to increased childhood mortality](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaa3662?ref=down-ballot.info) from other diseases. #### 4\. **Measles may look like the flu or COVID at first** The rash that everyone associates with measles doesn't appear right away, so it can be easy to mistake an early case of measles for the flu or another respiratory virus. Symptoms typically appear 10 to 14 days after exposure and include a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Some patients develop small white spots inside the mouth on day two or three, Wohl said, but they can be tough for non-medical providers to identify. The characteristic measles rash usually emerges three to five days after the first symptoms, starting on the face or forehead and working its way down, Wohl said. “It’s not something you see and say ‘I noticed it on my leg,’” he said. There’s no early test for measles, Ahmed said. The tests are designed to work after the rash appears. #### 5\. **Most vaccinated adults don’t need a measles booster** Because the MMR vaccine prevents measles for life, anyone who got two doses of the vaccine doesn’t need a booster,[according to the CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/vaccine-considerations/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info). If you were vaccinated before 1989, when health officials recommended just one dose, you are still 93 percent protected. However, [the agency recommends a booster if](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/about/questions.html?ref=down-ballot.info): - You were vaccinated between 1963 and 1967and received a “killed” version of the vaccine that proved to be ineffective. - You are a health care worker, college student or an international traveler, or are otherwise at high risk of exposure. - You are a close contact of someone immunocompromised or you have HIV. - Measles is circulating in your community. NCDHHS offers [a measles immunity checker tool](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/epidemiology/communicable-disease/infectious-respiratory-diseases/measles-rubeola/check-your-immunity-measles?ref=down-ballot.info) that can help you work through some of these factors. (Note: Adults born before 1957 are presumed to have natural immunity, because measles was so widespread before the vaccine was introduced, that they don’t need a booster, either.) #### 6\. **Verifying your vaccination status might take some digging** If you were vaccinated before the late 2000s, when electronic medical records became common, finding your records may be a challenge. Here are some places to check: - **Check your state vaccination registry:** If you grew up in North Carolina, you can ask your health care provider to check the state’s vaccination registry. You can also reach out to the health department in the county where you resided. However, you might not be in the registry even if you’re fully vaccinated, because the system didn’t launch until the 2005, and the state doesn't require physicians to enter immunizations in the registry, NCDHHS said. [Most other states maintain similar registries](https://www.cdc.gov/iis/contacts-locate-records/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info). - **Ask your parents:** They may still have an old vaccination card. You can check baby books and camp records. - **Check with previous health care providers and schools:** Many keep vaccination records indefinitely. You can also check military records. #### 7\. **If you’re unsure of your vaccination status, you may want to get a booster** Some people are asking their doctors for a blood test, known as a titer test, to measure antibodies. However, health officials typically don’t recommend the tests for vaccinated adults, because a low antibody level doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not protected. The test doesn’t measure the other parts of your immune system (such as B cells and T cells) that respond if you’re exposed to measles, Wohl explained. If you can’t determine your vaccination status, there is no harm in getting a booster, even if you already had two doses, Wohl and Ahmed said. “If you have any question about it, get the vaccine. Then you don’t have to worry,” Wohl said. #### **8\. You can look up the vaccination rates in your community** Because measles is so contagious, about 95 percent of people in an area need to be immunized to keep it from spreading. That’s what’s known as “herd immunity” — when enough people are protected that the virus runs out of targets. While North Carolina is close to that threshold with a [94.2 percent](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info#cdc%5Fdata%5Fsurveillance%5Fsection%5F7-mmr-vaccine-coverage-for-kindergarteners-by-school-year-2009%e2%80%932025) overall statewide vaccination rate, the problem is that many smaller areas within the state have much lower rates, Wohl said. To see what’s happening in your neck of the woods, you can look up the estimated measles vaccination rates for the schools in your area. [North Carolina has published](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/epidemiology/communicable-disease/infectious-respiratory-diseases/measles-rubeola/nc-measles-vaccination-data-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info) the rate for every elementary school in the state, broken down by grade level. #### **9.** **There is no cure for measles** There are no antivirals or other drugs for measles. [Treatment focuses on managing the symptoms](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/clinical-overview/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) with fever reducers, plenty of fluids and rest. While vitamin A supplements are sometimes recommended to reduce the severity of the illness, the [CDC emphasizes](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/hcp/clinical-overview/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that they do not prevent infection and are not a substitute for vaccination. If you’ve been recently exposed to the measles and aren’t immune, getting the vaccine within 72 hours of exposure or receiving a dose of immunoglobulin can sometimes help prevent the virus from taking hold. Parents should be on alert for a worsening cough (pneumonia is the most common complication from measles) and/or severe headache and sensitivity to light, which could indicate development of a type of brain inflammation called encephalitis. #### **10\. The U.S. is in danger of losing its measles elimination status** With so many outbreaks, health experts believe the United States could soon lose its measles elimination status. That status, which the U.S. received in 2000, confirms that a country no longer has continuous transmission of measles. Losing it isn’t just a blow to American pride; it could mean travel bans or other countries requiring proof of vaccination from American visitors, Wohl said. More importantly, it represents a major setback in the collective effort to keep preventable diseases at bay. “The reason we are seeing measles right now is not because of a mutation of the virus. The measles vaccine is still safe and effective. Nothing is broken,” Wohl said. “The only reason we are having this problem right now is that fewer people are getting vaccinated.” *This article is part of a partnership between The Charlotte Ledger and North Carolina Health News to produce* [*original health care reporting*](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/10/04/2-n-c-news-outlets-partner-to-enhance-charlotte-area-health-care-coverage/?ref=down-ballot.info)*. You can support this effort with* [*a tax-deductible donation.*](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/donate%5Fclt/?ref=down-ballot.info) This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/01/16/10-things-to-know-about-measles-as-cases-rise-in-north-carolina/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Building on a legacy of nonviolent faith-based activism in NC by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press January 16, 2026 **Susannah Tuttle** is a realist: whatever North Carolina faith activist groups have been doing hasn’t been working. Tuttle, North Carolina Council of Churches eco-justice connection director, never thought it would get this bad. Christian nationalists in the top circles of power. A conservative overhaul of the federal government guided by Project 2025\. Minnesota ICE protests turning violent. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a celebration of a faith activist who helped lead the modern civil rights movement with nonviolent resistance. The state’s faith activist groups are marking this anniversary by considering how to build a similar movement in a different age, one where social media, near-unlimited campaign money and political polarization may obscure their message. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** It’s a long game, Tuttle said. Almost everything needs to change. However, a few starting blocks may coalesce around another holiday, Valentine’s Day. Locally, the NC Council of Churches is helping voters send Valentines to state lawmakers, with the hopes of forming a relationship built upon mutual respect. From Feb. 11 to 14, a group led by Repairers of the Breach President **Rev. William J. Barber II** will walk from Wilson to Raleigh in the [“This is Our Selma”](https://breachrepairers.org/get-involved/events/we-have-the-power-moral-march-from-wilson-to-raleigh/?emci=76aac04f-59f1-f011-8194-000d3a11f903&emdi=3281203f-2bf2-f011-8194-000d3a11f903&ceid=6095437&ref=down-ballot.info) march, culminating in a Raleigh rally. Nationally, a group of Buddhists travelling 2,300 miles from Texas to Washington D.C. on a [Walk for Peace](https://dhammacetiya.com/walk-for-peace-why-we-walk/?ref=down-ballot.info) will complete their journey around the holiday. “Just knowing that that's happening feels magical,” Tuttle said. “It's a different way of doing something.” ### Faith helping build moral courage In the 2012 elections, Republicans won both chambers of the North Carolina legislature and the governor’s office. Not long after, the united government began passing a wave of conservative legislation including abortion restrictions, social program cuts and a voter ID law. Then-NAACP leader Barber launched a statewide [Moral Monday](https://carolinapublicpress.org/15957/wnc-voices-build-at-moral-monday-protests/?ref=down-ballot.info) movement in response. Each week, masses of North Carolinians entered the legislative building to pray, sing and chant during sessions. Many were arrested for trespassing after refusing to leave. Overall, the movement drew hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters. Ever since, Barber’s faith group, Repairers of the Breach, has been a visible force in North Carolina politics. On a different, much more recent Monday, about a dozen clergy and faith leaders sang “This Little Light of Mine” outside the North Carolina General Assembly. In between speeches about the impact of legislative inaction on healthcare, education and voting rights, they prayed and sang. They were led by Rev. **Floyd Wicker**, founder of the People’s Fellowship of North Carolina. The group launched in 2021 with a vigil for peace and nonviolence in light of the pandemic and recent police shootings of Black Americans. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/floyd-scaled.jpg) People's Fellowship of North Carolina founder Rev. Floyd Wicker speaks at a Moral Assembly in front of the legislative building on Jan. 5, 2026\. Sarah Michels / Carolina Public Press Wicker said organizing the event was exhausting. It took six meetings. Nobody showed up to the first one. One person came to the second. Five people made it to the third meeting. “I feel like I'm having to persuade you to advocate for people in your community when I'm thinking, this is a part of the Bible,” Wicker said. “This is a part of faith.” Not everyone understands why it’s so important for people of faith to protest, to hold public prayer or write to lawmakers, Wicker said. Some people don’t factor that into their faith experience. But it’s “theological,” he said. It’s the outward expression of an internal faith. “I come from a more prophetic tradition where the spiritual and the political, the social, the economic, all of those are integrated, and they're not compartmentalized,” he said. Wicker wants to return to the energy of 2013\. It will require more public action, but above all else, moral courage. “I think people of faith have to come out of their silos; they have to come out of their temples and churches,” he said. “To follow in the footsteps of Jesus and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is going to require courage.” > "To follow in the footsteps of Jesus and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is going to require courage." > > the Rev. Floyd Wicker, founder of the People's Fellowship of North Carolina Tuttle wholeheartedly agrees. People of faith might volunteer to pack backpacks every week so kids have something to eat at lunch, for example, but there’s a need for a greater level of advocacy in the places where decisions are made. “That's very charitable,” she said. “But is that creating transformational change in the community, is that solving the hunger issue?” ### Building relationships State legislators are no stranger to protests and marches. But they mostly look the other way. After all, nobody wants to listen to someone who’s yelling at them. “I have spent the majority of my life protesting, and I stand firm that whatever we've been doing isn't working,” Tuttle said. But not all hope is lost. Tuttle is working on a new approach: building mutually respectful, genuine relationships with lawmakers. They already have an in: many lawmakers are people of faith. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/tuttle-2-scaled.jpg) North Carolina Council of Churches eco-justice connection coordinator Susannah Tuttle sits on her porch in Chapel Hill on Jan. 15, 2026\. Sarah Michels / Carolina Public Press While groups like the NC Council of Churches tend to align with secular progressive groups, they come at it from a different angle, Tuttle said. Their values are grounded in Scripture. Recently, she hosted a webinar on advocacy. About 80 people showed up. She advised attendees to invite their representatives to their congregations’ events and ask for meetings during the short session to get to know them on a human level. “If we just go in and talk about the policies with elected officials and decision makers, we're not getting to the source of the core values of why they're making the decisions that they are,” she said. Voters who build relationships with their lawmakers are more likely to be heard, or at the very least, get an explanation when a lawmaker votes against their preference. Wicker doesn’t believe lawmakers are fully following their faiths, particularly the commandment to love their neighbor. If they were, he said they wouldn’t pass legislation cutting SNAP or Medicaid, for example. “The disconnect is power, greed, racism and capitalism,” he said. “Those are hard things to fight.” Wicker sees his job as less about influencing politicians and more about building a broader social consciousness that will eventually infiltrate politics. But for now, both Tuttle and Wicker are thinking about the Buddhist monks. Tuttle watches their progress every day; while they aren’t calling it faith-based advocacy, she said walking that far in the cold and rain for peace is a political statement in itself. It’s also proof of concept for Wicker. The monks aren’t saying much. They’re not protesting or calling for any policy in particular. But still, they’ve drawn people’s interest and attention with their presence alone, he said. “If we build capacity, we’re building truth and unity and solidarity, and our presence will speak, because we can't match lawlessness,” Wicker said. “We can’t match artillery or weaponry. We can’t fight racism and poverty with those weapons — we’ve got to have a much stronger weapon, and that weapon is nonviolence.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74224/building-on-a-legacy-of-nonviolent-faith-based-activism-in-nc/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Duke Energy Plans to Build a Massive Natural Gas Power Plant in Davidson County. But Where, Exactly? The powerful North Carolina utility is cagey about the exact location, but there are clues, and environmentalists want to know. In any event, a fossil fuel buildout is on. By Lisa Sorg January 15, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15012026/duke-energy-proposed-natural-gas-power-plant-davidson-county/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* Duke Energy could build a 1,360-megawatt natural gas power plant on company-owned land in western Davidson County, which, if approved by the N.C. Utilities Commission, would add tons of climate-heating greenhouse gases into the air each year. The 1,600-acre site at 3714 Giles Road is about eight-and-half miles west of Lexington and abuts the Yadkin River. Duke Energy spokesman Bill Norton said the company has “made no final decision regarding the location of the next combined cycle facilities,” and “has considered multiple potential sites in multiple counties.” Combined cycle facilities use both gas turbines and steam turbines to increase efficiency. Duke’s revised Cluster Study Phase 1 report, [dated December 2025](https://www.oasis.oati.com/woa/docs/DUK/DUKdocs/2025%5FDEC%5FCluster%5FStudy%5F%28Phase%5F1%29%5FReport%5Frev1.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), specifies that a natural gas project, known as CC4—which stands for Combined Cycle 4—could be built in Davidson County. Potential sites for CC4 have not been previously reported. A summary on the [utility’s website ](https://news.duke-energy.com/releases/duke-energy-files-2025-carolinas-resource-plan-continues-modernizing-energy-infrastructure-to-support-future-growth?ref=down-ballot.info)also notes a plan for another plant, [CC5,](https://www.duke-energy.com/-/media/pdfs/our-company/carolinas-resource-plan/2025/04-chapter-4-execution-plan-web.pdf?rev=9e388352b1934768bcd088f33fe07839&ref=down-ballot.info) whose location is not listed. Both projects would require Utilities Commission approval. Large natural gas plants require hundreds of acres of land, which narrows Duke’s options. The North Carolina Electric Membership Corp. owns a 430-acre tract near the Transco natural gas compressor station northwest of Lexington that is large enough to accommodate such a facility. But an NCEMC spokesman told Inside Climate News the cooperative “has no project planned” for the site. [The NCEMC](https://www.ncelectriccooperatives.com/energy/our-power/?ref=down-ballot.info) is an electric cooperative that buys electricity from Duke and other wholesalers and provides power to its two-dozen member cooperatives. NCEMC also owns a stake in several of Duke’s nuclear and natural gas plants, including another new natural gas unit under construction in Person County. Maggie Shober, a transmission expert and research director with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, uncovered the potential Davidson County sites. Environmental advocates and the public usually learn of major energy projects only after utilities have announced them. By that point, the companies have already prepped regulators behind the scenes, Shober said, which puts opponents at a disadvantage. “Having as much information as we can—and as early as we can—is really important,” Shober said. “We have huge concerns with this project.” Duke has attributed the need for more energy—including solar, battery storage, nuclear power and natural gas—to the proliferation of data centers, which are voracious consumers of energy, as well as to new manufacturing plants, the growth of the life science industry and population increases. The potential Davidson County plant is part of a vast [natural gas expansion](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/gaslighting/?ref=down-ballot.info) in North Carolina that includes pipelines, compressor stations and a liquified natural gas facility. But unlike Duke’s seven other proposed natural gas plants, which would be co-located at existing facilities, the Davidson County project would be built on undeveloped agricultural and timber land. “These two different types of land use simply are not compatible,” said Shelley Robbins, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s senior decarbonization manager. “It will be expensive, it will be loud, it will be ugly, it will be huge, it will pollute, and it will require water resources, likely from the nearby Yadkin River, that will no longer be available for agriculture. “And it isn’t even needed. All this complex will do is turn methane gas into combustion pollution and move money from ratepayers’ pockets into shareholders’ portfolios.” Duke purchased the Giles Road property in 1995 from the company’s former real estate division, Crescent Resources, according to county deed records. Crescent Resources is a legacy of the utility’s previous foray into land development. In the 1960s, Duke Energy acquired approximately 300,000 acres of land in rural North and South Carolina, [according to court records](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-txwd-1%5F12-cv-00009/pdf/USCOURTS-txwd-1%5F12-cv-00009-0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). In 1969, the utility contributed the acreage to the Crescent Land and Timber Co., which became a real estate company, Crescent Resources, a Duke subsidiary. Duke is no longer affiliated with Crescent. In addition to land, natural gas plants are often located close to pipelines in order to access the fuel. Transco’s 10,000-mile interstate pipeline traverses across the southeastern corner of Duke’s property, according to maps analyzed by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. Two high-voltage transmission lines also run three to four miles from the tract. Transco is also expanding 10 miles of the pipeline as well as a compressor station in central Davidson County, near Lexington. The site’s proximity to the Yadkin River could also provide the necessary cooling water for the facility. Natural gas plants emit less carbon dioxide than coal-fired units but release exorbitant amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that is over 80 times more potent in heating the atmosphere over a 20-year period. In addition to carbon dioxide, burning natural gas also releases hazardous and toxic air pollutants that can harm local communities. Duke’s Asheville Combined Cycle Station, which burns natural gas, emitted 1.1 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, as measured by carbon dioxide equivalent, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data. A carbon dioxide equivalent is a unit of measurement that accounts for the varying global warming potential of different greenhouse gases. The Asheville plant is relatively small, with a generating power of just 560 megawatts; CC4’s would be two-and-half times greater. Natural gas infrastructure—plants, pipelines, compressor stations and liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities—also emit other air pollutants, including fine particulate matter and volatile organic compounds. Parts of Davidson County already rank among the 80th to 90th percentile for toxic air pollutants, as compared to federal and state exposures, according to the EPA’s EJScreen. Several major state and federal policy decisions have incentivized the continued use and growth of fossil fuels. Last July, the Republican-majority state legislature passed Senate Bill 266, which eliminated Duke’s interim decarbonization goal of 70 percent by 2030\. The utility still has a benchmark of net-zero by 2050. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed the bill, but the legislature overrode it. The law also allows the utility to pass its financing costs of new energy projects, including natural gas and nuclear, onto ratepayers before the units are built. The new plants will hike customers’ bills in two main ways, Shober said: through the costs of construction, which can increase over time, and the gas, whose price is unpredictable. “Even if Duke were somehow able to keep the construction costs contained, they’re locking customers into fuel costs for decades to come,” she said. Under state law, every two years Duke must file with the state Utilities Commission [an updated CPIRP,](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02102025/duke-energy-carbon-plan-coal-data-centers/?ref=down-ballot.info) short for Carbon Plan and Integrated Resource Plan. It lays out the proposed energy mix, demand and costs projections, including the impacts on ratepayers. The commission can approve, amend or deny it. The commission will hold the first [public hearing](https://starw1.ncuc.gov/NCUC/ViewFile.aspx?Id=e27e5e78-428b-4f42-b4b5-693a94f64848&ref=down-ballot.info) on the latest plans on Feb. 4 in Durham. The commission is scheduled to rule on the CPIRP [by the end of the year.](https://www.ncuc.gov/Consumer/carbonplan.html?ref=down-ballot.info) Duke Energy’s[ 2025 carbon plan](https://www.duke-energy.com/-/media/pdfs/our-company/carolinas-resource-plan/2025/appendix-i-nat-gas-and-low-car-fuels-web.pdf?rev=4a8309172f684cf0a6a1ce93b4d28311&ref=down-ballot.info) devotes several pages to enhanced liquified natural gas, known as ELNG. While traditional LNG is used to meet peak energy demand, such as during extremely hot or cold days, ELNG is more nimble. The technology allows utilities to access the gas during off-peak times to balance daily and hourly supply and demand. This requires access to the gas via a pipeline and the construction of enormous holding tanks. The 485-acre [Moriah Energy Center](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08092024/gaslighting-north-carolina-lng-plant-permits/?ref=down-ballot.info) under construction in Person County will be a traditional LNG plant operated by Enbridge. It will have at least one 25-million-gallon storage tank, with room for a second. The center will emit as much as 64,000 tons of greenhouse gases, according to company estimates, but also carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and hazardous and toxic air pollutants. It is unclear if a Davidson County site would include ELNG. “Any projections about price, fuel supply or storage capacity” at CC4 and CC5 would be “premature,” Norton said. There is not a firm timeline for when Duke could formally announce the locations of CC4, CC5 and its plans for ELNG. The two plants could be operating as soon as 2032 and 2033, respectively, according to utility documents. The Trump administration has incentivized fossil fuel production and generation while stripping incentives from—or attempting to halt altogether—renewable energy projects. President Donald Trump has also announced his intention to withdraw from international agreements intended to combat climate change. This week, [the EPA announced ](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14012026/epa-proposal-streamlines-oil-gas-infrastructure-approval/?ref=down-ballot.info)it would amend Clean Water Act regulations to limit the authority of states and tribes to regulate water quality through their respective permitting processes. The purpose, the EPA said: to streamline the permitting process for large energy projects, including pipelines and natural gas infrastructure. --- ### DEQ Division of Water Resources awards more than $1.5M for stream restoration, water management, recreation projects URL: https://down-ballot.info/deq-division-of-water-resources-awards-more-than-1-5m-for-stream-restoration-water-management-recreation-projects/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T20:13:57.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** **RALEIGH –** [The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/4056bbb?ref=down-ballot.info)’s Division of Water Resources has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to support stream restoration, water-based recreation and water management projects across North Carolina. The grants were awarded to nine local governments through the Water Resources Development Grant program. “These grants will boost public waterfront access in unique places around the state, including rare forests along the coast and the Mayo River north of the Triad,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “The grant funds will also help restore and stabilize riverbanks in several communities in western North Carolina hit hard by Hurricane Helene.” The grant awards can be used for stormwater control measures, including for drainage and flood control; stream restoration projects, including shoreline stabilization and dam or aquatic barrier removals; and to boost access to water-based recreation resources through construction of greenways near waterways, park development or water access sites. Additionally, the program provides grants for feasibility studies that support the three eligible categories of projects. The following projects were approved for funding: **State and Local Grant Awards** - Town of Mayodan Washington Mills Park Phase I, $200,000\. The project in Rockingham County includes construction of a tubing access point, multi-use granite path and public river access as part of the development of Washington Mills Park on the Mayo River. - Mitchell County Soil and Water Conservation District Grassy Creek Stream and Wetland Restoration, $200,000\. The project includes the repair of nearly a quarter of a mile of stream, planting vegetation along the stream banks and restoration of 1.3 acres of wetlands along Grassy Creek. - Morehead City Spooner Creek Conservation Nature Park, $200,000\. The project in Carteret County includes acquisition of 22.9 acres of undeveloped land to create a publicly owned nature park to provide public waterfront access and conserve shoreline including rare, maritime forestland. - Town of West Jefferson Downtown Stormwater Control, $200,000\. The project in Ashe County includes installation of several stormwater control and treatment measures. - Town of Windsor Hoggards Mill Pond Retrofit, $200,000\. The project in Bertie County includes reconstruction of a breached mill dam, removal of damaged mill infrastructure and replacement of a naturalized fish passage structure to reconnect more than 50 miles of potential stream habitat and also to store stormwater. - Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District Jerry Jordan Stream Restoration, $199,313\. The project will restore a degraded stream channel, plant vegetation and enhance a wetland, as well as install stormwater control measures. - Henderson County Soil and Water Conservation District Whittaker Farm Stream Restoration, $131,074.94\. The project will restore and stabilize two-tenths of a mile along the South Fork Mills River riverbank and floodplain, plant 3 acres of trees and shrubs along the river bank and install a stream crossing. - Wake County Soil and Water Conservation District NC State University Lake Wheeler Beef Unit Watershed Restoration, $105,000\. Construct several stormwater control measures to reduce erosion, sedimentation and pollutant transport from a cattle-grazing operation upstream of Yates Millpond in the Swift Creek basin. - High Country Council of Government Aho Branch at Blue Ridge Conservancy Campus, $95,000\. The project in Watauga County will stabilize and restore 0.15 miles of Aho Branch, plant vegetation along a section of the stream bank and add vernal pools, a type of seasonal wetland, on former pastureland on the Blue Ridge Conservancy Conservation Campus. The grants were provided through the Water Resources Development Grant Program, which awards cost-sharing grants of up to 50% in two categories: state and local projects, which are cost-shared with local governments, and projects on agricultural lands that are cost-shared with the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program. The awards are for applications submitted in the spring 2025 cycle. ### Brunswick County Commissioners approve purchase of 380 acres for future raw water reservoir URL: https://down-ballot.info/brunswick-county-commissioners-approve-purchase-of-380-acres-for-future-raw-water-reservoir/ Last updated: 2026-01-21T19:47:09.000Z Down Ballot Staff Reports BOLIVIA, N.C. – The Brunswick County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of property on Wednesda, January 21 to be used as a future raw water reservoir, according to a [news release](https://www.brunswickcountync.gov/m/NewsFlash/home/detail/692?ref=down-ballot.info) from Brunswick County. The tract encompasses about 380 acres in the Leland area near the Northwest Water Treatment Plant. The land’s proximity to the county’s largest water plant coupled with its history as a quarry makes it an ideal location for a water reservoir. A lake already exists on about 50 to 60 acres of the old quarry site with room to expand, however a majority of the parcel is undeveloped and forested. The County will keep the area wooded as it transitions to a reservoir site. > “Because of the growth and development in this particular area of the county, this property may have one day been developed into a major planned unit development,” County Manager Steve Stone said. “Instead, this location will be used to support important public health and quality of life needs while preserving its natural identity.” The negotiated purchase price was $8,741,778\. Of that amount, $241,778 is for the timber on the property so that it will remain wooded. The installation of necessary infrastructure like pumps and pipes will need to occur before the reservoir can be placed into service. The Board of Commissioners entered into closed session during the regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 20 to discuss the potential purchase. The board tabled the discussion and recessed the meeting until Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., where the Board returned to closed session. The Board unanimously approved the purchase after returning from closed session. In addition to this reservoir project, Brunswick County is also expanding water capacity and installing a low-pressure reverse osmosis water treatment system at the Northwest Water Treatment Plant to support current and future growth in the water system. All of Brunswick County's water customers and wholesale municipal water customers receive either all or part of their water from the Northwest Water Treatment Plant. The project will increase the plant’s capacity from 24 MGD to 48 MGD and will provide a low-pressure reverse osmosis treatment capacity of no less than 36 MGD. Low-pressure reverse osmosis is considered the most advanced and effective method to treat and remove both regulated and unregulated materials like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from drinking water. The project contractor estimates the project will be completed by September 2026. ### Unrest continues in Minnesota; Former inmate buys N.C. prison; UNC Charlotte faces racial discrimination claim URL: https://down-ballot.info/unrest-continues-in-minnesota-former-inmate-buys-n-c-prison-unc-charlotte-faces-racial-discrimination-claim/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T10:00:55.000Z *Editor's note: The events in Minnesota continue to be a developing story. While there is coverage today about it, here are links to three sources in the state providing their own coverage:* [MinnPost — Nonprofit, independent journalismMinnPost is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about civic and cultural affairs impacting Minnesota.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/favicon-1.png)MinnPostAna Radelat![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/MinnPostLogo1200x657.png)](https://www.minnpost.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Minnesota news for immigrants and communities of colorSahan Journal is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to reporting for immigrants and communities of color in Minnesota.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-sahan-favicon-nobg-2.png)Sahan JournalKatelyn Vue![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/1-14.png)](https://sahanjournal.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Minnesota Reformer](https://minnesotareformer.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) also provides its own statewide news coverage. **It's Friday, January 16, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Former inmate buys NC prison to help others who have served time, UNC-Charlotte faces racial discrimination claim in fired employee’s lawsuit, Gov. Moore honors County Police autism unit, After second ICE shooting in a week, Minneapolis residents raise alarm on community safety, How Twin Cities mental health advocates are responding to trauma – again, The Emotional Toll of the current U.S. president's Immigration Policies on Asian Children and Families, The Army Corps of Engineers Wants to Dredge the Cape Fear River. Environmentalists Tally the Costs, Black lawmakers warn constituents that proposed funding formula changes could hurt Mississippi’s HBCUs, Helena Moreno sworn in as New Orleans mayor under storm clouds of budget deficit, layoffs. **Media outlets and others featured:** NC Newsline, Carolina Public Press, Montgomery Community Media, Sahan Journal, MinnPost, MindSite News, Inside Climate News, Mississippi Today, Verite News. --- # Former inmate buys NC prison to help others who have served time by Greg Childress, [NC Newsline](https://ncnewsline.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) January 6, 2026 With the recent purchase of the former Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro, Kerwin Pittman is laying claim to an unusual title — he says he’s the first formerly incarcerated person in the U.S. to purchase a prison. Pittman, the founder and executive director of Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services, Inc. (RREPS), was sent to prison at age 18 and served 11 years and six months for conspiracy to commit murder. January 26 will mark eight years since his release and return to the Southeast Raleigh community in which he was reared. > “I started a nonprofit when I came home and began advocating for individuals coming out of the \[incarceration\] system but I also put in programming to try to help them reintegrate into society with a little more ease,” Pittman said. His experience behind bars gave him insight into what other formerly incarcerated individuals needed after they left prison. “I had family support, so I had housing. but a lot of my friends didn’t have any place to go. Or if they did, there was a time limit on how long they could stay,” Pittman said. Pittman’s purchase of the abandoned, 400-bed prison is an extension of the work he started soon after he left prison. He plans to create re-entry housing and a workforce campus where formerly incarcerated people can attain job skills or industry certifications. “The campus would be like a stabilization phase for guys coming out of jail or prison, to give them a six-month pause so they can get their life back on track,” Pittman said. Pittman estimates it will take up to two years to get the former prison ready for as many as 300 residents who would live on the campus until they completed the six months-long program. Another class of up to 300 would replace the previous residents each six months, he said. He envisions residents studying and training to become electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, construction workers and other trades that are in high demand. “Right now, not only in the United States, but particularly North Carolina and particularly rural North Carolina, they are experiencing a decline \[in people\] seeking trade jobs,” Pittman said. Other residents might choose a track to earn industry certifications or a Commercial Driver’s License, he said. The program will be open to previously incarcerated individuals from across the state, Pittman said. “We’ll take referrals, we’ll have a case management team that go inside the jails and prison … and then we’ll go and see if the candidate is the best fit for our program,” Pittman said. Pittman said it would make sense to locate such a facility in Goldsboro even if the former prison wasn’t available. > “Goldsboro is suffering right now with the plague of not only violence, but also poverty,” Pittman said. “It only made sense when this institution came up for sale to purchase it because of all of the other things that are going on in Eastern North Carolina, but also in that area.” > Pittman said he bought the former prison for under a million dollars and projects it will take about $2 million to refurbish it, while taking care to ensure it no longer looks like a prison. Pittman will rely heavily on private donations to fund the enterprise but has not ruled out pursuing local, state or federal funding. The prison closed in 2013 as North Carolina sought to save money by reducing prison capacity after inmate populations declined. Wayne County Commissioner Bevan Foster had not heard about the project but was excited after a reporter shared the news. “If he’s able to do what he said he’s gonna do, it’d be great,” Foster said. “It’s the kind of program we need.” Foster noted the irony of the prison being repurposed to help formerly incarcerated individuals. “They’re using it for some good,” Foster said. “It would be a great thing.” Wayne County Commissioner Antonio Williams also had not heard about Pittman’s proposal but said it would be a “wonderful opportunity” for people leaving prison. “You can look around and see a lot of people who have been rehabilitated, but they come home and it’s challenging for them to even have housing, it’s challenging for them to find a job,” Williams said. Many formerly incarcerated individuals return home to find that relatives or other loved ones have died or they’ve just lost those relationships while they were away and don’t have any place to go, Williams said. “Pittman’s proposal, he said, “would definitely give them a chance to rejoin life and get the basic steps in order such as finding jobs, housing and health care, all of those things that are valuable and have meaning.” [As NC Newsline previously reported,](https://ncnewsline.com/2025/01/15/ncs-first-mobile-reentry-service-center-for-the-formerly-incarcerated-is-launched-in-raleigh/?ref=down-ballot.info) a year ago, Pittman launched the state’s first mobile reentry service center to bring resources and support to people reentering society from prison. He followed up with a second mobile center six months later. The centers provide previously incarcerated people with case management and other services such as job placement, housing assistance, mental health support and help obtaining important documents such as identification. Pittman said the time he spent behind bars fuels his passion to help others. “Me going into the system young, getting in trouble and being able to come out on the other side of that — and to be honest, just following my spirit and God leading the way — it made me want to be able to help other people,” Pittman said. [NC Newsline](https://ncnewsline.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Laura Leslie for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. --- # UNC-Charlotte faces racial discrimination claim in fired employee’s lawsuit by Kate Denning, Carolina Public Press January 13, 2026 A former UNC-Charlotte employee, **Janique Sanders**, is suing the university for racial discrimination and two administrators for a First Amendment rights violation. The university fired Sanders in May 2025 after undercover individuals recorded videos that showed Sanders alluding to continued diversity practices at the university despite the widespread dismantling of DEI in the UNC System. Sanders was employed by the university’s Office of Identity, Equity and Engagement until it was shut down in 2024, as well as two other offices with a similar purpose, after the [UNC System repealed its diversity policies](https://www.ednc.org/04-17-2024-unc-system-committee-votes-to-repeal-diversity-goals-and-jobs-at-17-campuses-across-nc/?ref=down-ballot.info) across its 17 institutions. At the time of her termination, she was an assistant director in the Office of Leadership and Community Engagement. An [announcement](https://inside.charlotte.edu/2024/08/08/update-on-system-equality-policy/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the closures from UNC-Charlotte in August 2024 stated full-time staff from the affected offices were “provided employment opportunities elsewhere on campus.” The lawsuit claims Sanders’ former office was “reorganized” and some diversity work “remained intact,” though it’s unclear in what capacity. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** More than a year after the UNC System repealed the policy, videos began to circulate of staff at a number of schools in the system, each stating that the universities where they worked were continuing to incorporate diversity initiatives despite the policy change. Undercover reporters working for a group called Accuracy in Media filmed Sanders and others discussing these details unknowingly. The covert tactic is sometimes described by critics as “gotcha journalism,” an interviewing method intended to elicit statements that could be damaging to the interviewee’s image, though AIM president **Adam Guillette** rejected the term [in an interview with CPP](https://carolinapublicpress.org/71318/gotcha-firings-at-nc-universities-after-undercover-videos-raise-legal-ethical-questions/?ref=down-ballot.info) in June. [In the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zkkCg83h8w&ref=down-ballot.info), Sanders tells the individuals, who appear to be inquiring about getting involved with DEI initiatives happening on the UNC-Charlotte campus, “If you’re looking for, like, a(n) outward DEI position — not going to happen. But if you are interested in doing work that is covert, there are opportunities.” The lawsuit states the video was filmed in the fall of 2024, months after the System repealed the policies. The video wasn’t posted online until May 28, 2025\. Just one day later, UNC-Charlotte [announced](https://x.com/unccharlotte/status/1928144587924591039?ref=down-ballot.info) Sanders was no longer employed by the university following an internal review. The statement said her comments were inaccurate and she had no policymaking authority or role in compliance with UNC System policies. The lawsuit questions the validity of the internal investigation on the basis that Sanders was not questioned by a university investigator or provided with specific grounds for her termination. “While (UNC-Charlotte’s) spokesperson alluded to an internal review that preceded Sanders’ firing, the ‘review’ lacks any hallmarks of genuine investigation,” the lawsuit states. “Sanders was not interviewed or asked to provide a defense or rationale for her taped comments. Upon information and beliefs, (UNC-Charlotte) did not seek and has never obtained the entire footage of AIM’s recording of Sanders.” Guillette told CPP in June the multiple North Carolina universities that were featured in AIM’s undercover reporting did not ask for the unedited footage, though he said that indicated the universities were not interested in addressing noncompliance. “When we actually released the video, at no point did any of them follow up with me,” Guillette said. “At no point did any of them request the video. And in many instances, if we’re dealing with honest brokers, we are more than happy to have shared the full unedited videos of these scenarios, so the fact that they never responded to us is proof that hidden camera tactics are needed and proof that these people are clearly engaged in deception.” Sanders’ attorney and former U.S. Congressman **Artur Davis** also criticized UNC-Charlotte's lack of inquiry into the full footage for what he sees as a failure to obtain both sides of the story. “Even if there’s a world where they say, ‘Well, this is a third party over whom we have no control, so therefore we can’t expect that we’re going to get their video tape.’ Why not simply ask her, what’d you say, and what didn’t you say, and what did you tell them?” Davis said. “That’s the core level of fairness here. So there is a problem, in my view, both legal and moral, that UNC-Charlotte did not take the time to hear Janique Sanders’ side of the story.” A UNCC representative told CPP the university does not comment on pending litigation. Prior to filing the lawsuit, Sanders filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC, alleging race discrimination as a motivating factor in her termination. The EEOC granted Sanders a right-to-sue letter in September, leading her to file a [Title VII claim](https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964?ref=down-ballot.info) against the university. The motivating factor element of the claim is important, Davis said, because while it is possible in discrimination lawsuits like Sanders’ that other legitimate reasons for termination exist, it still bars race or other aspects of identity from being a factor at all. “We do expect that there is probably going to be an argument from UNC-Charlotte that Ms. Sanders was not authorized to talk about internal campus policies, that she was not authorized to talk to people outside of the school about the DEI changes that have been enacted within the institution,” Davis said. “They may very well say that. Now, we contend that there is no written policy that she violated and she was never told she violated a policy, but let’s assume that they say she violated policy she was never told about and that was not publicized. She would still be able to argue that the decision that they made somewhere along the way, in effect, gave weight to racism or gave weight to racial bias.” The lawsuit lays out the claim of racial discrimination by stating there is no evidence that UNCC attempted to verify whether “other non-black officials in Sanders’ department have made comments similar to Sanders’ viewpoint or determine the forum in which any similar comments were made; or that UNCC analyzed whether AIM’s conduct itself reflects a racially biased agenda.” “Race was at least a motivating factor in UNCC’s termination of Sanders, in that the university ratified or condoned AIM’s actions that are at least partially ringed by racially biased assumptions,” the lawsuit states. The way in which Sanders was terminated is not how UNC-Charlotte typically handles such scenarios, also indicating racial bias was a factor, Davis said. Sanders’ legal team will be analyzing how the university engages with and has responded to employees that have shared their personal viewpoints on hot topics in the past. “The evidence in this case is going to show that there have been numerous other instances when individuals who were not Black and who were not female raised concerns, articulated viewpoints on a range of controversial issues, and they didn’t lose their jobs because of it,” Davis said. Sanders’ case also includes two allegations of violations to her First Amendment rights which are aimed at the two administrators who fired her, Executive Director of the Division of Student Affairs **Frank Fleming**, who has since [retired](https://studentaffairs.charlotte.edu/frank-fleming-retiring-after-four-decades-service-unc-charlotte?ref=down-ballot.info), and Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs **Karen Shaffer**. The lawsuit states Fleming and Shaffer failed to convey the rule Sanders violated or how she breached the Board of Governors’ anti-DEI directives, which “indicate that UNCC’s legitimate interests in efficient administration did not outweigh Plaintiff’s constitutional interest in free speech.” AIM’s series of videos at North Carolina universities also included staff members from Western Carolina University, UNC-Asheville and UNC-Wilmington. WCU and UNCA both announced the individuals were no longer employed after the release of the videos. UNCW said it was looking into the actions of the two individuals in AIM’s video, though both are still employed according to university records. Davis does not know of any other lawsuits filed by those terminated in the aftermath of AIM’s undercover operation, but he expects Sanders won’t be the only one to take action on what he sees as a First Amendment violation in addition to discrimination, in Sanders’ case. Sanders is seeking lost wages due to her subsequent unemployment since being terminated and compensatory damages for emotional distress. She also seeks punitive damages, which go beyond monetary and other tangible losses addressed by compensatory damages, in regard to the claims against Fleming and Shaffer. Her team is also requesting a trial by jury as is customary in employment discrimination and other civil rights cases. UNCC has yet to respond to the lawsuit in court. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74185/unc-charlotte-faces-racial-discrimination-claim-in-fired-employees-lawsuit/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- [Gov. Moore honors County Police autism unitGov. Wes Moore recognized the Montgomery County Police Department’s autism and disability-focused unit Monday with the Ethan Saylor Alliance Award honoring two decades of work to improve interactions between law enforcement and individuals with developmental disabilities.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-4.png)Montgomery Community MediaSophia Hernandez-Pina![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Montgomery-County-PD.jpeg)](https://www.mymcmedia.org/gov-moore-honors-montogmery-county-police-autism-unit/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Feature ](https://www.mymcmedia.org/category/feature/?ref=down-ballot.info)[Police/Crime/Fire ](https://www.mymcmedia.org/category/police-crime-fire/?ref=down-ballot.info) [January 14, 2026 ](https://www.mymcmedia.org/2026/01?ref=down-ballot.info)[Sophia Hernandez-Pina](https://www.mymcmedia.org/author/shernandezpina/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Gov. Moore honors County Police autism unit Gov. Wes Moore recognized the Montgomery County Police Department’s autism and disability-focused unit Monday with the Ethan Saylor Alliance Award honoring two decades of work to improve interactions between law enforcement and individuals with developmental disabilities. The county’s Autism, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Alzheimer’s and Dementia Outreach Program began in 2005 in response to a rise in police calls for missing persons with these types of disabilities. Since then, the program has trained officers on communication tactics, crisis response and de-escalation strategies tailored to protecting this population of residents. The unit also works directly with caregivers and individuals on safety planning and communication skills. The award is named in memory of Ethan Saylor, a 26-year-old man with Down syndrome from Frederick County who was killed in 2013 when an off-duty sheriff’s deputy working as a mall security guard attempted to remove him from a movie theater using excessive force. His health prompted state and national calls for change and led to the creation of the [Ethan Saylor Alliance](https://www.ethansayloralliance.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), which trains law enforcement and first responders on the best practices for interacting with people with developmental disabilities. At the ceremony, Moore highlighted Montgomery County’s role as an early adopter of specialized disabilities-related training. “Initiatives like this build bridges between law enforcement and the disability community,” Moore said in a statement. “This unit set a standard for what compassionate public safety can look like.” The symbol can be added through a myMVA account or in person at Motor Vehicle Administration offices at no cost if no other changes are made. The designation is voluntary and does not require documentation. The law is named for Eric Carpenter-Grantham, a Montgomery County resident with high-functioning autism whose family advocated for legislative action following concerns about police encounters. Supporters say the butterfly symbol promotes understanding during traffic stops and emergencies and complements ongoing police training initiatives. Together, the Saylor Alliance award, Montgomery County’s autism/IDD unit and Eric’s ID Law reflect a broader statewide push to improve communication and safety between law enforcement and people with hidden disabilities. --- [ICE shooting in north Minneapolis raises tensions, worries of safetyPoliticians and residents are demanding accountability of ICE after an agent shot a Venezuelan man in north Minneapolis.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-sahan-favicon-nobg-3.png)Sahan JournalKatelyn Vue, Nicolas Scibelli, Shubhanjana Das![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/002_2026-01-14_ICE-Shooting-7.jpg)](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/ice-shooting-north-minneapolis-community-response/?ref=down-ballot.info) # After second ICE shooting in a week, Minneapolis residents raise alarm on community safety Minnesota politicians and residents are demanding accountability of ICE for its excessive force and violent behavior in the state. by [Katelyn Vue](https://sahanjournal.com/author/katelyn-vue/?ref=down-ballot.info), [Nicolas Scibelli](https://sahanjournal.com/author/nicolas-scibelli/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Shubhanjana Das](https://sahanjournal.com/author/shubhanjana-das/?ref=down-ballot.info) A day after Julio Cesar Sosa Celis [was shot in the leg by a federal agent](https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/north-minneapolis-ice-shooting-report-immigration/?ref=down-ballot.info) while fleeing a traffic stop in north Minneapolis, state and local officials scrambled to respond to a threat by President Donald Trump [to invoke the Insurrection Act](https://sahanjournal.com/news-partners/ap-us-immigration-enforcement-7th-ld-writethru/?ref=down-ballot.info) to deploy troops against protesters in Minneapolis. The shooting came a week after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot [Renee Nicole Macklin Good](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/renee-good-family-statement-minneapolis-ice-shooting/?ref=down-ballot.info) in south Minneapolis. On Thursday, both the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class action lawsuit in federal court seeking an emergency order to prevent ICE from stopping and questioning people based on their ethnicity and to prevent them from arresting people wrongfully. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who sued the federal government on Monday to try to end the ICE enforcement surge, said he’s ready to go to court again if the president invokes the Insurrection Act to justify sending in the military as well. The back-to-back shootings left many community leaders and residents reeling and demanding accountability for the actions of the thousands of federal agents who have flooded the Twin Cities in the last month. “ICE shot a Latino on the leg in Minneapolis today,” Minneapolis Council Member Jason Chavez posted Wednesday night. “It’s despicable. Being Latino is not a crime. The color of your skin is not a crime. Being in this country is not a crime. Our entire community is in complete and utter pain.” Clashes with protesters on Wednesday night led federal agents to deploy round after round of flashbangs, smoke bombs, tear gas and other chemical irritants. Those lingered in the air Thursday, affecting the whole neighborhood, DFL Sen. Bobby Joe Champion said in a statement. “They’re not just harming our residents by shooting us, they’re gassing us right now and sowing chaos throughout our city and especially in the Northside,” Council Member Elliot Payne posted on social media Wednesday night. Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, executive director of Unidos Minnesota, said the immigrant rights group’s phones were flooded Wednesday night with calls from neighbors concerned about their safety with ICE in the neighborhood. “That’s, you know the new reality of Minnesota right now, it’s unsafe,” she told Sahan Journal. “People don’t feel safe in their communities. It’s violent, and we need this to stop.” ## **Neighbors clean up** Uptown resident Matt Dawson was one of several people who responded to a social media post asking for help cleaning up the neighborhood Thursday morning. Wearing a bright orange vest, he used a little machine claw to pick up trash on the corner of Lyndale Avenue and 24th Street N. “I haven’t been able to do any of the ICE watch trainings, and I don’t want to show up to that stuff unprepared, so I’m looking for ways to chip in and support,” Dawson said. “We’re going to save ourselves, it’s us saving us right now.” He was near the duplex where a confrontation allegedly occurred with federal agents Wednesday night. The door to the house was boarded up and a second-story window was smashed out Thursday. “Right now it’s good vibes, just people out here trying to look out for each other and look out for the community,” Dawson said. ## **People gather at site of Good’s shooting** On Thursday, a handful of visitors stopped at the south Minneapolis site of where Good was killed last week. The memorial at the site where her car crashed has continued to grow, with flowers, handwritten letters and toys covering the snow. “Renee was just the tip of the iceberg,” said Kadee Ruhland, an Eagan resident visiting the vigil site of the shooting Thursday afternoon. Ruhland, 61, is a retired school teacher who came to the vigil site with her close friend of more than four decades, Darcy Brommer. Ruhland and Brommer said they both live in the suburbs and expressed feeling “heartbroken” and “helpless.” But seeing the vigil in-person has brought back more interest to help others affected by ICE. “I think even being here now inspires that even more,” Ruhland said. Brommer said the second shooting last night felt “inevitable” and more violence will likely break out if Trump invokes the Insurrection Act in Minnesota. “And until they stop occupying our city, it will continue,” she said. “Every day I want to get more and more involved,” said Dalton Thibodo, a recent visitor at the vigil site. “Every headline that comes up, I just want to get out there and get into it.” St. Paul resident Jessica Ramstad said she felt “devastation” when she heard about the Wednesday night shooting. The memorial site is a “beautiful” but also an “awful” reminder of what Minnesotans are facing in the midst of heavy federal enforcement activity. Three friends of Minneapolis, Heather Pahl, Jessica Stevens and Liz Beam, visited the memorial site Thursday afternoon. They expressed frustration, hopelessness and sadness over Good’s death and Wednesday’s shooting. “My house is over in the neighborhood where that shooting happened last night and so it’s just getting too close to home and this is not what should be happening in our community,” Stevens said. “Nobody deserves this.” Volunteers helping deliver food, tow truck companies offering to return vehicles for free and elected officials denouncing ICE in the state have shown that Minnesota is not backing down, Beam said. “In 2020 with George Floyd’s murder, we showed everyone in the national news that you can stand up to stuff like this, and you can have small victories in the face of terror,” she said. ## **Early morning protest at Whipple** At the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building early Thursday, about 10 protesters had gathered. One protester had a brief encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents pointing a gun at him after he drove his vehicle too close to a convoy of unmarked vehicles. “None of us should be shocked by what is happening,” legal observer Delta Larkey said. “The United States, the very foundation is \[built\] on white supremacy and this is what it looks like.” “What’s so hard and what maybe other people are feeling maybe is the cognitive dissonance. My friend and I are out here, then we have to go to work, then I have to bring my kid to a dentist appointment. Meanwhile, people are being abducted off the street. So how do I take care of myself, how do we take care of each other, when we’re living in occupied cities?” “There’s nothing normal about this anymore,” said bus stop supervisor Cindy Boldenow. “No one should be shot for being protective of other people,” she said, referring to Good. “This is getting out of hand and I can’t stand here and watch my neighbors getting kidnapped. My heart is broken.” She said she planned to attend another protest tonight and is delivering food to neighbors, making whistles with her 3-D printer and doing what she could to keep her friends and neighbors safe. *This is a developing story. Check back for updates.* --- # How Twin Cities mental health advocates are responding to trauma – again by Deanna Pistono, MinnPost January 13, 2026 Refugees and asylum seekers who had graduated from needing mental health services called Sara Nelson last week. The program manager at the [Center for Victims of Torture](https://www.cvt.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), which supports people who have survived torture, said those calling wanted to restart services following ramped up Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) action in the Twin Cities that included the shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE agent. Other clients, out of fear for their own safety, changed their appointments from in-person to virtual. Advocates say the shooting and ICE enforcement action is yet another traumatic event affecting the community, leading to feelings of anger, hopelessness and fear. Therapist Shonda Craft, Ph.D., said her clients last week “need(ed) to expel the fact that they’d been thinking about” these violent acts, even while addressing previous concerns around their mental health. Even people in the Twin Cities who have stayed home watching the events unfold on social media are experiencing a traumatic event, Craft said, defining it as “any event or incident that radically shakes” someone’s sense of wellbeing. Craft, owner of a private mental health practice, is among many responding to clients’ growing needs. Larger organizations, such as M Health Fairview, responded by offering two free psychological first aid trainings this week. ### *Related:* [*What is psychological first aid?*](https://www.minnpost.com/race-health-equity/2025/09/following-shootings-free-trainings-focus-on-a-vital-type-of-first-aid-anyone-can-do/?ref=down-ballot.info) Marlee James, the CEO and owner of the Black mental health practice Reviving Roots,said programming such as a “Black in America” support group is going ahead as planned. Reviving Roots, which James explained was founded in response to the “historical trauma caused by white supremacy,” has and will continue to host educational events for clients, including the “Peace and Power” community safety series that includes deescalation and self-defense training. The violence of this week, while traumatic, is, James said, “something we’ve experienced and continue to experience.” “It almost feels like George Floyd times,” she added. At the Center for Victims of Torture, measures instituted last year to support clients in response to fears around immigration enforcement are continuing, said Nelson. These include food deliveries to clients afraid to leave their homes and accompanying clients to appointments with ICE or to court. ### *Related:* [*How the Center for Victims of Torture is supporting immigrants’ mental health amid fear and hostility*](https://www.minnpost.com/race-health-equity/2025/10/qa-center-for-victims-of-tortures-sara-nelson-on-supporting-immigrants-health-amid-fear-and-hostility/Related%20link%20to%20last%20CVT%20story?ref=down-ballot.info) Though providers cited fear, anger and hopelessness among the reactions of their clients, they urged clients to be in community with each other in whatever way they can, whether in-person or virtually. “It is important to check in on your friends and your colleagues,” Craft said, “especially if they are teachers and health care providers.” Craft added that it is also important to check in with your community in totality – not just your peers in identity-based communities, but with the people close to you geographically, who live nearby or shop at the same stores. “Being in isolation,” James said, “is not the move right now.” This [article](https://www.minnpost.com/race-health-equity/2026/01/how-twin-cities-mental-health-advocates-are-responding-to-trauma-again/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MinnPost](https://www.minnpost.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/favicon.png) ![](https://www.minnpost.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=2219958&ga4=3376753669) --- # Collateral Damage: The Emotional Toll of Trump’s Immigration Policies on Asian Children and Families by Simran Sethi, MindSite News January 8, 2026 ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/02073121/Jaswinder.png) Jaswinder "Lucky" Singh shortly after the birth of his youngest son Jasdeep, who was born with severe mental and physical disabilities. Singh, at the courthouse to receive his green card, was seized by ICE and deported in 2025\. Photo provided. On an unseasonably warm afternoon in mid-September, high school senior Kirat Virk got in his car, picked up a friend, and headed to Carroll High School for the second football game of the season. The team was poised to make it to the state semifinals; the bleachers were full and the crowd raucous. “Everyone was so loud,” Kirat recalled. “And, for the first twenty minutes, I was having so much fun.” Then, reality came rushing back. “I got a terrible feeling. I felt guilty that my mom was home alone. I felt guilty that my dad wasn’t going to be there, either. I didn’t want my dad to think that I didn’t care that he’s in there and I’m out here having fun.” "In there" means in detention. For months, Kirat’s father—a 48-year-old business owner who has lived in the United States since he was a teenager—was one of roughly 66,000 people (a record high) held in U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, according to [federal data obtained by CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ices-detainee-population-reaches-66000-a-new-record-high-statistics-show/?ref=down-ballot.info). Then, in late 2025, he became one of the more than [605,000 people](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/12/10/thanks-president-trump-and-secretary-noem-more-25-million-illegal-aliens-left-us?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Since%20January%2020%2C%202025%2C%20DHS,in%20more%20than%20605%2C000%20deportations.) the U.S. government said it has deported since the start of Trump's second term. *Headlines on immigration are dominated by* [*heart-wrenching coverage*](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/nyregion/chinese-father-son-migrants-separated.html?ref=down-ballot.info) *of children being violently separated from their parents on street corners and in front of schools. A less-visible version of immigration enforcement*—*what The Lancet* [*called*](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanam/article/PIIS2667-193X%2825%2900058-4/fulltext?ref=down-ballot.info) *“the silent trauma”*—*is equally devastating and holds the potential for lasting harm. Nova Institute Media Fellow Simran Sethi spent three months speaking with families facing these challenges. Some names have been changed to ensure safety and privacy.* Kirat is one of thousands of children carrying an invisible weight: anxiety for his parent’s well-being and the fear that they may not come home. These sons and daughters of immigrant, mixed-citizen, and noncitizen families—some of whom were born on U.S. soil, others who arrived as children—are being harmed by increasingly punitive immigration enforcement efforts. [Psychiatrists say](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.08.8.19?ref=down-ballot.info) this campaign is causing an epidemic of fear and trauma which not only impacts children’s physical and emotional well-being today but has grave implications for their future. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/01195651/Screenshot-2026-01-01-195607-e1767369129874.png) Kirat Virk (left) with his family in happier times in the U.S., years before his father (right) was detained and deported by ICE. Photo provided. ## **Trauma that burrows into the brain and body** Latino families have borne the devastating brunt of ICE detainment and deportation—and the research reflects it. But the children of Asian immigrants are increasingly, and acutely, affected. Asians are the [only ethnoracial group](https://aapidata.com/featured/by-the-numbers-immigration/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the United States that is majority foreign-born. [Seventy-five percent](https://datacenter.aecf.org/data/tables/11175-youth-and-young-adults-ages-14-to-24-who-are-immigrants-or-live-in-immigrant-families-by-race-and-ethnicity?loc=1&loct=1&ref=down-ballot.info#detailed/1/any/false/2606,2543,2454,2026,1983,880/4040/21542,21543) of Asians ages 14-24 were born outside of the country or have a parent who was born abroad, versus 49% of Latinx people and 23% of the general U.S. population. Asians are heavily represented across the continuum of immigration status—from refugees, temporary visa holders, and permanent residents to naturalized citizens—and are the nation’s fastest-growing unauthorized population, according to [a report by Asian Americans Advancing Justice](https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/Mass%20Deportation%20and%20the%20Asian%20American%20Community.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). The report also notes that [one in three](https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/publication/mass-deportation-and-asian-american-community?ref=down-ballot.info) noncitizen Asian Americans is undocumented, and that some 800,000 Asian American children live with at least one undocumented parent. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/01233025/IMG_2487-scaled-e1767369189935-800x1024.png) Paramjit hugs Kirat (right, as a child) and his daughter at a soccer tournament in the midwest. Without his dad, "I am fighting every single day just to get through the day," Kirat says. Photo provided. “Given the data and what’s going on, it's quite important to highlight Asian Americans in relation to immigration policy," said Dr. Austin Nguy, a third-year psychiatry resident at UC Riverside. “We know sweeping immigration policy supportive of ICE detention causes harm to *all* children.” As the Trump administration implements its executive order to “[protect the American people under invasion](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-the-american-people-against-invasion/?ref=down-ballot.info),” children have become collateral damage. Parental separation is the most damaging and potentially enduring trauma, triggering hardships that were previously unimaginable. Separation not only [disrupts](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306025305%5FTrauma%5Fand%5FPsychological%5FDistress%5Fin%5FLatino%5FCitizen%5FChildren%5FFollowing%5FParental%5FDetention%5Fand%5FDeportation?ref=down-ballot.info) parent-child relationships, it acts as a “[toxic stressor](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/toxic-stress/?ref=down-ballot.info),” triggering strong and prolonged activation of the body's stress response. Toxic stressors change how the body manages stress over time and disrupt cognitive processes and emotional regulation. Research shows children and adolescents who experience this kind of separation can face higher rates of [anxiety, depression](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11430844/?ref=down-ballot.info), [post-traumatic stress disorder](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38700921/?ref=down-ballot.info), and [severe psychological distress](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27504961/?ref=down-ballot.info). IQ scores tend to be [lower](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3050094/pdf/nihms254811.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) and immune systems are more likely to be [compromised](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.649825/full?ref=down-ballot.info). In a [comprehensive study](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2762642?ref=down-ballot.info) published in *JAMA Pediatrics* of more than 500 Latino middle-schoolers—the majority of whom have U.S. citizenship—researchers found that adolescents with a detained or deported family member were more than twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts and about three times as likely to use alcohol. They were also more likely to show problematic behaviors, including [aggression](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/anger?ref=down-ballot.info) and skipping school. The impacts of these policies do not disappear. The trauma [burrows](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2838678?ref=down-ballot.info) in the brain and body and can reverberate [into adulthood](https://developingchild.harvard.edu/key-concept/toxic-stress/?ref=down-ballot.info). “Evidence for serious risks during the early and middle adolescent years has implications for dropping out of school, criminal activity, and suicidality occurring later in life,” researchers [concluded](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32176245/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the *JAMA Pediatrics* study. [Adverse early experiences](https://www.acesaware.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Provider-Toolkit-The-Science-of-ACEs-and-Toxic-Stress.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) have also been linked with elevated rates of cancer, heart disease, and lung disease, and a host of [mental health challenges](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/24875-adverse-childhood-experiences-ace?ref=down-ballot.info) including anxiety, depression, and eating disorders. ## **“We get a little bit of hope and it’s all crushed”** The last time Kirat saw his father, Paramjit Singh, was at Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Paramjit handed him the fanny pack that held his credit cards and papers and placed his rings and *kara*—the steel bangle that reflected his commitment to his Sikh faith–into his cupped hands. He pulled his son into an embrace and told him to stay safe and take care of his mom. Paramjit and Kirat were returning from India to their home in Northeastern Indiana. They had spent the last few weeks visiting relatives—drinking chai, sitting with the aunties, doing the things Indians visiting loved ones typically do. It was the first time they had traveled without the rest of the family, a father and son on their first adventure. “We didn’t even watch movies, really,” Kirat said. “We just talked and talked and laughed.” Paramjit, a green card holder, immigrated from India to Indiana at age 17, the same age his son is now. On their return, he got pulled aside for additional screening. That wasn’t unusual. He had a decades-old conviction for using a payphone without payment, a charge his lawyer calls a "minor infraction" that, in 2023, was reduced to a misdemeanor. Paramjit and Kirat, a U.S. citizen, were escorted to a nondescript room in the corner of the airport. "My dad had been through this so many times," Kirat said. "I thought everything was normal." ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/02132613/Screenshot-2026-01-01-201456-768x357-1-e1767713133252.jpeg) Kirat and his father Paramjit in front of a Sikh gurdwara. Photo provided. But this was their first trip since Trump resumed office. As one hour became two, Kirat felt the weight of the conversations they'd had before leaving, when news of ICE's expanding enforcement began to spread. "I was stressed out even before we left for India," he said, "and told my dad, 'It's dangerous, let's not go.'" Kirat’s fear—known as ["anticipatory anxiety"](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/06/anticipatory-anxiety?ref=down-ballot.info)—are concerns about situations that *could* arise, commonly focused on situations that someone can’t fully predict or control. It is a kind of pre-traumatic stress, a fear that has become pervasive in immigrant communities and increasingly common in mixed-status families that include family members who have citizenship and those who do not. “Despite being citizens, (children) are deeply affected by the precarious legal status and systemic exclusion faced by their caregivers,” Dr. Nguy and his colleagues wrote in a [Special Report on U.S. Immigration Policy and the Mental Health of Children and Families](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.08.8.19?ref=down-ballot.info) published in Psychiatry Online. And, he added in an interview, “the threats or the anticipation of something happening is experienced (in the body) at almost the same level as the separation itself.” A [2024 study](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39594932/?ref=down-ballot.info) found these fears lead to school absenteeism, academic disengagement and heightened emotional distress. Children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable because the coping mechanisms that could help them manage those potential events are not fully developed. Stress and anxiety have increased, Texas-based school psychologist Dr. Asha Unni explained, not only through direct exposure to raids and detentions but through shattering accounts from peers and social media. “They’re holding this feeling of, ‘When is it going to be the day that my family is directly affected? When am I going to hear about my friend? When am I going to hear about my relative?’” she said in an interview. After a seven-hour wait, officers told Kirat that his father would be detained overnight. They did not ask the teenager traveling alone, who had been awake for close to 18 hours, if he had a safe place to stay. They simply told him to collect the family’s suitcases and call his ride. While in custody, Paramjit was taken by ICE to a hospital emergency room for a health crisis—one his family only learned of weeks later when they received a hospital bill. After the ER visit, Paramjit was moved back to airport detention and, eventually, to a [northern Kentucky jail](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/inside-kenton-county-detention-center-a-look-at-ice-detainee-holding/ar-AA1IBRAA?ref=down-ballot.info). It is one of many [jails and prisons](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/immigration-detention-united-states-agency/?ref=down-ballot.info) contracted to detain people on behalf of ICE, blurring the distinction between detainee and inmate, detention and incarceration. The facility is paid [$88 a day per ICE detainee](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/inside-kenton-county-detention-center-a-look-at-ice-detainee-holding/ar-AA1IBRAA?ref=down-ballot.info), roughly 2 ½ times the amount it receives to house an inmate. “If ICE catches people who have done super-bad crimes, obviously they are deportable,” Kirat says. “But there are a lot of people who have small cases from 10-, 15-plus years ago. My dad was young. He made a stupid mistake. He's been here for 30 years. He has a nice home, two kids, over 300 employees in his gas stations. They are bending the rules to kick people out of the country. It’s not fair.” Evolving immigration policy including the [Laken Riley Act](https://nipnlg.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/Alert-Laken-Riley-Act.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) (the first piece of legislation Trump signed upon re-entering office) has expanded the definition of "conviction,” which can have significant consequences for green card holders. “Many old offenses that don’t count as convictions in criminal court do count as convictions in immigration court," the National Immigration Law Center [explains](https://www.nilc.org/resources/green-card-holders-know-your-rights-risks-during-the-second-trump-administration/?ref=down-ballot.info) in its guide. Paramjit has a heart condition and is recovering from a pituitary adenoma, a brain tumor linked to partial blindness. The medical assessment he was supposed to have in October was cancelled and repeated requests for [humanitarian parole](https://portal.ice.gov/pdf/LOPPdf/Parole/Parole%28English%29508.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) on medical grounds have been denied. “His sight is worsening again,” Kirat says. “And we don't know if it's growing back. He is a really strong guy, but I’m not sure he’s safe. That keeps me worried all the time.” ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/01225954/IMG_2489-1-scaled-e1767369649959-1024x766.png) Paramjit and Kirat outside. Photo provided. Aside from school and the one truncated football game, Kirat rarely leaves the house, living what he describes as “the same day every day. I wake up, shower, do morning prayers, go to school, and come home. I sit for an hour—doing whatever to pass the time—and then go to the basement, work out, shower, do chores, eat, sit with my mom, do my homework, and go to bed.” But sleep does not come easily; all he is thinking about is his dad. The few times where he dreams that they were reunited are even more difficult: “I wake up and realize he’s not here; it’s hard to get out of bed or do anything.” Kirat used to get rest before virtual court hearings but, over five months, that has changed. “The lawyer tells us something positive and we get excited that he's gonna be out,” he says. “But then the judges keep pushing everything back. They don't understand that they're splitting up families. We get a little bit of hope and then it's all crushed.” In adolescence, our sense of identity, agency, and personal boundaries are still forming; we are people still becoming, shaped by life circumstances and the people we love. More than his friends or other family, Kirat’s constant companion was his dad, and that paternal support is what he now longs for. “I feel like a father is the only man in the world that wants you to be better than himself," he says. "But that man, for me, is locked up right now. I don't have the only support that I really want. I am fighting every single day to just get through the day.” ## **“The kids had to walk a little tightrope …”** Arun Chauhan was sitting in his statistics lecture at the University of Central Florida when his phone lit up. "UCF Police," the caller ID said. His heart began to pound. Two months earlier, during what was supposed to be a routine check-in, ICE detained his father, Harpinder. They sent him first to [Krome North Processing Center](https://www.ice.gov/detain/detention-facilities/krome-north-service-processing-center?ref=down-ballot.info) in Miami—a facility one detainee described as ["hell on Earth"](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/23/immigrant-women-hell-on-earth-trump-ice-detention/82029368007/?ref=down-ballot.info)—then, due to overcrowding, on to [FDC Miami](https://www.bop.gov/locations/institutions/mim/?ref=down-ballot.info) federal prison, and finally to [Broward Transitional Center](https://www.ice.gov/detain/detention-facilities/broward-transitional-center?ref=down-ballot.info) (BTC) in Pompano Beach, forcing the family into an unprecedented emotional, legal and financial tailspin. The university had recently contracted with ICE, resulting in abrupt terminations of student visas and rising fears of detention. For Arun, a scholarship student under his parents’ work visas, no public space felt safe. When Arun returned the call, the officer told him to come to his vehicle. "There's something wrong," the officer said. Arun called his mother, Rani, who had been reluctant to let her teenage son drive alone since her husband’s detention. "Police just asked me to come see them at the car," he said. "I think, this is it." Rani told him to hang up and call the lawyer. She had already been preparing him, he would later recall. If it happens, surrender. Don't fight. Don't end up in detention. Go back to England. Arun called the lawyer's office. "Stay on the phone with me," he said. "I think it's happening right now." For months, his mother had been quizzing him randomly on the lawyer's number, just so they'd have it ready. He had watched the YouTube videos, the public service announcements about what to do when ICE comes for you. Don't say anything. Ask to speak to your attorney. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/07195714/GettyImages-2222807865-1024x683.jpg) In an aerial view from a helicopter, detainees are seen at the Krome Detention Center, which some have called "hell on earth," in Miami, Florida. On one occasion, they used their bodies to an 'SOS' that could be seen from above. (Photo by Alon Skuy/Getty Images) The five-minute walk felt interminable. Since his father’s detention, he'd learned to live in a constant state of readiness. His phone was always on. His mind never fully focused on schoolwork, trying to support his mom at work and keep his father’s spirits lifted from afar. There was no time for extracurriculars or friends. Just a steady focus on getting through the day. He saw the UCF police pickup truck and, next to his vehicle, a fellow student in tears. She had been backing into a parking spot and hit the car. A fender bender. Arun felt relief so profound he didn't check for damage. "Everything's fine,” he told her. “Don't worry about it.” But everything was not fine. The emotional toll of living under rapidly evolving and expanding immigration policies has had a profound impact. The Urban Institute report ["Facing Our Future: Children in the Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement"](https://www.urban.org/research/publication/facing-our-future?ref=down-ballot.info) found that most children and adolescents experienced at least four adverse behavioral changes in the six months following a raid or arrest, including increased crying and fear, changes in eating or sleeping habits, and heightened anxiety, withdrawal, or aggression compared to the previous six months. Although Arun experienced a false alarm, his response was not irrational. It was grounded in his lived reality: His father remained in detention, the family's future remained uncertain. They were on guard because history had shown they had to be. On Easter Sunday, Arun, his sister, Jasbir, and their mother finally allowed themselves to sleep in. Then came a text from a relative of his father’s cellmate. Harpinder had left the BTC detention in an ambulance. The siblings grabbed their phones. BTC refused to tell them where their father had been taken, so they called every hospital in the vicinity. Intervening on their dad’s behalf was something they had been doing for years, a role reversal that mental health professionals call "parentification.” It is a compression of childhood that occurs "when youth are forced to assume developmentally inappropriate parent- or adult-like roles and responsibilities," a [research team reported](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10341267/pdf/ijerph-20-06197.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Parentified children and adolescents “are expected to become pseudo-parents and pseudo-adults long before they are cognitively and physiologically equipped for these roles," researchers added. "The kids have gone through so much,” Harpinder later said from England. “They had to walk a little tightrope: keeping their mother sane and keeping me sane. Arun went from being quite childlike to being more adult than anyone within just a few months." Dr. Razia Kosi, a Maryland-based child psychologist working with South Asian communities, explains that the phenomenon varies by generation. "Depending on whether they're first, second, or third generation, we see different layers of engagement,” she says. The depth of parentification also depends on what she describes as “parents' sense of belonging: where they feel they land in the whole process of acculturation.” These factors inform both how many adult responsibilities children take on and the extent to which they feel the need to navigate both Asian and American cultures and intervene on their parents’ behalf. While parentification [has been shown](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265618613%5FExpanding%5Fthe%5FDiscussion%5FRegarding%5FParentification%5Fand%5FIts%5FVaried%5FOutcomes%5FImplications%5Ffor%5FMental%5FHealth%5FResearch%5Fand%5FPractice?ref=down-ballot.info) to increase self-reliance, improve coping skills and foster growth, it has also been correlated with increased rates of depression, anxiety, addiction and poor physical outcomes. > **The children did not know their father had collapsed in ICE detention showing signs of cardiac arrest after being deprived of insulin for nearly a week.** "Do detainees from Broward Transitional come to you guys?" Arun asked the first hospital he called. The response: "I have no idea." The siblings kept searching. They did not yet know their father had collapsed in the dinner line at BTC, showing signs of cardiac arrest after being deprived of insulin for nearly a week (part of a larger, horrific [pattern of neglect and abuse](https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/07/21/you-feel-like-your-life-is-over/abusive-practices-at-three-florida-immigration?ref=down-ballot.info) their father had experienced in ICE detention). The next morning, Arun’s sister and mom headed to work. They had no choice. They had to keep the shipping store—their only source of income—running, shrugging off customers like the one who sneered, "How's Trump's America treating you?" A [2020 survey](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2331502420973976?ref=down-ballot.info) of 125 long-term resident households in Pima County, Arizona determined immigration arrests cost a household, on average, more than $24,000\. Deportation of an immediate family member resulted in an average annual income decline of more than $19,000 for noncitizen and mixed-status households alike. Arun was meant to be studying but instead made repeated calls to every hospital near BTC, plus the sheriff’s department and detention facility itself. “I was going crazy,” he says. "Children are so attuned to risks facing their parents or family structure," Dr. Nguy explains. "They pick up on anxieties and financial insecurity, and that gets reflected in their own internalized struggles." Later that day, a nurse confirmed Harpinder *was* there, in the very first facility they had contacted the day before. But he was listed under a pseudonym, his real name in brackets. > **"The only time we will alert you," the official said, "is if your father dies."** Shortly after, Arun called back and asked for his father under the assumed name. The nurse immediately hung up. He called again. A hospital supervisor told Arun he could not share information because the patient was in ICE custody: “Information is confidential.” He called BTC in hopes of getting some word that his dad was okay. “The only time we will alert you,” the official told him, “is if your father dies.” For nearly three days, the family was anxious and fearful, barely eating or sleeping, not knowing that Harpinder had stabilized but was still under observation. Only when the online [ICE locator](https://www.usa.gov/detained-by-ice?ref=down-ballot.info) showed that Harpinder was back in detention did they think he was okay. A cell, they reasoned, was better than a hospital. Relief washed over them. But that same day, Arun—the family’s liaison to their attorney—received an update. “Please see the attachment,” the lawyer emailed just before the end of the workday, “and call me tomorrow to discuss.” Arun was the first to learn a [motion to reconsider](https://www.uscis.gov/administrative-appeals/aao-practice-manual/chapter-4-motions-to-reopen-and-reconsider?ref=down-ballot.info) in his father’s case had been denied and he would be deported. Arun had to break the news to the rest of his family, including his dad. ## **"The ICEman took him"** Last May, Jaswinder Singh and his wife Ruby, a U.S.-born citizen, brought all six of their children to what should have been a celebratory meeting: Jaswinder's interview with U.S. Customs and Immigration Services for his permanent residency ("green") card. Theirs was a modern-day love affair. The couple met as neighbors and Jaswinder fell in love with not only Ruby but her four children from previous relationships. The couple eventually got married and went on to have two more children together. All, Ruby says with affection, are “deeply loved.” As they passed through the metal detectors, a police officer yelled "ICE is here." Ruby felt her chest tighten. She turned to her husband—nicknamed Lucky—and said, "ICE is here." He squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry. I've been through this before. It's going to be okay." After waiting for her husband for what “seemed like forever,” an officer appeared and asked if he could take Ruby, alone, into a back room. She refused to leave their children, so he led all of them down a long, narrow hallway. “I kept looking and looking for him, with each room that we passed. I didn’t see him,” she said. “And I felt so lost.” Finally, the officer told her that her husband had been detained. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/02112827/PHOTO-2025-2-e1767382144275.jpg) Jaswinder and Ruby. Photo provided. The Department of Homeland Security claims [70%](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/11/25/despite-media-and-democrats-claiming-ice-not-targeting-worst-worst-ice-arrested?ref=down-ballot.info) of ICE arrests have been of “criminal illegal aliens,” but the [evidence](https://tracreports.org/immigration/quickfacts/?ref=down-ballot.info) collected by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse does not support it. The number of non-criminal detainees arrested by ICE has surged by [2,000%](https://www.ice.gov/detain/detention-management?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Detention%2520Statistics) under Trump. According to recent reporting,[73%](https://tracreports.org/immigration/quickfacts/?ref=down-ballot.info) of those detained have no criminal convictions; only [5%](https://www.cato.org/blog/5-ice-detainees-have-violent-convictions-73-no-convictions?ref=down-ballot.info) have violent convictions. Jaswinder says he has never even had a speeding ticket. “We aren’t a fake family, and he isn’t a criminal,” Ruby said to the officer. “I know,” he replied. “I am so sorry.” Outside the office, Ruby’s thoughts turned to the children. Tara, Trevor, and Karan—all in their late teens—understood what had happened. But she hoped the younger kids would be spared. She took them to Target, hoping the toys would distract 5-year-old Will. "But something clicked,” she says, “and he figured it out.” So, she piled everyone back into the car and drove to Chick-fil-A, her 10-year-old son Neel's favorite. But there in the back seat, he dissolved into tears. "He mentally broke down and said, "I don't understand why they took Lucky. He is not a bad person. I miss him so much." A month later when Ruby took Trevor, nearly 16, to get ice cream, he also succumbed to tears. “I just want him to come home,” he told her. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/01211842/image-e1767369534934-1024x789.jpeg) Jaswinder, Ruby, and their family in a provided family photo. Since Jaswinder's deportation, Ruby has had to care for the six children on her own. Separating a child from their parent is “an incredibly severe trauma,” [Dr. Martin Teicher](https://www.mcleanhospital.org/profile/martin-teicher?ref=down-ballot.info), associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, explained in a recent interview with me. He has spent decades studying the ways adverse childhood experiences, including immigration trauma, reshape developing brains. Trauma, he said, disrupts the brain development of all children. It presents most strongly in the [amygdala](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/24894-amygdala?ref=down-ballot.info), an almond-shaped cluster of cells nestled in the mid-brain that serves as the brain’s alarm system, interpreting sensory information and initiating fear responses. But the way trauma impacts the amygdala differs dramatically according to age. For older children, the amygdala can become hyperreactive to threat, priming them for fight-or-flight responses. In younger children who do not have the ability to fight or flee, the response gets derailed. Their developing brains adapt by treating harmless everyday occurrences as dangers while simultaneously failing to recognize genuine threats. Trauma can also [weaken](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5425605/?ref=down-ballot.info) the connection between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, brain structures that work together to detect threats, [manage emotions, and guide decision-making](https://www.srcd.org/sites/default/files/resources/FINAL%5FThe%20Science%20is%20Clear%5F0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Children with disrupted circuitry between these regions struggle to regulate their anger, control their impulses and maintain the kind of mental flexibility that allows them to hold information or sustain attention. Will, who recently started kindergarten, is "a lost soul,” Ruby says. “When people ask him where his daddy is, he says, 'the ICEman took him.’" ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/01212057/image-1-e1767369456206-1024x594.jpeg) Will (left) leans against his father, who is holding baby Jasdeep. With his father deported, Will "is a lost soul," Ruby says. Photo provided. The sadness and disassociation Ruby has witnessed isn’t just momentary emotional distress. At 5 years old, he is in a developmental window when specific brain regions are most vulnerable to the effects of trauma. Yet it's Jasdeep—their youngest—whose situation highlights the particular cruelty of this separation. Born with a [trisomy](https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22912-trisomy?ref=down-ballot.info) (a genetic condition in which a person is born with an extra chromosome), pulmonary hypertension, and a hole in his heart, Jasdeep can't eat or drink by mouth—everything goes through a feeding tube directly into his stomach. This year, he was also diagnosed with autism. Jaswinder had been to every medical appointment, knew every doctor, and handled the complicated feeding routine, Ruby said. "The doctors would always say, 'Oh, he's a great dad. He helps with everything.'" At a recent appointment, the pulmonologist asked why Jaswinder was not there. When Ruby explained, the doctor started to cry. "The kids are sitting here saying, 'Please give him back to us' and this doctor's literally sitting there crying," Ruby said. "And I just don't understand how any of this is okay." These days, when Ruby asks Will what's wrong, he just shrugs and says he misses his dad. But when she asks if he wants to go get his dad, he says he doesn’t know. “He wonders," she says, "‘are you gonna actually give him back to us, or are you gonna just take him again?’" This tracks with what researchers describe as "ambiguous loss.” The absence, detailed in a [2024 study](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11592776/?ref=down-ballot.info), puts children in emotional limbo. Unlike death or traditional incarceration, immigration detention offers no timeline, no endpoint. The uncertainty exacerbates anxiety, leaving children with unresolved grief. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/01233647/Screenshot-2026-01-01-233536-e1767369402990.png) Jaswinder studies medication as baby Jasdeep looks on. Photo provided. The separation [heightens their vulnerability](https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources/tip-sheet/key%5Fpoints%5Ftraumatic%5Fseparation%5Fand%5Frefugee%5Fimmigrant%5Fchildren.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to depression and poast-traumatic stress and compromises their ability to self-soothe, trust others and establish a foundation for healthy relationships. While the children navigate neurological and psychological upheaval, Ruby faces her own impossible challenge. As the caregiver left behind, managing six children on her own, she bears what Columbia University sociologist Yao Lu and her colleagues [describe](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6474826/?ref=down-ballot.info#%5Fci93%5F) as "the social and emotional costs of family reorganization.” The increased physical and psychological burdens on sole caregivers can increase stress, reduce the amount of time they can devote to their kids, and may contribute to children’s distress. “Under these challenges,” the researchers write, “remaining caregivers may show lower levels of warmth and support and may be more punitive in their interactions.” At the same time, they add, “Young children are likely to interpret separation from parents as a complete loss of (the absent parent’s) love and protection.” Will used to proudly wear the traditional Sikh head coverings his grandfather sent from India, but now he refuses. When his older brother tried to hype him up—"It's so cool, you wanna wear it?"—the 5-year-old said he was too scared. That fear reflects a threat-detection system working overtime and is not unfounded. [A 2017 report](https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/living-in-an-immigrant-family-in-america-how-fear-and-toxic-stress-are-affecting-daily-life-well-being-health/?ref=down-ballot.info), “Living in an Immigrant Family in America: How Fear and Toxic Stress are Affecting Daily Life, Well-Being, & Health” from the health policy organization KFF revealed a significant increase in discrimination, racism and bullying of children of immigrants during Trump’s first term. A [2020 study](https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.13476?ref=down-ballot.info) of 179 children in the 6th and 9th grades found that while all participants thought bullying was wrong, non-immigrant adolescents objected *less* when the victim of bullying was an immigrant. Will’s older brother Neel now asks, "Mom, are they gonna come get us because we're brown?" Jaswinder has missed Will's first day of kindergarten and his birthday. He missed Father’s Day, Neel’s birthday, and Halloween. He missed Jasdeep's birthday—his “Santa baby” born on Christmas Day. And he'll miss Tara and Karan's graduations. Both kids graduated early. They had wanted their adoptive father to be there. "The impact of forced separation by the Trump administration will not end when children and parents are reunited," Dr. Teicher wrote in a [2018 commentary](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6103973/?ref=down-ballot.info). "Many will live in fear that this will happen again.” And the consequences, he says, will still be playing out “20 years from now." After six months in detention, Jaswinder was deported. He describes himself as feeling as devastated and lost as his children, unsure when he will see his family again, or how things will be when he does. *MindSite News contributor Simran Sethi is a media fellow at the* [*Nova Institute for Health*](https://novainstituteforhealth.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, which provided financial support for this series. If you or your loved ones are impacted by current immigration policies, these guides on* [*family preparedness*](https://mindsitenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FAMILY-PREPAREDNESS-GUIDE-MINDSITE-NOVA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) *and* [*ICE encounters*](https://mindsitenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ICE-ENCOUNTERS-GUIDE-NOVA-MINDSITE-NEWS.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) *may help.* *This story is reported and produced by MindSite News and co-published by The Xylom, a nonprofit news outlet covering global health and environmental disparities. Subscribe to their newsletter* [*here*](https://thexylom.com/newsletter?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* This [article](https://mindsitenews.org/2026/01/08/immigration-detention-trauma-immigration-policies-on-asian-families/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MindSite News](https://mindsitenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # The Army Corps of Engineers Wants to Dredge the Cape Fear River. Environmentalists Tally the Costs. On a ferry trip across the Cape Fear, they pass beaches and bird habitats that could be endangered by PFAS deposits. The Trump administration has already proposed rolling back PFAS limits for drinking water from the river. By Lisa Sorg January 11, 2026 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11012026/cape-fear-river-dredging-environmental-impact/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [***Forever War, Part 3:***](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/forever-war/?ref=down-ballot.info) *This story is the third in a series of stories about the PFAS crisis in North Carolina.* FORT FISHER, N.C.—On a sunny, brisk afternoon in mid-December, Kerri Allen peers from the deck of a ferry, crossing the Cape Fear River from Fort Fisher, on a coastal barrier island, to Southport, a small town on the mainland, near where the river meets the sea. Allen has lived near the water all of her 30-plus years. She competes in outrigger canoe races and calls herself an “East Coast mermaid.” She knows how to read a river, and at times her life has depended on that skill. She has paddled this rugged stretch of the Cape Fear River when winds were wailing and whitecaps were walloping her boat. She now works as coastal management program director for the N.C. Coastal Federation. On this day, from the port side of the ferry, the river looks as deep and dark as midnight. A light southwest wind pushes serrated waves against the hull. “There is a lot going on under the water,” Allen says, as she scans the horizon. “Tidal currents, river currents, basin currents.” Allen is taking the 35-minute ride with her fellow environmental advocates: Lindsay Addison, a coastal biologist with the Audubon Society, and Kemp Burdette, the Cape Fear Riverkeeper. They’re showing me the potential impacts of a proposed federal dredging project: Shorelines and beach spits that are buffeted by wakes of enormous container ships, and vulnerable bird habitats on barrier islands that could be coated with PFAS-contaminated silt. And, of course, the Cape Fear River itself. It’s a repository for industrial chemicals and fertilizers that have drained from farms and lawns, and microplastics that have invaded every aspect of human existence, even our brains. The advocates have spent the last year fending off myriad environmental assaults under the Trump administration, including the loss of wetlands protections, the weakening of the Endangered Species Act and the rollback of PFAS regulations in drinking water. These threats—and many others—are now weighing on the advocates’ minds as they fight a different battle, the billion-dollar, six-year dredging project proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. To accommodate larger ships heading up the Cape Fear River to the Port of Wilmington, the Corps would dredge 28 miles of the river up from its mouth near Bald Head Island, north along the Fort Fisher ferry route and upstream to the port. The dredging would deepen the shipping channel to 47 feet, from its current depth of 42 feet, federal records show, and widen some segments by as much as 500 feet—equivalent to one and a half football fields. By the time the Corps is finished, 35 million cubic yards of silt and sand, plus the creatures that live in it, would be scraped and slurped from the riverbed. The Corps would dispose of roughly half the material at a permitted ocean disposal site; the rest—sand and silt likely contaminated with PFAS—would be slathered on hundreds of acres of public beaches, bird-nesting islands and imperiled wetlands. From the ferry deck, the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point comes into view across the vast river expanse. Operated by the U.S. Army, it is the world’s largest military terminal. It stores and ships explosives, artillery shells, Howitzers, grenades and other ammunition. If the United States is embroiled in a conflict—or assisting with one—the weapons likely ship from Sunny Point. [![](https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ForeverWarBug600x400px.png)](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/forever-war/?ref=down-ballot.info) Parts of the terminal are contaminated with toxic PFAS found in firefighting foam, military testing has shown. Studies have also found contaminants from terminal seeping from the groundwater into tributaries of the Cape Fear. University scientists and state environmental regulators have also found the forever chemicals in river water, fish, birds and alligators, as well as in sediment north of the port. Despite the likelihood of contamination, the Corps doesn’t intend to test the dredging material for PFAS, according to a Draft Environmental Impact Statement released in September. In fact, the 260-page document doesn’t mention PFAS at all. Even if the Corps did find PFAS in the dredging material, it’s unclear if they would be prohibited from disposing of it. There are currently no federal standards or regulations to guide decisions related to PFAS contamination in sediment, a Corps spokesman said. Because sediment tests have a limited shelf life, the spokesman said, samples collected now would be outdated by the time the Corps would begin dredging the river in five to 10 years. If the dredging project comes to fruition, the spokesman said, the Corps would test the sediment in the engineering and design phase “to meet all applicable requirements” and guide decisions about where to place the material. Gulls soar overhead. A cormorant perches on a channel marker and spreads its wings. As the ferry lumbers downriver, the issue takes on an urgency that’s tinged with exasperation. Burdette has battled for PFAS regulations since the compounds were detected in the Cape Fear River in 2017\. He’s from Wilmington and unknowingly drank contaminated water much of his life. His two children, now in their teens, drank it. His father drank it and died of kidney cancer, which research has linked to exposure to GenX, a PFAS compound. Burdette has wrestled alligators so scientists could take their blood. His organization, Cape Fear River Watch, sued the state and Chemours, the chemical manufacturer responsible for discharging GenX and other forever chemicals into the Cape Fear. The state and Chemours agreed to a consent order that required the company to stop its contaminated discharges into the waterway. Last fall, Burdette [paddled an aluminum rowboat to Chemour Fayetteville Works](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10122025/north-carolina-tfa-forever-chemicals-chemours/?ref=down-ballot.info) on the river to test whether a PFAS compound called TFA was in water outfalls from the plant. He found disturbingly high levels of the ultra-short chain compounds. Now Burdette is again fighting for the river he knows so well, and on behalf of the people who depend on it. ## **A Gritty, Loud, Noxious Port** The ferry turns gently toward the west as the advocates aboard rattle off additional probable harms from the dredging: The increased wake and wave action from the enormous ships would erode shorelines and drown bird eggs and chicks in their nests. Roughly 1,000 acres of wetlands would be permanently lost. Endangered Atlantic Sturgeon, which live on the river bed, would be dismembered by the ships’ sharp keels. Allen is concerned that there is no monitoring plan for the environmental impacts. The Cape Fear River is so impaired, she says, that crabbers describe the river as dead. Allen, in her mid-30s, is blond and athletic with a wide smile. She was born in Raleigh, but moved to Wilmington as a teenager. She originally planned to become an artist, and her creative streak manifests in her Coastal Federation office at Wrightsville Beach. Not only does she have a graceful array of seashells, but also a collection of sand: Black sand, white sand, sand from Hawaii, sand from San Francisco, sand from Costa Rica, sand with large grains, sand with small grains, even sea glass, all housed in 100 small antique bottles with cork stoppers. Had it not been for a high school oceanography class, Allen could be painting ocean scenes. But as part of the class, she visited a marsh where she retrieved the shell of a tulip mollusk, a type of large sea snail. She was hooked. Now she’s a coastal geologist. Allen and her fellow advocates have scrutinized the economics of the proposal. Federal documents show the financial benefits of the $1.2 billion proposed project are few and barely meet the Corps’ benefit-cost threshold for reasonableness. The state legislature would have to appropriate $339 million to cover a quarter of the costs. The total cargo volume flowing through the port is expected to remain steady with or without a harbor improvement project, according to the Corps’ analysis. Yet, the Corps, and before it, the State Ports Authority, justified deepening the shipping channel to accommodate larger vessels. Otherwise, ships would have to “light load”—carry less weight to the port, which could entail more river traffic. In other words, fewer trips, but bigger ships. The 284-acre Port of Wilmington lies just two miles south of downtown. Unlike the city’s waterfront promenade, restaurants and tourist shops, the port is gritty, loud and noxious. Along Burnette Boulevard, Kinder Morgan, the Houston-based pipeline company, operates a chemical, petroleum and asphalt storage terminal. EcoLab injects shipping containers with the neurotoxin methyl bromide to fumigate logs. In the backyards of Sunset Park residents looms Enviva’s dome of wood pellets, sourced from North Carolina forests and bound for Europe to be burned as fuel. The port is crucial to Wilmington’s economy, but receives just 1.3 percent of the nation’s marine shipping traffic. It handled about 7 million tons of cargo in 2022, most of it container shipments, according to State Port Authority figures. In February 2020, the State Port Authority released a feasibility study about improving the shipping channel, which, unsurprisingly, found it would benefit the port. The findings have since prompted accusations of self-dealing, especially in light of an eviscerating federal review. After the state submitted it to the assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, that office identified more than two dozen major weaknesses and unresolved issues. The state Department of Transportation, which oversees the port, did not respond to emails from Inside Climate News seeking comment. The Port Authority underestimated the project’s impact on river flooding associated with sea-level rise, failed to account for the effects of climate change, and claimed, without evidence, that unless the shipping channel was deepened and widened, the port would close. “As written, the planning objectives are unclear and could potentially lead to the pre-selection of an alternative plan,” Corps documents read. “In many cases, the report uses qualifying words, such as may, potentially, and just, to lessen the description of project impacts.” Nonetheless, Congress authorized more than $839 million for the project, but with a caveat: The study’s shortcomings had to be fixed before lawmakers would consider releasing the funding. In 2022, the task fell to the Corps. ## **PFAS in the Fish** The ferry docks at the Southport terminal after crossing the river in about 35 minutes, and the trio of environmental advocates heads for the fishing pier. It’s nearly empty in December, but during high season, the pier is jammed with anglers eager to catch a red drum or Atlantic croaker for dinner. Those fish are among seven saltwater species that contained PFAS in their tissues, according to sampling conducted by the state Department of Environmental Quality. In 2023 and 2024, DEQ tested 77 fish caught between Wilmington and Southport—the same stretch of the river that the Corps would deepen and widen—for the compounds. DEQ presented preliminary data to the state [Secretaries’ Science Advisory Board](https://www.deq.nc.gov/saltwater-fish-and-water-data-sab-oct-2025/download?attachment&ref=down-ballot.info) last October that showed PFAS were present in all seven saltwater species sampled, as well as in river water. The agency found 13 types of PFAS disbursed among the fish. PFOS, which the chemical industry phased out in 2002, was detected in all of the samples. Two compounds found in several fish, PFMOAA and PFO5DA, can be traced back to Chemours, 100 miles upstream. The saltwater fish findings build on previous DEQ sampling that detected high levels of PFOS in eight species of freshwater fish commonly caught in the river segment upstream of Wilmington, between Chemours and the Bluffs on the Cape Fear. The results compelled state health officials in 2023 to issue a fish consumption advisory for those species, recommending that pregnant women eat none and that others limit their intake to no more than seven meals in a year. The state health department is evaluating options for future fish advisories, including consideration of[ guidelines proposed ](https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/fish/docs/consortium/bestpracticepfos.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)last September by the Great Lakes Consortium for Fish Advisories. ## **Research on PFAS and Birds** Addison is in her 40s and, in the winter, wears flannel and a knit toboggan to protect against the wind. She has been a coastal biologist with the Audubon Society in Wilmington for 15 years and grew up in Florida, surrounded by nature and books. Her father was a biologist, and she spent her childhood playing outside, roaming the woods behind her elementary school while she waited for her mother, a teacher, to finish working. “Outside, you might go to the same place over and over,” she says, “but you don’t know what you’re going to see or what’s going to happen. It’s never the same.” Even her hobbies dovetail with her professional life. Like the protagonists in the British mysteries she reads, Addison observes the natural world, what belongs and what seems out of place. Addison loves birds. She has a figurine of a killdeer in her office—but if she had to name a favorite shorebird, it would be the American oystercatcher. (The Carolina wren, a yardbird, is second, Addison says. “They’re pert.”) “Birds are a thing that everyone can get behind,” she says. “They are a great uniter.” American oystercatchers live on coastal salt marshes, mudflats, and islands. They are sociable introverts who are loyal to their mates and will return to the same spot to nest every year. If an island were a parking lot, Addison says, an American oystercatcher would return not just to the same lot, but “to the same parking space.” American oystercatchers, as their name suggests, eat oysters. And scientists have found oysters contaminated with the compounds along the Southeast Atlantic Coast. Some birds living along the Cape Fear River have also been [contaminated with PFAS.](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.0c01951?ref=down-ballot.info) In 2017, Addison, EPA scientists and University of Rhode Island researchers tested chicks that had died of natural causes from three locations: Massachusetts Bay, Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, and the Cape Fear River Estuary in North Carolina. They found 16 types of PFAS in the livers of royal terns, sandwich terns, laughing gulls and brown pelicans from the Cape Fear River Estuary. These included PFOS and two compounds associated with Chemours. Chicks from the Cape Fear Estuary contained significantly greater concentrations and numbers of PFAS than juveniles from Massachusetts Bay or Narragansett Bay, researchers found. A royal tern chick from the estuary had the highest total of PFAS of all the birds tested: 390 parts per trillion. Over the past two years, Addison, along with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, conducted a second study. They took blood samples from living brown pelican chicks to see if their immune systems have been affected by exposure to PFAS. The results are pending. If the Corps places contaminated dredge material on the bird nesting islands, that could further expose them to compounds. The “likely presence of PFAS is a major concern” for DEQ, according to an agency spokesperson. “We need to find out before we do it,” Addison says. “You can’t un-ring the bell.” ## **Back Before the House** Emily Donovan, co-founder of the environmental group Clean Cape Fear, couldn’t make the ferry trip. Instead, she prepared to testify before the U.S. House Environment Subcommittee. Donovan routinely speaks in public; sometimes it seems like she’s on tour. Seven years ago, she first appeared before the House Environment Subcommittee, where she pleaded with federal lawmakers to authorize and fund a comprehensive, nationwide PFAS Human Exposure Study and to regulate all of the compounds, not piecemeal, but as a class. Last May, she addressed 100 people from the pulpit of Ocean View United Methodist Church in Oak Island, North Carolina, to unveil findings about PFAS in sea foam along the state’s beaches. Coincidentally, that was the day EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced he would roll back drinking water regulations for GenX and four other PFAS chemicals—regulations Donovan and other North Carolina environmentalists had fought for more than a decade. This time, though, Donovan felt nervous. She had little time to finesse[ her remarks](https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/Donovan%5FTestimony%5FENV%5FHearing%5F72ac8d28ea.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). House Democrats had contacted her on short notice to appear before the committee about proposed PFAS exemptions under the Superfund law, which governs hundreds of sites nationwide that are contaminated by hazardous waste. The hearing at the Rayburn Building in Washington, D.C., was on the 18th of December: A week before Christmas, in the middle of Hanukkah and on the final day of Congress in 2025\. She wondered if anyone was listening or even cared. Clad in a black turtleneck sweater, Donovan sat at a hearing table with three other witnesses, all of whom represented industries that favored the Superfund exemption. The Trump administration had kept the hazardous materials designation for PFOA and PFOS, enacted under President Biden. That classification places those compounds under the purview of the Superfund program, which allows the EPA to force polluters to pay for cleanups, rather than taxpayers. Now, Congress was weighing a legal exemption for “passive receivers,” entities that didn’t produce the compounds but had unknowingly accepted contaminated material: farmers, wastewater treatment plants, even seaside beach towns. Initially, the proponents’ arguments seemed reasonable. But as the hearing wore on, observers learned the EPA already absolves passive receivers from governmental liability. However, proponents say that without the exemption, they are still vulnerable to third-party lawsuits. Those claims are disingenuous, Donovan told the committee, whose Democratic members agreed. The passive receiver exemption could shield polluters from accountability, she said. For example, in North Carolina, the state regulates water and wastewater utilities. In turn, the utilities often end up processing discharges of toxic chemicals from industries like plastics manufacturers and textile companies. This gives polluting industries cover: the utility is on the hook to DEQ, not them, Donovan said. > “Our beaches are coated in an atrocious amount of PFAS in sea foam.”— Emily Donovan, Clean Cape Fear “Yet here we are debating whether to weaken accountability for two types of PFAs that haven’t been in commercial use for over a decade,” she said. Donovan was part of a research team that found PFAS-contaminated sea foam along several Brunswick County beaches in southern North Carolina. Of the 12 sea foam samples, Caswell Beach and nearby Oak Island had some of the highest levels. These are the same places where the Corps could soon place 2 million cubic yards of dredge material from the Cape Fear River. “Our beaches are coated in an atrocious amount of PFAS in sea foam, the highest ever recorded in literature to date,” she told the committee. “The discovery of these toxic levels of PFAS contaminating our local beaches is yet another public health threat lawmakers and regulators have no idea how to address.” ## **Seaside Towns Divided on Dredging** Sand is existential for coastal communities. Without a steady replenishment, the sand is carried to sea by storms—some of them supercharged by climate change—and the constant barrage of wakes and waves. Without sand, there are no tourists. And without tourists, the coastal economy folds like a beach chair. Beach renourishment can cost seaside towns tens of millions of dollars. This is why the prospect of the Corps delivering free sand from the dredging project is nearly irresistible. The Corps is required under federal law to evaluate whether to test dredge material for contaminants of concern, such as pesticides, metals and PCBs. If the material is in an area with a history of spills or known contamination, the Corps is required to test it for a list of chemicals before disposing of it either inland or at a designated ocean site. PFAS are not on that list. In the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the Corps bases its conclusions that sediment contains “acceptable concentrations” of toxic contaminants on tests conducted from 2013 to 2016\. Those tests did not include PFAS; not until 2017 did the public know PFAS had contaminated the Cape Fear River. Scientists have already shown that PFAS can settle in sediment in rivers and lakes worldwide, from Michigan to China. Ralph Mead, a scientist at UNC Wilmington, found the compounds in sediment samples in the Cape Fear River at the dam 39 miles north of Wilmington. Eleven PFAS were found in estuarine sediments in Charleston, S.C. Erin Carey is the deputy director and conservation policy lead for the North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club. She lives in Wilmington with her husband and stepson, and grew up in rural Vermont, where, as a child, she became an environmental advocate. In third grade, she started a petition to bring a rock, about the size of a loaf of bread, into the classroom where she could store it at her desk. All of her classmates signed the petition, which did not sway the teacher. “Not only did it not work,” she says. “But I didn’t get the rock and I had to stay in for recess.” ![Erin Carey, deputy director of the North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club. Credit: Sierra Club](https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/1000027924-819x1024.jpg) Erin Carey, deputy director of the North Carolina chapter of the Sierra Club. Credit: Sierra Club In sixth grade, she started a boycott to advocate for dolphin-safe tuna. Carey wanted to “save the world” and become a marine biologist. She moved to Wilmington, where she earned two degrees in environmental and marine science. But “there weren’t a lot of ‘save the world jobs’ out there,” Carey says, so she took whatever science job she could. She worked at the microbiology lab at Wilmington’s Sweeney water treatment plant years before scientists discovered PFAS entering and leaving the facility. In Carteret County, she inspected small wastewater treatment plants, where her job entailed peering into vats of raw sewage. At DEQ’s shellfish sanitation program, she pureed oysters to test them for E. coli bacteria. Finally, one day when she was surfing in Costa Rica, she got the call that she’d been hired at the Sierra Club in North Carolina. Since then, she’s seen some environmental victories—state rules on emissions of methyl bromide, a neurotoxin—and losses. Under Trump, millions of acres of wetlands, including thousands in North Carolina, are losing protection. “The wetlands fight will be, \[and\] is, the most daunting and most terrifying change we’ve seen come out of the Trump administration.” Polling shows that the environment falls below the economy in importance, she says. “It may, but I don’t think that that’s a full picture of how emotionally connected people are to the environment. Despite the body blows that we take, the energy from the public, love for the environment and for nature, the need to protect it, that seems intrinsic to being human. That makes it worth it.” Carey says environmental groups have spoken with the Corps about their PFAS concerns, but “they’re taking the stance that it’s not regulated and we don’t have to do anything about it.” “No, you don’t have to,” Carey says of the Corps, “but you could do your job and protect people.” > “Despite the body blows that we take, the energy from the public, love for the environment and for nature, the need to protect it, that seems intrinsic to being human.”— Erin Carey, Sierra Club Caswell Beach Mayor George Kassler said he is unaware “that anyone is concerned with PFAS from material placed on the beach.” He said the town is relying on the “Corps’ assurance” that chemical testing of the material would occur as outlined in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. In Oak Island, elected officials haven’t taken a public stand on whether it would accept sand from the dredging project. The Town Council “has not yet had the chance to discuss this topic in an open meeting,” a town spokesman said. Other municipalities, though, have either opposed the project or asked for concessions similar to those made when the Georgia Ports Authority expanded the Savannah Harbor. The Southport Board of Alderman passed a resolution earlier this month that urged state and federal policymakers to require a “comprehensive, long-term, and fully-funded environmental mitigation and adaptive management plan.” This would require the State Port Authority to deposit $500 million in an escrow account to fund future mitigation projects to address as-yet-unknown environmental harms caused by the dredging. Kure Beach officials passed a similar resolution. They also urged the relevant agencies to protect Battery Island and the surrounding Cape Fear River islands “as irreplaceable ecological assets,” ensuring that mitigation measures “fully safeguard the habitats supporting nearly a third of North Carolina’s coastal shorebird population.” The Village of Bald Head Island, a wealthy enclave in and near a maritime forest four miles from the mainland, would receive 1.6 million cubic yards of dredged sand. But that offer isn’t enticing enough to counter the potential environmental and property damages; in mid-December, village officials voted unanimously to oppose the project. Bill Cary, an attorney with the powerful law firm Brooks Pierce, which is representing Bald Head Island, wrote to the Corps that the village is still recovering 25 years after the previous dredging project. It has spent more than $2.8 million a year addressing the damages, including shoreline erosion. Brooks Pierce also hired ports and shipping expert Asaf Ashar, a University of New Orleans research professor emeritus, who, in 40 pages of analysis, concluded that the Corps’ economic projections are incorrectly calculated and unsupported. “Considering the size of the projected expenditures, the environmental impacts, the prior criticisms and the time and expense of the new analysis,” Cary wrote, “one would expect the 2025 economic considerations to be thorough, well-documented, supported by available data, and based on sound, consistent analytical principles. It is none of those things.” ## **What’s Next** A motorboat passes by the Southport pier. Its wake travels beneath the pilings and thwacks the stone rip-rap that protects the waterfront from flooding. Multiply the power of that wake by 1,000, even 10,000, from ships traveling the river, and the force of the water can annihilate a shoreline. Addison points out Battery Island, which lies about a half mile across the river from the Southport pier. At 100 acres, it is one of the largest wading-bird areas in the state, as well as a sanctuary for chicks because no mammals, other than the occasional unfortunate deer, can swim there. Many of the birds “read” the island for the high tide line and build their nests above it, she says. But sometimes the incoming water, whether from gusty winds or big boats, tops the line and drowns birds in their nests. When ferries and ships pass the island, they create a tsunami effect: Water is sucked from the shore, but then slams back and gradually sloughs off the shoreline. The birds are running out of higher ground. Thirty-year-old cedars are falling into the sea. “It’s one of the islands we’re most concerned about,” Addison says. “There’s a pretty wicked current. It’s striking how far a boat wake can travel.” The state Wildlife Resources Commission owns many islands near the river, which the Audubon Society manages. The commission is also concerned about the damage wakes could inflict on birding islands from large ships, especially on Battery Island. “There was no information on wave heights and how far wakes would progress onshore,” the WRC wrote in its public comments to the Corps. “A single overwash causes a nest to be lost. This permanent loss of nesting and roosting habitats along with potential site abandonment by birds should be considered and mitigated appropriately.” The project would alter 1,000 acres of wetlands from freshwater to saltwater, which supports entirely different ecosystems. The Corps would be required to mitigate those impacts at other locations within the river subbasin, but the harm—including inundation of some wetlands and wake erosion of others—would be extensive and permanent. “This project will increase salinity up the river,” said Carey of the Sierra Club. “It will change the nature of ecosystems and forests. The idea of killing off wetlands and then just assuming that they will become just a different kind of wetland—eventually—there’s no analysis behind that. It’s just an assumption.” Carey likens the project to a scene in the film Jurassic Park: “Jeff Goldblum says, ‘your scientists were so focused on whether they could do something, they didn’t think about whether they should.’” ## **An Uncertain Fate** On the pier, Burdette scrolls on his phone, searching for photos of Atlantic sturgeon. They are endangered in North Carolina and, because they live on the river bottom, can be mowed down by the sharp keels of ships. He points to the shoreline where the boat’s wake just dissipated. “This one I found right over there,” he says, having found the photo of a sturgeon on his phone. “And this one—is missing part of himself.” Cars and trucks line up to load onto the ferry back to Fort Fisher. It is mid-afternoon but already the sun is nodding toward the horizon. Burdette glances at his watch, 30 minutes until high tide. The ferry heads up and then back across the river to Fort Fisher. Even though the advocates know the area by heart, there is always something beautiful to see. “Wow, look at that boat,” Allen says, pointing ahead. The long fingers of the sun have bathed the vessel in hues of butter. The conversation turns to what could happen next. Under state law, DEQ must conduct a consistency review for federal projects that could affect the coastal zone. The agency’s Division of Coastal Management analyzes the project to evaluate whether it complies with the state’s approved coastal management program, including the dredge and fill law. Coastal Management officials are expected to complete the review by Jan. 20. The division has three choices: It could issue a letter of “concurrence,” which allows the project to continue. A letter of “conditional concurrence,” requires changes to the project for it to proceed. An “objection” cancels the project unless the Corps appeals to federal court or enters into mediation with the state. The Corps could issue its Final Environmental Impact Statement as early as next spring. Even if the project clears the regulatory hurdles, it’s unclear if Congress and the state legislature will appropriate the funds—and when. The ferry heads north and east. From the starboard side, Burdette points to a dredging barge, slouched in the water, laden with dirt. The barge is headed south, and likely out to sea, to dump it. Out here on the water, I feel small, humble, inconsequential. “Ecosystems, the ocean, the tides, hurricanes, these are not things you can negotiate with,” Addison says. “We can, we can observe them and appreciate their beauty, but we do not control them. The forces are big and impersonal, and that, to me, is comforting instead of intimidating.” Ten minutes after sunset at Kure Beach, just north of Fort Fisher, the skies have turned from indigo to lilac. The sand is damp and cold. A half dozen hardy tourists take selfies against the backdrop of ocean waves breaking on the shore. Those forces require beaches to be routinely smoothed and mended. Behind the orange snow fence, slumps a backhoe and a heap of sand. *This story has been updated to give Erin Carey’s full title* *and corrected to reflect the process by which the Corps could appeal a state objection to the dredging project; that appeal is to federal court, rather than a federal agency.* --- # Black lawmakers warn constituents that proposed funding formula changes could hurt Mississippi’s HBCUs by Candice Wilder, Mississippi Today January 14, 2026 Proposed changes to how the state funds its eight public universities could harm historically Black institutions, some lawmakers said. The funding formula updates, which legislators [discussed with higher education officials](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/16/legislators-push-graduation-jobs/?ref=down-ballot.info) in December, would tie state money to post-graduation student success such as the number of Mississippians attaining jobs and completing some form of education beyond high school. A delegation of Black lawmakers said that factoring graduation rates, post-graduation employment and degrees awarded by universities into their allotted funding would unfairly penalize historically Black colleges and universities for challenges tied to decades of underfunding. Black lawmakers spoke about the funding formula to a standing-room-only crowd of more than 160 alumni and supporters at Mt. Nebo Baptist Church in Jackson on Monday. The goal of the event, organized by Jackson Democrats Sen. Sollie Norwood and Rep. Grace Butler Washington was to educate and warn HBCU stakeholders about [proposals ](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/16/legislators-push-graduation-jobs/?ref=down-ballot.info)the state Legislature is considering this session. It was also a rally to encourage supporters to stay engaged. “We need to be cautious as we proceed forward,” said Rep. Bryant Clark, a Democrat from Pickens and a 1998 graduate of Mississippi Valley State. The Board of Trustees for the Institutions of Higher Learning, which oversee the state’s public universities, uses a formula that equally distributes funding across the eight universities without factoring in performance or enrollment. HBCUs serve many students who lack resources and face more barriers to completing higher education. More than three quarters of the undergraduate student body at Mississippi's three public HBCUs rely on Pell Grants — federal student aid provided to students who demonstrate exceptional financial need — to attend. By comparison, Pell Grant recipients make up about half of the student enrollment at only two of the state’s predominantly white institutions — Mississippi University for Women (56%) and University of Southern Mississippi (52%). Mississippi settled a lawsuit over funding disparities at its public universities in 2002 — the [$500 million Ayers](https://mississippitoday.org/2021/12/28/settlement-to-desegregate-higher-education-explained/?ref=down-ballot.info) settlement — but chronic underfunding of higher education by the state means these funds have not caught HBCUs up to their PWI counterparts. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/14093259/IMG_7763.jpg) A crowd packed into Mount Nebo Baptist Church in Jackson on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 for a discussion led by Black state lawmakers about how the state allots money to its public colleges and universities. The proposed funding formula success metrics could lead to closing Mississippi Valley State, Clark said. Valley State’s average six-year graduation rate is 27%, the lowest of Mississippi’s public institutions, according to IHL data. MVSU awarded 242 degrees in the 2023-24 academic year, [the lowest](https://www.mississippi.edu/sites/default/files/ihl/files/fast%5Ffacts%5F2425.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) among the state’s public universities, even similarly sized ones. Of almost 2,200 students enrolled at MVSU in fall of 2023, 985 received Pell Grants, federal financial aid awarded to students from low income households, according to the [National Center for Education Statistics](https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Mississippi+Valley+State&s=all&id=176044&ref=down-ballot.info#finaid). Students who attend Mississippi Valley State have more barriers to get to the rural campus, including transportation, cost and affordability, Clark said. It is unfair for the Legislature and IHL to consider a funding formula that doesn’t take into account the disproportionate challenges to graduation that the students enrolled face, he said. Mississippi Valley State is also an “economic engine” for the Delta region, Clark said. The university contributes $75 million to the the state’s economy and produces more than 980 jobs, according to a [2024 HBCU Impact report](https://uncf.org/hbcuimpactreport/2024/mississippi/mississippi-valley-state-university?ref=down-ballot.info) from the United Negro College Fund. Instead of focusing on closing them, the Legislature and IHL should view the state’s HBCUs as a model of efficiency, doing more with fewer resources, Clark said. “We continue to educate our students at just a fraction of the cost.” Alcorn State University and Mississippi Valley State alumni tend to remain Mississippi residents and enter the state’s workforce after graduation, said Rep. Greg Holloway, a Democrat from Hazlehurst. For predominantly white institutions such as the University of Mississippi or Mississippi State University, he said, “you can’t say the same thing.” “They don’t talk about us and our impact,” Holloway said to thunderous applause. “This new formula is about a money grab. Displacing resources from one place to another. We should be talking about how to provide quality education for our HBCU students. We deserve more.” Students should pay attention to the threat of closing one of Mississippi’s HBCUs, said Camrynn Wimberly, a senior studying political science at Jackson State. Wimberly rallied a few of her classmates to attend the town hall. She shares policy issues and information on her social media. “Our schools, we’re more than just football, partying and pledging fraternities and sororities,” Wimberly said. “We’re history.” At the end of the event, Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Democrat from Jackson, encouraged HBCU alumni to send emails, call and pressure lawmakers to pay attention to their concerns. Summers also led a call and response chant, and participating lawmakers and audience members locked arms. “When we fight,” Summers shouted into the microphone. The audience shouted back, “We win!” This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2026/01/14/black-lawmakers-college-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1164909&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # Helena Moreno sworn in as New Orleans mayor under storm clouds of budget deficit, layoffs by Katie Jane Fernelius, Verite News New Orleans January 12, 2026 Helena Moreno was sworn in as New Orleans’ 63rd mayor on Monday (Jan. 12), taking the oath of office under the artificial starry skies and amidst the pastiche neoclassical interiors of the Saenger Theatre — officially kicking off her first term as mayor of New Orleans. Moreno is the second woman — after outgoing Mayor LaToya Cantrell — and the first Hispanic mayor to lead the city. Moreno was joined by former Vice President Kamala Harris, who administered the oath of office to the mayor after giving a short speech, where she described Moreno as “talented but tough.” “She believes in fairness and in the simple yet fundamental principle that elected leaders must be accountable to the people they serve,” Harris said. “Helena, I know you will be a mayor who will lead with integrity, with courage and with the people of New Orleans always at the center of your work.” In her inaugural address, Moreno lauded the virtues of faith, hope and love in her work to serve and lead the city. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/12151209/20260112_CZB_MorenoInauguration_386_2.jpg) Former Vice President Kamala Harris walks on stage at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans to swear in Mayor Helena Moreno. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America “This is our time to build that functional city that we all deserve together,” Moreno said. “We will build a New Orleans that is safe, where we can drive down the street without busting up the car, where there is no limit to realizing a dream, and where our children have endless opportunities for success, where our seniors live not in fear or uncertainty, but in dignity and insecurity. We want a New Orleans that works for everyone.” The seven members of the New City Council — which will be led by two Black at-large councilmembers for the first time in the city's history — were also sworn in at the ceremony, which featured music by The Soul Rebels and Trombone Shorty, among others, and included appearances by beloved local chef Emeril Lagasse and local philanthropist and New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, as well as a host of local, state and federal politicians, including Cantrell. The inauguration ceremony caps off a [weekend of celebrations](https://www.nola.com/news/helena-moreno-celebrates-inauguration-with-festival-mass/article%5Fa9a7d6ad-339c-4032-aa50-cc85412e8bd9.html?ref=down-ballot.info), which included a festival at Lafayette Square and a mass at St. Louis Cathedral. The Crescent City Connection bridge and the Superdome were also adorned in blue and gold lights — Moreno’s campaign colors — over the weekend. Moreno’s transition team will lead a day of service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, after weather concerns delayed an initial plan to do it on Jan. 10. Monday’s ceremony seemed designed to showcase her diverse political coalition and breadth of relationships by including prominent Republicans such as U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Louisiana state Senate President Cameron Henry alongside local Democratic heavyweights such U.S. House Rep. Troy Carter and state Sen. Jimmy Harris in the ceremony. “Let's face it, these are complicated and troubling times; conflict and division are all around us,” Moreno said. “Some will continue to try to divide us, but we must choose to come together for our future. Today, you've seen local, state and federal leaders on all sides of politics come together to support the future of our exceptional city. We have more in common than divides us.” Despite the optimism on display at Monday’s ceremony, Moreno [will assume office](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/07/helena-moreno-interview-mayor/?ref=down-ballot.info) under stormy conditions. The city faces a projected $220 million deficit this year. To cover the deficit, Moreno, along with outgoing District A councilmember and incoming Chief Administrative Officer Joe Giarrusso, have clawed back [$14.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/01/budget-cantrell-moreno-youth-funding-cut/?ref=down-ballot.info), called for the furloughing of approximately 700 city employees and handed out [pink slips to dozens of employees](https://www.nola.com/news/politics/new-orleans-city-hall/article%5Fbf60ab86-e173-4850-bf2f-806afdf3d8fe.html?ref=down-ballot.info). The latest round of layoffs, which included cuts to the Office of Resilience and Sustainability, [caused a stir last week](https://www.wwno.org/coastal-desk/2026-01-07/moreno-guts-mayors-office-of-resilience-and-sustainability-amid-city-budget-cuts?ref=down-ballot.info). Employees say they had previously been told they would still have a job in the Moreno administration by aides close to the mayor, according to recently fired employees who spoke to Verite News. A Moreno spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the firings. Many of the other cuts came from subdepartments of the Mayor’s Office, including the Office of Youth and Families and the Office of Criminal Justice Coordination, which were both shuttered altogether. Those employees were “unclassified” political appointees, meaning they are not covered by the city’s civil service system. Many such appointees enjoy higher salaries and quicker hiring processes than classified civil service workers. But unlike civil service workers, they are “at-will” employees who serve at the pleasure of the mayor and can be fired without cause or an appeals process. On Monday morning, shortly after the inauguration concluded, the Office of Youth and Families sent out an email thanking the people of New Orleans for their support of the office as it closes. “As our dedicated staff steps away from this work, we do so with pride in what we have built together,” the email read. “While we will no longer be here, our commitment to the wellbeing of children, youth, and families continues through the City of New Orleans Health Department, where this work will carry forward.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/12145640/20260112_CZB_MorenoInauguration_492.jpg) Former Vice President Kamala Harris, right, swears in New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, left, at the Saenger Theatre. Credit: Christiana Botic/Verite News and Catchlight Local/Report for America Amanda Fallis, the president of the city workers’ union AFSCME Local 2349, said that the union has been in talks with Moreno and Giarrusso about furloughs and layoffs — and that union officials would meet with Moreno again tomorrow (Jan. 13) on her second day in office. “AFSCME Local 2349 has greatly appreciated Mayor Moreno and CAO Giarrusso and their teams’ willingness to meet with us, even before officially being sworn into office,” Fallis said. “We look forward to partnering with them to follow the terms of our collective bargaining agreement regarding 45 days notice from City administration regarding any layoffs of classified employees, probationary or not.” Despite the slew of challenges facing Moreno, she sounded a hopeful note in her inaugural address. “We know that things are not exactly where we want them to be today, and we know that it's not going to be easy to fix these things, but just because things are hard does not mean that they're impossible,” she said. “We stand here on a turning point as we face challenging times, and we must be clear that failure is not an option. Not anymore. There’s just too much at stake.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2026/01/12/moreno-inaugurated-new-orleans-mayor/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=27599&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ### Feds bar Minnesota from investigating Minneapolis ICE shooting URL: https://down-ballot.info/feds-bar-minnesota-from-investigating-minneapolis-ice-shooting/ Last updated: 2026-01-09T10:00:58.000Z *Editor's note: The Minneapolis shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent is a developing story.* **It's Friday, January 9, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Feds bar Minnesota from investigating fatal ICE shooting, prohibit access to evidence**,** Yes, state and local prosecutors can charge federal law enforcement agents with crimes. But it isn’t easy**,** NC ski industry hopes for snow to power comeback after Helene damage kept tourists away last year, Many L.A. fire survivors face insurance delays and can’t return home a year later, The Data Center Rush in Appalachia, Troubled Teen Industry Rocked by Lawsuits, Sexual Assault Charges, Built by peers, backed by the state: Inside North Carolina’s expanding peer support network, Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine, An Appleton school prepares students for skilled trades. It’s not easy, Stuart Community Hospital opens for emergency and inpatient care, Arizona voters approved in-state tuition for undocumented students. The state left implementation to chance. **Media outlets and others featured:** Sahan Journal, MinnPost, Carolina Public Press, CalMatters, The Daily Yonder, MindSite News, North Carolina Health News, KFF Health News, Wisconsin Watch, Cardinal News, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. --- [Feds bar Minnesota from investigating Minneapolis ICE shootingThe FBI will investigate the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, and won’t allow the BCA or Minnesota agencies to help.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-sahan-favicon-nobg-1.png)Sahan JournalAndrew Hazzard![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/FederalAgentShooting-1-7-26-08781-scaled-1.jpg)](https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/ice-shooting-minneapolis-feds-bar-minnesota-bca-investigation/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Feds bar Minnesota from investigating fatal ICE shooting, prohibit access to evidence Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Wednesday that the FBI and BCA would investigate the killing of Renee Good together. Now, federal officials are freezing state and local agencies out of the case. by [Andrew Hazzard](https://sahanjournal.com/author/ahazzard/?ref=down-ballot.info) > **When the stakes are high, access to information is essential.** > **Support independent journalism when it’s needed most.** > [**DONATE NOW**](https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?&org%5Fid=sahanjournal&campaign=701PM0000095FZHYA2&ref=down-ballot.info) Federal law enforcement will “solely” lead the investigation into an immigration agent’s fatal shooting of a woman in Minneapolis, and will not work with Minnesota agencies, state authorities revealed Thursday morning. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said Thursday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Attorney’s Office decided against collaborating with state and local agencies in probing the Wednesday killing of Renee Nicole Good. BCA Superintendent Drew Evans said in a written news release that his agency talked with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office Wednesday, and it was agreed that the BCA would partner with the FBI. “Later \[Wednesday\] afternoon, the FBI informed the BCA that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had reversed course: the investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation,” said the BCA news release. Good, 37, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Portland Avenue near E. 34th Street at about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday morning. “Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands. As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation,” Evans said in the BCA statement. In the aftermath of the killing Wednesday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the BCA would be working on the investigation with the FBI. The BCA investigates law enforcement shootings in Minnesota. Sahan Journal reporters saw FBI forensic teams on the scene of the shooting at about 11 a.m., and witnessed a BCA team arrive on the scene in the early afternoon. *This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.* --- # Yes, state and local prosecutors can charge federal law enforcement agents with crimes. But it isn’t easy by Shadi Bushra, MinnPost January 7, 2026 Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty called for local investigations after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed an unarmed woman in Minneapolis. Minnesota attorneys who specialize in police misconduct cases say the federal government is unlikely to be able to block state or local prosecution of a federal agent — though Trump administration comments Wednesday suggest they would vigorously fight any attempt to do so. Unless there’s “some wild-eyed legal theory out there that someone picks up to defend this guy… I think it’s going to be a very tall order for a federal judge or the Department of Justice to block \[prosecution\] from happening,” said Joshua Newville, an attorney with Halunen Law in Minneapolis who has experience with civil police misconduct cases. ### *Related:* [*Federal agents shoot and kill motorist during ICE crackdown*](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/ice-shooting-minneapolis-amid-federal-immigration-crackdown-protesters/?ref=down-ballot.info) [A 2025 paper](https://statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/featured/2025/explainer-can-states-prosecute-federal-officials/?ref=down-ballot.info) by a University of Wisconsin Law School attorney offered a similar conclusion: While federal officers have some special legal protections, they are not immune from state and local prosecution. Observers captured the shooting on video [from multiple angles](https://www.404media.co/dhs-is-lying-to-you-about-ice-shooting-a-woman/?ref=down-ballot.info). They show an officer approaching an SUV, grabbing the door handle and demanding the driver open the door. The SUV begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle fires into the SUV at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed the agent acted in self-defense and that the victim, [Renee Nicole Good](https://www.startribune.com/ice-raids-minnesota/601546426?ref=down-ballot.info), 37, was committing “domestic terrorism.” But Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey described the agent's actions as “reckless” and unnecessary. Newville said the real issue is how far the federal government will go to try to complicate state and local court cases, and to what degree courts acquiesce to the feds. “It sets us up for a further confrontation between state and federal government with regards to each government's power and their authority,” Newville said. “I think it just makes it more likely that we will see a conflict that the courts will have to weigh in on.” The federal government may try to put its thumb on the scales of justice by arguing no federal laws were broken, but if there is strong enough evidence that the ICE agent broke state or local laws, “I don’t see how the federal government could deprive state and local law enforcement and prosecutors from pursuing charges.” ### *Related:* [*DHS deploys 2,000 federal agents to Minneapolis area to carry out largest immigration operation ever*](https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2026/01/dhs-deploys-2000-federal-agents-to-minneapolis-area-to-carry-out-largest-immigration-operation-ever/?ref=down-ballot.info) Robert Bennett of Minneapolis-based Robins Kaplan LLP has long represented victims of law enforcement overreach, including a victim of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted on both state and federal charges for the 2020 murder of George Floyd. The Chauvin cases were an example of how federal and state prosecutions can move in parallel, when those in charge want them to. That scenario is not likely in this case. “Based on what you’ve already seen today with \[President\] Trump’s public statements and \[Secretary\] Noem’s public statements, there’s never going to be a federal prosecution,” Bennett said. Bennett described the federal officers he has worked with and prosecuted over the last five decades as being very well trained, conscious of the legal nuances of their positions, and generally professional. “The conduct going on now in Minnesota is not that of a well-trained organization that understands the limits of its power and the limits on the use of force,” he said, noting that unlike the FBI or ATF, ICE is operating “more like an American iteration of the secret police.” Attorney General Keith Ellison said during [an appearance on MS NOW](https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3mbum5ffjln2l?ref=down-ballot.info) that there needs to be state involvement. “There needs to be a situation where the feds are not just investigating the feds,” Ellison said. Moriarty said in a statement earlier in the day that her office was “pushing hard for a local investigation which is the only way to ensure full transparency and review by our office. We will use every available lever to ensure a local, transparent investigation takes place." ### *Related:* [*Amid fears of ICE raids, Minneapolis businesses say some customers staying home*](https://www.minnpost.com/economy/2025/12/amid-fears-of-ice-immigration-raids-minneapolis-businesses-some-customers-scared-staying-home/?ref=down-ballot.info) At a news conference Wednesday, Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson stressed the state’s involvement in the investigation, but noted that it is “working in conjunction with the FBI.” “We don't comment on active investigations, but also keep in mind that this investigation is in its infancy,” Jacobson said. “So any speculation about what had happened would be just that — and we will not engage in speculation.” This [article](https://www.minnpost.com/public-safety/2026/01/minnesota-ice-shooting-yes-state-and-local-prosecutors-can-charge-federal-agents-law-enforcement-with-crimes-but-it-isnt-easy/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MinnPost](https://www.minnpost.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://www.minnpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/favicon.png) ![](https://www.minnpost.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=2219499&ga4=3376753669) --- # NC ski industry hopes for snow to power comeback after Helene damage kept tourists away last year by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press January 5, 2026 Looking to hit the slopes this winter in Western [North Carolina](http://www.carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)? For the ski industry in the mountains, 2026 is about more than just powder. It's about proving the [mountains are back](https://carolinapublicpress.org/mountains-unbowed/?ref=down-ballot.info). Tropical Storm Helene hit less than two months before ski season started last winter. On Sugar Mountain in Avery County, the ski patrol building went up in flames, the parking lot buckled, falling trees knocked down the night-light system, the ski shop flooded and minor landslides marred the mountain. Ironically, after all that, last year was a very good weather year for skiing. It snowed 76 inches on Sugar Mountain. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** “That definitely made us work very, very hard to recover from Helene and the damage that she did to the ski area,” **Kim Jochl**, president of the NC Ski Association and vice president at Sugar Mountain Ski Resort, told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “It speaks to the resiliency of the people who live here, the people who work here. They understand the value of working hard so that we can open when the snow flies and the temperatures drop.” As hard as Jochl and her colleagues worked to recover, it was impossible for last ski season to be a true economic boon for the region. Many, at the time, believed the mountains were completely out of commission. Jochl hopes this year will be a repeat of last year’s voluminous snowfall. Early signs suggested she may get lucky. When **David Jackson**, president of the Boone Chamber of Commerce, looked out his window on Dec. 9, it looked like a picture-perfect snowy winter postcard. “We need a win, and this is an opportunity for a win,” Jackson told CPP that day. “People can see that this area of the state is healed, and can continue to offer something that no other area in the state can.” ### Ski industry workforce challenges Finding enough people to staff the ski [slopes](https://carolinapublicpress.org/23722/wnc-ski-resorts-outpacing-industry-nationwide/?ref=down-ballot.info) is a challenge every year, but after Helene, it's an even bigger concern. Winter sports in Western North Carolina are fueled by seasonal employees who bounce between summer and winter jobs. This summer, those warm-weather jobs, like rafting and hiking tours, were stilted by the physical and economic woes of Helene. In response, some workers moved elsewhere or sought more consistent employment. “It's just taken a little bit longer for some of the resorts to get what they need in terms of employment,” Jackson said. “It's been harder this year across the board, whether that's directly at the resorts or at the restaurants and hoteliers that support that tourism. It's been weighing on the minds of businesses much more so than we hoped it would, certainly at this stage of recovery.” At Sugar Mountain, Jochl has relied on foreign labor for 60 of the ski resort positions, an increase of 20 positions from last year. That labor has helped the ski mountains bounce back. “The ski areas, from a business perspective, have moved on,” Jochl said. “Everything's been fixed.” ### Pocketbook problems The ski resorts may be back in full force. But that doesn’t mean the skiers are. Many Americans are tightening their belts this year, thanks to persistent inflation, trade wars and political instability. Huddled around the kitchen table, reviewing the yearly budget, a ski trip could be the first thing on the chopping block for some families. “North Carolina prospects (meaning they have interest in travel to our state) list the top three concerns impacting their decision to take a leisure trip as inflationary pressures on household budgets, availability of great travel deals and concerns about personal finances,” **Marlise Taylor**, director of tourism research at VisitNC, told CPP. “The good news for us is that North Carolina has historically performed relatively well in times of economic uncertainty as compared to other states. Our geographic location and variety of affordable activities tend to still be attractive during these times.” Still, Jochl believes in one simple principle: if there’s lots of snow, there will be lots of skiers. “It seems like people find a way to ski no matter what challenges they face in their life,” she said. ### Is climate change affecting WNC slopes? Jochl has been measuring the yearly snowfall on Sugar Mountain for 24 years. She doesn’t see a pattern of dwindling snowfall due to climate change. “It's random,” she said. “We don't really see any downturn towards higher temperatures or less snowfall. The climate changes every year.” But looking at her data, a couple troubling patterns do arise. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/snowfall-sugar-mountain.png) Graph by Jane Winik Sartwell / Carolina Public Press Between the winter of 2001-2002 and the winter of 2012-2013, it snowed an average of 82.6 inches per year. From the winter of 2013-2014 to last year, it snowed an average of only 63.6 inches. That’s a 23% decline in average annual snowfall between the two halves of her data. What’s more, out of those first 12 seasons, five had snowfall greater than 100 inches. Since 2014, there have been zero seasons with snowfall greater than 100 inches. Still, this year is already proving strong for snowfall in the mountains. With winter just getting underway, Sugar Mountain has seen 16 inches of snow. “Our message to ski visitors this year is, first of all: thank you for coming back,” Jackson said. “You knew that we had it in us.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/74083/nc-ski-industry-hopes-for-snow-to-power-comeback-after-helene-damage-kept-tourists-away-last-year/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Many L.A. fire survivors face insurance delays and can’t return home a year later By [Levi Sumagaysay](https://calmatters.org/author/levi-sumagaysay/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/021425_EatonFireMudslides_JAJ_CM_23.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1) Ray Farhang clears out mud from his driveway after heavy rainfall triggered multiple mudslides in the Eaton Fire burn scar area in Altadena on Feb. 14, 2025\. Photo by Joel Angel Juarez for CalMatters This story was originally published by [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Sign up](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) for their newsletters. A year after the deadly Los Angeles County fires, California’s property insurance market remains problematic; survivors are suing insurers over delayed or denied claims; and most of the state’s policyholders are likely to see their premiums rise. Seven in 10 L.A. fire survivors have yet to return home, some in part because of insurance claim delays, according to a new survey released this week by Department of Angels, a nonprofit group that was formed after the fires. The survey also found that 4 in 10 insurance policyholders have experienced insurability issues, such as huge premium increases and dropped coverage, although state law mandates a one-year moratorium on insurers canceling or not renewing customers’ policies after the governor declares a state of emergency. Those with homes that did not burn down but are still standing are especially likely to have seen big increases in their premiums, according to the survey of 2,443 adults from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2, 2025. Insurance premiums for everyone, not just fire survivors, were already expected to rise under new rules by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. The commissioner, under pressure to improve availability of insurance in the state, last January implemented a plan that aims for quicker rate reviews and allows insurers to use catastrophe modeling and reinsurance costs in setting their rates. The plan took effect [just days before the L.A. fires](https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/01/la-fires-california-insurance/?ref=down-ballot.info). Now the response to the fires could also lead to even higher insurance premiums across the board, said Amy Bach, executive director of consumer advocacy group United Policyholders. “I advocate for disaster survivors, but also for the entire community of policyholders,” Bach said. “For every ‘Eliminate the List’ bill, for every improvement we make to prevent post-disaster trauma around under-insurance, there’s a cost.” She said such actions will have ramifications for both insurance affordability and availability. “[Eliminate the List](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca%5F202520260sb495?ref=down-ballot.info),” which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last year, requires insurance companies to pay 60% of personal property coverage limits, up to $350,000, to policyholders who experience a total loss [without requiring them to submit a detailed inventory](https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/03/proposed-fixes-for-california-insurance-market/?ref=down-ballot.info) for at least 100 days. Still, Bach knows that such mandates are necessary to improve survivors’ experiences after a fire, and lawmakers are introducing new bills to address their concerns. Her own group released a survey in November, reporting policyholder complaints that included insurer communication delays, claims payment delays and being assigned multiple claims adjusters. The Department of Angels survey found that customers of State Farm and the last-resort FAIR Plan — the two largest insurers in California — were the most dissatisfied with their insurers’ response. California’s insurance department is [investigating State Farm’s response to the fires](https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/06/california-investigates-state-farm/?ref=down-ballot.info), and has taken legal action against the FAIR Plan over its response as well, especially to smoke-damage claims. Those insurers, along with other companies, are also facing policyholder lawsuits. “Our customer feedback reflects a different experience than what is being reported,” said Tom Hartmann, a State Farm spokesperson, in an email. “We’re supporting more than 13,500 customers affected by the wildfires, more than any other carrier, and have already paid over $5 billion to help them recover.” ![A person stands in front of a window with open shutters as they look down.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/042625_EatonFireInsurance_JAJ_CM_04-1024x682.jpg) Sam Strgacich, left, and his wife Rossana Valverde, right, examine soot damage at their home in Pasadena on April 26, 2025\. Photo by Joel Angel Juarez for CalMatters “We’ve paid almost $200,000 out of pocket to repair our home because of the FAIR Plan’s blanket denials of our remediation,” said Angela Giacchetti, a spokesperson for the Department of Angels who worked on the survey. She’s also a fire survivor whose Altadena home did not burn down but was badly damaged. “While we are unable to comment on individual policyholders' claims, the California FAIR Plan does not direct where policyholders reside,” said Hilary McLean, a spokesperson for the plan. “The FAIR Plan evaluates every claim on its own merits and pays all covered claims up to the individual policy limits.” The FAIR Plan said in a press release this week that it has handled about 5,400 claims and paid almost $3.5 billion to policyholders. It also said it “has taken steps to enhance its ability to serve policyholders” by securing a line of credit and reinsurance, helped by a $750 million catastrophe bond made possible by [a new law](https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/09/fair-plan-bills-california/?ref=down-ballot.info) allowing the FAIR Plan to get bond financing through the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association says insurance companies have paid $22.4 billion of the expected $40 billion in total claims from the L.A. fires. The Department of Angels survey also found 79% of survivors are facing financial hardships, with more Black, Asian and Latino survivors falling behind on their rent or mortgage payments. In addition, 40% of those surveyed said they were very dissatisfied with the local, state and federal response to their needs. Newsom said Tuesday that he is working with state lawmakers, the banking industry and others on new loans for rebuilding, and that the state will expand eligibility for the CalAssist Mortgage Fund. The governor’s office did not respond to CalMatters’ questions about whether he plans to propose any aid for renters who survived the fires, and about what else he is doing to continue to press the federal government for long-term disaster funding. “This report says exactly what we’ve been hearing,” said Michael Soller, spokesperson for the insurance department. “Wildfire survivors want action and they want results.” He said the issues in the survey are top priorities for the department, and among other things pointed to a task force on smoke damage that the department has convened. A bill sponsored by Lara and introduced by newly appointed Senate Insurance Committee Chair Steve Padilla, the Democrat from San Diego, late Tuesday would require insurance companies to submit to the state their disaster-recovery plans related to handling claims; double penalties for violations of fair claims practices during an emergency; expand upfront claims payments; give policyholders status updates within five days whenever their adjuster is replaced; and more. This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/economy/2026/01/insurance-after-los-angeles-fires/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # The Data Center Rush in Appalachia by James Branscome, The Daily Yonder January 7, 2026 The demise of the coal industry left much of Appalachia in economic tatters, with lost jobs, spoiled water, and depopulated communities across the coalfields of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. Now, in an ironic twist of the region’s energy history, tech companies and data center developers are eyeing these same rural landscapes with ambitious plans to power the artificial intelligence revolution. From the hollows of Tucker County, West Virginia, to the former strip mines of Wise County, Virginia, proposals for massive data center complexes are sparking both hope and fierce resistance. Proponents promise economic revitalization and tax revenues for struggling communities. Critics warn of environmental degradation, soaring utility bills for residents, limited job creation, and the stripping away of local control over development decisions. The stakes are enormous. According to a September 2025 report from the Energy & Manufacturing in Appalachia initiative, approximately 92 gigawatts of data center capacity are currently in the pipeline across the United States, with seven gigawatts being added monthly by the end of 2024\. Traditional data center hubs like Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley” are becoming saturated, pushing growth toward rural regions in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. **Where Data Centers Stand Today** Northern Virginia remains the undisputed capital of the data center world, with roughly 300 operational facilities across Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties. Northern Virginia is one of the world’s largest internet interconnection hubs. But capacity constraints and community opposition are forcing the industry to look elsewhere. West Virginia has thrown out the largest welcome mat in the region. In Appalachia proper, data center development remains nascent but is accelerating rapidly. Southwest Virginia’s Wise County hosts the Mineral Gap Data Center, which came online in 2023 and is powered by a 3.4-megawatt solar array built on former strip-mined land—widely promoted as the first abandoned mine land converted to solar in Virginia. OnePartner ATAC runs a facility in Duffield, Virginia. In January 2025, developers announced plans for Kentucky’s first hyperscale data center in Louisville, a 400-megawatt campus to be developed by PowerHouse Data Centers and Poe Companies, with utility service from Louisville Gas and Electric. The Lane Report noted the project is expected to begin operations by late 2026\. It will likely represent a demonstration of what can be exported to Eastern Kentucky. **Southwest Virginia’s Growing Pipeline** Beyond the Wise County proposals, data center interest is spreading across Southwest Virginia, often into communities with minimal regulatory frameworks to evaluate such projects. In early December 2025, Wythe County announced its first data center: a 99-acre AI computing campus at Progress Park to be developed by Solis Arx, a newly formed digital infrastructure company led by CEO Rob Noll. Cardinal News reported that county officials project the facility will represent more than $1 billion in total investment. County Administrator Stephen Bear told the Wythe County Board of Supervisors that the project would generate more than $10 million in annual tax revenue by 2028, making Solis Arx the county’s single largest taxpayer. The company claims its facility will consume only about 2,000 gallons of water daily—roughly equivalent to a restaurant—by using closed-loop and air-based cooling systems rather than the evaporative cooling that can require hundreds of thousands of gallons per day at older facilities. Appalachian Power will provide electricity, with water supplied by the town of Wytheville. At a December 9, 2025 board meeting covered by Cardinal News, nearly all of the dozen residents who spoke during public comment opposed the project or raised concerns about electricity rates, water supplies, environmental impacts, and the loss of rural character. Resident Hannah Ainsworth questioned the trajectory of such development: “It’s 99 acres proposed today, but what about next year, in three years? At what point is our region unrecognizable?” Board of Supervisors Chairman Brian Vaught acknowledged a significant vulnerability in how such projects arrive. Wythe County is one of approximately seven Virginia counties that lack zoning ordinances governing where data centers can be built. “So until that’s addressed, if you don’t live in the town of Wytheville or the town of Rural Retreat, one of these could pop up as your neighbor,” Vaught said, according to Cardinal News. Pulaski County may not be far behind. The 2025 Virginia General Assembly allocated $15 million for site readiness improvements—including road extensions, grading, and natural gas pipeline work—to support what budget documents describe as “up to $3.0 billion in capital investment” through construction of a data center and power plant. The project remains under nondisclosure agreements, with no developer publicly identified, according to Inside Climate News and Cardinal News. Montgomery County supervisors are also weighing the issue. Cardinal News reported in mid-December 2025 that local officials are considering commissioning a study on data center zoning—a sign that even communities without active proposals recognize the need to prepare for an industry expanding rapidly across the region. **The Wise County Vision: Mine Water Cooling** One of the most ambitious proposals involves transforming 65,000 acres of former coal mining land in Wise County, Virginia, into an energy hub including data centers. A nonprofit venture called Energy DELTA Lab, managed by Will Clear and Will Payne, envisions building a massive 450-acre “Data Center Ridge” on top of old mining lands that could be powered and cooled using billions of gallons of water that naturally replenish in abandoned underground mines. In a December 2025 report, the Thomson Reuters Foundation detailed how the entrepreneurs hope to prove the feasibility of their idea to Texas-based Energy Transfer, which owns the land managed by Penn Virginia Operating Co. Unlike neighboring areas plagued by acid mine drainage, the Wise County coalfields lack the mineral pyrite that contaminates water. The underground mine water maintains a temperature of 55 degrees or below, roughly 10 to 15 degrees cooler than river water typically used for data center cooling elsewhere in Virginia. Payne told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the water quality makes the site attractive for data center cooling. He acknowledged, however, that the region faces deep skepticism about outside development. “Anyone looking at expanding in the region, there is skepticism because there have been so many stories of promises made but not kept,” Payne said, according to the Reuters report. Canary Media reported in September 2024 that tax revenues from data centers could help address the region’s fiscal crisis. Will Clear told Canary Media that local government finances face an existential threat without new development. The Virginia Mercury reported in July 2024 that a 36-megawatt data center could provide about $464 million in capital investment and create approximately 40 high-income jobs. **West Virginia’s Controversial Push** West Virginia has become the most aggressive state in pursuing data center development, passing sweeping legislation in April 2025 that strips local governments of regulatory authority over such projects. House Bill 2014, championed by Governor Patrick Morrisey as the centerpiece of his economic development agenda, prohibits counties and municipalities from enforcing zoning ordinances, permitting requirements, noise regulations, or code enforcement on certified microgrid districts or “high-impact” data center projects. The law also diverts most property tax revenue from data centers away from local taxing bodies to state coffers. Under the final version, only 30% of property tax proceeds go to the host county, with five percent divided among the state’s other 54 counties. The West Virginia Gazette-Mail reported that this formula is estimated to cost counties and school districts millions of dollars. Upon the bill’s passage, Morrisey declared it “the economic development bill of the session,” according to the Gazette-Mail. “West Virginia is America’s energy state, and this law is going to demonstrate it to the whole country that we are ready for action,” Morrisey said in a statement reported by Mountain State Spotlight. At least four major data center projects are now publicly known in West Virginia. The most controversial involves Fundamental Data LLC, a Virginia-based company seeking to build a 1,656-megawatt natural gas power plant and data center complex on 500 acres between the towns of Thomas and Davis in Tucker County. The Wall Street Journal reported that the proposed facility could eventually span 10,000 acres across Tucker and Grant counties if fully realized. **Kentucky: Multiple Proposals, Growing Debate** Kentucky’s data center conversation has moved quickly from possibility to reality. Beyond the Louisville hyperscale campus, the Kentucky Lantern reported in August 2025 on a proposed multi-billion-dollar “technology campus” with data centers in Mason County, though key details remain thin, and local reaction has included both hope and skepticism. In Oldham County, Louisville Public Media reported that residents organized against a proposed hyperscale data center, and the controversy has become a statewide case study in zoning disputes, noise concerns, and rural quality-of-life politics. The fight illustrates how quickly economic development proposals can become community flashpoints when a hyperscale project lands on rural ground. ### **The Economic Equation** **The Promise of Tax Revenue** Proponents argue that data centers represent one of the few realistic options for diversifying Appalachian economies devastated by coal’s decline. The numbers from Virginia’s experience are eye-catching. According to Loudoun County officials quoted by the Citizens Voice in December 2025, data centers generate 35 to 40% of the county’s General Fund revenue, with fiscal contributions jumping from $1 million in fiscal year 2018 to $875 million in 2024\. That figure is projected to reach $1.1 billion by fiscal year 2026. A PricewaterhouseCoopers study cited by Virginia Business found that between 2017 and 2021, data centers contributed $54.2 billion to Virginia’s gross domestic product. Southwest Virginia localities have positioned themselves to capture some of this wealth by implementing the state’s lowest regional property tax rate on data center equipment at 24 cents per $100 of assessed value, compared to $3.70 in Prince William County, according to Virginia Business. **The Jobs Question** Critics contend that data centers deliver far fewer permanent jobs than their industrial footprint suggests. According to an October 2025 report from ReImagine Appalachia, most data center employment is in construction, and those jobs are often contracted from outside the communities where facilities are built. A typical data center adds up to 1,500 workers during construction but employs only about 50 full-time workers when operational, according to a 2024 Virginia state report cited by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Those permanent positions are primarily security or janitorial staff. At an April 2025 town hall meeting in Davis, West Virginia, covered by 100 Days in Appalachia, electrical engineer Brian Reed—whose family has been in Tucker County since 1896—challenged the jobs pitch. “$12 an hour isn’t a job, you can’t survive,” Reed said. “The operators in the plant where I work make $43 an hour. That’s a job that makes a difference. So don’t offer jobs that are for security people that are going to starve to death.” Nationwide, data center employment grew from 306,000 to 501,000 workers between 2016 and 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But more than 40% of those jobs are concentrated in just three states, far from Appalachia’s coalfields, as reported by West Virginia Watch. ### **Environmental Concerns** **The Water Challenge** Data centers rank among the top ten water-consuming commercial industries in the United States. A medium-sized facility can consume around 110 million gallons of water annually for cooling, with some consuming up to 5 million gallons daily, according to a report from the University of Tulsa. The Environmental and Energy Study Institute reported that data centers in Northern Virginia collectively consumed nearly 2 billion gallons of water in 2023, a 63% increase from 2019. Water consumption varies significantly based on cooling technology. Evaporative or wet cooling requires substantial water withdrawals and raises concerns in drought-prone areas like Maricopa County, Arizona, which has been inundated by data center developments. Air cooling reduces water needs but increases electricity consumption. The Wise County proposal’s closed-loop mine-water cooling approach attempts to change the equation by using cool underground mine water as a heat sink, potentially eliminating dependence on surface water or municipal systems. Water concerns are particularly acute in some Appalachian locations. Tucker County, West Virginia, suffered through a severe drought in 2024 that forced emergency water pumping from the Blackwater River. 100 Days in Appalachia reported that in neighboring Thomas, the reservoir reached its lowest level in 60 years, rendering water unusable due to high iron concentrations. In a December 2025 Brookings Institution podcast, Davis Mayor Al Tomson expressed concern about cumulative water impacts. “We’ve suffered a drought for the last two summers,” Tomson said. “We’ve had to go to our secondary water source, which is the Blackwater River. But if the data centers start drawing water out of the aquifer... I’m concerned that it’s gonna affect the source water for the creek that we’re using right now.” **Noise Pollution** The constant hum of cooling systems and backup generators has emerged as one of the most contentious issues for communities living near data centers. According to TechTarget, facilities produce noise levels between 55 and 85 decibels from cooling fans, mechanical chillers, and ventilation systems—sounds that are particularly intrusive in rural areas where residents moved seeking quiet. In Northern Virginia, Amazon Web Services data centers near the Great Oak subdivision in Manassas have drawn persistent complaints. WUSA9 reported that residents describe the sound as a low roar combined with a high-pitched whir. “These data centers are loud, noisy beasts, and they are being built too close to residential areas,” community activist Roger Yackel told WUSA9\. “That’s not something that we should have to live with.” The Prince William Times reported in December 2022 that noise remediation can cost millions of dollars, and unless regulators apply pressure, companies may be slow to implement solutions. In Tucker County, the prospect of constant industrial noise near the tourist towns of Davis and Thomas—known for stargazing, hiking, and natural beauty—has fueled fierce opposition. **Air Quality and Diesel Risk** Large data centers typically rely on diesel backup generators that produce air pollution during testing and emergencies. The Parsons Advocate of Tucker County reported that the Fundamental Data project there would include 30 million gallons of diesel fuel storage to back up its natural gas power plant. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection approved an air quality permit for the Tucker County facility in August 2025 over strenuous community objections. The Intermountain newspaper in Elkins, West Virginia, reported that more than 1,600 written comments were submitted during the public comment period. “We are extremely disappointed that the West Virginia DEP really isn’t upholding their mission to protect our air, land, and water,” Nikki Forrester of Tucker United told The Intermountain. “They discussed at the public meeting that they’ve never rejected an air quality permit before.” **Community Backlash: Three Overlapping Camps** Across Appalachia, community reactions to data center proposals tend to fall into three overlapping camps. The first is the development coalition: county officials, industrial development authorities, some trades, landowners, and utilities who argue that data centers represent a once-in-a-generation chance to replace the coal-era tax base and keep young people local. The second is the quality-of-life coalition: nearby residents, tourism businesses, and preservation groups focused on noise, light pollution, traffic, and land conversion. The third is the accountability coalition: people who might tolerate a project if rules are strict, demanding transparency about corporate identity, enforceable limits, and binding community benefits. In Pittsylvania County, Virginia, grassroots organizing successfully blocked Balico LLC’s proposal to build what would have been Virginia’s largest natural gas power plant at 3,500 megawatts alongside a hyperscale data center campus. In Tucker County, residents formed Tucker United within weeks of learning about the Fundamental Data proposal. West Virginia Watch reported that the group now counts hundreds of members. “No Data Center in Tucker County” signs have proliferated in windows, storefronts, and on vehicles throughout Davis and Thomas. One recurring complaint involves the lack of transparency from developers. Fundamental Data’s air permit application was heavily redacted, with the company claiming confidential business information. The firm’s public website consists only of a logo and a copyright notice, as noted by 100 Days in Appalachia. “The company hasn’t come down and spoken with us at all,” Forrester told Corporate Crime Reporter in August 2025\. “From a local leadership standpoint, none of us were aware that this was even a possibility. It feels like it’s a power grab where they want to get rid of any local control, take the money, and leave West Virginians to suffer.” WVVA reported in April 2025 that more than 1,000 West Virginians signed a petition asking Governor Morrisey to veto HB 2014\. He signed it anyway. **Utility Companies in the Mix** This is not just a technology story—it’s a utility planning story. Several major utilities are positioning themselves to serve the anticipated data center boom in Appalachia. American Electric Power, the parent company of Appalachian Power in West Virginia and Kentucky Power in eastern Kentucky, has emerged as a key player. Data Center Dynamics reported in February 2025 that AEP expects to bring 4.7 gigawatts of new data center capacity online in 2025 alone and has customer commitments for 20 gigawatts of incremental load by 2030. Louisville Gas and Electric will serve Kentucky’s first hyperscale data center campus. Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest utility and the company most directly tied to Northern Virginia’s data center concentration, is expanding infrastructure across the Commonwealth. In Southwest Virginia, Appalachian Power and Dominion Energy provide electricity to the region where the Energy DELTA Lab project is proposed. FirstEnergy has announced $15 billion for power infrastructure investments to support data center growth, according to the Energy & Manufacturing in Appalachia report. The company serves customers across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey. PJM Interconnection, the regional grid operator covering much of coal-country Appalachia, has become central to debates about supply, demand, and rate impacts. West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported that projected data center load growth far exceeds new supply coming online in the near term. **Will Electric Bills Rise?** The short answer appears to be yes, and in some cases dramatically. Data center demand has already contributed to soaring wholesale electricity prices across the PJM Interconnection, the regional grid that serves West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other mid-Atlantic states. Stories of ratepayer protests about rising electricity prices are appearing all across the mountains. Mountain State Spotlight reported in October 2025 that the cost to secure an adequate power supply in PJM’s annual capacity auction jumped from $2.2 billion for 2024-2025 to $14.7 billion for 2025-2026, an increase of more than 500%. CNBC reported that an independent monitor found data center demand, both actual and forecast, accounted for $9.3 billion, or 63%, of that total. In the December 2025 auction, prices hit $16.4 billion, with PJM falling short of its reliability target for the first time. Nearly all of the 5,250-megawatt increase in projected demand was attributable to data centers. Monitoring Analytics, a specialized firm that acts as an independent monitor for the PJM Interconnection, said in its June report: “Data center load growth is the primary reason for recent and expected capacity market conditions, including total forecast load growth, the tight supply and demand balance, and high prices.” These costs are spread across the entire grid, affecting ratepayers throughout the region. CNBC reported in November 2025 that residential electricity prices surged 13% in Virginia, 16% in Illinois, and 12% in Ohio during a recent 12-month period, well above the six percent national average. A Harvard Law School study released in September 2025 warned that utilities may be subsidizing data center growth by shifting infrastructure costs to residential and other ratepayers. The Union of Concerned Scientists reached a similar conclusion in an October 2025 analysis: “The wealthiest companies are building extraordinarily expensive data centers that you and I are subsidizing.” Cathy Kunkel, an energy consultant at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told Mountain State Spotlight: “One of the principles of electric rate regulation is that the entity that’s imposing cost on the system bears those costs to the extent possible. The historical way transmission cost allocation has been done is just not keeping up with that principle when it comes to data centers.” **Corporate Players in Appalachia** Two overlapping groups of corporations are driving the data center push into Appalachia. The first consists of hyperscalers—the companies whose cloud and AI services create the underlying demand: Amazon (AWS), Microsoft, Google, and Meta. Even when they aren’t named publicly, they often sit behind developer NDAs or vague references to “Fortune 100” clients, as the Kentucky Lantern has noted in its coverage. Amazon Web Services has the largest data center footprint nationally, with hundreds of facilities in Northern Virginia alone. Google has committed $25 billion for data centers and infrastructure, including a $3 billion deal with Brookfield Asset Management for hydropower electricity, according to the Energy & Manufacturing in Appalachia report. The second group consists of developers, landholders, and power partners—the visible local actors. PowerHouse Data Centers and Poe Companies are developing Kentucky’s first hyperscale campus in Louisville. Compass Datacenters and QTS Data Centers are building the Prince William Digital Gateway in Virginia, billed as the world’s largest future data center complex at 23 million square feet, according to Virginia Business. In West Virginia, Fundamental Data LLC of Purcellville, Virginia, is pursuing the massive Tucker County project. TransGas Development Systems of New York is proposing two off-grid power plants in Mingo County for what the applications call the “Adams Fork Data Center Energy Campus,” according to Mountain State Spotlight. Texas-based Fidelis New Energy has proposed a data center complex in Mason County. In early December, ten Mingo County residents filed a federal lawsuit seeking to halt the Adams Fork project, alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and National Environmental Policy Act. ### **Questions Communities Should Ask** **What Advocacy Groups Recommend** Several organizations have developed frameworks to help communities evaluate data center proposals and advocate for responsible development. Their recommendations share common themes: transparency, local control, binding commitments, and protection for existing residents and ratepayers. **Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition** The Piedmont Environmental Council and nearly 30 environmental, preservation, and climate advocacy groups formed the Virginia Data Center Reform Coalition in late 2023\. Julie Bolthouse, the Council’s director of land use, told Inside Climate News in December 2023 that an “ever-increasing data center footprint” has resulted in “higher utility rates, new transmission lines, declining air quality, reduced water supply,” and a loss in Virginia’s “hard-fought climate goals.” The coalition has articulated four pillars of reform. The first is enhanced transparency, requiring disclosure and statewide reporting on data center energy use, water consumption, and emissions. The second is state oversight, establishing state-level regulatory review to evaluate regional impacts. The third is ratepayer protection, safeguarding residents and businesses from subsidizing billions of dollars in infrastructure that data centers require. The fourth is incentivizing sustainability by connecting tax exemptions to clean energy and efficiency standards. “There needs to be more transparency around this industry; we need to know how much energy, how much water, and their emissions,” Bolthouse told Data Center Dynamics in November 2024\. “Our localities are ill-equipped to handle the regional implications that are coming from these massive projects.” **PennFuture’s Model Ordinance** PennFuture, a Pennsylvania environmental nonprofit, has created a model zoning ordinance and educational video series to help municipalities prepare for data center development. The organization developed its model after reviewing ordinances passed in Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia. The model ordinance addresses water consumption, power consumption, noise, and aesthetic concerns. According to PennFuture’s website, “Municipalities must take seriously their responsibility to plan for this new land use and avoid being caught unaware, as many were when the distribution center boom struck Pennsylvania in recent years.” Donna Kohut of PennFuture told the Republican Herald in August 2025 that Pennsylvania faces serious risks from legislation that would fast-track data center approvals. “By allowing developers to side-step critical and constitutionally required environmental protections, our elected officials would be allowing for unfettered destruction of Pennsylvania’s natural resources and risking the health of our local communities,” Kohut said. **ReImagine Appalachia** ReImagine Appalachia, a coalition focused on sustainable economic development in the Ohio River Valley, published a report in October 2025 titled “Is Responsible Data Center Development Possible?” The report argues that data centers can benefit communities if proper safeguards are implemented. The organization recommends that data centers be located on shuttered industrial facilities rather than greenfields, ideally co-located with factories or greenhouses that can benefit from waste heat recovery. Components should be procured locally to contribute to the region’s manufacturing sector. Strong labor standards should ensure local workers are hired in development and construction, including prevailing wage requirements, project labor agreements, and registered apprenticeship programs. “Attracting new industries to our communities should not be a race to the bottom,” ReImagine Appalachia wrote. “The new growth of data centers in the region is a call to assess how our policy models have historically favored economic and project development that benefits extractive, exploitative, absentee corporations at the expense of our communities, workers, and lands.” **NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Principles** In September 2025, the NAACP and environmental justice advocates released guiding principles for data center development following a convening in Memphis, Tennessee, of nearly 70 climate and community advocates. The gathering was prompted in part by concerns about Elon Musk’s xAI data center in South Memphis, which the NAACP has challenged legally over unpermitted gas turbines in a historically Black neighborhood. The NAACP’s framework demands that companies disclose water and energy consumption, emissions, subsidies, and corporate ownership details as soon as they propose new projects. Energy efficiency standards and environmental commitments must become legally binding through community benefit agreements. “No community should be forced to sacrifice clean air, clean water, or safe homes so that corporations and billionaires can build energy-hungry facilities,” the NAACP stated in the principles, as reported by The Verge. Abre’ Conner, director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP, told The Verge that the principles put tech companies “on alert” that “if they do not meet our demands... we move into other forms of advocacy, including filing litigation.” **An Uncertain Future** The data center rush into Appalachia encapsulates the region’s century-long struggle with extractive industries and outside development. Like coal before it, data centers promise jobs and prosperity while communities worry about bearing the environmental and social costs. Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at the Piedmont Environmental Council, offered a warning to West Virginia Watch in June 2025: “What you’re going to get if you do it this way is the worst players, the ones that didn’t need to be in Northern Virginia. The players that are wanting that lack of regulations because they didn’t want to abide by rules and didn’t want to or need to protect communities, which is worse for West Virginia and the communities.” The U.S. Department of Energy projects that data centers could consume between 6.7 and 12% of total U.S. electricity by 2028, up from 4.4% in 2023\. That growth will require new power generation somewhere, and Appalachia’s abundant natural gas, available land, and water resources make it attractive despite the challenges. Whether the region can chart a different path than its coal experience remains to be seen. The battles playing out in Tucker County, Wise County, Wythe County, and communities across the region will help determine whether data centers become genuine engines of renewal or simply the latest chapter in Appalachia’s long history of extraction without lasting benefit. As one Tucker County resident put it at an April town hall covered by 100 Days in Appalachia: “It’s been so long and such a hard fight, and then all of a sudden it feels like this is gonna kick the legs out from the stool from everything that’s already here.” --- *EDITOR'S NOTE: Full, unedited version of this article can be found on James Branscome's* [*Substack*](https://substack.com/home/post/p-181736557?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* --- *James Branscome is a retired managing director of Standard & Poor’s and a former journalist whose articles have appeared in the* Washington Post*,* York Times, Business Week*, and* Mountain Eagle *of Whitesburg, Kentucky. He was a staff member in 1969-71 at the Appalachian Regional Commission, a lobbyist for Save Our Kentucky in Frankfort, and a staff member of the Appalachian Project at the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee. He was born in Hillsville, Virginia, and is a graduate of Berea College in Kentucky.* This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/the-data-center-rush-in-appalachia/2026/01/07/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=236258&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # Troubled Teen Industry Rocked by Lawsuits, Sexual Assault Charges by Art Levine, MindSite News December 31, 2025 ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/31121630/shutterstock_2351015103-3-1024x845.jpg) Jiris/Shutterstock Hundreds of former patients accuse UHS Hospital in Illinois of sexual abuse Universal Health Services Inc., one of the largest operators of behavioral health facilities in the country, was pulled back into the news this month as Illinois prosecutors charged a former mental health counselor with repeatedly sexually assaulting children as young as 7 over an eight-year span ending in 2004\. On Dec. 1, Cook County prosecutors filed [five counts of assault](https://www.cookcountystatesattorney.org/news/cook-county-states-attorneys-office-announces-charges-against-former-hartgrove-hospital-mental?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=CHICAGO%20%E2%80%94%20The%20Cook%20County%20State's,Eileen%20O'Neill%20Burke%20said.l) against Edmund Rivers, 68, a former counselor at Hartgrove Behavioral Health Hospital in Chicago. The facility is the target of several civil lawsuits, and prosecutors say five more alleged victims came forward after attorney Martin Gould [announced](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4emIRDBnRo&ref=down-ballot.info) the [first lawsuit](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dvYibkbhx9gHfsLSzTHlJHWd-meSDuk%5F/view?ref=down-ballot.info) against the hospital late last year. The mental health facility is not an outlier in Illinois: Gould says he represents more than a thousand patients who say they were abused physically, sexually and/or psychologically at youth residential treatment centers across the state, including but not limited to UHS facilities. “But the worst appears to be Hartgrove, with hundreds of sexual abuse plaintiffs,” he told MindSite News. “It was a playpen for pedophiles. Gould described Rivers as a "serial perpetrator" and predicted more arrests and criminal charges would follow. "He's the first domino to fall," he said. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/31104900/Screenshot-2025-12-31-104410-1-1024x571.png) Screenshot of [news story by ABC 7 Chicago ](https://youtu.be/JCmu2ffg2tg?ref=down-ballot.info)on abuse case against UHS's Hartgrove Hospital. The arrest of Rivers and the lawsuits against Hartgrove come on top of a combined $895 million in damages awarded last year by civil juries against UHS for alleged child sexual abuse at two UHS facilities: Pavilion in Illinois and Cumberland in Virginia UHS and its subsidiaries have consistently denied wrongdoing when facing allegations of abuse, neglect, and other issues stretching back more than a decade. In September, a Nevada jury [ruled](https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/jury-delivers-500m-plus-verdict-against-universal-health-services-over-illegal-poaching?ref=down-ballot.info) the company must pay more than $500 million in punitive damages to a rival health system for trying to poach doctors and patients. Despite the numerous legal judgments – and a scathing 2024 report issued by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee – net income for UHS soared last year to [$1.1 billion](https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/uhs-income-soars-2024/741235/?ref=down-ballot.info), with its behavioral health business generating the company's highest profit margins. Gould represents more than a dozen clients who say they were abused by Rivers. His firm, Gould, Grieco & Hensley, has already filed eight lawsuits against Hartgrove alleging physical and sexual abuse of young patients. In August, another firm also [sued](https://sauderschelkopf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Hartgrove-8.6.25-As-Filed-Complaint.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Hartgove and UHS on behalf of a teenage girl who claims she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by staff members during three separate stays at the facility. Lawyers for Hartgrove have [disputed](https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/illinois-lawsuit-universal-health-services?ref=down-ballot.info) allegations of abuse. “The safety of all patients is of paramount importance to Hartgrove Hospital and we take these allegations seriously,” it said in a statement published by Fox 32 in Chicago about the 2024 case. “Based upon preliminary review of the lawsuit, Hartgrove denies the allegations against them and intend(s) to defend this case vigorously.” Attorneys for Hartgrove, Pavilion, UHS and Cumberland, along with the corporate office of UHS, did not answer questions emailed to them by MindSite News in early December. The allegations against Hartgrove include sexually assaulting former patients while they were sedated with unprescribed drugs like Thorazine and benzodiazepines, and forcing minors to have sex. At a [news conference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4emIRDBnRo&ref=down-ballot.info) last year, Gould introduced a former patient who had claimed that Rivers and others sexually assaulted him at the hospital in 2001, often in bogus therapy sessions. He was 11 years old [at the time](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4emIRDBnRo&t=1378s&ref=down-ballot.info)[.](https://youtu.be/K4emIRDBnRo?t=1378&ref=down-ballot.info) Abuse of child patients at Hartgrove continued through July of 2024, according to Gould and dozens of police reports cited in his firm’s [complaints](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yECOH0hb71MhAfok2S7AE4hEu4DDkHjqhrBm7gzyt20/edit?tab=t.0&ref=down-ballot.info). ### Abuse of children 'beyond the pale' The former patient, now in his mid-30s, spoke at the press conference from behind a screen in an altered voice and charged that Hartgrove staff members would force patients to perform sex acts on each other. "They (told) us that we have to listen or we’re not going to go home and we’re not going to be able to see our family,” he said. “The nature of the abuse was beyond the pale,” Gould said at the press conference. “One staffer walked in and witnessed the sexual abuse of children, laughed, closed the door and never followed up,” he said. In one of his lawsuits, Gould also cites a [scathing 2011 investigation](https://www.upi.com/Top%5FNews/US/2011/09/28/Dangerous-conditions-at-Hartgrove-psychiatric-Hospital/75161317238058/?ref=down-ballot.info) conducted by the psychiatry department of the University of Illinois in Chicago on behalf of the state’s child welfare agency. It found that Hartgrove subjected minor patients to “an unacceptable risk of harm,” citing more than 100 reports of physical and sexual assaults over approximately six months. He and his team have also collected numerous testimonies of sexual assaults at Hartgrove over the years from former patients whose reports had been ignored by the staff (see an excerpt from his John Doe 1 lawsuit below). ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/31114415/Screenshot-2025-12-31-113332-1.png) From the lawsuit John Doe 1 vs UHS of Hartgrove, Inc., doing business as Hartgrove Behavioral Health System, an Illinois corporation; Universal Health Services, Inc; UHS of Delaware. In addition, the probe found that staff fabricated paperwork and lied to university investigators – and that employees were threatened with firing by administrators if they spoke truthfully about conditions there. Even so, the Department of Children and Family Services continued “warehousing” children in Hartgrove and other locked psychiatric facilities long after children were cleared for release, according to [ lawsuits](https://news.wttw.com/2018/12/13/new-lawsuit-accuses-dcfs-warehousing-children-psych-hospitals?ref=down-ballot.info) brought by former patients and reporting by [ProPublica](https://features.propublica.org/stuck-kids/illinois-dcfs-children-psychiatric-hospitals-beyond-medical-necessity/?ref=down-ballot.info). ### For UHS, damage awards piling up River's arrest and the Hartgrove lawsuits add to the mounting legal problems facing UHS. In March 2024, an Illinois jury awarded $535 million to the mother of a 13-year-old girl raped by a 16-year-old male patient on an adolescent psych unit of the UHS-owned Pavilion hospital in Champaign. The jury verdict was one of the largest institutional abuse awards in the state's history – until the trial judge [lowered the jury award](https://www.beckersbehavioralhealth.com/behavioral-health-news/judge-reduces-verdict-by-355m-in-uhs-subsidiarys-negligence-case/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum earlier this year. Camera footage captured by the facility and shown to the jury demonstrated that the 16-year-old attacker and an accomplice, who were housed on a co-ed unit that included children aged 4 to 17, running amok in the hallways long after the nominal 9 p.m. curfew. Their actions were largely ignored by the skeleton staff on duty that night. The verdict against Pavilion raised the financial stakes for UHS, and offered a rare inside look at how troubled teen facilities operate in practice. “They essentially tossed an aggressive, sexually active, 16-year-old human hand-grenade into this unit and into a room next to my client and didn’t separate them,” plaintiff’s attorney Tim Cronin of the Simon Law firm told the jury. Medical records and [testimony](https://www.news-gazette.com/news/witnesses-allege-the-pavilion-was-understaffed-ahead-of-patient-rape-in-2020/article%5F6c3b2262-2d3f-5643-926f-0a24efb56c6e.html?ref=down-ballot.info) show that hospital staff members were aware of the teen’s history of violence; he was even driven to the hospital in a police cruiser after punching staff and jumping out a second-story window at a previous facility. In his opening statement, Cronin urged the jury to send a signal to the troubled teen industry by imposing a verdict large enough to deter other companies from turning a blind eye to behavior that harms the vulnerable patients they are charged with caring for. “The decisions you make in this courtroom can make a difference, not just for my client and upon this defendant, but upon our society," Cronin said. In another case last year, jurors imposed a s[ $360 million negligence award](https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/jury-reaches-verdict-in-cumberland-hospital-trial-sept-27-2024?ref=down-ballot.info) against Cumberland Hospital, a UHS[ child and adolescent facility ](https://cumberlandhospital.com/?ref=down-ballot.info)in Virginia, for a doctor’s alleged sexual assaults on teen patients. > ***“The system is failing, except the providers running these facilities, who have figured out exactly how to turn a profit off taxpayer-funded child abuse.”*** > > —SENATOR RON WYDEN (D-OREGON) FROM 2024 SENATE REPORT These legal verdicts against UHS accompanied the release of "Warehouses of Neglect," the Senate Finance Committee [report](https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-investigation-exposes-systemic-taxpayer-funded-child-abuse-and-neglect-in-youth-residential-treatment-facilities?ref=down-ballot.info) on facilities for “troubled teens” that found UHS and three other poorly regulated major behavioral health chains were engaging in “taxpayer-funded child abuse.” (See MindSite News’ detailed look at the troubled teen industry [here.](https://mindsitenews.org/2024/08/31/troubled-teen-industry/?ref=down-ballot.info)) ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/31112051/image-2-1024x683.png) Victims and families grieve during a Washington D.C. news conference with survivors of abused and neglected youth at residential treatment facilities. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib) On top of that, the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act passed Congress and was signed into law in December 2024 after years of lobbying led by survivors of the industry, including Paris Hilton, the celebrity entrepreneur and Hilton Hotels heiress. Hilton says she suffered physical and sexual abuse as a teen in the 1990s at the controversial Provo Canyon in Utah, which was purchased by UHS in 2000 and has a decades-long history of [of abuse allegations](https://centerforhealthjournalism.org/our-work/reporting/part-2-provo-canyon-schools-history-abuse-accusations-spans-decades-far-beyond?ref=down-ballot.info) from its [inception as a private boy’s school in 1971](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/691/931/251111/?ref=down-ballot.info) to a large-scale riot reported at the school [in 2023](https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/05/16/provo-canyon-school-staffer-died/?ref=down-ballot.info). The law Hilton helped pass was considered by most advocates a crucial first step in reform: It [requires federal agencies to regularly report on](https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1351/text?ref=down-ballot.info) deaths and abuse in the industry, and to review best practices and regulatory failings with an eye towards improving treatment and government oversight. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/31111826/image-1.png) Paris Hilton exits the hearing room during a recess at a house committee hearing on protecting America’s children in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, June 26, 2024\. (Photo by Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA) Alongside the successful legal strategy, a powerful, parallel movement has arisen among survivors and family members who’ve lost loved ones at these facilities. These include Theresa Payne, who spoke before the 2024 Senate hearings at a press conference about the death of her 14-year-old daughter Monique in 2006 at a UHS-owned facility in Westwood, Massachusetts, due to alleged assault and medical neglect. ### Facility staff admits 'losing control' The Pavilion lawsuit demonstrated the impact of running a mental health program with too few, poorly trained staff members and of failing to maintain clear protocols for protecting vulnerable patients. It also highlighted the refusal of UHS and its affiliates to take responsibility for their failures. Evidence presented in the case showed that on Dec. 5, 2020, a 16-year-old and his accomplice were able to squirt toothpaste on three cameras monitoring the hallway to obscure their views, steal the cell phone of one mental health tech and distract another by spilling water on the floor. It also showed that the older boy used the distractions to invite a 13-year-old girl, a virgin, to have “some fun” in his room and when she protested against having sex, he raped her. When she left the boy’s room after about eight minutes, her pants were soaked in blood. One mental health tech – working in a position requiring no more than a high school diploma – spotted her bloody clothes and hands the night of the rape, but accepted the frightened girl’s explanation that she just had her period. The girl didn’t report the incident to the nursing staff for two more days and later testified that before the rape she had looked up to the attackers as “my big brothers.” The staff members on duty on the floor that night took no action in response to the boys being in the hall after hours, and the cameras weren’t even cleaned until the next morning. One tech later admitted in a deposition that he was “losing control” of the situation but contended that he didn’t have the authority to force the boys back into their rooms. ### Still experiencing nightmares four times a week The Champaign-based News Gazette covered the lawsuit and described the victim's [emotional testimony](https://d.docs.live.net/837d5fdaa2e36be8/Documents/%E2%80%A2%09https:/www.news-gazette.com/news/local/courts-police-fire/teen-patient-raped-at-pavilion-in-2020-testifies-employee-said-males-females-not-housed-together/article%5F5ffdc4d7-4cea-5f7a-bb22-8dbbaeeadafa.html?ref=down-ballot.info) as she broke down on the stand: "The girl testified that she feels ‘very small’ when she thinks of the incident and now has nightmares four times a week. She has struggled with image issues, she said, and shaved her head at one point so boys would think she is less attractive.” Her lawyers also presented testimony that the family had been told by Hartgrove officials that girls and boys would be housed separately at the facility. Instead, when she was admitted, she learned that the boys and girls were housed on the same wing. “They didn’t seem to put any thought into where patients were housed," attorney Cronin told MindSite News. "On the night of the rape, there were two unoccupied rooms on the girl's wing that were open and our client and her roommate at the time, both could have been placed over there.” In an effort to minimize Pavilion's culpability and the harm done to the girl, attorneys for Pavilion presented an expert witness, psychiatrist William Giakas, whose testimony appeared to anger the jury. Giakas testified that he believed that "whatever emotional trauma occurred for (the girl) has subsided a long time ago," according to a summary of this testimony later given by Circuit Court Judge Jason Bohm, who presided over the case. Bohm noted that while Giakas thought "memories of that (night) are always going to bother her," he also said the distress lasted only a matter of months, and that "any stress...should have or has completely subsided." > "***The trial record is devoid of any evidence that the Pavilion recognizes the gravity of its wrongdoing. No meaningful changes were made after the rape.***" > > —JUDGE JASON BOHM Bohm also dismissed as “disingenuous” an attempt by Dr. Giakas to do damage control when he tried to claim, during cross-examination, that his use of the word "minor“ during his original testimony referred to the girl's age rather than the impact on her of being raped. Bohm noted that that Giakas had testified that "I think the event itself was actually — in the scheme of traumatic rape, it was actually quite minor. But it still had some impact…I just think it was a minor impact.’" Bohm skewered Pavilion's case and the testimony of its key expert witness: “The trial record is devoid of any evidence that the Pavilion recognizes the gravity of its wrongdoing. No meaningful changes were made after the rape. If (these two people) were admitted today, the same horrible outcome seems likely**.** Yet, throughout this litigation, the Pavilion seems oblivious to its own failures.” ### Lack of staff means no eyes on hallways, says attorney In his October 2024 post-verdict ruling, Bohm reduced the damages imposed by the jury from $535 million to $180 million but rejected Pavilion's request for a new trial. He also noted that the girl was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by a psychologist and continues to experience nightmares in which she relives the assault – even though her assailant has since died, killed in a shooting in 2022. "They are ‘vivid nightmares of him killing her’ by stabbing her or lighting her on fire," Bohm said. "She wakes from these nightmares short of breath and discovers she has wet the bed, causing her to wear a pull-up to bed every night. She suffers fear, agitation, paranoia, low self-esteem, mistrust – particularly of men – disassociation, and depression.” Keeping costs low by saving money on staffing appears to be at the root of many of Pavilion’s deficiencies – a common feature of the troubled teen industry. The staff's failure to respond to one of the earliest red flags – the toothpaste-covered cameras – was largely due to the [hospital’s policy](https://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/courts-police-fire/jury-renders-535-million-judgment-against-the-pavilion-in-2020-rape-of-patient/article%5Fc36a05f5-e80a-53c6-92ee-9f1f17acafef.html?ref=down-ballot.info) of not requiring regular watching of the TV monitors. Hospital administrators had once considered a policy of real-time monitor-watching but that would have required adding extra staff. As Cronin noted in his closing argument, “They want you to ignore the fact that they simply do not keep eyes on the hallways at all times, like they admit they're supposed to, and know they can’t because of having too few staff. (That’s) because they won’t (hire more) at $12 to $15 an hour.” [Cynthia Clark](https://www.news-gazette.com/news/witnesses-allege-the-pavilion-was-understaffed-ahead-of-patient-rape-in-2020/article%5F6c3b2262-2d3f-5643-926f-0a24efb56c6e.html?ref=down-ballot.info), a registered nurse working the day shift when the 13-year-old girl was first admitted, testified she had raised concerns about understaffing “many, many times” with upper management but was rebuffed. She was also told by staff members that the 16-year-old boy had a history of sexual violence and needed to be watched carefully – and kept away from female patients. Two days after the rape, the victim told Clark, who also noticed the bruises on her body. She was then transported to a medical hospital. Clark testified she quit the facility three months after the rape because it was so unsafe that she thought she could lose her nursing license. The attorney for Pavilion maintained in court that the only person at fault was the assailant and insisted – in the face of [research](https://anrows-2019.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/20215312/ANROWS-Watson-RR-VAW%5FMH%5FUnits.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) and expert [testimony](https://www.news-gazette.com/news/witnesses-allege-the-pavilion-was-understaffed-ahead-of-patient-rape-in-2020/article%5F6c3b2262-2d3f-5643-926f-0a24efb56c6e.html?ref=down-ballot.info) to the contrary – that it's "industry standard to house boys and girls on the same unit.” According to Cronin, Pavilion admitted in discovery that it had at least 12 documented sexual assaults at the facility from 2015 to 2020, “and an average of 400 to 500 physical assaults per year during that same time period on the youth unit.” (See a partial listing in a 2017 police log [here](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/tktaayccge8ld8cgbnkls/Ex.-30-4-Report-of-Emerg.-Calls-PLTF-PROD-169-214-1.pdf?rlkey=5irlvlsym41w9uno5twlbi59y&st=noq1dxd0&dl=0&ref=down-ballot.info).) ### Company placed profits over patient safety, critics say Critics say the evidence presented in the lawsuits against UHS’ Pavilion facility and its Cumberland youth hospital show the company continues to place profits over patient safety and quality care – as lawyers, investigative reporters and government watchdogs have been saying [for decades](https://www.unsilenced.org/timeline/universal-health-services-inc-uhs/?ref=down-ballot.info). Although it has consistently [denied ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24037491-uhs-response-to-mother-jones/?ref=down-ballot.info)wrongdoing over the years, the company conceded in[ response](https://uhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/UHS-Response-to-SFC-Report%5FFNL%5F061324.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to last year's Senate report that there have been incidents at some facilities “where residents have suffered harm.” Like many other lawsuits against teen treatment facilities, the Pavilion case was ultimately settled out of court for an undisclosed sum and the parties signed nondisclosure agreements keeping the details secret. Still, the large amount of the initial jury verdict, coupled with other large judgments, prompted a warning from IMA Financial Group, a leading insurance broker and investment advisor. An IMA [report](https://imacorp.com/insights/insurance-insights-managing-risk-in-highacuity-behavioral-healthcare?ref=down-ballot.info) earlier this year cautioned investors about mounting risks in the behavioral treatment industry, noting that "operational failures can cascade into catastrophic losses." In September 2024, a jury awarded $360 million to three teenage girls, who said they'd been sexually assaulted by the former medical director of the UHS facility in Cumberland, Virginia. In the course of the lawsuit, [UHS was removed](https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/owners-dismissed-cumberland-trial-sept-19-2024?ref=down-ballot.info) as a named defendant by the judge, and the total jury award was lowered to $323 million. If the verdict is upheld on appeal, the company and its insurers will still be [liable for paying the jury award](https://www.superlawyers.com/articles/virginia/seeking-victory-for-the-vulnerable/?ref=down-ballot.info). Dr. Daniel Davidow, the former medical director, was accused of engaging in digital vaginal penetration in his exams of the girls. He denied the charges and was[ acquitted in a criminal trial](https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/daniel-davidow-verdict-april-26-2024?ref=down-ballot.info) in April 2024 involving two of the accusers. > ***Pavilion admitted in discovery that it had at least 12 documented sexual assaults over a five-year period and an average of 400 to 500 physical assaults a year.*** The jury decisions and ongoing lawsuits continue to pose financial risks for UHS. Although the Cumberland verdict is being appealed, and the Pavilion case was settled out of court, UHS noted in regulatory filings [last year ](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/352915/000095017025027785/R19.htm?ref=down-ballot.info)with the SEC that the cases could “materially adversely” impact the company. A spokesperson for UHS and attorneys for Pavilion and Cumberland hospitals declined to answer questions from MindSite News. While the two trials garnered relatively little national news coverage, the verdicts sent a message about the company's greed, said plaintiff’s attorney Cronin. “The directive was to fill the beds, overfill the beds, cut the staff (and).... maximize profits to the fullest extent possible,” he told MindSite News. "That was the message from management on down; that was the business plan.” After the verdict, Cronin says he got calls from executives at other facilities asking about Pavilion's practices so they can avoid doing the same. His key advice: “Have enough staff to actually watch these kids and house them safely.” ### A Virginia case may become the costliest The Cumberland case may prove to be the costliest to UHS. The original complaint, filed on behalf of 46 former patients, sought $930 million in damages. But a jury awarded $120 million each to the first three patients whose cases were heard in the first trial and who alleged that they'd been sexually assaulted by Davidow. Additional damage awards for the other 43 patients could lead to massive liability for UHS. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/31120203/image-3-e1767221985522-640x1024.png) Kayla Onder survived childhood sexual abuse. She is now an attorney representing other abuse survivors. The Cumberland case is now under appeal and the Hartgrove cases haven’t yet gone to trial. But advocates say they are still a long way from bringing about fundamental reform in the troubled teen industry and that government oversight remains far too feeble – to the great detriment of young patients. [Elizabeth Jeglic](https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/faculty/elizabeth-jeglic?ref=down-ballot.info), a psychology professor at the John Jay College on Criminal Justice and a co-developer of the data-driven [Sexual Grooming Model](https://johnjayimpact.org/profiles/understanding-sexual-grooming-to-prevent-abuse/?ref=down-ballot.info) used to prevent sexual abuse, says many companies have failed to keep up with evidence-based safety practices "so that kids going forward are not abused." At this point, she says, "There’s really no excuse for institutions not to have those things in place because this (child sexual abuse) is a known risk.” Kayla Onder, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who is now a partner in a law firm, Onder Law, and is a founder of [Kayla’s Survivors](https://kaylasurvivors.com/?ref=down-ballot.info), sees litigation as the only effective weapon to date against the greed and cruelty baked into the system. > ***When you run a facility that treats children like revenue and cuts care to the bone, suffering isn't a glitch. It's an intentional outcome.”*** > > —ATTORNEY KAYLA ONDER “These are for-profit companies, right? The only way to get them to change is to affect their bottom line and get their attention with these big verdicts," she told MindSite News. “When you run a facility that treats children, in my opinion, like revenue and cuts care to the bone, suffering isn't a glitch. It's an intentional outcome.” She hopes for greater oversight and reforms, but in the meantime, she and lawyers around the country are headed back into court. Last month, she filed suit on behalf of nearly 30 alleged victims of sexual abuse at Pavilion. Unfortunately, there’s little sign so far that UHS and the rest of the troubled teen industry are going to fundamentally change anytime soon. Indeed, reformers have long contended that most troubled children would be better served by community-based care – not residential treatment. Senator Ron Wyden, who led the recent Senate investigation into the troubled teen industry and described it as “taxpayer-funded child abuse,” favors cutting off the supply of public funds to these institutions. To the children who have spent time in these facilities – and their families – it's an idea that is long overdue. This [article](https://mindsitenews.org/2025/12/31/troubled-teen-industry-rocked-by-lawsuits-sexual-assault-charges/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MindSite News](https://mindsitenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # Built by peers, backed by the state: Inside North Carolina’s expanding peer support network by Taylor Knopf, North Carolina Health News January 8, 2026 #### **By Taylor Knopf** Thanos first stepped into [the peer cafe](https://promiseresourcenetwork.org/recovery-cafe-raleigh/?ref=down-ballot.info) across from the bus station in downtown Raleigh looking for his friend — and the promise of a free coffee. What keeps him coming back months later is a community of people and group sessions that have supported his substance use recovery. “Everybody in this room is recovering from something traumatic in their past,” he said, “and now we’re trying to navigate life with the mindset that we have now.” Thanos, his preferred name, is 28 and has been in recovery from crystal methamphetamine use for four years. When he first started hanging out at the cafe, he was unemployed and without stable housing. The cafe, which has free activities throughout the day like meditation, book club and addiction recovery groups, is run by [Promise Resource Network](https://promiseresourcenetwork.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a Charlotte-based nonprofit that is led by people who all have dealt with mental health challenges and/or substance use issues throughout their lives. Thanos credits the peer support specialists — people with this kind of experience and professional training on how to support others — at the cafe with helping him break old patterns. They encouraged him to apply for the two retail jobs he now holds, and they helped him find an apartment. “I could resonate with them, because you can tell when somebody's been through something, because they're more emotionally aware,” he said. “They’re authentic. You could tell that they love themselves, and they’re protecting their energy, and they’re in a certain space where I’m trying to get to.” While the idea of getting help from people with similar past experiences is not new, peer support has become more and more professionalized and integrated into the mental health system in recent years. In North Carolina, a small number of programs similar to the peer cafe have existed for years on shoestring budgets, [sustained largely by the determination of a few individuals](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2015/04/08/peer-support-for-those-in-need-from-those-who-know/?ref=down-ballot.info). Now, government funding is beginning to follow, and more programs are opening across the state. #### **Different kind of space** Walking down the stairs to the peer cafe in Raleigh, there are string lights over patio tables with purple umbrellas. By the door is [a free vending machine](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/11/09/vending-machines-dispensing-free-life-saving-medication/?ref=down-ballot.info) filled with sterile injection supplies and naloxone, the opioid overdose reversal drug. Inside the cafe, there’s music playing and maybe a dozen people in a room outfitted with stylish velvet furniture, cool posters and exposed brick walls. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_3011-scaled.jpg) Misty, a peer worker at the Raleigh cafe, demonstrates how to crochet during a "Creative Self" class in December. There’s a call for those interested in the “creative self” class where participants are learning to crochet. A few people head into the classroom where the leader demonstrates with some pink yarn and a hook. “This is very therapeutic for me. It gets the world out of my head,” she told the group. “I bet,” a participant responded, “Because this is all I can focus on right now.” Outside the classroom, a peer support worker and a regular of the cafe are having a one-on-one peer support session. The next group session is [SMART recovery](https://smartrecovery.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), for those working through addiction recovery. One participant talks about how he’s learning to let go, trying not to control other people’s decisions. Another talks about how he’s gotten off hard drugs recently and is using THC products to cope. Elliott Brooks manages the Raleigh peer cafe, which opened in the fall of 2025\. Books said a lot of the people who come for the cafe’s classes, activities and community have engaged with the mental health system in the past and had negative — or even traumatizing — experiences. Now they want something different. “They’re looking for a safe space where they can come and be themselves and get access to support that they’re not going to get anywhere else,” Brooks said. “They get classes that embrace them, embrace wellness holistically, that are not focusing on illness and pathologizing. They’re able to walk in and see this is a different space.” A [growing body of research](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10597-025-01484-7?ref=down-ballot.info) over the past decade suggests that peer support programs can play a meaningful role in helping people manage mental health crises and reduce reliance on emergency services. Reviews of studies from the U.K., Australia and elsewhere have found that people who visit peer programs often report improved mental health, reduced isolation and a greater sense of control over their care. Researchers note that these spaces offer a nonclinical alternative to emergency rooms, which many people describe as intimidating or ill-suited for caring for someone who’s severely depressed or hearing voices or experiencing another form of mental health crisis. Several studies documented declines in emergency department visits and calls to the police after people engaged with peer support programs, with some reporting [reductions of more than 40 percent](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/inm.13174?ref=down-ballot.info) in three years. Participants of peer programs find that peer workers are welcoming and foster trust, understanding and a sense of solidarity — all while modeling that mental health recovery is possible, according to [a review of several studies](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10597-025-01484-7?ref=down-ballot.info) published in the Community Mental Health Journal. While such outcomes are promising, the researchers said access to peer-run spaces across the globe is limited, and there is a need to further integrate peer support into the broader mental health system. #### **Slow, but steady progress** Peer support services have come a long way in North Carolina over the past decade or so. While peers have been hired to support patients alongside clinicians in medical settings for a while, it took much longer for funding to reach organizations that were independent of health systems. Some of the most successful programs are run entirely by peers. Promise Resource Network, founded by Cherene Caraco in 2005, [has led the state](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/04/29/north-carolina-to-expand-peer-led-crisis-services-in-push-for-more-mental-health-support/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the expansion of peer-run programs. With the support of state dollars, the organization opened two peer-run respite houses in [Charlotte](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/08/18/first-peer-run-respite-opens-as-alternative-to-hospitalization-for-people-in-mental-health-distress/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Raleigh](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/12/23/home-like-respite-stay-is-new-alternative-to-psychiatric-hospitalization-in-raleigh/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the past five years and is in the process of [opening a third in Cabarrus County](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cherene-allen-caraco-b1a11738%5Fits-official-promise-resource-network-closed-activity-7388210613396819968-wtTu?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop&rcm=ACoAAAsi0E0BRoK6c8u0A39aqdhqFowK4%5FU0IJQ). ![several people stand in front of a white painted brick ranch house holding a purple ribbon and the woman in the center is cutting it with giant scissors](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9662-scaled.jpg) Promise Resource Network founder and CEO Cherene Caraco cuts the ribbon during an opening ceremony for the first peer-run respite in Wake County in December 2024\. She's joined by NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley, director the NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services Kelly Crosbie, Alliance Health Board Chair David Hancock, CEO of North Carolina Healthcare Quality Alliance Alan Hirsch, and peer support specialists with Promise Resource Network. A respite is designed to be a voluntary alternative to hospitalization for people in mental health distress; it allows the person space and time to de-escalate their crisis outside of the traditional health care system. Completely staffed by peer support specialists, respites are peaceful, home-like settings where people can stay and get help from trained peers who are on their own recovery journeys. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Promise Resource Network also [launched a peer “warm” line](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/07/29/warm-line-a-mental-health-support-answered-by-people-who-can-relate/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonclinical support line answered by people in mental health recovery, to offer support to people who were more isolated than ever. At the time, the organization was only operating in Mecklenburg County and never meant for the line to serve the whole state, but the demand was there. Eventually, the [state helped with funding](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/04/29/north-carolina-to-expand-peer-led-crisis-services-in-push-for-more-mental-health-support/?ref=down-ballot.info), which allowed the Peer Warmline to be a permanent part of the state’s mental health infrastructure. “Many didn’t recognize the impact of loneliness until COVID shined a light on it,” said Amanda Martin, executive director of [GreenTree Peer Support Program in Winston-Salem](https://greentreepeersupport.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “In the substance use world, we’ve been saying for years that the opposite of addiction is connection. And it’s true for mental health too. I know that when I’m connected, that I don’t hear as many voices, and I don’t have as many challenges with emotional dysregulation.” Previously employed at Promise Resource Network, Martin was recently hired to run the newly expanded programs at GreenTree, [another trailblazer in North Carolina for peer-run support](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2012/07/23/winston-salem-center-will-provide-support-for-mentally-ill/?ref=down-ballot.info). Seeing peer-run programs grow in the state has been beautiful, like watching a baby grow, she said. “For many of us in this work, we never really had a place anywhere, and it was because of our mental health, it was because of our trauma, it was because of our substance use that we were banished,” she said. #### **Place at the table** People who live with mental health and substance use issues have long wanted a place at the table where decisions about mental health services are made. A saying heard frequently in this community is: “Nothing about us, without us.” The way Martin sees it, instead of being invited to that decision-making table, peer leaders built their own and invited officials and health leaders. She credits a handful of dedicated peer leaders in North Carolina who started programs that delivered results and built relationships with state and local leaders. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_7612-scaled.jpg) Founder of GreenTree Laurie Coker and executive director Amanda Martin address the crowd gathered at the October ribbon-cutting event for the peer center's new building. GreenTree, [founded by Laurie Coker in 2012](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2012/07/23/winston-salem-center-will-provide-support-for-mentally-ill/?ref=down-ballot.info), had been operating out of a church lobby for years. It recently moved into its permanent new home on West First Street just west of downtown Winston-Salem. The new space allowed the organization to expand its [Refuge program](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/09/28/a-refuge-for-patients-in-mental-health-distress-with-nowhere-else-to-go/?ref=down-ballot.info), which provides 24-72 hours of lodging and peer support for people who don’t meet criteria for psychiatric hospitalization but need some kind of care before returning home or to a homeless shelter or wherever they are staying. Peer center programming is under the same roof, Monday through Friday, and the schedule is on [GreenTree’s Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/greentreepeercenterws). The local hospital [emergency department has worked closely with GreenTree](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2021/09/28/a-refuge-for-patients-in-mental-health-distress-with-nowhere-else-to-go/?ref=down-ballot.info) through the years and referred patients leaving the ER there for support. “For many years I was the advocate that wouldn’t go away,” Coker said during the ribbon cutting celebration in October for the new GreenTree space. “As part of my grieving process, I wanted to do something to make a difference — turn advocacy to action.” Coker’s son [died as a result of his mental illness](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2015/04/08/peer-support-for-those-in-need-from-those-who-know/?ref=down-ballot.info), and she made it her mission to create the kind of mental health support she believed was missing at the time. “Across the state with our peer support movement, this is what our communities need,” Coker said. “As the hospital systems change and mental health and health care become more industrial, we’re the folks that keep it together. You need those people to help empower folks to navigate and find what they need. “And we know how because we’ve been there,” she said. #### **State and local leaders buy in** Coker told the gathered crowd at the ribbon cutting that in all her time advocating for peer-led programs, she didn’t believe anyone at the very top really understood why peer support was so important to recovery — until now. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_7660-427x450.jpg) Kelly Crosbie, director of the NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services is stands between GreenTree's Amanda Martin and Laurie Coker at the ribbon-cutting event in October. Peer leaders have openly praised Kelly Crosbie, director of the NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services, for her understanding and support of peer services. Crosbie is a social worker by training and has [been vocal about the role peers played in the lives of her family members](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/04/29/north-carolina-to-expand-peer-led-crisis-services-in-push-for-more-mental-health-support/?ref=down-ballot.info) with mental illness, including her father, a veteran who struggled with past trauma. “For some people \[clinical treatment is\] absolutely life saving, but it’s a time and a place — and what happens to the rest of your life? That’s where communities come in. That’s where families come in. That’s where places like GreenTree come in,” Crosbie said at the ribbon-cutting event. “And we need them for acceptance, for reducing stigma, so people can live full and happy lives.” “And we really need this in the system — a place where we have people who have navigated this complex world, not just an illness,” she said. The state has been able to [fund and open an array](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/02/25/as-more-mental-health-crisis-centers-open-across-the-state-heres-what-you-need-to-know/?ref=down-ballot.info) of peer support services and other mental health crisis supports over the past two years using [a $835 million investment for behavioral health](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/10/06/state-officials-tout-once-in-a-lifetime-investment-in-north-carolinas-mental-health-services/?ref=down-ballot.info) needs included in the 2023 state budget. There has been local buy-in as well. Denise Price, deputy county manager and health and human services director for Forsyth County, said she credits people like Coker for helping shape her understanding around the need for peer support. Forsyth County has supported GreenTree and employed peer support specialists for some time, including a unique role: a peer support specialist [based at the public library](https://www.forsyth.cc/library/peersupportspecialist.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info), who helps people navigate mental health services and other resources such as food and housing assistance. Price told NC Health News that peer support delivers a great return on investment. ![](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_7605-450x338.jpg) The new space inside GreenTree Peer Center. “At GreenTree, they allow an individual to define their crisis,” Price said. “What puts me in a crisis may be very different than what puts you in one, and oftentimes it doesn’t involve a formal support to remediate \[...\] and it doesn’t require therapy or an ED visit, but being able to deliver it within that space of GreenTree can certainly prevent a higher, unnecessary level of care.” “It is very preventive, which is not a space that we traditionally fund,” she said. “We usually fund a service when you meet a need, you check mark these criteria. This is a way of preventing someone from getting to a space of needing that. “So I think the outcomes speak for themselves.” This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2026/01/08/north-carolinas-expanding-peer-support-network/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine [Inside the Battle for the Future of Addiction Medicine - KFF Health NewsThe experiences of one doctor in Louisiana reveal the tensions around trying to get people to engage in addiction treatment, even if they’re not ready to stop using drugs.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/kffhealthnews-icon.png)KFF Health NewsAneri Pattani![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Elyse_Stevens_4.jpg)](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/addiction-medicine-harm-reduction-opioids-louisiana-doctor-battle/?ref=down-ballot.info) Aneri Pattani January 7, 2026 NEW ORLEANS — Elyse Stevens had a reputation for taking on complex medical cases. People who’d been battling addiction for decades. Chronic-pain patients on high doses of opioids. Sex workers and people living on the street. “Many of my patients are messy, the ones that don’t know if they want to stop using drugs or not,” said Stevens, a primary care and addiction medicine doctor. While other doctors avoided these patients, Stevens — who was familiar with the city from her time in medical school at Tulane University — sought them out. She regularly attended 6 a.m. breakfasts for homeless people, volunteered at a homeless shelter clinic on Saturdays, and, on Monday evenings, visited an abandoned Family Dollar store where advocates distributed supplies to people who use drugs. One such evening about four years ago, Charmyra Harrell arrived there limping, her right leg swollen and covered in sores. Emergency room doctors had repeatedly dismissed her, so she eased the pain with street drugs, Harrell said. Stevens cleaned her sores on Mondays for months until finally persuading Harrell to visit the clinic at University Medical Center New Orleans. There, Stevens discovered Harrell had diabetes and cancer. She agreed to prescribe Harrell pain medication — an option many doctors would automatically dismiss for fear that a patient with a history of addiction would misuse it. But Stevens was confident Harrell could hold up her end of the deal. “She told me, ‘You cannot do drugs and do your pain meds,’” Harrell recounted on a Monday evening in October. So, “I’m no longer on cocaine.” Stevens’ approach to patient care has won her awards and nominations in [medicine](https://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/pulse%5Farchive/2021%5F12/dec%5F2021%5Fsom%5Fachievements%5Fawards%5Fand%5Fhonors.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Dr.%20Elyse%20Stevens%20%28Section%20of%20Community%20and%20Population%20Medicine%29%20was%20awarded%20%E2%80%9CAttending%20Physician%20of%20the%20Quarter%2C%202nd%20Quarter%2C%202021%E2%80%9D%20by%20University%20Medical%20Center%2C%20New%20Orleans.), [community service](https://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/DOM/March%2022%202024%20DOM%5Femail.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), and [humanism](https://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/pulse%5Farchive/2023%5F06/june%5F2023%5Fawards%5Fhonors.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Dr.%20Elyse%20Stevens%20%28Community,overwhelmingly%20chose%20Dr.%20Stevens.). Instead of seeing patients in binaries — addicted or sober, with a positive or negative drug test — she measures progress on a spectrum. Are they showering daily, cooking with their families, using less fentanyl than the day before? But not everyone agrees with this flexible approach that prioritizes working with patients on their goals, even if abstinence isn’t one of them. And it came to a head in the summer of 2024. “The same things I was high-fived for thousands of times — suddenly that was bad,” Stevens said. **Flexible Care or Slippery Slope?** More than [80% of Americans](https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUH%202024%20Annual%20Release/2024-nsduh-nnr-highlights.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info#page=4) who need substance use treatment don’t receive it, national data shows. Barriers abound: high costs, lack of transportation, clinic hours that are incompatible with jobs, fear of being mistreated. Some doctors had been trying to ease the process for years. Covid-19 accelerated that trend. Telehealth appointments, fewer urine drug tests, and medication refills that last longer became the norm. The result? “Patients did OK and we actually reached more people,” said [Brian Hurley](https://www.asam.org/about-us/leadership/board-of-directors/biography-brian-hurley?ref=down-ballot.info), immediate past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The organization supports continuing flexible practices, such as helping patients avoid withdrawal symptoms by [prescribing higher-than-traditional doses](https://journals.lww.com/journaladdictionmedicine/fulltext/2023/11000/asam%5Fclinical%5Fconsiderations%5F%5Fbuprenorphine.2.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info) of addiction medication and focusing on recovery goals [other than abstinence](https://www.asam.org/quality-care/clinical-recommendations/asam-clinical-considerations-for-engagement-and-retention-of-non-abstinent-patients-in-treatment?ref=down-ballot.info). But some doctors prefer traditional approaches that range from zero tolerance for patients using illegal drugs to setting stiff consequences for those who don’t meet their doctors’ expectations. For example, a patient who tests positive for street drugs while getting outpatient care would be discharged and told to go to residential rehab. Proponents of this method fear loosening restrictions could be a slippery slope that ultimately harms patients. They say continuing to prescribe painkillers, for example, to people using illicit substances long-term could normalize drug use and hamper the goal of getting people off illegal drugs. Progress should be more than keeping patients in care, said [Keith Humphreys](https://profiles.stanford.edu/keith-humphreys?ref=down-ballot.info), a Stanford psychologist, who has treated and researched addiction for decades and [supports involuntary treatment](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/opinion/forced-drug-treatment-rehab.html?ref=down-ballot.info). “If you give addicted people lots of drugs, they like it, and they may come back,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that that is promoting their health over time.” Flexible practices also tend to align with harm reduction, a divisive approach that proponents say keeps people who use drugs safe and that critics — [including the Trump administration](https://rollcall.com/2025/08/05/harm-reduction-techniques-being-phased-out-under-trump/?ref=down-ballot.info) — say enables illegal drug use. The debate is not just philosophical. For Stevens and her patients, it came to bear on the streets of New Orleans. **‘Unconventional’ Prescribing** In the summer of 2024, supervisors started questioning Stevens’ approach. In emails reviewed by KFF Health News, they expressed concerns about her prescribing too many pain pills, a mix of opioids and other controlled substances to the same patients, and high doses of buprenorphine, a medication considered [the gold standard](https://www.naco.org/resource/osc-mat?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Treating%20OUD%20with%20opioid%20medications%20%28methadone%20and%20buprenorphine%2C%20specifically%29%20has%20long%20been%20considered%20the%20gold%2Dstandard%20of%20care) to treat opioid addiction. Supervisors worried Stevens wasn’t doing enough urine drug tests and kept treating patients who used illicit drugs instead of referring them to higher levels of care. “Her prescribing pattern appears unconventional compared to the local standard of care,” the hospital’s chief medical officer at the time wrote to Stevens’ supervisor, [Benjamin Springgate](https://www.medschool.lsuhsc.edu/DOM/Sections/Community-Medicine/faculty/springgate%5Fbenjamin.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info). “Note that this is the only standard of care which would likely be considered should a legal concern arise.” Springgate forwarded that email to Stevens and encouraged her to refer more patients to methadone clinics, intensive outpatient care, and inpatient rehab. Stevens understood the general practice but couldn’t reconcile it with the reality her patients faced. How would someone living in a tent, fearful of losing their possessions, trek to a methadone clinic daily? Stevens sent her supervisors [dozens](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35322965/?ref=down-ballot.info) of [research](https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2793293?ref=down-ballot.info) [studies](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395924000240?ref=down-ballot.info) and [national](https://sitefinitystorage.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity-production-blobs/docs/default-source/guidelines/npg-jam-supplement.pdf?sfvrsn=a00a52c2%5F2&ref=down-ballot.info) [treatment](https://www.hhs.gov/system/files/Dosage%5FReduction%5FDiscontinuation.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) [guidelines](https://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/tip-35-pep19-02-01-003.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) backing her flexible approach. She explained that if she stopped prescribing the medications of concern, patients might leave the health system, but they wouldn’t disappear. “They just wouldn’t be getting care and perhaps they’d be dead,” she said in an interview with KFF Health News. Both University Medical Center and LSU Health New Orleans, which employs physicians at the hospital, declined repeated requests for interviews. They did not respond to detailed questions about addiction treatment or Stevens’ practices. Instead, they provided a joint statement from Richard DiCarlo, dean of the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, and Jeffrey Elder, chief medical officer of University Medical Center New Orleans. “We are not at liberty to comment publicly on internal personnel issues,” they wrote. “We recognize that addiction is a serious public health problem, and that addiction treatment is a challenge for the healthcare industry,” they said. “We remain dedicated to expanding access to treatment, while upholding the highest standard of care and safety for all patients.” **Not Black-and-White** KFF Health News shared the complaints against Stevens and the responses she’d written for supervisors with two addiction medicine doctors outside of Louisiana, who had no affiliation with Stevens. Both found her practices to be within the bounds of normal addiction care, especially for complex patients. [Stephen Loyd](https://www.cedarrecovery.com/dr-stephen-loyd/?ref=down-ballot.info), an addiction medicine doctor and the [president of Tennessee’s medical licensing board](https://www.tn.gov/health/health-program-areas/health-professional-boards/me-board/me-board/members.html?ref=down-ballot.info), said doctors running pill mills typically have sparse patient notes that list a chief complaint of pain. But Stevens’ notes detailed patients’ life circumstances and the intricate decisions she was making with them. “To me, that’s the big difference,” Loyd said. Some people think the “only good answer is no opioids,” such as oxycodone or hydrocodone, for any patients, said [Cara Poland](https://obgyn.msu.edu/research/research-faculty/cara-poland?ref=down-ballot.info), an addiction medicine doctor and associate professor at Michigan State University. But patients may need them — sometimes for things like cancer pain — or require months to lower their doses safely, she said. “It’s not as black-and-white as people outside our field want it to be.” Humphreys, the Stanford psychologist, had a different take. He did not review Stevens’ case but said, as a general practice, there are risks to prescribing painkillers long-term, especially for patients using today’s lethal street drugs too. Overprescribing fueled the opioid crisis, he said. “It’s not going to go away if we do that again.” **‘The Thing That Kills People’** After months of tension, Stevens’ supervisors told her on March 10 to stop coming to work. The hospital was conducting a review of her practices, they said in an email viewed by KFF Health News. Overnight, hundreds of her patients were moved to other providers. Luka Bair had been seeing Stevens for three years and was stable on daily buprenorphine. After Stevens’ departure, Bair was left without medication for three days. The withdrawal symptoms were severe — headache, nausea, muscle cramps. “I was just in physical hell,” said Bair, who works for the National Harm Reduction Coalition and uses they/them pronouns. Although Bair eventually got a refill, Springgate, Stevens’ supervisor, didn’t want to continue the regimen long-term. Instead, Springgate referred Bair to more intensive and residential programs, citing Bair’s intermittent use of other drugs, including benzodiazepines and cocaine, as markers of high risk. Bair “requires a higher level of care than our clinic reasonably can offer,” Springgate wrote in patient portal notes reviewed by KFF Health News. But Bair said daily attendance at those programs was incompatible with their full-time job. They left the clinic, with 30 days to find a new doctor or run out of medication again. “This is the thing that kills people,” said Bair, who eventually found another doctor willing to prescribe. Springgate did not respond to repeated calls and emails requesting comment. University Medical Center and LSU Health New Orleans did not answer questions about discharging Stevens’ patients. **‘Reckless Behavior’** About a month after Stevens was told to stay home, Haley Beavers Khoury, a medical student who worked with her, had collected nearly 100 letters from other students, doctors, patients, and homelessness service providers calling for Stevens’ return. One student wrote, “Make no mistake — some of her patients will die without her.” A nun from the Daughters of Charity, which ran [the hospital’s previous incarnation](https://www.nolaem.com/hospitals?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=UMC%20continues%20the%20near%20300%20year%20legacy%20of%20Charity%20Hospital%20and%20proudly%20serves%20as%20the%20only%20safety%2Dnet%20hospital%20for%20the%20people%20of%20New%20Orleans.), called Stevens a “lifeline” for vulnerable patients. Beavers Khoury said she sent the letters to about 10 people in hospital and medical school leadership. Most did not respond. In May, the hospital’s review committee determined Stevens’ practices fell “outside of the acceptable community standards” and constituted “reckless behavior,” according to a letter sent to Stevens. The hospital did not answer KFF Health News’ questions about how it reached this conclusion or if it identified any patient harm. Meanwhile, Stevens had secured a job at another New Orleans hospital. But because her resignation came amid the ongoing investigation, University Medical Center said it was required to inform the state’s medical licensing board. The medical board began its own investigation — a development that eventually cost Stevens the other job offer. In presenting her side to the medical board, Stevens repeated many arguments she’d made before. Yes, she was prescribing powerful medications. No, she wasn’t making clinical decisions based on urine drug tests. But national addiction organizations supported such practices and promoted tailoring care to patients’ circumstances, she said. Her response included a 10-page bibliography with 98 citations. **Liability** The board’s investigation into Stevens is ongoing. [Its website](https://online.lasbme.org/?ref=down-ballot.info#/disciplinary) shows no action taken against her license as of late December. The board declined to comment on both Stevens’ case and its definition of appropriate addiction treatment. In October, Stevens moved to the Virgin Islands to work in internal medicine at a local hospital. She said she’s grateful for the welcoming locals and the financial stability to support herself and her parents. But it hurts to think of her former patients in New Orleans. Before leaving, Stevens packed away handwritten letters from several of them — one was 15 pages long, written in alternating green and purple marker — in which they shared childhood traumas and small successes they had while in treatment with her. Stevens doesn’t know what happened to those patients after she left. She believes the scrutiny of her practices centers on liability more than patient safety. But, she said, “liability is in abandoning people too.” [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [Subscribe](https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/?ref=down-ballot.info) to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. This [article](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/addiction-medicine-harm-reduction-opioids-louisiana-doctor-battle/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150) ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=2131604&ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0) --- # ‘Can’t do this alone’: An Appleton school prepares students for skilled trades. It’s not easy. by Miranda Dunlap / Wisconsin Watch December 30, 2025 - ATECH opened over a decade ago to create a pipeline of students interested in advanced manufacturing careers. - Many students at the charter school like the hands-on classes, take advantage of paid apprenticeships and earn free college credits. - But school leaders say they struggle to attract students, fight a stigma that surrounds technical education and afford equipment and tools. A cacophony of humming, drilling, banging and buzzing fills Appleton Technical Academy’s cavernous lab. In one corner, a student drills ventilation holes in a piece of metal that will eventually be a firepit ring. Another cuts through a thin piece of metal with clippers. Shrouded by red vinyl curtains, several students weld metal, sending blue sparks flying through the air. As more schools embrace career and technical education, scenes like these are increasingly common in high schools nationwide: fewer students gripping pencils at desks; more wielding expensive tools and receiving hands-on training for their future career. Part of that trend, [Appleton Technical Academy (ATECH)](https://atech.aasd.k12.wi.us/?ref=down-ballot.info) opened a decade ago to ease the region’s shortage of advanced manufacturing workers. Today, many of the students love their hands-on classes, enroll in paid apprenticeships and collect free college credit before continuing on to trade school. ![A person wearing a blue jacket gestures and holds a handle of a large metal machine while two other people wearing safety glasses stand beside it in a workshop with tools, tanks and equipment in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/asse663_Atech_Dec-25-782x521.jpg) Carrie Giauque, a technology education instructor for Appleton Technical Academy, teaches students how to use a piece of equipment on Dec. 3, 2025\. (Mike Roemer for Wisconsin Watch) But it hasn’t been without difficulties. The school has struggled to attract students, combat a persistent stigma around technical education and afford the pricey equipment and tools it requires. Plus, it’s hard to determine if the school has met the original goal of producing local manufacturing employees. What’s happening at ATECH shows how preparing Wisconsin teenagers to eventually fill workforce holes, especially amid the state's dearth of skilled trade workers, can be a tall task. ATECH lead teacher Paul Endter spends his lunch breaks and free time trying to grow local support for the school and get more students interested. “I continue to tell people we're the best-kept secret in the Fox Valley, and that's not by design,” Endter said. “I wish I had more people who wanted to get involved.” ## Born from industry needs In the early 2010s, Jared Bailin, CEO of Appleton-based Eagle Performance Plastics, was struggling to find enough advanced manufacturing workers. The plastic manufacturing leader thought introducing high schoolers to the jobs would help. He took the idea to Greg Hartjes, who was principal of Appleton West High School at the time. Hartjes is now the school district’s superintendent and has always worried about students who don’t mesh with traditional high school education structure — students who, he says, “perhaps didn't want to sit in English class and read Shakespeare,” but rather wanted “their hands in the work that they were doing.” Together, they built ATECH, a tuition-free charter school inside Appleton West that aims to prepare students for manufacturing jobs. They secured state grants to fund the launch, and Appleton voters approved a district referendum that put $2.4 million toward renovating labs and classroom spaces. ![A person wearing gloves and a welding helmet holds a torch next to a metal skull mounted on a stand on a workbench, with smoke rising.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/asse133_Atech_Dec-25.jpg) Izzy Chappell, a senior at Appleton West High School and Appleton Technical Academy, works on a metal sculpture on Dec. 3, 2025\. (Mike Roemer for Wisconsin Watch) The school opened in the 2014-15 school year. Here’s how it works: Students can apply to the school at any point, but most enroll their freshman year. They choose to specialize in one of four growing industries: electronics and automated manufacturing, machining, mechanical design or welding. At first, students take a small number of classes that introduce them to the basics of manufacturing alongside the traditional courses required of all high schoolers, such as language arts and math. Students gradually take on more courses aligned to their specialization, such as programming for electronics students or blueprint reading for machining students. Beginning their junior year, students take free college classes that earn both high school and Fox Valley Technical College credit. The classes chip away at a certificate in their focus area, which can shave thousands off tuition for students who enroll in technical college after graduation. Some juniors and seniors can work for local employers as paid youth apprentices during part of the school day, earning money and gaining work experience. “ATECH kids are kids that wanted to use their hands along with their brain in learning,” Hartjes said. That’s the reason senior Izzy Chappell enrolled. On an early December morning, she dipped into one of the lab’s eight welding booths wearing a helmet to protect from the harsh UV rays and flying sparks. She put the finishing touches on a welded metal skull sculpture she entered in a regional SkillsUSA competition that night. “Other classes are hard,” Chappell said. “This comes easy to me.” ## Getting students excited a struggle ATECH leaders hoped the school would be a magnet for students, but getting them interested has been a challenge. The school debuted with 56 students. Enrollment has fluctuated a bit over the decade, never reaching the district’s goal of 120\. In the 2024-25 school year — the most recent year with available state data — 68 students enrolled. ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26726203/thumbnail) Leaders chalk the lower-than-desired enrollment up to several difficulties: The district doesn’t provide transportation to charter schools, meaning these students typically have to find their own way to school. A jump start toward a career simply doesn't resonate with many teenagers as young as 14, who Endter said are more motivated by sports or where their friends go to school. And most of all,ATECH leaders find many families still see college degrees as the gold standard. Despite [growing investment](https://careertech.org/news/states-increase-funding-for-secondary-career-technical-education-by-average-of-182-million-over-last-decade/?ref=down-ballot.info) in career and technical education programs nationwide and the critical need for skilled workers in Wisconsin, they say a stigma still plagues technical education, leading many to believe it’s for students who don’t perform well in school. ![A person wearing gloves and a welding helmet uses a torch on a metal sheet atop a large table, with sparks flying and several other people and machines visible in a workshop.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/asse731_Atech_Dec-25-782x521.jpg) Students who attend ATECH specialize in one of four areas: electronics and automated manufacturing, machining, mechanical design or welding. (Mike Roemer for Wisconsin Watch) “I think a misconception often is that it's not rigorous, and it's not for students that have an aptitude or are intelligent,” Hartjes said. “That's not the case. We've given kids an opportunity to really learn using both their hands and their head.” When ATECH was brand new, a state grant helped the school afford TV commercials and mailers. That money is long gone. Nowadays, Endter visits nearby middle schools to talk to students about career education. They organize tours and career fairs, where ATECH leaders try to entice students with the spacious labs and high-tech equipment. “It's not for lack of trying, you know?” Endter said. “But again, as an incoming eighth grader, charter schools represent something different. For some kids, different is good. And for some kids, different is not. So many kids don't know what could or should be the best pathway for them.” ## Meeting workforce needs? Sophomore Noah Siong enrolled in ATECH because his brother graduated from the school and went on to open his own car repair shop. “That kind of opened the gateway to me,” Siong said. “It was like, ‘Oh, this stuff is pretty cool.’” ![A person smiles and leans on a metal machine table in a workshop, wearing a dark top with a logo reading “Atech Appleton Technical Academy,” with industrial equipment in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/asse826_Atech_Dec-25-782x1173.jpg) Paul Endter, lead instructor for Appleton Technical Academy, smiles in the charter school’s lab on Dec. 3, 2025\. Endter spends his free time searching for industry mentors, seeking donations from local businesses for ATECH and spreading the word about the school. (Mike Roemer for Wisconsin Watch) Siong wants to pursue a career in metal fabrication after graduation. Hartjes estimates hundreds of students like Siong have learned “skills that have prepared them for careers” over the last decade. But it’s difficult to know exactly how many students have gotten jobs that use the skills they learned at ATECH. Wisconsin, [like many states](https://hechingerreport.org/states-bet-big-on-career-education-but-struggle-to-show-it-works/?ref=down-ballot.info), doesn’t have a system connecting education and employment data, according to a[ 2024 Education Commission of the States analysis.](https://reports.ecs.org/comparisons/statewide-longitudinal-data-systems-2024?ref=down-ballot.info) The evidence ATECH leaders collect is largely anecdotal, but Endter said it indicates the vast majority either continue to technical college to finish their programs or turn their youth apprenticeships into full-time jobs after graduation. Endter estimates about 10% pursue a four-year degree. Bailin, the Eagle Performance Plastics CEO, said ATECH hasn’t produced as many local manufacturing employees as he hoped when he helped create the school. “It didn't really come out the way I would have hoped,” Bailin said. Eagle has hired between one and three apprentices from ATECH each year. He estimates roughly half have moved into full-time jobs, but it hasn’t been enough to produce the pipeline of machining employees he wanted. The company is no longer closely tied to the school, Bailin said. In a measure of its academic performance, ATECH’s state rating has averaged a score of 58, which the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) defines as “meets few expectations.” Hartjes said the hands-on skills students learn are notreflected in the state’s rating system. For example, the college classes students take, however advanced, don’t factor into the school’s rating. “If they were … tested on their aptitude for mechanics, I guarantee you that they would outscore many other students across our state,” Hartjes said. “If they were being tested on those different things that we focused on, I guarantee you that their knowledge, their experience and their aptitude is going to shine through. But, you know, they don't.” ## ‘Just can't fund all of this’ “I’m going to teach you about different kinds of metal!” technology education teacher Carrie Giauque shouts so students hear her in the noisy lab. She pulls scraps out of a large trash barrel filled to the brim, identifying them to the students crowded around her: “Carbon! Steel! Aluminum! Galvanized steel! Copper!” Behind them, sheets of metal are stacked floor to ceiling. The school goes through countless sheets teaching students the basics of welding and metal fabrication. It’s ATECH’s largest expense. “It's a lot less costly to have 30 students sit in math class,” Hartjes said. ![A person points to wiring on a tabletop machine while another person with an orange hat watches while sitting, with several other people working at desks and computers in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/asse381_Atech_Dec-25-782x521.jpg) Technology education instructor Loren Daane, center, helps sophomore Joshua Bellman with a project at Appleton Technical Academy on Dec. 3, 2025\. (Mike Roemer for Wisconsin Watch) Despite needing costly materials, ATECH’s state funding is determined by the same formula as all other schools in the district, so it relies on grants and donations to make up the difference. To date, the school has received $266,000 in donations toward equipment and curriculum. “A lot of the learning exhausts materials, exhausts some of our resources,” Hartjes said. “(We’re) having to get support from our local manufacturing community, from a financial aspect, because as a school district, we just can’t fund all of this.” Endter said ATECH also badly needs mentoring from industry employees, who can teach students and teachers how to use the complicated technology they receive as donations. In one classroom, a large robot sits untouched in a locked box after a college donated it. ATECH employees don’t have enough experience with the programming language to teach students how to use it. For their part, employers are often stretched too thin to offer up staff to mentor teachers and students. Eagle Performance Plastics used to send someone to ATECH to teach students about a pricey machine it helped buy, but there weren't enough interested students to make the trip worth it, Bailin said. ![People walk past a wall display reading “ATECH Sponsors” with sections labeled “Apprentice Partner,” “Journeyman Partner” and “Master Partner,” showing multiple company logos and empty plaques.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/asse332_Atech_Dec-25-782x521.jpg) Students at Appleton West High School walk past a sponsor wall for Appleton Technical Academy on Dec. 3, 2025\. Two-thirds of the spaces are empty. Lead instructor Paul Endter jokes that he wears “27 hats” trying to find additional support for ATECH. (Mike Roemer for Wisconsin Watch) Inside ATECH, a “sponsor wall” is decorated with the logos of organizations and employers that have invested in the school. Two-thirds of the spaces are empty — a visual reminder of the school’s need for added support. Endter jokes he wears “27 hats” trying to find it. “Every hour that I am not teaching, including working through my lunch hour, is dedicated to phone calls, emails, site visits, networking, cold calls,” he said. “You name it. I am doing it.” The work could soon pay off. Beginning in 2024, Appleton students between kindergarten and fifth grade began taking weekly STEM classes. Endter hopes that will spark interest in career and technical education. “I'm on the precipice,” Endter said. “And I’m hoping that there's going to be this giant surge of students who are looking for opportunities." ![A person wearing safety glasses and a raised welding helmet leans an arm on a machine in a workshop, with industrial equipment and another person working in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/asse166_Atech_Dec-25.jpg) “Other classes are hard. This comes easy to me,” said Izzy Chappell, a senior at Appleton Technical Academy. (Mike Roemer for Wisconsin Watch) The dilemma isn’t unique to ATECH. Many schools are eager to provide this kind of technical education, Karin Smith, a DPI education consultant, said. However, the equipment and tools are costly, and [many schools are struggling to fund basic offerings](https://fox11online.com/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/wisconsin-school-districts-face-budget-shortfalls-amid-state-funding-concerns?ref=down-ballot.info). ([Appleton expects a $13 million deficit this school year](https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/education/2025/09/10/appleton-area-school-district-says-2025-26-deficit-at-13-million/86054863007/?ref=down-ballot.info).) Wisconsin is one of five states that don’t designate state funding for career and technical education programs, relying solely on federal funding. Many states allocate more funding to school districts specifically for these programs because the federal dollars alone cannot meet the costs, according to [Advance CTE](https://ctek12funding.careertech.org/cte-funding-basics/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit representing state career and technical education leaders. “In Wisconsin, we have used (the federal funds) to, generally speaking, keep the lights on,” said Sara Baird, DPI’s career and technical education director. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly requested the 2025-27 state budget include about $45 million in career and technical education grants to districts. Gov. Tony Evers suggested a pared-down version of $10 million, whichwasscrubbed by the Legislature’s Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee and not included in the final bill. “We’re seeing tremendous growth and tremendous interest in expanding CTE,” Smith said. Still, school district leaders are frustrated by the lack of funding for it. “They are feeling like their hands are tied behind their back,” she said. “We can't do this alone … Every school has a tech ed teacher who is desperately trying to get kids excited about career pathways,” Endter said. “They need business support. They need donations. They need mentors in the classroom.” *Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with* [*Open Campus*](https://www.opencampus.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*. Email her at* *mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org* *.* This [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2025/12/wisconsin-appleton-technical-academy-school-students-skilled-trades-college-manufacturing/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1312781&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB) --- # Stuart Community Hospital opens for emergency and inpatient care Patrick County had been without a hospital since 2017\. Braden Health bought the property at auction in late 2024 and spent a year and $15 million renovating and refitting it. by [Emily Schabacker](https://cardinalnews.org/author/emily-schabacker/?ref=down-ballot.info) January 6, 2026 [Stuart Community Hospital opens for emergency and inpatient carePatrick County had been without a hospital since 2017\. Braden Health bought the property at auction in late 2024 and spent a year and $15 million renovating and refitting it.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-6.png)Cardinal NewsEmily Schabacker![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/20260105_105242-scaled.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2026/01/06/stuart-community-hospital-opens-for-emergency-and-inpatient-care/?ref=down-ballot.info) Spirits were high in Patrick County on Monday as Stuart Community Hospital officially reopened for emergency and inpatient care. Dozens of community members gathered outside for a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the hospital’s return after eight years. Hospital leaders, county officials, state legislators and U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith shared remarks reflecting on the long road to reopening. Above them, the hospital’s name stretched across the building, framed by the ridgeline of a mountain. Braden Health, a Tennessee-based for-profit health care company, purchased the property at auction in 2024\. According to Kyle Kopec, the company’s co-founder and chief compliance officer, it took about a year and $15 million to renovate and reopen the facility. The company specializes in reviving rural hospitals that are on the brink of closure or have already shut their doors. Dr. Beau Braden, the company’s founder and CEO, attended the opening ceremony. An emergency department physician, Braden began acquiring and flipping rural hospitals in 2020 after years of consulting work in rural areas. His company has [worked with about 180 hospitals](https://cardinalnews.org/2024/11/11/tennessee-health-care-company-pledges-to-restore-hospital-services-to-patrick-county/?ref=down-ballot.info), Kopec said in a November 2024 interview. Braden Health now owns about seven critical access hospitals, most of them in Tennessee. Stuart Community Hospital is its first acquisition in Virginia. “This project is a testament to what happens when faith, grit and community come together,” Braden said. “We didn’t arrive here by accident. We arrived here by providence, hard work, determination, perseverance. And make no mistake, it was a fight to get here, but here we are.” Company leaders say Braden Health succeeds in fragile rural markets where hospitals face higher costs because they serve smaller populations, many of whom rely on Medicaid or Medicare. Rural emergency departments face even steeper costs because they require around-the-clock staffing. Kopec said during an August interview that the company aggressively negotiates insurance contracts and prioritizes employee satisfaction to reduce turnover, so it can rely less on temporary workers than other rural hospitals. Updated equipment also helps keep overhead costs lower and employees satisfied, he said. Larry Henson, site manager for the project and revenue cycle director for Braden Health, will now serve as the CEO of Stuart Community Hospital. Once patient volumes increase at the 25-bed facility and finances stabilize, the company plans to upgrade equipment, Henson said Monday. Updates to the X-ray machines are planned, and leaders hope to add mammography services in the future. The reopening has already brought jobs to the area. More than 150 people were hired to work at the hospital, many of them from Patrick County or nearby communities. Others returned to work in their hometown, Kopec said. During his remarks, Braden thanked each new department director by name, acknowledged their families and shared a personal detail about each one. Kristin Amos, the new director of radiology, said she worked at the hospital before it closed in 2017, when it was the Pioneer Community Hospital. “It’s amazing to see this come full circle,” Amos said. Since the closure, the property has been largely vacant. Several buyers considered reopening or repurposing the building, but all eventually backed out. Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, noted the toll the closure took on the community. “It was devastating,” Stanley said. “What I do remember is, in 2018, we worked so very hard and members of this community came to the General Assembly and lobbied. They took time out of their schedule to make sure that those people in Richmond did not forget about us.” In 2022, Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick County, sponsored a bill at the General Assembly that preserved the hospital’s state license to operate as an acute care and critical access hospital for a future provider. The bill passed with bipartisan support. “People see a shuttered hospital, but they don’t realize seconds matter. … Trying to get to the ER was the most important thing on my legislative to-do list,” Williams said at the event. Weeks later, the hospital property was [purchased by Chicago-based Foresight Health](https://cardinalnews.org/2024/09/03/patrick-county-hospital-property-goes-up-for-auction/?ref=down-ballot.info) for about $2.1 million. After years of unfilled promises and shifting plans — and the [indictment of Foresight’s CEO](https://cardinalnews.org/2024/07/15/ceo-of-company-that-sought-to-reopen-patrick-county-hospital-indicted-on-embezzlement-charges-in-chicago/?ref=down-ballot.info) on unrelated federal fraud charges — [the project eventually collapsed](https://cardinalnews.org/2024/01/23/plan-to-reopen-former-patrick-county-hospital-comes-to-an-abrupt-end/?ref=down-ballot.info). Braden Health [bought the property](https://cardinalnews.org/2024/11/11/tennessee-health-care-company-pledges-to-restore-hospital-services-to-patrick-county/?ref=down-ballot.info) in November 2024 for about $600,000\. At first, the community was skeptical. But construction crews arrived quickly, and residents were invited to walk through the hospital throughout the renovation process. [Trust in the company grew](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/08/18/owners-of-the-hospital-in-patrick-county-continue-revitalization-work-but-opening-date-remains-unset/?ref=down-ballot.info). After the ribbon-cutting, visitors toured the top floor of the two-story facility. Then, holding a radio, Williams made the first official call to emergency medical services. “This is Stuart Community Hospital in Stuart, Virginia,” he said. “Effective immediately, Jan. 5, 2026, Stuart Community Hospital is fully open and operational. Emergency department and inpatient services restored. We are now accepting and receiving patients. Units may now begin transporting patients to this hospital. … Stuart Community Hospital all clear.” The crowd cheered. --- # Arizona voters approved in-state tuition for undocumented students. The state left implementation to chance. by Molly Bohannon, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting January 7, 2026 From the start of high school, Ignacio knew he wanted to go to college to become a nurse practitioner. But when he learned that being undocumented disqualified him from in-state tuition at Arizona’s three public universities, his plans unraveled. “It was definitely a hard time navigating through high school knowing that I probably wasn't going to be able to afford college,” said Ignacio, who is being identified by his first name because of his immigration status. “I was like, ‘it’s unattainable, I’m not even going to try hard.’” That shifted during his senior year, though, when he learned of Proposition 308\. The [2022 ballot initiative](https://apps.azsos.gov/election/BallotMeasures/2022/prop%5F308%5Fballot%5Fformat%5Flanguage.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) promised in-state tuition to students who had graduated from an Arizona high school after attending for at least two years, regardless of their immigration status. “Prop. 308 — it changed my perspective on things,” he said. “It motivated me just to keep going.” The initiative narrowly passed that November, with 51.2% of the vote. The following spring, Ignacio enrolled at Estrella Mountain Community College. His career goal changed, and he eventually transferred to the University of Arizona, where he’s now pursuing a double major in law and political science. Ignacio’s experience reflects what Prop. 308 was designed to do: Reopen college as a realistic option for undocumented students who had grown up in Arizona. But three years after the law took effect, it remains difficult to say how many students have actually benefited—and how many were left behind. Though national experts [estimated](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/proposition-308-arizona-dreamers/?ref=down-ballot.info) that more than 3,600 undocumented students a year could qualify for in-state tuition under the measure, Arizona put no centralized system in place to oversee its rollout, track participation or ensure consistent implementation across colleges and universities. “There wasn't an effort from the governor or the Board of Regents, or any other effort to implement it,” José Patiño, vice president of education at Aliento, a nonprofit working with undocumented Arizonans, told AZCIR. “It was left basically to people who cared.” As a result, students and advocates have shouldered much of the work required to benefit from the law, during a moment when political hostility toward immigrants has intensified nationally. Advocates suspect some students are still paying the higher, 150% tuition rate that applied to undocumented students at state universities before Prop. 308 passed, while others may be forgoing college entirely. “I think at the end of the day, even though we want them to advocate for themselves, the students shouldn't have to carry that burden of having to go look for resources,” said Blanca Alcantara-Hershey, a coordinator in the University of Arizona’s AGAVE office, a student support center. “We could avoid all that by having a streamlined process.” Arizona’s disjointed implementation has taken on new urgency as the Trump administration moves to challenge tuition equity laws in other states, creating confusion and fear among families weighing whether college is worth the risk. Taken together, the gaps suggest Arizona may have missed a narrow chance to make the promise of Prop. 308 real, and advocates say students are paying the price. --- Along with Washington, D.C., Arizona was one of 22 states with a tuition equity law on the books as of September. Texas and California were the first to implement such measures in 2001. These policies often draw bipartisan support, given their potential to reduce high school dropout rates, encourage undocumented students to pursue higher education and provide an economic boost. One 2022 [analysis](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/fact-sheet/proposition-308-arizona-dreamers/?ref=down-ballot.info) projected that students enrolling under Arizona’s Prop. 308 could strengthen the workforce and inject about $23 million into the state’s economy, while [another](https://www.azjlbc.gov/ballot/22novprop308fn722.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) found that any lost tuition revenue from in-state rates could be offset by increased enrollment. In Arizona, three Republican lawmakers sponsored the bill to take the matter to voters, and it received overwhelming support from Democrats. The “Yes on Prop 308” committee was also chaired by a Republican, and groups like Aliento and ScholarshipsA-Z worked alongside the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders to secure its passage. Not all Republicans endorsed the measure, however. Some who had supported a 2006 initiative barring students without lawful status from receiving aid or in-state tuition urged voters to oppose Prop. 308, citing concerns about tuition costs and fairness. After the initiative passed in 2022, the Arizona Board of Regents—which oversees Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona—held a meeting to revise its non-resident tuition policy. At the time, ABOR executive director John Arnold, now UA’s chief financial officer, acknowledged that only a small number of students would be affected immediately but said he hoped participation would “dramatically increase over the coming years.” Arnold described the procedural policy change as “pretty straightforward,” and it passed unanimously. But multiple regents raised pointed questions about its implementation, including whether the three universities were prepared to enact the change the following semester and whether there was “any sort of communications plan to ensure that qualified students know about this.” Arnold replied that the universities were excited to move the program forward, and that ABOR would rely on the schools to ensure eligible students were informed. Regent Larry Penley pushed back, arguing responsibility extended beyond the universities. “When we offer these opportunities to students, promotion really is incumbent upon us,” said Penley, who did not respond to AZCIR’s recent request for comment. “And in many cases, I don't think we're taking as seriously as we need to the job to join with the three universities and really promote things like this to the public.” Advocates working with undocumented students applying to college would likely agree with Penley’s assessment. Several told AZCIR that implementation lacked consistency because schools approached it differently, often requesting varying documents and information to prove eligibility. That led to confusion for students. Carolina Silva, executive director of ScholarshipsA-Z, which assists undocumented students in southern Arizona, said one school asked for a driver’s license to prove residency—something those without legal status [cannot obtain](https://azcir.org/news/2025/08/26/can-immigrants-without-legal-status-get-drivers-licenses-in-arizona/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Arizona. Her organization intervened, she said, helping the school identify alternative documents students could realistically provide. “Some institutions created more hoops for students to jump through, not realizing, again, it would become another barrier,” Silva said. “It's continued to just be a battle every step of the way.” AZCIR requested information from 22 universities and community colleges on how many students have received in-state tuition through Prop. 308 since it took effect. Just seven schools were able to provide a number. Fourteen said they did not track usage, which is not required under the law. Yavapai College did not answer repeated requests for information. Across the seven schools with data, about 720 students had received in-state tuition through the initiative as of the fall 2025 semester: 432 at Arizona State University, nearly 200 at Pima Community College and fewer than 70 at UA. For comparison, there are an estimated [11,000 undocumented students](https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/state/arizona/?ref=down-ballot.info) enrolled in higher education in Arizona, with about 1,000 graduating from high school annually. Asked about AZCIR’s findings, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said the language approved by voters did not designate a lead agency for Prop. 308’s implementation, leaving responsibility to the Arizona Board of Regents for the state’s public universities and the governing boards of the state’s community college districts. ABOR spokesperson Megan Gilbertson insisted the board provided clear policies, supported the schools in interpreting the law and provided “systemwide coordination.” She repeatedly pointed to the board’s [FAQ page for Prop. 308](https://www.azregents.edu/sites/default/files/2025-10/Proposition-308-FAQ-7-25-25.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), which she said is updated as questions arise. Gilbertson did not share specifics about how the board communicated with schools to ensure consistency, however, acknowledging that “each university’s student information system is uniquely configured.” As with the universities, implementation at community colleges was left to individual campuses, according to David Borofsky, executive director of the Arizona Community College Coordinating Council. The nonprofit works to support and promote collaboration among community colleges. Policy changes involving access for immigrant students often cause “confusion and errors at first,” requiring active monitoring to work as intended, according to Tanya Broder, senior counsel of health and economic justice policy at the National Immigration Law Center. “You can't just declare victory and go home,” she said. “You really need to invest in making sure that these laws lead to good outcomes for the people.” --- The [FAQ document](https://www.azregents.edu/sites/default/files/2025-10/Proposition-308-FAQ-7-25-25.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) crafted and updated by the Board of Regents does not spell out how students can show they qualify for in-state tuition. It instead directs those with questions to contact the financial aid or residency classification office at their university. What happens next largely depends on where a student enrolls. Ignacio, who received in-state tuition at Estrella Mountain Community College before transferring to UA, said the process wasn’t particularly difficult at Estrella Mountain. At UA, finding the correct form to show he qualified “definitely took some digging.” UA’s registrar [site](https://registrar.arizona.edu/support-services/residency-classification-tuition-purposes/residency-exceptions/arizona-high-0?ref=down-ballot.info) outlines the documentation requirements and links to a form for students seeking the “Arizona High School Graduate – Qualifying Non-Citizen tuition rate.” Students at Pima Community College likewise must submit a form and documentation, though a spokesperson said the “specific paperwork required can vary depending on each student’s situation.” Jessica Martinez, a coordinator in UA’s AGAVE office, said students who learn of their eligibility through community organizations like ScholarshipsA-Z often know how to proceed. Those without that support may not know where to look. Officials at ASU and Maricopa Community Colleges, the latter of which could not provide a count of students using Prop. 308, said applicants do not need to submit extra paperwork. Eligibility is determined using materials already included in applications, such as high school transcripts. “We looked at making sure we weren't collecting unnecessary information that wasn't required under the law, just to make the barrier to enrollment that much easier for our students,” said Lindsey Wilson, a Maricopa Community Colleges spokesperson. Lesli, an undocumented student being identified only by her first name, applied to ASU in the fall of 2022 before Prop. 308 took effect and was classified as an out-of-state resident after being accepted. Her high school counselor called the university, explained Lesli’s status, and her residency classification and tuition rate were corrected. Without her counselor, though, Lesli—who saw college as too costly before Prop. 308—said she would have struggled to navigate the mixup. “I would have been stuck, and I just wouldn't know where to start or where to go,” Lesli said. Officials at NAU declined to explain how their students indicate they qualify and instead directed AZCIR to the university’s [Prop. 308 website](https://nau.edu/fees/proposition-308/?ref=down-ballot.info), which does not include instructions for demonstrating eligibility. Silva, with ScholarshipsA-Z, said the qualification process can hinge on “who you know” within the admissions office at any given school. “It's kind of still like three times the amount of work and time and headache a regular student would do,” she said. Those added hurdles come as an unprecedented, nationwide crackdown on immigrants has heightened the stakes for undocumented students and their families. Patiño, with Aliento, said uncertainty around [on-campus immigration enforcement](https://azcir.org/news/2025/09/08/az-colleges-split-on-clear-policies-ice-on-campus/?ref=down-ballot.info) and post-graduation paths to employment is making some question whether higher education is worth pursuing at all. “How do we speak to the community about Prop. 308 and college, given the climate that is going on at the federal level?” he asked. In April, President Donald Trump signed an [executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/protecting-american-communities-from-criminal-aliens/?ref=down-ballot.info) directing federal agencies to stop the enforcement of local laws granting in-state higher education tuition to undocumented students, contending they favor “aliens over any groups of American citizens.” As of Jan. 6, his administration had sued seven states—Illinois, California, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Kentucky, Texas and Virginia—over tuition equity laws and policies. Kentucky, Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma sought to comply with the federal directive and end their policies but are facing challenges in court. Florida voluntarily repealed its law in February. So far, the administration has not challenged Arizona’s statute, and state Attorney General Kris Mayes issued an [opinion](https://www.azag.gov/opinions/i25-006-r25-011?ref=down-ballot.info) affirming that Prop. 308 complies with relevant federal laws. Still, advocates say the national backdrop continues to shape how families weigh their options. As Silva works to increase visibility around Prop. 308, she said she has seen a shift in attitude among some of the families her organization assists, noting they “are just really scared in this moment.” Despite that fear, she emphasized that “there is more access in Arizona than there has been for the past 20 years”—if students know how to claim it. This [article](https://azcir.org/news/2026/01/07/implementation-hinders-prop308-undocumented-student-tuition-equity/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting](https://azcir.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/azcir.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/AZCIR_LOGO_SQUARE.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- \-30- ### Dry conditions widespread across North Carolina URL: https://down-ballot.info/dry-conditions-widespread-across-north-carolina/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T21:59:23.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** **RALEIGH –** [Dry conditions are widespread in North Carolina](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/4036f84?ref=down-ballot.info), according to the latest update from the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council released on Thursday. All or parts of 32 counties in central and western North Carolina are considered in severe drought, or D2 conditions. Another 53 counties of the state are considered in drought, or D1 conditions. Fifteen counties along the coast are classified as abnormally dry. > For counties in severe drought, or D2, DMAC recommends that water systems implement their water shortage response plans, participate in regional and local coordination for the management of water resources, re-examine water delivery systems to minimize water loss and eliminate nonessential users of water. Systems in D1 conditions should assess drought readiness and consider voluntary water conservation. “The state has been drying out since the middle of August,” said Klaus Albertin, chair of the DMC. “The region is seeing a La Niña pattern, which often results in lower-than-average rainfall. We hope to see some relief towards the spring, with forecasts predicting this pattern to weaken over the next few months.” Rainfall has fallen below historical averages statewide. For many weather stations in central and western North Carolina, the period between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31 ranked among the top 10 driest three-month period on record, according to data from the Southeast Regional Climate Center. Negative impacts are expected to be limited in the cooler months due to lower water demand, but pastures and winter grains may be affected, and water reservoir levels are continuing to drop. For water recreators, stream flow averages statewide are falling below normal. Average streamflows recorded at [U.S. Geological Survey gages](https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/index.php?m=pa28d&r=nc&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery&w=map) at many locations in central and western North Carolina have fallen below the tenth percentile. \--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *DMAC is a collaboration of drought experts from various government agencies in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina, and organized by the DEQ Division of Water Resources. Members of DMAC meet weekly and submit their drought condition recommendations to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Drought Mitigation Center for updates to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a map of the nation’s drought conditions. DMAC’s drought map is updated weekly on Thursdays, based on conditions through the previous Tuesday. To view North Carolina’s drought map, visit* [*www.ncdrought.org*](https://www.ncdrought.org/?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery)*.* To learn more, visit [ncdrought.org/education](https://www.ncdrought.org/education?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). ### Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says it will cease operations in May URL: https://down-ballot.info/pittsburgh-post-gazette-says-it-will-cease-operations-in-may/ Last updated: 2026-01-08T04:25:03.000Z by Charlie Wolfson, Jamie Wiggan and Rich Lord, [**Pittsburgh's Public Source**](https://www.publicsource.org/newspaper-pittsburgh-post-gazette-cease-operations-may/?utm%5Fsource=Public+Source&utm%5Fcampaign=1c0bf238a4-breaking%5Fnewsletter%5F01%5F07%5F2026&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F-b16b1b646c-600672993&mc%5Fcid=1c0bf238a4) January 7, 2026 The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the modern iteration of a newspaper that has informed the region [since 1786](https://www.post-gazette.com/about/History?ref=down-ballot.info), will cease operations in May, according to an announcement released today by its ownership, Block Communications, Inc. (BCI). The move would cost hundreds of jobs and leave the city with no print newspaper. The paper “plans to publish its final edition and cease operations on May 3, 2026,” according to a release distributed today by Senior Director of Marketing Allison Latcheran. “Over the past 20 years, Block Communications has lost more than $350 million in cash operating the Post-Gazette. Despite those efforts, the realities facing local journalism make continued cash losses at this scale no longer sustainable.” Word reached the North Shore newsroom via a recorded message played in a virtual meeting. In that call, Jodi Miehls, president and COO of Block Communications, announced the closure affecting about 150 newsroom employees and likely hundreds more in other departments. The newspaper did not immediately say how many jobs would be affected or whether any employees could be transferred to other Block Communications units. “Today I am sharing extremely difficult news,” Miehls said in the call. “On May 3, 2026, after nearly two centuries of operating, the Post-Gazette plans to publish its final edition,” Miehls said, citing continued losses since 2007\. “The realities facing local journalism have brought us to this sad moment,” she said. Miehls asked the journalists to “continue to publish under business as usual conditions through our final edition.” ![A brick building with the sign](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260107-Pittsburgh-Post-Gazette-Closing-18.jpg) A bird flies beyond the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom as viewed through blur from a piece of glass, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, on the North Shore. The newspaper’s owners announced Wednesday that the last edition for the organization will be Sunday, May 3, when it will cease operations. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) Ed Blazina, News Guild vice president and a longtime transportation reporter, was in the office while the recording was played. “It was pretty much dead silence,” he said. Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said in a statement the announcement is "devastating." “I’m deeply worried about the public’s ability to access trustworthy and fact-checked information at a time when misinformation is running rampant online,” Innamorato said. “I’m shocked that a generational Pittsburgh institution will cease to exist.” She said she would engage local leaders to “assess options for a more robust and sustainable local news ecosystem,” noting Wednesday’s news coincides with the closure of the Pittsburgh City Paper last week. ![](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260107-Pittsburgh-Post-Gazette-Closing-07.jpg) A window reflects a parking garage in front of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom on Jan. 7, on the North Shore. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s owners said it has lost $350 million over 20 years and called that “no longer sustainable.” (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) ## Threats to close a longtime reality Blazina said management had often warned of the paper’s shaky finances during his decades at the paper. “If I had a nickel for every time they threatened to close the place, I could have retired 10 years ago.” He has been with the paper since 1992 as one of about 100 journalists hired by the Blocks from the shuttered Pittsburgh Press. He said the closure of the city’s paper of record will leave a big hole, and he expects that “somebody steps in to fill the void. … I can’t believe that the city and the foundation community would allow a city of this size to exist without a daily newspaper.” Once a seven-day-a-week print product, the Post-Gazette in recent years gradually pared its delivery schedule to Sundays only. The Tribune-Review, which entered the city market in 1992 amid the Press strike, does not distribute a print version of its Pittsburgh product, but covers city news online. The closure of the Post-Gazette would put Pittsburgh in rare company, said Dan Kennedy, a professor of journalism and media commentator at Northeastern University. “I think it is incredibly unusual for a city the size of Pittsburgh to lose what is essentially its only daily newspaper,” Kennedy said. “Pittsburgh is a big city … I can’t think of a city in Pittsburgh’s weight class that is facing the prospect of not having any daily newspaper at all.” ![](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260107-Pittsburgh-Post-Gazette-Closing-16.jpg) The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom with blur from a piece of glass, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, on the North Shore. The newspaper’s owners announced Wednesday that the last edition for the organization will be Sunday, May 3, when it will cease operations. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) He said the paper had lost some of its national stature as a “great newspaper” in recent years, pointing to a 2020 controversy following the [disciplining of reporter Alexis Johnson](https://www.pghcitypaper.com/news-2/post-gazette-staffers-are-posting-tweet-that-got-a-black-reporter-removed-from-protest-coverage-in-solidarity-17409693/?ref=down-ballot.info) over a tweet and the departure of longtime editor David Shribman. What’s next for the city’s journalism landscape is unclear. Kennedy said the city’s civic life will suffer if the newspaper goes dark and nothing replaces it. “Voting in elections goes down” when local media shutters, he said, “fewer people run for office, corruption goes up. Those are all the ill effects of not having that journalistic watchdog role.” He said smaller outlets, like a public radio station or other nonprofit, could fill some of the gap left by a closed newspaper, but would be hard-pressed to “be the main event” in local journalism. ## Strike’s role debated The Post-Gazette’s release noted court decisions which, in November, upheld National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rulings and [appeared to end a three-year strike](https://www.publicsource.org/post-gazette-strike-ends-union-journalists-return/?ref=down-ballot.info) in favor of the News Guild. Around 25 strikers returned to the newsroom on Nov. 24, though litigation between the union and ownership continued. Bloomberg reported that the [U.S. Supreme Court today rejected](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/justices-wont-shield-newspaper-from-court-order-on-health-plan?ref=down-ballot.info) the company's latest effort to appeal. ![A sign in front of a brick building reads](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260107-Pittsburgh-Post-Gazette-Closing-10.jpg) Publisher John Block’s parking space below the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom on Jan. 7 on the North Shore. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) A court order to operate under a prior labor contract, according to the newspaper’s statement, “imposes on the Post-Gazette outdated and inflexible operational practices unsuited for today’s local journalism.” The guild disputed that contention. “Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh,” said Andrew Goldstein, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, in a statement. “Post-Gazette journalists have done award-winning work for decades and we’re going to pursue all options to make sure that Pittsburgh continues to have the caliber of journalism it deserves.” Blazina said the decision to shutter on the heels of the NLRB ruling “could have been avoided” if ownership had been willing to negotiate with the guild. “For me, the big thing is it didn’t have to happen and for them to try to blame the labor situation for it is just preposterous,” he said. “They could have settled this for probably $2 million and given us handsome raises, and saved money.” News of the P-G’s closure came just a week after BCI announced alt-weekly Pittsburgh City Paper had printed its last edition. The Blocks purchased City Paper in early 2023 after former owners Eagle Media Corporation began printing Post-Gazette issues while its workers were striking. ![](https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/20260107-Pittsburgh-Post-Gazette-Closing-09.jpg) A puddle reflects a sign above the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s North Shore newsroom on Jan. 7\. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s owners said it has lost $350 million over 20 years and called that “no longer sustainable.” (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source) The release said the Blocks regret the impact of the decision and are “proud of the service the Post-Gazette has provided to Pittsburgh for nearly a century and will exit with their dignity intact.” Paul Block bought the paper in 1927. Latcheran indicated that there would be no further comment from the Post-Gazette, and did not immediately respond to six questions posed via email by Public Source. Miehls urged the workers “to please consider the legacy of the Post-Gazette. You are our ambassadors, and the Block family would like to exit with grace and dignity.” Blazina said that after four decades in the business, he had wanted to exit on his own terms. “I don’t like somebody else trying to end that for me.” *Charlie Wolfson is the local government reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. He can be reached at* *charlie@publicsource.org* *.* *Jamie Wiggan is deputy editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at* *jamie@publicsource.org* *.* *Rich Lord is the managing editor of PublicSource, and can be reached at* *rich@publicsource.org* *.* This [article](https://www.publicsource.org/newspaper-pittsburgh-post-gazette-cease-operations-may/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Pittsburgh's Public Source](https://www.publicsource.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1327969&ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14) ### Measles reported in Buncombe as public health officials worry about spread in the face of declining vaccination rates URL: https://down-ballot.info/measles-reported-in-buncombe-as-public-health-officials-worry-about-spread-in-the-face-of-declining-vaccination-rates/ Last updated: 2026-01-06T23:41:56.000Z [Measles reported in Buncombe as public health officials worry about spread in the face of declining vaccination rates • Asheville WatchdogA major outbreak of measles in South Carolina has spread to Buncombe County, with public health officials announcing three cases Tuesday and expressing concern that more will follow due to decreased vaccination rates and the highly contagious nature of the disease. The Buncombe cases are confined to three siblings whose family visited Spartanburg County, South \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-8.png)Asheville WatchdogDAN DeWITT![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Copy-of-Mission-moody-10.jpg)](https://avlwatchdog.org/measles-spreads-to-buncombe-as-public-health-officials-worry-about-spread-in-the-face-of-declining-vaccination-rates/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [DAN DeWITT](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/dan/?ref=down-ballot.info) January 6, 2026 A major outbreak of measles in South Carolina has spread to Buncombe County, with public health officials announcing three cases Tuesday and expressing concern that more will follow due to decreased vaccination rates and the highly contagious nature of the disease. The Buncombe cases are confined to three siblings whose family visited Spartanburg County, South Carolina, one or two weeks before the children became sick, according to an [announcement](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2026/01/06/additional-children-positive-measles-north-carolina?ref=down-ballot.info) from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The agency said it is not providing any more information about the infections “to protect the family’s privacy.” But the announcement also warns that “people who visited the Mission Hospital Emergency Department waiting room … between 2-6:30 a.m. on Jan. 4, 2026, might have been exposed.” *Asheville Watchdog* reached out to Mission Hospital spokesperson Nancy Lindell for comment, but did not hear back before publication. “If there are 10 people in a room who are not immune to measles, and one person with measles walks in that room, nine of those 10 people are going to get measles,” said Jennifer Mullendore, the county’s chief medical officer. “We definitely get worried if we get a case of measles in our community, where there are highly susceptible people, that this could spread just like it’s spreading in South Carolina.” The spread of measles is part of a wave of illnesses preventable or containable by vaccines documented in a December news release by the Buncombe County Division of Public Health and backed by year-end statistics from state and county agencies and local healthcare providers. The surge consists of two outbreaks of chickenpox, including four recent cases at Fairview Elementary School; an earlier flare-up of whooping cough at Charles D. Owen High School in Black Mountain; and an increase in flu cases that have killed 39 people in North Carolina, including one in Buncombe County, and led local hospitals to restrict visitations. > The South Carolina Department of Public Health had documented [188 cases](https://dph.sc.gov/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/measles-rubeola/2025-measles-outbreak?ref=down-ballot.info) of measles statewide as of the end of last week, most of them in Spartanburg County. The first sign of the illness’s advance into North Carolina came New Year’s Eve with the announcement of an [apparent case](https://www.buncombenc.gov/m/newsflash/Home/Detail/736?ref=down-ballot.info) in Polk County. > Partly because of the illness’s infectiousness, the NCDHHS tracks vaccination rates of incoming kindergarteners for measles, as well as for mumps and rubella, which are protected against by the MMR vaccine. > The rate of incoming county kindergarteners in Buncombe who had received the MMR shot dropped from 94.2 percent in 2020 to 89.2 percent in 2024, the last year of data available on the department’s [vaccination dashboard.](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/epidemiology/immunization/data/kindergarten-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info) “To keep a community safe,” the dashboard says, “[at least 95% of people need to be vaccinated](https://www.cdc.gov/global-measles-vaccination/about/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info). If vaccination rates drop below that, outbreaks are more likely to happen.” The proportion of county kindergartners inoculated has also slipped compared with statewide rates. It matched North Carolina’s percentage of inoculated kindergarteners in 2020 but had fallen 3.8 percent below this rate in 2024. The dashboard shows that rates vary widely among schools, possibly leaving pockets of susceptibility where measles can take root, Mullendore said. At the I.C. Imagine Public Charter School in Asheville, for example, 55 percent of incoming kindergarteners were vaccinated in 2024, according to the dashboard. I.C. Imagine’s head of school, Jenn Townley, did not respond to a *Watchdog* email requesting comment. #### **Outbreaks of chickenpox, increase in flu cases** The incidence of chickenpox in Buncombe increased nearly eight-fold in 2025, with 109 cases compared with 14 in 2024, according to provisional data provided by county spokesperson Stacey Wood. The 126 cases of whooping cough (pertussis) reported in 2025 are up from 77 in 2024 and two as recently as 2022, Wood’s email said. The state reported similar trends, Hannah Jones, a spokesperson for the NCDHHS, said in an email. The 933 whooping cough cases in the department’s preliminary 2025 tally is up from 46 in 2022 while cases of chickenpox nearly doubled in 2025 compared to the year before, climbing from 155 to 298\. The increase in cases has come in the face of increased skepticism about vaccinations, which played out dramatically Monday when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [cut recommendations](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/health/children-vaccines-cdc-kennedy.html?ref=down-ballot.info) for the routine inoculation of children for flu and five other illnesses, sparking outrage from public health experts. The new federal standards, which reduce the number of vaccinations from 17 to 11, do not apply to measles, chickenpox (varicella) or whooping cough, and the CDC websites continue to tout the benefits of vaccinations for these and a wide range of other illnesses. This general message is echoed by the county’s [Immunization Clinic](https://www.buncombenc.gov/434/Immunizations?ref=down-ballot.info) website, which says, “What you do matters! Getting immunized throughout your lifetime protects you, the people you love, and our community against harmful diseases.” A [CDC webpage](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/signs-symptoms/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) says about one in five unvaccinated people who contract measles require hospitalization and “nearly one to three of every 1,000 children who become infected with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications.” Buncombe County Schools spokesman Ken Ulmer said that the district follows [state vaccination guidelines](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/epidemiology/immunization/schools/k-12?ref=down-ballot.info), which note that state law requires public school children to be current on vaccinations for a variety of illnesses but allows religious and medical exemptions. The percentage of religious exemptions roughly doubled from 2020 through 2024, when the rate was about 3 percent of students statewide, according to [NCDHHS](https://www.dph.ncdhhs.gov/programs/epidemiology/immunization/data/kindergarten-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info). The county’s December press release did not name the high school hit by whooping cough, but said it was linked to 17 cases. Ulmer provided a Nov. 15 notification sent to parents of Owen High warning about increased cases in the county and the school but could not provide information about the seriousness of the cases. The notification recommended that “older children and adults should get at least one dose of the pertussis booster vaccine,” which is typically administered as part of the TDaP shot, which also protects against tetanus and diphtheria, [according to the CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/current-vis/tdap.html?ref=down-ballot.info). A similar notification sent to parents at Fairview Elementary School on Dec. 30 said three cases of chickenpox had been documented at the school since early December. A fourth was confirmed Tuesday, Ulmer said. “Please be aware that your child could get chickenpox if they have not been immunized against chickenpox or have not had chickenpox before,” the notice said, adding that “if your child has symptoms of chickenpox, keep them at home and call your child’s healthcare provider.” The December news release also said an unidentified private school in western Buncombe was hit by a “large varicella outbreak … due to a high number of unvaccinated individuals.” “A significant number of students at the school who lacked proof of immunity to varicella were excluded from attending … for several weeks,” the release said. All the students had returned by Dec. 10. Chickenpox, like measles, is considered “vaccine-preventable” because the shot is highly effective, said Mullendore, the Buncombe chief medical officer, who added that the infected residents are “predominantly unvaccinated.” “Pertussis is a little harder” than chickenpox to link to lower vaccination rates, said Mullendore, a physician, because the vaccination does not provide complete protection and its impact wanes over time. In the 1990s, the United States was one of several countries that switched from a “whole cell” vaccine to one made of parts of the pertussis bacteria. The newer formulation results in fewer acute short-term reactions, including high fever and uncontrolled crying, than the earlier version, according to the CDC [website](https://www.cdc.gov/pinkbook/hcp/table-of-contents/chapter-16-pertussis.html?ref=down-ballot.info). But the current vaccine does usually protect against severe cases, the agency says, noting adolescents and adults who contract the illness after receiving the vaccine “may be asymptomatic” or suffer only from a mild cough. #### **A ‘100-day cough’** Pertussis vaccines for older children and adults also play a crucial role in protecting infants, the group most susceptible to infection and severe outcomes, said both the CDC and Mullendore. “A lot of the focus is on making sure pregnant people get vaccinated in their third trimester of pregnancy and that anyone who’s going to be around an infant is up to date on their pertussis vaccine to sort of cocoon that baby, to insulate that baby, while their immune system is not fully protective,” she said. The illness can be severe and long-lasting, Mullendore said. “The 100-day cough is its old-time name,” she said. “When you think of babies coughing and breathing – or not breathing – that’s very scary.” And though pertussis is not typically fatal, she said, Kentucky recorded three whooping cough deaths in the 12 months before Nov. 24, the first in the state since 2018, according to a [statement](https://www.chfs.ky.gov/News/Documents/Third%20Infant%20Pertussis%20Death%20Reported%20in%20Kentucky%20in%2012%20Months.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from the state’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Chickenpox is typically less dangerous than whooping cough, Mullendore said, but occasionally requires hospitalization. Childhood infections also leave adults susceptible to shingles, which is sometimes “very devastating,” she said. “I think that there’s a [significantly lower risk](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/two-for-one-chickenpox-vaccine-lowers-shingles-risk-in-children/?ref=down-ballot.info) of shingles among people who have been vaccinated” for chickenpox, she said. “I don’t think it’s zero, but it’s significantly lower.” #### **Elderly hit hardest by flu** Flu is especially dangerous for older people, according to the NCDHHS’s respiratory virus surveillance dashboard. Of the 39 people who had died of the disease in North Carolina from the start of the annual flu season in October to the end of December, 27 were aged 65 or older, while two, in the 5-17 age group, were classified as pediatric deaths. The dashboard also shows that 24 of the 39 deaths had come in the weeks before the last report in December. Mullendore said Tuesday that the death in Buncombe also occurred recently. Overall, “influenza-like illnesses” accounted for 16.5 percent of hospital emergency room visits in the state compared to 13.4 percent at the peak of the previous flu season in February of last year. Though Jones did not supply county-level information about flu cases, the dashboard shows the recent rate of hospital admissions due to flu-like symptoms in western North Carolina is considerably lower than the statewide rate – 10.8 percent. But the rate was high enough for Mission Health to announce Dec. 31 that it was imposing a limit of two visitors per patient and that all visitors must be older than 13\. The restrictions apply, with rare exceptions, to its hospitals throughout the region, Mission said, and will remain in place “until reported influenza-like activity decreases.” Two days earlier, AdventHealth announced similar restrictions at all its facilities in the state citing flu and other respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, though the state dashboard shows hospital admissions due to “COVID-like” illness are slightly lower than this time last year. Lindell, the Mission spokesperson, did not respond to a request for information about admissions due to chickenpox and whooping cough, though Amy Waters, a nurse at Mission’s pediatric intensive care unit said it hadn’t had a whooping cough case in several months. “It’s really just a lot of pediatric flu cases … (and) the usual winter viruses,” she wrote in a text last week. “I am worried about measles.” Though U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly voiced skepticism about the effectiveness of vaccines and raised widely debunked concerns about their safety, CDC websites continue to strongly recommend inoculations for a variety of illnesses, including flu. While, [questions have been raised](https://www.npr.org/2025/12/31/nx-s1-5661570/flu-cases-are-on-the-rise-across-the-u-s-cdc-data-shows?ref=down-ballot.info) about the effectiveness of the current inoculation as cases rise nationally, the CDC site says vaccinations are highly effective in preventing serious and fatal cases. “Flu vaccines help reduce the burden of flu illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths on the health care system each year,” said the site, which recommends “everyone six months and older should get a flu vaccine every season.” The county’s Dec. 22 release also said “community members are urged to help prevent the spread by making sure they are up to date on their measles, pertussis, varicella, flu and other vaccines.” Rose Goldfarb, a parent of an 11th grader at Owen who received the county’s notification in November, said her family keeps up with vaccinations out of concern for themselves and the people they come in contact with. “I’m all about protecting our neighbors, not just our family,” said Goldfarb. “I also feel like I don’t have time to get sick. So I would prefer not to even get a cold if I can afford it.” --- *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on* [*our Facebook page.*](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog) *Please submit your comments there.* --- [*Asheville Watchdog*](http://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Dan DeWitt is The Watchdog’s deputy managing editor/senior reporter. Email: ddewitt@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to* [*avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* ### Gun violence dropped to its lowest level in decades URL: https://down-ballot.info/gun-violence-dropped-to-its-lowest-level-in-decades/ Last updated: 2026-01-02T10:00:40.000Z **It's Friday, January 2, 2026 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Gun violence has sharply declined. Trauma physicians have been pushing for that reduction for years**,** Conservation group sues EPA over PFAS contamination in Virginia waterways, Mamdani Builds Team with Fresh and Familiar Faces. Here’s Who’s On Board, An Old-fashioned Water Pump Is at the Heart of La Russell, Missouri, A Food-Growing Tradition Finds New Roots in the Mississippi Delta, How George Wallace and Bull Connor Set the Stage for Alabama’s Sky-High Electric Rates, Culture of fear in places of learning. Faculty at NC colleges report anxiety over threats to academic freedom, Louisiana public health worker and leadership program recruiting new cohort, Oklahoma’s ban on Chinese-owned farmland made an exception for Smithfield Foods, Three districts, one county: Some context on education in Lexington, Thomasville, and Davidson County. **Media outlets and others featured:** Cronkite News, Virginia Mercury, The CITY, The Daily Yonder, Mississippi Today, Inside Climate News, Carolina Public Press, Verite News, Investigate Midwest, EdNC --- # Gun violence has sharply declined. Trauma physicians have been pushing for that reduction for years by Abigail Beck, Cronkite News December 1, 2025 PHOENIX – Doctors who treat gunshot victims rushed into emergency rooms have long stepped beyond their clinical roles, advocating publicly, working in schools, publishing research and speaking out about what they witness daily in trauma centers. And their public stance on gun violence intensified after a tweet from one of the nation’s most powerful lobbying groups. Dr. Cedric Dark, an associate professor of emergency medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and physician who works in a Houston area ER describes the ER as “organized chaos” in a Cronkite News’ Pathways to Equity podcast episode. “We have to cover the department 24/7/365, which obviously means not every person can do nine-to-five jobs,” he said. “ We are entering our holiday block between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Around those days you have to work one, you are guaranteed one off and who knows what happens on the third one.” The catalyst for Dark’s activism began with a widely criticized National Rifle Association tweet in 2018 that told medical professionals [to “stay in their lane.”](https://x.com/NRA/status/1060256567914909702?ref=down-ballot.info) “And then it wasn’t me, but the doctors around the country within the next two weeks sent out 30,000 tweets with a hashtag saying, ‘This is our lane,’” Dark said. The tweet came in as a response to a [position paper](https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M18-1530?ref=down-ballot.info) from the American College of Physicians calling for stronger gun safety measures. “The NRA tweet helped to galvanize the movement, recognizing that it is not enough to treat but prevent,” said Dr. Garen Wintemute, an emergency medicine physician at UC Davis. > Gun violence in the U.S. has dropped to its lowest level in decades, with hundreds of cities, both red and blue, showing steep declines over roughly the last four years, according to newly released data from [the Gun Violence Data Hub](https://datahub.thetrace.org/dataset/city-gun-violence-trends/?ref=down-ballot.info), a year-old project of The Trace, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to covering gun violence in the United States. The decline has occurred alongside major shifts in federal gun policy. In recent years, the Biden administration expanded background checks and increased enforcement. This year, the Trump administration rolled back several gun safety measures: from legalizing forced reset triggers that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire like fully automatic weapons, to closing the Office of Gun Violence Prevention and revoking the surgeon general’s advisory that called gun violence a public health crisis. “Everything we’ve seen indicates this steep drop hasn’t happened ever before. … The highest levels of gun violence ever recorded occurred in 2021, during the pandemic,” said George LeVines, the editor at the Gun Violence Data Hub, adding that the sharp pandemic-era rise contributed to the recent downward outcomes. The Trace analyzed public reports of shootings from multiple sources, including city crime dashboards. The dataset reflects adjusted counts of people killed or injured by gunfire and excludes suicides involving firearms. The findings show a significant drop in gun violence in roughly three-quarters of U.S. cities, with each following its own trajectory. Tucson, for example, has recently seen one of the sharpest declines in the Southwest. Yet not all communities benefit from this trend. “Racial disparities are limited to data from 2018-2023 and are often suppressed or marked 'unreliable' at the state level, for privacy or statistical reasons, respectively,” LeVines points out. “However, we can still see that gun death rates are consistently highest for Black people in each state, with only a few exceptions." Dr. Christina Colosimo, assistant professor of surgery at the University of Arizona, said effective gun violence prevention often requires a multisystem approach. In Tucson, she said, the rate of violent crime is roughly twice the national average and communities of color are disproportionately affected. “The population of Black Americans in Tucson is 4.8%, and (as) victims of gun violence are 22.7%. In terms of Hispanic or Latino, we have about 45.8% in the population, victims of gun violence are 47.5%,” she said. > The Gun Violence Data Hub reported that in 2023, Black people died by gun violence at a rate of 29 per 100,000 people, more than double the rate for white Americans, and more than triple the rate for people identifying as Hispanic or Latino. “At the age where risk is highest – (during) teenage, young adult years – the rate for Black men is about 30 times higher than the rate for white, non-Hispanic men,” Wintemute said. ![Southwest Youth Gun Deaths Ranked (Small multiple line chart)](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/skTwH/full.png) The Trace reports that youth gun violence in the Southwest is slightly higher than the national average, though LeVines said the picture is harder to assess because the most recent data ends in 2023\. New Mexico stands out, he added, consistently ranking above the national average. “Youth gun deaths in New Mexico outranked the U.S., including being the second leading cause of death in 2023,” LeVines said. Dark, who is also a gun owner, believes that gun violence should be treated through a public health model built on primary, secondary and tertiary prevention – an approach he describes in his book, “Under the Gun: An ER Doctor’s Cure for America’s Gun Epidemic.” “Primary meaning doing things for the entire community: Building walking trails so people could exercise. … The secondary prevention being screening: Checking people for breast cancer, colon cancer. Tertiary prevention is once somebody actually has a disease, what do you do to prevent it from recurring?” This approach is applicable to firearms, Dark said, with primary prevention as doing “background checks to make sure someone that owns a gun from a community standpoint is safe.” Secondary, “so if you are a domestic abuser, maybe we should take your firearm away from you as opposed to just preventing you from buying another one. And tertiary prevention: Let’s say you’ve been shot, how do we prevent you from retaliating against the person that shot you or getting your friends or colleagues from retaliating?” For Colosimo, a key to prevention is education. She goes into schools and talks with students: “We need to have better firearm curriculum — we need to be going into schools and talking about gun violence in elementary school, in middle school.” Dark said mitigation requires breaking what he calls a “cycle of transmission.” “The violence component is what’s being transmitted. That’s the disease agent that we have to deal with,” Dark said in the podcast. For Dark, there are ways to manage gun violence case -by -case, and the focus should be on safe firearm use. The physician-in-chief of Dartmouth Health Children’s, Dr. Keith J. Loud, echoed the sentiment. “We need to keep firearms out of the hands of the wrong people – those who intentionally or incidentally want to hurt someone else or themselves, or are too young or otherwise unable to handle them properly,” Loud said. “Common sense approaches and policies can do that while still preserving constitutionally protected access for responsible gun owners.” *Andrew George, Grant Johnson and Mario Medina contributed to the story.* This [article](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2025/12/01/physcians-guns/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # Conservation group sues EPA over PFAS contamination in Virginia waterways by Shannon Heckt, [Virginia Mercury](https://virginiamercury.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) December 24, 2025 The conservation group Wild Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging the agency failed to protect Virginia’s rivers and streams from PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.” Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are harmful chemicals linked to manufacturing runoff, fire fighting materials, and everyday consumer products such as water resistant clothing and nonstick cookware. Exposure to PFAS has been associated with serious health risks, including cancer and reduced fertility in women. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Virginia, challenges the EPA’s approval of the state’s 2024 water quality [report.](http://report.it/?ref=down-ballot.info) Wild Virginia argues that the federal agency should have intervened after concluding that Virginia did not do enough to address contaminated waterways. State data shows that several rivers and streams are polluted with PFAS, including the Middle Chickahominy River, which has been under PFAS investigation since 2021\. The EPA has kept National Primary Drinking Water Regulations in place for several PFAS chemicals, establishing limits for what is considered safe in drinking water. However, there are thousands of different PFAS compounds, and regulations often lag behind emerging contamination, leaving many chemicals unregulated. The complaint points to six years of PFAS data collected by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that identified multiple streams with elevated levels of the chemicals. Despite those findings, the lawsuit alleges, some waterways were not classified as “impaired” in the state’s water quality report. In one case, PFAS levels were so high in the Chichahominy River and White Oak Swamp that DEQ issued a fish tissue consumption advisory in May 2025\. The lawsuit claims that despite those warnings, the waters were not listed as impaired in the final report submitted to the EPA. “There are many other waters around the state where they have data showing PFAS contamination in the surface waters themselves,” said David Sligh, the water quality program director for Wild Virginia. “They mentioned PFAs in their report, they really didn’t do any analysis as to what that means or how those are related to their own water quality standards.” The EPA [finalized its rule on PFAS exposure ](https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas?ref=down-ballot.info)in drinking water in April 2024. In its report, the Virginia DEQ wrote: “In December 2024, EPA published draft recommended water quality criteria protective of human health for PFOA, PFOS, and PFBS. These criteria are designed specifically to protect public water supplies and fish consumption and reflect a lifetime exposure duration of 70 years. These criteria will not be considered for adoption in Virginia’s water quality standards regulation until they are finalized by EPA. Once effective they would be used to assess waters in subsequent integrated reports.” Sligh said that the EPA was “required to acknowledge, assess and designate waters that are impaired if their narrative water quality criteria are violated, those criteria say if there are pollutants that are causing toxic or harmful conditions for humans or wildlife, then they’re supposed to count those as standards violations. And so that hasn’t changed, and they didn’t need to wait on anything from the EPA.” The EPA approved Virginia’s water quality report in July 2025\. According to Wild Virginia, the agency acknowledged the state’s PFAS contamination but declined to take enforcement action. The group argues in its lawsuit that the decision will delay required pollution controls while residents of the commonwealth will continue to be exposed to the chemicals. The complaint further alleges that the EPA’s inaction violates the federal Clean Water Act. The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the agency to identify the PFAS-impaired waters so that pollution reduction plans can be developed and implemented. In 2024, the Virginia General Assembly passed [a law](https://virginiamercury.com/2024/11/25/virginia-water-regulators-begin-process-of-identifying-pfas-sources/?ref=down-ballot.info) intended to create a statewide plan to address elevated PFAS levels in waterways and identify pollution sources through self reporting requirements. [YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.SUPPORT](https://virginiamercury.com/donate/?oa%5Freferrer=midstorybox&ref=down-ballot.info) [Virginia Mercury](https://virginiamercury.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. --- # Mamdani Builds Team with Fresh and Familiar Faces. Here’s Who’s On Board ### THE CITY is tracking key administration leaders moving into City Hall as a new mayor takes charge. by [Katie Honan](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/katie-honan/?ref=down-ballot.info) Dec. 29, 2025, 5:31 p.m.Updated Dec. 31, 2025, 3:41 p.m. ![Incoming Mamdani chief of staff Elle Bisgaard-Church and first deputy mayor Dean Fuleihan share the stage with their new boss at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/111025_mamdani_cheif-staff_announcement-2.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) Zohran Mamdani will be sworn in as New York City’s next mayor on Jan. 1\. In the weeks since his win, he’s been slowly building out his administration, although there are some key roles still not filled — including deputy mayor for operations, a schools chancellor, and the head of the Department of Transportation. One appointee resigned a little more than 24 hours after she was announced after anti-semitic social media posts she wrote as a teenager [surfaced](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/nyregion/mamdani-resigns-antisemitic-da-costa.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Mamdani is also keeping some current commissioners and administration officials, including Dr. Mitchell Katz as president and CEO of Health and Hospitals, Dr. Jason Graham as chief medical examiner, Mir Bashar as chief administrative officer and Michael Garner as chief business diversity officer. Here’s a running list of who will be part of the Mamdani administration, in order of appointment: ## **First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan** Fuleihan spent years working in Albany as a policy analyst and then budget negotiator before joining former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration in 2013 as budget director and later in the job [he’s returning to](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/10/mamdani-dean-fuleihan-elle-bisgaard-church/?ref=down-ballot.info) under Mamdani. At 74, he offers the mayor — 40 years his junior — the experience many have criticized Mamdani for not having. Since he was announced, he’s attended [picket line events](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/26/mamdani-unions-labor-contracts/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the incoming mayor’s 12-hour listening session at the Museum of the Moving Image, hearing from New Yorkers sound off about their biggest concerns. ## **Chief of Staff Elle Bisgaard-Church** Bisgaard-Church was announced alongside Fuleihan in early November and will serve in the same capacity she did for Mamdani during his tenure in the state Assembly. The usually press-shy staffer was described in a [City & State profile ](https://www.cityandstateny.com/personality/2025/10/how-elle-bisgaard-church-became-zohran-mamdanis-most-trusted-adviser/408769/?ref=down-ballot.info)as “calm” and “chic” and a “workhorse.” She also spent time meeting with New Yorkers about their citywide concerns, and is expected to be Mamdani’s most trusted advisor. ## **Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch** It was first reported in October that Mamdani wanted to keep the current police commissioner — Mayor Eric Adams’s fourth — in his administration. Nearly a month later, she [announced](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/nyregion/jessica-tisch-nypd-commissioner-mamdani.html?ref=down-ballot.info) she had accepted the mayor-elect’s offer. ![NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch attends a City Hall press conference alongside Mayor Eric Adams about utilizing translation apps,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/120825_adams_translation_app_presser-06-1024x683.jpg) NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch attends a City Hall press conference alongside Mayor Eric Adams about utilizing translation apps, Dec. 8, 2025. ## **Head of Intergovernmental Affairs Jahmila Edwards** A longtime leader of District Council 37,the city’s largest municipal union, [Edwards will run Mamdani’s intergovernmental office](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/17/mamdani-union-leader-jahmila-edwards-cat-da-costa/?ref=down-ballot.info), which works with local, state and federal officials to build support for the administration’s priorities. Most recently the union’s associate director, she previously worked at the city Department of Education. ![Jahmila Edwards speaks at the Greenpoint Public Library about her new role running incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/121725_jahmila_edwards_announcement-3-1024x683.jpg) Jahmila Edwards speaks at the Greenpoint Public Library about her new role running incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dec. 17, 2025. ## **Budget Director Sherif Soliman** Soliman was most recently the senior vice chancellor for budget and finance and chief financial officer at the City University of New York. He was tapped to lead the mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, an especially crucial position as the city [faces budget deficits](https://www.ibo.nyc.gov/assets/ibo/downloads/pdf/press-releases/2025/2025-december-november-plan-press-release.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Soliman was a chief policy and delivery officer in the Office of Policy and Planning under Adams, and commissioner of the Department of Finance among other positions for de Blasio. He also served under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. ## **Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg** Bozorg is the current executive director for housing under Mayor Adams and has spent more than 15 years working in government, including at the Department of City Planning and Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Her focus on creating more housing innovatively, by building on small lots, for example, will be pivotal in helping Mamdani achieve a critical goal. Bozorg also worked at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. ![Julie Su speaks on Staten Island next to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani about her appointment as Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/121925_bozorg_su_appointments-2-1024x683.jpg) Julie Su speaks on Staten Island next to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani about her appointment as Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice, Dec. 19, 2025\. Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Bozorg is to her left. ## **Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice Julie Su** Su worked for nearly two years as acting U.S. Secretary of Labor under former President Joe Biden. She also spent seven years as California’s labor secretary. In her newly created role, she will oversee such agencies as the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Taxi & Limousine Commission to ensure fair wages and other worker protections. ## **Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Sam Levine** Levine is the former director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and previously worked under FTC chair Lina Khan, who is [a co-chair of Mamdani’s transition](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/05/mamdani-transition-team-mayor-elect/?ref=down-ballot.info) team. His focus will be on wage theft, labor abuse and other economic issues for workers, the incoming mayor’s team said. ## **Fire Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore** Bonsignore spent more than 30 years in the Fire Department and was chief of the department’s Emergency Medical Service operations during the pandemic, serving as the highest-ranking woman in the department. Her appointment was praised by the unions representing EMS workers, who called it “historic” and a step towards ending inequity within the department. ## **Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Helen Arteaga** Arteaga, the chief executive officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst since 2021, was announced as deputy mayor at a press conference at the Queens hospital two days before Mamdani’s inauguration. During her tenure, she secured necessary funding for major renovations at the hospital, including intensive care units and the labor and delivery suite. At City Hall, she’ll work with multiple agencies including the Department of Health, Department of Social Services, and the department of Veterans Services. ## **Corporation Counsel Steven Banks** Banks will likely return to City Hall, where he previously served as commissioner of the Department of Social Services under former Mayor de Blasio, nominated as the city government’s top lawyer. The job requires City Council approval, which Mamdani said Tuesday was expected after he spoke with incoming Speaker Julie Menin. ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/054ecf49322117817ed4f81c33697213f3a6_082119_steven_banks.w700.a700x467.2x-1024x683.jpg) Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks speaks with the THE CITY about housing for homeless people, Aug. 22, 2019. Banks spent years at the Legal Aid Society as attorney-in-chief, and was pivotal to the landmark case to create the city’s right to shelter for families. As corporation counsel, his focus will be on bringing on 200 attorneys to build back the city’s law department, Mamdani said, and ensuring pay parity across other city agencies. ## **Chief Counsel Ramzi Kassem** Kassem is currently a professor at the City University of New York School of Law, where he co-directs the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) program, where he recently represented students detained by ICE. Kassem was one of the lawyers who represented detained activist [Mahmoud Khalil](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/03/12/mahmoud-khalil-palestinian-columbia-university-deportation-immigration/?ref=down-ballot.info). He also worked as a senior policy advisor under former President Joe Biden. ## **Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels** Samuels is currently the superintendent of Manhattan’s District 3, and also worked in Brooklyn’s District 13\. He has experience with school mergers and the move away from gifted and talented programs, which can be racially segregated. The United Federation of Teachers, which represents the city’s teachers, praised the selection. "As a former teacher and life-long educator, Kamar Samuels has the experience and perspective necessary to help our school system thrive,” UFT President Mike Mulgrew said in a statement Wednesday. Read more about Mamdani’s new pick to lead the city’s nearly 1 million public school students [at Chalkbeat](https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2025/12/31/zohran-mamdani-to-select-kamar-samuels-for-nyc-schools-chancellor/?ref=down-ballot.info). ## **Deputy Mayor of Operations Julia Kerson** Kerson is currently the deputy director of infrastructure for Gov. Kathy Hochul. As the person in charge of operations in Mamdani’s City Hall, she will oversee city agencies like the Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection, in a role critical to the city’s infrastructure. While working in the governor's office, she worked on the Hudson Tunnel Program to build a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey and helped implement federal investment through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, among other initiatives. ## **Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani** Tigani was most recently the acting commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and returns to the buildings department, where he previously served as chief of staff. Tigani was also a senior advisor focused on housing under former Mayor de Blasio and worked closely on neighborhood rezonings. ## **Executive Director of the Office of Child Care Emmy Liss** Liss has spent years working in early childhood education, working with the Department of Education on its universal pre-K rollout under de Blasio. She was also previously a consultant with MicKinsey & Company. ## **Chief Climate Officer Louise Yeung** Yeung was most recently the chief climate officer for former Comptroller Brad Lander, and also worked as the director of resiliency at the Department of Transportation. In her role, she’ll lead the Mayor's Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, focused on resiliency efforts, flood protection, and the challenges of extreme weather. --- ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=71911&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) # An Old-fashioned Water Pump Is at the Heart of La Russell, Missouri by Kaitlyn McConnell, The Daily Yonder December 24, 2025 It's true in both literal and figurative ways. The metal, hand-operated relic divides a state highway near the feed store and post office, two of few remnants of the small southwest Missouri agricultural community of La Russell. Instead of water, a community spirit flows from it today – so much that every Thanksgiving, locals decorate it with Christmas lights and kick off the holiday season with pump lighting and parade. They gather in the street to yell, “Light that pump!” and see Santa flip the switch, as fireworks explode in the distance. It’s a remarkable sight, especially in the rural space that’s home to about 134 people. It reminds us that traditions can start even now, and can be based on simply celebrating what we have. “Every year or so, somebody that's new will come, and they'll say, ‘This is like being in a Hallmark movie,’” said Linda Heman, a La Russell local and one of the event’s leaders. She was part of its start some 15 years ago. Back then, her grandchildren were small, and her loved ones “kind of looked at each other like Grandma lost it” when the event idea came about. But back then, as the community changed and its presence shrank, it seemed like the thing to do. Even then, the pump was a community symbol. The water pump was installed in the early 1900s, and it was where locals got their water. In addition to its practical use, the pump was a symbol of community. It was hailed as a beacon of home by at least one soldier returning from World War II. "Upon seeing the pump, my first thoughts were 'Thank God, thank God Almighty! I am back on solid ground!" the late A.E. (Noney) Graff wrote years ago. “What a feeling it was! The pump seemed to be sending a signal – 'This is La Russell!' For all practical purposes, it might as well have been the Statue of Liberty. It was a beacon in the night!" The pump was so beloved that on one occasion, when it was hit by a car – remember, it’s in the literal middle of the highway – the Missouri Department of Transportation planned to remove it permanently. Locals weren’t having it. They protested and got it put back in place. That affinity was what led to the idea for the pump lighting and parade. “It’s created a bridge between generations,” said John Hacker, a local journalist who has covered the event for years. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/La-Russell-8-1296x864.jpg) Zac Babcock, right, proposed to his now-wife Madeline at the 2024 pump lighting and parade. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell) ### **Reflecting on Memories** The sun softly settled down on Thanksgiving Day in La Russell as I stood along Highway U with a growing crowd of people. As we waited for the parade to begin, attendees snapped photos with the celebrity-like pump [that even has its own Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/larussellpump). “You come up here, and you just never know who you might see – someone you went to school with, or someone you grew up with,” said Carmen Campbell Wilke, who grew up around La Russell and whose father used to operate a long-shuttered service station. “When we were kids, what we would do for fun is we would play hide-and-go-seek, and the city limits would be the boundaries, and the pump would be ‘base.'” Dana Potts, Wilke’s sister, has made her first trip to the pump lighting after moving away from home 25 years ago. “It’s a really cool thing for this little town,” she said, then shared memories of what once was: A restaurant, a grocery store, a laundromat, and even a domino parlor. Those things are gone, but the future rolls down the street on a hay wagon full of family. “They really enjoy it,” Denae Anderson said of her kids, the next generation in the Campbell family, who participate in the parade. “They feel really special to be able to wave at people.” It’s not a long parade, although it’s grown significantly since the event’s start. It includes what one might expect at such an affair: hayride wagons pulled by antique tractors, laden with families; a tanker truck from the local livestock-feed company; candy being tossed from a firetruck to the kids along the curb, who run to grab the morsels like hungry trout after bits of bait. “I think people say, ‘Parade!’ and think there’s going to be a lot of big, fancy floats,” one attendee quipped. “We don’t care (about that). It’s just about participating.” One more unexpected element is the Humdingers, a kazoo band that makes a once-a-year appearance at the parade. Like the event itself, the kazoo band was born out of a can-do attitude when local marching bands were unavailable on Thanksgiving. The Humdingers wear matching costumes that change from year to year. One time, they were stars. This year, they were magicians. It was fitting, after all, since the theme was “The Magic Moment,” and the co-grand marshals were a couple who got engaged at the pump lighting the previous year. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/La-Russell-10-1296x1037.jpg) A key part of La Russell’s annual parade is the Humdingers, a kazoo band. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell) “It was one of the first things we did together as a family,” said Zac Babcock, who proposed to his now-wife Madeline at the parade in 2024, and said he was taken by the small-town, friendly environment. The small parade moves down the street, and awards are given before they gather up for a group photo taken by Hacker, the local reporter whose coverage of the event earned him the parade’s grand marshal post in 2020\. “I hope it continues for a long time,” he told me. “I hope it continues drawing these crowds to this tiny eastern Jasper County village. It really is a bridge between La Russell’s future and its past.” ### **What Does All This Mean?** Hacker told me about the event years ago. I went once, and was hooked – bringing my own family and making new friends in the years since. When I tell people about La Russell and its pump, I’m often met with curiosity and quizzical looks. A water pump? In the street? With fireworks and Santa? ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/La-Russell-1-972x1296.jpg) "My grandkids — they all think it's the greatest thing ever," says Linda Heman, one of the event's organizers. Those details are unique, but to me, the greatest part of this story is the decision to start. This unexpected idea has resulted in an enduring tradition and paints a new picture of the community to kids who never knew the town without it. "It kind of connects me to the past," Heman said. "There were so many people in the beginning, a lot of older men who had lived here forever, and they just were thrilled to death with it. It meant so much to them to have had this going on every year." And, now others do, too — such as Heman's grandkids. "It's just a tradition for them every year. Some of them who were babies don't remember before we did it. My grandkids — they all think it's the greatest thing ever." It reminds us that community traditions aren’t necessarily only of the past. There is always time to build new ones. As people leave La Russell and things change, it may feel like the opportunity has closed up, like that old service station. But sometimes we just have to look a little harder to see what's special about where we are, something taken for granted for far too long. It could be around a corner, on top of a roof, in a backyard. It might be out there in the middle of the street. --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/an-old-fashioned-water-pump-is-at-the-heart-of-la-russell-missouri/2025/12/24/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=235736&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # A Food-Growing Tradition Finds New Roots in the Mississippi Delta by Elizabeth Hewitt. Freelance Journalist, Mississippi Today July 18, 2025 *This* [*story* ](https://reasonstobecheerful.world/local-food-movement-mississippi-delta/?ref=down-ballot.info)*from* [*Reasons to be Cheerful*](https://reasonstobecheerful.world/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is one in a series about the confluence of capitalism, conservation and cultural identity in the Mississippi River Basin. It is part of Waterline and is sponsored by the* [Walton Family Foundation](https://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* Dorothy Grady pulled at a tuft of green fronds sprouting from one of an array of soil-filled buckets sitting in the driveway of her house. A plump carrot, five inches long and brilliant orange, popped out. Nearby, a sage shrub grew from another bucket, and scallions crowded a squat grow bag. In about three weeks, Grady would kick off the spring growing season on the land she cultivates around Shelby, Mississippi, including two plots at the now-closed middle school across the street, a small grove of peach and pear trees up the road, and five acres outside of town. She was ready to start planting eggplants, melons, tomatoes and a cornucopia of other produce that would soon end up in the homes of 127 nearby residents. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/17142307/5C1E26BB-732D-45C5-AAFC-5D3B9F37EAF0-3670-00000091C58684B1-2-1.webp) Dorothy Grady is one of almost a dozen local growers supplying produce to Delta GREENS. Shelby, a few miles east of the Mississippi River, is surrounded by flat, fertile farmland. But Grady’s vegetables and fruit are some of the only crops around that make it to local plates. The vast majority of Mississippi Delta farms are devoted to commodity crops like soy and corn. Grady is one of almost a dozen local growers supplying produce to [Delta GREENS](https://deltagreens.my.canva.site/?ref=down-ballot.info), a collaborative research project that is delivering fresh ingredients to residents of Bolivar, Sunflower and Washington counties with diabetes and monitoring the health impacts. This “food is medicine” project is one of a number of initiatives that are supporting farmers and expanding the market for locally grown produce in this western Mississippi region. The benefits run in both directions: At the same time that community members are getting access to these nutritious ingredients, the small-scale farmers who grow them are getting a leg up. “What we’re trying to do is build cooperative development amongst the farms,” says Julian Miller, founding director for the [Reuben V. Anderson Institute for Social Justice](https://www.rvacenterforjustice.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Jackson, a co-principal investigator for Delta GREENS, and a long-time local food advocate in the Delta region. “Ultimately, we want to be able to give them the capacity to scale and capture the broader market.” The 200-mile-long Delta region, on [the fertile floodplain sandwiched](https://southernspaces.org/2010/bioregional-approach-southern-history-yazoo-mississippi-delta/?ref=down-ballot.info) between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, has a rich agricultural history. Once known for growing cotton, today the area is dominated by ridged fields growing commodities that will be processed into animal feed or ethanol. In the past, many Delta residents cultivated fruits and vegetables, says Miller, yet over time, pressures like farming mechanization and loss of land eroded the practice. Miller, a fifth-generation Delta resident who grew up a few miles away from Shelby, never saw anyone with a vegetable garden. “That tradition was lost, as far as growing your food,” he says. Today, despite the abundance of fertile land, very little of it is dedicated to edible crops. [About 90 percent of the food](https://www.ahealthieramerica.org/articles/good-food-at-home-supporting-families-and-farmers-in-the-delta-1204?ref=down-ballot.info) people eat in this region is grown elsewhere and imported. “That’s the irony,” Miller says. And even imported fresh food can be hard to access. As of 2021, 63 of Mississippi’s 82 counties were [classified as food deserts](https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3122&context=etd&ref=down-ballot.info), meaning there is no grocery store or option to buy fresh ingredients in the immediate area. Significant health and economic inequities overlay this region. In Bolivar, Sunflower and Washington counties — where the Delta GREENS study is focused — almost a third of residents live at or below the poverty level. Meanwhile, the rate of diabetes is [twice the national average](https://deltagreens.my.canva.site/?ref=down-ballot.info). This confluence of public health disparities, economic inequity and lack of food sovereignty has fueled an effort to reestablish food-growing traditions, led by growers like Grady. A child of sharecroppers, Grady recalls her family always kept a garden when she was growing up, exchanging veggies and fruits with neighbors. She has been involved with growing the local food movement in the Delta since the 1990s, when she first started working on farm-to-school garden projects. In addition to helping establish hundreds of community gardens at schools and churches around the region, she’s also expanded her own growing operation, now supplying her harvests to residents in and around Bolivar County. Last year, the peach and pear trees she keeps yielded about 30 bushels of fruit, which went to local schools and was distributed through produce boxes for participants in the Delta GREENS study. These weekly produce boxes are helping to address one of the structural challenges of developing the local food system in the Delta, explains Miller: the lack of a consistent market. While many residents are interested in eating more local produce, growers don’t have a reliable pathway to sell to the public. But nutrition- and food-security projects that source produce from local farmers are helping those agricultural businesses scale up. About 40 miles northeast of Shelby, Robbie Pollard is busy planting and tending to more than 10 acres of fruit and vegetable plants. Pollard grew up around farming — his grandfather grew commodity crops. But he says he didn’t know anything about cultivating food until he tried growing his own in his backyard. It turned out to be a calling, he says, and he soon left his job in IT to pursue it full time. Farming fruits and vegetables is more complex than commodity crops, explains Pollard. For one, it’s more labor intensive — weeding, tending and harvesting by hand. Unlike commodity farmers, who deliver their crops directly to local co-ops, distribution is harder for fruits and vegetables, Pollard says: “We have to find our own markets.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/17141647/B9116B4E-25D5-4F2E-9735-34095609DC81_1_201_a-1.webp) Delta GREENS is one of a number of initiatives that are supporting farmers and expanding the market for locally grown produce. Pollard has found a range of ways to distribute his produce through his farm, Start 2 Finish, and his associated healthy foods initiative [Happy Foods Project](https://www.thehappyfoodsproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). Today, he is one of the main growers supplying for Delta GREENS, as well as similar projects that provide households with regular local food boxes, including another food prescription project, [Northern Mississippi FoodRx](https://projects.sare.org/sare%5Fproject/ls24-393/?ref=down-ballot.info), in conjunction with the University of Mississippi. This summer, he’ll also be distributing through a mobile market, and he recently started selling through a grocery store with a focus on local products [that opened in the city of Clarksdale in May](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/05/19/js-grocery-reopening-clarksdale/?ref=down-ballot.info). Produce prescription boxes have given him a way to steadily expand his farm by reinvesting each year in incremental upgrades. He’s progressed from doing all his work by hand, to having a tiller, then a small tractor. He’s now leasing 46 acres of cropland. Last year, he grew four acres. This season, he put in more than 10, with plans in the works to expand hydroponic and aquaponic capacity. Soon, he hopes to work with other local growers to try a range of different techniques across the acreage. Tyler Yarbrough, Mississippi Delta project manager for the nationwide organization [Partnership for a Healthier America](https://www.ahealthieramerica.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), has worked alongside Pollard on a range of projects building out the region’s local food movement, including some that provide households with produce for a limited amount of time — like Good Food at Home, which has supplied about 500,000 servings of produce to local families through weekly boxes, each household eligible for 12 weeks at a time. Through these shorter-term projects, growers are able to take steps to become more stable, while building a demand for local produce among consumers. “You can leverage it to bring on the consistency, and to further bring those markets into your orbit,” Yarbrough says. While produce box models have yielded success, they have the most impact for farmers when they’re paired with other initiatives, according to Yarbrough. What’s key is to give growers flexibility with funding so they can build up over time. “It can’t just be one thing,” Yarbrough says. “It needs to be coupled with funds for these farmers to actually build their capacity on their farm. It needs to be coupled with connecting all the dots with the market. It has to be a holistic approach.” Within the Delta region, the local food movement still faces many barriers, according to Natalie Minton, a University of Mississippi researcher who is working with Pollard to study the local food market, and on North Mississippi Food Rx. Growers struggle to find — and afford — workers. And without a reliable market, growing their business is very difficult. There are also environmental factors. Beyond extreme weather, like drought and severe storms, growers face challenges related to the dominant commodity cropland. Pesticides and chemicals routinely used on commodity crops drift, harming food crops. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/17141828/C3C1FEBA-74F7-4094-93DD-AB413C0FE6C9-3670-00000091B2A53EB2.webp) Dorothy Grady, a local growers supplying produce to Delta GREENS, and Julian Miller, a co-principal investigator for the research project and founding director for the Reuben V. Anderson Institute for Social Justice in Jackson. Yet, Minton says the roots of change in the local food system are taking hold. The success of farmers like Pollard is showing how specialty farming can be a viable career. For projects that rely on grants and outside funding like Mississippi Fresh, another major challenge is working with federal programs, according to Miller. Trump administration cuts, including to [subsidies that support buying from local producers](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/usda-cuts-food-banks-schools?ref=down-ballot.info), are straining local food systems. Delta GREENS is funded through the [National Institutes of Health](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/us/politics/trump-budget-cdc-nih-cuts.html?ref=down-ballot.info), and Miller says there is uncertainty around whether support will continue. Despite the uncertainty, the local food movement in the Mississippi Delta is notable because it is so locally driven, says Marlene Manzo, of [HEAL Food Alliance](https://healfoodalliance.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a food justice coalition that works with groups across the country, including Mississippi Fresh. Manzo says that the growth of the local food supply within the Mississippi Delta shows the power of working at a small scale to make changes that really respond to the community. “What we do know is building collective power within our communities and in regional systems can really make a large, lasting impact,” she says. Grady sees a shift happening in the community. She knows more people, including her family members, who are starting to grow some of their own food. One former student is now a chef in a nearby school district. He’s keeping a garden and using the ingredients in the school kitchen. “The interest of other people wanting to do this kind of work was the greatest reward of it all,” she says. *Elizabeth Hewitt is a freelance journalist based in the Netherlands. She's interested in how policy-making impacts lives, and likes to write about local solutions to big problems.* This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/07/18/a-food-growing-tradition-finds-new-roots-in-the-mississippi-delta/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1146251&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # How George Wallace and Bull Connor Set the Stage for Alabama’s Sky-High Electric Rates ### After his notorious stand in the schoolhouse door, Wallace needed a new target. He found it in Alabama Power. By Dennis Pillion December 26, 2025 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26122025/george-wallace-bull-connor-set-stage-for-alabama-sky-high-electric-rates/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* **Wired for Profit:* Second in a series about Alabama Power’s influence over electric rates, renewable energy, pollution and politics in the Yellowhammer State.* MONTGOMERY, Ala.—There’s a curious sight on the far-left wall of the Alabama Public Service Commission’s main hearing room. Framed 8-by-10-inch photos of the previous commissioners dating back to 1881 line the wall. The photos are black and white. The commissioners are just white, but that’s not the strange part. The strange part is that in the bottom left quadrant of the photo wall, directly above the most recent former commissioner, Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, hangs the smiling mug of one of the most notorious faces in Alabama history. Eugene “Bull” Connor, the former Birmingham police commissioner whose brutal suppression of civil rights demonstrations with police dogs and firehoses drew worldwide condemnation, stares back at the observer with his slicked-back white hair, horn-rimmed glasses and the slight vestige of a smile. Connor, after his presence became an untenable black eye for the city of Birmingham, was shuffled off to Montgomery and the Alabama Public Service Commission, where he served as PSC president from 1965-1973\. Alabama’s civil rights history is inescapable, even in places most people wouldn’t expect. Their electric bills, for example. George Wallace, the four-term governor who famously stood in the schoolhouse door in an attempt to prevent Black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama, was never on the commission, but may be as responsible as any single political figure for the state of Alabama’s electric regulation today. That’s because throughout the 1970s, when crying “segregation forever” was no longer a viable political strategy, Wallace needed a new target for his brand of populist demagoguery. He found it in Alabama Power. Wallace railed against what he called Alabama Power’s “exorbitant rates” for years, attempting to thwart or delay nearly every rate increase or construction project the company proposed. That campaign turned the state’s regulatory environment into a circus, pushed the state’s largest utility to the verge of bankruptcy and provoked a backlash that still clouds the ratemaking process David Rountree worked at the PSC for 12 years in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, including stints as chief of staff or principal advisor for three different commissioners. Rountree said Wallace’s actions still reverberated through the PSC building decades later. Years before joining the PSC staff, Rountree had actually covered some of the hearings as a reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper. “Those rate hearings were just a nightmare,” Rountree told Inside Climate News. “Nobody wanted to get sent over to have to cover a PSC rate hearing. It was like, ‘Can you just pull my fingernails out?’ And they would last for months on end.” After years of Wallace’s chaotic attacks on the system, the PSC snapped back hard in the other direction. The commissioners attempted to create a system that would take political chaos out of utility ratemaking and prevent another George Wallace from hijacking the regulatory process. Rate increases were put on “autopilot,” Rountree said, going up automatically whenever Alabama Power’s earnings fell below a certain percentage. The commission voted to approve the new system, called rate stabilization and equalization, or RSE, in 1982\. That was the last time Alabama Power held a formal rate case that nearly all other states require. The RSE process did its job of averting contentious and costly rate cases, but there were serious side effects. One, according to environmentalists and public interest lawyers, has been a lack of transparency and almost any meaningful public participation. The public rate cases that had become so toxic under Wallace had been eliminated, but those hearings served as the best method for the public to gain insight into how their power bills were calculated, and which utility decisions they were paying for. Now the public and advocate groups have to fight and claw for information that is public and easily accessible in other jurisdictions. In a 2013 white paper titled “[Public Utility Regulation without the Public](https://alarise.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Arise-report-Public-Utility-Regulation-Without-the-Public-3-1-13.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info),” the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis writes that Alabama’s RSE process “allows Alabama Power to adjust its charges each year without any public evidentiary hearings and, indeed, without any participation by ratepaying consumers whatsoever other than off-the-record and after-the-fact comments at an informal hearing that completely lacks public transparency.” The paper states that only Louisiana and Mississippi have similar processes for utility regulation, but notes that those states have more “meaningful opportunities for public involvement.” A spokesperson for Alabama Power told Inside Climate News that the RSE process still ensures oversight over the company, even if it differs from other states. “Alabama’s Rate RSE framework provides continuous, formula-based oversight with monthly filings, annual PSC review, and automatic refunds or adjustments when earnings fall outside the approved range,” Alabama Power said. “Different structure does not equal lack of regulation.” The Alabama Public Service Commission is in the process of completing its required review of Rate RSE that takes place every six years. It is not clear when the findings of that review will be made public. “Following the review process engaged in by staff with representatives from Alabama Power and the Alabama Attorney General’s office, staff will consult with the Commission and provide an assessment of the effectiveness of Rate RSE and discuss any potential modifications deemed necessary,” a PSC spokesman said in an email. “The Commission will determine whether any further course or courses of action are necessary based on those consultations with staff. Any determination regarding the need for outside input will not be made until the Commission has made an assessment of the findings compiled by staff.” Alabama Power went from the precipice of bankruptcy to being one of the most stable and profitable utilities in the country. But its customers shouldered the [highest total electric bills in the country](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03112025/alabama-power-electric-rates-profits/?ref=down-ballot.info) last year, according to an Inside Climate News analysis, and pay the highest electric rates in the Southeast. Advocates who have criticized Alabama Power’s high returns point to the RSE process as a key reason that the company’s profits are so high. Here’s how it happened. ## **George Wallace vs. the Power Company** To say Wallace was popular in Alabama through the 1960s and ‘70s is an enormous understatement. He was elected governor of Alabama four times from 1962 to 1982, bouncing in and out of the governorship as term limits allowed. He didn’t leave the governor’s office for good until 1987. In 1966, the Alabama constitution did not allow governors to serve consecutive terms, blocking Wallace from seeking reelection. So Wallace’s wife, Lurleen Wallace, ran for governor in his stead, explicitly stating that her husband would stay in control. Her name appeared on the ballot as “Mrs. George C. Wallace,” and she won handily, winning the primary without a runoff and garnering 63 percent of the general election vote. Alabama would not elect another female governor until 2018\. Lurleen Wallace died of cancer 16 months into her term, casting the Wallaces temporarily out of the governor’s office. Doctors reportedly told Wallace of his wife’s cancer as early as 1961, but he insisted she not be told, delaying any possible treatment for years. She remained unaware of her condition until 1965, when a different doctor told her directly. Despite her condition, she handled a rigorous campaign schedule throughout 1966, but her health began to deteriorate shortly after taking office. Lurleen Wallace died in 1968\. That same year, Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment to allow governors to serve two consecutive terms, setting the stage for George Wallace to run and win in 1970, 1974 and 1982\. In 1970, as Wallace campaigned to retake the governor’s office after his first interregnum, he campaigned against “banks and utilities and the rich on Wall Street who don’t pay their taxes,” former Newsweek columnist Stewart Alsop wrote at the time. Alsop added that Wallace’s “attacks on the big newspapers, the banks, and the utilities account for that electric current in his shirt-sleeved crowds at least as much as the race issue.” After his reelection, Wallace hired well-known attorney Maurice Bishop to formally intervene in the rate cases at the PSC. A handful of commissioners elected in the next several years had close ties to Wallace or at least shared his views on Alabama Power’s rates. Meanwhile, Wallace held rallies and gave televised speeches criticizing the power company and called multiple special sessions of the legislature in unsuccessful attempts to give the governor’s office and/or the Alabama Supreme Court the power to directly overrule the PSC on electricity rates. Wallace was unwilling to compromise on any of those issues, which never advanced past the state Senate. He blamed Alabama Power for wielding “undue influence” over senators who balked at his proposals. Some of the senators pushed back. “George Wallace had made a career out of raising emotional issues and demagoging his way into office,” state Sen. Joe Fine said, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. “First he used the race issue, black against white, but \[now\] that’s run out.” In June 1976, the PSC rejected a rate increase request from Alabama Power, which the company’s president Joseph Farley called “shocking and dismaying.” The company appealed the PSC’s decision to the Montgomery County Circuit Court, which ordered the PSC to grant at least a partial increase. Alabama Power appealed that decision to the state Supreme Court. The pattern would continue for several years, with rate cases bouncing between the PSC and the courts, and with Alabama Power repeatedly filing emergency rate cases before the courts had ruled on its previous rate increases. People angry over their electric bills were bussed to PSC meetings from across the state. PSC hearings were moved to larger venues to accommodate the crowds. Financial firm Standard and Poor’s dropped Alabama Power’s credit rating from A- to BBB. The company was forced to rely on high interest, short-term loans to stay afloat due to the long lag between rate increase decisions. ## **1977: “The Terrible Year”** In the book “Developed for the Service of Alabama,” a company history published by Alabama Power in 2006, historian Leah Rawls Atkins calls 1977 “the terrible year,” though 1978 and 1979 may have even been worse. Skyrocketing prices caused by inflation and the oil embargo were creating huge costs for the company, and the clashes in Montgomery put the company on its most perilous financial footing since its early days of existence. In January, an emergency rate case hearing was relocated to Montgomery’s Garrett Coliseum, where huge crowds packed the arena for what was, by most accounts, a circus. Media reports at the time estimated the crowd ranging from 800 to 2,000 people, more or less evenly split between those who supported Alabama Power’s rate increases—power company employees, steelworkers, construction workers, economic development officials—and those who opposed the increases. More than 50 witnesses testified, ranging from Alabama Power executives and expert witnesses to everyday Alabamians worried about their ability to pay higher bills in times of economic downturn and inflation. Stewart B. Clifford, a senior vice president at Citibank, testified as a representative of a nine-bank syndicate that had granted Alabama Power $350 million in short-term loans over two years. “None of them are willing, under present conditions, to extend any additional credit to Alabama Power,” Clifford said, according to The Birmingham News. Meanwhile, numerous residents, many elderly, testified that they would not be able to pay their power bills if the increase were approved. So did construction workers who said they would be laid off if Alabama Power were not allowed to build the infrastructure it was planning. One of the commissioners stated he believed the rate increase to be illegal because a previous rate increase was still awaiting judgment in the Alabama Supreme Court. At one point in the two-day hearing, officials resorted to playing Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” over the PA system to ease the tensions. In the end, the PSC approved a smaller increase than the company asked for, but the struggles continued for the next two years. In 1978, after Alabama Power reported a dramatic drop in earnings due to the newly constructed Joseph M. Farley nuclear power plant, the PSC approved an emergency rate increase to steady the ship in November, after that year’s elections. Wallace appealed and got a court to issue an injunction blocking the rate increase. In December, the company filed a request for an emergency $288.8 million rate increase, saying its return on equity had fallen to a “disastrous” 4.5 percent. According to Rawls’ book, Alabama Power responded by freezing officer salaries, cutting back construction projects and paying its bills only on an as-needed basis. The company sold five of its buildings with agreements to rent the spaces instead, freeing up cash, but losing out in the long run. In January 1979, the Alabama Supreme Court denied Alabama Power’s motion to lift the injunction blocking its rate increase. The court found the PSC’s rate increases null and void and dismissed all appeals. Rawls’ book quotes Alabama Power comptroller Jack Minor as saying the company had $45 million in unpaid bills and was unable to borrow money or sell stocks or bonds to cover them. He reported stacked invoices on his desk, not to be paid “until someone demands payment.” The company put word out that it would remember which vendors were forgiving of its struggles, and which were not. Rawls says that there were some major suppliers that showed a “lack of support during this critical time,” and that Alabama Power “never did business with them again.” Alan Martin, who held many executive positions in Alabama Power, including senior vice president, said executives in the company who experienced those times came out stronger for it. “The enduring effect was positive,” Martin said in Rawls’ book. “Those who lived through those years were like the World War II generation. We were tougher. Our leadership has been real conservative, but when the company is criticized, we are quick to jump like a tiger to defend it.” ## **A Solution Emerges** By 1982, it was clear that the situation was untenable. Even Wallace and those in his administration conceded that something had to change. Billy Joe Camp, Wallace’s former advisor and spokesman, had been elected PSC president, and he and the other commissioners implemented the rate stabilization and equalization system. The goal of the system was to put utility ratemaking on autopilot, removing the possibility of messy rate case battles and political grandstanding that dominated the previous decade. “At times the rate structure was used as a political football,” Camp said, according to the Associated Press. “I was part of that irresponsibility sometimes. We had to get to a new environment.” An approved rate of return range was set for Alabama Power at 13 to 14.5 percent of the value of its common equity. Every December, if the company’s earnings for the coming year were projected to fall below that range, rates would go up automatically in January. If the company earned more in the course of the year than its allowed range, some of that money would be refunded to customers the next year. The new system did not require a vote by the commission to increase rates, nor were there any public rate hearings or formal testimony from the utility on its revenue. In trying to stop political manipulation of the rate system, the PSC nearly removed the public from the process altogether, limiting the opportunities for public engagement or even understanding of the ratemaking process. Instead, the PSC hosts informal hearings each year in December. The company presents its latest revenue figures for the year in progress and projections for the coming year, as well details about its environmental compliance plans for the next five years. Company representatives answer questions from PSC staff, the attorney general’s office or members of the public, but they are not under oath as they would be in a formal rate case. The commissioners, if they attend, sit in the audience with everyone else. Proceedings are not streamed online, as regular PSC meetings are. Christina Tidwell, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, attends the informal sessions on behalf of SELC clients, asking questions about Alabama Power’s profits, or issues like renewable energy adoption, coal ash cleanup plans, energy efficiency or electric vehicle charging programs offered by the company. The one-day hearing typically lasts about four hours. “The informal meetings held in December are the only opportunity for the public to ask Alabama Power questions about its environmental compliance costs or its profits,” Tidwell said in an email. “They are limited in scope—there is no discovery or opportunity to offer expert testimony and Alabama Power’s witnesses are not under oath. There is also no transcript of the meeting. “It’s unclear to me what role these hearings play in overall utility regulation.” ## **High Interest Rates Preserved for Decades** One criticism of the RSE process is that utility return rates were locked in at 1982 rates for more than 40 years. And the early 1980s featured the [highest interest rates since at least the 1950s](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/charted-us-interest-rates-over-time/?ref=down-ballot.info) thanks to inflation control measures taken by the Federal Reserve. As Alabama Power demonstrated during its turbulent times in the 1970s, a utility company needs to earn returns higher than benchmark interest rates in order to attract investors to fund its operations and construction projects. If investors can get similar returns on government bonds, there’s little incentive to wade into the slightly riskier waters of utility companies, where politicians could scuttle or delay needed rate increases. In 1981, the U.S. average interest rate spiked to 16.38 percent, dropping to 12.26 percent in 1982\. But after 1982, interest rates dropped sharply for decades. This year, it is 4.21 percent after spending much of the past 20 years at near-zero levels in the wake of the 2008 economic crash and the COVID pandemic. Utilities in other jurisdictions had to appear before state regulators periodically to justify their return rates, which dropped as well in many cases. Yet Alabama Power kept earning the same margins. The only major change to the system occurred in 2013, when the PSC switched from using the industry-standard return on equity metric to evaluate Alabama Power’s profit margins to a novel weighted retail return metric developed for Alabama. The new metric gives Alabama Power additional incentives for having a higher percentage of equity as opposed to debt, a good thing when measuring financial health of the utility, but also made it harder to compare Alabama Power’s returns to other utilities. By then, the 13 to 14.5 percent returns guaranteed by RSE were among the highest in the nation. After the adoption of the weighted return, Alabama Power’s return on equity remained around 13 percent through 2020, but has since dropped to around 11 percent. Rountree, the former PSC employee who served as chief of staff to then-Commissioner Terry Dunn when the switch was made in 2013, said the change seemed mostly cosmetic, to deflect criticism over the high allowed returns. By that time, Rountree said Dunn was being boxed out by the other commissioners, having advocated strongly for formal rate hearings that the other commissioners opposed. “I crunched a lot of numbers back in the day when they were doing that, because I wanted to make sure that I understood it, and Commissioner Dunn wanted to make sure that we knew what they were doing,” Rountree said. “It looked to me like basically what they were trying to do was refashion the presentation of the numbers so that they look more benign.” Dunn was the lone PSC commissioner to oppose the change to weighted returns, as he had been the only commissioner criticizing Alabama Power’s high return rates. Dunn lost the Republican primary the next year, after what he called a “smear campaign” linking him to national environmental groups and criticism from other Republicans. Alabama Power’s return on equity, based on figures included in its federal Securities and Exchange Commission filings, remained above 13 percent through 2020, falling to around 11 percent after that. It is on track to earn about 11.1 percent this year, per filings with the PSC. Last year’s nationwide average return on equity for an electric utility approved by state regulators was [9.74 percent, according to S&P Global](https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/research/wis-commission-staff-endorses-electric-gas-rate-increases-for-northern-states?ref=down-ballot.info). Those handful of percentage points can add up. The Energy and Policy Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group, calculated in 2020 that from 2014 through 2018, Alabama Power earned over [$1 billion more in profit](https://energyandpolicy.org/alabama-power-earned-1-billion-in-profits-over-industry-average-on-the-backs-of-customers-since-2014/?ref=down-ballot.info) than it would have if it earned industry-average returns. The group found that Alabama Power’s profits over those five years totaled $4.26 billion at around a 13 percent return on equity. The group estimates that at industry average rates of return 9.75 percent, Alabama Power would have earned $3.24 billion. Alabama Power is projected to earn $1.56 billion in profit this year, according to its filings. The utility agreed to a [two-year rate freeze](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03122025/alabama-public-service-commission-approves-rate-freeze-data-center-solar-projects/?ref=down-ballot.info) this year with the PSC, intended to avoid increases through 2027, as concerns mount about high rates and the potential need for new generation to accommodate [hyperscale data center projects](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18112025/alabama-city-council-approves-rezoning-for-massive-data-center/?ref=down-ballot.info) that are currently being planned in Alabama. U.S. Sen. Katie Britt has, on multiple occasions, said that Alabama Power has the “[highest rates in the Southeast](https://www.al.com/news/2025/12/katie-britt-concerned-alabama-has-the-highest-power-rates-in-the-southeast.html?ref=down-ballot.info),” and called the situation “[unacceptable](https://www.al.com/business/2025/11/katie-britt-voices-concern-over-bessemer-data-center-power-demand.html?ref=down-ballot.info).” Alabama Power and the PSC have said that any data center customers will pay the “full and fair costs” of their operations, including any new infrastructure that is required. Specific details of those contracts however will likely not be made publicly available. Rountree said he believes it is vital that utilities be allowed to earn a fair return on their investments. “In utility regulation, you’re trying to have your public utilities do the job they’re supposed to do as best they can, and as efficiently as they can,” Rountree said. “It’s very important to make sure that you don’t starve them to death, that they have the wherewithal to do it well.” Rountree credits Alabama Power for being a “first-rate utility” and for helping recruit major industries like Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai to build facilities in Alabama. But he also believes the returns are too much. “Perhaps in the earlier years, giving Alabama Power that extra boost of return to build itself into a well-operating, good utility, maybe there was some wisdom there,” Rountree said. “But by God, I think it’s unfair, and I think it should be less than it is, the allowed rate of return.” --- # Culture of fear in places of learning. Faculty at NC colleges report anxiety over threats to academic freedom. by Kate Denning, Carolina Public Press December 19, 2025 At a recent Faculty Assembly meeting, a body of delegates from each of the 17 UNC System institutions, **Wade Maki**, chair of the assembly and UNC-Greensboro professor, asked its members to raise their hand if they had colleagues who were afraid of losing their job because of something they said in the classroom. Every delegate raised their hand, acknowledging concerns about academic freedom. He asked them again to raise their hand if they had colleagues who were afraid of losing their job because of something they posted on their private social media accounts. Again, every delegate raised their hand. ##### \[[Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)\] “I can’t think of anything that better expresses the climate that we are in,” Maki said. North Carolina has narrowly avoided being in the spotlight alongside the slew of universities to fire faculty over speech both in and out of the classroom. But just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean that academics feel entirely safe from the national phenomenon. Some say the anticipation is creating a culture of fear and self-censorship among faculty in the classroom and when interacting with the media. ### 'Aggression' toward academic freedom **Todd Berliner** is the president of the recently revived American Association of University Professors UNC-Wilmington chapter. He and the eight others on the executive committee resurrected the chapter because of the “unprecedented aggression toward faculty and toward academic freedom that has erupted” in the last year, though it’s really been happening for nearly a decade, he told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). What were once commonly shared values in academia like shared governance and academic freedom have become politicized and challenged, Berliner said. Several high-profile firings occurred this year due to professors speaking on issues related to gender identity — one at [Texas A&M](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/22/texas-am-professor-fired-faculty-panel-ruling/?ref=down-ballot.info) after a gender and sexuality lesson in a literature class and another at the [University of Oklahoma](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-oklahoma-instructor-on-leave-failing-bible-essay-multiple-genders/?ref=down-ballot.info) after a psychology professor gave a student a failing grade on an assignment that cited the Bible to disagree with the notion that there are more than two genders. Both [raised](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/texas-am-mccoul-firing-academic-freedom-council/?ref=down-ballot.info) [concerns](https://www.oudaily.com/news/ou-aaup-petition-academic-freedom-graduate-assistant-put-on-leave-bible-based-essay/article%5Fe11e4b13-6e32-48c0-aca4-aba3f522ef84.html?ref=down-ballot.info) about the state of academic freedom in higher education. In September, an associate professor — a rank that typically indicates academics have obtained tenure at their institutions — at a small private North Carolina college declined an interview request from CPP because the person did “not feel it is safe to even report on academic/scientific expertise, as that is now often attacked, and professors are now being reprimanded/fired for taking such a stance.” Instances like these indicate a newly aggressive climate toward the mission of academia and the open exchange of ideas, Berliner said. “When faculty feel threatened and when this kind of aggression is directed toward faculty, we can’t do our best work, and we need to be able to think freely and expose ourselves and our students to whatever ideas are pertinent to the issues of the day and to history in order to gain understanding,” he said. Aside from disagreements over course material, public statements on current events and other outside political activity have also resulted in retribution for academics. As many as 40 faculty members were fired this year over comments related to the assassination of firebrand conservative activist **Charlie Kirk**, the national branch of the American Association of University Professors told [The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/academics-professors-charlie-kirk?ref=down-ballot.info) in October. North Carolina had just one documented firing of a part-time instructor at [Guilford Technical Community College](https://www.facebook.com/GTechCC/posts/update-friday-sept-12-2025-1049amguilford-technical-community-college-does-not-c/1371847731614535/) who was fired for statements she made in class on Kirk’s death, though multiple K-12 teachers were [placed on leave](https://www.qcnews.com/news/u-s/north-carolina/mecklenburg-county/huntersville/huntersville-teacher-on-leave-after-social-media-post-about-charlie-kirks-death/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [fired](https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/gaston-county-teacher-fired-after-charlie-kirk-comment/725JFIKK25D7BAC7NJWCJWC4RQ/?ref=down-ballot.info) for similar social media posts. UNC-Chapel Hill placed Asian and Middle Eastern Studies professor **Dwayne Dixon** on [administrative leave](https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2025/09/breaking-unc-professor-placed-on-administrative-leave?ref=down-ballot.info) in October to investigate his former involvement with an “anti-racist, anti-fascist, community defense formation” known as Redneck Revolt after [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/us/professor-elite-college-belongs-offshoot-leftist-gun-club-celebrating-violence-georgetown-group?ref=down-ballot.info) published an article linking Dixon to the group, though the organization dissolved in 2019\. The university [reinstated](https://dailytarheel.com/article/breaking-university-dwayne-dixon-reinstated-20251003?ref=down-ballot.info) Dixon after it conducted a “thorough threat assessment” and the ACLU of North Carolina published a letter stating it would pursue legal action on Dixon’s behalf. Berliner has observed self-censorship happening among his colleagues at UNCW, particularly untenured professors and professors who are not naturalized U.S. citizens, meaning those that are in the country legally but are not citizens. He said while he and others of course comply with the directives they receive from their institutions and the government, self-censorship is a form of overcompliance that should be avoided. “They are very worried, and they are being exceedingly careful, more careful than they should be, in order not to antagonize or present knowledge that is contrary to government-approved knowledge,” he said. “This is how authoritarian control of education thrives, because it’s very hard to censor people. For a government to censor people, it takes a huge apparatus. But if the strategy is the threat that you will be censored and the threat that you would lose your job or not get tenure or be deported, then the government doesn’t have to do the dirty work of censorship anymore, because the faculty are doing that work for the government.” ### Limiting free speech Some universities, including private colleges, are beginning to say the quiet part out loud. Duke University sent an email in August to its Sanford School of Public Policy faculty directing them to route any media inquiries regarding “overarching issues confronting the University” to Vice President for Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs **Frank Tramble**, but encouraged them to continue speaking with the news media about matters pertaining to their research, as reported by Duke’s student newspaper, [The Chronicle](https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke-university-pragmatic-approach-freedom-of-speech-faculty-silence-civil-liberties-first-amendment-20251125?ref=down-ballot.info), last month. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8750-scaled.jpg) The Sanford School of Public Policy is located on the campus of Duke University in Durham. Kate Denning / Carolina Public Press Aside from the email to Sanford faculty, “Faculty in a few other departments received similar encouragements to route communications to central channels,” The Chronicle reported. Even if universities openly encourage their faculty to exercise academic freedom in sharing their research but caution against responding to news media inquiries on issues facing higher education at-large, that can create a culture of fear that results in self-censorship, said **Dominic Coletti** of the [Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression](https://www.thefire.org/?gad%5Fsource=1&gad%5Fcampaignid=10106834611&gbraid=0AAAAADvDJ5UMJ47-SWGPSsOWYpsNR-zXH&gclid=Cj0KCQiAxonKBhC1ARIsAIHq%5FlspNRKErf%5FbXo6g02wY5NR1wDXr7xXm9ddesKNOXEMPLEPYiNzDjvQaAu8HEALw%5FwcB&ref=down-ballot.info). “If a person of authority is saying you should think twice about talking about this topic or that topic, that’s going to make it more difficult and make it less likely that anyone is going to talk about this topic or that topic, even if the person in authority says, ‘Look, we’re not trying to censor you. We’re not going to punish you for it,’” he said. “The thought that you may face disapproval, you may face some kind of backlash from somebody who has power over you, even if that’s not explicitly threatened, is going to make you second guess whether or not you should say something, regardless of how valuable your opinion or your additional context might be to the discourse surrounding a particular situation.” It also suggests that not all speech is good speech and speaking on broader issues like DEI practices in higher education, for example, could bring scrutiny to your own university and constrain its academic freedom. “Because you are going to think about what is the government saying, what are the people who have power over me saying and how could the things that I’m saying lead to consequences, not just for me, but for the institution or for other people that I work with,” he said. “Once you start thinking that way, that really does lead to an increase in self-censorship.” Some academic areas are also more likely to be impacted by such restrictions, Coletti said, as is exhibited by Duke’s message being sent primarily to its public policy faculty. [![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CTA-wk-of-12-15.png)](https://carolinapublicpress.fundjournalism.org/donate/?amount=15&campaign=701VH00000mpn9XYAQ&frequency=monthly&ref=down-ballot.info) “While the university said you can continue to talk about your research, what is a political science professor who talks about the ways that government shapes academia supposed to do?” Coletti said. “Obviously that person is going to be an expert on the exact sort of thing that is affecting Duke University right now. It creates a culture of fear for professors to talk about their research, but it also creates an environment where you’re less likely to have open and honest conversations about the reality that you’re living in.” “Duke has sound principles on academic freedom that are developed and overseen by our faculty, and we will always protect and support their ability to speak on behalf of their work,” a Duke spokesperson told CPP. Maki and Berliner both made the distinction that Duke’s directive seemed to restrain faculty’s freedom of speech while still trying to protect their academic freedom, but Coletti said they are two sides of the same coin that is the broader freedom of expression. The question of what is the difference between the two is one that Maki and other UNC System faculty are confronting by attempting to define what exactly “academic freedom” means to the System. There’s currently no definition in the policy manual aside from assertions that academic freedom is a bedrock value and faculty have it so long as they are using it responsibly — a key word to note, Maki said — and that they won’t be subject to unreasonable restrictions. “Lawyers love both of those words, because they’re very flexible,” he said. “And of course, in the absence of clarity, it is the people in positions of power that have the advantage.” The Faculty Assembly [passed a resolution](https://www.theassemblync.com/education/higher-education/unc-system-faculty-academic-freedom/?ref=down-ballot.info) in October that seeks to create a standard definition which will not only draw clearer guidelines for where faculty are protected in their speech but also where they are not. The Board of Governors could consider the proposal as early as January. “Fear is real,” Maki said. “The fear is real. Faculty all over the country are very cautious about what they say because of the potential of drawing — whether it’s state or federal or just a general local public — heat on the institution. And that’s not just in what they say, that includes research.” “That's not helpful for anyone, right? And that’s why academic freedom work is so important. We have to be able to say, as experts following the policies and laws, we need the protection to be able to do that. Otherwise, the students aren’t getting the classroom instruction at the level they should, and the public isn’t getting the benefits of research that faculty produce.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73953/culture-of-fear-in-places-of-learning-faculty-at-nc-colleges-report-anxiety-over-threats-to-academic-freedom/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Louisiana public health worker and leadership program recruiting new cohort by Madhri Yehiya, Verite News New Orleans December 24, 2025 Victoria Coy believes anti-abortion advocates would be “appalled” if they knew the state of maternal health care in Louisiana. “Legal attacks on women's health care have resulted in a world where you can't get pre-natal visits, you can't get basic OB-GYN care, and I think that the voters in Louisiana don't want that,” she said. After Louisiana’s [near-total abortion ban](https://lailluminator.com/2022/06/24/louisianas-trigger-law-to-restrict-abortion-goes-into-effect-with-supreme-court-ruling/?ref=down-ballot.info) passed in August 2022, hospitals, obstetricians and gynecologists increasingly [delayed providing](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/03/19/1239376395/louisiana-abortion-ban-dangerously-disrupting-pregnancy-miscarriage-care?ref=down-ballot.info) critical prenatal care until the twelfth week of pregnancy — after which miscarriage is less common — and have [hesitated to diagnose](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/29/1143823727/bleeding-and-in-pain-she-couldnt-get-2-louisiana-ers-to-answer-is-it-a-miscarria?ref=down-ballot.info) miscarriages for fear of investigation by the Louisiana Department of Health or state law enforcement agencies. As executive director of the [Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom](https://www.louisianarepro.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), Coy launched a program called Legacy Trust in 2024 and is now recruiting for the second cohort of “future reproductive justice leaders.” Topics will include digital security, community organizing and — new this year — reproductive health care. Coy said the program will bring together 20 to 30 participants for six months of training followed by a two-year service commitment on the board of organizations LCRF is [partnered with](https://www.louisianarepro.org/members-partners?ref=down-ballot.info), such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana and the Louisiana Public Health Institute. Graduates also have the option to start their own organization or continue serving on a board if they were already part of one. Coy, a native of St. Tammany Parish, told Verite News she has 20 years of experience in progressive movements across the South, including gun violence prevention and criminal justice reform, and that her grandmother worked for Planned Parenthood in the 1970s. The program was named in honor of the legacy of the work done by previous generations of reproductive rights activists in Louisiana, she said. She added that it felt especially important to do so after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade caused a loss of morale to the movement. She is incorporating public health training this year in part because of the worsening state of reproductive health care in the state. Participants will be instructed on basic prenatal care, blood pressure testing and common breast cancer and STI symptoms. Legacy Trust graduates won’t perform clinical care as they are not licensed medical professionals, but they will be armed with public health information that can be shared within communities for people to better understand their own health. “We will be training these folks to go back into their communities to be able to provide basic health care that is missing right now, because well over [a third of Louisiana parishes](https://www.marchofdimes.org/maternity-care-deserts-report-2022?ref=down-ballot.info) have no OB-GYN of any kind,” she said. Coy said it was important to note that Legacy Trust graduates will not be performing physical exams, but rather serving as educators on common maternal and reproductive health issues. Louisiana consistently has one of the highest rates of [maternal](https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/maternal-mortality-rate-by-state?ref=down-ballot.info) and [infant](https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/reports/louisiana/report-card?ref=down-ballot.info) mortality in the country, according to March of Dimes. A number of rural hospitals in the state are at [risk of closing](https://www.kadn.com/news/investigates/6-rural-hospitals-in-acadiana-face-possible-closure-as-funding-cuts-loom/article%5F35436929-b2db-4a0e-8424-c3a279f090e4.html?ref=down-ballot.info) as a result of federal budget cuts made earlier this year. The [closure](https://veritenews.org/2025/09/22/planned-parenthood-gulf-coast-louisisana/?ref=down-ballot.info) of Louisiana’s Planned Parenthood’s health clinics — which also ran a community health ambassador program — in September marked another blow to the state’s health care services. “Planned Parenthood was so much a heart and soul of the movement that we're really feeling the loss to the morale,” Coy said. “We recognize that that loss just leaves a huge hole that no one person or organization can fill.” Former Planned Parenthood clinicians opened up [The Clinic NOLA](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/17/the-clinic-nola-planned-parenthood/?ref=down-ballot.info) in New Orleans last month in order to help fill the gap in reproductive healthcare left by Planned Parenthood’s closure. Coy said she is thrilled that former Planned Parenthood staff are staying in the community to continue their work. Coy added that if the state prioritized providing quality women’s healthcare, Legacy Trust would not be necessary. “This program shouldn’t exist,” she said. “We shouldn't be having to take it upon community members to be teaching folks. … But it is the only solution in a state that has otherwise abandoned health care and just let those folks in rural communities fall to the bottom.” ### **A unique support system** Victoria Williams, a maternal health advocate and retired doula, participated in the pilot program last year. She said she left with a clearer view of the state of women’s health care across the state. “That training actually created this statewide lens of understanding of where other people were and understanding their challenges across the state,” she said. Williams continued her work as a member and owner of the Birthmark Doula Collective following graduation from the program. She said one memorable training covered “impromptu speaking” for when faced with unexpected dialogue on reproductive rights. “You never know when there’s going to be a camera somewhere,” she said. “Being able to make sure that you have your elevator pitch, make sure that you are saying things that you believe in and not allowing other people to coerce your words — it was just such a wealth of information.” Sadi Summerlin, founder of ProChoice With Heart - Gulf Coast, also participated in last year’s program. She said Legacy Trust gave her a community of reproductive health advocates to lean on that she did not have previously. “Having almost like a support system of people within the movement that I know that I can turn to … to ask for help, or even just to say, ‘I'm having a really hard time right now,’ and be heard. That's huge,” she said. Summerlin said the program also gave her the skills to expand work within her own advocacy work. “I have four committees that have at least two people seated on those committees and a handful of volunteers. I have a regular book club that meets every two weeks that is focused on reproductive justice as a whole picture,” she said. “None of that would have been possible without having the incredible education that I received through Legacy Trust.” Applications for the next Legacy Trust cohort close on Jan. 31, 2026\. Applicants will be selected in early February and the program’s first in-person meeting will be on Feb. 20\. Coy said although the program cannot fully make up for the loss of Planned Parenthood or the severe lack of reproductive and sexual health care across the state, Legacy Trust can do its best to help fill in the gap. “It's hurting women, it's hurting moms. It's hurting rural communities even more,” she said. “It's not perfect. We would prefer to have doctors straight up, but we don't, and we're not going to for a while.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/24/lcrf-reproductive-health-legacy-trust/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) --- # Oklahoma’s ban on Chinese-owned farmland made an exception for Smithfield Foods by Juan Vassallo, Investigate Midwest December 8, 2025 *This story was produced in partnership with* [*ArtDesk*](https://readartdesk.com/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, published by the Kirkpatrick Foundation. The Kirkpatrick Foundation is also a donor to Investigate Midwest.* Oklahoma lawmakers have passed measures limiting foreign ownership of farmland in response to concerns about Chinese nationals and companies buying agricultural land in the state. While approximately 4.3% of Oklahoma farmland is foreign-owned, according to the USDA’s most recent filings, most of that is held by Canadian and European companies for renewable energy projects. Less than 1% of that share is Chinese. Still, anti-China rhetoric has largely driven legislation, and a recent poll shows Republicans nationwide are concerned about Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland. Despite that concern, this new state legislation includes exemptions for Chinese-owned food supply companies. The carve-outs specifically exempt Smithfield Foods, the only Chinese-owned company with farmland in Oklahoma. Smithfield Foods, owned by China’s WH Group, is not affected by the restrictions and continues to raise hogs on roughly 2,575 acres in northwest Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s restrictions mirror a broader national movement in mostly Republican states to curb foreign farmland ownership, driven by security concerns over countries the government deems “hostile.” Yet, unlike states such as Arkansas, Oklahoma lawmakers have shown little interest in forcing Chinese-owned companies already operating in the state to divest or limit their ability to expand. In 2023, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin ordered the agri-chemical firm Syngenta, owned by the Chinese conglomerate ChemChina, to sell its 160-acre research site and fined the company $280,000\. The move followed a new state law restricting foreign investments from certain countries. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Governor-Headshot-1.jpg) Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders touted the decision during a press conference announcing the Trump Administration’s National Farm Security Action Plan, a twelve-page outline aimed at “addressing the imperative for agriculture security in America.” “I’m so proud of the fact that Arkansas was the first state in the country to kick a Chinese-owned company off of our farmland and out of our state,” Sanders said at the press conference in July. “And we made them pay for it. Very Trump-esque.” During the same press conference, Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro brought up Smithfield Foods, noting that after its purchase by the WH Group, it “now basically controls an eighth of the world’s pork supply.” Counties where Smithfield operates in Oklahoma — Beaver, Harper, and Ellis — are even highlighted on a map included in Trump’s plan. Neither the plan nor those involved in its rollout specified any steps they might take to force Smithfield to divest. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Untitled-design-4.png) #### Help us do more reporting like this. You’re reading an investigation that traces how political rhetoric about China diverges from the facts on the ground, and how lobbying and selective enforcement shape who is targeted and who retains control of Oklahoma farmland. **Your NewsMatch donation helps us continue reporting that gives communities the information they need to stay informed and prepared.** ## **The Smithfield exception** Oklahoma Senate Bill 212 expanded existing restrictions on foreign ownership of farmland. The law, which took effect in November 2023 — around the same time Arkansas ordered Syngenta to divest — could have impacted Smithfield Foods’ operations in Oklahoma. But the following year, lawmakers added an exception: landownership restrictions do not apply to foreign companies that have an agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS). CFIUS is an interagency committee that reviews foreign investments in American companies and real estate to see if they pose national security risks. It can approve, block, or require changes to deals to protect U.S. interests. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SMITHFIELD_B-6-1024x683.jpg) The entrance to Smithfield Foods in Oklahoma. photo by Zach Lucero, for Investigate Midwest WH Group’s 2013 acquisition of Smithfield was cleared by CFIUS, effectively shielding it from Oklahoma’s foreign ownership restrictions. “We’re honoring the Constitution by those international corporations being vetted by the federal government,” says Oklahoma State Sen. Brent Howard, a Republican from Altus who introduced the legislation that shielded Smithfield. Smithfield Foods has repeatedly rejected claims of “infiltration” of the U.S. pork industry by the Chinese Communist Party, emphasizing that it is managed by American executives. “We currently own approximately 85,000 acres of farmland \[in the U.S.\], and that number has declined considerably since the 2013 WH Group acquisition,” says Ray Atkinson, a senior director at Smithfield Foods. “The farmland we own does not present a national security risk and represents less than 1/100th of one percent of all American farmland.” ## **Enforcement remains selective** During a September hearing at the Oklahoma State Capitol, a handful of lawmakers and state officials convened to discuss the perceived threat of the Chinese Communist Party in the state. Guest speakers at the hearing included Jan Jekielek, a journalist and editor for the far-right media outlet The Epoch Times, and Tom Rawlings, policy director of State Shield — both outspoken anti-China organizations. Although the guest speakers provided no concrete examples of Chinese interference in state politics, they advocated for a state-level Foreign Agents Registration Act, which would require anyone acting on behalf of foreign governments to disclose their ties. During his presentation, Brad Clark, general counsel with the Oklahoma attorney general’s office, turned the discussion to farmland. Clark explained how the new laws can bolster the state’s crackdown on illegal marijuana operations, some of which are run by Chinese individuals. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/M5A4418-1024x683.jpg) Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond walks through a marijuana farm in Oklahoma in 2025\. photo provided After Oklahoma legalized medical marijuana in 2018, the industry has drawn an influx of out-of-state growers. Alongside that growth, there have been reports of labor exploitation and illegally operated farms, including some linked to Chinese organized crime. Clark says the attorney general’s office currently has 150 pending cases involving illegal marijuana farms. But in an interview with Investigate Midwest, he did not specify if any of those cases involve Chinese nationals or illegally owned farmland, citing the ongoing nature of the investigations. The office says it has no closed cases related to illicit land use. Absent from the discussion was Smithfield Foods, the only Chinese-owned company that has lobbied state officials nationwide while also owning farmland in Oklahoma. In 2024 and 2025, Smithfield spent at least $1.58 million on lobbying and more than $90,000 in political contributions during the 2024 election cycle. The company is represented on the board of the Oklahoma Pork Council, a trade group with registered lobbyists. During the hearing, Howard asked Clark whether SB 212 has forced any foreign companies in Oklahoma to divest. “We received questions early on from corporations on mergers and acquisitions as they were going through those processes and came to the realization that SB 212 was taking effect soon,” Clark said, in response. “\[They\] needed to restructure that merger, that acquisition, so it’s highly likely that \[divestment\] has been involved.” The attorney general’s office declined to answer Investigate Midwest’s questions about which corporations altered or abandoned their merger or acquisition plans, or answer specific questions about Smithfield Foods and potential divestment. “The attorney general is against and will fight any individual or entity that exploits Oklahoma jobs to foreign nationalists or others who are not Oklahomans,” Clark says. “And that would certainly include foreign adversaries like China.” Clark also noted that no one from the Trump administration has yet reached out to the attorney general’s office to work on the National Farm Security Action Plan, the administration’s report that highlights the counties where Smithfield Foods operates in the state. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and other Republican members of the state’s congressional delegation have been vocal about what they see as the threat from China and the need to restrict foreign ownership of farmland. Last year, Stitt issued an executive order aimed at reducing Oklahoma’s exposure to the Chinese Communist Party. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/TURBINE-30-scaled-1-1024x576.jpg) Most foreign-owned land in Oklahoma is held by Canadian and European companies for renewable energy projects, like this wind far in northwest Oklahoma. photo by Zach Lucero, for Investigate Midwest On the federal level, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma introduced the bipartisan Security and Oversight of International Landholdings (SOIL) Act of 2025, calling for mandatory CFIUS review of foreign agricultural land purchases. Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas introduced the Agricultural Risk Review Act of 2025, which would make the secretary of agriculture a permanent member of CFIUS. Stitt’s executive order, which directs the state’s retirement system to divest from foreign adversary countries like China, makes no mention of Smithfield Foods and potential divestment, and the bills introduced by Lankford and Lucas earlier this year are pending in Congress. Stitt, Lankford, and Lucas did not respond to requests for comment. Although Trump’s National Farm Security Action Plan emphasizes protecting the country’s farmland, it also calls for efforts to “strengthen domestic agricultural productivity.” Smithfield Foods controls an estimated 23% of the U.S. pork market, while JBS, a Brazilian conglomerate, holds a similar share of the U.S. beef supply—a fact that was pointed out by Kansas senator Roger Marshall during the plan’s launch. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SMITHFIELD_A-52-1024x576.jpg) The Smithfield Foods facility in northwest Oklahoma. photo by Zach Lucero, for Investigate Midwest Both JBS and Smithfield went public this year, a move that could help them expand operations and further solidify their presence in the U.S. food system. Despite introducing legislation across the country to restrict foreign ownership of farmland, lawmakers do not appear motivated to target companies like JBS or Smithfield, or to bring more of the food supply chain under domestic control. A study from Michigan State University analyzed 143 bills aimed at restricting foreign ownership of agricultural land, introduced across 34 states, along with the actions of more than 6,700 state legislators. Despite China’s nominal makeup of total farmland in the state and across the country, the researchers found that fear and skepticism about Chinese influence in the US is what continues to drive the legislation. “Of all the farmland that’s owned by foreigners, Chinese entities have a stake in less than 1% of that,” says Dr. David Ortega, a professor of food economics and policy at Michigan State University and one of the study’s authors. “We are targeting interests from specific countries that can lead to rises in xenophobia and discrimination.” This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/12/08/oklahomas-ban-on-chinese-owned-farmland-made-an-exception-for-smithfield-foods/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=756997&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- # Three districts, one county: Some context on education in Lexington, Thomasville, and Davidson County by [Brent Ducharme](https://www.ednc.org/author/brent-ducharme/?ref=down-ballot.info), EdNC.org | November 13, 2015 Recently, EdNC posted two articles celebrating the effort that local educators and elected officials are making in [Lexington City Schools](https://www.ednc.org/2015/11/01/local-officials-leading-the-way-for-students-in-lexington/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Davidson County Schools](https://www.ednc.org/2015/11/08/creating-a-learning-trajectory-for-all-students-meet-milo/?ref=down-ballot.info). While those articles focused on the important work that is being done in two school districts, any discussion of education in Davidson County should begin with some important context; specifically, that the county’s student population of approximately 25,000 is divided among three racially and socio-economically disparate school districts. > In North Carolina, just four counties maintain a system of three separate school districts. Although multiple districts in a single county could theoretically sustain diverse schools and efficient and equitable educational resources, this is too often not the case. As the UNC Center for Civil Rights noted in its 2014 report, [The State of Exclusion: Davidson County, NC](http://www.uncinclusionproject.org/documents/davidsoncountyreport.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), Davidson County’s three separate school districts are unfortunately marked by significant racial segregation and disparities in academic achievement. In 2013, researchers from Duke University found that Davidson County was home to the second most segregated schools in the state, behind only Halifax, another county with three racially segregated school districts.1 As that same study concluded, “counties with multiple districts are particularly susceptible to imbalance, because racially disparate districts make some racial imbalance impossible to avoid.”2 During the 2014-2015 school year, there were 25,153 students attending the three districts across Davidson County. Lexington City Schools served just 3,044 of these students. Lexington City’s student population was 33.2 percent Latino, 30.1 percent African American, and 25.6 percent white. Thomasville City Schools served an even smaller student population, at just 2,392\. Again, a majority of students in the district were non-white—30.4 percent Latino, 37.8 percent African American, and 24.4 percent white. In staggering contrast, Davidson County Schools served 19,717 students in 2014-2015, 85.3 percent of them white, 3.4 percent African American, and 7.6 percent Latino. Taken together, Lexington City Schools and Thomasville City Schools served just 21.6 percent of all public school students in Davidson County last year. However, 73 percent of the county’s African American students and 53.8 percent of its Latino students attended these two city school districts. This racial segregation is exacerbated by the fact that the Lexington and Thomasville city school district boundaries do not match up with municipal boundaries. In some areas of south Lexington, where the African-American population is smaller than in the city’s center, schoolchildren attend Davidson County Schools rather than Lexington City Schools. Meanwhile, the city school district extends to serve some communities with higher non-white populations outside the city limits, to the north and west of Lexington. In Thomasville, the city school district is significantly smaller than the town itself. Thomasville City Schools serves the town center, where African-American and Latino populations are higher, but does not extend to areas in the northern and southern portions of the town where residents are predominantly white. While this is partially attributable to the fact that the school district has not expanded along with the town itself, the school district lines have also been altered to increase racial segregation. In 1955, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to allow Davidson County Schools to transfer two majority African American schools to the Thomasville city district,3 further entrenching the racial segregation that exists to this day. The racial segregation of schools in Davidson County is accompanied by economic isolation as well. During the 2013-2014 school year, 88.2 percent of Lexington City students and 91.9 percent of Thomasville City students were eligible for free and reduced lunch (FRL). In 2014- 2015, all schools in the Thomasville City district took part in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Provision, a program that grants school-level FRL eligibility to schools serving high-poverty attendance zones, in lieu of individual students filing FRL applications. In both of the past two school years, only 48 percent of students in the Davidson County Schools system have been FRL eligible. The stark racial segregation and economic isolation of students in Davidson County’s three school districts is matched by deep academic achievement disparities. During the 2014- 2015 school year, Davidson County Schools saw 58.7 percent of its students pass their End-of-Grade (EOG) exams, outpacing the statewide average of 56.3 percent. The city school districts did not fare as well. 48.3 percent of students passed their EOGs in Lexington City Schools, while just 44 percent passed in Thomasville City Schools. As students struggle in the city school districts, many teachers are leaving. Data from 2014-2015 shows that Lexington City Schools had the seventh highest teacher turnover rate in the state, at 24.7 percent, while Thomasville City Schools had the eleventh highest, at 21.4 percent. The 9.3 percent teacher turnover rate in Davidson County Schools was twelfth lowest in the state. Racial segregation and uneven academic achievement persist in schools across Davidson County, even as the Lexington City and Thomasville City districts continue to spend significant funds on education. While Davidson County Schools had the lowest per-pupil expenditure in the state during the 2013-2014 school year, Lexington City Schools’ per-pupil expenditure of $9,628.13 was 34th in the state. Thomasville City Schools had an even higher per-pupil expenditure of $9,960.30 (good for 27th in the state). It is critical however, to disaggregate these numbers. Both city school districts were near the middle of the pack in state and local funding, but were among the top fifteen in the state in federal education allocations. Thomasville City Schools was behind only Halifax County Public Schools and Washington County Schools in the amount of federal dollars received per pupil, a direct reflection of the concentrations of low-wealth students these districts serve. As the U.S. Department of Education observed in its [*Guidance on the Voluntary Use of Race to Achieve Diversity and Avoid Racial Isolation in Elementary and Secondary Schools*](http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/guidance-ese-201111.html?ref=down-ballot.info), “\[r\]acially diverse schools provide incalculable educational and civic benefits.” When schools become as racially isolated as they are in Davidson County, however, “they may fail to provide the full panoply of benefits that K-12 schools can offer. The academic achievement of students at racially isolated schools often lags behind that of their peers. . . . Racially isolated schools often have fewer effective teachers, higher teacher turnover rates, less rigorous curricular resources, and inferior facilities and other educational resources.” And perhaps most significantly, “\[r\]educing racial isolation in schools is also important because students who are not exposed to racial diversity in school often lack other opportunities to interact with students from different racial backgrounds.” None of this is to take away from the significant efforts being made within these districts to improve student outcomes. However, those efforts will necessarily be limited by the social and fiscal realities of the multi-district delivery system that divides students by race, ethnicity, and class. Show 3 footnotes 1. CHARLES T. CLOTFELTER ET AL., RACIAL AND ECONOMIC DIVERSITY IN NORTH CAROLINA’S SCHOOLS: AN UPDATE (EXECUTIVE SUMMARY) 7 (Duke Sanford School of Public Policy 2013). ↩ 2. *Id*. at 14\. ↩ 3. 1955 N.C. Sess. Laws 685–86\. ↩ --- This [article](https://www.ednc.org/three-districts-one-county-some-context-on-education-in-lexington-thomasville-and-davidson-county/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [EdNC](https://www.ednc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- ### Clinicians part of mental health calls in Golden State URL: https://down-ballot.info/clinicians-part-of-mental-health-calls-in-golden-state/ Last updated: 2025-12-26T10:00:35.000Z **It's Friday, December 26, 2025 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** She goes to police calls in a Prius. It’s part of new approach to mental health emergencies**,** Greenhouse Gas Emissions Drop to Pandemic Levels in Sign of Local Climate Laws’ Impact, Virginia Lawmaker Weighs in on White’s Ferry Impasse, Supreme Court rebuffs current U.S. president's planned National Guard deployment to Chicago, Separate journeys, together: How Lee and Blair Vogler handled the life-changing attack and its aftermath, Shutoffs loomed in third year of receivership. Can Jackson afford its own water system? **Media outlets and others featured:** CalMatters, THE CITY, Montgomery Community Media, Capitol News Illinois, Cardinal News, Mississippi Today. --- # She goes to police calls in a Prius. It’s part of new approach to mental health emergencies By [Cayla Mihalovich](https://calmatters.org/author/cayla-mihalovich/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![Seen through a softly blurred glass surface, a person with short hair holds a handheld radio near their face inside an office or workroom. Their profile is partially visible as they listen intently, with desks, papers, and a small bouquet of flowers faintly visible in the background.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/121525-San-Mateo-RideAlong-MO-CM-06.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1) Briana Fair, a mental health clinician with the San Mateo Police Department, talks to a dispatcher on her radio about a mental health related 911 call at her office in San Mateo on Dec. 15, 2025\. Fair is part of the Community Wellness and Crisis Response Team. Photo by Manuel Orbegozo for CalMatters *This story was originally published by* [*CalMatters*](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [*Sign up*](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) *for their newsletters.* Briana Fair, a mental health clinician with the San Mateo Police Department, received a dozen voicemails from the same distressed caller over a single weekend this month. She knew the voice. It was her client, saying that a celebrity has been hacking her phone, that she needed help moving into a different apartment and why was the process taking so long? “Normally, she won’t call like this unless she’s starting to get towards a crisis,” Fair said. If Fair keeps her close, it will ensure she is connected with the services she needs and prevent her from calling 911 dispatch, reducing the possibility of a full-blown crisis involving officers or unnecessary hospitalizations. “I fill in the gaps,” said Fair. “It’s just a matter of getting her the right supports.” It’s working, according to a [new study of San Mateo County’s efforts](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02339-7?ref=down-ballot.info) from Stanford’s John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, which found that pairing [law enforcement officers with mental health clinicians](https://calmatters.org/justice/2022/03/mental-health-crisis-police/?ref=down-ballot.info) reduces the likelihood of costlier and more intrusive interventions. Fair was hired four years ago as part of a program to pilot this approach, also known as a “co-responder model,” across San Mateo County’s four largest cities — Daly City, San Mateo, Redwood City and South San Francisco. The idea was to free up police officers and provide alternatives to incarceration and hospital emergency rooms for people in a [mental health crisis](https://calmatters.org/tag/mental-health/?ref=down-ballot.info). Since then, the model has rolled out to police departments in nearly every city in the county. Researchers behind the Stanford study found the co-responder model decreased involuntary psychiatric holds by approximately 17% and reduced the likelihood of future mental health 911 calls among the four pilot cities. The hold allows a hospital to keep someone for up to 72 hours to determine if they are a danger to themselves or others. Given the reduction of roughly 370 involuntary psychiatric holds over the course of two years, researchers Tom Dee and Jaymes Pyne estimated an annual cost savings of roughly $300,000 to $800,000\. “We’ve got to look to alternatives and really understand that police are not the best equipped to handle mental health crisis situations,” said San Mateo County Executive Officer Mike Callagy, who proposed the pilot after seeing cases that resulted in officers using force and in lawsuits. During each visit with her client, Fair tries to help her check something off a list of things that have been bothering her. Today, they’re sitting next to one another as they call California’s social services department to ask about in-home care. They’re placed on hold and after five minutes, her client lets out a deep sigh. “I know, it’s a lot,” Fair said. “That’s why I’m here.” ![A close-up shows a person with short, tightly curled hair leaning forward and listening intently to another person whose back is in the foreground. Their face is partially lit, with a focused, serious expression, while a blurred laptop screen and desk items appear in the background, suggesting a work or interview setting.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/121525-San-Mateo-RideAlong-MO-CM-15-1024x682.jpg) Briana Fair assists a client at the client’s apartment in San Mateo, after the client made multiple calls to her over the weekend, on Dec. 15, 2025\. Photo by Manuel Orbegozo for CalMatters As jazz music plays in the background of the call, Fair picks up a bottle of dry shampoo from the desk, reads the label aloud and asks her how she likes it. She brought the product over during one of their last visits — a bandaid solution that she devised because her client was having trouble bathing herself. “Have you tried it yet?” she asks. “Want me to spray it for you? Brush it first.” Her client takes her hair out of its ponytail, brushes it with her fingers and runs her hands along the part. Fair stands up from her chair, shakes the bottle and mists it over her head. “Does it feel better?” she asks. “Yes, but you sprayed it in my mouth,” her client says, letting out a big laugh. “It feels fresh.” ## Rising number of mental health calls Stanford’s research adds to a [growing body of evidence](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.20240003?ref=down-ballot.info) about the positive impact of alternative first response programs, which have proliferated across the country amid calls for police reform in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020\. Those reforms are so nascent that not much is known about them, Dee said, and his study is one of a handful that provides a credible evaluation. “This is a common-sense reform with a great deal of promise,” he said. “That being said, it’s not a cut-and-paste kind of reform. There are serious design and implementation details that matter for realizing the promise of these sorts of initiatives.” Some of those details include having buy-in from the police, training dispatchers on how to triage calls, and integrating mental health staff. San Mateo Police Chief Ed Barberini said it was a “risky proposition” when his agency decided to participate in the pilot program, worrying that his officers would push back. But mental health calls were on the rise, he said, and without clinical expertise, police officers were being put in a difficult position. That sentiment has been shared by law enforcement agencies across the state, some of which have recently [distanced themselves from mental health calls](https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/04/mental-health-crisis-california-police-response/?ref=down-ballot.info). “We recognized that we were triaging problems and just finding short-term solutions,” said Barberini. “I’m pleasantly surprised with how things have turned out.” ![A motion-blurred street scene shows a uniformed officer moving quickly near an intersection, with another person partially visible nearby. A stop sign and street sign appear in the background alongside residential buildings and trees, conveying a sense of sudden movement and urgency.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/121525-San-Mateo-RideAlong-MO-CM-03-1024x682.jpg) ****First:** Briana Fair, San Mateo Police Department’s first-ever mental health clinician, responds to a mental health related 911 call that involved two police officers and resulted in no arrests, in San Mateo, on Dec. 15, 2025\. ****Last:** Police officers Dylan Kayzar, left, Jared Rogge, and mental health clinician Briana Fair chat after responding to a mental health related 911 call in San Mateo, on Dec. 15, 2025\. Photos by Manuel Orbegozo for CalMatters ![A person sits in the front seat of a car, shown in profile, with short curly hair softly lit by dim light from outside the vehicle. The interior is mostly dark, with the headrest, window frame, and a blurred structure visible beyond the window, creating a quiet, contemplative mood.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/121525-San-Mateo-RideAlong-MO-CM-01-1024x682.jpg) Briana Fair, San Mateo Police Department’s first-ever mental health clinician, prepares to respond to a mental health-related 911 call in San Mateo on Dec. 15, 2025\. Photo by Manuel Orbegozo for CalMatters Prior to the pilot program, San Mateo police officers who responded to mental health 911 calls had to decide whether to send the person to the hospital for a 72-hour involuntary hold, arrest them, or leave them to their own devices. By pairing them with a clinician, the agency has been able to provide safety planning, follow-up calls and connections to community partners for people in mental health crises. Mariela Ruiz-Angel, director of Alternative Response Initiatives at Georgetown Law’s Center for Innovations in Community Safety, said a co-responder model is fantastic — but it’s just the beginning of what a progressive city looks like. “This is really about evolving to a level in which we don’t have to send out cops or fire for basic-level need calls,” she said. “The idea was never about taking cops out of the equation altogether. The idea was that we don’t have to center them as the main response of 911\. We don’t have to make public safety about cops. Public safety is about the appropriate response.” ## De-escalating a family feud The pilot program cost approximately $1.5 million over the course of two years, split between the county and the four participating cities. Once it ended, the San Mateo Police Department — an agency consisting of 116 sworn officers — converted Fair’s role to a permanent position as the agency’s first-ever mental health clinician. The city is also using grant money to employ an additional mental health clinician part-time. Every other participating city has also found a way to sustain its program. On a Monday morning, Fair responds to emails from police officers who have asked her to follow up with people they interacted with over the weekend. This time of year has been busy, Fair says, because the holidays can be lonely. In the last week alone, she’s had to respond to a variety of crises: evaluating a kid who had an interrupted suicide attempt and responding to a transgender youth who wanted to stab themselves. A radio sits next to her desk. She pauses to listen more intently as a dispatcher relays information about a person who thinks they’re being followed by a federal agent. A family member called in to report the episode. A few minutes later, Fair slings her backpack over her arm, sticks the radio in her pocket and quickly winds her way through the hallway to the garage. In the backseat of her county car – a white Toyota Prius – is a bulletproof vest, which she says she rarely uses. Outside an apartment complex, Fair pulls over and turns on her flashers. The process, also referred to as “staging,” is when she parks two blocks away so police officers, who have already arrived, can vet the scene to make sure it’s safe for her arrival. ![A person with short, curly hair sits indoors near a window, hands clasped in their lap, with a calm expression. Sunlight falls across part of their face and shoulder, while the rest of the room remains in shadow. Small potted plants sit on a ledge beside them, and shelves with framed items and greenery are visible in the softly lit background.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/121525-San-Mateo-RideAlong-MO-CM-31-1024x682.jpg) As the San Mateo Police Department’s first mental health clinician, Briana Fair connects people experiencing mental health crises with services to help prevent unnecessary hospitalizations or police involvement in San Mateo, on Dec. 15, 2025\. Photo by Manuel Orbegozo for CalMatters A few minutes later, she opens the car door and jogs over in her black Nikes and tan cargo pants. An officer introduces her to the family and from there, Fair’s work unfolds. She moves back and forth between the family and their loved one, who’s sitting across the street on a bench, as she collects information from both parties: Is there a mental health history? What kind of substances have they used before? Are they currently receiving any treatment? Have they been hospitalized before? Did they make any threats? What do you want to see happen today? After 10 minutes, Fair pulls one of the officers aside to let him know that the person doesn’t need to be hospitalized. “Let’s safety plan,” she tells him. It’s what the agency does if they receive a call that doesn’t rise to the level of an involuntary psychiatric hold. At that point, officers say, they’re “just playing peacemaker.” Fair huddles beside the family to explain that the situation is no longer a police matter or a mental health crisis, but rather, a family matter. Still, she doesn’t want to leave them feeling alone. They create a “safety plan” that everyone can get on board with so that, as she later explains, “We don’t get another call in 10 minutes because they’re arguing down the street.” “We get calls like this — where it sounds like it’s going to be wild — and then we get here and it’s just a family matter,” she said. “It happens.” *Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.* This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/12/police-mental-health-emergencies/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # Greenhouse Gas Emissions Drop to Pandemic Levels in Sign of Local Climate Laws’ Impact ### Phasing out fuel oil in buildings, improved energy efficiency and cleaner, greener cars contributed to a 5% decline between 2023 and 2024. by [Samantha Maldonado](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/samantha-maldonado/?ref=down-ballot.info) Dec. 23, 2025, 4:17 p.m. ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/042023_planyc_adams_2-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1) In 2024, the city’s [greenhouse gas emissions](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/23/greenhouse-gas-inventory-emissions-pandemic/?ref=down-ballot.info) dropped to levels not seen since 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic — a sign, environmentalists say, that new climate policies are making a difference. The city’s latest annual greenhouse gas [inventory](https://www.nyc.gov/content/climate/pages/initiatives/nyc-greenhouse-gas-inventories?ref=down-ballot.info) shows a decrease of about 5% in emissions citywide compared to the previous year and a 25% cut since 2005, when the city began tracking its emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions — which include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane, among others — trap heat and warm the planet. They also worsen air quality, causing and [exacerbating harmful health outcomes](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4921692/?ref=down-ballot.info), such as asthma. In New York City, the major sources of greenhouse gases are residential and commercial buildings, manufacturing, cars and trucks, landfills and wastewater treatment. But significant drops in those emissions came as a result of increased energy efficiency and the phase-out of fuel oil in buildings, as well as the rise of hybrid and electric cars as well as fuel-efficient gas vehicles. The [pandemic spurred the largest drop](https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/01/06/environment-trends-future-nyc/?ref=down-ballot.info) in emissions since tracking began, with a 9% decline between 2019 and 2020 — including a 21% decline in transportation emissions — as people stayed home or left the city entirely. In 2024, transportation emissions were more than 16% higher than in 2020, but emissions from buildings and waste were 5% and 3% lower, respectively. Compared to 2005 levels, in 2024, transportation emissions were down more than 22%, waste emissions by over 19% and buildings almost 27%. In 2024, emissions from natural gas increased 15% compared to 2005, but were still at decade low. Elijah Hutchinson, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, pointed out that the annual drop in natural gas emissions was equivalent to taking almost 600,000 gas cars off the road—about the amount registered in Brooklyn. “Reduced reliance on fossil fuels and a shift to electric transportation are driving cleaner air across the city,” Hutchinson said. “Expanded composting and anaerobic digestion programs are keeping more food and yard waste out of landfills. At the same time, New York City continues to scale up clean energy.” ## **Tough New Laws** Several city laws and initiatives — and [standards](https://www.nhtsa.gov/laws-regulations/corporate-average-fuel-economy?ref=down-ballot.info) set at the federal level — helped explain the decrease in emissions in 2024. A [program](https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/about/green-rides.page?ref=down-ballot.info) through the Taxi and Limousine Commission mandated a minimum of 5% of rides from for-hire car services like Uber or Lyft be [electric](https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/03/17/electric-vehicle-charging-stations-needed/?ref=down-ballot.info) (or wheelchair-accessible) by 2024’s end — a goal that was exceeded. According to a [citywide sustainability report update](https://www.nyc.gov/assets/climate/downloads/pdfs/PlaNYC-2024-Progress-Report.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), 8.6% of Lyft and Uber rides took place in electric vehicles in February 2024\. The minimum percentages will rise each year, with a goal of all rides electric or accessible by 2030. Two citywide laws targeting buildings, the largest source of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, also were in effect in 2024. For instance, a [law](https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/12/15/new-york-city-banned-gas-in-new-buildings-what-to-know/?ref=down-ballot.info) prohibits the use of fossil fuels in new buildings with six or fewer stories. (The ban goes into effect in 2027 for taller buildings.) That means developers must include water heaters, heating systems and stoves powered by electricity rather than gas or oil. Earlier [laws](https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dep/downloads/pdf/air/ll97-no-4-fuel-oil-phase-out.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) required the phase-out of highly polluting fuel oil in buildings, leading to replacement with gas or electricity. Large buildings also had to abide by the carbon emission caps set by Local Law 97 starting in 2024 and prepare to reduce their emissions as the limits get stricter in coming years. Property owners have taken steps to comply by installing solar or switching to more efficient appliances, among other carbon-cutting actions. Under the same law, the city is required to cut emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, compared to 2005 levels. In large part, the city’s ability to continue to achieve those declines in emissions depends on the rate and extent to which the [state transitions](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/12/16/new-york-state-energy-plan-peaker-climate/?ref=down-ballot.info) the city’s electric grid to cleaner sources of power and delivers that power to the boroughs. Currently fossil fuels account for almost all electric generation, as gas generation took the place of the emissions-free nuclear power that served the city until 2021, after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo [ordered the Indian Point nuclear reactor shut down](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/23/cuomo-indian-nuclear-new-york-00521572?ref=down-ballot.info). The completion of Empire Wind, [an offshore wind project](http://thecity.nyc/2025/12/22/trump-empire-sunrise-wind-national-security-energy/?ref=down-ballot.info), and a transmission line to bring hydropower from Canada, would replace Indian Point’s loss. Victoria Cerullo, director of urban engagement at the New York Climate Exchange, said the numbers show the success of policymaking and enforcement. > “While there is more work to do, the city has made great strides over the past few years to reduce building emissions with Local Law 97 implementation and the phasing out of dirty heating oils, which has played a big role in this downward trend,” said Cerullo, who previously worked in the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. “These aren’t just numbers in spreadsheets. They represent healthier outcomes for people who live in the city, and if we want a more affordable city, bringing down greenhouse gas emissions is an important part of that equation.” Cerullo said the city should continue helping property owners comply with Local Law 97, swapping diesel- and gas-powered vehicles for electric, using [more sustainable](https://www.nyc.gov/content/climate/pages/clean-construction?ref=down-ballot.info) materials and processes in construction and advocating for clean energy development. --- ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=71837&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) [Government ](https://www.mymcmedia.org/category/government/?ref=down-ballot.info)[Transportation ](https://www.mymcmedia.org/category/transportation/?ref=down-ballot.info) [December 23, 2025 ](https://www.mymcmedia.org/2025/12?ref=down-ballot.info)[Fran Murphy](https://www.mymcmedia.org/author/fmurphy/?ref=down-ballot.info) [Virginia Lawmaker Weighs in on White’s Ferry ImpasseFive years ago, the cable at White’s Ferry snapped and life became a little more isolated in upper Montgomery County![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/apple-touch-icon-3.png)Montgomery Community MediaFran Murphy![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/whites-ferry-featured.jpg)](https://www.mymcmedia.org/virginia-lawmaker-weighs-in-on-whites-ferry-impasse/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Virginia Lawmaker Weighs in on White’s Ferry Impasse It’s been five years since the cable at White’s Ferry snapped and life got a little more isolated for residents in Upcounty. This year the [Fair Access Committee](https://www.poolesvillemd.gov/256/Fair-Access?ref=down-ballot.info) will hold a rally to raise voices and hopes for a re-opening of the centuries-old service that crossed the Potomac between Dickerson, an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, and Leesburg in Loudoun County. > The dispute between the Ferry owner, Chuck Kuhn, and landowners on the other side, the Devlin family, has showed little sign of resolution. Recently the county offered a $3 million-dollar public subsidy to help reopen the Ferry. But at the time of this writing little seems to have come of it. > Now a new voice from the Virginia side of the river is weighing in on the unresolved dilemma. Virginia Delegate David Reid, who also works as the Vice Chair of the Virginia House Transportation Committee, made his concerns known in an opinion column for [Loudoun Now](https://www.loudounnow.com/opinion/columnists/reid-a-path-forward-for-whites-ferry/article%5Fe63a175c-8ab4-455b-b447-cd541223dc2c.html?ref=down-ballot.info). According to the article, Reid will spearhead legislation establishing a state-led work group to find a way to get the Ferry back in operation on the Potomac again. Reid cites several ways to end the current impasse including negotiation, easement, or acquisition that remains respectful of personal property rights. With an eye toward more sophisticated water travel he concludes, “after five years, it’s time for a reset and a fresh approach to reopen Whites Ferry with active involvement from the state’s transportation professionals. Water transit can provide the region and the Commonwealth with additional capacity without the high costs of road or rail construction.” --- # Supreme Court rebuffs Trump’s planned National Guard deployment to Chicago by Brenden Moore and Hannah Meisel, Capitol News Illinois December 23, 2025 #### **Article Summary** - In a 6-3 decision Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a lower court order barring President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to Chicago while the underlying legal challenge continues. - Justices said the administration failed, at least at this stage, to show legal authority to use the military for domestic law enforcement in Illinois, echoing lower court findings that political opposition does not amount to “rebellion.” - The case stems from Trump’s Chicago-focused "Operation Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement campaign this fall, which sparked protests and clashes between civilians and federal agents *This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.* SPRINGFIELD — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday kept in place a lower court’s ruling temporarily barring President Donald Trump from deploying National Guard troops to Chicago as part of his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The 6-3 ruling, which comes more than two months after the Trump Administration made an emergency appeal to the high court, effectively prevents the federal government from using federalized troops in Chicago while the underlying court case challenging the deployment continues. “At this preliminary stage, the Government has failed to identify a source of authority that would allow the military to execute the laws in Illinois,” the court wrote in the unsigned opinion denying the request for a stay. Conservative justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented. [**Read the ruling here.**](https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26438519/25a443-order.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Trump administration lawyers had argued the judicial branch had no right to “second guess” a president’s judgment on national security matters or resulting military actions. The ruling represents a major setback for the Trump administration and a triumph for Gov. JB Pritzker and state Democratic leaders, who fiercely opposed and pushed back on the concept and practice of federal troops patrolling American streets. Pritzker called the ruling “a big win for Illinois and American democracy.” “This is an important step in curbing the Trump Administration's consistent abuse of power and slowing Trump’s march toward authoritarianism,” the governor said in a statement. “American cities, suburbs, and communities should not have to face masked federal agents asking for their papers, judging them for how they look or sound, and living in fear that President can deploy the military to their streets.” Attorney General Kwame Raoul, whose office presented the state’s case, was also pleased with the court’s ruling. “Nearly 250 years ago, the framers of our nation’s Constitution carefully divided responsibility over the country’s militia, today’s U.S. National Guard, between the federal government and the states — believing it impossible that a president would use one state’s militia against another state,” Raoul said. “The extremely limited circumstances under which the federal government can call up the militia over a state's objection do not exist in Illinois, and I am pleased that the streets of Illinois will remain free of armed National Guard members as our litigation continues in the courts.” **Read more:** [**Judge’s block on deploying National Guard extended indefinitely as Supreme Court weighs case**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/judges-block-on-deploying-national-guard-extended-indefinitely-as-supreme-court-weighs-case/?ref=down-ballot.info) **|** [**DOJ lawyer says it’s ‘wrong to allege’ Operation Midway Blitz is over**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/doj-lawyer-says-its-wrong-to-allege-operation-midway-blitz-is-over/?ref=down-ballot.info) In early October, Trump ordered the federalization of 300 Illinois National Guardsmen over Pritzker’s objections and deployed 200 members of the Texas National Guard to Chicago. The order came in as tensions flared outside the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement’s processing facility in Chicago’s near-west suburb of Broadview, which had become the epicenter of protests against the Trump administration’s Chicago-focused "Operation Midway Blitz” immigration enforcement campaign launched in September. The administration claimed activists were violent and the National Guard was needed to protect federal agents and the ICE facility. Trump’s deployment of troops to Los Angeles this summer marked the first time in 60 years that a president had taken control of a state’s National Guard without a governor’s consent. He’s also authorized troop deployments to Washington, D.C. and Portland, Oregon. All have been met with legal challenges, but the attempted deployment to Chicago was the first to reach the nation’s high court. Operation Midway Blitz’s heavy immigration enforcement presence in Chicago and its suburbs continued through mid-November when U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino and his 200 agents abruptly left the area. During the more than more than two months of aggressive enforcement actions, agents arrested more than 3,000 people in the U.S. without legal authorization. National Guard troops were only active for a day at the Broadview ICE facility before U.S. District Judge April Perry issued a temporary restraining order blocking their deployment. While Texas guardsmen were sent back to their state at the same time Border Patrol agents left Chicago last month, the 300 members of the Illinois National Guard have remained under the Trump administration’s authority. Federal officials have said both the Illinois and Texas guardsmen spent their time doing training exercises. After their deployment, clashes between federal agents and civilians shifted from Broadview to Chicago neighborhoods, where agents — including Bovino, often used force like tear gas and other riot control weapons like tear gas and pepper balls to disperse crowds. **Read more:** [**Bovino ordered to make daily court appearances after three days of tear gas in Chicago**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/bovino-ordered-to-make-daily-court-appearances/?ref=down-ballot.info) **|** [**Judge grants restraining order protecting protesters, journalists in Chicago-area clashes**](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/judge-grants-restraining-order-protecting-protesters-journalists-in-chicago-area-clashes/?ref=down-ballot.info) As those confrontations shifted, so did the arguments from Trump Administration lawyers, who said the militarized manpower was necessary to protect federal agents and property from “rioters” that they alleged have aimed fireworks at agents “and have thrown bottles, rocks, and tear gas at them.” In a separate lawsuit, protesters, journalists and clergy won a preliminary injunction last month restricting agents from using from using riot control weapons. But after an initial ruling in the case from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals cast doubt on the judge’s legal authority to limit how immigration agents do their jobs, the plaintiffs asked that the case be dropped. Perry’s Oct. 9 ruling, in which she found “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois,” was later backed up by a three-judge panel on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which wrote that “political opposition is not rebellion.” Raoul argued that the troop deployment violates Illinois’ rights as sovereign state to carry about its own law enforcement, as well as 1878 Posse Comitatus Act that bans the military from participating in domestic law enforcement. National Guard members are often federalized for overseas missions. At the state level, the are often deployed by governors to respond to natural disasters and civil unrest. Prior to this year, the last time a president federalized a state’s National Guard without a request from a state’s governor was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent federal troops to protect civil rights protesters in Alabama without the cooperation of segregationist Gov. George Wallace. [*Capitol News Illinois*](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.* This [article](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/supreme-court-rebuffs-trumps-planned-national-guard-deployment-to-chicago/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Capitol News Illinois](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/capitolnewsillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-Captiol-News-Illinois.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://capitolnewsillinois.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=92946&ga4=G-FVW3LFD82K) --- # Separate journeys, together: How Lee and Blair Vogler handled the life-changing attack and its aftermath Lee and Blair Vogler each had their own whirlwind of challenges during his hospitalization. While Lee, a Danville City Council member, was fighting for his life after being set on fire, Blair was getting constant news from doctors, learning about burn injuries and taking care of their family. by [Grace Mamon](https://cardinalnews.org/author/grace-mamon-2/?ref=down-ballot.info) December 8, 2025 [Separate journeys, together: How Lee and Blair Vogler handled the life-changing attack and its aftermathLee and Blair Vogler each had their own whirlwind of challenges during his hospitalization. While Lee, a Danville City Council member, was fighting for his life after being set on fire, Blair was g…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-5.png)Cardinal NewsGrace Mamon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/154896_Mamon_20251201_Lee-and-Blair-Vogler-1.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/12/08/separate-journeys-together-how-lee-and-blair-vogler-handled-the-life-changing-attack-and-its-aftermath/?ref=down-ballot.info) Blair Vogler was at work on a Wednesday morning in July when her phone rang with a call from her husband. The couple were planning to leave work early to attend a funeral later that day, and Blair was running late. Thinking that [Lee Vogler](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/07/31/vogler-was-danvilles-comeback-kid-for-years-before-attack/?ref=down-ballot.info) was calling to ask if she had left yet, Blair didn’t answer the first time. “Then it rang again, back to back, and I thought, ‘Well, I’d better answer,’” she said. “So I did, and I just heard him yelling.” Lee, a Danville City Council member, had just been [set on fire](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/07/30/danville-council-member-vogler-attacked-set-on-fire-suspect-in-custody/?ref=down-ballot.info) at his workplace on Main Street. That was four months ago, and the Vogler family has since experienced ups and downs, progress and setbacks, support, rumors, surgeries, therapy, media attention and medical bills. [Shotsie Buck-Hayes](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/08/15/uk-friend-of-man-charged-with-attack-on-vogler-says-he-had-sought-mental-health-counseling-before-assault/?ref=down-ballot.info), 30, was arrested and charged with aggravated malicious wounding and attempted first-degree murder a few hours after the attack. He’s been [indicted](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/10/28/suspect-in-attack-on-danville-city-council-member-lee-vogler-indicted-on-three-charges/?ref=down-ballot.info) on both charges, and a third of breaking and entering with intent to commit murder while armed with a deadly weapon. A trial date will be set during Danville Circuit Court’s January term. In a partially complete psychological examination, Buck-Hayes has been determined to be competent to stand trial, though sanity at the time of the offense is still being evaluated, according to court records. Buck-Hayes told Danville police during questioning that he attacked Lee — and planned to kill him — because Lee had had an affair with his wife. Lee missed much of the news about the suspect immediately after the attack, as he was unconscious in the hospital for about a month with second- and third-degree burns to over half of his body. The story below is based on a long interview with Lee and Blair, about four months after the attack. During the interview, Lee said he could not talk about the suspect until after the trial was over. While her husband was unconscious, Blair received dozens of daily updates from his doctors and nurses, while also weighing decisions about their two young children without his input. When Lee woke up, he still couldn’t talk, walk, feed himself or touch his face. After exceeding his doctors’ expectations, Lee was released from the hospital in late October, months earlier than expected. One of the first things he did was [attend that evening’s city council meeting](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/10/22/lee-vogler-attends-danville-city-council-meeting-in-first-public-appearance-since-attack/?ref=down-ballot.info). He’s also been able to go to his son’s middle school football games, attend his daughter’s modeling shows and dress up with his family for Halloween. But his recovery isn’t over. Lee is still getting used to the new way his body moves and behaves. He’s sometimes surprised when he’s unable to do something that he used to do regularly, like turn a round doorknob or make the “hang ten” hand sign. His voice has gotten stronger since his release from the hospital, and it now sounds much like it did before the attack. His face also looks much the same, though he now sports a beard and glasses because he can’t yet shave himself or put in contacts. He can walk on his own — and even shuffle, guarding his son playing basketball — but his movements are stiffer than before. Life looks different for the Voglers, and it always will. For them, and for many others in Danville who read the July 30 headlines in disbelief, there will always be life before and life after that Wednesday morning. ### Blair: How a normal day changed in the blink of an eye It’s hard now for Blair Vogler to sum up her husband’s three-month hospitalization. Some moments from that time stand out in perfect clarity, and others are a blur. She was constantly inundated with new information about his condition and learning about burn injuries and their complications. Blair is a nurse in Reidsville, North Carolina, but she’s learned more than she ever hoped to know about burns in the past few months. “One of the biggest things I learned was just how burns are such a different beast than any other kind of injury,” she said. “Every organ of your body, its functionality is affected, and physically, emotionally, psychologically, there are so many ups and downs.” She was at work when she got the call from Lee on the day of the attack. She had been in nurse mode all day, and she had to stay in that mindset to process what had happened to her husband. Neither Lee or Blair is certain about whether he actually dialed her number himself. Lee was yelling into the phone, Blair said, and she didn’t understand what was happening until one of his coworkers took the phone and began explaining the situation. Her first thoughts: How bad is it? Is he talking? What hospital is he going to? “I just started going into that nurse-mode line of questioning to process in a non-emotional way,” she said. Initially, she was told that it didn’t seem that bad — Lee was breathing, talking, and he knew what was going on. But when first responders told Blair over the phone that he would be airlifted to a burn unit in North Carolina, and not taken to Danville’s hospital, she knew it was worse than it seemed. Blair remembers being flustered — she couldn’t find her keys, so her coworker drove her to the helipad where Lee would be airlifted, but she couldn’t remember where exactly that was. When they got there, she jumped over the locked gate and ran to the ambulance, which had also arrived. That’s when she learned that over 60% of his body had been burnt. “As soon as I saw him I knew it was bad,” she said. Still, it was hard for her to tell the extent of his injuries right away. “When I first saw him, you couldn’t really tell how bad the burns were because everything was black, everything was charred,” she said. “I just remember seeing his eyes, his blue eyes with the black all around them.” His teeth were black too, which immediately signaled to her that he had an airway injury. She told the first responders to intubate him, or put a tube down his throat for ventilation. That nurse-mode detachment was quickly replaced with emotion when Lee began talking to her. She was running her hands through his hair — the only part of his body she could touch — while he lay in the ambulance, even though the first responders had told her to leave the vehicle. “Blair, I’m not going to make it,” he said. He said it almost calmly, the way patients sometimes talked to Blair and other nurses after they’ve accepted the worst-case scenario. That’s how he sounded when he told her, “I’m not going to make it. I can’t feel anything. I love you, I love the kids, I’m sorry.” She pushed back, telling him over and over again that he would make it. “There were some expletives thrown in there,” she said. After that, the first responders made her leave the ambulance so they could intubate and airlift Lee. After the helicopter left, everything moved quickly, Blair said. But she held on to that last moment with Lee before she left the ambulance. “I really didn’t know if it’d be the last time I’d ever talk to him,” she said. “And I didn’t talk to him again for a month.” ### Lee: Voices and sounds, and then nothing Lee said he has some fuzzy memories of that interaction with Blair. Mostly, he can remember voices and sounds, but he can’t visualize the moment. He remembers asking a first responder if he was going to die. “Not today,” he said. Though he can’t remember those moments clearly, he remembers how he felt. Lee said he’s had concussions, been in car accidents, broken bones, but he’s never felt anything like those burns before. “My body felt like it was shutting down… . I had never had that feeling of everything leaving my body,” he said. “That’s when I think I told Blair that I wasn’t going to make it, something’s really wrong.” Lee remembers feeling the helicopter leave the ground, and then nothing else. ### Blair: Watching her husband’s condition worsen overnight Blair traveled to the burn unit at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill that afternoon. She had met doctors, nurses and other hospital staff, and she was trying to remember all of their names. She had given her phone to someone else, unable to deal with the incessant notifications. She had already called her children, shifting back into mom mode, to explain as best she could what had happened to their dad. When the medical staff told her she could see Lee in the intensive care unit later that evening, she wanted to go alone. It’s a moment that stands still in her memory. She remembers where everyone was standing as she entered the room — and immediately got angry. “You brought me to the wrong room,” she told the nurse. “This is not my husband.’” She was livid that the hospital staff had made that mistake, after everything she had been through that day. But it wasn’t the wrong room. “Blair, this is Lee,” the nurse told her. “This is not Lee,” Blair said. “He looked absolutely nothing like himself at that point,” she said. “You could see the injuries to his face, they had shaved his head, and he was so swollen from all the fluid that they had to pump in. It took me a while to believe it was actually him.” She was grateful then that she had already decided that her kids wouldn’t come to the hospital right away, and that they would stay with her sister instead. Blair had called 11-year-old Kingston and 7-year-old Ava separately earlier that day, explaining things to them in different ways. “\[Kingston\] is 11, but he’s a very mature 11-year-old,” Blair said. “He’s very aware and competent, so I wanted him to hear it from me.” With Ava, Blair was more high-level with her explanation. “Dad’s hurt, I’m going to stay at the hospital for a while, and you get to have a sleepover with your cousins,” she told her daughter. Protecting her kids was the only agency Blair felt like she had at that time. She had to trust the doctors and nurses at the hospital to do their job, and she had to do hers as a mother, she said. Even then, there were limitations on what she could do. Blair’s sister told her that a reporter from the Associated Press came to the door that afternoon while Kingston and Ava were there. “That was really hard for me to hear afterwards, because my 7-year-old is there and she doesn’t know what happened,” Blair said. Reporters overwhelmed Blair too on her drive to Chapel Hill. About 20 minutes into the trip, Blair said that calls from unknown numbers began flooding in. Each time, she answered in case it was one of Lee’s doctors, and then hung up when it wasn’t. “Every time I answered it would be a different reporter,” she said. “I wasn’t even at the hospital yet, so that made everything a whole different level of surreal.” The rest of that first night in the hospital also felt surreal, Blair said. Hospital staff barely left Lee’s room at all. A physician’s assistant pulled a stool and a computer on wheels and sat next to the bed. “They were back and forth changing and tweaking every little thing all night long,” Blair said. “That’s when we learned that with burns, you don’t have all the injuries upfront.” It can take up to 72 hours for symptoms to appear, Blair learned. All night long, Lee’s condition kept worsening. The lab work, the infections, his lungs, the surface area, his blood pressure, all got worse and worse as the night went on. By the next morning, doctors were talking to her about putting him on dialysis, a treatment for patients with failing kidneys. Luckily, that didn’t end up happening, Blair said. “He was teetering on the edge,” she said. “For a while, things kind of went like that.” The team of doctors told Blair that Lee’s injuries were “survivable,” but not that he would survive. “The way they said it, it was hopeful but not guaranteed. … That was kind of the mantra for the next few days.” ### Blair: Surgeons, children and tough calls Three burn surgeons worked together on Lee’s first skin graft surgery. Afterward, they said it was one of the biggest skin grafts they had ever done, Blair said. Over 60% of his body had been burnt, and the surgeons had to take an additional 30% of his skin to create grafts. That left 95% of his body open, meaning it had no intact skin, Blair said. Blair decided to bring both Kingston and Ava to the hospital for the surgery, although they still wouldn’t see their father yet. Instead, they got to meet members of the staff — surgeons, therapists and aftercare team members. The kids were encouraged to ask any questions they had. They got badges and surgical hats, and the staff gave Ava a book about burns that they give to children who are burn patients. The head surgeon came out of the operating room to talk to the kids during Lee’s surgery. She shook their hands and introduced himself by her first name. That was important, especially for Kingston, who wanted to feel like he was being told everything about his dad’s condition. Later that day, when Blair asked her kids how they were doing, Ava surprised Blair with her response. “Dad’s safe, he’s being taken care of,” she told her mom. While she was still sitting with Ava, Blair got a call about the surgery, and she had to shift out of mom mode again. Over the course of Lee’s operation, the surgical team had realized that his injuries were worse than they thought. Everything that they thought was a second-degree burn had converted to a third-degree burn. “How can someone survive being 95% open?” Blair asked one of the surgeons. The doctor was blunt. “I’m not God. I’m a surgeon,” she said. “We’ve done our best, but it’s in the Lord’s hands now.” Lee had another surgery on Aug. 27, the night before their 15th wedding anniversary, Blair said. Afterward, the surgeons told her that his body was resisting the antibiotics to treat infections, which are common in burn patients, especially when so much healthy skin has been taken for grafts. It was the first time one of the doctors told her in real time that Lee might not make it. Then the doctor, crying, gave Blair a hug. “I had to decide, do I bring the kids up here, do I call my parents, do I give it 24 hours, what do I do?” Blair said. Other than the day of the attack, it was the scariest time for her. She decided to wait. She was relieved when Lee started responding to antibiotics, after the doctors had switched them several times. It had been several weeks since the attack by that point. That’s when Lee’s kids started asking to see him. ### Blair: The way faces heal Blair got Kingston and Ava into therapy the week after the attack, and the therapist told her to trust her gut about when they should see their dad. The kids were going to have trauma either way, the therapist said. Lee was still unconscious, so he couldn’t help her decide what was best. “I didn’t have his input on what I should do, when they should come, I was making all the decisions on what’s best for everybody,” Blair said. “I knew what I thought he would want me to do.” She waited for the swelling in Lee’s face to go down before bringing the kids to see him. Skin grafts to the face work differently than elsewhere on the body, Blair learned. Doctors create a solution of skin cells using a skin cell sample and spray it onto the wound. This method can reduce scarring and accelerate healing. That was a blessing when it came to the kids’ visit, Blair said. “It’s not that his face wasn’t burned badly, it was,” she said. “It’s just the way faces heal.” Kingston and Ava actually thought their father looked younger than he had before when they saw him for the first time. They also thought it was funny that he was bald, because they had never seen him without hair, Blair said. “He was still sedated, he still had everything hooked up to him, so we talked about the ventilator, all of the IVs, everything,” she said. “They were just really curious, and they were surprised at how good his face looked.” The kids had already returned to school by then, Blair said. She was initially nervous about that too, worried about how they would do in class and about what other kids would say, especially since Kingston was starting his first year of middle school. She met with their principals, teachers, guidance counselors, who all put her at ease. The kids themselves were eager to go back to school too, not wanting to stand out any more than necessary by starting late. “If someone says something to you or asks you something, it’s perfectly fine to tell them that you’re not going to talk about that,” Blair told Kingston and Ava. Luckily, that hasn’t happened. “Adults have actually been harsher than the kids,” Blair said. It helped that Lee was the baseball coach at Kingston’s middle school last year. Mostly, other kids just asked Kingston how Coach Lee was doing and when he’d be back. Those were questions Kingston couldn’t answer. Lee was still unconscious, and doctors were predicting that he’d be in the hospital for at least six more months. But a few weeks after Kingston and Ava saw Lee for the first time, he woke up. ### Lee: Dreams, progress, setbacks, pain Waking up, Lee wasn’t fully conscious right away. He drifted in and out of lucidity, and sometimes Blair and his doctors weren’t sure if he was really present or not. “It wasn’t like I woke up and all of a sudden I was doing all of these things,” Lee said. “There was a time when I was really out of it.” He was agitated and suspicious. At one point, he thought Blair was an imposter version of herself, and he was afraid and combative. It was very emotional for her, she said, and it’s another time that sticks out vividly in her mind. For Lee, it’s hazier. As they talk about that time, he asks Blair questions to confirm certain details — what the surgeons said about his first surgery, the name of the tube that was in his nose, a funny comment he made as he was regaining consciousness. “It was hard to see,” she said. “You’ve gone a month without talking to someone that you talked to every day. One minute they know you and a few hours later, the next time they wake up, they’re scared of you.” Some moments felt like Groundhog Day for Blair, she said, as she watched him wake up without remembering what happened the last time he was alert. Later on, hospital staff would ask Lee, “Hey, do you remember when you did this?” or “Do you remember when this happened?” His answer was usually no. He couldn’t tell the difference between real memories and dreams. “Things that I thought were real, were not real,” he said. “It took a while to unwind that.” He couldn’t talk when he first woke up, so he communicated with his family by blinking. Once for yes, twice for no. Then he began winking at Kingston and Ava. Lee said the first fully conscious memory that he can put his finger on is ordering breakfast one day. “My mind still wasn’t right, and I couldn’t think of what I actually liked for breakfast,” he said. “My mind for some reason went to what I know Kingston likes to eat for breakfast, which was scrambled eggs with cheese and orange juice.” Blair came up with the name “the Kingston Special” for that breakfast. Lee hasn’t spoken much about the difficulties of his recovery since he got back to Danville, mostly because he prefers to focus on the positive. But there were some really hard days after he woke up, not only physically, but mentally too. “There were days when I was just so down, and I couldn’t move,” he said. “I felt pain in every inch of my body, like down to my bones. It wasn’t a type of pain that I could equate to anything else.” He couldn’t walk or feed himself, and he quickly learned that he would have to throw his pride and ego out the window. “I was fully dependent on other people for basically everything,” he said. “That was really hard for me for a while. I don’t like asking for help, so that was a great lesson I learned through this.” He also spent time in the hospital catching up on the news of the attack that had been reported across the world. Most of the Danville community was supportive, in words and deeds. People brought gift cards to Blair’s family to take the kids out to eat or go to the movies, or offered to babysit or do yard work. But there were some folks, mainly through social media comments about the alleged affair, who weren’t as kind to the Vogler family. Lee and Blair said they wouldn’t talk about the suspect or alleged motive, citing the ongoing legal case. The vitriol on social media was only difficult to deal with because Blair was concerned about protecting her kids, she said. “They’re already having to hear terms and have conversations they shouldn’t have at 7 and 11,” she said. “But people are going to say what they’re going to say, and I have no qualms about that.” Lee said it didn’t bother him too much, given everything else he was going through. “I look at it like this. I was set on fire and lived through it, so someone saying something on Facebook is not really going to hurt me,” he said. “If it makes them feel better to take the time out of their day to comment, God love them. I hope it helps them through their day.” He made progress with walking laps, doing one more lap around the hospital floor than the day before. He had made it up to four laps in a row — a big feat, considering he initially celebrated making it to the end of the hallway and back — when his last skin graft surgery rolled around. The surgery would focus on his neck, excising skin from his legs to graft onto the burns. Afterward, his neck didn’t bother him, Lee said, but his legs hurt badly, hindering his plans to keep walking. “I had just started making progress, and then I was set back and I was in so much pain,” Lee said. Blair tried to encourage him to get up and walk, but Lee told her no. Frustrated by the setback, he asked her to feed him, even though he could now feed himself using utensils with extended handles that compensated for his limited range of motion. It’s not that he couldn’t do it himself, but after that surgery, he just didn’t feel like doing anything. “I retreated in a sense,” Lee said. “I wasn’t quitting, but I needed some sort of pause. It was too much.” As his legs started to heal, Lee began walking again, surpassing his previous record for number of laps around the floor. One day he did 24, and the next day he did 70, he said. Somewhere in that process — the timeline still isn’t super clear for him — a tracheostomy tube had been removed from his neck, and other tubes and electrodes were no longer needed. Those were positive steps that made him feel like he was progressing, he said. Staff began talking about moving Lee (and the hundreds of photos that his mom had used to decorate the room) out of the ICU. Once he had moved, doctors told him he could be a candidate to go home. “Tell me what I’ve got to do to go home and I’ll do it,” Lee told the doctors. The medical staff put a date on his MyChart — Oct. 21 — that could possibly be the day he went home. “Once I saw that, I was like, you cannot stop me from getting out of here on that day,” Lee said. “Blair will tell you, I was obsessed with it.” Lee knew Kingston had a football game on the 21st, and Ava had a modeling show a few weeks later. He also knew that Danville’s city council would meet that day, and before he was attacked, he hadn’t missed a city council meeting in over a decade. “If you don’t want me to get out of here yet, you never should’ve put that date on there,” Lee told his doctors. “If I don’t go home that day, I will be far less productive here.” He had a checklist of things to complete before he could go home, with occupational therapy requirements being the main hold up. The OT team agreed to sign off on his release if he could come back down to the hospital three times a week to do occupational therapy as an outpatient. “So that’s what I’ve been doing since,” Lee said. “We’re down there Monday, Wednesday, Friday.” ### Lee and Blair: Getting back to normal when everything is different Since he’s been home, Lee has been able to return to some aspects of his previous life — attending city events, going on family outings, and helping plan the annual Harry Johnson Holiday Classic middle school basketball tournament. But there are other things that are drastically different. “Opening doors,” Lee said. “The round knob is hard to get a grip on and turn it… . There’s been some times in the house where I forget and accidentally shut it behind me, and then I have to call, ‘Hey I’m stuck.’” Lee is working on improving his grip strength, but he doesn’t have much function in his left hand due to nerve damage. His right hand is better, though his thumb and index finger on that hand don’t have much feeling either. This prevents him from shaving himself, and he’s nervous to let someone else do it, so he’s been sporting a beard lately — a new look for him. He also can’t put in his contact lenses, so he’s wearing a new pair of glasses. “It’s dumb, but my pose in every picture since I was a teenager was the hang ten, and I really can’t do it yet,” Lee said. “I’m doing a thumbs up until I can get my fingers to cooperate.” He realized this during the Veterans Day parade in Danville, when he tried to make the signal without thinking and realized he couldn’t do it. As his recovery continues, Lee is looking forward to throwing a baseball with Kingston, who’s a pitcher, and picking up Ava as part of a choreographed father-daughter dance near Christmas. Blair helps him with some exercises and physical therapy at home, mostly stretching and massaging the parts of his body that received skin grafts. “With burns, and skin grafts, the skin contracts in certain areas as it tries to heal. This is another thing I learned,” Blair said. “So in the bends of his elbows, under his arms, his neck, all that skin tries to contract. Basically, we have to massage it and stretch it so that it kind of microtears and forms back.” At one point during his hospitalization, Lee had 12 different conditions — pneumonia, a GI bleed, which is common for burn patients, a gall bladder complication, and significant lung injuries. Some longer-term burn complications are still with him. He developed a condition called heterotopic ossification, or HO. “Basically, you get bone growth in the muscles and the joints and places that aren’t normal,” Blair said. “I have it in both elbows and shoulders,” said Lee. “Which is another thing that limits his range of motion and functionality,” Blair added. The couple explained the condition, after chronicling the details of Lee’s hospitalization and recovery, while sitting at a restaurant’s outdoor patio on a recent November Saturday. Lee wore braces on both hands, but he was able to feed himself without utensils, which he couldn’t do when he left the hospital almost a month before. Eventually, he will be able to get laser surgery to remove the bone growth, which will help his range of motion return to “pre-injury level,” Blair said. But they have to wait until the HO stops progressing first, and there’s no way to know when that will be. Blair has also been learning about mentorship programs for burn injury survivors and their families. Other survivors might make a good community for Lee, because although she was there every step of the way with him, she can’t fully understand his experience. “I can listen, and I can empathize, but only to a certain degree,” Blair said. “I know what it’s like as a family member, but I don’t know what he’s gone through and I never can.” Conversations with other family members of burn patients were a big help in getting her through Lee’s hospitalization, she said. One time, she was able to return the favor when a burn patient came in with similar injuries to Lee’s. She was in the waiting room when that patient came in, and she struck up a conversation with his wife. “As much as it helped me to have people talk about what they’ve been through and getting to the other side, it was just as cathartic for me to do that for her,” Blair said. “Just to know there’s help and spread awareness.” Lee is looking forward to getting back to his work at Showcase Magazine, which he hopes to do by the end of the year. He and his family are enjoying time together after months apart and looking forward to Christmas, especially since there was a time where he thought he wouldn’t be home for the holiday. The day he left the hospital, Lee’s doctors and nurses had a send-off party, shaking pom-poms and holding up signs. When they asked what song he wanted to play as he walked out of the hospital, Lee didn’t have to think very hard. “‘Comin’ Home’ by KISS,” he told them. Before the attack, Lee affectionately referred to his hometown of Danville as “the comeback city” and himself as the “comeback kid.” No one expected that his comeback would include recovery from extensive burn injuries. The old nickname has a new meaning, but it’s one that still fits. --- # Shutoffs loomed in third year of receivership. Can Jackson afford its own water system? by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today December 19, 2025 Days before this past Halloween, Aidan Girod received a frightening note atop her water bill: “FINAL NOTICE.” The letter said Girod had three weeks to pay her outstanding balance before JXN Water would turn off her tap. At the start of the year, the north Jackson waitress received a $2,000 statement that included the several previous months she hadn’t gotten a bill for. As the utility revamps its historically plagued billing system, residents throughout the city have recently received an invoice for the first time in months, if not years. Girod, a mother to three young children, agreed to send $300 a month as part of a payment plan. Then in September, she received a bill again charging her $2,000, which JXN Water told her was due to a leak. But a plumber, to whom Girod paid $180, said they couldn’t find it. She said a second plumber also couldn’t find a leak. After one of her dozens of phone calls with the utility, JXN Water applied a credit to her bill, although it wasn’t clear to Girod how they decided on the amount. Then in October, she received two water bills, including the one with a final notice, that showed two different balances. Months later, she still isn’t sure how much she owes, whether she has a leak, or if the utility is getting ready to shut her water off. “It has been very stressful,” said Girod, who said she’s had to skip paying other expenses to afford her water bill. “I have a 3-month-old daughter, I’ve given birth during all of this. A lot of that strain has been on simply making sure I have running water for my children.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/18123954/Aidan-Girod-4.jpg) JXN Water bills north Jackson resident Aidan Girod received in the same month showing two different amounts due, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. Ted Henifin, whom residents, business leaders and public officials have credited with rescuing Jackson’s water system from its darkest moments, says his hands are tied. JXN Water, the third-party utility he runs, needs a surge in revenue to keep afloat, and it needs to come soon. But procuring those funds, Henifin admitted, is all the more complicated in a city with a strained relationship between its water supply and residents, many of whom haven’t trusted what comes out of their faucets or what shows up on their bills for years. Just last month, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived a class-action lawsuit by residents against Jackson, alleging the city misrepresented the water’s safety after detecting levels of lead over the legal limit in 2015. In the first two years after he took over in 2022, Henifin knew he needed a proof of concept for residents to buy in. In that time, JXN Water resolved widespread pressure issues, winterized a treatment plant that succumbed to recent cold snaps, and repaired hundreds of sewer line failures. Also, for the first time in a decade, Jackson’s system is in compliance with all federal drinking water requirements, the utility said recently, including the lingering lead violation. While residents praised the utility for its work, they soon learned it came with a high cost. This spring, JXN Water announced it had exhausted $150 million in funds from Congress set aside for daily upkeep of the system, which includes paying staff and routine maintenance. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/06080614/DJI_0793-scaled.jpg) JXN Water crews making repairs to the city's water distribution system. The utility is a few years away from sustaining itself financially, Henifin projects, and reaching that point means both increasing monthly bills and more aggressively pursuing unpaid balances. With a collection rate of about 70% – far below the national average of over 90% – JXN Water is losing over a million dollars a month. “We figured we’d get around to the billing at some point,” Henifin said in a recent interview at his Belhaven office. “Unfortunately the timing between running through the ($150 million of) federal funds and us getting to the billing weren’t exactly aligned. “So we’re finding the need to get the billing done and collections up faster than we would’ve liked. But I still don’t think we would’ve done it any differently. You got to get the water system and sewer working before you can start beating on people about paying their bill.” In September, JXN Water shut off water to nearly 1,800 accounts, and Henifin said he expected that number to be higher in October. Based on those counts, the utility has turned off service to roughly 10% of Jacksonians in 2025 alone. One of those ratepayers, Dominique Grant, had no idea when she would catch up on her past due balance. A single mother of three, Grant recently fell behind after not receiving a bill for two years, she said. JXN Water told her to make a down payment of $1,900, half of her total balance, to initiate a payment plan, Grant said. After she didn’t come up with the money, instead prioritizing bills like her mortgage and car loan, the utility shut off her water in October. “I have to ask myself, am I going to take my whole check and pay this water bill, or spread it out to pay my car note, insurance, light bill, mortgage,” said Grant, a case manager at a local hospital. “Unless I take out a loan, I just don’t have $1,900 to give them.” Between bathing and meals, Grant said she spent over $100 a week on bottled water for her family, or about what JXN Water charges her for a whole month. Henifin and other local officials referenced a “culture of nonpayment” in Jackson that spread after the city installed a faulty metering system from Siemens in 2013\. Since then, residents became accustomed to inconsistent and inaccurate billing. Amid metering issues and the COVID-19 pandemic, city officials forewent water shutoffs for much [of the past decade](https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2021/07/30/jackson-tries-fix-water-system-siemens-settlement-largely-spent/7832536002/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/06135505/3X0A0438-scaled.jpg) Ted Henifin speaks during a press conference at City Hall in Jackson, Miss., Monday, December 5, 2022\. Henifin was appointed as Jackson's water system's third-party administrator. With that track record in mind, JXN Water in 2023 proposed a billing system based on property values so customers would see the same amount every month. The state Legislature, though, passed a law blocking the idea soon after. Henifin also set up a discount on water bills for homes that receive food benefits through the federal SNAP program. But a [recent court ruling](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/04/11/5th-circuit-reverses-order-to-give-jxn-water-snap-data/?ref=down-ballot.info) blocked JXN Water from automatically applying the discount because of privacy laws. Henifin recently estimated fewer than 600 accounts receive the discount, which is about $30 a month. About 11,000 homes in Jackson, or nearly one in five, receive SNAP benefits, according to [Census data](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSST5Y2023.S2201?q=S2201:+Food+Stamps/Supplemental+Nutrition+Assistance+Program+%28SNAP%29&g=160XX00US2836000&ref=down-ballot.info), which means just 5% of eligible customers are receiving the water discount. Since the utility began its widespread shutoffs, both officials and residents have increasingly spoken out against JXN Water, citing a lack of affordability in a city where more than a quarter live below the poverty line. Heightening those tensions is a [pending proposal](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/11/19/jackson-officials-will-review-jxn-water-finances/?ref=down-ballot.info) to increase rates, which the utility says would increase the average bill by 12%. At a recent court hearing, City Attorney Drew Martin [panned the utility](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/11/14/wingate-pauses-water-rate-increase/?ref=down-ballot.info) for not sooner considering its revenue and billing strategy, leading to steeper rate hikes that are tougher for residents to swallow. In October, the Jackson City Council voted to recommend reversing the 2022 order putting Henifin in charge of Jackson’s water system, in large part because of recent shut offs and billing disputes. U.S. District Court Judge Henry Wingate, who appointed Henifin as third-party manager, has not acknowledged the city’s vote. Wingate did, though, order an injunction against Henifin’s recent attempt to push through the rate increase without the judge's approval. Wingate said he would make a ruling on the increase no sooner than Dec. 19\. Sitting with Mississippi Today in his brightly lit office, Henifin stood firm on the high bill amounts that Jacksonians have contested over the past year, even the ones that somehow tallied into the tens of thousands. Rep. Fabian Nelson, a Democrat whose district includes Jackson, recently [submitted letters](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/11/14/wingate-pauses-water-rate-increase/?ref=down-ballot.info) to Wingate from residents with bills as high as $70,000\. With new meters at nearly every property, the manager was confident the utility had accurate readings of customers’ usage. In most cases with abnormal balances, JXN Water tells the resident they have a leak. While some, such as Girod in north Jackson, hired plumbers who dispute the diagnosis, Henifin doesn’t budge. JXN Water can tell there’s a leak, he said, simply by looking at a meter and seeing the consumption run up continuously throughout the day. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/06145106/JXN-flood-2022-DOYLE-65-scaled.jpg) Work continues on Jackson water quality at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant in Ridgeland. (Rory Doyle/Deep Indigo Collective for Mississippi Today) Henifin suspected a number of residents have “slab leaks” under their home’s foundation, which the average plumber may not be able to find. That’s why the utility now recommends specific contractors for customers to call, he said. On the customer service side, Henifin conceded there’s much room for improvement, saying residents too often leave phone calls with inconsistent answers. In addition to better training, he’s hoping to have more capacity for in-person appointments, a service JXN Water recently opened at the city’s Medical Mall. “People seem to forget we weren’t born a fully functional utility,” Henifin said. “ We were born out of no utility, essentially, and had to create everything along the way. “We (first) focused on getting the infrastructure to deliver water, get the sewer to stay in the ground. And now we get into the customer service experience and the billing. There’s nowhere to go but up.” Yet in the meantime, residents and landlords who either can’t afford their bills or get answers through the call center are left with few options if they want to keep their water on. Jennifer Welch, a property manager in Jackson who sits on the city’s [newly created](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/08/20/jackson-leaders-urge-getting-serious-about-unserious-landlords/?ref=down-ballot.info) Housing Task Force, criticized JXN Water over limited transparency. Welch and other landlords, who in some cases went two or three years without receiving a bill, have tried to ask the utility for clarity around their accounts but received little response, she said. “I have reached out to (Henifin) personally to let him know I have real concerns about the billing department,” said Welch, who said she’s met with Henifin throughout his time in Jackson. “He’s downplaying (the billing issue). I’ve just talked to too many people who are struggling.” A group of nonprofits, including Forward Justice, the Mississippi Poor People's Campaign, and the ACLU of MS, argued in court filings that JXN Water has shown little flexibility in its shutoff process, especially for residents who simply aren't able to make down payments on the large debts they've accumulated after years of not receiving bills. "The threat of losing water service cannot make people quickly find money they don’t have, unless it comes at the expense of forgoing other essential needs like food and medicine," the groups wrote in a Nov. 7 letter to Wingate. During a recent hearing at the Capitol, Democratic Sen. Sollie Norward said a woman in his Jackson district recently received a $20,000 water bill. While JXN Water allows customers to enter into payment plans, its policy requires customers with debt to make an initial down payment beforehand. After forgiving some of the owed balance, the utility asked the woman to pay $4,000, the senator said. But that was still higher than she could afford, Norwood said, and eventually JXN Water shut her water off. "I don't know how she got there, and she doesn't know how she got there," he said. "Yes, shutting off water gets attention, but it also creates other problems." Grant, the single mother whose water was disconnected, cobbled together the $1,900 she needed for a down payment and, after four weeks, finally got her tap back running. After feeling the toll of not having service, she decided to take out a small loan and put off other bills to come up with the money. Still, Grant said JXN Water has unfair expectations of residents' financial flexibility, especially when many had no idea what they owed for months or years. "They need to just have a better grasp on things," she said. "Nobody has thousands of dollars just sitting around to spare." This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/19/price-of-reliable-water-means-shutoffs-for-jacksonians/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1160035&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) ### Report proposes halving FEMA URL: https://down-ballot.info/report-proposes-halving-fema/ Last updated: 2025-12-22T00:34:50.000Z **It's Friday, December 19, 2025 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Disaster Survivors Denounce Proposed FEMA Downsizing, DHS to add funding in hopes of getting more local law enforcement agencies to work with ICE, The WalMart of public defense: How justice gets sold to the lowest bidder in rural California, Two NC towns must redo ’25 elections in March ’26, An ASU triathlete discovers the mental health crisis hidden in endurance sports. **Media outlets and others featured:** Inside Climate News, The Daily Yonder, CalMatters, Carolina Public Press, Cronkite News. --- # Disaster Survivors Denounce Proposed FEMA Downsizing ### A leaked report recommends halving the size of the nation’s disaster response agency, while holding states responsible for a much larger share of response and recovery costs. By Anika Jane Beamer December 15, 2025 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15122025/disaster-survivors-denounce-fema-downsizing/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* Flood, storm and fire survivors gathered in Washington, D.C., Monday to express their alarm over a [leaked report ](https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/politics/fema-council-report-recommend-downsizing-overhaul?ref=down-ballot.info)from the FEMA Review Council that proposes halving the agency’s workforce and scaling back federal disaster assistance. Holding images of the devastation wrought by disasters in their communities, more than 80 survivors from 10 states and Puerto Rico gathered at a press conference in the historic Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. There, Brandy Gerstner tearfully recounted the flash floods that destroyed her home and family farm in Sandy Creek, Texas, in July. With little help from the county or state, Gerstner said she and her family were left to navigate the flood’s aftermath on their own. “From the very beginning, it was neighbors and volunteers who showed up. Official help was scarce,” she said. It took search and rescue three days to arrive in Sandy Creek. “By that time, it was search and recovery,” said Gerstner.” Weeks later, after being told that FEMA could help pay for costs not already covered by a small flood insurance payout, her application for federal assistance was denied. In D.C., Gerstner was one of several survivors to condemn the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink FEMA’s scope. “We know what it feels like when emergency systems fall short. Proposals to weaken FEMA should further alarm every American,” said Gerstner. Trump has repeatedly expressed his intention to shift FEMA’s responsibilities to states. In June, he told reporters assembled in the Oval Office that the administration wanted to “wean off of FEMA,” and move many of the agency’s responsibilities to the state level, “so the governors can handle it.” Just weeks into his second term, Trump created the FEMA Review Council, calling for a “full-scale review” of the agency and citing “serious concerns of political bias in FEMA.” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth co-chair the council, which is composed almost entirely of Republican federal and state officials. After nearly a year of deliberation, the committee was poised to vote on its final recommendations for the agency’s future at a meeting on Thursday in D.C. But the meeting was [abruptly cancelled](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11122025/white-house-cancels-fema-meeting-on-proposed-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info) after a draft of the council’s report leaked to news outlets. The White House has not yet set a date for a rescheduled meeting, but the leaked report, which calls for sweeping reductions to FEMA’s staff and scope, sparked immediate backlash from advocacy groups, disaster survivors and emergency management experts. In addition to shifting greater responsibility for disaster response and recovery to the states, the report’s recommendations include cutting the FEMA workforce by 50 percent and moving employees out of Washington, D.C., over the next two to three years. The report also outlines a block grant system that would streamline the delivery of disaster aid to states within 30 days of a major federal disaster declaration, expediting cash flow while requiring a higher cost share from states. However, fewer disasters might qualify for such federal assistance in the reimagined FEMA. “Federal assistance should only be reserved for truly catastrophic events that exceed \[State, Local, Tribal and Territorial\] capacity and capability,” the report states, [according to CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/politics/fema-council-report-recommend-downsizing-overhaul?ref=down-ballot.info). Restricting federal aid could have dire consequences to states already struggling to support disaster victims, said Amanda Devecka-Rinear, executive director of the New Jersey Organizing Project and senior at Organizing Resilience, which hosted the Monday press conference. “‘Passing disaster management to the states’ is code-speak for letting people suffer and die,” said Devecka-Rinear in a statement. This weekend, tens of thousands of residents in Washington state were [ordered to evacuate](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/weather/wa-flooding-a-state-of-emergency-governor-says/?ref=down-ballot.info) their homes amidst historic rainfall and flooding. Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency and has announced meetings with FEMA to expedite a federal disaster designation and secure critical funding and resources. If the current precedent holds, that may take weeks. On average, it’s taken more than a month to approve requests for federal disaster designations during Trump’s second term, [the Associated Press found](https://apnews.com/article/fema-natural-disaster-declaration-trump-7506ce6a68543f4515eabe7992d9a5a0?ref=down-ballot.info). > “‘Passing disaster management to the states’ is code-speak for letting people suffer and die.”— Amanda Devecka-Rinear, New Jersey Organizing Project Even once a federal disaster designation is granted, there’s no guarantee of rapid response under the current agency administration, said Abby McIlraith, an emergency management specialist at FEMA. McIlraith has been on administrative leave since August, when she, along with current and former agency employees, signed the Katrina Declaration, condemning FEMA practices interfering with disaster recovery, including Secretary Noem’s policy of personally reviewing and approving all expenses over $100,000\. “This is absolutely appalling, and it makes an already difficult disaster process even more arduous for the people it serves,” said McIlraith at the Monday press conference. McIlraith, Gerstner and other survivors called for a fully independent FEMA not based within the Department of Homeland Security. > “Disasters don’t discriminate, but disaster recovery does,” said Michael McLemore, a St. Louis-based electoral justice organizer and survivor of a deadly May 16 tornado. > During the St. Louis tornado, sirens failed to sound across northern parts of the city. The tornado caused $1.6 billion in immediate damage, yet was not declared a major federal disaster until nearly a month later, said McLemore. “You’re here today because this building and this government have failed you,” said New Jersey senator Andy Kim, speaking to the assembled survivors. “There should be accountability, there should be change, there should be real effort. What is more important for our government than to be there for our people in their time of great need?” --- *Editor's note: The following link is a Down Ballot article for more context about ICE agreements in South Carolina increasing between 2024-2025:* [South Carolina ICE agreements jumped from 3 in 2024 to 15 in 2025S.C. Law Enforcement Division entered a Task Force model agreement on March 7![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1-1.png)Down BallotBen Ledbetter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1-6-1.png)](https://down-ballot.info/south-carolina-ice-agreements-jumped-from-3-in-2024-to-15-in-2025/) # DHS is Deputizing Local and State Police Forces to Enforce Immigration Law by Anya Petrone Slepyan, The Daily Yonder December 17, 2025 On September 2, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a [press release](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/02/dhs-announces-new-reimbursement-opportunities-state-and-local-law-enforcement?ref=down-ballot.info) announcing a change that has the potential to transform law enforcement across the country, and especially in rural counties. > A new promise to reimburse salaries, benefits, and overtime pay for county and municipal law enforcement officers who partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could prove a major incentive for cash-strapped rural counties. > DHS will use funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed earlier this year, to reimburse local law enforcement agencies who partner with ICE under the Task Force model of the [Section 287(g) program](https://www.ice.gov/identify-and-arrest/287g?ref=down-ballot.info). The Task Force model deputizes local and state law enforcement officers with many of the powers of federal immigration agents, including the ability to arrest, detain, and interrogate people who are suspected of being undocumented – all without a warrant. These activities occur “while performing routine police duties,” according to the press release, including traffic stops and investigations of non-immigration-related incidents. In addition to reimbursing the costs of Task Force officer salaries and benefits, DHS will cover overtime costs up to 25% of the officer’s annual salary, and “quarterly monetary performance awards based on the successful location of illegal aliens.” DHS also covers the costs of the 40-hour training each officer undergoes to participate in the Task Force model. “We encourage all state and local law enforcement agencies to sign a 287(g) agreement now,” said Madison Sheahan, ICE deputy director, in the press release. “By joining forces with ICE, you’re not just gaining access to these unprecedented reimbursement opportunities–you’re becoming part of a national effort to ensure the safety of every American family.” > But experts say these kinds of federal-local partnerships often face difficulties. > One question is the proper role and priorities of local law enforcement. Justin Smith served in county sheriffs’ departments in Kansas and Colorado for 36 years and is the incoming executive director for the [National Sheriffs Association](https://www.sheriffs.org/about-nsa?ref=down-ballot.info). He said that even finding enough time and manpower to send deputies to the 40-hour training could be a challenge for understaffed rural departments. > Smith said it’s also important to recognize that ICE and law enforcement have fundamentally different goals and responsibilities. “When we got a 911 call, our primary focus was on helping that person who called for help. If your job is to protect people from domestic violence, from theft, from burglary, that’s where your focus is,” Smith told the Daily Yonder. “An immigration agent’s job is to make sure immigration law is being upheld. That’s where those conversations come down to realistic expectations of what the role of local police is. And it’s not a black and white line, it’s different in every community.” ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2.-Border-patrol-1296x864.jpg) Border Patrol agents drive through a neighborhood in Kinney County, a rural county on the Texas-Mexico border. According to Justin Smith, one of the challenges of the Section 287(g) program is that the mission of local law enforcement is fundamentally different from that of federal immigration enforcement agencies like ICE and Border Patrol. (Photo by Ilana Newman/The Daily Yonder). According to the [American Immigration Council](https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/287g-agreements-ice-threaten-communities/?ref=down-ballot.info), Section 287(g) agreements “blur the line between community policing and federal immigration enforcement.” [Studies have shown](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/287g-agreements-harm-public-safety/?ref=down-ballot.info) that the perception that local law enforcement officers are acting as immigration enforcers erodes public trust in police departments, especially among immigrant communities. Nayna Gupta, policy director for the American Immigration Council, said that she's been hearing from sheriffs and police chiefs around the country who are concerned about a sharp decrease in crime reporting from communities who fear calling 911 will expose them to immigration enforcement. This lack of trust makes communities less safe for everyone, she said. "Asking local police to get entangled with federal immigration enforcement can really undermine their community ties," Gupta told the Daily Yonder. "In more rural areas, part of protecting public safety for local sheriffs is maintaining close personal relationships and familiarity and trust with stakeholders in a community, and a program like 287(g) can really put that at risk." The Task Force model was [discontinued](https://www.propublica.org/article/arizona-police-immigration-ice-287g?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Obama administration in 2012, after [Department of Justice Investigations](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/department-justice-releases-investigative-findings-maricopa-county-sheriff-s-office?ref=down-ballot.info) found that law enforcement agencies, including that of Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, Arizona, had engaged in illegal racial profiling and violated the rights of Latinos while participating in the Section 287(g) program. But the model was revived by the Trump administration in January of 2025\. As of December 15th, there are 669 state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies participating in the Task Force model across 34 states, [according to ICE](https://www.ice.gov/identify-and-arrest/287g?ref=down-ballot.info). According to Smith, just because law enforcement officers get trained under Section 287(g) does not mean they’ll prioritize immigration enforcement over their other duties. “It doesn’t mean \[immigration\] is their primary focus. It’s just giving them another tool to keep in their chest.” But in jurisdictions where the Task Force model is in actively enforced, even the most mundane activities can become dangerous for immigrants, according to Gupta. "The Task Force model in particular means that just driving down the road and being pulled over for alleged speeding or alleged running of a stop sign could result in indefinite detention, and possible separation from family forever," Gupta explained. As the program has expanded, a lack of publicly available information has made it difficult to gauge its efficacy. In 2025, ICE has published monthly encounter reports that provided “a sampling of criminal aliens recently identified by state or local law enforcement operating under the 287(g) program.” But even those reports, which provided a few dozen anecdotal cases per month rather than a comprehensive list, are published with delays of several months. A spokesperson for ICE did not respond to the Daily Yonder’s request for up-to-date numbers of arrests and encounters under the Section 287(g) program. But according to sources with knowledge of local law enforcement agencies, the program is still yielding far fewer results than DHS might have hoped. This is in part because many local law enforcement agencies have neither the resources nor the inclination to participate effectively. “Local police have their hands full,” Smith said. “\[Section 287(g)\] doesn’t change their priorities. If you’re having other local crime issues in your community, that’s where you’re going to be focused.” Theoretically, DHS’s reimbursement policy could help pay for new officers to fill these gaps. But many who have experienced previous federal reimbursement programs are approaching that funding with some skepticism. For one thing, Smith said, new federal funding is unlikely to overcome [longstanding staffing challenges](https://apbweb.com/2025/05/insufficient-police-staffing-continues-throughout-the-u-s/?ref=down-ballot.info) in law enforcement hiring and recruitment. But even when there are interested recruits, it can take the better part of a year for new officers to be processed, trained, and sworn in, according to Smith. And most importantly, the funding is subject to change, which means county sheriffs and police chiefs can’t rely on it to fund long-term positions. “The question is, is it sustainable?” Smith said. “That kind of funding is often here today, gone tomorrow. So it doesn’t change the game for a lot of sheriff’s offices that are struggling to get their basic tasks done.” But Gupta warned that the broad nature of the agreements, coupled with financial incentives, gives the federal government considerable leverage to support its agenda. "It is a patchwork in terms of which local sheriffs and police departments are really leaning into this enforcement agenda and which aren't," Gupta said. "But by expanding these agreements, the White House and DHS are setting up an infrastructure where at any moment, they can easily lean in on these agreements to have a force multiplier for ICE. And that infrastructure is what's worrisome, given the kinds of abuses and overreach we've seen from the administration." ### **Not a New Idea** The Section 287(g) program was created in 1996 as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. For nearly thirty years, participation in the program has been voluntary, and relatively few law enforcement agencies have signed on. Currently, there are two other models in addition to the Task Force model. The Jail Enforcement Model (JEM) and Warrant Service Officer (WSO) programs apply only to undocumented immigrants who are already in custody for a criminal offense. In 2022, there were just 117 active agreements between the JEM and WSO models, according to the DHS [end-of-year report](http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-05/ICE%20-%20287%28g%29%20End-of-Year%20Report.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). Now, there are over 1,250 active agreements, including Task Force, WSO, and JEM models, across 40 states as of December 15th, according to ICE. These numbers have been bolstered by laws passed by states like Texas and Florida, which require law enforcement agencies to sign on to Section 287(g) agreements. In its most recent session, the Texas legislature passed a [law](https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB8/id/3249606?ref=down-ballot.info) requiring every county sheriff in a county that operates a jail, or contracts with a private entity to operate a jail, to apply for the Section 287(g) program by December 1, 2026\. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3.-Flags-1296x864.jpg) The American and Texas flags fly in Kinney County, Texas. A new Texas state law requires nearly every county sheriff to participate in the Section 287(g) program. (Photo by Ilana Newman/The Daily Yonder) This transformation from a voluntary program to a state mandate for the vast majority of Texas sheriffs troubles Kristin Etter, director of policy and legal services at the Texas Immigration Law Center. “287(g) has been around in federal statute for years. If law enforcement at the local and state level wanted to enter into a 287(g) model, they’ve always been able to do that,” Etter said. “This requirement forcing counties to do this is a real slap in the face of law enforcement officers, because it essentially tells them that \[legislators\] don’t trust their own local law enforcement agencies to be making the best decisions to keep their communities safe, and instead requires them to submit to the federal government.” This concern is founded in part by the language of the bill, which requires county sheriffs to sign on to Section 287(g) “or a similar federal program, that authorizes the official and the official’s officers, employees, and contractors to enforce federal immigration law.” According to Etter, this language means that the federal government could change its interpretation of Section 287(g) models, or scrap 287(g) for an entirely new program, and sheriffs across Texas would be legally bound to participate regardless of any changes. Though the [original draft of the bill](https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB8/id/3155184?ref=down-ballot.info) only applied to counties with a population above 100,000, the final version – which was [supported by President Donald Trump](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114599417835206103?ref=down-ballot.info) – applies to nearly all Texas counties. Community organizers and immigration advocates fear that this new law could put both documented and undocumented immigrants and their families at risk. Sandra Fuentes is the co-chair of the Border Organization, a grassroots advocacy group centered in Del Rio, Texas, and neighboring communities in southwestern Texas. The Border Organization is part of a coalition called Texans United for Justice, which has been arranging meetings with county sheriffs to talk about their plans for implementing 287(g). They hope to convince county sheriffs to implement the narrower Warrant Service Officer model of Section 287(g), as opposed to the more comprehensive and aggressive Task Force model. Organizers are also speaking with leaders of municipal police departments who are not currently obligated to participate under state law, but could be if the law is expanded to municipalities in the future. The results of these efforts have been mixed. Some law enforcement officers have told Fuentes they won’t sign on to the Task Force model. “They don’t have the manpower, they don’t have the inclination, they don’t have the money,” Fuentes told the Yonder. ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/4.-Bracketville-sign-1296x864.jpg) A sign welcomes visitors to Bracketville, the seat of rural Kinney County. Kinney County was on the front lines of Operation Lone Star, Texas’ statewide immigration crackdown. But it is unclear what effect the county’s participation in the Section 287(g) program will have. (Photo by Ilana Newman/The Daily Yonder) Others, like Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, signed onto the Task Force model back in March. But as of November, the Kinney County sheriff's department had not yet begun training with ICE. Kinney County is a rural county of around 3,100 people on the Texas-Mexico border. It has been on the front lines of [Operation Lone Star](https://www.texastribune.org/series/operation-lone-star/?ref=down-ballot.info), Texas’ immigration crackdown. Before becoming sheriff, Coe spent 31 years as a border patrol agent in Kinney County. He was one of several county officials who declared that immigration trends amounted to “[an invasion](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/10/17/kinney-county-texas-operation-lone-star/?ref=down-ballot.info)” of Kinney County in 2022, and has drawn scrutiny for his department’s [collaboration with vigilante groups](https://www.texasobserver.org/border-vigilantes-law-enforcement-texas-arizona/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [treatment of migrants](https://www.texastribune.org/2023/08/21/texas-migrants-lawsuit-aclu-operation-lone-star-detention/?ref=down-ballot.info) who were arrested on state trespassing charges. But despite his evident enthusiasm for immigration enforcement, Coe doesn’t foresee Section 287(g) having much of an impact in his county. In part this is because there is already such a heavy presence of federal agents in the border region. “On paper we’ll be trained, but in reality I don’t expect to use it much because we already have the resources here with the federal government,” he told the Daily Yonder. Instead, he feels that the implementation of Section 287(g) will bring more changes to the larger, more urban counties across Texas that have bigger jails and local law enforcement departments. “In Abilene, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, the bigger metropolitan areas – even Lubbock and Amarillo – once \[Section 287(g)\] gets rolling in a bigger way, I think it’s going to have a huge impact.” Justin Smith with the National Sheriff’s Association emphasized that it will be up to local communities to decide if, and how, Section 287(g) is implemented. “We have 3,081 sheriffs around the country, and they each do things a little differently,” he said. “It’s going to take some time for all this to unfold.” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/dhs-wants-to-deputize-local-and-state-police-forces-to-enforce-immigration-law/2025/12/17/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=235533&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # The WalMart of public defense: How justice gets sold to the lowest bidder in rural California By [Anat Rubin](https://calmatters.org/author/anat-rubin/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![A collage-style illustration, in blue and yellow tones, that shows a gray statue statue of lady justice holding scales with a large yellow sticker on it that says "sale!"](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Public-Defenders_AH_CM_01.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1) Illustration by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters This story was originally published by [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Sign up](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) for their newsletters. For three years, the fate of poor people accused of crimes in San Benito County lay in the hands of attorneys who barely spoke with their clients and seldom filed legal motions on their behalf. While defendants asked them to contest the prosecution’s evidence, to interview witnesses, to do anything, really, to challenge law enforcement’s narrative of the crime, they ushered almost all of them to plea deals instead, averaging just one jury trial for every 1,500 cases. The attorneys worked for Fitzgerald, Alvarez and Ciummo, the firm that San Benito paid to provide public defense. According to [a 2024 state evaluation](https://legistarweb-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/attachment/pdf/2446624/Indigent%5FDefense%5Fin%5FSan%5FBenito%5F%5FFinal%5F%5F%5F1%5F.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), they were not doing a good job. Two of the attorneys had inappropriate relationships with clients, another struggled with addiction. The situation had deteriorated so dramatically that the San Benito district attorney, Joel Buckingham, found himself worrying about the people his office was trying to send to prison. Their attorneys didn’t contest the evidence Buckingham’s prosecutors presented, no matter how it was obtained. Each year, they filed an average of just 10 motions to suppress evidence based on violations of constitutional rights — including unjustified stops and searches, illegal interrogations, and arrests without probable cause. “Police officers must make mistakes sometimes,” Buckingham told a researcher conducting the evaluation. The sheriff, Eric Taylor, was also alarmed. If his deputies were never challenged in court, how would they know when they had crossed a line? What would stop them from doing it again? In Taylor’s previous job, in Santa Cruz County, the courthouse was often packed with law enforcement officers who had been called to defend their actions. “If we’re doing our job correctly, then we prevail on those motions,” he told San Benito county supervisors last year. “And if we’ve made a mistake, and we’re doing our job incorrectly, we’re held accountable for that.” ![A uniformed law enforcement officer stands with hands in pockets inside an office decorated with badges, patches, memorabilia, and a sheriff’s emblem. A cabinet with a sheriff’s star logo, small figurines, flags, and a cowboy hat sits behind them alongside framed badge displays on the wall.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/120325-Hollister-Sheriff-EG-CM-16-1024x682.jpg) Sheriff Eric Taylor stands next to his awards and mementos at the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office in Hollister on Dec. 2, 2025\. Photo by Estefany Gonzalez for CalMatters Nearly half of California counties pay private lawyers and firms to represent poor people in criminal cases, and most of them, like San Benito, do it through what’s known as a “flat-fee” contract, meaning they pay a fixed amount, regardless of how many cases the attorneys handle or how much time they spend on each case. It’s a far cheaper alternative — at least in the short run — to operating a public defender office with government lawyers, and it’s created a second-tier justice system in rural stretches of the state: Seven of the eight counties with the state’s highest jail and prison incarceration rates have flat-fee contracts. These arrangements so clearly disincentivize investigating and litigating cases that they’ve been banned in other parts of the country. But they have flourished in California, which provides no funding or oversight of county-level public defense. Fitzgerald, Alvarez and Ciummo, commonly known as the Ciummo firm, has become the face of this model. Old iterations of the firm’s website asked local politicians what they might do with all the money they could save on public defense: “Better schools? Better fire protection? More police? Improved roads? More parks?” The message was clear: Don’t waste county money helping people accused of crimes. Spend it on the things your constituents actually care about. Over the past 30 years, the Ciummo firm has provided public defender services in nine California counties. Both its size and tactics have earned it a reputation as the Wal-Mart of public defense. “This is a high-volume, low-profit business for me,” Richard Ciummo told a reporter in 2007\. “It’s more like a grocery store.” The firm left San Benito last year, but it is still the primary public defender in Madera, Amador and Calaveras counties, and it handles cases in Fresno and Merced counties when the public defender’s office has a conflict. CalMatters reviewed documents detailing the firm’s work in these counties and found that its lawyers were less likely than other defense attorneys to investigate their cases, challenge the prosecutors’ evidence in legal motions and push their cases to trial. In Madera, the percentage of felonies the firm took to a jury trial between 2019 and 2024 was half the statewide average. During three of those years, the firm reported caseloads that were more than double even the most permissive standards for how many cases one attorney should be allowed to handle. Those numbers do not account for the fact that some of the firm’s attorneys simultaneously represent private clients. ![A worn outdoor sign for a law office reads “Fitzgerald, Alvarez & Ciummo – A Professional Law Corporation, Administration,” mounted in front of a low building with bushes and a small parking area in the background.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/102025-WalMart-Attorneys-LV-14-CM-1024x682.jpg) The front entrance of the Fitzgerald, Alvarez & Ciummo law firm in Madera on Oct. 20, 2025\. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local Michael Fitzgerald, the firm’s senior partner, said his firm provides a more affordable, though no less effective, alternative to an institutional public defender’s office. “Could we use more funding? Certainly,” he said. “But I think we do as good as anybody. I think we do better than public defenders’ offices.” Fitzgerald said criticism of the contract system stems from longstanding bias and a romanticization of ardent public defenders — the true believers, he calls them — who push back against individual and systemic injustices. The scenes playing out in criminal courts across the country have seldom resembled that ideal. Many institutional public defender offices are so severely outgunned that their lawyers are unable to put up a real fight. In 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union settled a lawsuit with Fresno County over its failure to adequately fund its institutional office, where government lawyers carried caseloads three times the recommended limit. In Merced, the institutional public defender’s office has 15 staff attorneys and no full-time investigators — the worst ratio in the state, according to [the most recent data](https://openjustice.doj.ca.gov/exploration/crime-statistics/criminal-justice-personnel?ref=down-ballot.info) from the California Department of Justice. But the shortcomings that sometimes plague government offices are all but guaranteed in a for-profit, flat-fee system. “For it to be worthwhile for this firm to do this, its partners and shareholders have to be taking in enough money to make it profitable for them,” said Eve Primus, a University of Michigan law professor. “And the only way to do that is to cut back on expenses that are required for effective representation. I just don’t know how the math works out otherwise.” The nation’s first public defender office opened its doors in Los Angeles in 1913, the result of a decades-long advocacy effort led by Clara Shortridge Foltz, the first woman to be admitted to the bar in California. By the time the U.S. Supreme Court established a right to an attorney in state court criminal proceedings in 1963, more than a dozen California counties were operating their own public defender systems. But as other states funneled money to government-run public defender offices, California left its system in the hands of the counties. Elected officials in many of those counties would eventually opt for the cheapest path — a flat-fee contract. In 1984, only nine of California’s 58 counties relied on contractors for their primary public defense systems, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics report published that year. Today, that number is 25\. If Foltz were to return, “she would find a criminal justice system that has broken faith with one of its fundamental underlying premises: the presumption of innocence,” wrote Larry Benner, a California Western School of Law professor, in [a 2010 report](https://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/fs/148/?ref=down-ballot.info) examining the state’s public defender offices. She would be alarmed to discover, Benner wrote, that across California, “justice is now up for sale to the lowest bidder.” **\*\*\*** The Ciummo firm wasn’t built by people who saw themselves as protectors of the accused, but by people who had wanted to be on the other side of the courtroom, with the prosecutors. The firm’s founder, John Barker, began his career in law enforcement. He was one of a dozen sheriff’s deputies indicted on charges of using excessive force during the 1969 People’s Park protests in Berkeley, and later served as police chief for the small town of Huron in Fresno County. He went to law school to become a prosecutor. Instead, he began working with a lawyer who had a contract with Madera County to provide public defense. During an unsuccessful campaign for judge in 1986, he told a Fresno Bee reporter, “I don’t have a lot of sympathy for the criminals.” Two years later, in 1988, he submitted the winning bid for Madera’s public defense contract. He hired Ciummo, who had recently been fired from the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office for practicing law after losing his license, and together they represented poor people accused of crimes in the county. Barker was the face of the firm in those early years. He wore a cowboy hat and boots. He was the kind of guy you wanted to have a drink with, said Manuel Nieto, who was hired by the firm in 1994. “He could charm the socks off anybody,” Nieto said. “But he wasn’t an advocate.” California had just passed one of the nation’s first three-strikes laws, which ratcheted up punishments for repeat offenders. Suddenly, defendants were facing long prison sentences for crimes that would previously have landed them in jail or on probation. Nieto said the firm didn’t have the capability — or the drive — to push back against these punitive measures. New attorneys didn’t get any training, he said. They had too many cases and too few resources. Investigations were rare. Nieto doesn’t remember ever using an expert. "That was my first job out of law school and I was like, ‘Holy shit, this is not good,’” he said. He left after six months to join the Fresno public defender’s office. Over the next two decades, the Ciummo firm expanded into other parts of the state, growing its business by underbidding the competition. In 1994, it offered to take over public defense services in Placer County for around half of what the existing contractor proposed. County supervisors seemed eager to make the switch, but Placer’s judges objected. A dozen years later, the county put the contract out for bid again. The local firm asked for $28 million over four years. The Ciummo firm offered to do the job for $15 million, and it won the contract. In each new county, the firm encountered opposition. Local attorneys and community members wrote letters to elected officials, spoke at public hearings and talked to newspaper reporters to express their belief that the firm’s low-cost model would diminish the quality of legal services. That process played out most recently in Merced in 2017, when prosecutors joined members of the local chapter of the NAACP in urging county officials to reject the firm’s proposal. At a hearing on the issue, a defense investigator who had worked for the previous contractor warned the supervisors that “you get what you pay for.” Ciummo, seemingly accustomed to this kind of rhetoric, walked up to the podium to address the board. “I am Mr. Ciummo,” he said. “I don’t have horns and a tail.” \*\*\* On a hot, dry morning in late August, William Martinez was in the lobby of the Madera County Probation Department, waiting for someone to call his name. He had just been released from the local jail after posting bond, and his assault case was pending. Martinez’s next court date was a few weeks away, and he would be represented by a Ciummo attorney. The firm had represented Martinez on a previous charge, in 2023, and he didn’t have high hopes for how his latest case would turn out. “They go through the motions as though you’re being represented, but you’re not,” he said. “They’re representing Madera County.” ![A long concrete wall outside a courthouse displays the raised lettering “Superior Court of California, County of Madera,” with a wheelchair-accessible ramp and handrail running alongside it, partially framed by leafy trees.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/102025-WalMart-Attorneys-LV-CM-20-1024x682.jpg) Madera County Superior Courthouse in Madera on Oct. 20, 2025\. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local It’s a sentiment defendants repeated in San Benito County, where the Office of the State Public Defender surveyed the firm’s clients and their families as part of an audit it released in 2024\. Two-thirds of respondents who had been convicted of a felony said they spoke with their attorney for less than five minutes over the course of their case. Researchers found that the Ciummo lawyers working in the county had failed to add themselves to a list at the local jail that would allow them to have confidential calls with their clients. “My brother feels like he’s going to lose his case because the public defender won’t answer his calls, won’t visit, won’t do any work for him,” one family member said. Another said his brother’s attorney didn’t chase down evidence or interview witnesses. “They wouldn’t help him,” he said. “I had to go and be an investigator and get a statement.” Many of the defendants felt they were being pushed to accept a guilty plea, and that the person who was supposed to be their voice in court was not interested in putting up a fight. Shortly before the San Benito evaluation was published, Fitzgerald decided to pull his firm out of the county. He dismissed the report as biased. “It was the typical, almost boilerplate report that the Office for the State Public Defender does, saying how contract public defenders are no good, and they should do away with them,” Fitzgerald said. The Office of the State Public Defender, once tasked solely with death penalty appeals, expanded its work in response to the ACLU’s lawsuit in Fresno. It now provides training and support for county-based public defenders and periodically evaluates local systems. Its recommendations are not binding. The San Benito contract, Fitzgerald said, had been problematic from the start. He said he had lowered his bid at the county’s insistence, agreeing to fewer lawyers than he needed. “It was not a lucky county for us. So we got out of there,” he said. “San Benito had problems, but they weren't created by us.” \*\*\* This year, the California Legislature considered [a bill](https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca%5F202520260ab690?ref=down-ballot.info) that would ban flat-fee contracts, requiring counties to compensate lawyers and firms based on the demands of their cases. In a committee hearing, senators heard from Rudy Castillo, who had been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 2008 for his participation in a robbery that ended in murder. Castillo had been represented by the Ciummo firm. He said his first attorney excused himself from his case because Castillo refused to accept a plea deal. “It was apparent that he didn’t want to waste his time trying to defend me,” he said. The second attorney was unprepared for trial and seemed to lack “any motivation to argue my case,” Castillo said. “This attorney never hired an investigator. He never submitted any motions to protect my constitutional rights and challenge the Miranda violations of my case, or hired any experts to challenge the DA’s arguments.” When a change in the felony murder law gave Castillo an opportunity to petition the court, his family hired a private attorney to help him. He was released in 2021. By the time Castillo addressed the committee, the California Association of Counties had already registered its opposition to the measure, calling it an unfunded mandate. California is one of just two states that don’t contribute any funding to trial-level public defense, and the bill’s requirements would force counties with contract systems to significantly increase their public defense budgets. Josh Schwartz, a researcher with the Wren Collective, a nonprofit organization advocating for criminal justice reform and a supporter of the proposed legislation, said an increase in spending on public defense could save the counties money in the long run. The flat-fee model, he said, “creates needless incarceration. People are in jail longer pre-trial, they are convicted at higher rates, and sentenced to longer sentences.” “Most counties spend between four and seven times their indigent defense budget on incarceration,” he said. Investing more funding in public defenders “can yield much bigger savings down the line.” The legislation stalled in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where the chair, Sen. Anna Caballero, said she would “have a hard time supporting the bill.” Rural counties, she said, “just don’t have the money.” Caballero’s district includes parts of Madera, Fresno and Merced — three counties where the Ciummo firm has contracts. The bill was put on hold until next year. \*\*\* Fitzgerald is soft-spoken and smiles often. Before becoming a lawyer, he was a police officer in New Jersey. Like Barker and Ciummo, he had gone to law school to become a prosecutor. He interviewed with six or seven district attorneys’ offices, he said, before giving up on that dream and responding to a job posting from the Ciummo firm in 1991\. He said the firm’s critics often fail to differentiate it from flat-fee systems in which individual private attorneys each contract directly with the county. These lawyers get to keep every dollar they don’t spend on investigations and experts. The Ciummo firm’s attorneys earn annual salaries and have access to staff investigators. When they hire forensic experts and other specialists, the county covers the cost from a separate fund. Fitzgerald said the firm’s low trial rate in Madera is the result of prosecutors offering reduced punishments in plea deals, and not an indication that defense attorneys are avoiding taking cases to a jury. “The attorneys in Madera, they’re aggressive,” he said. “They're not afraid to do trials.” Their high caseloads, he said, do not prevent them from advocating for their clients. “Is it perfect? No. But our attorneys work very hard to make sure every client is adequately represented, no matter what the caseloads are.” In his office in Madera, Fitzgerald keeps a framed illustration of all the characters from “The Godfather.” His favorite line from the movie belongs to Mafia boss Michael Corleone: “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” It’s what he pointed to when I asked him about the firm’s political contributions. For decades, it has donated to tough-on-crime candidates whose platforms seem at odds with the interests of the people the Ciummo lawyers represent in court. ![An older person in a suit and striped tie stands indoors beside window blinds, looking ahead with light casting across their face.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/102025-WalMart-Attorneys-LV-CM-003-1024x682.jpg) Michael Fitzgerald at his law firm, Fitzgerald, Alvarez & Ciummo, in Madera on Oct. 20, 2025\. Photos by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local The firm backed Frank Bigelow, a former Madera County supervisor, in his successful run for State Assembly and through several reelection campaigns. Bigelow co-authored a bill to increase punishments for petty theft and drug possession. It also contributed to Anne Marie Schubert’s 2022 campaign for state attorney general, which was focused on repealing propositions 47 and 57, cornerstones of the criminal justice reform movement that reclassified certain drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and made it harder for prosecutors to charge juveniles in adult court. Schubert had previously pushed to expedite the time between conviction and execution in death penalty cases. Fitzgerald called the donations “business decisions.” “We donate mainly so if we make a phone call and we want to be heard about something, they’ll take our phone call,” he said. “Frank Bigelow was very good to us when he was on the Board of Supervisors here. He always voted for us, always supported our contracts.” The firm has also donated to the campaigns of several area district attorneys. “​​I think you should strive to get along with the opposition,” Fitzgerald said. “But when it gets between the lines, you fight tooth and nail for your client. I don’t think it compromises you at all because you get along with the DAs.” Fitzgerald met Lisa Smittcamp, the Fresno district attorney, when she was a young prosecutor in Madera. The two had worked opposite each other and are still friends. He has donated to her campaigns and attends her fundraisers. Smittcamp said she sees no difference in the quality of representation between Fresno’s institutional public defender’s office and the Ciummo firm. “I have never heard somebody say that the Ciummo attorneys give cases away, or they’re not zealous advocates,” she said. One of the firm’s partners, Antonio Alvarez, is widely praised as an effective attorney. A former client, John Diaz, said Alvarez frequently visited him in jail, investigated his case, and reached out to him years after he was convicted to let him know that a change in the law allowed him to petition the court for resentencing. “He humanized me,” Diaz said. Diaz had been assigned several other Ciummo attorneys before Alvarez, but said they “were just going through the motions.” He was in jail for years awaiting trial. “If you got money here, you’re good. If you don’t have money, you’re flipping a coin,” he said. **\*\*\*** Much of the effort to ban flat-fee contracts has focused on the ways in which the model discourages investigations, one of the most critical components of criminal defense. Defense investigators review police reports, visit crime scenes, chase down video surveillance footage and interview witnesses — work that most attorneys are not trained to do. They often find evidence that challenges the prosecution’s case and affects the outcome of a trial or the terms of a plea deal. A [recent CalMatters investigation](https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/06/public-defense-investigators/?ref=down-ballot.info) found that poor people accused of crimes in California are routinely sent to prison without anyone investigating the charges against them, significantly increasing the likelihood of wrongful convictions. In Madera, where the Ciummo firm reported handling more than 6,000 cases last year, attorneys shared two full-time investigators. They were up against prosecutors who have 13 full-time investigators, in addition to the investigative powers of the Madera sheriff and two municipal police departments. “A big part of the job of the public defender is to probe our investigation,” said Madera District Attorney Sally Moreno. In April 2024, Moreno charged a 60-year-old man with the murder of his ex-girlfriend. After the man hired a private defense attorney from a neighboring county, the Madera prosecutors were overwhelmed by a barrage of legal motions. “My lawyers were flabbergasted,” Moreno said. They were accustomed to dealing with the Ciummo attorneys. “This is what defense lawyers do!” she told them. The case confirmed Moreno’s suspicion that her younger lawyers were unprepared to handle an aggressive defense attorney. She said she had previously spoken to county officials about creating an institutional public defender office in Madera. The defense investigator eventually found evidence that complicated the prosecution’s case, and Moreno dropped the charges. She said that’s how the system is supposed to work. “Steel sharpens steel,” she said. In Amador County, lawyers with the firm resolved more than 2,000 cases in 2023 and 2024\. They used an investigator in nine of those cases, according to the firm’s case reports. That means the overwhelming majority of people convicted in Amador during that time never had an investigator test the evidence against them. Defendants in those 2,000 cases frequently tried to fire their Ciummo attorneys by filing what’s known as a Marsden motion, arguing that their attorney was doing a bad job or had a conflict of interest. Most of these requests were denied, but their frequency is almost four times that of neighboring Tulare County, which has an institutional public defender office. After CalMatters inquired about the apparent lack of investigations in Amador, Fitzgerald said the firm would hire an additional investigator to cover the area. But he also insisted the case reports were inaccurate, and that his attorneys had neglected to record the work of an investigator who currently splits her time between Amador and Calaveras counties. “Any case that needs to be investigated is going to be investigated,” he said. Early last year, Kristen Reid, a defense attorney and investigator, began working on the case of a Placer man who was convicted in 2009 of murdering his wife. Reid believed a new state law allowing people to contest convictions based on misleading or discredited forensic evidence could give him a second chance to prove his innocence. When she opened the case files, she expected to find thousands of pages of police reports, witness testimonies and forensic records. But the defense attorneys in the case hadn’t asked for much of this evidence. As she made her way through the documents, she thought, “We have a much bigger problem with this case than junk science.” It seemed to Reid that the two Ciummo attorneys representing the man “had been working for the DA, not the Public Defender,” she later wrote in a complaint to the California State Bar. Court transcripts show that, in the months leading up to the trial, the judge repeatedly berated the lead attorney for failing to move forward with his investigation. He hadn’t interviewed key witnesses, filed basic motions or sent evidence for forensic testing. ![A brick sign at a street corner reads “221 North I Street” above a hanging plaque for “Fitzgerald, Alvarez & Ciummo, A Professional Law Corporation,” surrounded by rocks, shrubs, and a parked car in the background.](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/102025-WalMart-Attorneys-LV-CM-17-1024x682.jpg) The front entrance of the Fitzgerald, Alvarez & Ciummo law firm in Madera on Oct. 20, 2025\. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local More than a year after the Ciummo firm got the case, the lead attorney asked the court to postpone the trial. He said his investigator had a heavy workload and hadn’t been able to devote much time to the case. The judge refused. He had already pushed back the date multiple times at the urging of the defense attorneys, and they had failed to make much progress. “This case should have been a priority for the public defender’s office,” he said. The attorney told the judge he would show up to court but wouldn’t participate. “I will (in) no way respond or argue or offer evidence or any such thing,” he said, according to the court transcript. During the trial, the defense attorneys missed multiple opportunities to discredit law enforcement’s theory of the crime, Reid said. She obtained records through discovery showing that, weeks before the jury found the man guilty, the prosecution’s key forensic witness emailed one of the Ciummo attorneys to thank him for “taking it easy on me” during cross-examination. “I owe you,” he wrote. That lawyer has since been disbarred. The other, Reid discovered, had been charged with domestic violence just two weeks before the trial and had multiple DUI cases on his record. Reid has received help from several different Innocence Projects in her efforts to overturn the man’s conviction, but the odds are stacked against her. The U.S. Supreme Court has made it almost impossible for appellate courts to overturn convictions because a defense lawyer didn’t do their job. “Once the bad thing happens,” Reid said, “there’s just no way out of it.” This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/investigation/2025/12/the-walmart-of-public-defense/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # Do-over. Two NC towns must redo ’25 elections in March ’26. by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press December 18, 2025 In two small [North Carolina](http://www.car/?ref=down-ballot.info) towns, March 2026 will be more than a midterm primary election. It will be a redo. The State Board of Elections ruled Wednesday that irregularities in the 2025 [municipal election](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73287/high-turnout-for-nc-municipal-council-elections-voters-voice-concerns/?ref=down-ballot.info) require Harrellsville and Morehead City to conduct new mayoral races next year. Harrellsville will also redo its Town Council contest. Board members unanimously, but reluctantly, authorized the redo elections. New elections don’t come often or easily. The last time the state elections board called for a new election was in 2022, after a Dobson commissioner race was accidentally tainted by a precinct official. One of the candidates in the contest, **Sharon Gates-Hodge**s, died before Election Day, but after ballots were printed. Her name remained on the ballot. ##### \[[Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ Daily, Weekend and Election 2026 newsletters.](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)\] A Surry County precinct official attempted to help voters by pointing out her name on a sample ballot, but may have pointed to the wrong, very much alive candidates. That race was decided by eight votes, so it was close enough to redo, the board determined. Perhaps most prominently, the state elections board redid the Ninth District congressional primary and general election in 2019, after Republican **Mark Harris**’ campaign consultant **McCrae Dowless** was caught in a voter fraud scheme. Dowless collected voters’ absentee ballots and filled them out himself for Republican candidates, including Harris, in Bladen County. Election officials noticed the unusually wide margin between Harris and his Democratic opponent among absentee ballots, and launched an investigation that culminated in a redo election. While Harris, now a U.S. Representative, NC-8, did not run again, Republican **Dan Bishop** won the seat. This year’s redo elections may not be quite so dramatic, but they are an acknowledgment of significant issues in the original contests. “As much pain and suffering and expenses this is going to cost you … every vote matters, so we have to make sure every vote counts,” Republican Board Chair **Francis De Luca** said. ### Harrellsville to redo mayor's race **Lori Nuss** didn’t sign up to be mayor. But 10 of Harrellsville’s several dozen residents wrote her in to lead during November’s municipal elections. There’s just one issue. Seven of the 25 voters may have been ineligible to vote in the contest. In municipal elections, ineligible voters often show up to the polls, not realizing they don’t actually live within town limits. That was the case in Harrellsville. Poll workers did not properly check voters in or verify their eligibility before allowing them to vote. Upon discovering the issue, the Hertford County Board of Elections declined to certify the mayor and Town Council elections. Wednesday, the State Board agreed that there was no better option than to start over and try again. The new election is set for March 3, 2026, the same day as the 2026 primary election. Hertford County Board of Elections Director **Kawania Parker** did not immediately respond to questions over what, if any, additional cost the county would incur due to the redo election. Now, Nuss has a few more months to recruit someone else to take over her late husband’s role as mayor. But if push comes to shove, she’s willing to lead, she told Carolina Public Press. “I guess I'll let them write my name down again,” she said. “Everybody here is so sweet. I mean, we all work together. We really do. It's not really the mayor, as much as it is the mayor and Town Council that work together.” ### Morehead City to vote again If you’re ever in doubt about the power of one vote, look no further than Morehead City, state elections board member **Stacy “Four” Eggers** said. In November, Morehead City Mayor **Jerry Jones** lost his bid for reelection by one vote; he earned 761 votes to **Lee Stile’s** 762 votes. However, after the official results were tallied, Jones filed an election protest. Anyone who is eligible to vote in a contest can file a protest if they can prove that there were election irregularities — unrelated to vote counting and tabulation — that may have impacted the outcome. County election boards take the first look at protests, and they may be referred or appealed to the state if necessary. In Jones’ protest, he listed a number of voters who said they were turned away at the polls for various reasons. While several of the cases were explainable — voters were eligible for county contests, but not municipal contests, for example — in two cases presented to the state elections board Wednesday, poll workers failed to provide provisional ballots to voters with uncertain eligibility, as the law directs. Provisional ballots are not automatically counted toward election totals; instead, county boards research them later to determine whether voters are eligible and consequently, whether their ballots should be counted. Poll workers are supposed to offer provisional ballots as a fail-safe to all voters, even those who may appear obviously ineligible. One voter, **Thomas Higgins III**, presented a temporary North Carolina driver’s license to vote. That’s not an acceptable form of photo identification, so Higgins should have been provided a Photo ID Exception Form or a provisional ballot, so he could come back later with another form of identification. But Higgins alleged that he was not given that opportunity. Instead, he was turned away without casting a vote. Another voter, **Brady Rodgers**, moved from one Morehead City precinct to another on Sept. 26\. North Carolina law allows residents who moved over 30 days before Election Day to vote in their new precinct. Rodgers did not report his move to the county elections board, and so he was turned away at the polls. Under state law, he should have been given a provisional ballot, which he could use to update his address while voting. The Carteret County Board of Elections found evidence of a violation of election law in these cases, and referred the matter to the State Board of Elections. “These failures are not mere technicalities,” Jones’ attorney **Chris Stalk** said at the Wednesday meeting. “...In an election decided by a single vote, the improper denial of two eligible votes is not only significant, but it's outcome determinative and plainly sufficient to cast doubt on the apparent results.” **Phil Thomas**, who also represented Jones, made an unusual request. He asked the state elections board to allow Higgins and Rodgers to cast a ballot now and add it to the count. As both had testified they intended to vote for Jones in the original election, this move would have almost certainly handed the election to Jones. **Hart Miles**, who represented Stiles at the meeting, called it a “dangerous argument.” There was no way to identify which poll workers contributed to the issue, and election workers don’t keep records of who is turned away. “Given that we have absolutely no idea how many people were wrongly turned away, I submit to this board that awarding this election to Mr. Jones would be tremendously unfair and establish a very dangerous new precedent,” Miles said. The board unanimously sided with Miles. Eggers and Democratic board member **Siobhan Millen** emphasized the importance of proper poll worker training that included when to offer provisional ballots to voters. Carteret County Election Director **Caitlin Sabadish** said there's a difference between the classroom setting of training and the “high-pressure environment of Election Day.” “While our officials successfully manage thousands of voters without issue, these rare occasions of human error can occur even when the proper training has been provided,” she said. Going forward, Sabadish said her team will expand training with more “real-world” training drills. There's not much of an additional cost, since the redo election was set for the March 3, 2026 primary date, she added. ### Other protests It was a full house at the State Board of Elections meeting. In addition to the Harrellsville and Morehead City issues, the board took on four other election protests. Murfreesboro Town Council candidate **James Byerly** raised issues with some students using their Chowan University mailing address as their residential address, even though they technically didn’t live within town limits. Byerly missed a spot on the Town Council by one vote to **James Futrelle Jr.** Hertford County Board of Elections dismissed his protest on a technicality — when election protests only deal with voter eligibility issues, they are voter challenges, not election protests. Voter challenges can be considered up to 25 days before an election, but not after. After some debate, the state elections board sided with the county board. However, they agreed that using mailing addresses as residential addresses is “problematic,” and vowed to figure out better guidance to county boards on the issue in the future. Two election protests were filed in Kinston; one over the City Council race, and the other over the mayoral race. In the City Council race, third-place candidate **Quarla Blackwell** alleged a series of issues with elections. Blackwell has been incarcerated multiple times, she said. When she was most recently released in 2024, the county board of elections told her she was eligible to vote, even though she was under active, supervised probation. So when she ran for office the next year, she didn’t think anything of it. However, the law had changed by then due to updates in related litigation, and now, she was not eligible to run. Blackwell said she is facing several years in prison due to this issue. And yet, she is still listed as an active voter on North Carolina’s voter roll. Blackwell said the voter database is “broken” and her experience casts doubt on whether other voters on probation after serving a felony sentence are being allowed to vote. The State Board rejected her protest on technical grounds. Millen said her protest was not filed on time. Eggers said Blackwell did not prove that enough people were impacted by the issues she spoke of to potentially alter the election outcome. For her part, Blackwell said she’s taking the issue to court. [![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CTA-wk-of-12-15.png)](https://carolinapublicpress.fundjournalism.org/donate/?amount=15&campaign=701VH00000mpn9XYAQ&frequency=monthly&ref=down-ballot.info) In the Kinston mayor’s race, resident **Maria President** challenged presumptive winner **Kareem Moore**’s residency. President did not show up at the county elections board hearing, and the state elections board said they did not receive her appeal in time. Since the burden of proof is on the protester, the board dismissed her protest without getting into the details. “I'm mindful that it doesn't squarely address the issues, but the issues were not squarely presented to us,” Eggers said. Finally, in Red Springs, second-place candidate **Duron Burney** alleged potential voter fraud in an assisted living home. Burney lost the mayoral race by two votes to **Caroline Sumpter.** Burney raised concerns over staff at the assisted living home requesting and returning absentee ballots on behalf of residents. There was no way to be sure that the residents actually requested their help, he argued. While a court order requires disabled voters to be able to request anyone’s help requesting absentee ballots — not just near relatives and legal guardians, as the law requires for everyone else — Burney remains concerned about potential coercion. Sumpter attorney **Eric Fletcher** said previously issued State Board guidance detailing the court order makes it simple: a disabled voter who is a patient in a covered facility can receive help from anyone they like. “That should be the beginning and end of this appeal,” he said. The state elections board decided they didn’t have enough information. Therefore, they sent the case back to the county to figure out whether residents asked for help and whether the assisted living facility exhausted other options before having staff do the job themselves. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73939/do-over-two-nc-towns-must-redo-25-elections-in-march-26/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Obsessed: An ASU triathlete discovers the mental health crisis hidden in endurance sports by PaolaB, Cronkite News December 11, 2025 TEMPE – *Exactly 1,644 days. More than four and a half years. That’s how long it’s been since I took a real rest day.* *Not because I didn’t want to rest. Because I couldn’t.* *Rest didn’t feel like recovery. It felt like panic. The moment I stopped moving, my chest tightened, my thoughts buzzed and I felt this rising sense of dread, like I was losing control – something I couldn’t afford to lose.* I’ve been moving my whole life, from childhood training with my active family, to four years as a Division I runner at Duke and now competing in triathlon at Arizona State. My default was forward, always. Which is why, when pain hit, I treated it the same way I treated everything else: I kept going. Two miles into a long run last year, my back snapped – a sudden, slicing pain that stole the air from my lungs. Any rational person would have turned around. Not me. I couldn’t. I still had 11 miles left, and the idea of turning around felt more dangerous than the pain running down my spine. By the time I got home, I was crawling between positions on my bed, unable to sit, stand or walk without seizing. But the next morning, I still showed up for practice. Thirty seconds into the warm-up, the same pain ripped through me once again, only this time, the run ended with my face pressed against an athletic training table. The doctors told me to rest. I agreed. Then I drove straight to the pool. I didn’t want to swim. But I *had* to. I slid into the water and started pulling, each stroke sending a dull ache through my back. When I finally decided I’d done “enough,” I couldn’t hoist myself onto the deck like I usually did. I had to shuffle to the metal ladder – yes, the one typically reserved for older adults was now for me, too. This wasn’t new. I’d run through several injuries before, pushing a body that had been warning me it was done long before I was willing to listen. But why? Why did stopping feel harder than hurting? I didn’t have a name for it at first. For this constant urgency, this fear of stillness, this need to keep moving even when I knew it was doing more harm than good. But researchers do. It’s called “compulsive exercise.” Scientific literature describes it as “rigid, rule-bound activity performed to prevent or reduce negative emotion” – a pattern of obsessive, anxiety-driven training that looks a lot like obsessive-compulsive disorder, only the ritual is movement. It’s not exercise addiction or simple overtraining. It’s an anxiety-driven movement – the inability to stop, even when you’re hurt, exhausted or fully aware you shouldn’t be training at all. The line between commitment and compulsion is thinner than most athletes want to admit. You call it discipline. You call it drive. But when missing a workout feels like failure, and rest feels like guilt, you might not be training anymore – you might be chasing something else entirely. **Control: the illusion that keeps me chasing** For many endurance athletes, training isn’t just something we do – it’s the one thing we can control when everything else feels uncertain. Workouts come with clear rules and predictable outcomes: You run the miles, you hit the paces, you get better. Or at least, that’s what you tell yourself. That illusion of control is powerful. It’s also one of the earliest signs that something deeper is happening. When I was injured, the pain itself wasn’t what scared me. What scared me was not knowing what would happen to my fitness if I stopped – whether a week off would erase months of progress, whether someone else would gain ground while I sat still. Rest didn’t feel neutral; it felt dangerous. Moving meant control. Stopping meant losing it. The paradox was impossible to ignore – the thing that made me feel in control was also the thing I had no control over. Kim McNally, a senior lecturing fellow at Duke University with a doctorate in exercise science, said this is a telltale sign of compulsive exercise. “For a lot of endurance athletes, movement becomes a way to stay in control,” she said. “It’s not about joy. It’s not even about training. It’s about managing the fear of what happens if you don’t.” It’s a feedback loop that looks like discipline from the outside. But inside, it feels like holding yourself together by sheer force. **Avoidance: the fear that keeps me running** If control keeps athletes moving, anxiety is what chases them there. Compulsive exercise isn’t driven by ambition – it’s driven by avoidance. The workout becomes a way to outrun the panic that spikes the moment you stop. McNally sees this pattern constantly in endurance athletes. “A lot of compulsive exercise is anxiety reduction,” she said. “Movement becomes the quickest way to quiet the fear – whether that fear is losing fitness, losing identity or losing control.” McNally explained that what separates healthy training from compulsive training isn’t how much you do, it’s why you do it. “In addictive exercise, the motivation is to seek something positive, like joy or euphoria,” she said. “But compulsive exercise is about avoiding a negative. That might be guilt or shame or fears of gaining weight. It might even be physical irritability – the tension people feel when they don’t work out. Any pathological exercise someone does to avoid a negative falls into the compulsive category.” Arizona State sports psychology counselor Halle Gydesen echoed that sentiment. “When rest creates distress, athletes will do anything to avoid it,” she said. “The training isn’t the problem, it’s the purpose behind the training.” ![](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_3205-1024x683.jpeg) For many endurance athletes, training isn’t just something they do. It’s the one thing they can control. (Photo courtesy of Hope Frost) This aligns with what researchers call a negative reinforcement loop. Instead of exercising to feel good, compulsive exercisers train to avoid feeling bad. A 2017 study in “Frontiers in Psychology” found that athletes with compulsive tendencies reported feelings of irritability, tension, anxiety and restlessness within hours of missing a workout. Exercise becomes the fastest way to shut down those sensations, which is why stopping feels impossible. I recognized myself immediately in these descriptions. Rest didn’t feel restful. It felt like failure. The moment I tried to take a day off, my mind filled the silence with noise: *You’re falling behind, you’re losing fitness, you’re weaker than yesterday.* And that was exactly it: The fear wasn’t about missing a workout. It was about what missing a workout *said about me*. **Worth: the pressure that keeps me proving** Endurance sports reward the people who refuse to stop – so I built my worth around never stopping. If I trained hard, I was legitimate. If I trained harder, I was valuable. If I trained through pain, I was the kind of athlete coaches respected. Rest didn’t just threaten progress. It threatened identity. Part of that came from the environment. In NCAA sports, worth is often measured by output. Coaches notice the athletes who show up early, stay late and push through things they shouldn’t. I learned quickly which behaviors earned approval – and which didn’t. So I pushed to stay on the right side of that line. McNally sees this dynamic constantly. “For a lot of athletes, their self-concept is so tightly tied to performance,” she said. “When your identity narrows like that, stopping feels like losing a part of yourself.” That narrowing happened without me noticing. The more I pushed, the more pressure I felt to prove the push was justified – to myself, to the people watching, to the coaches who determined my opportunities. Every workout became evidence: either that I belonged, or that I was slipping. Gydesen said this pressure shapes athletes long before they know to question it. “When worth gets tied to output, athletes learn to overlook everything else,” she said. “You start chasing a standard that keeps moving, and your sense of self moves with it.” That was me. It wasn’t just fitness I was afraid of losing. It was the only version of myself I believed was worth anything – the disciplined one, the relentless one, the one who kept going no matter what. The workouts weren’t just workouts. They were proof. Evidence. Receipts that I was still enough, still worthy, still the athlete I thought my coaches expected and the one I desperately wanted to be. And that’s the danger. When worth is built on output, rest is no longer an option. But a body that never rests eventually breaks. Biology doesn’t negotiate forever. **Cost: the damage that keeps me breaking** Research on pathological exercise in endurance athletes links compulsive training to elevated injury risk, stress fractures, hormonal disruption, menstrual and testosterone suppression, impaired immune function and prolonged recovery. A review published in “Current Sports Medicine Reports” found that compulsive exercisers are significantly more likely to train through pain, delay treatment and experience recurring injuries – not in spite of their discipline, but because of it. The psychology breaks down in parallel. Studies show that athletes in compulsive patterns often report distorted self-assessment, believing they are “undertrained” even as performance declines. A 2016 review in “Current Sports Medicine Reports” found that compulsive exercisers consistently misjudged fatigue, minimized pain signals and overestimated the consequences of rest. McNally said she sees these patterns constantly in collegiate athletes. “We call it the cliff,” she said. “There were always those people who will train more and more and look lighter and lighter, and they will be really running fast. And then, at some point, they just crash. They go over the cliff.” I know that cliff all too well. My body got weaker, not stronger. Paces faded, workouts that used to feel comfortable turned crushing. But instead of stopping, I doubled down. I kept thinking more would fix what more was breaking – that if I pushed just one level deeper, I’d finally get the result I was chasing. Even when I knew better, I kept trying anyway. That belief that more is always better is exactly what Gydesen warned becomes dangerous. “That mentality can get you to a high level,” she said. “But it also pushes athletes to downplay rest, relationships, even their own needs as a person. When 110% becomes the expectation every day, the body eventually breaks before the athlete’s will does.” That is the cost. A body breaking, and a mind too afraid to slow it down. **Resistance: the fight that keeps me standing** I wish this were the part where I say I stopped. Where I learned balance. Where I chose rest over mileage and walked away better for it. But recovery for me didn’t arrive as a breakthrough. It arrived as something more like resistance – shaky, inconsistent, but present. I’m still wired the same way: to work, to push, to move. Compulsion doesn’t vanish when you name it. The fear still flares. The urge still persists. Rest still feels like surrender. But something *is* changing. *Control* used to mean pushing harder. Now I’m learning it might mean taking the power back from the thing that has been controlling me. *Avoidance* used to mean running from anxiety. Now toughness means facing it head-on, realizing the bravest thing I can do is stop. *Worth* used to be something I chased. Now I know that my value can’t be measured in pace, mileage or pain tolerance. *Cost* used to be something I chose to ignore. Now I’m learning to listen, to stop before it catches up. I like doing hard things. I always have. Maybe rest is just another version of that, one I never trained for. Some days I still choose mileage over mercy. Some days I still let fear set the pace. Some days the old pattern wins. But some days – I resist. Because hard isn’t running. Hard is stopping. Maybe recovery doesn’t start with freedom. Maybe it starts with one interrupted urge. One morning where I don’t lace up, even when my chest tightens. One day instead of 1,644. This [article](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2025/12/11/compulsive-exercise-asu-triathlete-mental-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- ### Feds conclude first week of immigration raids in Crescent City URL: https://down-ballot.info/feds-conclude-first-week-of-immigration-raids-in-crescent-city/ Last updated: 2025-12-12T10:00:24.000Z **It's Friday, December 12, 2025 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Federal immigration enforcement ends its first week in New Orleans, Bluesky social media app restores access for adult Mississippians, The Stats on Abortion Access in Rural America, South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation, Stein restores Medicaid rates amid budget shortfall, urges legislature to act, Scientists Say the Forever Chemical TFA Could Cause Irreversible Harm. In Eastern North Carolina, It’s Everywhere, Legal aid groups feel pinch of NC legislature freezing millions of dollars. **Media outlets and others featured:** Verite News, Mississippi Today, The Daily Yonder, KFF Health News, North Carolina Health News, Inside Climate News, Carolina Public Press. --- # ‘Many people are terrified to come out’: Catahoula Crunch closes out its first week by Bobbi-Jeanne Misick, Verite News New Orleans December 10, 2025 As the first week of an intensified immigration enforcement crackdown in southeast Louisiana came to an end, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials remain tight-lipped about how many apprehensions federal agents have made to achieve their goal of 5,000 arrests, based on [plans reviewed](https://apnews.com/article/new-orleans-border-patrol-swamp-sweep-1d30a524e80fa25912a38c3aea79832b?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Associated Press in November, during the operation. While offering little information about the overall operation, which began last Wednesday (Dec. 3) with a series of raids at major home improvement stores, the DHS press office [in a Monday press release](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/12/08/making-new-orleans-safe-again-operation-catahoula-crunch-arrests-even-more-criminal?ref=down-ballot.info) praised federal agents for apprehending “rapists, thieves, gang members, human smugglers, and abusers” in the operation, dubbed “Catahoula Crunch.” The department highlighted eight immigrants originating from Latin America, most of whom were from Honduras, that it said had serious or violent criminal records ranging including domestic battery and domestic abuse. However, less than a third of the 38 people who were arrested in the first two days of the operation appeared to have criminal records, according to [records that the AP reviewed](https://apnews.com/article/immigration-new-orleans-online-monitoring-b2c300245ea4ffbef335502245760a1d?ref=down-ballot.info), which also showed operation leaders are monitoring social media accounts for threats to agents and indications of public sentiment. [The Times Picayune reported](https://www.nola.com/news/crime%5Fpolice/border-patrol-detention-centers-immigration-new-orleans/article%5Fcbf974b2-cc7a-4bc7-b298-0de16d65eb5b.html?ref=down-ballot.info) last week that immigrants arrested in the operation are first being taken to a newly opened U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in St. Rose — a town in St. Charles Parish where ICE contractor BI Inc. conducts its immigrant surveillance program — before being transferred across state lines to a jail in Hancock County, Mississippi — which has an intergovernmental service agreement with DHS to house federal detainees, and then on to one of Louisiana’s nine immigration detention centers. When asked for information on the first week of the operation, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that Border Patrol falls under, referred Verite News to the Dec. 8 DHS press release. “Catahoula Crunch” is the third operation of its kind in a major U.S. city in recent months, following operation “Midway Blitz” in Chicago and operation “Charlotte’s Web” in Charlotte, North Carolina. In Chicago, federal agents focused on heavily Hispanic suburban neighborhoods near the city’s northwest side, sparking [allegations of racial profiling](https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/latino-us-citizens-racially-profiled-immigration-chicago/?ref=down-ballot.info) — including of [U.S. citizens of color](https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will?ref=down-ballot.info) caught up in the sweeps — and excessive use of force. The New Orleans operation appears to be following a similar strategy, with community groups reporting heavy immigration enforcement activity in suburban areas such as Kenner which has the highest concentration of Hispanic residents in the state. Immigrants rights organizations have taken to Facebook and other social media sites to alert impacted community members of Border Patrol and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in their areas. Area news organizations have reported allegations of U.S. citizens being [apprehended](https://www.nola.com/news/crime%5Fpolice/detained-citizens-border-patrol-new-orleans/article%5F667b08e0-e717-4558-867c-6093c4284b34.html?ref=down-ballot.info) or [targeted](https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/politics/immigration-news/immigration-enforcement/video-masked-agents-chase-us-born-woman-back-to-her-marrero-home/289-6b2ecb91-3a5e-42eb-b535-9cc581eaeb4d?ref=down-ballot.info) by federal agents. Members of local immigrant rights groups, such as Unión Migrante, have been monitoring immigration enforcement activity and posting sightings — at medical clinics, street corners and businesses — to social media. The group also posts advice on what to do in the event of an encounter with agents. On Tuesday, for example, the group posted a potential sighting of federal agents, along with Kenner Police Department cars, at Ochsner Medical Center in Kenner. The post said two cars had individuals in the back seats. A spokesperson for Ochsner Health, however, said the Kenner Police cars were there investigating a fender bender. Rachel Taber, a Unión Migrante member, said she witnessed federal agents briefly at Ochsner’s main campus on Monday. The Ochsner spokesperson said they were not aware of any instances of federal immigration agents conducting immigration enforcement operations at any of Ochsner Health's locations since the beginning of the Catahoula Crunch operation. DHS did not immediately respond to questions about immigration agents allegedly operating in or near medical campuses. [More from Verite News: Community groups organize food deliveries for those affected by raids](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/08/food-deliveries-dhs-catahoula-crunch/?ref=down-ballot.info) “It’s a life or death decision either way for immigrants. Many people are terrified to come out of their homes because they will be killed if deported to Honduras,” Taber told Verite News. “But there are people who will also die if they don’t get their cancer treatment or dialysis. So Border Patrol’s targeting hospitals now two days in a row is particularly cruel and unusual.” Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley was not available for an interview or comment before this article was published. In an [interview last month](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/19/border-patrol-swamp-sweep-kenner/?ref=down-ballot.info), Conley said the department would assist federal agents in whatever way it is called to do so. The Kenner Police Department is formally partnered with ICE under a 287(g) agreement, which deputizes local and state officials to investigate civil immigration violations and begin deportation proceedings. Earlier this year, Kenner PD [saw a spike in immigration detainers ](https://veritenews.org/2025/08/13/kenner-immigration-traffic-stops-ice/?ref=down-ballot.info)— requests to hold people suspected of breaking civil immigration laws in custody beyond their release dates so that they can be taken into ICE custody — a Verite News and Gulf States Newsroom investigation found. The Louisiana State Police has also been assisting with the “Catahoula Crunch” operation. In a statement sent via email from Sgt. Kate Stegall, a public affairs officer from the agency’s Region NOLA, which encompasses Orleans and surrounding parishes, acknowledged that troopers have been providing “operational support.” “Our Troopers have been in uniform and operating marked LSP vehicles to ensure a visible and coordinated presence,” Stegall said. ![Anti-ICE signs hang on the door of Taqueria Guerrero, a Mexican restaurant New Orleans that closed Dec. 1, 2025 in anticipation of Catahoula Crunch.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/10111254/20251201_CZB_ICE-Hospitality_02.jpg) Anti-ICE signs hang on the door of Taqueria Guerrero, a Mexican restaurant New Orleans that closed Dec. 1, 2025 in anticipation of Catahoula Crunch. A number of businesses in areas with large Hispanic populations were shuttered throughout the region. Among them, [Taqueria Guerrero](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/04/restaurants-immigration-catahoula-ice/?ref=down-ballot.info), a Mexican restaurant in Mid-City, announced a temporary closure before the operation began. Nearby, a popular taco truck usually stationed at the corner of Broad and Canal Streets has not been seen in recent days. > In the days leading up to and in the initial days of the operation, Broad Street — a popular corridor for Hispanic businesses and customers — [appeared abnormally quiet. ](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/05/broad-street-immigration-border-patrol/?ref=down-ballot.info)One business owner told Verite News that she is unable to find essential workers, many of whom are Hispanic and fear being targeted in immigration raids. > A [New York Times story](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/us/new-orleans-restaurants-immigration-workers-border-patrol.html?ref=down-ballot.info) found that the city’s restaurants, which rely heavily on immigrant labor, are already feeling the ripple effects of the enforcement operation. Prep cooks, line cooks and dishwashers are not showing up to work and some menu items are not being served because employees don’t want to risk being arrested while at a grocery store or market. > The operation also appears to be having an impact on school attendance. > On Tuesday, the [Times Picayune reported](https://www.nola.com/news/education/new-orleans-jefferson-parish-school-attendance-immigration-crackdown/article%5F3b3ae425-81a3-4c8c-a28d-4f4a4d864dc6.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that in Jefferson Parish, which has a higher population of students learning English than Orleans Parish, school absenteeism in the first two days of last week (before the operation officially began) was double the normal rate. Schools with large populations of English language learners had particularly high absenteeism rates. Aubri Juhasz, education reporter at NPR member station WWNO, told Verite News the numbers from Jefferson Parish schools will become clearer in the second week of the operation. One local parent — who asked to remain anonymous because she fears she could be targeted by immigration enforcement authorities — said she brought her children to their school Jefferson Parish on the first day of the operation. But since then she and the kids have been staying home. She said she received a letter from the school assuring her the children would be safe at school. “The problem is not when they’re in school. The problem is when someone would have to pick up the kids at the stop outside,” she said, speaking through an interpreter. As a single mother who provides for her family by selling Central American food, she said her biggest fear is being evicted with her children because she can’t leave home and earn money to pay rent. But she said, “I’m not leaving until they leave,” referring to Border Patrol. Over the past week [protesters have taken to City Hall](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/04/catahoula-crunch-protesters-city-council/?ref=down-ballot.info) and also to city streets. Carrying signs that read “No collaboration with ICE/CBP” protesters interrupted a New Orleans City Council meeting on Thursday, causing a pause in the day’s agenda and a suspension of public comment, which drew outrage. On Friday, New Orleans Mayor-elect Helena Moreno, City Council President J.P. Morrell, U.S. Congressman Troy Carter and other local leaders [held a press conference demanding more transparency](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/05/city-council-helena-moreno-dhs-demands/?ref=down-ballot.info) in tactics used during “Catahoula Crunch” Over the weekend, groups of people holding posters denouncing immigration enforcement chanted in [Metairie, New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/07/metairie-immigration-protest-catahoula/?ref=down-ballot.info) and Kenner. *This story was updated to include comments from an Ochsner Health spokesperson, wh*o *said they were not aware of immigration enforcement operations taking place at any Ochsner properties since the beginning of Catahoula Crunch.* This [article](https://veritenews.org/2025/12/10/catahoula-crunch-week-1-border-patrol-ice-new-orleans/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=26990&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # Bluesky social media app restores access for adult Mississippians by Michael Goldberg, Mississippi Today December 10, 2025 The social media app Bluesky restored access to its platform this week to Mississippians over the age of 18, partially reversing an [August decision](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/08/25/bluesky-blocks-access-mississippi-free-speech-privacy-concerns/?ref=down-ballot.info) to block access for all users in the state in response to a state age-verification law. Applying a [new policy update](https://bsky.social/about/blog/09-10-2025-age-assurance-approach?ref=down-ballot.info) Bluesky also implemented in Australia, the decentralized social media platform said it would allow legal adults in Mississippi to access its app, while keeping the service unavailable for minors. Bluesky made the change after altering its "Age Assurance system," despite its ongoing concerns over a 2024 Mississippi state law that requires users of websites and other digital services to verify their age. "We continue to believe that Mississippi law limits free speech and disproportionately harms smaller platforms," the company said in a statement. "As a result, we will not follow the law’s requirements to track children’s online conduct in detail, and we will not devote our limited resources to build the verification systems, parental consent workflows, and compliance infrastructure the law requires. However, because we have the technical means to offer a choice for older users, we want to let them decide for themselves if they are comfortable confirming that they are at least 18 years old." In August, Bluesky [announced](https://bsky.social/about/blog/08-22-2025-mississippi-hb1126?ref=down-ballot.info) that it would go dark in Mississippi after the U.S. Supreme Court [declined](https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-social-media-lawsuit-age-verification-6332003bf2431bb848166ba2b9b290cd?ref=down-ballot.info) to block a Mississippi age-verification law, which the company said limits free expression, invades people’s privacy and unfairly targets smaller social media companies. Bluesky grew after the 2024 presidential election. Many users of X, which is owned by Elon Musk, retreated from the platform in response to the billionaire’s strong support of President Donald Trump. Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican whose office defended the law, told the justices that age verification could help protect young people from “sexual abuse, trafficking, physical violence, sextortion and more,” activities that the First Amendment does not protect. The age verification law added Mississippi to a list of Republican-led states where similar legal challenges are playing out. NetChoice is challenging laws passed in Mississippi and other states that require social media users to verify their ages, and asked the Supreme Court to keep the measure on hold while a lawsuit plays out. That came after a federal judge [prevented the 2024 law](https://mississippitoday.org/2024/07/02/internet-age-law-blocked-injunction-verification-mississippi-legislature-free-speech-privacy/?ref=down-ballot.info) from taking effect. But a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in July that the law could be enforced while the lawsuit proceeds. On Aug. 14, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal from a tech industry group representing major platforms such as Facebook, X and YouTube. Bluesky made the policy update in Mississippi this week in conjunction with a similar change in Australia, where a new online age assurance law takes effect on Dec. 10. This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/10/bluesky-restores-access-adults-mississippi/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) ![](https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1161593&ga4=G-VSX4B701MS) --- # The Stats on Abortion Access in Rural America by Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder December 10, 2025 *Editor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. We will be taking the next edition off as we head into Christmas.* [*Subscribe*](https://dailyyonder.com/contact-us/subscribe-daily-yonder/?ref=down-ballot.info) *to stay in touch with us during the New Year.* --- Compared to their urban and suburban counterparts, a greater share of the rural population lives in states with the most restrictive abortion legislation, according to my analysis of data from the [Guttmacher Institute](https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/south-carolina/abortion-statistics?ref=down-ballot.info), a research organization that focuses on reproductive rights. After the Supreme Court overturned *Roe v. Wade* in June of 2022, it became harder for women to access reproductive care, but the burden often disproportionately hurt rural women. About 46% of nonmetropolitan, or rural, Americans live in states with either ‘most restrictive’ or ‘very restrictive’ abortion legislation, representing 21.3 million people. Approximately 35% of metro Americans live in these states, representing roughly 99.1 million people. State-level abortion legislation is complex; it’s rarely as simple as an outright ban or permit. Abortion policies can include stipulations like waiting periods, ultrasound requirements, gestational duration bans, insurance coverage bans, telehealth bans, and more. To deal with some of this complexity, the Guttmacher dataset groups states into one of seven categories that broadly captures the state’s access to abortion: - Most Restrictive - Very Restrictive - Restrictive - Some restrictions/protections - Protective - Very Protective - Most Protective ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IgIEx-state-abortion-legislation-after-roe-1-1.png) *Click* [*here* ](https://www.datawrapper.de/%5F/IgIEx/?v=2&ref=down-ballot.info)*for the interactive map.* Seventeen states make up the ‘Most Restrictive’ category, and 13 of those states have enacted full bans with few exceptions. Those states include Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. The rural population in those states equals about 15.8 million people. ## Rurality Exacerbates Access Challenges In the Post-Roe landscape, pre-existing rural challenges are exacerbated by restrictive abortion legislation, a change that has led to [increased maternal mortality](https://thegepi.org/maternal-mortality-abortion-bans/?ref=down-ballot.info), particularly for women of color. The new state of abortion in America means people often have to travel much further to get the care they need, often out of state. An ABC special that featured women who had to travel for abortions highlighted the story of [Idaho resident Jennifer Adkins](https://abcnews.go.com/US/meet-18-women-shared-heartbreaking-pregnancy-journeys-post/story?id=105563366&ref=down-ballot.info), who was excited when she found out she was pregnant with her first baby. But a 12-week ultrasound showed that continuing her pregnancy would put her life in danger. With financial help from family and friends, Adkins had to travel to the nearest clinic in Oregon to receive the care she needed. My [previous analysis](https://dailyyonder.com/how-much-farther-do-rural-women-have-to-travel-for-an-abortion/2024/10/29/?ref=down-ballot.info) of abortion data showed that rural travel to abortion clinics increased from 103 miles on average in 2021 to 159 miles on average after *Roe v. Wade* was overturned. But travel distance varies by state, with women in parts of rural South Texas having to travel up to almost 800 miles to receive care. In rural Louisiana, where all the bordering states have also issued abortion bans, the distance to a clinic has increased by almost 400 miles since *Roe* was overturned. The average rural Louisianan is about 492 miles away from the nearest abortion clinic. The data for that analysis came from the [Myers Abortion Facility Database](https://osf.io/8dg7r/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2024, approximately 12,000 Texans traveled to New Mexico to receive an abortion, according to the [Guttmacher Institute](https://www.guttmacher.org/monthly-abortion-provision-study?ref=down-ballot.info) data. Nearly 7,000 Texans traveled to Kansas, and another 4,000 traveled to Colorado. Texas [enacted a near total ban](https://www.sll.texas.gov/faqs/abortion-illegal-texas/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=A%20Texas%20law%20that%20prohibits%20almost%20all,Code%20prohibits%20abortions%20in%20nearly%20all%20circumstances.) on abortions in July of 2022. In Idaho, which [enacted an abortion ban](https://www.abortionfinder.org/abortion-guides-by-state/abortion-in-idaho?ref=down-ballot.info) in August of 2022, 440 people travel to Washington and 140 travel to Oregon for abortions in 2024\. (Visit the [Guttmacher’s interactive map](https://www.guttmacher.org/monthly-abortion-provision-study?ref=down-ballot.info) of abortion travel by state to explore the topic in more detail.) ## Abortion and Rural Voters: More Complex Than You Might Think Every time I write something about how rural people suffer from GOP policies, I get comments and emails from readers saying some version of, “They voted for this.” I take issue with this response for many reasons. It’s unkind, and it erases the thousands of rural voters who don’t support these policies. While some people are going to say you get what you deserve, here’s another way to look at it. In [a previous analysis](https://dailyyonder.com/despite-continued-support-for-trump-in-2024-many-rural-voters-rejected-school-vouchers-and-protected-abortion-rights-at-the-ballot-box/2024/12/03/?ref=down-ballot.info) of voting data from the nine states that had abortion on a ballot measure in 2024, I found that support for Trump didn’t always line up with support for abortion restriction. In 2024, approximately 73% of rural voters supported Trump, but only 61% voted to restrict abortion access. While 61% is still a majority vote, the 12-point gap between support for Trump and support for abortion restriction demonstrates that abortion access is a complicated issue for many Americans across the geographic spectrum. This data shows a rural voting base that is willing to split with the broader Republican platform on key issues. “All voters are complex,” said Nicholas Jacobs, rural sociologist. “People voted for \[Trump\], even if they wanted more access to reproductive care or were disappointed that a national standard was lifted by the courts.” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/the-stats-on-abortion-access-in-rural-america/2025/12/10/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=235394&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # South Carolina’s Measles Outbreak Shows Chilling Effect of Vaccine Misinformation Lauren Sausser November 26, 2025 BOILING SPRINGS, S.C. — Near the back corner of the local library’s parking lot, largely out of view from the main road, the South Carolina Department of Public Health opened a pop-up clinic in early November, offering free measles vaccines to adults and children. Spartanburg County, in South Carolina’s Upstate region, has been fighting a measles outbreak since early October, with more than 50 cases identified. Health officials have encouraged people who are unvaccinated to get a shot by visiting its mobile vaccine clinic at any of its several stops throughout the county. But on a Monday afternoon in Boiling Springs, only one person showed up. “It’s progress. That progress is slow,” Linda Bell, the state epidemiologist with the Department of Public Health, said during a recent press briefing. “We had hoped to see a more robust uptake than that in our mobile health units.” As South Carolina tries to contain its measles outbreak, public health officials across the nation are concerned that the highly contagious virus is making a major comeback. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied [more than 1,700 measles cases](https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info) and 45 outbreaks in 2025\. The largest started [in Texas](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/texas-measles-outbreak-cdc-vaccines-rfk-trump/?ref=down-ballot.info), where hundreds of people were infected and two children died. For the first time in more than two decades, the United States is poised to lose its measles [elimination status](https://www.kff.org/other-health/measles-elimination-status-what-it-is-and-how-the-u-s-could-lose-it/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Measles%20has%20been%20officially%20%E2%80%9Celiminated,in%20any%20year%20since%201992.), a designation indicating that outbreaks are rare and rapidly contained. South Carolina’s measles outbreak isn’t yet as large as those in other states, such as [New Mexico](https://www.nmhealth.org/about/erd/ideb/mog/?ref=down-ballot.info), [Arizona](https://www.azdhs.gov/preparedness/epidemiology-disease-control/measles/index.php?ref=down-ballot.info), and [Kansas](https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/2314/Measles-Outbreak-Data?ref=down-ballot.info). But it shows how a confluence of larger national trends — including historically low vaccination rates, skepticism fueled by the pandemic, misinformation, and “health freedom” ideologies proliferated by conservative politicians — have put some communities at risk for the reemergence of a preventable, potentially deadly virus. “Everyone talks about it being the canary in the coal mine because it’s the most contagious infectious disease out there,” said Josh Michaud, associate director for global and public health policy at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. “The logic is indisputable that we’re likely to see more outbreaks.” **Schools and ‘Small Brush Fires’** Spartanburg’s vaccination rate is among the lowest of South Carolina’s 46 counties. And that was true “even before covid,” said Chris Lombardozzi, a senior vice president with the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. Nearly 6,000 children in Spartanburg County schools last year — 10% of the total enrollment — either received an exemption allowing them to forgo required vaccinations or did not meet vaccine requirements, according to data published by the state. Lombardozzi said the county’s low vaccination rate is tied to misinformation not only published on social media but also spread by “a variety of nonmedical leaders over the years.” The pandemic made things worse. Michaud said that fear and misinformation surrounding covid vaccines “threw gasoline on the fire of people’s vaccine skepticism.” In some cases, that skepticism transferred to childhood vaccines, which historically have been less controversial, he said. This made communities like Spartanburg County with low vaccination rates more vulnerable. “Which is why we’re seeing constant, small brush fires of measles outbreaks,” Michaud said. In Spartanburg, the overall percentage of students with required immunizations fell from 95.1% to 90% between the 2020-21 and 2024-25 academic years. Public health officials say a minimum of 95% is required to prevent significant spread of measles. Children who attend public and private schools in South Carolina are required to show that they’ve received some vaccinations, including the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine, but religious exemptions are relatively easy to obtain. The exemption form must be notarized, but it does not require a doctor’s note or any disclosure about the family’s religious beliefs. The number of students in South Carolina who have been granted religious exemptions has increased dramatically over the past decade. That’s particularly true in the Upstate region, where religious exemptions have increased sixfold from a decade ago. During the 2013-14 school year, 2,044 students in the Upstate were granted a religious exemption to the vaccine requirements, according to [data published by The Post and Courier](https://www.postandcourier.com/features/your%5Fhealth/religious-exemptions-for-school-vaccine-requirements-worry-public-health-experts-in-south-carolina/article%5F86dc5de0-926f-11e7-93ba-47e9fd2cff5f.html?ref=down-ballot.info). By fall 2024, that number had jumped to more than 13,000. Some schools are more exposed than others. The beginning of the South Carolina outbreak was largely linked to one public charter school, Global Academy of South Carolina, where only 17% of the 605 students enrolled during the 2024-25 school year provided documentation showing they had received their required vaccinations, according to data published by the Department of Public Health. No one from Global Academy responded to interview requests. **‘Health Freedom’** In April, after visiting a Texas family whose daughter had died from measles, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on social media that the “most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.” He made a similar statement during an interview on “Dr. Phil” later that month. But these endorsements stand at odds with other statements Kennedy has made that cast doubt on vaccine safety and have falsely linked vaccines with autism. The CDC, under his authority, now claims such links “[have been ignored by health authorities](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/cdc-autism-baseless-new-guidance-website/?ref=down-ballot.info).” “What would I do if I could go back in time and I could avoid giving my children the vaccines that I gave them?” he said on a podcast in 2020\. “I would do anything for that. I would pay anything to be able to do that.” Throughout 2025, he has made other [misleading or unsupported statements](https://www.factcheck.org/2025/03/rfk-jr-misleads-about-measles-vaccine-in-hannity-interview/?ref=down-ballot.info). During a congressional hearing in September, Kennedy defended his past claims that he was not anti-vaccine but affirmed his stated position that no vaccines are safe or effective. Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, told KFF Health News that Kennedy is “pro-safety, pro-transparency, and pro-accountability.” Hilliard said HHS is working with “state and local partners in South Carolina” and in other states to provide support during the measles outbreaks. Meanwhile, Kennedy has frequently championed the idea of health freedom, or freedom of choice, regarding vaccines, a talking point that has taken root among Republicans. That has had a “chilling effect all the way down through state and local lawmakers,” Michaud said, making some leaders hesitant to talk about the threat that the ongoing measles outbreaks poses or the effectiveness and safety of the MMR vaccine. Brandon Charochak, a spokesperson for South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, said the governor was not available to be interviewed for this article but referenced McMaster’s comment from October that measles “is a dangerous disease, but in terms of diseases, it’s not one that we should panic about.” On a separate occasion that month, the Republican governor said he does not support vaccine mandates. “We’re not going to have mandates,” he said, “and I think we are responding properly.” Even though the South Carolina Department of Public Health has repeatedly encouraged measles vaccines, the push has been notably quieter than the agency’s covid vaccine outreach efforts. In 2021, for example, the agency partnered with breweries throughout the state for a campaign called “Shot and a Chaser,” which rewarded people who got a covid vaccine with a free beer or soda. By contrast, the pop-up measles vaccine clinic at the Boiling Springs Library featured no flashy signage, no freebies, and wasn’t visible from the library’s main entrance. Edward Simmer, interim director of the Department of Public Health, would not speak to KFF Health News about the measles outbreak. During a legislative hearing in April, Republican state lawmakers voted against his permanent confirmation because of his past support for covid vaccines and masking. One lawmaker specifically criticized the agency during that hearing for the Shot and a Chaser campaign. Public health officials in other states also have been blocked from new roles because of their covid response. In Missouri, where [MMR vaccine rates have declined](https://health.mo.gov/living/families/schoolhealth/dashboard.php?ref=down-ballot.info) among kindergartners since 2020 and measles cases have been reported this year, Republican lawmakers [rejected a public health director](https://www.kcur.org/politics-elections-and-government/2022-02-01/missouri-senate-rejects-governors-pick-for-health-director-over-support-for-covid-vaccines?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2022 after vaccine opponents protested his appointment. In South Carolina, Simmer, lacking lawmakers’ confirmation, leads the public health agency in an interim capacity. > South Carolina Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort was the only Republican on the Senate Medical Affairs Committee who voted to confirm Simmer in April. He told KFF Health News that his Republican colleagues raised valid questions about Simmer’s past support for covid vaccines. > But, Davis said, it would be “tremendously unfortunate and not beneficial from a public health perspective” if the Republican Party just took a stance against vaccines “as a matter of policy.” The Department of Public Health had administered 44 doses of the MMR vaccine through its mobile health unit from October to mid-November. The last mobile vaccine clinic was scheduled for Nov. 24\. But health officials are encouraged that patients are seeking vaccines elsewhere. The agency’s tracking system shows that providers across Spartanburg County administered more than twice as many measles vaccines in October as they did a year ago. > As of mid-November, more than 130 people remained in quarantine, most of them students at local elementary and middle schools. Cases have also been linked to a church and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. “We’re reminding people that travel for the upcoming holidays increases the risk of exposures greatly,” said Bell, the state epidemiologist. “Due to that risk, we’re encouraging people to consider getting vaccinated now.” *KFF Health News correspondent Amy Maxmen contributed to this report.* [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [Subscribe](https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/?ref=down-ballot.info) to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. This [article](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/measles-outbreak-south-carolina-vaccine-misinformation-kennedy-rfk/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150) ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=2122955&ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0) --- # Stein restores Medicaid rates amid budget shortfall, urges legislature to act by Jaymie Baxley and Ashley Fredde, North Carolina Health News December 11, 2025 #### **By Jaymie Baxley and Ashley Fredde** Gov. Josh Stein put an end to North Carolina’s Medicaid brinkmanship Wednesday, restoring funding and abandoning efforts to reduce payments to health care providers brought about by the legislature’s falling hundreds of millions of dollars short of the state health and human services department’s request for the annual Medicaid budget. The situation had become something of a showdown between the governor, who has limited power under the North Carolina constitution, and the legislature, which has aggressively wielded the power of the purse. The governor’s retreat on the cuts implemented by his administration underscored the limits of executive leverage in the state’s budget stalemate. The restoration comes after several legal challenges were filed challenging the Department of Health and Human Service’s decision to cut rates, with recent court decisions making it “untenable to continue with rate reductions,” [according to a news release by Stein](https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2025/12/10/governor-stein-continues-stand-3-million-medicaid-patients-north-carolina-directs-ncdhhs-restore?ref=down-ballot.info). The decision restores Medicaid reimbursement rates to their Sept. 30 level, providing access to care for vulnerable patients. Now it’s up to lawmakers to resolve the budget impasse to keep that care available. “North Carolinians who rely on Medicaid are suffering because the General Assembly has failed to fully fund the program,” Stein said in a news conference. “NC DHHS is restoring rates because the courts have required doing so, but the $319 million funding gap remains. The General Assembly must act to fully fund Medicaid and protect health care for more than 3 million North Carolinians.” The Republican-controlled chambers of the state legislature are also at an impasse and have failed to agree on a two-year spending plan, instead passing a mini-budget stopgap measure in July. The bare-bones “mini-budget” only allocated agencies the same level of funding they had the previous year, and it doesn’t include any nonrecurring funding. The mini-budget appropriated $600 million for Medicaid, while NC DHHS requested an additional $319 million to adjust the Medicaid budget for the current fiscal year, which began on July 1\. The shortfall prompted department Sec. Devdutta Sangvai [to warn legislative leaders in August](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/10/22/medicaid-cuts-squeeze-providers/?ref=down-ballot.info) that without additional funding, reimbursement cuts would begin Oct. 1\. Legislative members failed to reach a budget agreement despite advancing proposals from each the Senate and the House of Representatives to add $174 million to the Medicaid base funding, an amount everyone agreed would stretch the program until the end of the fiscal year on June 30\. DHHS said the failure to reach an agreement forced reimbursement reductions of between 3 percent and 10 percent to go into effect for providers. That move resulted in significant backlash from all sides. #### **Public outcry** The first show of public pushback began on Oct. 22 in the gallery of the General Assembly’s House chamber, which was in the process of discussing the newly drawn congressional maps. Two attendees began chanting "we need health care, not racist maps" and were ejected from the gallery shortly before the entire area was cleared by security. Another plea was made again shortly after to the General Assembly through several protests attended by medically fragile Medicaid beneficiaries and health care advocates. One of the largest demonstrations occurred on Oct. 28, when more than 200 people with disabilities [crowded into the state legislature](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/10/22/medicaid-cuts-squeeze-providers/?ref=down-ballot.info) in an effort to persuade lawmakers to undo the reductions. ![More than 200 people with disabilities, caretakers and health care professionals gathered in Raleigh on Oct. 21 for NC Medicaid Day of Action, an advocacy event organized by a coalition of two dozen statewide associations.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC03886-copy-scaled.jpg) More than 200 people with disabilities, caretakers and health care professionals gathered in Raleigh on Oct. 21 for NC Medicaid Day of Action, an advocacy event organized by a coalition of two dozen statewide associations. During the event, advocates circulated findings from a survey conducted earlier that month by the [North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities](https://nccdd.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). Nearly all of the survey’s 345 respondents said Medicaid was “essential to their survival and quality of life.” “The Medicaid cuts in North Carolina are already having a profound impact on individuals with disabilities, their families and the professionals who support them,” the council wrote in a [summary of the survey](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Impact-of-Medicaid-Cuts-in-North-Carolina.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). “While some respondents have not yet experienced direct effects, the overwhelming majority report reduced wages, disrupted services and emotional distress.” Soon after this “Medicaid Day of Action,” a vigil was held by Progress NC, a local grassroots group, on Oct. 30\. The event was attended by half a dozen community members recognizing those who have lost family members due to lack of health care coverage or access. #### **'The writing on the wall’** Where attempts at persuasion seemed to fail, litigation took over. With the door seemingly shut on both the General Assembly’s and NC DHHS’ end, providers and patients resorted to the courts with a string of lawsuits. Last month, a Superior Court judge in Wake County sided with a group of more than 20 parents of children with autism in a case that alleged NC DHHS had [discriminated against people with disabilities](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/14/parents-win-medicaid-cuts-pause/?ref=down-ballot.info) by slashing reimbursement for providers of applied behavior analysis therapy. Rates for the service, designed to help children with autism build communication and daily living skills through intensive one-on-one behavioral interventions, had been reduced by 10 percent. Michael Easley Jr., attorney for the parents, said that children receiving ABA were at “risk of institutionalization and segregation” if the reduced rates remained in place. NC DHHS, he argued, had “committed facial discrimination” by including the treatment of a [protected class](https://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter%5F168a.html?ref=down-ballot.info) of patients on the short list of services that received the steepest cuts — an allegation that an attorney for the state denied. “If everybody across the board was treated the same in Medicaid, we wouldn’t be here right now,” Easley said in his closing argument. “If there were a mathematical equation that applied equally to everybody, we wouldn’t be here right now.” Another lawsuit, filed Nov. 6 on behalf of adult care home operators, alleged that the 8 percent cut applied to the Medicaid reimbursement for personal care services was untenable. Those services, known as activities of daily living (ADLs), include bathing, dressing, mobility, toileting and eating. The lawsuit argued that the adult care homes were under significant financial strain, prompting furloughing or reduction of staff, cross-training other staff members whose roles fall outside of facilitating ADLs, reduction of amenities and elective activities for residents, increased burnout among staff members and delaying necessary maintenance for the facilities, as well as the “imminent risk of closing their doors.” “My fear is that if we are forced to close, our residents may not find a comparable residential arrangement and will be forced to be relocated from the home they have come to know,” wrote Heritage Care and Carolina Rest Home owner [Guy Pierce in an affidavit.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/25DHR04089%5FROA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) “Because the state requires certain staffing ratios, I am seriously considering discharging residents so the facility can lower its staffing requirements.” Other operators noted that due to the cuts, they had suspended taking admissions of residents who arrived as emergency placements from prior living arrangements where they allegedly were abused or neglected. Administrative Law Judge John C. Evans [issued a temporary restraining order](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/25DHR04089%5FROA.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) on Nov. 14, restoring the operator’s previous rates. The order expired on Nov. 23, with both parties returning to court on Dec. 2 to determine whether an injunction would be issued while the case proceeded. “An insolvent NC Medicaid … would imperil the health and welfare of millions of North Carolinians who rely on NC Medicaid,” the department wrote in its response to the suit. “Additionally, an insolvent NC Medicaid would be unable to pay providers for the services they rendered, leading to increased financial challenges for Petitioners and other providers. Such an insolvency would impact access to care for the more than 3.1 million North Carolinians that receive coverage under NC Medicaid. This is an unacceptable risk for the Department in the interest of the public.” During Wednesday’s news conference, Stein noted that three other lawsuits have been filed in connection with the rate cuts, with “even more waiting in the wings.” “DHHS can see the writing on the wall,” he said. #### **Ball’s in the NCGA’s court** Lisa Poteat, CEO of The [Arc of North Carolina](https://www.arcnc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said her organization, which provides housing and other services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, was “feeling celebratory” in light of Wednesday’s announcement. “It’s something that we've been pushing for for months to get these rates corrected, and it’s a sigh of relief for now,” she said in an interview with NC Health News. “Of course, we know we’ve got a lot of work to do with the legislature. I’m confident they will come back and fund Medicaid, and I hope it’s enough dollars and that they do it soon enough, but this is a big step in the right direction today that we’ve been really pushing for for quite a long time.” The cuts, she said, stirred “a lot of fear” among direct support professionals who work with disabled patients. While The Arc was able to avoid layoffs, Poteat said some smaller providers were forced to let staff members go. “We already have a [direct support staff workforce crisis in this state](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/04/02/workforce-woes-delay-support-services-disabilities/?ref=down-ballot.info) and in this country, and these rate reductions were just going to make that worse and have already for some people,” she said. “If we’d gone too much longer with this, without a correction today by the governor, I think we would have lost a lot more staff. We would have lost a lot more ground everywhere — not just direct support professionals, but all across the Medicaid world.” Providers received notice of the reversal Wednesday morning in an email from [NC Tracks](https://www.nctracks.nc.gov/content/public?version=NCTRACKS-Prod-DT20250625&why=Root&ref=down-ballot.info), the state’s claims processing system for Medicaid. The email, a copy of which was shared with NC Health News, noted that the “restoration of rates does not mean the problem has been resolved.” It went on to warn providers that the “financial risk to Medicaid is greater now than before,” and that any “decisions about future funding are solely in the hands of the General Assembly.” #### **Looking ahead** The legislature is set to reconvene [on Monday](https://www.ncleg.gov/legislativecalendar/?ref=down-ballot.info), but it remains to be seen if the chambers will overcome their impasse on the state budget. Stein previously called on lawmakers to return for a special session on Nov. 17 to break the impasse, but his directive was rejected by House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls) and Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Eden). In a [joint letter](https://files.constantcontact.com/c25a1294701/25fb4015-76e8-43c6-819e-361c67638149.pdf?rdr=true&ref=down-ballot.info) sent on Nov. 13, they described the situation as a “trumped-up ‘crisis’” and claimed Stein’s proclamation ordering the extra session was “unconstitutional.” North Carolina is the only state in the U.S. without a full budget as a deadlock driven by disputes between the leaders of the chambers drags on over funds earmarked for a new state children’s hospital and over the size and timing of tax cuts. During a Nov. 10 hearing for the lawsuit brought by the parents of children receiving ABA therapy, Adam Dellinger, attorney for DHHS, estimated that the agency has enough money to operate until May if the stalemate drags on. State Sen. Sydney Batch, the chamber’s top Democrat, issued a statement Wednesday applauding Stein for reversing the cuts. “For more than 160 days, Republicans have refused to do their job, leaving our health care system in chaos,” Batch said. “The recent court rulings made it clear these cuts couldn’t move forward, but Republicans were warned long before that. They knew this would happen and still, they chose not to act.” But even amid the partisan recriminations, Wednesday’s decision brought a measure of relief across the aisle. “I am glad we have a final resolution after months of pointing fingers and providers caught in the middle. I am pleased with the outcome so families and providers can enjoy this time of year a little better and not worry," Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-Winston-Salem), a senior House member who co-chairs the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Medicaid, said in a text message to NC Health News. Lawmakers will return sometime in early 2026 for their biennial “short session” usually reserved for adjustments to the state’s two-year budget. But given how the chambers have been unable to agree on a budget to date, it’s not clear how or when the state’s funding issues will get resolved. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/12/11/stein-restores-medicaid-rates/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Scientists Say the Forever Chemical TFA Could Cause Irreversible Harm. In Eastern North Carolina, It’s Everywhere. ### The discovery of TFA in blood and water samples raises questions about Chemours’ role in adding to the pollution burden. By Lisa Sorg December 10, 2025 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10122025/north-carolina-tfa-forever-chemicals-chemours/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [***Forever War, Part 2:***](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/forever-war/?ref=down-ballot.info)*This story is published in partnership with WHQR, a nonprofit radio station and NPR affiliate in Wilmington. It is the second in a series of stories about the PFAS crisis in North Carolina.* The shipment arrived by FedEx, packed in dry ice. Inside were 119 plastic vials, each containing three drops of blood that had been stored at minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit for as long as a decade. Jane Hoppin, an environmental epidemiologist at N.C. State University had ordered the blood. From 2010 to 2016, Wilmington residents had donated their serum to a biobank run by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to help scientists better understand how the body works. Now Hoppin wanted to learn if high concentrations of PFAS in the city’s drinking water were also present in the donors’ blood. However, Hoppin and her fellow scientists didn’t anticipate finding one type of PFAS compound: TFA. The chemical industry has touted its toxicity as being “of lower concern,” because it breaks down quickly in the body. Yet there it was, TFA, in five-year-old water and blood. “We were surprised,” Hoppin said. “No one expected this.” Hoppin was born in northern California and grew up in Cincinnati, about 200 miles west of a DuPont factory that discharged PFOA, a chemical used in non-stick cookware, into the Ohio River. Even as a very young child she was interested in chemicals and their effects on human health. When Hoppin was 4, her mother took her to a school psychologist to determine whether she could enter kindergarten a year early. The psychologist asked Hoppin to draw a person. When she finished, the psychologist seemed alarmed and recommended she stay home another year. The people in her drawings had no nose or mouth. “My mom said, ‘Why didn’t you draw a nose or a mouth?’” Hoppin recalled. It was 1968, two years before Congress established the Clean Air Act, and Hoppin had recently seen television footage of smoggy Los Angeles. She remembers telling her mom, ‘Well, I didn’t want them to breathe the air.’” Now Hoppin feels the same way about people drinking water from the Cape Fear River. [![](https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ForeverWarBug600x400px.png)](https://insideclimatenews.org/project/forever-war/?ref=down-ballot.info) Because many labs were closed during the pandemic, the Wilmington study took five years, but in October Hoppin and her colleagues at N.C. State and UNC released the results. All of the blood samples contained at least one of 34 toxic chemicals known as PFAS, including some used in fluorochemical manufacturing at Chemours, 80 miles upstream in Fayetteville. More than three-quarters of the Wilmington blood samples contained elevated levels of TFA, whose health and environmental effects aren’t fully understood. The study included archived samples of the Cape Fear River and Wilmington’s drinking water. They also contained elevated levels of more than two dozen PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, including TFA. There are no federal or state drinking water standards for TFA. Hoppin knew that It would not be unusual to find certain types of PFAS in the water and blood samples. In particular, PFOA and PFOS, known as “long-chains” because of their molecular structure, are notoriously persistent and linger in the environment for hundreds of years. In the human body, it can take more than a decade to eliminate them. But TFA is an ultra-short chain compound. That the blood still contained such high levels of TFA suggested that the donors were being exposed to the compound, not just from Chemours, but by a variety of sources that scientists are only becoming aware of. The troubling results opened [a new front in a decades-long battle North Carolina environmentalists have been waging](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12102025/forever-war-nc-activists-fight-chemours-pfas-water-pollution/?ref=down-ballot.info) against PFAS in the state’s drinking water and air, soil and food. ### **PFAS Are Everywhere** There are tens of thousands of types of PFAS, which are found in many consumer products,as well as water-resistant clothing, furniture and personal care products. The compounds are ubiquitous, contaminating air, drinking water, fish, soil, crops, eggs and milk worldwide. PFAS even contribute to climate change by disrupting the ocean cycle and increasing the emissions of greenhouse gases. PFAS exposure can lead to myriad serious health conditions, including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disorders, reproductive problems, high cholesterol and a depressed immune system. In 2024, they celebrated when the Environmental Protection Agency under former President Joe Biden finally enacted the first drinking water standards for PFOA, PFOS, GenX and three other related compounds. But their victory was short-lived. During President Donald Trump’s second term, the EPA has weakened or gutted its few PFAS regulations. The agency has [delayed implementation ](https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-it-will-keep-maximum-contaminant-levels-pfoa-pfos?ref=down-ballot.info)of drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS by two years, until 2031\. In September it also petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia to rescind drinking water standards for several compounds, including GenX, which Chemours uses to produce non-stick cookware, food packaging and firefighting foam. The government shutdown earlier this fall delayed the court case. Lawyers for the agency and opponents of the rollback are scheduled to file additional legal briefs this month. As the chemical industry applauds the rollbacks, Chemours is planning to expand its Fayetteville Works plant, the source of GenX and dozens of similar compounds, including TFA. The company doesn’t make TFA in Fayetteville, but its presence in the river and the air illustrates a stubborn aspect of the ubiquitous compounds: PFAS precursors. There are thousands of such [precursors](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10782884/?ref=down-ballot.info), substances that, under certain conditions, transform and break down into a different PFAS compound. Like wood is a precursor to ash, and iron to rust, the compound PAF degrades and becomes TFA. Chemours [told state regulators in February](https://perma.cc/Z9TB-UVRN?ref=down-ballot.info) that “based on risk assessment modelling and available toxicological data for similar compounds, TFA is not believed to be harmful to human health or the environment.” The N.C. State study and other research calls into question Chemours’ assertions that TFA is benign. The compound is widespread in the environment, and even though it breaks down relatively quickly in the body, people rapidly absorb it from their food, drinking water and air. Hoppin and Duke University scientists found in a separate study released earlier this year that the compound was present in house dust. When TFA and other ultra-shortchain compounds accumulate in the body, according to the N.C. State study, they “can reach very high levels,” potentially harming human health. Earlier this year the German government proposed [classifying TFA as toxic](https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/press/pressinformation/german-agencies-classify-tfa-as-toxic-substance?ref=down-ballot.info) to reproduction, including impaired fertility and harm to the fetus. “We’re piecing together the past,” Hoppin said. “But the real concern is that we continue to measure exposure in people today.” ## **High Levels of TFA** N.C. State scientist Detlef Knappe was failing at taking his sabbatical. This fall, between globetrotting trips to Australia, Singapore and beyond, he was proofreading and finalizing the Wilmington blood and drinking water study. [Knappe had played an outsized role in the protests](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12102025/forever-war-nc-activists-fight-chemours-pfas-water-pollution/?ref=down-ballot.info) that led to the EPA’s drinking water standards for several types of PFAS. He was among the scientists who, in 2015, discovered GenX in the Cape Fear River and Wilmington’s drinking water. Those findings launched an environmental movement, with thousands of North Carolinians urging the EPA to regulate GenX and other PFAS in drinking water. ![N.C. State scientist Detlef Knappe. Credit: N.C. State University](https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Detlef-Knappe.jpg) N.C. State scientist Detlef Knappe. Credit: N.C. State University As part of that research, Knappe had stored samples of river water and drinking water in case he wanted to reanalyze them in the future. In 2024, that time came. The collection date of the water and blood samples was critical. To fully understand the extent of residents’ PFAS exposure, Hoppin and Knappe needed samples taken before June 2017, when state regulators forced Chemours to stop discharging the compounds into the river. Knappe retrieved samples from one day in late May 2017, when he and his colleagues had collected water from 10 spots in the river: upstream and downstream of Chemours, in Wilmington and at the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, which provides drinking water for nearly 200,000 people. The study found that concentrations of TFA in the Cape Fear River immediately downstream of Chemours reached 6 million parts per trillion, “orders of magnitude” higher than in upstream samples. This suggested Chemours was a significant source of the compound at these locations. By the time the TFA reached Wilmington and passed through the utility’s water treatment plant, the levels were still extremely high: 108,000 parts per trillion. That’s equal to 50 times the health guidance level of 2,200 ppt set by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. It is also above the German Federal Health Agency’s advisory of 60,000 ppt; Germany considers TFA to be toxic to reproduction. “The overwhelming evidence is that these compounds are of concern,” Knappe said. “I’m very concerned that we’re not going to get TFA under control in the time that is needed to prevent adverse health outcomes.” ## **A “Regrettable Substitute”** TFA is what scientists refer to as a “regrettable substitute,” because in trying to solve one environmental problem, it creates another. In 1985, the problem was an enormous hole that researchers had discovered in the Earth’s ozone layer, which shields the planet from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation. The culprits were chlorofluorocarbons, also known as CFCs, used in refrigerants in common appliances, such as air conditioners. Not only were CFCs exfoliating the Earth’s protective skin, they were also contributing to climate change. Two years later, companies began phasing out CFCs under an international treaty, the Montreal Protocol, and replaced them with other substances that in the atmosphere can transform into TFA. Since then, TFA has become baked into modern life. When Prozac, the antidepressant taken by [5.7 million people in the U.S](https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Fluoxetine?ref=down-ballot.info)., breaks down in water, it forms TFA. At data centers, the AI that drafts emails, mines cryptocurrency and analyzes medical scans requires enormous computing power. To prevent the computers from overheating, data centers use cooling fluids, some of which emit chemicals that become TFA. Chemours makes [such a product ](https://www.opteon.com/en/support/resource-center/tfa-factsheet-pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)at its plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. Dozens of pesticides also contain TFA, including one recently approved by the EPA to kill insects on corn, soybeans, wheat and citrus. The pesticide, called isocycloseram, is also approved for home lawns and to kill cockroaches, termites and bedbugs. The planet is so bombarded with TFA that, since 2010, global levels have increased as much as 17 times compared with previous decades, [according to Scandinavian](https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c06189?fig=fig1&ref=pdf) scientists. They warned that TFA could cause “potential irreversible, disruptive impacts on vital earth system processes.” “We went from compounds that destroyed the ozone layer,” Knappe said, “to compounds that break down and pollute the earth with TFA.” ## **What’s Coming Out of Chemours Now?** One day in late September, Cape Fear Riverkeeper Kemp Burdette paddled his aluminum rowboat toward the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant. The N.C. State scientists were finalizing their study, but their findings would show only a snapshot of Chemours’ past discharges. Burdette wanted to know how much TFA and other ultra-short chain compounds Chemours was currently sending into the river. He dipped a sampler into the water near Outfall 2, where the company discharges treated wastewater unrelated to its manufacturing. He continued downstream to the boat ramp below the Huske Dam. There, he collected water entering the Cape Fear via a seep, then rowed to Outfall 3, to grab more water leaving the southern edge of the plant. Burdette returned to Wilmington, where he collected drinking water from a tap, and then a second one in nearby Brunswick County. The results were disturbing: Water leaving Outfall 2 had concentrations of 14,950 ppt of TFA; discharge from Outfall 3 contained 21,900 ppt. Near the dam, TFA concentrations reached 148,513 ppt. There were high levels of other ultra-short chain compounds, as well. Downstream, TFA was penetrating the $80 million advanced filtration system the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority had installed to remove GenX. The drinking water Burdette collected at a Wilmington tap contained TFA at concentrations of 1,900 ppt; levels at the Brunswick County tap were 1,400\. Both results are below the Dutch health guidance level of 2,200 ppt in drinking water. “It is unfortunate, though unsurprising, that we continue to see the impacts from Chemours’ decades of PFAS releases from their chemical manufacturing plant on the Cape Fear River,” said utility spokesman Vaughn Hagerty. “Chemours continues to shift the ever-growing, multimillion-dollar burden for addressing its PFAS contamination to downstream water users.” Burdette’s findings bolstered concerns raised by Southern Environmental Law Center about the plant’s TFA discharges, especially in light of the planned expansion. SELC is urging the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality to require Chemours, as part of its pending wastewater discharge permit, to sample for TFA and other ultra-short chains in Outfall 3\. DEQ should then limit the amount of TFA that enters the river, SELC wrote. Legally, if the DEQ doesn’t implement limits for TFA and other ultra-short chains, then Chemours could try to argue that those pollutants are permitted, SELC attorney Jean Zhuang told Inside Climate News. “That risks shielding them from liability for releasing them. It is really important that the state acts on these pollutants.” The recent findings also raise questions about whether TFA is in private drinking water wells. A 2019 consent order among Chemours, Cape Fear River Watch and DEQ requires the company to test wells near the site for more than a dozen types of PFAS. However, TFA is not on the list. “We don’t know if it’s in wells,” Hoppin said. “They need to be re-analyzed the samples for TFA.” The program is voluntary. So far, 22,000 private wells have been sampled, and of those nearly 7,500 households have qualified for alternate water supplies as stipulated in the consent order. A DEQ spokesperson said that the agency is weighing options to add TFA to its environmental monitoring. That would require a separate laboratory method outside those established by the EPA. Since there is no regulatory drinking water standard for TFA, the spokesperson said, DEQ “does not have an alternative water recommendation to offer at this time.“ ## **Chemours’ Expansion** The Chemours plant fans out over 2,100 acres flanked by N.C. Highway 87 and the Cape Fear River in northern Bladen County, about 15 miles from Fayetteville. A dozen straight roads and a railroad spur run through the property and impose order on the cacophony of tanks and pipes and smokestacks. Those smokestacks emitted 267 pounds of TFA in 2021, according to documents accompanying the company’s air permit application. Once released, TFA floats through the air, falls to the ground and contaminates all that it touches. A Chemours spokesperson told Inside Climate News even though the company would increase production of PFAS after the expansion, fluorinated organic compound emissions, which include TFA, to the air are still “projected to decrease by an average of 9 percent compared to the 2021 baseline.” In its 2024 permit application, Chemours says indoor, outdoor and process emissions—those released directly from manufacturing and waste management—would decrease by 1,765 pounds per year. But Zhuang of SELC said that claim is misleading. Accounting for maximum potential PFAS emissions from different product lines, the 2024 permit application shows a potential increase of 20 percent, or 2,500 pounds per year. However, Chemours’ 2025 application shows significant decreases in PFAS air emissions, although those don’t account for the maximum possible. The company has based some of its air emissions estimates on the demand for Chemours products. State records show DEQ, in reviewing the air permit application, recently asked Chemours for additional information over concerns about the use of “market conditions” as a basis for calculating potential emissions, as well as other inconsistencies. “That’s not a reliable estimate of their actual potential emissions,” Zhuang said. The Chemours spokesperson said that due to the “operational limitations of Vinyl Ether manufacturing units, the emissions potential hinges on how much of each product the company manufactures, which can vary.” Chemours has also set a goal of reducing PFAS emissions and discharges by 99 percent globally by 2030, according to the company’s sustainability report released last year. Since 2018, Chemours says it has cut global PFAS emissions and discharges by three-quarters. Ralph Mead, a professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences at UNC Wilmington, is an affable man who dresses casually, like a lot of people who live in beach towns. He specializes in understanding how contaminants travel through the air and where they land, a phenomenon known as atmospheric deposition. ![Ralph Mead is a professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences at UNC Wilmington. Credit: UNCW](https://insideclimatenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Ralph-Mead.jpg) Ralph Mead is a professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences at UNC Wilmington. Credit: UNCW On a humid and breezy September day, outside Mead’s lab between a parking lot and a marsh, he and a graduate student, Justin Parker, peered into a white bucket to see if it had collected rain overnight. Similar to other PFAS compounds, when TFA is emitted into the air—from a refrigerator, a heat pump, a smokestack—it can travel hundreds of miles in different directions before it falls to the ground—or into a bucket. If it had rained, Parker would inject the water through a labyrinth of instrumentation to analyze it for dozens of types of PFAS. The bucket was empty. But previous rainwater sampling had found very high levels of TFA, its origins likely varied, but unknown. In Mead’s view, that’s the issue with Chemours’ air permit application: It doesn’t fully account for the long-range dispersion of the compounds, including TFA. DEQ required Chemours as part of its application to show that increased PFAS production at Fayetteville Works would not increase the atmospheric deposition of the compounds coming from the facility. State regulators wanted to avoid a repeat of what had happened with GenX: For more than a decade, Chemours emitted tons of the contaminant from its smokestacks. It fell to the ground and contaminated the soil, river and drinking water wells at least 28 miles away. Chemours hired a contractor to study how PFAS would behave in the air. The analysis separated the compounds into “depositable”—meaning they can chemically transform and land nearby—and “non-depositable”—which would linger in the atmosphere for years and float far away. The contractor’s report concluded that depositable emissions, including TFA, would total 1,700 pounds, an 11 percent reduction from 2021 estimates. Non-depositable emissions would decrease by 15 percent, to 9,300 pounds. Mead read the contractor’s study and said he still has questions about the fate of the non-depositable compounds. “We need to account for those,” he said. “It’s important for human exposure aspects, as well as contamination of the surface of the Earth away from the facility.” Mead and scientists from four other public universities in North Carolina will soon launch a three-year study on the behavior of PFAS in air leaving the Chemours plant. The research, paid for by the N.C. Collaboratory, which funds academic research in the state, will include analysis of how the compounds transform in the atmosphere and their deposition patterns when they fall to the Earth’s surface. “This information may allow for better enforcement and regulation of these compounds from the facility,” Mead said. Environmental advocates say the air permit application is yet another example of the company’s lack of transparency about its operations, transgressions documented in state and federal records. In 2023, with EPA approval, the company imported GenX from its plant in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, but [never informed state regulators. ](https://ncnewsline.com/2023/10/18/epa-okays-chemours-request-to-export-genx-from-the-netherlands-to-fayetteville-works-plant/?ref=down-ballot.info) Three years earlier, [DEQ cited the company](https://files.nc.gov/ncdeq/GenX/06182020-NOVNOI-DWM-Chemours.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) for [dumping soil and tree roots](https://ncnewsline.com/briefs/deq-cites-chemours-for-illegal-dumping-of-pfas-contaminated-soil/?ref=down-ballot.info) likely contaminated with PFAS into an unlined landfill. In 2017, Chemours failed to report a chemical spill at the plant. And ​​in the early 2000s, state records show when Chemours’ parent company, DuPont, told DEQ it was manufacturing GenX, it didn’t disclose that it was discharging the compound into the river. Since Chemours has failed to clean up its existing and widespread contamination from Fayetteville Works, Zhuang told Inside Climate News, the facility “is absolutely not a place where the company should even be contemplating expanding its manufacturing operations.” More recently, Chemours has kept under seal thousands of pages of information about the compounds, including health effects, as part of a federal lawsuit filed against the company by the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, Brunswick County and the Town of Wrightsville Beach. Lawyers with SELC [filed a motion ](https://www.selc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025.04.14-Dkt-504-Memo-Motion-to-Intervene-and-Object-Chemours-DuPont-PFAS-documents.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in North Carolina, to intervene in the case, arguing the public has a First Amendment right to the information. “After contaminating the drinking water, air, soil, and food for more than half-a-million North Carolinians for decades,” SELC’S motion reads, “the companies have no right to conceal essential documents related to their own pollution, including information on sampling data, air and wastewater treatment options, toxicology, and the public’s exposure to their toxic chemicals.” The Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed a similar motion as well. The company previously argued in court documents that the sealed material contains confidential, proprietary information. On Dec. 3, U.S. District Court Judge James Dever, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, ruled against Chemours. Dever wrote that the company’s “move to seal a broad class of documents they deem commercially sensitive or confidential do not provide specific evidence to support their motion.” ## **Warnings in an Empty Room** On the evening of Nov. 5, nearly every metal chair was empty at the Wilmington City Council meeting. Burdette, dressed in a slate gray button-up shirt and olive pants, his eyeglasses perched on his head, urged the council to pass a resolution opposing Chemours’ expansion. Burdette noted that his two children drank the water for years before they knew it was contaminated, and that his father died of kidney cancer, which is linked to PFAS exposure, especially GenX. “This resolution is our City Council saying it won’t tolerate the continued contamination of our air and water,” Burdette told the six-member council and mayor. “It tells DEQ that our leadership expects the state to do its job and protect the people and the environment. The expansion is a slap in the face to Wilmingtonians.” The City Council unanimously passed the resolution. The next week, on Nov. 12, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority board did the same, followed by the New Hanover County and Brunswick County Commissioners. A Chemours spokesperson said the company “respects Wilmington City Council’s and Cape Fear Public Utility Authority’s right to express their opinions, though it seems counterintuitive to oppose a permit application that would ultimately reduce Fayetteville Works’ site-wide PFAS air emissions even further beyond the significant reductions already achieved in recent years, despite an increase in production.” The company’s significant reductions in air emissions were required by DEQ as part of the consent order. As Hoppin reflected on the study results, she sounded dismayed. PFAS contamination in the Cape Fear River Basin appears to be worse than scientists had surmised in 2017, when the public became aware of GenX in the drinking water. “It’s unfortunate that eight years later we’re getting a broad picture of what’s been happening.” Chemours has not announced a timeline for its expansion. DEQ is reviewing the company’s permit applications, and after the agency releases the draft permits, it will hold public hearings and a public comment period. Two weeks after the study was published, on Nov. 6, Chemours announced its latest financial results to investors and the public. The company’s net sales of $1.5 billion were flat compared with the third quarter of the previous year. But one product showed an 80 percent year-over-year growth: Opteon, a refrigerant used at data centers. It emits TFA. *Upcoming in Forever War: Residents of the Lower Cape Fear River Basin are opposing a plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to deepen and widen parts of the Lower Cape Fear River at the Wilmington Port. The $1 billion project would stir up PFAS in sediment in the shipping channel—sediment that the Corps would need to dispose of—potentially harming the health of people and wildlife. PFAS and GenX are found in the Robeson County landfill, which accepts waste from Chemours.* --- # Legal aid groups feel pinch of NC legislature freezing millions of dollars by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press December 5, 2025 Civil legal aid organizations, which provide tens of thousands of North Carolinians with free legal services each year, have been forced to close offices and reduce client intake after the state legislature froze millions of dollars in grant funding to them earlier this year. A small provision in a [public safety bil](https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookup/2025/S429?ref=down-ballot.info)l passed in July stopped the North Carolina Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (NC IOLTA) from awarding grants through June 30, 2026. IOLTA is a pooled fund administered by the North Carolina State Bar which is composed of client funds such as retainers or settlement money. The interest earned on that money is typically used for charitable purposes, the vast majority of it going to civil legal aid organizations in the form of grants. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ daily, weekly and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** The money in the IOLTA fund isn’t taxpayer dollars, but the state House of Representatives still took issue with some of the grantees who received that money, which some lawmakers accused of inappropriate political activity. “We've heard from a number of folks that IOLTA does good work, and we have seen evidence of that,” said Rep. **Harry Warren**, R-Rowan, during a House oversight committee meeting on Oct. 22. “But IOLTA has also gone somewhat rogue, awarding grants to leftist groups with leftist ideologies,” he added. Other Republican lawmakers brought up examples of IOLTA grantees which they claimed opposed state laws requiring local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE and quoted statements from organizations’ websites which denounced systemic racism. Many but not all IOLTA grantees are legally prohibited from engaging in political activities as 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Despite an attempt at [compromise](https://www.ncbar.gov/news-publications/news-notices/2025/11/important-update-on-the-iolta-program-and-2026-grant-funding/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the state bar, the legislature still hasn’t acted to unfreeze those grants. Another oversight hearing on the matter is scheduled for later this month. ### Legal aid groups react Leaders at several civil legal aid organizations who spoke with [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) variously called state lawmakers’ actions “short-sighted,” “weird” and “beyond devastating.” They say the ongoing freeze of IOLTA funds is not just a temporary frustration but a potentially catastrophic problem, particularly for the poor and rural communities. **Ashley Campbell**, CEO of [Legal Aid of North Carolina](https://legalaidnc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said thousands of North Carolinians will be worse off as a result of less accessible legal services. According to the UNC School of Law, 45 out of 100 North Carolina counties are legal deserts, meaning they have fewer than one attorney per 1,000 residents. A primary goal of IOLTA grants was to bridge that gap, she said. Legal Aid of NC, the largest civil legal services provider in the state which handled more than 20,000 cases last year in all 100 counties, closed nine offices in mostly rural areas earlier this year because of the loss of IOLTA funds. The organization is by far the largest recipient of IOLTA grants and faces a $6.5 million loss in funding. So far, it has laid off 50 employees, Campbell said. Legal aid organizations across the state were already grappling with budget shortfalls from previously reliable government funds. Several health insurance enrollment programs (a major function of many legal services organizations) were slashed this year, and the federal government didn’t provide money for disaster-related legal services following Tropical Storm Helene, as it typically does following a major storm. “The impact on legal aid in North Carolina is much larger than the IOLTA problem,” Campbell said. “But the IOLTA problem really pushed it from a hard situation into a complete crisis.” **Jackie Kiger**, executive director at [Pisgah Legal Services](https://www.pisgahlegal.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said the funding freeze couldn’t have come at a worse time for the organization, which had to lay off 13 employees earlier this year. She said the IOLTA funding freeze was "beyond devastating,” particularly because Pisgah Legal Services, which operates out of 18 counties in Western North Carolina, is still seeing increased demand for civil legal services from Helene survivors. Not only are residents seeking help with FEMA decision appeals or private insurance matters, but knock-on economic effects of the flood have also meant more people are dealing with possible evictions or navigating social safety net programs for the first time. “What we should be doing right now is hiring more staff to be able to meet those needs, but because of the freeze, we can't,” Kiger said. “So we're in this limbo. We are stuck trying to figure out how we are trying to find different funding now for this disaster recovery work at a time when we were hopeful that there would be another opportunity for that with IOLTA.” In some cases, the loss of IOLTA funds has crippled organizations uniquely dedicated to serving the most vulnerable individuals. The Council for Children’s Rights, which represented thousands of Mecklenburg County juveniles in the areas of mental health, special education, juvenile justice and child welfare, shuttered this summer after suffering several losses of funding including its IOLTA grant. Meanwhile, [Disability Rights NC](https://disabilityrightsnc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit law firm which provides free legal services to people with disabilities, laid off staff, reduced working hours and temporarily halted legal intake as a result of the loss of funds. **Corye Dunn**, director of public policy at Disability Rights NC, said changes at the federal level have required more demand for the organization’s services, and it doesn't have the resources to meet the moment. “We had an interruption in the flow of SNAP funds, (and) we've had some significant changes in federal programs that our communities rely on, including the elimination of the office at the U. S. Department of Education that administers or that enforces the rights of students with disabilities,” she said. “So, in the midst of us having funding constraints and uncertainty, our clients actually need more from us.” On top of all of it, the other legal aid organizations that Disability Rights NC might ordinarily refer clients out to if they had limited capacity are facing the same staffing and funding issues. The [Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy](https://charlottelegaladvocacy.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) is one of those organizations that maintains partnerships with several legal aid groups. They absorbed the Council for Children’s Rights’ education law program after it dissolved earlier this year. CEO **Larissa Mañón Mervin** told CPP that they are leaning on their established partner networks to get through the funding freeze. IOLTA funds were about 15% of Charlotte Legal Advocacy’s annual budget, she said. Charlotte Legal Advocacy provides a wide range of civil legal services, including representing clients in immigration court and providing aid to undocumented victims of violent crimes and unaccompanied minors. Mervin said the state lawmakers who supported the funding freeze because of IOLTA grantees who provided legal services to undocumented immigrants were misinformed about the scope of their work. “Sometimes the problem is just lack of understanding and awareness and having the truthful, factual information behind the programs we provide and the services we provide,” she said. “Some people talk about the immigration work that our program does, and what they fail to realize is that we actually have pretty close partnerships with law enforcement and other partners that are actually referring us to those cases because a lot of those cases are survivors of trafficking or abuse.” [![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CTA-wk-of-11-24.png)](https://carolinapublicpress.fundjournalism.org/donate/?amount=15&campaign=701VH00000lnM7aYAE&frequency=monthly&ref=down-ballot.info) Campbell of Legal Aid of NC echoed the point that state lawmakers have failed to recognize the value IOLTA-funded organizations provide the state. North Carolina is one of very few state legislatures in the country which doesn’t have an annual allocation to civil legal aid, and now it has further pinched the money flowing to those efforts. She invited state lawmakers to ask her any questions they may have about Legal Aid’s services. “If a member ever has a concern about anything that we do at Legal Aid of North Carolina, I have always asked them to reach out directly to me and for us to have a conversation about it, and I have not had anyone do that,” Campbell said. “It’s just weird here in North Carolina,” she added, “because it's not like this in other red states.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73778/legal-aid-nc-legislature-funding-freeze-impact/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- ### Virginia town focused on its undefeated football team, not fugitive coach URL: https://down-ballot.info/virginia-town-focused-on-its-undefeated-football-team-not-fugitive-coach/ Last updated: 2025-12-05T10:00:07.000Z **It's Friday, December 5, 2025 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Big Stone Gap focuses on its undefeated team, not its fugitive coach**,** Calvin Duncan wins Orleans clerk of court race, AG’s suit against Meta hits the SJC, Pesticide drift is catching schools off guard. Lawmakers want to require notice before spraying, Starbucks Agrees to Pay Workers $38 Million to Settle Scheduling Law Probe, NC pitches $1 billion plan to overhaul rural health system, Clock ticking on NC’s $1.2 billion in unspent federal COVID funds, auditor warns, Federal Medicaid cuts could limit access to services for people with disabilities, Three years after disappearance, Jay Lee’s family sees justice and reflects on the casualties of secrets, County Planning Commission in Virginia Delays Vote Again on Proposed Gas Plant That Aims to Link to PJM Grid. **Media outlets and others featured:** Cardinal News, Verite News, CommonWealth Beacon, Investigate Midwest, THE CITY, North Carolina Health News, Carolina Public Press, The Current, Mississippi Today, Inside Climate News. --- # Big Stone Gap focuses on its undefeated team, not its fugitive coach News media from as far away as Great Britain descended on the Wise County town, but local fans just wanted to talk about the team. by [Jeff Lester](https://cardinalnews.org/author/jeff-lester/?ref=down-ballot.info) – December 1, 2025 [Big Stone Gap focuses on its undefeated team, not its fugitive coachNews media from as far away as Great Britain descended on the Wise County town, but local fans just wanted to talk about the team.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-4.png)Cardinal NewsJeff Lester![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Union-fans-scaled.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/12/01/big-stone-gap-focuses-on-its-undefeated-team-not-its-fugitive-coach/?ref=down-ballot.info) Only a few minutes remain in the fourth quarter as the undefeated Union High School Bears hang onto a seven-point lead over the Ridgeview High School Wolfpack in Saturday’s Class 2 regional football playoff. Ridgeview has the ball, its quick-footed runners grinding out three yards here, four yards there, colliding again and again with the big wall that is the Union defense. Can Union hold those runners off just a few more times? The players from the Wise County towns of Big Stone Gap and Appalachia and nearby communities have earned 13 victories up to this moment — most of them led by head coach Travis Turner. But Turner isn’t here to see them now, nor was he here one week earlier when they defeated Graham High School to advance in the playoffs. Turner vanished from his Appalachia home Nov. 20, just as the Wise County school system confirmed that an unnamed staff member had been placed on administrative leave. Now Turner, the subject of a Virginia State Police search, has been charged with 10 crimes involving child pornography. At noon, two hours before Saturday’s game begins, Union fans are already filling the home team stands at Phil Robbins Field in Big Stone Gap’s Bullitt Park. The park is named for an 1800s local coal baron, while the stadium and football field are named in memory of a state championship football coach at Union’s predecessor, Powell Valley High School. The school is called Union because it consolidated Powell Valley with nearby arch-rival Appalachia High School — where Turner was a star player coached by another state championship leader, the late Tom Turner, his father. The air is filled with chatter about today’s game, Union’s flawless season, the gorgeous blue sky weather with a slight chilly breeze — anything but the mystery of Travis Turner’s disappearance. Seeing a reporter coming their way, notebook in hand, fans make it clear: They don’t want to discuss Turner. Today is about the kids. By now, national and international media have become fixated on Turner’s vanishing and his alleged crimes. The New York Times has reported the initial story, and the rumor is that the Times has one or more reporters back in town today, sniffing for clues and seeking comments. > The Times described Big Stone Gap as “a mountain town with a barbershop, a few restaurants and some shuttered shops.” > The people who live there know that the town is more than that. Big Stone Gap is home to the official state outdoor drama of Virginia, “Trail of the Lonesome Pine,” along with four museums, 10 public parks, a greenbelt walking trail and other trails. It hosts the annual Blue Highway music fest, the popular Home Craft Days annual music and craft festival, and boasts an increasingly busy downtown with several restaurant-bar combinations that offer live music several nights a week. Big Stone Gap also produced best-selling novelist Adriana Trigiani, who directed the film of her namesake novel right here in town, boosting its tourism traffic. A reporter for the United Kingdom’s Daily Mail is attending her first American football game today. No one will give her a comment about Turner, she says. Parents, young kids and older fans pack into the stadium while men in Union ball caps and jeans gather along the fence surrounding the field, prognosticating about their team’s odds in the contest to come. At 1 p.m., both Union fans and Ridgeview fans erupt in shouts and applause as a bus pulls into Bullitt Park carrying Eastside High School’s Spartans team, which lost its playoff contest with Rye Cove High School the day before. Like Union, Eastside is in Wise County. Horns blow, cowbells clang and everyone jumps to their feet as the Spartans arrive to the thundering guitars of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” over the intercom. Union’s video crew is on the field, waving hands, exhorting the crowd to cheer. The horns and hooters wail. The warm, rich aroma of hot dog chili and cheese-covered nachos fills the air. On the track, Union cheerleaders wave huge signs: LET’S GET LOUD. MAKE SOME NOISE! Union students, in their dedicated stadium section, rise to taunt Ridgeview fans with a shout: “We can’t hear you! We can’t hear you!” It’s matched with hollers from Wolfpack devotees in the stands across the field. The Union kids launch a raucous, booming call-and-response chant that gathers up more voices across the stadium: “Everywhere we go, everywhere we go, People wanna know, people wanna know, Who we are, who we are, So we tell ’em, so we tell ’em, We are the Bears, we are the Bears, The mighty, mighty Bears!” \* \* \* Travis Turner, 46, left his house Nov. 20\. The big man, standing 6 feet, 3 inches and weighing about 260 pounds, was wearing a gray sweatshirt, sweatpants and glasses. He was last seen walking off into the dense mountainside woods nearby. That same day, state police headed to the home, aiming to speak with Turner about an investigation. But before they arrived, they learned he was not there. Ridgeview wins the toss to start Saturday’s game and kicks to Union. The Bears grind their way, yard after yard, to the 40-yard line, then to midfield. Then, Union running back and linebacker Keith Chandler breaks through with a blazing 20-yard run deep into Ridgeview territory. Union fans rise, screaming. Confetti explodes into the air, bursts of red, pink, yellow and blue paper covering spectators and the stands, followed by clouds of tiny soap bubbles. But the Bears ultimately punt and stop the Wolfpack on their own 39-yard line. Ridgeview grinds out another series of short runs, but the wall of Bears keeps pushing back hard. On the Union sidelines, acting coach and defensive coordinator Jason Edwards is on the move. The wiry coach, sporting a long beard below fierce eyes, is pacing, pacing and shouting instructions. Ridgeview quarterback Braxton Deal launches a pass, but Union’s Chandler zooms in, snatching the ball and racing to Ridgeview’s 20-yard-line. Union fans jump up, screaming. The horns squeal. The cowbells clang. A couple of grinding carries later, Chandler breaks out and dashes as far as the 1-yard line — then Chandler score the day’s first touchdown. \* \* \* After Turner failed to return home on the night of Nov. 20, his wife Leslie was told she must wait 24 hours before filing a missing person report. Meanwhile, the county school system confirmed that a staff member had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. In the second quarter, Ridgeview’s fast carriers continue trying to elude Union’s big defenders, digging and pushing their way to the Bears’ 35-yard line. Then a Wolfpack receiver slips through for a breakout run to Union’s 2-yard line. Ridgeview at last carries the ball into the end zone, then kicks for the extra point. The score stands at 14-7\. The smaller crowd of Wolfpack fans bellows out a great roar. Ridgeview’s kick to the Bears lands in the Bears’ end zone, so Union’s next drive starts on its 20-yard-line. The Bears struggle to gain a few yards, play after play. Union fans again taunt the Ridgeview side, chanting, “We can’t hear you!” Union punts, and Ridgeview resumes its push against the wall of Bears. The Wolfpack can’t get down the field. Union fans are screaming, louder than ever. The cowbells clang. Ridgeview’s Deel launches another pass. The receiver is slammed to the ground hard. Ridgeview goes to the air again, but Union defensive back Brandon Bunch intercepts the ball, running to Ridgeview’s 42-yard line. The Bears push to the 20, then call a time out as the cheerleaders shout a rally cry: “Go Bears! Go Bears!” By the quarter’s end, Ridgeview has regained the ball. The field is cleared as the Union band moves in for a halftime show of songs from the musical “Grease.” \* \* \* On Nov. 25, state police confirm that Travis Turner has been charged with five counts of possessing child pornography and five counts of using a computer to solicit a minor, with more charges pending. He is deemed a fugitive. Ridgeview is back to grinding away in the third quarter, poking for holes in the Union defense and finding too few to penetrate for more than a few yards. The Wolfpack punts, and now the Bears are prowling again, yard by yard, deep in their own territory. A fake handoff to Chandler pays off as Bostic dashes 84 yards to a touchdown. With the extra point, the score becomes 21-7\. Bear fans go wild, screaming, shouting, blasting the horns, clanging the cowbells. Taking possession, Ridgeview goes back to slamming against the wall, gaining a few yards, a few more. But the Union defenders swarm them like an army of orange and black hornets. Union is big, tough, while Ridgeview is quick. At last, the Wolfpack breaks free again with a long run to a touchdown, then the extra point. The score is 21-14\. Time is running short. Fans of the undefeated Bears are growing anxious, while the team that suffered its only regular season defeat to them is only a touchdown and a kick away from evening the score. On Nov. 28, Turner family attorney Adrian Collins released a statement explaining the timeline of events, beginning with Turner’s disappearance eight days earlier. In it, Collins confirmed that Turner was last seen leaving his home with a firearm in his possession, headed for a walk in the woods. By that time, schools Superintendent Mike Goforth had confirmed that charges have been filed “against a staff member who has been on administrative leave. The individual remains on leave and is not permitted on school property or to have contact with students.” Early in the fourth quarter, Bears quarterback Kam Bostic fires off a pass that drives the team to Ridgeview’s 33-yard line. A Bears receiver then takes a handoff and pushes to the 20, dragging Wolfpack defenders along. The kid just will not go down. But then, Bostic fumbles the snap and Ridgeview grabs the ball. Once again, the Wolfpack is poking away, searching for cracks in the Union wall. A Ridgeview player breaks through for a run to the 40-yard line. Then quarterback Deel takes to the air again, but the pass misses its target. A great OOOOOOOHHHH rumbles forth from the Union fan seats. The teams dig and dig deeper, trading possession, until Ridgeview calls a time out with one minute and 32 seconds left on the clock. Union fans are on their feet, staring at the warriors on the field, shouting encouragement, as the intercom blasts “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie. The grind resumes and the Wolfpack drives to Union’s 20-yard line and calls another time out, with seconds left on the clock. The crowd goes wild with shouts and screams as Ridgeview drives to Union’s 10-yard line. The Wolfpack only needs seven points to gain overtime play. Ridgeview’s Deel launches the ball again, but Union defensive end Matty Polier smacks it down and the pass is incomplete. Union regains possession, only a few steps beyond their end zone. The wall has held. Bears fans erupt with a roar and shouts of “Let’s go, boys!” One play is left. The seconds tick off. The snap, then Union downs the ball. It’s over. The Bears are victorious. The screams are deafening — elation, relief. Another step in the climb toward a championship. Another chance to play. Fans mob the field to greet the victorious players. Within the crowd is Big Stone Gap Town Manager Steve Lawson, who has spent the last week deflecting questions about the mystery hanging over this moment. “Today is about the kids,” he says. Union now moves on to host Virginia’s only other undefeated team, Glenvar High School, in the Region 2A semifinal game Dec. 6 at Bullitt Park. Travis Turner mentored this team through the regular season and to the playoffs before he vanished. Still, no one knows where he is. But the Bears know exactly where they are — one game away from a shot at a state title match. And two towns — beset by quiet gossip, quizzed by national and international reporters, splashed across hundreds of headlines — have one more moment to briefly set aside the unknown and focus on their beating heart. The kids. --- # Calvin Duncan wins Orleans clerk of court race by Robert Stewart, Verite News New Orleans November 16, 2025 Calvin Duncan will be the next clerk of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court after defeating incumbent Clerk Darren Lombard in the Saturday (Nov. 15) runoff election. Duncan, a political newcomer and former prisoner who was wrongfully incarcerated for nearly 30 years, won by a wide margin, besting Lombard, a veteran of the city’s courts, 68% to 32%. The two candidates were neck and neck during the October primary, where Duncan came in just 672 votes ahead of Lombard but falling short of the majority of the city’s vote, prompting Saturday’s runoff race. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/13094812/20250801_CZB_CJTech_132.jpg) Orleans Parish Criminal Clerk of Court Darren Lombard on Aug. 1, 2025\. On Saturday, Nov. 15, Lombard lost his bid for a second term in the office. In a race that [drew national attention](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/us/calvin-duncan-jailhouse-lawyer-new-orleans-louisiana.html?ref=down-ballot.info), Duncan branded himself as the most qualified to create transparency and improve public access to the courts. He touted his own experience in prison, where he worked as a “jailhouse lawyer,” helping fellow prisoners pursuing appeals or post-conviction relief to obtain their own case records. Duncan, who was convicted of a 1981 murder, served 28 years before his 2011 release after he agreed to plead to a lesser charge. Then, in 2021, a New Orleans judge [vacated his conviction and sentence](https://exonerationregistry.org/cases/13478?ref=down-ballot.info). Duncan went on to earn his law degree. He works as the director of the The Light of Justice Program at Loyola University, which assists incarcerated people with their legal cases. Duncan ran as someone who struggled under the legacy system, saying he struggled for years to retrieve his own case records in his bid to prove his innocence. He attempted to tie Lombard’s record as an establishment candidate to long-term systemic problems with the court, such as the cumbersome process of retrieving records, which are still largely maintained on paper. Lombard’s pitch was one of established competence. He’d worked in the clerks’ offices in the city for nearly 20 years, first working in the Orleans Parish Criminal District Clerk’s office under Arthur Morrell, and then later running the clerk’s office in the Second City Court in Algiers. Most recently he’s [forwarded the process of modernizing the case management system](https://veritenews.org/2025/08/05/new-orleans-tech-upgrade-criminal-justice/?ref=down-ballot.info) in his current position, overseen the elections in the parish and participated in expungement clinics to help qualified people expunge their record. Lombard [described the office](https://www.wdsu.com/article/orleans-parish-clerk-of-criminal-court-race-heats-up-runoff/69384944?ref=down-ballot.info) as a “well-oiled machine,” one that a newcomer, like Duncan, would not be as equipped to run as he would be. The job is a role that includes being the custodian of the court records, which means managing evidence, preparing dockets and processing and filing records related to the cases that come through the court, and assisting judges with paperwork. The clerk is also the chief elections officer in the parish, which entails qualifying candidates and making sure elections run smoothly and according to state law. The clerk is [elected](https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=76793&ref=down-ballot.info) for a four-year term with the next term beginning in May 2026\. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/16/calvin-duncan-wins-orleans-clerk-race/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=26443&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- # AG’s suit against Meta hits the SJC by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon December 4, 2025 **TWO YEARS AGO**, Attorney General Andrea Campbell took Meta – Mark Zuckerberg’s monolith that owns Facebook and Instagram – to court over claims that its platform designs and features exploit children and keep them hooked on addictive content. On Friday, the Supreme Judicial Court will be the first state high court in the nation to consider whether those platform designs are shielded by a law protecting publishers from being sued over the content of their websites. The case, scheduled for [oral argument](https://boston.suffolk.edu/sjc/?ref=down-ballot.info) Friday morning, puts Massachusetts at the center of a debate over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The court will consider whether the 1996 federal law that protects internet companies from lawsuits over user-generated content extends to claims about platform design. Campbell [filed the lawsuit](https://www.mass.gov/news/ag-campbell-files-lawsuit-against-meta-instagram-for-unfair-and-deceptive-practices-that-harm-young-people?ref=down-ballot.info) in Suffolk Superior Court in October 2023, joining a bipartisan coalition of 42 attorneys general who sued Meta in an array of federal and state courts. The Massachusetts complaint alleges that Meta violated state consumer protection law and created a public nuisance by deliberately designing Instagram with features like infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and "like" buttons to addict young users, then falsely represented the platform's safety to the public. The company has also been reckless with age verification, the AG argues, and allowed children under 13 years old to access its content. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp denied Meta's motion to dismiss the case in October 2024, writing, Meta’s statements about its safety “are belied by its internal data showing that Instagram addicts and harms children. Meta had repeatedly deprioritized youth well-being to increase revenue.” The case is before the high court because Meta wants to challenge Krupp’s ruling that it was not entitled to immunity – a procedural move that bumped the case up to the SJC even though the lower court has not decided its merits. The state's [complaint](https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/pdf/SJC-13747/SJC-13747%5F05%5FAppellee%5FCommonwealth%5Fof%5FMassachusetts%5FBrief.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) relies heavily on Meta's own internal research, which allegedly showed the company understood Instagram's features were harming teenagers but concealed this knowledge to maximize profits. According to Campbell’s lawsuit, Meta secretly utilizes design features that "deliberately exploit and capitalize off young users' unique vulnerabilities" and overcome their ability to self-regulate time on the platform. The complaint alleges that young Massachusetts users are induced into using Instagram for multiple hours a day, often instead of homework or sleep, in an addictive manner they cannot self-regulate. Research cited in the lawsuit shows that for adolescents, mental health steeply declines after one hour of daily social media use. As hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts teenagers actively use Instagram, the lawsuit alleges the website’s practices have burdened Massachusetts school systems and added to health care expenditures. “This addiction, according to Meta’s own data, has caused widespread mental and physical harm to children,” the AG’s office wrote. “The Commonwealth has been left to grapple with the extent of that harm.” Meta argues that Section 230 bars the entire case. The law states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." Courts have broadly interpreted this to protect websites from lawsuits over content posted by users. In [its filings](https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/pdf/SJC-13747/SJC-13747%5F01%5FAppellant%5FMeta%5FPlatforms%5FInc%5FEt%5FAl%5FBrief.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), Meta argues that its products are fundamentally based on third-party content. For that reason, the company says, its platform features and design cannot, on their own, be held responsible for any problematic behavior related to use of the platforms. Simply put, it wrote, “if there were no videos to play, there would be no ‘autoplay.’ Nor does the Complaint allege how users would be addicted to Instagram if there was no content on the service. Regardless of Meta’s publishing choices, if Instagram had no content, and instead displayed a blank screen upon loading, no one would use it, nor couldpossibly claim that they were addicted to the service.” Meta's argument extends beyond user content. The company contends that Section 230 also protects its editorial choices about how to organize and present that content, including through design features like notifications, infinite scroll, and autoplay. Meta further argues the First Amendment bars claims targeting its content moderation policies and algorithms. Judge Krupp rejected these arguments. The issue at hand included false statements that Meta made about their safety, he said, which would not be the type of content protected by Section 230\. The design and moderation choices are also fair game, Krupp said, because the state "is principally seeking to hold Meta liable for its own business conduct," not content posted by third parties. "The Commonwealth alleges that Instagram's features in and of themselves, regardless of their associated content, cause its young users to become addicted to the platform," Krupp wrote. Meta appealed to the SJC, challenging the denial of its Section 230 defense. "The evidence will demonstrate our commitment to supporting young people," a Meta spokesperson wrote after the ruling. The company [recently announced](https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Family/instagram-announces-new-pg-13-content-standards-teen/story?id=126488165&ref=down-ballot.info) new "Teen Accounts" on Instagram, a protected experience that automatically limits who can contact teens and the content they see. Justices on Friday will consider two questions, the first of which is whether the high court should be considering the appeal at all. A legal doctrine allows parties to appeal if they are denied immunity they think they are entitled to by law, so the question that the SJC will consider for the first time is whether Section 230 creates an immunity from suit and therefore whether Meta can appeal the lower court’s denial to bring the question before the SJC. But the philosophical meat of the suit is whether Meta is actually immune from the consumer protection and public nuisance lawsuits because of Section 230\. The case has attracted significant attention from free speech advocates. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and TechFreedom both filed [amicus](https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/pdf/SJC-13747/SJC-13747%5F21%5FAmicus%5FFoundation%5Ffor%5FIndividual%5FRights%5Fand%5FExpression%5FBrief.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) [briefs](https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/pdf/SJC-13747/SJC-13747%5F10%5FAmicus%5FTechFreedom%5FBrief.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) urging the court to reverse Krupp's ruling and affirm Meta’s immunity from lawsuits over the design of its platforms. Campbell’s argument is part of a long history of panic over unfettered speech, argued FIRE in its brief. People can make choices about how they want to consume their entertainment and information, they note, and young people are no more at risk of being overwhelmed by the style of social media than literary figures of old were by books. “The Commonwealth is concerned that the speech is *too powerful*,” it wrote. “They think minors are like Don Quixote, transfixed by stories and ideas. This problem, however—if it’s a problem—is not for the Commonwealth to fix. Under the First Amendment, the strong effects of speech are an inherent part of speech—not a ground for regulation.” Law professors Jane Bambauer and Eugene Volokh argued [in an amicus brief](https://www.ma-appellatecourts.org/pdf/SJC-13747/SJC-13747%5F14%5FAmicus%5FBambauer%5Fand%5FVolokh%5FAmended%5FBrief.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that social media platforms create expressive products and their features “stem from constitutionally protected decisions about where, when, and how speech is communicated.” Campbell’s office argues that Meta's attempt to distinguish between content moderation and design features creates a false distinction. The state contends that, just as Meta may curate posts through content moderation policies, it may approve of and encourage speech through design features that are separate from the third-party content itself. Campbell argues that "by designing and using addictive design features on Instagram to exploit children's psychological vulnerabilities,” Meta falsely represented that its features were not addictive and in fact prioritized youth health and safety. The Massachusetts case is one of several challenging Section 230's reach. In October 2024, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, overseeing multidistrict litigation in California involving more than 30 states, [rejected Meta's motion to dismiss](https://www.law.com/therecorder/2024/10/25/judge-schools-can-sue-social-media-for-expenses-related-to-addicted-students/?slreturn=20251203131328&ref=down-ballot.info) similar claims. However, no state supreme court has yet ruled on whether Section 230 shields social media companies from lawsuits targeting platform design. Massachusetts is part of a bipartisan effort [led by](https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/news/2023/10/24/pr23-48.html?ref=down-ballot.info) Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. Thirty-three states joined the federal lawsuit, while nine states, including Massachusetts, filed in their own state courts. In an amicus brief filed in the Massachusetts case, the coalition of attorneys general wrote that Meta’s attempts to ask higher courts to wade in on the immunity question “and expand the scope of Section 230 have the potential to sow confusion among the courts.” They noted that Meta has universally lost, in part or in full, in its motions to dismiss based on the publishers’ immunity. As Campbell put it in announcing the lawsuit in October 2023, “based on its own internal research, Meta knew of the significant harm these practices caused to teenage users and chose to hide its knowledge and mislead the public to make a profit." The SJC's ruling could determine whether that alleged knowledge and those choices are subject to state consumer protection laws, or whether Section 230 places them beyond the reach of state enforcement. This [article](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/courts/ags-suit-against-meta-hits-the-sjc/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [CommonWealth Beacon](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/commonwealthbeacon.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/cropped-Icon_Red-1.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://commonwealthbeacon.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=307657&ga4=G-1X7ZBDTLR0) --- # Pesticide drift is catching schools off guard. Lawmakers want to require notice before spraying. by Jennifer Bamberg, Investigate Midwest December 3, 2025 When the wind shifts and Abbie Frank smells chemicals in the air, she begins her two-minute drill: grab the children and their backpacks and head to the schoolhouse as quickly as possible. Frank, the founder and executive director of Bluestem Hall Nature School in Urbana, Illinois, said pesticides are sprayed several times a year on the six farms surrounding her school. Often, the agrichemicals drift through the air, forcing her students inside and disrupting lessons, which can be particularly stressful for younger children. “There's been times where we're caught in a cloud of chemicals overwhelming us, and we're literally grabbing backpacks and running with the children,” Frank said, adding that there is no requirement that pesticide applicators give her school advance warning. “We're outside all the time. It's not the rain, it's not the snow that drives us in. It's the chemicals.” The private school sits on 120 acres of prairie in central Illinois and was designed to connect its students to nature. But while identifying plants and insects has always been a core part of the curriculum, students are now being taught to identify the smell of chemicals and the machines that spray pesticides on the farms surrounding the school. The Bluestem Hall Nature School isn't unique. Across Illinois, 740 elementary schools are within a quarter mile of a crop field and 40 are within 20 feet, according to an [analysis](https://ewg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/notification/index.html?appid=1fa880fd32ce47d283e69b2ec3d98834&ref=down-ballot.info) from the Environmental Working Group, a research and environmental advocacy nonprofit. Pesticide applicators are not required to notify schools before spraying, but some state lawmakers want to change that. [House Bill 1596](https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus/FullText?GAID=18&DocNum=1596&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=0&SessionID=114&ref=down-ballot.info) would require certified pesticide applicators to provide written notice, 24 to 72 hours before spraying, to private and public schools, daycares, and public parks and playgrounds within a half mile of the application site. The notification requirement would apply only to large-scale operations over five acres that use boom sprayers, tractor-mounted sprayers and airplanes to apply weed killers — not residential applications. Violators would face a $250 fine, which increases to $500 for a second violation and $1,000 for additional infractions. Bill sponsor Rep. Laura Faver Dias, a Grayslake Democrat, said the bill could change during the next legislative session, which begins in January. “There are children whose respiratory systems are vulnerable and impacted by this. \[The goal is\] to make sure that schools and parks have the knowledge that they need to plan and to be prepared,” Faver Dias said. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children stay inside when spraying happens because exposure to pesticides has been associated with an increased risk of childhood leukemia, neurocognitive conditions and [higher infant mortality rates](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg0344?itid=lk%5Finline%5Fenhanced-template&ref=down-ballot.info). Faver Dias is a former high school history teacher and the mother of a child with asthma. She said her main concern is young people in rural Illinois at heightened risk of [developing asthma](https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.1408235?ref=down-ballot.info) and other [lung problems](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285629060%5FDecreased%5Flung%5Ffunction%5Fin%5F7-year-old%5Fchildren%5Fwith%5Fearly-life%5Forganophosphate%5Fexposure?ref=down-ballot.info) from chronic exposure to pesticides. Pesticides are used to protect crops from disease, insects and other pests. In Illinois, which grows more soybeans than any other state, 96% of the crop is genetically engineered to be sprayed with agrichemicals. Produced by companies like Corteva, BASF, Syngenta and Bayer, pesticides are sprayed on toxin-resistant crops across Illinois, making exposure a statewide issue. But the risk to children is especially high in Champaign County, an agricultural hub home to more than 208,000 people. Sixty-one percent of schools in Champaign County are within half a mile of a crop field. ![map visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26318290/thumbnail) Pesticide use on soybeans has more than doubled since the year 2000, and has increased 30% on corn, Illinois’ dominant crop. Advocates for stronger regulations worry that the increase in pesticide use is leading to more drift and potentially putting more children’s health at risk. “This is chemical trespass,” said Kim Erndt-Pitcher, director of ecological health at Prairie Rivers Network. “This is your chemicals trespassing into public and private spaces where people and children play, and that is not okay. These exposures can be prevented." But agricultural and chemical groups believe the proposed notification requirement would burden applicators who must respond quickly to changing weather conditions. “My main concern for the way that bill was drafted is a 72-hour notice to the person that's going to apply on that field close to the school,” said Rep. Jason Bunting, a Wateska Republican who is also a farmer and the former director of the Illinois Corn Grower Association. “That's going to potentially tie our hands on our opportunity to do it.” ## **Seventeen inspectors for 38,000 applicators** In 2015, Illinois soybean growers applied about 139,000 pounds of dicamba, an herbicide first introduced in 1967\. However, when Monsanto (now Bayer) released a new dicamba-resistant soybean the following year, herbicide use increased by roughly 11 times to 1.6 million pounds. Following that increase, misuse complaints [tripled](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/11/04/an-explosion-of-pesticide-complaints-led-to-reforms-in-illinois-and-now-a-reporting-collapse/?ref=down-ballot.info) within the year. State regulators quickly became overwhelmed. In 2020, complaints declined, which some credit to new regulations around dicamba spraying. But advocates argue the drop reflects a lack of enforcement resources and political will, not fewer violations. “There’s really no incentive for applicators to follow the rules if you're relying on the Illinois Department of Agriculture for enforcement,” said Brian Leber, a farmer in Grundy County. Leber has filed complaints on four separate occasions with the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA), including once after he was personally sprayed. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Untitled-design-4.png) ### Help us do more more reporting like this. > You’re reading an investigation into how pesticide drift reaches Illinois schools and parks with little warning. Educators are often left to respond in the moment, even when children are outside learning or playing. > **Your NewsMatch donation is tripled for a limited time and helps us continue reporting that gives communities the information they need to stay informed and prepared.** After a 2022 incident that destroyed ten acres of organic vegetables and multiple fruit and nut trees — his entire commercial crop — Leber filed a misuse complaint. Despite the photographic evidence and receipts of damages he provided, the applicator received only a warning letter from the IDOA. Leber turned to civil court and secured an undisclosed financial settlement for the drift damage to his crops. He said the cases are “relatively straightforward.” “Even if getting (IDOA) enforcement is difficult, the law is on your side,” Leber said. “There are laws in place that can be leveraged, that can hold these applicators accountable.” The Illinois Department of Agriculture oversees the state’s 38,000 certified pesticide applicators and operators with just 17 inspectors. Those inspectors also administer certification exams, splitting their time between testing new applicators, recertifications and conducting field investigations. In response to questions about understaffing, the Department of Agriculture provided a written statement to Investigate Midwest saying that “effective staffing and resource use are essential for state agencies, including evaluation of long-term need, changing of job duties, and rearranging geographical positions to better distribute workload.” In 2020, state lawmakers and the IDOA instituted an emergency rule restricting dicamba applications on soybeans when temperatures reach 85 degrees or higher and set a June 20 cutoff date. Farmers responded by switching to another volatile herbicide: 2,4-D, one of the ingredients used in Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Faced with restrictions on dicamba, the use of 2,4-D on soybeans in Champaign County increased by approximately 350%, despite the acres planted in beans remaining nearly unchanged. ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26592024/thumbnail) At a 2022 meeting of the Interagency Committee on Pesticides, when misuse complaints totaled 380, the official meeting minutes remarked on the overworked agency: “Our staffing was set up to handle 100-115 misuse cases per season in total. The stress on our resources is real.” The department also noted a backlog in hearings going back three years. The resource shortage goes beyond personnel. At a 2023 meeting, the meeting minutes said that "tissue sampling is very expensive and IDOA does not have the staffing or funding to obtain tissue sampling.” ## **A YMCA camp evacuation shows how quickly drift reaches kids** On Aug. 7, 2023, counselors at a YMCA summer camp in Sterling quickly ushered 57 children inside after encountering the drift of a fungicide being sprayed on a nearby soybean farm. Fearing that some of the children had inhaled pesticides, the counselors called poison control. When the fire department and EMS arrived, the children, aged 3 to 7, were lined against a wall and assessed one by one. The fire chief held parents at the front of the building “for a monitored and controlled release.” One child said her eyes hurt and another developed a rash. However, none of the children or adults reported being directly sprayed, and no one complained of symptoms in the days that followed. But “smell can be deemed exposure,” Sterling Fire Chief Mike Dettman told the Department of Agriculture investigator, according to the misuse complaint investigation obtained by Investigate Midwest. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Screenshot-2025-12-02-152029.png) This Illinois Department of Agriculture map shows the field where Ted Koster was spraying pesticides on his field in close proximity to the YMCA building in Sterling, Illinois, on Aug. 7, 2023, according to IDOA pesticide misuse investigative documents. An arrow points from an area near the field towards the large pavilion, showing where the children were when they saw the applicator. According to documents, YMCA staff members “moved all the kids to the field towards the parking lot away from the field as fast as they could. They stated within ten minutes they had all the kids back inside the YMCA building.” Source: IDOA v Koster, pesticide misuse investigation The Illinois Department of Agriculture issued a $500 fine to Ted Koster, the pesticide applicator who also manages the adjacent 33-acre soybean farm. Trivapro “causes substantial but temporary eye injury,” according to Syngenta, the manufacturer. Koster did not respond to phone and text messages from Investigate Midwest seeking comment. But he told a Department of Agriculture inspector he didn't see the kids when he started spraying and “by the time he saw all the kids he felt it was too late, so he continued spraying to the end of the field,” according to investigation documents. He was spraying Trivapro fungicide, manufactured by Syngenta. Koster did not need a license to spray the chemical because it’s considered a “General Use Pesticide.” The department's investigation concluded that Koster applied the pesticide in a manner inconsistent with and in violation of the label directions. “Fewer than 3 humans were exposed to the pesticide,” according to the report. Koster’s $500 fine was the maximum amount for that transgression. Staff at the Sterling YMCA declined to talk to Investigate Midwest. If HB 1596 is approved during the 2026 legislative session, it would require applicators to notify childcare centers, like the Sterling YMCA, in advance of spraying. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/5-819x1024.png) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/4-819x1024.png) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/3-819x1024.png) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2-819x1024.png) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Green-and-Gray-Simple-Clean-How-To-Tips-Carousel-Instagram-Post-819x1024.png) ## **Parks support notice as research shows drift traveling miles** Investigate Midwest reached out to seven public school districts in Champaign County to ask about their positions on HB 1596 and their protocols for pesticide exposure. All declined to comment or did not respond to multiple requests. However, local park officials have publicly supported the bill. “If we were given notice, it would give us a chance to put out temporary signage near playgrounds,” executive director of the Urbana Park District Rachel Lenz told Investigate Midwest. “Or if there was a youth program within that radius, move it indoors or to a different park.” For the past eight years, the nonprofit Prairie Rivers Network has studied trees across Illinois, specifically testing those with curled and wilted leaves, a sign of repeated pesticide exposure. The group has found damage in state forests and urban parks miles away from the nearest corn or soybean field. If pesticides can coat trees in parks, the Urbana Park District is concerned that it can also reach playground equipment. Nearly all pesticide manufacturers include labels warning their products should not be used in winds exceeding 10 miles per hour. Disobeying that direction is in violation of federal law. But pesticides can drift even in windless conditions, a process Prairie Rivers Network argues is a matter of chemistry, not applicator error. Days after application, especially after warm, sunny weather, pesticides can vaporize into the air and travel miles, landing on and injuring or killing old-growth trees or vegetable gardens. The chemicals can also migrate into surface water, potentially affecting drinking water sources. Despite these risks, agrichemicals remain central to modern farming. Pesticides have significantly increased crop yields over the past half-century, and proponents argue they have enabled farmers to produce more crops on less land, thereby contributing to resource conservation. It’s also led to higher profits for agribusinesses and agrichemical companies. However, weed resistance has driven farmers to use more weed killers and increasingly volatile herbicides like dicamba and 2,4-D. Environmental groups call it the “chemical treadmill,” and it can force farmers to use chemicals whether they want to or not. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Pesticide_Bluestem__050A-1024x648.jpg) Natalie Brown, teacher at Bluestem Hall Nature School in Urbana, Illinois, is pictured with children near prairie plantings during an outdoor class on Oct. 30, 2025\. photo by Darrell Hoemann, Investigate Midwest Robert Hirschfield, water policy director at Prairie Rivers Network, and the parent of two students at Bluestem Hall Nature School, described how this plays out in practice: “If I’m a farmer, and I know my neighbor is planting dicamba-resistant soybeans, and I know that farmer is going to spray and I know that it’s going to drift onto my property, I might not want to plant those dicamba-resistant soybeans, but I might feel compelled to, otherwise I’m going to take a loss.” The harm from pesticide drift can also be found indoors. Elisa Jazan, an environmental health researcher at Tufts University, investigated the rise in 2,4-D in Champaign County and found that children may be at significant risk of exposure through ingesting dust, which acts as a “chemical sink.” When chemical residues are indoors, they’re not exposed to air, sunlight and microbes that break them down. Infants and toddlers face the highest risk due to their hand-to-mouth behaviors, which increase the likelihood of ingesting contaminated dust, according to Jazan’s [2025 report](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-06955-1?ref=down-ballot.info). Because schools are regularly cleaned, however, dust might be less of a concern than playing outside, she said. “If you’re playing football or soccer for three hours on a field that’s right next to a cornfield, how much dust are you kicking up” from previous spraying? Jazan asked. However, Rep. Bradley Fritz, a Dixon Republican, worries HB 1596 could conflict with existing Environmental Protection Agency deadlines. Applicators cannot spray dicamba after June 12, and with a 72-hour notification requirement, that window narrows even further. “I think all of us who have been involved in the agricultural space take this incredibly seriously,” said Fritz, who is also a corn and soybean farmer. “I think there’s a lot of things to think through here, because this has unbelievable consequences for our industry.” ## **Have you experienced pesticide drift?** Have you or your property been affected by pesticide misuse? Have you filed a complaint with the IDOA or pursued civil litigation and want to tell us about it? Send us a secure message via Signal or Whatsapp at **1-(773) 318-3406** or fill out this brief form if you’d like to tell your story. This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/12/03/pesticide-drift-is-catching-schools-off-guard-lawmakers-want-to-require-notice-before-spraying/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=756781&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) --- # Starbucks Agrees to Pay Workers $38 Million to Settle Scheduling Law Probe ### Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders joined striking employees in Brooklyn after the coffee chain agreed to the city's largest-ever worker protection settlement. Dec 1 1:29pm EST ![Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks alongside Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at a Starbucks worker picket line in Brooklyn,](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/120125_starbucks_picket-7.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) Starbucks agreed to pay $38 million to settle an investigation by the city’s labor and consumer agency that found the coffee giant committed systemic violations of local scheduling laws at its New York City locations between 2021 and 2024, Mayor Eric Adams announced Monday. A three-year probe by the city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection determined that Starbucks arbitrarily cut workers’ schedules and systematically denied employees the opportunity to pick up additional shifts, keeping them involuntarily part-time. Most Starbucks workers in New York never received a regular schedule, in violation of the city’s [Fair Workweek Law](https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/workers/workersrights/fastfood-retail-workers.page?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fname=&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery), which requires fast food employers to assign schedules with 14 days’ notice. ![United Starbuck workers picket outside a cafe location on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/120125_starbucks_picket-2-1024x683.jpg) Starbucks workers picket outside a cafe location on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, Dec. 1, 2025. The terms of the settlement reveal the breadth of the coffee giant’s violations of the law: Starbucks agreed to pay $35.5 million to approximately 15,000 people who were employed at one of more than 300 New York City locations from July 4, 2021 until July 7, 2024\. The company also agreed to pay civil penalties totaling $3.4 million and to comply with the law going forward. In all, the company violated the law more than half a million times since 2021, logging violations at all but one of its New York City locations, the [Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Chelsea](https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/12/12/starbucks-reserve-roastery-chelsea-nyc-end-strike/?ref=down-ballot.info), according to DCWP official Elizabeth Wagoner. Officials said it is the largest worker protection settlement in New York City history. Seattle-based Starbucks “systematically” violated the law because they “thought they could get away with it,” DCWP commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga told THE CITY. “To workers: understand that the government is on your side. DCWP is going to be looking into matters and getting the restitution that you deserve, and we’re going to be enforcing the law — it doesn’t matter how big a company is, if it’s a multi-billion-dollar company,” Mayuga said. “We are committed to holding these companies accountable.” ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_8352-1024x576.jpg) DCWP Commissioner Vilda Vera Mayuga (left) picketed with striking Starbucks Workers United members in Lower Manhattan, Nov. 20, 2025. The company shared a blog post on Monday addressing the settlement, where it describes the city’s fast food scheduling laws as “complex,” adding that employees’ requests for different shifts “makes compliance challenging.” Nonetheless, the statement read, “we take these requirements seriously.” “To move forward, Starbucks and DCWP have agreed on a settlement. These violations are not about withholding wages or failing to pay partners, but as part of the agreement, some current and former partners will receive payouts,” the company wrote in the unsigned blog post. Starbucks’ failure to comply with the law illegally denied workers’ rights to stable and predictable schedules, as well as the opportunity to pick up additional shifts and earn more money. The company routinely unlawfully reduced workers’ schedules such that many did not know how much money they would make week to week, officials said. The routine violations made it difficult for workers to plan commitments for child care, education, and second jobs. “This historic settlement marks a major victory for thousands of Starbucks baristas across New York City,” said Workers United-SEIU international president Lynne Fox, whose union represents some of the workers in the settlement. “For too long, Starbucks has acted with impunity: manipulating schedules, disrespecting workers, and ignoring legal protections put into place by New Yorkers to protect working people from unfair business practices.” DCWP began its probe after it received dozens of worker complaints beginning in 2022 from several Starbucks locations. The agency expanded its investigation to all Starbucks outposts citywide after uncovering evidence of systematic violations beyond the initial locations, based on worker reports and payroll data from the company, Mayuga told THE CITY. The settlement comes as Starbucks workers across 85 cities nationwide including New York are in an ongoing strike, [now in its third week](https://sbworkersunited.org/our-strike/?ref=down-ballot.info), to protest the company’s alleged refusal to finalize a collective bargaining agreement with Starbucks Workers United. Wage and scheduling issues are among the sticking points for the union in New York and nationally. ![United Starbuck workers picket outside a cafe location on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn,](https://www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/120125_starbucks_picket-1-1024x683.jpg) United Starbuck workers picket outside a cafe location on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, Dec. 1, 2025. In September, Starbucks announced plans [to close hundreds of stores](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/business/starbucks-job-cuts.html?ref=down-ballot.info) across North America, including [59 unionized locations](https://sbworkersunited.org/starbucks-union-baristas-secure-effects-bargaining-wins-following-companys-store-closure-announcement/?ref=down-ballot.info), as part of a larger restructuring plan. On Monday afternoon Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani appeared at a Park Slope Starbucks Workers United picket line with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), briefly walking the line with striking workers. “Solidarity, as much as we speak of it, we have to remember is not an abstract concept,” Mamdani said, discussing the sacrifices made by striking Starbucks workers. “It is measured in picket lines stood on in the rain and in the sleet,” said Mamdani. “It is measured in rent payments workers do not know if they will be able to meet, child care bills they do not know whether they’ll be able to afford.” Sanders thanked the Starbucks workers around the country for their courage. “We are going to prevail,” he said. Kaari Harsila, 21, has worked for Starbucks for four years and most recently at a location in Clinton Hill. She said the inconsistent scheduling is one of many issues at her Starbucks, which also includes short-staffed stores. “We don’t have enough people quite frequently,” she said. “If one person calls out, best of luck to you. It’s just you and one other person then, you have to do the very best you can.” She said she was happy about the settlement but that it doesn’t address major problems. “I sure hope it gives Starbucks an awakening, that they recognize this is a real issue,” she said. “However that only covers to 2024, that doesn’t cover anybody that’s had these issues that are still persisting. For me, that doesn’t really help me much now.” Current and former Starbucks employees who are covered under the terms of the settlement will automatically receive their restitution in the mail beginning this winter, Wagoner told THE CITY. Most employees who worked for Starbucks in an hourly position in New York City will receive $50 for each week worked between July 2021 and July 2024, a sum potentially totaling thousands of dollars. Workers who experienced a violation of the Fair Workweek law after July 7, 2024 may also be eligible for compensation after [filing a complaint with the DCWP](https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/workers/worker-rights.page?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fname=&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). --- # NC pitches $1 billion plan to overhaul rural health system by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News December 1, 2025 #### **By Jaymie Baxley** North Carolina is seeking $1 billion from the federal government for a wide-ranging plan that could reshape rural health care across the state. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services hopes to secure the funding through the Rural Health Transformation Program, [an initiative created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act](https://www.cms.gov/priorities/rural-health-transformation-rht-program/overview?ref=down-ballot.info) signed by President Donald Trump in July. The program allows states to compete for a share of a $50 billion pool aimed at improving health outcomes in rural communities. Devdutta Sangvai, secretary of NC DHHS, submitted the state’s [61-page proposal](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/north-carolina-rural-health-transformation-application/download?attachment&ref=down-ballot.info) to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Nov. 3, ahead of a Nov. 6 deadline. Developed with input from more than 400 stakeholders, the state’s plan lays out a broad framework for overhauling rural health delivery through six regional hubs that would coordinate services across North Carolina’s 85 rural counties. It also calls for major investments in the state’s rural health workforce and introduces payment models designed to stabilize financially distressed hospitals and clinics. Other elements focus on nonmedical factors like food access and transportation — priorities that were central to the state’s [promising but](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/08/08/hop-economic-impact/?ref=down-ballot.info) now defunct Healthy Opportunities Pilot. “Our plan reflects North Carolina’s commitment to ensuring that every North Carolinian, no matter where they live, has access to high-quality health care,” Gov. Josh Stein said in a statement. “North Carolina is on the cutting edge of technology and innovation, and our application for the Rural Health Transformation Program shows that we’re ready to continue our leadership in rural health care.” If CMS approves the application, the state could begin receiving funds as early as this month. The $1 billion would be distributed in annual payments of $200 million over five years. Debra Farrington, the department’s deputy secretary of health, said she is optimistic about the outcome. “I think North Carolina, being where we are with having the second-largest rural population in the country and way more facilities than some other states, and also having the infrastructure and innovation in place, we feel like we're deserving of a higher percentage of the dollars compared to some other states,” she said. #### **New model for coordinating care** The plan’s centerpiece is the creation of six so-called ROOTS hubs. Short for Regional Organizing and Operational Transformation Support, these locally governed networks would be intended to coordinate the major components of the state’s rural health strategy. Each hub would unite hospitals, primary care practices, behavioral health providers, EMS agencies, local health departments and other partners under a shared regional structure. The goal is to replace the fragmented patchwork of services that rural residents often navigate with a system better able to respond to local needs. Under the proposal, the hubs would oversee care coordination, data sharing, prevention programs, crisis response and workforce recruitment. They would also help communities secure grant funding, deploy mobile services and build stronger referral pathways between medical providers and social supports like transportation, housing and food assistance. State officials say the hubs would give rural regions the infrastructure needed to tackle long-standing challenges like provider shortages and high percentages of uninsured residents — and ensure that improvements made with federal dollars endure after the program’s five-year funding window closes. “We’re hoping that the funding will complement existing funding sources, which is important because this is a time-limited program for only five years,” Farrington said. “We wanted to be careful not to set up something that was not sustainable. These dollars can complement and pay for initiative activities that are not currently covered in existing programs but allow us to expand the capacity of those programs, and that’s certainly our intent.” The six hub regions will be selected through a competitive process open to partnerships that have demonstrated experience in getting many service providers to collaborate. DHHS will weigh regional health needs, existing service gaps and applicants’ ability to maintain the work after federal funding ends. The agency expects to finalize the hub regions after conducting readiness assessments in early 2026. Farrington said some of the hubs could begin operating as early as January. “One of the reasons that that’s possible is because we want to leverage existing entities that already are in place to be able to start the ROOTS hubs,” she said. “That would allow us to start fast while we implement a procurement process that is more competitive and would allow us to include more representatives from the community. But we have existing entities that could start right away, and we want to begin there as a way to show early wins and get some early successes.” #### **Building on a promising program** Once established, the hubs would anchor another core element of the plan: the distribution of food and other supports that address nonmedical health needs. Each hub would work with local food banks, farmers and community groups to provide boxes of groceries and fresh produce to patients with conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. Farrington said the goal is to reduce hospitalizations and improve chronic disease outcomes in rural communities where healthy food can be difficult to access. “Nutrition and access to healthy foods are drivers of certain health conditions and health outcomes,” she said. “You can make some improvements after conditions have been diagnosed and people are getting treatment or in the hospital, but we feel like we have an opportunity to have better outcomes and long-term sustainable improvements by addressing some of the root causes of poor health. “Food is a critical component.” The approach echoes the Healthy Opportunities Pilot, a first-in-the-nation program launched in 2022 that used Medicaid dollars to [provide food deliveries](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/08/18/have-medicaid-you-may-be-entitled-to-a-free-weekly-box-of-produce/?ref=down-ballot.info), [transportation to appointments](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/01/26/local-patients-werent-showing-up-to-their-appointments-so-the-hospital-offered-them-a-ride/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [other nonmedical services](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2022/03/09/its-never-been-done-before-how-nc-plans-to-use-medicaid-dollars-to-improve-social-determinants-of-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) to rural residents facing significant barriers to health. An [independent evaluation](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/healthy-opportunities-pilots-interim-evaluation-report/open?ref=down-ballot.info) found the program lowered participants’ [health care costs](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/06/03/funding-cut-for-healthy-opportunities/?ref=down-ballot.info) by up to $1,020 a year after just the initial 18-month period. But lawmakers declined to continue funding Healthy Opportunities, which forced the program to shutter in July. With the Rural Health Transformation Program, Farrington said the state hopes to continue that work without needing authorization or funding from the legislature. “We were very intentional at wanting to have food-as-medicine type programs that were core to what we had designed with the Opportunities program,” she said. Other highlights from the plan include initiatives that would: - Expand rural behavioral health services through new crisis centers, additional mobile units for treating opioid use disorder and school-based mental health programs. - Improve access to maternal health services with expanded prenatal and postpartum care, enhanced obstetric training in rural hospitals, and tools like postpartum warning-sign bracelets and AI-assisted ultrasound technology. - Increase the size and stability of the rural health workforce by developing new training pipelines and offering incentives to retain providers in rural areas. - Support financially vulnerable hospitals and clinics through technical assistance and [value-based payment models](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2020/08/19/will-covid-19-help-move-primary-care-physicians-away-from-the-fee-for-service-model/?ref=down-ballot.info) intended to reduce preventable hospitalizations and stabilize rural facilities. - Strengthen digital and data infrastructure by increasing broadband support for providers and expanding their telehealth capabilities. “I think we did a fabulous job in developing this proposal,” said Farrington, adding that the plan incorporated a “tremendous amount of feedback” from rural providers and other stakeholders over only four months. “I have high confidence that it will be approved,” she said. Her comments were echoed by Sangvai, the NC DHHS secretary, who praised the plan in a [news release](https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2025/11/21/north-carolina-applies-200-million-rural-health-transformation-program?ref=down-ballot.info) announcing its submission to CMS. “Rural health care providers are the backbone of their communities, working tirelessly to ensure people have access to care when and where they need it,” he said. “North Carolina is a leader in prioritizing rural health and remains committed to investing in rural health care and the rural health workforce. The North Carolina Rural Health Transformation Plan is one part of our efforts to support the more than 3 million people in North Carolina who live in a rural community.” #### **‘It takes a village’** Patrick Woodie, president and CEO of the [NC Rural Center](https://www.ncruralcenter.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said the proposal reflects the scale of rural North Carolina’s health challenges and the state’s growing ability to coordinate across agencies, providers and community organizations. He believes the state’s collaborative approach strengthens its chances of winning federal approval. “I feel really good about North Carolina’s ability to compete for these dollars,” he said. “The needs are great, but we have a deep understanding of them and we have an ability to pull together the network and the partnerships that really are essential to what has been envisioned by this rural transformation grant program.” Woodie gave credit to NC DHHS for involving providers, community organizations and other rural stakeholders in the application process. “They recognize it takes a village, so to speak, to meet the needs of rural citizens and rural families where they live,” he said. “I think they really tapped into that in the proposal that was submitted.” At the same time, he acknowledged that implementing such a sweeping plan will be a “daunting task” for the state. The biggest question, Woodie said, is whether North Carolina can maintain momentum once the five-year federal funding window closes. “I really implore our state legislators and our federal delegation to be mindful of that uncertainty and of the fact that, five years from now, there will still be rural health priorities that need to be worked on and focused on,” he said. “We don’t need to recreate the wheel every time we have a new administration in town.” This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/12/01/nc-pitches-rural-plan/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=71013&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) # Clock ticking on NC’s $1.2 billion in unspent federal COVID funds, auditor warns by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press December 1, 2025 State Auditor **Dave Boliek** has a New Year’s resolution for state agencies: spend the remaining $1.2 billion in federal COVID funds before they expire at the end of 2026. In spring 2021, amid the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed a massive stimulus package that sent [$5.4 billion](https://carolinapublicpress.org/57774/where-is-the-states-5-4-million-in-arpa-funding-going/?ref=down-ballot.info) to North Carolina’s state government. That money sits in an account called the State Fiscal Recovery Fund and has been allocated to individual agencies by the state legislature. The Office of the State Auditor released a [report](https://www.auditor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2025/11/17/federal-covid-funds-allocated-and-accounted-billions-remained-unspent-years-later?ref=down-ballot.info) on Nov. 17 showing that by the end of the 2024 fiscal year, less than half of those COVID funds had been dispersed. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ daily, weekly and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Most of the remaining money was tied to agencies tasked with large-scale water, sewer and broadband infrastructure projects. The Department of Environmental Quality, for example, had yet to draw down $1.7 billion (89%) of the $1.9 billion allocated to it within the audit’s timeframe. “State agencies were allocated billions of dollars for COVID, but a lot of that money sat parked,” Boliek said in announcing the report. “With funds not expended by the end of 2026 going to the U.S. Treasury, state agencies should be proactive in making sure taxpayers realize a return on the investment of these funds.” ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/26476509/thumbnail) The audit was not factually incorrect, but it likely overstated how much ARPA funding was actually sitting unused, [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) has found. The NC Pandemic Recovery Office, housed within the Department of Commerce, maintains a [dashboard](https://ncpro.nc.gov/data-research/covid-19-funding-dashboard-hub/state-fiscal-recovery-fund-dashboard?ref=down-ballot.info) tracking State Fiscal Recovery Fund spending. It shows that North Carolina’s ARPA spending accelerated in 2025 and that 78% of the fund has now been dispersed — far higher than the audit’s 46% figure, which only covered spending through June 30, 2024. State auditor spokesperson **Randy Brechbiel** told CPP the report ended at that date because it reflected the scope set under the previous auditor’s administration. “The purpose of this audit was not to determine why certain funds have yet to be disbursed,” the report’s introduction stated, “but to determine whether the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management accounted for, allocated and disbursed amounts appropriated to the State Fiscal Recovery Fund in accordance with State Fiscal Recovery Fund legislation. To that end, all matters were done in accordance with law.” Still, the audit and Boliek’s comments raised doubts about whether the state could complete its ARPA projects by the end of next year — and risk forfeiting millions of federal dollars in those COVID funds. Agencies holding large amounts of unspent ARPA money don’t seem alarmed, however. They told CPP they expect to use their full allocations by the December 2026 deadline, with few exceptions. One reason spending appears behind schedule is that ARPA money is typically reimbursed after expenses occur, meaning agencies draw the COVID funds only once they have already spent money on approved projects. “Many of the remaining activities are infrastructure-related, including broadband and water and sewer projects, which have higher costs later in the projects than in the early stages,” a spokesperson for the NC Pandemic Recovery Office said. “Because of these two factors, disbursements are higher in the final years of those projects than in the early stages.” That’s why agencies like the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Information Technology hold the bulk of remaining ARPA funds. They are responsible for seeing major construction and technology projects through from contracting to completion. DIT spokesperson **Cristalle Dickerson** said most of the department’s remaining $565 million has already been contracted but not yet expended. The department plans to funnel the rest into three new grant programs by the end of next year: the Broadband Recovery Program to repair broadband infrastructure destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene, a utility-pole replacement program and a new broadband line-extension program. The Department of Environmental Quality, meanwhile, still has $359 million in unexpended funds, although most of it has been obligated to local governments for water and sewer projects. Those grants primarily serve towns and counties with distressed water systems. DEQ awarded the last of its ARPA-funded grants in spring 2024, and reimbursement is expected through next year. The Department of Health and Human Services’ lead and asbestos remediation program is also one of the state’s major ongoing ARPA projects. The agency received $150 million to inspect and remove asbestos and lead-based paint in public schools and child care facilities, of which $55 million has been spent so far, according to the dashboard. DHHS has already contracted with RTI International to conduct testing at schools and child care centers which is expected to cost more than $100 million by the end of the project term, program director **Jennifer Hoponick Redmon** told CPP. “The objective of the work is to identify and eliminate exposure to lead and asbestos hazards in child-occupied facilities across North Carolina from Spring 2023 through 2026,” she said. To date, the program has completed water sampling at 1,784 schools, 3,342 child care centers and 1,080 family child care homes, and remediated hazards at nearly 2,000 taps. It has also identified lead-based paint hazards at 224 child care facilities and 68 public schools, and asbestos hazards at 78 child care facilities and 10 public schools. The remaining money for the program is set aside in a reimbursement fund to help those facilities pay for needed remediation. For now, agencies insist the remaining COVID funds will move on schedule. State auditors will know soon enough whether the state can turn its obligated dollars into completed projects before time runs out. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73684/covid-funds-unspent-nc-back-to-feds-auditor-warns-arpa/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Federal Medicaid cuts could limit access to services for people with disabilities by Domonique King, The Current November 27, 2025 In the 17 years since giving birth to son Eli, Michelle Heyman has become a master at the complex bureaucratic hurdles of Medicaid, the federal health insurance available to low-income children, the elderly and disabled in Georgia. The federal funding pays for expensive and intensive daily care that the Heymans need to keep Eli living at home with his family. Despite the scrupulous attention she pays to compile the documents necessary to keep these benefits, Heyman discovered in February that Eli had been cut off from those programs without warning, sending the family into chaos. "You have to send in like a thousand pages of documentation in order to renew. And you have to fax it all. You have to fax every page,” Michelle Heyman said. “I gotta make calls, I gotta fill out records requests for every single person that he sees: therapists, doctors, school stuff, on a very tight timeline.” Spending cuts passed last summer by Congressional Republicans, including the steepest cuts in Medicaid in a generation, have the Heymans worried that more disruption is coming their way. More than 200,000 Georgians with disabilities rely on Medicaid for health care and services, and many of these families, as well as medical providers and health care advocates are uncertain about what the spending changes will mean. Georgia’s Republican congressional caucus says families like the Heymans have nothing to worry about, as the new spending law doesn’t affect Medicaid funding for disabled children. However, D’Arcy Robb, executive director of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, sees a more pessimistic future. She says it's possible that waiver programs like the one Eli and other disabled Medicaid recipients rely on to stay out of assisted living facilities could be cut as state agencies struggle to pay for other services directly cut in the federal budget. Federal and state governments are required to pay for care for disabled Medicaid recipients in nursing homes. But nursing homes are not obligated to have all the services available via waiver programs like the one Eli relies on for his quality of life. Eli’s mother, who managed to renew benefits for her after last spring’s snafu, says the ongoing uncertainty about whether this funding will continue from the state is terrible to live with. “Generally when we’ve had travails in the past, we have been able to figure out how to work around them and move on,” said Heyman, a former health communication specialist. “Uncertainty is awful to live with on a day-to-day basis.” The state’s Medicaid agency, the Department of Community Health, did not reply to requests for comment. ### Family takes on challenges When Michelle gave birth to her younger son, she remembers her terror as nurses urgently pulled her newborn son out of her arms and took him into the neonatal intensive care unit. Although no one had flagged potential problems during her pregnancy, she and her husband were told that Eli had had a rare chromosomal deletion. As he’s grown older, the Katie Beckett waiver, which is offered in 43 states, helps cover the costs of Eli’s medication, and the frequent hospital visits necessary due to breathing issues. It also covers physical therapy, occupational therapy, and aquatic therapy, all of which help Eli improve his daily functioning and independent physical movement. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/20250930-Heyman-107-1024x683.jpg) Kevin Heyman attaches a feeding tube to a port installed on his son Eli's abdomen. In Savannah on Sept. 30, 2025. These benefits, which amount to approximately $200,000 per year for Eli, allows him to live at home, instead of an institution. “One of the things that we've been working on at therapy is brushing teeth, taking things off over his head, using utensils to put things in his mouth,” Michelle said. “He loves Cheeto Puffs, and if you happen to have any, he will reach out and try to take it and put it in his mouth. He couldn't do that before. That's a therapy thing.” Currently, disabled Georgians have a variety of health care options. Home and community based services ensure that individuals with disabilities can avoid having to live in long-term care facilities by bringing services to them at home and in the community. These community-based care plans typically include assistance with daily functioning, but may also cover funding for vehicle modifications, job coaching services, and support for activities like garden clubs and swim teams. But these are the high-cost services that, in the past, state governments have pulled back on when other Medicaid funding cuts have occurred, said Robb. That’s what happened in 2020, when Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, which administers the kind of community care services that Eli relies on, suffered [budget and staff cutbacks](https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/08/05/amid-pandemic-states-mental-health-agency-has-extensive-layoffs?ref=down-ballot.info). Waivers weren’t cut, but the number of people waiting to access the promised services ballooned into the thousands, said Robb. In the future, funding cuts would likely mean less services, as well as less access to services, she said. If the state cuts back funding for these services, his mother said, then Eli could end up in a hospital away from his loving family. “If we didn’t take him to therapy and to all these different activities that have events and all, then his world would be very small,” she said. ### Providers feel the pinch One local health care provider who already feels Medicaid’s funding strains is Shauna Joye, owner of Joye Psychology & Wellness in Savannah, provides assessments and therapies for children with intellectual development disorders, ADHD, autism and learning disabilities. Her facility is one of the only independent clinics within a two-hour drive that accepts Medicaid for psychological assessments for children. She says increased red tape that could be required to stay enrolled in federal safety net benefits like Medicaid could cause mental health clinics to drop Medicaid patients altogether. Joye is also worried a drastic cut in Medicaid will create higher co-pays with primary care providers, which may discourage families living paycheck to paycheck from going to the doctor. That means it’s less likely that providers will be able to refer children for treatment for ADHD, autism, and other developmental disabilities. “That's where we get a lot of our referrals, preventative care or the pediatricians and well-check,” she said. “They're gonna be the ones that are referring them for evaluation, so they're kind of our first line of defense when it comes to screening. So I do worry that even if there's not too much of a change with mental health, what about if there's a change with primary care and the downstream effects of that? I guess I’m just kind of waiting for the shoe to drop and find out what’s gonna happen as far as the coverage for our clients.” Another one of her fears is that states may attempt to cut Medicaid costs by placing caps on coverage for treatments like Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, which some children with autism receive multiple times a week. States like [Nebraska](https://www.klkntv.com/hurting-us-in-the-long-run-nebraska-dad-of-boy-with-autism-criticizes-medicaid-rate-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [New York](https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/new-york-medicaid-cut-proposals-autism-services/?ref=down-ballot.info) have already proposed cuts that could limit access to ABA therapy in anticipation of federal funding cuts. Early intervention for autism through treatments like ABA therapy can change the trajectory of some children’s developmental outcomes, Joye said. Without consistent treatment, some can regress into more severe levels of autism and require more costly support at school and in the health care system. “If we’re talking about impact on society and saving money for the government, then you think they would invest a little bit more on the front end so that they don’t have to support these individuals on the back end, because early intervention is so helpful with that,” she said. ### Equipment access tightens Another area where federal Medicaid funding could affect Georgians with disabilities is access to medical equipment. Currently, companies often decline to deal with people with Medicaid or Medicare coverage, even though tens of thousands of individuals with disabilities have this insurance, because of low reimbursement levels, said Chris Brand, executive director of Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC). “Half the state of Georgia can’t really access a lot of basic \[durable medical equipment\] because vendors are not willing to do the work for the rate the government has set,” he said. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/20250930-Heyman-104-1024x683.jpg) Kevin Heyman uses a hoist to lower his son Eli into his wheelchair. In Savannah on Sept. 30, 2025. Brand’s nonprofit, which is based in Tucker, Georgia, and now has a distribution center in Savannah, refurbishes medical equipment and donates it for little to no cost and offers vehicle lift modifications and loans for assistive technology. He says that individuals and families in need of affordable equipment have long waits to be approved for subsidies for wheelchairs or mobility equipment, or to replace broken equipment. “It’s terribly stressful for the individual trying to get everything done in their day. Some folks live, work, and play in their chairs and they’re by themselves and they’re their only caretaker. That is very detrimental to their health, to not be able to get groceries or go out and take care of things they need to take care of,” he said. “And it's an extreme hardship to have a chair go down that needs repair, has parts missing, or they need a new one, whatever it is. ### Family becomes outspoken At the Heyman’s home, the family tries to keep their anxiety over Eli’s future from spilling into their everyday lives. The cost of Eli’s therapy services and care bills has prompted them to be more outspoken about decisions by the Trump administration, and Republican lawmakers regarding federal subsidies for Medicaid. Michelle said it’s been difficult to debate members of her own family who support the president and don’t see the knock-on effects that the federal budget cuts could have on Eli. Kevin, Eli’s father and a special education reading specialist at Isle of Hope Elementary, said he and many parents of his students are ready to sacrifice almost everything for their children. But the cost of disabled services means that few if any could afford care without Medicaid-funded programs. Kevin said he hopes more people can understand that caring for people like his son is beyond a political issue. “There’s no question children like Eli across the spectrum do not add economically to a country. But I don’t think economics is all that. I absolutely think Eli adds to everyone’s world. And that has a true benefit, it does. And a basic belief I have is that the greatness of a country is only calculated by how it treats its weakness.” This [article](https://thecurrentga.org/2025/11/27/federal-medicaid-cuts-could-limit-access-to-services-for-people-with-disabilities/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Current](https://thecurrentga.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-TheCurrent_site-icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://thecurrentga.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=94506&ga4=G-L05EDNCRHK) --- # Three years after disappearance, Jay Lee’s family sees justice and reflects on the casualties of secrets by Molly Minta, Mississippi Today December 3, 2025 OXFORD — In the hours after a judge sentenced Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. to 40 years in prison for the murder of Jimmie “Jay” Lee, many of Lee’s friends and family contemplated the parallels between the two men. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/06152853/IMG_2918.jpg) Jimmie "Jay" Lee was well-known on campus for his involvement in the LGBTQ community. Both came from religious families. Lee’s father was a pastor and Herrington’s grandfather the [founder of a church](https://mississippitoday.org/2022/09/23/friends-family-paint-picture-of-ole-miss-student-charged-with-murder/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Grenada. Both were hard workers. Lee was known for organizing supply drives, and Herrington operated his own [moving company](https://mississippitoday.org/2022/08/12/ole-miss-student-killed-lgbtq-community/?ref=down-ballot.info). He would later use the company’s box truck to transport Lee’s body to a rural dumping ground near his parents' home. Both were young Black men who had just graduated from the University of Mississippi. Some of Lee’s final Instagram posts before he went missing on July 8, 2022, were of photos taken at his graduation; same for Herrington [weeks before his arrest](https://mississippitoday.org/2022/07/22/oxford-police-jay-lee-murder/?ref=down-ballot.info). But there was a crucial difference between the two men, said Braylyn Johnson, a friend of Lee’s who also knew Herrington from college: Before the murder, Lee lived authentically and proudly as a gay man and [Herrington did not](https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-murder-trial-jay-lee-herrington-cef191e0e98dcabb9165becebc0feff9?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/02162837/20251202_JayLeeTrial_4550.jpg) Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2025, to killing University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee in 2022, looks out into the courtroom during his trial in Oxford, Miss., on Dec. 2, 2025. “Jay Lee and Tim were identical in their education, their achievements, their family, their church life,” she said. “They were a lot alike. … Jay Lee trusted Tim. He saw something in Tim. I’m not sure what it was, but he trusted him.” Herrington first went to trial for Lee’s murder in 2024, before detectives had located Lee’s remains. During that first trial, the state’s theory of the case was that Herrington killed Lee to preserve the secret of their sexual relationship. Lee had gone to Herrington’s apartment the night before he went missing, and they’d had a fight, [prosecutors alleged](https://mississippitoday.org/2022/08/16/jay-lee-police-investigation-timeline/?ref=down-ballot.info). Only one living person knows exactly what happened in the apartment that night – Herrington. He pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/02163411/20251202_JayLeeTrial_4517.jpg) Jimmie Lee, father of Jimmie "Jay" Lee, speaks during a press conference held in Oxford Police Department in Oxford, Miss., on Dec. 2, 2025, after the sentencing of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee. Aafram Sellers, a Jackson-area defense attorney who became counsel for Herrington after the first trial, said he had spoken with Herrington about taking responsibility and grieving the life that he, at 25 years old, might’ve otherwise had. Gwen Agho, a Hinds County prosecutor brought onto the case by Lafayette County District Attorney Ben Creekmore, also wanted people to know that Lee lived his life openly and Herrington did not. “What’s done in the darkness will always come to light,” she said. “All of this happened to cover something up and everyone found out anyway.” Indeed, Oxford Police Chief Jeff McCutchen said one of the Carroll County deputies who found Lee’s remains earlier this year told him that it was as if the sun shined down on [a gold nameplate necklace](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/02/03/jimmie-jay-lees-remains-believed-to-be-found/?ref=down-ballot.info) bearing Lee’s name – the first sign they had finally found him [years after he went missing](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/02/05/jimmie-jay-lees-family-one-step-closer-to-closure-after-discovery-of-remains/?ref=down-ballot.info). “They were just digging and looking and a piece led to a piece led to a piece,” he said. “They didn’t stop.” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/02163048/20251202_JayLeeTrial_4480.jpg) Director of University Police Daniel Sanford giving final statements alongside Hinds County prosecutor Gwen Agho during the press conference held in the Oxford Police Department in Oxford, Miss., on Dec. 2, 2025, after the sentencing of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee. At a press conference after the sentencing, McCutchen said his force spared no resources and didn’t stop looking for Lee until officers found him. “This case highlights everything special about policing, and each one of you should feel like a hero today,” he said. Lee’s mother Stephanie Lee cried as she thanked the Oxford Police Department and the prosecutors for their work securing justice in the case and finding her son. She said McCutchen told her this was not an ordinary case for him. “OPD has been faithful from day one,” she said. A queer, young Black man, Lee falls into a demographic of people whom, when they become victims of violence, police have long been scrutinized for disregarding. > But McCutchen said his force treated the case as if Lee was their own missing child. He choked up while recalling the moment when, one month into the search for Lee, a detective’s wife asked if he would take a break to get dinner. > “The detective responded, ‘If that was our kid missing, would you want that detective to take a break and be with his family, or spend every moment trying to find our child?’” McCutchen said. “To which that wife responded, ‘Don’t you come home until you find him.’” ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/02163135/20251202_JayLeeTrial_4441.jpg) Chief of Police Jeff McCutchen giving final statements during a press conference held in the Oxford Police Department in Oxford, Miss., on Dec. 2, 2025\. after the sentencing of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee. McCutchen said the police fought for Lee’s phone records, they scoured for security camera footage across Lafayette and Grenada counties, and they worked with state and federal law enforcement to scope out Herrington’s cellphone – then searched every possible place they believed he might have dug a grave. “This was not just another homicide,” he said. “This case became our life.” But all the technology in the world did not find Lee. During Herrington’s first trial, the absence of a body proved a hiccup in the case, and was partly to blame for the hung jury, [a TV news outlet reported](https://www.actionnews5.com/2024/12/13/11-12-jurors-oxford-murder-trial-supported-conviction/?ref=down-ballot.info). Instead, detectives found Lee’s remains by chance in rural Carroll County, after a property owner whose land is used as a dumping ground reported he’d found a skull wrapped in duct tape and a blanket. “You cannot in a hundred years convince me otherwise that God did not have a hand in Carroll County when that property owner called the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department and said, ‘I think I have human remains,’” Creekmore said. For as much effort as McCutchen says his force expended, the Oxford police faced community pressure, too: From a small but mighty group of Lee’s friends who used social media to organize a movement in Oxford called Justice for Jay Lee. Its members have come and gone from the transient college town, but two of Lee’s close friends powering the group saw the case to its end – Johnson and Jose Reyes, who performed drag alongside Lee as a fellow member of Oxford’s LGBTQ+ community. ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/02163110/20251202_JayLeeTrial_4467.jpg) Jose Reyes (center) and other community advocates of Justice for Jay Lee during a press conference held in the Oxford Police Department in Oxford, Miss., on Dec. 2, 2025\. after the sentencing of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr. for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee. “We’ve watched people transition these past three years, we’ve watched queer couples meet each other in Justice for Jay Lee and get married and graduate,” Johnson said. Johnson and Reyes kept the town’s and the media’s attention on their friend through colorful Instagram posts displaying a count of the days Lee had been missing. Their advocacy for Lee [pushed the police](https://mississippitoday.org/2022/08/08/after-ole-miss-students-killing-many-lgbtq-students-no-longer-feel-safe/?ref=down-ballot.info) to acknowledge the fear his disappearance had incited in Oxford’s LGBTQ+ community. Reyes summed up their role in the case in two words: "Accountability and awareness.” The two view Justice for Jay Lee’s role now as carrying on Lee’s legacy. Before his death, Lee was preparing to begin a graduate degree in social work. His friends have been trying to establish a scholarship at the University of Mississippi in Lee’s honor, because Johnson said that higher education was important to him. “Jay Lee was raised with love,” she said. “He didn’t go through the world thinking that people were going to do him wrong. Jay Lee went through the world very optimistic and with a loving outlook and part of me thinks he tried to share that with Tim.” This [article](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/12/03/jay-lees-family-sees-justice/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Mississippi Today](https://mississippitoday.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/14014610/cropped-MTODAY_SITE_ICON_512x512-180x180.png) --- # County Planning Commission in Virginia Delays Vote Again on Proposed Gas Plant That Aims to Link to PJM Grid ### Fluvanna County planners will vote in January to assess whether a proposal by Tenaska fits its comprehensive plan. By Charles Paullin November 26, 2025 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26112025/virginia-fluvanna-county-planning-commission-proposed-gas-plant-pjm/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* FORK UNION, Va.–The Fluvanna County Planning Commission again has delayed a vote on a proposed natural gas plant in Virginia that would bolster the PJM Interconnection regional grid. The planning commission will review on Jan. 13 a proposal by power producer Tenaska to build a [1.5 gigawatt gas plant. The rescheduling ](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18102025/pjm-fast-tracked-gas-plant-pushback-virginia/?ref=down-ballot.info)appears to be linked to separate reviews of permit and zoning changes, requested by Tenaska, that, too, are set for January. Planning commission members did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A company spokesperson said Tenaska asked for the delay in part because some commission members indicated they wanted more review time. The five commissioners will decide whether the Tenaska natural gas plant is “in substantial accord” with the county’s comprehensive plan and if it should advance. The Tenaska plant would feed into PJM, a pivotal electrical grid in the United States that provides power in all or parts of 13 states and the District of Columbia and has been struggling to meet demands from big technology and financial services companies that are building or planning data centers linked to artificial intelligence. Among the planning commission’s considerations: whether the location of the Tenaska plant fits with the county’s goals on renewable energy generation, preservation of rural landscapes and economic development. The commission’s vote will be an advisory to the County Board of Supervisors, which has final approval. This month, the county’s planning staff submitted a positive report about the Tenaska proposal, aimed to be completed in 2031, and its compatibility with the comprehensive plan.Tenaska, a privately held company based in Nebraska, is seeking to add what it calls the “Expedition Generating Station” next to an already existing one gigawatt gas plant. The planning staff found that Tenaska’s plans, wholly reliant on fossil fuel, do not advance the county’s aim to expand renewable energy use. But Tenaska provides other notable benefits, the staff concluded. The company plans to conserve acres of land near where the plant will be located, and the plant itself accounts for a small percentage of the land that Tenaska owns, the report found. Tenaska’s current operations provide for 4 percent of the county’s tax base, and Expedition will add to that, the report found. The company [estimates](https://expeditiongeneratingstation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/10/250922-Expedition-Plan-Commission-PPT-V2-compressed.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) its new station will contribute $8.3 million in annual tax revenue for the next 30 years. Tenaska has operated the existing plant, located in close proximity to a pipeline operated by The Williams Companies, since 2004\. Its Expedition proposal comes as PJM Interconnection, which operates the wholesale electricity market and manages the transmission grid for much of the east coast, is attempting to spur supplies across the region and notably in the state of Virginia, which is experiencing swift data center growth. The Tenaska proposal has drawn mixed reactions from the local community. At a planning commission meeting in October that lasted for seven hours, family members of Tenaska employees described the existing plant as safe and reliable. “Tenaska is Corporate America done right,” said Amber Kidd, whose husband works at the plant. Other residents raised concerns about the new construction—citing worries about noise and truck traffic—and questioned the strain on water sources and possible pollution from the expansion. “When we’re talking to strangers, people at grocery stores or other places, we’ve not had anyone go, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a really good idea’” said Sharon Harris, a founding member of Fluvanna Horizons Alliance, a local group opposing the plant. “It’s just really hard for us to understand how this is possibly going to be anything that’s healthy and safe.” The county is expecting a Tenaska-paid traffic study to be completed by Jan. 6, a week before the commission will review the plans at the Jan. 13 meeting, County Attorney Dan Whitten said in an interview. “Fluvanna County and \[Virginia Department of Transportation\] will ensure safe configuration of access roads and entrances for anticipated construction traffic,” Tenaska spokesperson Timberly Ross said in an email to Inside Climate News. Parking areas and the storage of construction material will be reviewed by the county, Ross said. She noted that “air emissions and wastewater discharge” are regulated through state and federal laws. Tenaska has offered to provide, at the request of the planning commission, an environmental consultant to produce an independent third-party environmental report, which will also be reviewed Jan. 13\. The work will be overseen by the county but funded by Tenaska, she said. Tenaska provided the planning commission with[ a 15-page memorandum on Nov. 14](https://www.fluvannacounty.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/planning%5Famp%5Fzoning/page/23796/section%5F7.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that outlined federal and state regulations and safeguards, including air quality reviews, that the company said would “protect the residents of Fluvanna County and the region.” The company also provided a three-page assessment dated August 28 from the engineering consultant WSP USA that provided some brief reviews of the site setting, cultural resources, wetlands and habitat surveys. Tenaska’s proposal is part of a fast-track effort by PJM, which has been criticized for slow processing of requests to connect to the grid. Clean energy advocates said PJM’s effort to speed up its reviews now favors fossil fuels suppliers rather than renewable sources. PJM spokesperson Daniel Lockwood countered that delayed renewable projects “are being stymied by issues beyond PJM’s control, like federal, state and local permitting, supply chain backlogs and financing challenges.” The comprehensive plan is important to some residents who have been vigilant about attending planning commission meetings. During a meeting this month, and after a presentation on commission duties, resident Tracey Smith told commissioners that they had a duty to pay attention to what residents wanted. The community took the comprehensive plan process “seriously because we’re told it matters,” Smith said during the meeting. She questioned whether the commissioners were focused or genuine in their considerations of residents’ concerns. She wondered if they were serious about following the protections set out in the county’s comprehensive plan. “To hear tonight that it is basically optional and something that can just be brushed aside or thrown out, whenever it’s inconvenient for you, it feels like a slap in the face to every resident who has continued to participate in that process,” Smith said before the commission voted to delay its review of the Tenaska plant. “If the path is already predetermined, then I think you should just be upfront about that instead of asking for our input.” --- ### N.C. launches grants program to support communities harmed by Helene URL: https://down-ballot.info/n-c-launches-grants-program-to-support-communities-harmed-by-helene/ Last updated: 2025-12-03T17:53:01.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** The [North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/3fdb39d?ref=down-ballot.info) (DEQ) has launched the Western NC Recovery Grants Program to help communities affected by Hurricane Helene rebuild and secure long-term recovery funding. The program provides free grant-writing and technical assistance to towns, counties, councils of government and eligible nonprofits across the 39 federally declared disaster counties in western North Carolina and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. “Hurricane Helene hit our rural mountain communities hard, and many local governments lack the staff capacity to pursue recovery funding,” said Reid Wilson, DEQ Secretary. “This program ensures they have the support needed to compete for the resources required to recover, rebuild and strengthen their communities’ resilience to future weather hazards.” The program provides support to local governments in preparing state and federal applications for recovery funding. DEQ staff will offer assistance with proposal development, budget preparation and analysis, assessment of available funding for specific projects, evaluation methodologies, and other proposal submission requirements. As state agencies continue to release new grant opportunities—including recent programs from DEQ, North Carolina Department of Commerce and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services—and with many local governments still pursuing federal FEMA funding, this program offers timely, temporary support to ensure all funding opportunities are accessible to communities to pursue. Program highlights include: - Strategic guidance: DEQ staff will help communities identify appropriate funding opportunities and shape strong project proposals. - Direct grant support: DEQ grant staff will work one-on-one with local governments to prepare applications or provide targeted technical assistance. - Eligibility: Open to local governments. Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations may participate with a local government partner. - Grant readiness: Construction-related projects must have site control or ownership to qualify for most federal and state grant programs. Communities seeking assistance [can complete the online form on the Western NC Recovery Grants Program webpage](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/storm-season/hurricane-helene-response/western-nc-recovery-grants-program?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). The program will remain open throughout the year, and there is no formal deadline to apply for assistance. However, if you have a specific grant with an established deadline, please share that in your application form. The Western NC Recovery Grants Program is part of DEQ’s broader [Helene recovery effort](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/storm-season/hurricane-helene-response?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery), which includes water infrastructure funding and technical assistance, river debris cleanup and long-term resilience planning. ### Hendersonville taking applications for participatory budget process The city of Hendersonville will be holding a [participatory budgeting program ](https://www.hendersonvillenc.gov/build-hendersonville?ref=down-ballot.info)and applications will be accepted until December 19\. Applicants must live or own a business within the city. The city is setting aside $25,000 for residents to decide how the funds should be used to improve the community. This Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) process gives residents an additional opportunity to give input on the City’s budget. “We’re always looking for ways to connect with the community and involve residents in decisions that impact their daily lives,” said Deputy City Manager Brian Pahle. “Our budget team is known for innovation, and we want residents to participate with us just like our department heads do during the CIP process.” Residents have been consistently invited to shape city priorities through surveys, focus groups, community meetings, and Council Conversations. However, this new initiative marks the first time residents can propose a project idea, help develop it, and see it funded through the budgeting process. Hendersonville residents can submit their capital project ideas through an application. Capital projects are those that create or improve a long-term asset. After review and scoring, the top-ranked project or projects will receive funding from the $25,000 budget. Project ideas might include traffic safety infrastructure such as speed radar signs or traffic calming islands, park enhancements, or updates to community spaces. Scoring will be based on a project’s community support like neighborhood buy-in, volunteer commitments, matching funds, etc., as well as alignment with the City’s strategic plan goals. ### Brunswick County Board of Commissioners pass resolution opposing expansion of Chemours facility The board [unanimously adopted the resolution](https://brunswickconc.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2003/files/attachment/7989?ref=down-ballot.info) to oppose the expansion of the [Chemours ](https://www.brunswickcountync.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=646&ref=down-ballot.info)Fayetteville Works Facility. Chemours has requested a permit to expand operations at the Fayetteville Works Facility, increasing the production and potential increases to the discharge of PFAS. ### Asheville to meet on Friday for making interim city manager appointment URL: https://down-ballot.info/asheville-to-meet-on-friday-for-making-interim-city-manager-appointment/ Last updated: 2025-12-01T23:28:46.000Z The city of Asheville will hold a virtual meeting on Friday, Dec. 5 at 9 am and will have a closed session for the purpose of appointing public officers. According to an announcement on the [city’s website](https://www.ashevillenc.gov/government/city-council-agenda/?ref=down-ballot.info), council is expected to immediately enter a closed session and end it by 9:30 am. When council returns to open session, it will consider the appointment of an interim city manager until a permanent one starts employment. Current Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell announced her retirement earlier this year and her last day is Friday, Dec. 5 according to [The Citizen-Times in Asheville. ](https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2025/11/25/asheville-council-city-manager/87448801007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z117301p119650c119650d00----v117301b0050xxd005065&gca-ft=114&gca-ds=sophi&ref=down-ballot.info) The article states the city has identified a final candidate to be named. Campbell previously worked as an assistant city manager in Charlotte and is Asheville’s first Black city manager. ### Feds target Crescent City for immigration raids URL: https://down-ballot.info/feds-target-crescent-city-for-immigration-raids/ Last updated: 2025-11-28T10:00:05.000Z **It's Friday, November 28, 2025 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** U.S. government is targeting the New Orleans area for its latest round of immigration raids, Mission Hospital still faces potential Medicare termination, despite immediate jeopardy being lifted, Judges uphold NC congressional map redrawn by legislators in 2023\. No word on challenge to change in 2025, ‘Toxic Soup’: PFAS and other contaminants surged in French Broad River after Helene, study finds, Rural family practices in NC wrestle with Medicaid cuts, Are Americans Worried About Crime? It Depends on How They Voted, A Montana Hospital is Training Future Rural Providers, How free out-of-school therapy for Memphis teens strengthens MSCS mental health services, A Hidden Health Crisis Following Natural Disasters: Mold Growth in Homes, Appleton’s Community Living Room offers an antidote to isolation. **Media outlets and others featured:** Verite News, Asheville Watchdog, Carolina Public Press, North Carolina Health News, NC Newsline, The Marshall Project, The Daily Yonder, Chalkbeat, KFF Health News, Wisconsin Watch. --- # ‘Schools are a safe place’: Local schools prepare for fallout from Border Patrol operation in New Orleans by Safura Syed and Bobbi-Jeanne Misick, Verite News New Orleans November 21, 2025 On the afternoon of Sept. 22, a text thread on Jennie Moctezuma’s phone started flooding with messages after federal immigration authorities appeared near KIPP East Community Primary School in New Orleans East, according to eye witnesses and school administrators. The messages — sent between members of local immigrant-led civil rights group Unión Migrante — said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were spotted at the end of the street where cars lined up to collect children leaving the school during dismissal. A former school administrator in New Orleans in the years following Hurricane Katrina, Moctezuma knew the impact of stressful situations — like a parent potentially being arrested and detained — on young minds. “Children who are in trauma can't thrive when they're carrying around fear, even if they're little,” Moctezuma said in a phone interview in November. “They may not understand what's happening, but they can certainly feel it.” ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/21144920/20251119_CZB_JennyMoctezuma_02.jpg) Jennie Moctezuma, a former school administrator, poses for a portrait in New Orleans on November 19, 2025\. After federal immigration authorities appeared near Kipp East Community Primary School, Moctezuma joined Unión Migrante members to canvass the neighborhood. When administrators at KIPP New Orleans Schools, the charter school network that runs KIPP East, found out about the agents, they sprang into action. They wanted to make sure that, whatever was happening, dismissal remained safe for children, guardians and school staff, according to the managing director of impact Ashley Daniels-Hall and director of school operations Maleka Williams. Daniels-Hall said ICE agents were “cooperative” when school administrators asked them to move their vehicles that blocked the pickup line. In an email to other KIPP staff, Daniels-Hall said that ICE was in the neighborhood for “something separate.” “Thankfully, they did not attempt to interfere with dismissal,” Williams said. The administrators were not aware of anyone connected to the school being arrested. ICE spokesperson Linsday Williams wrote in an email to Verite News that their, “operations were not conducted at the school and had no impact on its activities.” It was not the first time immigration officials were seen near a KIPP School. Williams said ICE agents showed up near KIPP Morial, also in New Orleans East, in March. According to Daniels-Hall, agents did not enter the school campus and appeared to be searching for a specific individual. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, promising mass deportations, federal immigration authorities have increasingly been conducting raids and effecting arrests in or near locations once seen as off-limits. In the first days of Trump’s second term, the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security — which oversees ICE and U.S. Border Patrol — removed Biden-era measures that placed restrictions on immigration enforcement actions in or near “sensitive locations,” including [courthouses,](https://stateline.org/2025/11/19/ice-courthouse-arrests-meet-resistance-from-democratic-states/?ref=down-ballot.info) [churches](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ice-agents-raid-church-no-191846365.html?ref=down-ballot.info), [medical facilities](https://abc7.com/post/ice-agents-detain-landscaper-surgical-clinic-ontario/17040383/?ref=down-ballot.info) and schools.[ ](https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigration/2025/08/08/what-we-know-about-ice-arrest-of-a-parent-outside-a-chula-vista-elementary-school?ref=down-ballot.info) “ICE is NOT targeting schools or daycare centers,” read a September [press release](https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/09/09/dhs-sets-record-straight-ice-does-not-raid-schools?ref=down-ballot.info) from ICE. But in the past few months, there have been documented immigration arrests around a school outside of [San Diego](https://www.kpbs.org/news/border-immigration/2025/08/08/what-we-know-about-ice-arrest-of-a-parent-outside-a-chula-vista-elementary-school?ref=down-ballot.info) and in [Oakland, California](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-chased-down-oakland-parent-at-school-drop-off-in-attempted-arrest-city-council-member-says/ar-AA1QLjkT?ref=down-ballot.info), both at times of day when parents would be present. And in the midst of stepped-up immigration actions in Chicago as part of operation “Midway Blitz,” immigration agents went [inside a daycare center building](https://abcnews.go.com/US/arrest-federal-immigration-agents-chicago-day-care-sparks/story?id=127247446&ref=down-ballot.info) to arrest a teacher. School attendance has [dropped](https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025/10/31/school-attendance-down-in-latino-immigrant-neighborhoods-amid-ice-operation/?ref=down-ballot.info) in Chicago since the immigration crackdown began, particularly in schools in areas that have been targeted. > Fear in New Orleans’ immigrant communities has lately intensified this week, after the Associated Press [reported](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/19/border-patrol-swamp-sweep-kenner/?ref=down-ballot.info) that 250 Border Patrol agents will come to New Orleans and surrounding areas to conduct immigration sweeps, similar to what has happened during Midway Blitz in Chicago and, over the past week, during operation “Charlotte’s Web” in Charlotte, North Carolina. > According to the AP, authorities plan to arrest as many as 5,000 people in Southeast Louisiana as part of operation “Swamp Sweep.” ### ‘The fears are there’ The day after agents were spotted near KIPP East, Moctezuma drove from her home near the Fairgrounds to meet other Unión Migrante members near the school to canvass the neighborhood. Volunteers circled several blocks surrounding the school and created Facebook Live reels declaring that streets were all clear. They offered to escort children to school, although, she said, no one was needed in that capacity. While there have not been reports of immigration actions in or directly surrounding New Orleans area schools this year, federal agents have been seen conducting investigations and arrests within a few blocks of schools, according to sources who have spoken with Verite News. Since the news about Border Patrol’s imminent arrival in New Orleans broke, InspireNOLA CEO Jamar McKneely said he’s received multiple emails from families concerned about what protections schools will offer to make sure students and their families don’t become targets. “Our families can know how we're trying to protect them, that they just don't have to pull their kids out of school, that they don't have to be concerned,” McKneely said. ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/21145314/20251118_CZB_KIPPEast_05.jpg) A bus drives students home from KIPP East Community Primary School in New Orleans East on November 18, 2025. K-12 schools are required by federal law to educate students regardless of their immigration status. KIPP New Orleans and InspireNOLA, the largest charter networks in New Orleans, confirmed that they do not collect information regarding family status. That’s also true in Jefferson Parish schools, where [39%](https://veritenews.org/2025/10/13/teachers-english-language-learners-training-louisiana/?ref=down-ballot.info) of students are Hispanic. But fears about immigrant tracking laws and activity near schools persist. Clay Moise, a member of the Jefferson Parish School Board, said community members have reached out to him with their concerns. “The fears are there,” Moise said. “Our response has been the same all along. We don't allow ICE into our schools as policy.” NOLA Public Schools did not respond to requests for comment. Gabriela Biro, a board member on the Orleans Parish School Board, speaking in her personal capacity, said she encouraged residents to join groups like Unión Migrante. Charter school administrators in Orleans Parish have been training staff to prevent potential ICE enforcement on campuses. While McKneely said that InspireNOLA is starting to work on its policies to protect students, Daniels-Hall said KIPP has a clearly outlined process to determine if ICE agents should be allowed on campus, which includes requiring a judicial warrant. Before an agent can come on the grounds, a staff member should work with their legal team to ensure that a warrant is viable, Daniels-Hall said, adding that these extra training measures for front office and operations staff are meant to “keep the school community safe.” So far, those measures seem to have worked. There have been no appreciable drops in attendance among Hispanic students at KIPP, Moise and Daniels-Hall said. The Sept. 22 incident, Daniels-Hall said, didn’t impact attendance the following day. > But that could change if sweeps intensify due operation Swamp Sweep, which is reportedly set to begin in earnest [after Thanksgiving](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/border-patrol-preparing-leave-charlotte-plan-mobilize-new-orleans-rcna244981?ref=down-ballot.info). (While it might have been a coincidence, McKneely said some schools in his network saw a drop in attendance the day after news about Border Patrol coming to New Orleans broke.) “Schools are a safe place for students and families,” Daniels-Hall said. “\[We’re\] really reinforcing that we’re doing any and every thing to keep the school community safe, that it's a safe place and it's supposed to be a joyful place for children to learn.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/21/new-orleans-schools-immigration-border-patrol/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) --- # Mission Hospital still faces potential Medicare termination, despite immediate jeopardy being lifted The hospital has until Jan. 15 to fix deficiencies or lose access to Medicare and Medicaid funding, CMS letter says by [JACK EVANS](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/jack-evans/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 26, 2025 [Mission Hospital still faces potential Medicare termination, despite immediate jeopardy being lifted • Asheville WatchdogMission Hospital remains out of compliance with federal health and safety regulations and will lose crucial Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements in January if it doesn’t fix the problems, according to a letter sent last week from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to Mission CEO Greg Lowe. Mission had received an immediate jeopardy \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-7.png)Asheville WatchdogJACK EVANS![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Mission-3.jpg)](https://avlwatchdog.org/mission-hospital-still-faces-potential-medicare-termination-despite-immediate-jeopardy-being-lifted/?mc%5Fcid=2a161d8cab&ref=down-ballot.info) Mission Hospital remains out of compliance with federal health and safety regulations and will lose crucial Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements in January if it doesn’t fix the problems, according to a letter sent last week from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to Mission CEO Greg Lowe. Mission had received an [immediate jeopardy citation](https://avlwatchdog.org/mission-hospital-placed-in-immediate-jeopardy-sanction-is-third-since-sale-to-hca/?ref=down-ballot.info) in October, meaning that CMS, acting on information from North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services surveyors, found that it posed an imminent threat to patients’ lives and safety. Though the surveyors found in a follow-up visit that the immediate danger had abated, they said the hospital still had deficiencies in patients’ rights, nursing services and emergency services — all of which were ultimately the responsibility of its governing body. In two of the 32 cases the investigators reviewed, patients died. One was a [cardiac patient who became disconnected from telemetry equipment](https://avlwatchdog.org/mission-cardiac-patient-dies-after-telemetry-monitor-disconnection-hospital-declines-nurses-request-for-emergency-meeting/?ref=down-ballot.info), which off-site technicians use to monitor patients’ vital signs, for at least an hour. The other patient’s pulse oximetry, which measures blood oxygen levels, was not continuously monitored while they were transferred from the emergency department to another area of the hospital. Both of those cases were among the three that sparked the immediate jeopardy citation; according to surveyors’ follow-up report, they also revealed more systemic issues at Mission. > **COMING NEXT:* “While staff do their best to provide care, it was not always safe care”: Details from surveyors’ latest inspection of Mission Hospital* The letter, dated Nov. 21, was obtained Wednesday by *Asheville Watchdog* along with documents describing the findings of both the September and November investigations. The details they contain complicate Lowe’s announcement, in an email to hospital staff Friday, that the immediate jeopardy citation had been lifted, which was reported by several Asheville area-media outlets. *The Watchdog* has not independently reviewed Lowe’s letter. Mission spokesperson Nancy Lindell could not immediately be reached for comment. Mission has until Dec. 1 — next Monday — to issue a new plan of correction addressing those deficiencies, according to the letter. The state will then send surveyors back to Mission to determine if it’s achieved compliance. If the hospital fails to fix the problems, it will lose access to Medicare on Jan. 15. The October immediate jeopardy citation was Mission’s second in two years and its third since 2021\. [Mission was placed in immediate jeopardy](https://avlwatchdog.org/feds-cite-ashevilles-mission-hospital-for-immediate-jeopardy-hca-regional-president-tells-staff/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2024 after an NCDHHS inspection revealed 18 patients were harmed between 2022-2023, four of whom died, as a result of violations of federal standards of care related to the hospital’s emergency and oncology services. The sanction was lifted after Mission provided its plan of correction. [In 2021, Mission faced](https://avlwatchdog.org/mission-hospital-had-earlier-unreported-immediate-jeopardy-citation-after-patients-death-in-2021-court-documents-reveal/?ref=down-ballot.info) another immediate jeopardy sanction after a female patient was found dying on her hospital room floor, her IV disconnected, and saline flush syringes in her bed. NCDHHS inspectors found that “the hospital failed to maintain a safe environment for a medical/surgical patient with a history of substance abuse and prevent patient access to unsecured flushes, failed to follow a physician order for liquid pain medication, and failed to communicate and escalate patient care concerns for safety.” Earlier this year, CMS also investigated an Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act violation at Mission after a patient [died in an emergency department bathroom](https://avlwatchdog.org/patient-dies-in-mission-emergency-department-bathroom-after-call-for-help-goes-unanswered/?ref=down-ballot.info) in February after[ calling for help for 29 minutes before staff responded. ](https://avlwatchdog.org/patient-called-for-help-from-mission-bathroom-29-minutes-before-someone-found-him-by-then-his-heart-stopped-new-report-shows/?ref=down-ballot.info)That investigation determined that Mission violated its responsibility to provide emergency services. But by the time CMS investigated, it determined that Mission had taken sufficient steps to remedy the problems that led to the death and the hospital avoided an immediate jeopardy finding. *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on* [*our Facebook page*](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog)*. Please submit your comments there.* --- [*Asheville Watchdog*](https://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Jack Evans is an investigative reporter who previously worked at the Tampa Bay Times. You can reach him via email at jevans@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to* [*avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* --- # Judges uphold NC congressional map redrawn by legislators in 2023\. No word on challenge to change in 2025. by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press November 21, 2025 North Carolina lawmakers did not intentionally discriminate against minority voters in the 2023 drawing of the state's congressional map, a federal district court ruled Thursday evening. However, the judges’ decision does not apply to an [ongoing challenge](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73519/federal-judges-appear-skeptical-of-arguments-against-new-nc-congressional-map/?ref=down-ballot.info) to 2025 redistricting. A group of voters and several voting groups challenged various congressional and state Senate districts after Republican lawmakers redrew congressional maps in late 2023\. They alleged that lawmakers intentionally diluted the voting power of minority voters in various areas of the state. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ daily, weekly and Election 2026 newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/subscribe-to-carolina-public-press-newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** The three-judge panel was not convinced. In their 181-page opinion, the judges wrote that plaintiffs had not proven any discriminatory intent, and in this case, the impact on minority voters wasn’t enough to strike down the maps. While the First Congressional District was originally one of the challenged districts in the 2023 congressional map, it was not part of this order. Lawmakers again redrew that district in October to give Republicans the best shot at an additional seat in the U.S. House, according to the primary map drawer, Sen. **Ralph Hise**, R-Mitchell. Plaintiffs addressed the development by adding onto their lawsuit with a [new, First Amendment argument](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73519/federal-judges-appear-skeptical-of-arguments-against-new-nc-congressional-map/?ref=down-ballot.info). The same panel of judges are currently considering that complaint on a preliminary basis to determine whether the 2025 congressional map can be used for the upcoming 2026 elections. Candidate filing begins Dec. 1, and maps have to be decided by then. The judges indicated that they would issue an order as soon as possible in that portion of the case during Wednesday’s hearing. The partial order may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, though no decision has been made yet, according to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which is representing some of the plaintiffs in the case. “We are disappointed with the ruling and currently reviewing the decision to inform next steps,” SCSJ spokesperson **Melissa Boughton** said in a statement. ### The challenge Republican lawmakers redrew electoral maps in late 2023, after a newly Republican state Supreme Court pulled an [about-face](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/28/north-carolina-supreme-court-clears-way-for-partisan-gerrymandering-00094433?ref=down-ballot.info) on the legality of partisan gerrymandering. A group of voters and the North Carolina chapters of Common Cause and the NAACP challenged the new congressional map. While they could no longer sue over partisan gerrymandering, they alleged that lawmakers were still gerrymandering based on race. Lawmakers used a pair of strategies to weaken the voting power of racial minorities in four congressional districts, they alleged. First, plaintiffs argued that lawmakers used “cracking” to split up minority communities across multiple districts so that they would not have an opportunity to be competitive or elect their preferred candidate in any district. This was the case, they argued, in northeast North Carolina’s First District. There, lawmakers moved whiter counties into the district and removed minority communities. Plaintiffs contended that lawmakers also diluted minority voting power by cracking in the Sixth District. The 2023 congressional map reduced the district’s combined Black and Latino voting age population from 36% to 24% by splitting Guilford County across three congressional districts and the Piedmont Triad region — including High Point, Winston-Salem and Greensboro — across four congressional districts. The combined population of the Triad could have been contained in one district. Second, Republicans used another strategy, “packing,” to weaken minority voting power in the Twelfth and Fourteenth Districts, plaintiffs argued. The Twelfth District, encompassing Charlotte and most of Mecklenburg County, already had a combined Black and Latino voting age population of about 44%, while the neighboring, western Fourteenth District had about 28% Black and Latino voting age population. While neither is a majority, minority voters could typically elect their candidate of choice in the Twelfth District and had the opportunity to do so in the Fourteenth District with enough crossover from majority white voters. However, the 2023 congressional map moved minority communities from the Fourteenth District to the Twelfth District to make the former even more favorable for minority voters and the latter much less. Plaintiffs argued that the point was to “pack” minority voters into as tight a space as possible so that they could only reasonably win one district, not two. Each of these changes made districts less compact, and sometimes resulted in weird shapes due to the inclusion and exclusion of certain communities. ### It’s political Republican defendants had a simple rebuttal: they didn’t use racial data at all while redistricting. It wasn’t even in the computer. In fact, their goal was purely partisan; to benefit Republicans at the expense of Democrats, as was newly permissible under state and federal judicial precedent. The three Republican-appointed judges — **Richard Myers**, **Thomas Schroeder** and **Allison Rushing** — found that argument more credible. Besides, they wrote in the majority opinion, it’s almost impossible to separate politics from race in North Carolina voting patterns. “Nearly any map that moves Democrats in or out of a district will disproportionately affect black North Carolinians, but that does not prove that the legislature acted with discriminatory intent,” the opinion stated. “Correlation is not causation.” In other words, Black voters tend to be Democratic voters. If partisan gerrymandering is legal, and racial gerrymandering is not, but lawmakers would essentially end up drawing the same congressional map under either motivation, then courts have to decide which motivation is predominant. In this case, the judges decided that partisanship seemed like a more likely motivation than race. ### What does this mean for 2026? The ruling makes it less likely judges will side with plaintiffs on the 2025 congressional map challenge, but it doesn’t deem it impossible, Western Carolina University professor **Chris Cooper** said. The 2025 redistricting had a more extreme racial impact than the 2023 congressional map, for one. And there’s an additional argument in that portion of the case that has nothing to do with race. Plaintiffs are arguing that mid-decade redistricting in and of itself should not be allowed without a legitimate reason, and that the 2025 map unconstitutionally punishes voters based on their choices at the ballot in violation of the First Amendment. “There's still a chance,” Cooper said. “I think it's low, but it was low before, frankly.” **Kat Roblez**, Forward Justice senior voting rights counsel, is involved in the 2025 portion of the lawsuit. She said it’s hard to know what the judges will decide, but it means something that they waited to issue a separate ruling on the 2025 maps. “They could have obviously issued an order about both, so it appears to me that they feel like that is a different situation,” she said. This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73566/judges-uphold-nc-congressional-map-redrawn-by-legislators-in-2023-no-word-on-challenge-to-change-in-2025/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # ‘Toxic Soup’: PFAS and other contaminants surged in French Broad River after Helene, study finds by Will Atwater, North Carolina Health News November 24, 2025 #### **By Will Atwater** Fifteen days after [Tropical Storm Helene](https://www.weather.gov/ilm/Helene2024?ref=down-ballot.info) sent debris, runoff and a cocktail of toxins — including raw sewage and pharmaceuticals — pouring into the French Broad River in the fall of 2024, Shea Tuberty set out to investigate the damage. The storm had carved an improbable path from the Florida Gulf Coast into the North Carolina mountains, taking lives and tearing apart communities. Days after it passed, Tuberty — a professor in [Appalachian State University’s Department of Biology](https://biology.appstate.edu/directory/dr-shea-tuberty?ref=down-ballot.info) who’s known by friends as “the water guy”— said he was contacted by friends downstream in Tennessee who asked him to collect water samples to test for contaminants. The disaster stirred painful memories for Tuberty, “I’ve got PTSD from back in my 20s, when I lost my sister to a Middle Tennessee flood on Christmas Eve,” he said. “So this all had a personal, horrifying impact on me.” Tuberty said his friends who live near the North Carolina border in the Cherokee National Forest didn’t trust what they were hearing from local or federal authorities as they were working to clean up Hot Springs, N.C., the closest community to their home. They peppered him with questions about the river. “‘We’re working all day long in the sediment left behind by Hurricane Helene. What’s in the sediment and dust we’re breathing in? What’s in the water? Are we safe? Should we even be here?’” Tuberty said they asked him. #### **Seeking help** Before collecting water samples along a stretch of the river that flows from Asheville to Tennessee, Tuberty said he knew he’d need help analyzing them. Earlier that week, while preparing to attend the[ North Carolina Society of Toxicology](https://www.toxicology.org/groups/rc/nc/purpose.asp?ref=down-ballot.info) meeting at [RTI International](https://www.rti.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), he called colleagues to find out who might be able to conduct a general chemical analysis. But identifying every chemical individually would have been far too expensive and time-consuming — and he had no grant funding to support the work. A colleague told him to speak with Imari Walker-Franklin. Tuberty found her soon after she gave the keynote address at the conference, and they agreed to work together to provide information regarding the contaminants in the river. [Walker-Franklin](https://www.rti.org/expert/imari-walker-franklin?ref=down-ballot.info), a research scientist at RTI, had the knowledge and technology to conduct the tests. She and her team used high-resolution mass spectrometry — a process that separates chemicals in the water and measures their molecular characteristics. ![A map showing the section of the French Broad River from Asheville, North Carolina, to the Tennessee border, highlighting the five sampling sites where researchers collected water after Tropical Storm Helene.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Fig-1-scaled.jpg) Figure 1\. Location of sampling sites along the French Broad River in North Carolina (NC) and Tennessee (TN). Samples were taken along the river flowing north from Asheville, NC into Knoxville, TN. These five locations numbered 1–5 were accessible sites for sampling and near known areas for tourism and recreation year-round. The technique can detect thousands of contaminants at extremely low levels, including ones scientists aren’t necessarily looking for. Walker-Franklin performed a non-targeted analysis of samples collected 15 days after the storm from five sites along an 80 kilometer (50-mile) stretch of the French Broad River. “Site 4B was near where a wastewater ramp was impacted \[by the storm\],” Walker-Franklin said. “Which they could see was the obvious \[source of\] sewage input into the river.” #### **Toxic soup** The findings of the study, co-authored by Walker-Franklin, Tuberty and others, were [published in October in the journal Toxics](https://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/13/11/905?ref=down-ballot.info). The analysis revealed that storm runoff created a toxic chemical soup in the river. “It was literally everything stored in people’s garages,” Tuberty said. “Everything in their kitchens, everything in their basements, everything in their storerooms — all the businesses that line the rivers.” According to the study, hurricanes can wash a wide range of contaminants into rivers — everything from sewage and roadway chemicals to industrial materials, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-explained?ref=down-ballot.info) known as PFAS. The French Broad River’s heavy recreational use, ecological value and history of flood damage make it especially vulnerable to this kind of chemical surge. Among the chemicals detected were 11 types of PFAS, including [PFOA and PFOS](https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/sites/static/files/2017-12/documents/ffrrofactsheet%5Fcontaminants%5Fpfos%5Fpfoa%5F11-20-17%5F508%5F0.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), which the study found at levels exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels of 4 parts per trillion. PFAS are often called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down easily in the environment. They have been [linked to health risks](https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas?ref=down-ballot.info) including cancer, immune system suppression, thyroid disease, developmental harm and elevated cholesterol. The analysis also detected four EPA “priority” contaminants: 4-nitrophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, pentachlorophenol and dibutyl phthalate. The analysis traced the likely source to a stretch of the river identified as Site 4B, an area downstream from Asheville. ![Image is a NOAA graphic that shows that the French Broad River rose to more than 24 as a result of Tropical Storm Helene.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/French_Broad_at_Asheville_Helene_Crest.jpg) Hydrograph of the French Broad River at Asheville between September 24th and October 4th, 2024\. The river crested at 24.67 ft at 5:30 PM EDT, September 27th, 2024\. This crest exceed the previous record of 23.10 ft set by the Great Flood of 1916 on July 16th, 1916. “The primary objective of this study was to inform disaster-response monitoring efforts by applying a hazard profiling framework,” according to the paper. To better understand the risks from the contaminants identified in the samples, the research team used a method known as [cheminformatics-based hazard screening](https://www.epa.gov/tsca-screening-tools/using-predictive-methods-assess-hazard-under-tsca?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com). The EPA describes these tools as computer models that use chemical structure and existing data to predict which contaminants may pose health or ecological risks — even when they haven’t been widely tested. #### **Seeking higher ground** A year later, experts say the water quality in the river has improved. “A lot of things that probably were present at the time have either settled or transformed, or have been uptaken in some capacity,” Walker-Franklin said. “I don’t think the water that we see today is probably what we saw post-storm.” French Broad Riverkeeper Anna Alsobrook agrees. “We did pretty extensive analysis after the storm,” Alsobrook said, “looking at all kinds of pollutants, from bacteria to diesel- and petroleum-based products and other types of chemicals \[...\] because folks were really concerned about getting into the flooded sediments to muck their businesses and homes down.” She added, “Where we are now, it’s very similar to what we saw before the storm.” Alsobrook noted that over time, some contaminants break down, get flushed downstream or settle into river-bottom sediment. When considering the study’s broader implications, Walker-Franklin said the real lesson is vigilance: People should treat river water with caution after major storms. She said it’s important to understand that these types of analyses are a starting point for uncovering potential risks — not a reason for panic, but for better preparedness. Tuberty said the findings should prompt a deeper conversation about how communities build near waterways. “We need to have policies and laws put into place for guiding people away from likely loss-of-life situations, moving forward,” he said. “All of these compounds that ended up in the water could have been prevented if we didn’t have sewer plants, industry and storehouses with chemicals that are known to be toxic right on the banks of the river. “There should be guidance created from either the state of North Carolina or EPA calling for a buffer between you and that river — not just distance, but also elevation.” *Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the host organization for the 2024 North Carolina Society of Toxicology meeting. It is RTI International, not Research Triangle International.* This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/24/toxic-contaminants-surged-in-french-broad-river-after-helene-study-finds/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) \\ --- # ‘We’re already struggling’: Rural family practices in NC wrestle with Medicaid cuts by Lynn Bonner, [NC Newsline](https://ncnewsline.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 25, 2025 Dr. Deborah Ainsworth, owner of a pediatric practice in Beaufort County, has hard decisions to make about how to handle the financial dip that resulted from the state paying less for Medicaid health services. About 85% of the children Washington Pediatrics treats are insured under Medicaid. Beaufort is a small, rural, economically disadvantaged county surrounded by others like it. Families travel far, sometimes up 90 minutes, to get to the office in Beaufort’s county seat, Ainsworth said. “There’s nothing else around,” she said. “We’re kind of a catch-all.” Independent primary care practices like Ainsworth’s are struggling to cope with the state’s 8% rate cuts for the care they provide to people who use Medicaid. Independent practices aren’t owned by large hospital systems that have more sources of income and are likely better able to absorb rate cuts. Community Care of North Carolina, an organization that supports independent physicians and their practices, asked a group made up of mostly independent practices how they would respond to the rate cut. More than 60% said they would need to limit the Medicaid patients they see or stop taking on new ones, while 24% said they may need to stop treating Medicaid patients altogether. And 22% — one in five — said they may need to close. More doctors closing their doors to Medicaid patients would mean additional hurdles to treatment for rural residents who already tend to travel farther to get to doctors and who are more likely to use Medicaid as their insurance than suburban or urban residents. More than 39% of people who use Medicaid live in rural counties, according to a report from the NC Rural Center. Rural residents are about 35% of the state’s population. According to the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC, about 20 of the state’s 100 counties had no practicing pediatricians last year. “These practices in rural areas — after a while, they may not be able to survive if this goes on,” said Gregory K. Griggs, NC Academy of Family Physicians CEO. “And once they’re gone, they’re not opening back up. It’s going to hit our areas of the state that already have access problems the worst, because those are the areas of the state that have higher percentages of Medicaid.” Ainsworth said she will continue to welcome children who use Medicaid, but will likely cut expenses by “tightening our belt.” That means not replacing staff members who are leaving and ending plans to recruit a new doctor. “We’ve always taken Medicaid,” said Ainsworth, a member of the CCNC board of directors. “I can’t stop taking Medicaid patients. I can’t drop them both financially or ethically. We’ll continue to see new patients. That’s just what we’re going to do.” The Medicaid program needed to find a way to save $319 million over eight months, said DHHS Secretary Devdutta Sangvai. DHHS imposed rate cuts from 3% to 10% for Medicaid services beginning Oct. 1, with Sangvai and Democratic Gov. Josh Stein saying the state legislature did not provide enough money for the Medicaid program to operate until June 30 of next year. “There’s no way we did this with the idea that no one is going to get hurt,” Sangvai said. “We need to get this funded so that we can start reprocessing claims, making people whole, and focus on getting people healthy.” The impact of the cuts differs depending on what services are provided, who is providing them, and where practices are located, Sangvai said. There was no way to fine-tune rate cuts based on geography, he said. Republican legislative leaders say the reductions are premature, and Medicaid has enough money to last into next year without cutting rates. Dr. Mark McNeill, president of the NC Academy of Family Physicians, has met with both Stein and Republican legislative staff since rates were cut. “I sincerely think all parties sincerely want to get a solution in some way shape or form,” he said. McNeill said he wanted to emphasize in those meetings how lower rates will affect family practices, particularly independent practices. Dr. Mark McNeill, president of the NC Academy of Family Physicians on Nov. 14, 2025\. (Photo: Lynn Bonner/NC Newsline) “We’re already struggling with access to primary care,” he said. “This is just making it so much worse.” McNeill, whose office is in Asheville, has decided to stop accepting new Medicaid patients until the rate cuts are reversed. Between McNeill and the other doctor in the office, about 15% of the practice’s patients are on Medicaid. The state must seek permission from the federal government for the rate cut. DHHS must have the request into the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services by Dec. 31\. If the funding controversy is resolved, the state must go back to CMS for permission to reverse the cuts. McNeill wonders whether there’s a chance that CMS won’t allow the state to restore the rates. The Trump administration has been eager to reduce Medicaid spending. The “Big Beautiful Bill” Act on taxes and spending cuts about $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years. Sangvai agrees there is a risk CMS will refuse to allow North Carolina to restore its Medicaid rates if funding increases, but he’s confident that won’t happen because the funding issue involves state money. “I’m optimistic that CMS will allow us to take the corrective action in that second filing,” he said. [Independent Journalism for AllAs a nonprofit newsroom, our articles are free for everyone to access. Readers like you make that possible. Can you help sustain our watchdog reporting today?SUPPORT](https://ncnewsline.com/donate/?oa%5Freferrer=endofstorybox&ref=down-ballot.info) [NC Newsline](https://ncnewsline.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Laura Leslie for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. --- # Are Americans Worried About Crime? It Depends on How They Voted. The sitting president can be a better predictor of how safe someone feels than what the crime data shows. By [Jill Castellano](https://www.themarshallproject.org/staff/jill-castellano?ref=down-ballot.info) *This article was first published by* [*The Marshall Project*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system. Sign up for their* [*newsletters*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info)*, and follow them on* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/marshallproj/?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*TikTok*](https://www.tiktok.com/@marshallproj?ref=down-ballot.info)*,* [*Reddit*](https://www.reddit.com/user/marshall%5Fproject?ref=down-ballot.info) *and* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/TheMarshallProject.org). The United States is experiencing [historic drops in crime](https://jasher.substack.com/p/assessing-crime-at-midyear) across almost all categories, including murder, burglary and motor vehicle theft. But crime statistics don’t necessarily change how safe Americans feel or whether they support the latest public safety proposals, like President Donald Trump’s deployments of the National Guard into U.S. cities. Those beliefs are driven by political preferences. By many measures, Americans are [more politically divided than ever](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/08/09/as-partisan-hostility-grows-signs-of-frustration-with-the-two-party-system/?ref=down-ballot.info), and this polarization colors people’s perceptions of the world around them. According to data from the research firm Gallup, which publishes an [annual survey on crime perceptions](https://www.gallup.com/175307/gallup-poll-social-series-methodology.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info), Republicans were more likely to believe crime was rising during the Barack Obama and Joe Biden presidencies than under George W. Bush or Donald Trump. The reverse was true for Democrats. The partisan shift was especially dramatic in Gallup’s poll conducted this October, after Trump’s return to the White House. While 90% of Republicans surveyed in 2024 said national crime rates had risen over the past year, just over half believed the same was true in 2025\. Meanwhile, Democrats were more likely to say crime was on the rise this year than they were in 2024, but their shift was smaller than Republicans’. ![](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Hag41/full.png) National murder rates [began falling in 2023](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/us-murder-rate-decline-crime-statistics/674290/?ref=down-ballot.info), well before Trump’s second term, and have continued to decline ever since. This year could result in the [largest one-year drop in murder ever recorded](https://jasher.substack.com/p/assessing-crime-at-midyear), with data going as far back as the 1960s. Similar trends are taking place with other violent and property crimes. On the surface, the latest polls reflect this safer reality. Less than 50% of people surveyed by Gallup this year said they believed crime was rising in the U.S., [the lowest proportion since 2001](https://jasher.substack.com/p/perceptions-of-crime-are-shifting). Yet the data also shows Republicans are driving the decline, following a decades-old pattern of party members shifting their views under new presidential administrations. Long-term trends make it clear that partisanship is deeply embedded in Americans’ crime perceptions, even in their own communities. People report being less afraid of walking around at night and believing crime rates are lower in their neighborhood when their political party runs the Executive Branch, according to data from 25 years of Gallup surveys. This finding is especially true for Republicans. “There is a political dimension to it, absolutely,” said John Roman, [senior fellow at NORC, a research group at the University of Chicago](https://www.norc.org/about/experts/john-roman.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Roman said a growing number of Republicans and Democrats answer questions about crime and safety in a way that signals support for their party, even if it’s contrary to their personal experiences. “It’s people being afraid of things that objectively they probably shouldn’t be that afraid of, or at least reporting it that way,” he added. “And other people defiantly saying, ‘I’m not afraid of these things,’ that maybe they should be a little more afraid of.” In recent years, Republicans and Democrats have been more consistently voting for their party’s candidates in elections. Fewer Americans are [willing to vote for the opposing party’s presidential nominee](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/06/26/voting-patterns-in-the-2024-election/?ref=down-ballot.info) or down-ballot candidates. As many as 43% of Americans now identify as independents, the [highest proportion in more than three decades](https://news.gallup.com/poll/548459/independent-party-tied-high-democratic-new-low.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info), while self-proclaimed Republicans and Democrats are dwindling. About as many independents [“lean Democrat” as “lean Republican,”](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/03/14/political-independents-who-they-are-what-they-think/?ref=down-ballot.info) which helps explain why their survey responses and voting patterns appear to fall in between the two political parties. These polarization patterns are also reflected in what crime-reduction strategies people support. While the majority of Americans oppose Trump [deploying the National Guard as a crime-fighting force](https://www.npr.org/2025/10/10/nx-s1-5567177/national-guard-map-chicago-california-oregon?ref=down-ballot.info) in U.S. cities and his proposal to [charge 14-year-olds as adults](https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/politics/dc-youth-crime-laws?ref=down-ballot.info) in Washington, D.C., his Republican base remains staunchly supportive. Since August, at least three national surveys have [tested public attitudes](https://www.npr.org/2025/09/27/nx-s1-5553536/npr-ipsos-law-enforcement-poll-national-guard?ref=down-ballot.info) on National Guard deployments. Each found a [stark partisan gap](https://apnorc.org/projects/most-say-crime-is-a-major-problem-in-americas-cities-but-few-support-a-federal-takeover-of-police-departments/?doing%5Fwp%5Fcron=1756816377.1252729892730712890625&ref=down-ballot.info). The [most recent poll](https://news.gallup.com/poll/697244/americans-prefer-tempered-crime-fighting-methods.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info) showed around 80% of Republicans in favor, compared to only 5% of Democrats. ![](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/SJxxp/full.png) “It’s almost like a referendum on Trump,” said Lydia Saad, the director of U.S. social research at Gallup. The October survey found that military deployment was the most polarizing of the five interventions studied. Researchers also asked about trying violent juvenile offenders as adults, boosting resources for police or social programs, and supporting the death penalty. All of them showed a political party divide. Only one intervention — whether to hold parents legally responsible for a child’s gun crime — lacked a substantial partisan gap. Saad said the more an issue is discussed by political party leaders, the wider the party divergence. “The gaps correspond perfectly with how much these issues are in the news and who is associated with them,” she explained. ![](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/xagsP/full.png) In a September [NPR/Ipsos survey](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26158921-npr-law-enforcement-topline-9232025/?ref=down-ballot.info), Republicans whose main news source was Fox News or other conservative media outlets, like Breitbart or Newsmax, were almost universally supportive of deploying the National Guard, with 95% in favor, compared to 70% of Republicans who rely on other information sources. “Our fractured media landscape and disparate sources of information is helping to exacerbate some of these political divides,” said Mallory Newall, a vice president at Ipsos. ![](https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/jhxGt/full.png) Partisanship isn’t the only factor influencing crime perceptions. For example, women, people of color and people with lower household incomes are more likely than others to express fears of walking alone at night in their neighborhoods. The NPR/Ipsos poll shows that Americans seem to be more concerned about partisanship than they are about crime itself. When asked to pinpoint their three “most worrying” issues, 43% of respondents listed political extremism and polarization, while only about one-quarter ranked crime or gun violence. Other studies have found that only around 5% of Americans currently [consider crime and violence to be the single most important problem](https://news.gallup.com/poll/1675/most-important-problem.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info) in the U.S. At the same time, a slowly growing proportion of U.S. adults, primarily Democrats and independents, support criminal justice reforms. Gallup found that more than two-thirds of Americans now say more money and effort should go toward addressing underlying causes of crime, such as drug addiction, homelessness and mental health issues, rather than toward strengthening law enforcement. “This would be a really good moment to embrace the public’s preference for social policy as a solution to crime rather than law enforcement as a solution to crime,” said Roman at the University of Chicago. “On most measures, if you are under 50 years old, this is the safest America you’ve ever lived in,” he added. “Our policies should reflect that.” --- # A Montana Hospital is Training Future Rural Providers by Madeline de Figueiredo, The Daily Yonder November 20, 2025 As rural areas across the country face worsening provider shortages and reductions in health care services, one community hospital in Billings, Montana, is celebrating the success of two new residency programs training the next generation of rural physicians. [Roughly 65%](https://www.ama-assn.org/public-health/population-health/ama-outlines-5-keys-fixing-america-s-rural-health-crisis?ref=down-ballot.info) of rural counties face a shortage of primary care physicians, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. In some states, [like Montana](https://dphhs.mt.gov/ecfsd/primarycare/ShortageAreaDesignations?ref=down-ballot.info), the crisis is [particularly acute](https://montanafreepress.org/2025/08/12/rural-emergency-rooms-increasingly-run-without-doctors-experts-say/?ref=down-ballot.info). Research shows that a rural background is one of the strongest predictors of becoming a rural physician, yet the number of medical students from those communities has declined steadily over the past fifteen years. Today, [fewer than 5%](https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00924?ref=down-ballot.info) of U.S. medical students come from rural areas, contributing to a widening gap in access to basic health services. But Billings Clinic has a different story to tell. Since launching its internal medicine residency program in 2014, Billings Clinic has graduated 75 physicians, with half now practicing in rural communities. The program’s outcomes stand out amid national trends, where only 11% of physicians work in rural areas. “I've never seen as much interest as I have over the past year in our residents remaining in the area,” said Dr. Steven Gerstner, program director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Billings Clinic. “The residency program has maintained the internal medicine department at Billings Clinic. Without the residency and the faculty we have attracted, we would be in very dire straits.” That success sparked more growth. In 2023, Billings Clinic launched Montana’s [first-ever psychiatry residency](https://dailyyonder.com/montanas-first-ever-psychiatry-residency-program-to-serve-rural-communities/2023/06/15/?ref=down-ballot.info), welcoming its first cohort in 2024\. In the last 30 years, Montana [has ranked](https://dphhs.mt.gov/assets/suicideprevention/SuicideinMontana111524.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in the top five states for suicide rates across all age groups. Youth alcohol use in the state [significantly outpaced](https://opi.mt.gov/Portals/182/Page%20Files/Alcohol%20and%20Drug%20Prevention/AlcPercepSurRptMTFinalNOV16.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) the national average, alcohol-related deaths have [nearly doubled](https://dphhs.mt.gov/assets/publichealth/EMSTS/Data/Alcohol%5F1pager.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in the state in the past decade, and [over half ](https://www.nami.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/MontanaStateFactSheet.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info)of Montanans live in communities that do not have adequate access to mental health providers. “We have patients from eight hours away or six hours away who have to come \[to Billings Clinic\] because there are no other services for inpatient acute care in their communities,” said Dr. Mariela Herrera Rojas, the program director of the Billings Clinic Psychiatry Residency. “There is a very high need to address mental health issues, but we are very under-resourced and there are a lot of shortages," Dr. Herrera Rojas said. “That's what we want to address through the residency program. What is it that we can do to address these shortages of addiction psychiatrists, child psychiatrists, and other providers?” The psychiatry program was funded, in part, by [The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust](https://helmsleytrust.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a global philanthropic organization, which has [given over](https://www.billingsclinic.com/about-us/news-media/news-press-releases/2024/helmsley-charitable-trust-grants-12m-to-enhance-trauma-and-compl/?ref=down-ballot.info) $23 million to the Billings Clinic, including funding the [development](https://helmsleytrust.org/news-and-insights/helmsley-grant-creates-first-ever-psychiatry-residency-program-in-montana-daily-yonder-reports/?ref=down-ballot.info) of its residency programs. “In Montana, the need for psychiatrists is huge,” said Walter Panzirer, a trustee for the Helmsley Trust. “One of the worst disparities across the United States is in Montana, and you look at all the behavioral health problems. It just seemed like a natural fit to further expand Billings Clinic’s residency program into psychiatrics.” ![](https://dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Photo-x-1296x864.jpg) Internal medicine residents working at Billings Clinic in Montana. (Photo by Colton Adams) ### **A Rural Health Success Story** Billings Clinic serves a large region that includes eastern Montana, the western edges of North Dakota and South Dakota, and northern Wyoming. Residents see patients from across rural communities both at Billings Clinic and in rural rotations they complete across Montana. Every resident completes at least two rural rotations in communities such as Lewistown, Livingston, or Hardin, a structure designed to both expose them to rural practice and encourage them to stay in the region long term. Ashley Dennis, Ph.D., director of Billings Clinic’s Office of Medical Education, said that this immersive experience prepares residents for the realities of rural practice. “The more opportunities that residents have to get out into rural communities, the better for, ultimately, them practicing in those spaces,” Dennis said. That firsthand exposure to rural medicine teaches residents to think differently about everyday procedures and logistics. "We did a study recently talking to rural providers who had just transitioned into rural practice about their experiences. Through that, we heard lots of stories, and it's simple things, like realizing, ‘Hey, before I do this procedure, I need to call the blood bank and cross-check that they have enough blood,’” Dennis said. “That’s something you may not consider at all if you're in a place where there are ample resources and opportunities. So, having that contextual awareness changes how you practice as a physician." Dr. Mette Strand graduated from the Billings Clinic residency program and now practices in Livingston, Montana, where there are only two internal medicine primary care providers. She said both the rural training rotations and the program’s teaching philosophy played a key role in preparing her for rural practice. “I think it was very valuable for the Billings \[Clinic\] residency to emphasize rural health during our training,” Dr. Strand said. “They would always give us scenarios, asking what if you didn't have that consult service available? Or, what if you are on your own? They were always prompting us to think about how it would be to practice in a rural setting without the resources that we had.” As a rural internist, Dr. Strand can care locally for patients that might otherwise have to travel far distances to see specialists. She now manages diabetes for patients who previously had to see endocrinologists, treats advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cases typically referred to pulmonologists, and cares for patients with liver disease once handled by gastroenterology. In some cases, she can manage these conditions locally right up to the point of transplant referral. “The trip from Livingston to Bozeman or Billings can be hazardous, especially in the wintertime. And many of our elderly patients do not take that trip all winter. We also have patients struggling to afford gas or have help to go back and forth to those places,” Dr. Strand said. “By being able to offer internal medicine here in Livingston we are able to ensure better follow-up and treatment for these patients.” Dr. Elizabeth Schiedermayer also graduated from the Billings Clinic internal medicine residency program and now practices in Anaconda, Montana. Dr. Schiedermayer said that while she came into residency already committed to practicing outpatient care in a rural setting, the Billings Clinic residency program offered her the opportunity to anchor her career in rural primary care. “They actually give you a primary care clinic. The rural rotation was really excellent, and they made space in our busy schedule to do that and value that,” Dr. Schiedermayer said. “I really like blue collar, rural people, and I like taking care of them,” Dr. Schiedermayer said. “It's a privilege to take care of my neighbors.” In a sea of stories about geographic disparities in medicine, Billings Clinic is forging a path to train and retain rural providers. Already, three of the upcoming Billings Clinic graduates have signed on to stay with Billings Clinic. “Our hope in building residency programs is to keep people in the community,” Dennis said. For Dr. Strand, that mission is coming full circle as she prepares to train future rural doctors. “I have my first resident coming after the new year,” Dr. Strand said. “I’m really excited about that opportunity.” --- This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/a-montana-hospital-is-training-future-rural-providers/2025/11/20/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=234201&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # How free out-of-school therapy for Memphis teens strengthens MSCS mental health services Bri Hatch, Chalkbeat Oct 21, 2025 at 3:07pm EDT *Sign up for* [*Chalkbeat Tennessee’s free newsletter*](https://ckbe.at/4gpO1a0?ref=down-ballot.info) *to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.* Peyton Golden said she knew she needed mental health support last spring when she started struggling to control her feelings. “Sometimes I gather too many emotions at once, and I just start lashing out,” said Golden, 15, a sophomore at Power Center Academy High School in Memphis. “It was making me lose opportunities. It was making me look like a bad person, and I’m not a bad person.” Golden said she was nervous to ask about starting therapy because it can be expensive. Then earlier this year, her mom found out about Youth Connect, a program run by the Shelby County Youth and Family Resource Center and local nonprofit The Braid Foundation that offers teens 12 free sessions with a Memphis-based therapist. Golden started seeing hers in May. She and her therapist practice daily affirmations to boost self-confidence, Golden said, and work on developing skills to cope with overwhelming situations at school. “I’m so proud of how far I’ve come,” Golden said. “Now, I can express my feelings, and I can say, ‘Wait, can we come back to this conversation when I calm down?’” Youth Connect has provided free therapy outside of school to 345 young people in the Memphis area since it launched in May 2024\. That is far fewer than Memphis-Shelby County Schools’ own mental health services, which serve over 6,000 students in group or individual therapy each year. But those who work in schools and with young people say Youth Connect is filling an important need, especially since a 2024 state law restricted certain kinds of mental health help schools can provide. Youth Connect’s teenage clients, many of whom are MSCS students, say the program also offers more autonomy and privacy than in-school services. Donna Goings, director of MSCS’ mental health centers, said the school system and Youth Connect work closely together. They often refer clients to each other, she said, and can share information about mutual clients if given permission from the student or their guardian. “I know there’s a belief out there that a child shouldn’t have more than one therapist,” Goings said. “But we communicate with \[Youth Connect\] to ensure that we’re both on the same page, and helping that child to really be the best person that they can be.” ## A program designed with teen choice in mind Youth Connect started as a response to rising mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it’s become more about addressing persistent issues in accessing youth mental health care locally and statewide. Tennessee ranks as one of the [worst states in the country for youth mental health, with high rates of mental health conditions and low access to care](https://mhanational.org/the-state-of-mental-health-in-america/data-rankings/youth-ranking/?ref=down-ballot.info). In 2021, for example, [more than half of 12-to-17-year-olds struggling with depression](https://www.nami.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/TennesseeStateFactSheet.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in Tennessee did not receive help. Nearly a quarter of Shelby County high schoolers [reported seriously considering suicide that year](https://yrbs-explorer.services.cdc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info#/graphs?questionCode=H27&topicCode=C01&location=ST&year=2021). To sign up for Youth Connect, teens and their families fill out an online form, and then choose a provider from a list of over 20 vetted therapists using their personalized video introductions. “I am not a person that trusts off the bat,” Golden said. “But I felt very secure going into this,” she added, because she chose a therapist that best matched her experience and needs. Right now, Youth Connect clients complete around six free therapy sessions on average, program leaders said. But some, like Golden, use all 12 free appointments and then continue working with their therapist. Cathy Emerson, co-founder of the Braid Foundation and one of three Youth Connect leaders, said they designed the program with teen autonomy in mind. Before launching, Emerson said her team talked to over 300 young people about how they wanted free mental health support to look. The responses were clear, she said: Young people want to choose their own therapists. And they want mental health care outside of school. “In so many spaces, youth don’t have that autonomy of choice in their therapist,” Emerson said. “It’s either whoever’s assigned to their school, whoever their insurance covers, or whoever their parent or legal guardian is picking.” With only a little over a year of service under their belt, Youth Connect leaders are already facing a funding deadline. The program is entirely reliant on federal pandemic aid, which is set to expire by the end of 2026\. Emerson said they’re already looking for outside grants to replace that money. The program takes about $350,000 to run per year, but Emerson says she’s seeking some $650,000 to expand their services, including to 18- to 24-year-olds. “We absolutely hope our local leaders continue to invest in youth and community wellness,” she said. “At the same time, we know sustainability means diversifying funding.” ## Youth Connect fills gaps in Memphis mental health care In 2020, a group of nearly 80 Memphis-area nonprofits and practitioners started pushing the local government to fund targeted mental health support for young people. The Shelby County Commission responded in June 2021 by setting aside a little over $1 million in federal pandemic relief money for what would become Youth Connect. Unlike some other free services, Youth Connect is also universal for teens ages 13-18, said Braid Foundation co-founder Shaneika Smith. That means families don’t need to prove their income level or insurance status to access it. Smith said program leaders also insist on paying local therapists a sustainable wage, at close to $140 per session. Brandi Rhoden, one of the Youth Connect therapists, said families used to turn down her help because they couldn’t afford therapy while reliant on Medicaid or without health insurance. Now, she can help them sign up for Youth Connect. As an out-of-school option, Youth Connect is smaller but more flexible in some ways than in-school MSCS services. The program is also able to provide therapy to clients 16 and older, who can sign up without parent consent. While Youth Connect leaders say very few teens sign up without parent permission, the option differs from school requirements for explicit parent consent on student mental health services. The 2024 Tennessee Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act expanded that active permission requirement to school-wide assemblies on suicide prevention and bullying, following a [nationwide push for more parent oversight in public education](https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/how-districts-can-navigate-tricky-questions-raised-by-parents-rights-laws/2024/01?ref=down-ballot.info). But the district currently has over 80 therapists and social workers on staff that can diagnose and treat students with mental health conditions on an individual or group therapy basis, she said, which not all school systems are equipped to do. Most MSCS clinicians work in two schools, Goings said, and they can sometimes have waitlists for therapy services. That comes with the challenges of working in a time-constrained school environment, she added. “We can’t take them out of a certain class, so we have to work around their academic schedule,” Goings said. “And we definitely try to include the parents in everything, because we are a school setting. We do not want to alienate parents.” Emerson said Youth Connect leaders are still working to expand their own client numbers. This school year, she said, they started working with six local student volunteers to spread the word. Dulce Ordonez is a 17-year-old student at Middle College High School. She said addressing stigma around mental health care, especially in Latino communities, is one of her main goals as a Youth Connect Ambassador. “A lot of Latino people would often say that mental health is not important, or ‘you’re just crazy,’ or mental health is not real,” Ordonez said. “But some parents don’t really realize the importance of mental health within their families, their relationships, or their children.” Clients like Golden offer valuable testimonies, too. “People my age have our guard up with trust and everything, but it’s okay to let that wall down,” Golden said. “There’s a lot of suicide going on our generation. With the world that we live in, we need more trusted adults around us.” *Bri Hatch covers Memphis-Shelby County Schools for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Reach Bri at* *bhatch@chalkbeat.org* *.* *Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.* --- # A Hidden Health Crisis Following Natural Disasters: Mold Growth in Homes Jonathan R.M. Charles November 19, 2025 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After returning from what felt like the best internship of her life, Danae Daniels was excited to unwind and settle into a new semester at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. But when she opened the door to her off-campus apartment, she was met with an overwhelming smell — and a devastating reality. “There was mold in my bedroom, on my bed, mold in my expensive purse,” Daniels said. “Mold in my closet, my bathroom — literally everywhere.” During her absence, a series of severe natural disasters had swept through the Tallahassee area, leaving widespread damage. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, those storms in summer 2024 caused [billions of dollars](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/state-summary/FL?ref=down-ballot.info) in destruction, displacing families and leaving businesses in ruin. It caused more than just property damage. While the community worked to recover, mold took hold in homes and other buildings across the city, turning the natural disaster into a prolonged crisis with public health implications. “If any part of a home is exposed to flooding or leaks and is not fully dried within 24 to 48 hours, mold growth is almost certain,” said [Parham Azimi](https://hsph.harvard.edu/profile/parham-azimi/?ref=down-ballot.info), a research associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who studies the link between mold exposure and respiratory health, particularly in the wake of natural disasters. “After major storms, we often see spikes in respiratory illnesses, particularly in homes that were affected by flooding.” **A Foundation for Trouble** An estimated [47% of residential buildings](https://iaqscience.lbl.gov/prevalence-building-dampness?ref=down-ballot.info) in the United States contain mold or dampness. So even as the latest hurricane season winds down, the threat of mold-related health risks lingers. And with [29% of the nation’s population](https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/07/millions-of-americans-live-coastline-regions.html?utm%5Fsource) living in flood-prone coastal counties, the risk of exposure to mold spores and allergens that can trigger respiratory illnesses is immense, leaving some 95 million people vulnerable when extreme weather strikes. That doesn’t count people in inland areas that flood, like in the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains that [experienced massive flooding from Hurricane Helene](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/hurricane-helene-aftermath-north-carolina-public-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) last year — or those whose homes were drenched from the [Hill Country flooding in Texas](https://www.kxan.com/news/experts-warn-of-mold-growth-on-flood-damaged-homes/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=AUSTIN%20%28KXAN%29%20%E2%80%93%20Hundreds%E2%80%94,in%20the%20humid%20Texas%20heat.) this summer. The health consequences of mold exposure range from mild allergic reactions to severe respiratory conditions. Common symptoms include [congestion, asthma flare-ups, and skin irritation](https://www.cdc.gov/mold-health/about/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prolonged exposure can lead to more serious complications, such as [hypersensitivity pneumonitis](https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hypersensitivity-pneumonitis?ref=down-ballot.info) — a rare lung inflammation — and [mycotoxin-related illnesses](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mycotoxins?ref=down-ballot.info), which can cause neurological damage, liver disease, and kidney dysfunction. Now, a key [federal program](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/climate/trump-cuts-hud-disaster-recovery.html?ref=down-ballot.info) that helps repair housing after disasters and [aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/climate/fema-cuts-government-accountability-office.html?ref=down-ballot.info) are [in question](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/climate/fema-disaster-recovery-trump.html?ref=down-ballot.info) amid President Donald Trump’s cutbacks and policy changes. One of the greatest dangers of mold is that it often goes undetected for months or years, leaving people unknowingly exposed. Lauren Lowenstein in Houston knows that all too well. “For five years, my family’s health kept declining, and we had no idea why,” she said. After conducting an [Environmental Relative Moldiness Index](https://www.epa.gov/air-research/environmental-relative-moldiness-index-ermi?ref=down-ballot.info) test, Lowenstein said, she discovered that toxic mold spores had been growing inside the walls of her home due to excessive condensation in the HVAC system. She, her husband, and their two children vacated immediately and had to start over again. “The mold wasn’t visible, and we had no indication that it was growing,” Lowenstein said. Even when mold is detected, removing it is an expensive challenge. On average, mold remediation [costs between $1,223 and $3,751](https://www.angi.com/articles/how-much-does-mold-remediation-service-cost.htm?utm&ref=down-ballot.info), according to the home service clearinghouse Angi, but in severe cases, the price can reach $30,000 or more. Even with home insurance coverage for mold, people may bear some cost. Daniels, for example, was forced to leave her Tallahassee apartment and get a hotel for a month while waiting to be moved into a newly renovated unit. She had to replace all her belongings. The cost of remediation remains out of reach for many households, Azimi said, and alternative yet affordable housing can be hard to find, which means continued mold exposure. “For low-income and marginalized communities, the risks are even greater,” Azimi said. For those seeking government assistance, the wait times can be extensive, according to the Rev. Mac Legerton, founder of the [Robeson County Disaster Survival and Resiliency School](https://ncsurvivalschool.org/disaster-community-organizing-and-the-robeson-county-disaster-survival-and-resiliency-school/?ref=down-ballot.info) in North Carolina. “In many cases, families are left to choose between living in unsafe conditions or homelessness.” A [2019 review](https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/HousingRecovery%5FCDBG-DR.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of 88 disaster grants found that its Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program began distributing funds to applicants on [average 20 months](https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/why-does-disaster-recovery-take-so-long-five-facts-about-federal-housing-aid-after-disasters?ref=down-ballot.info) after the initial disaster, with disbursements taking two years or longer. “When it comes to our disaster response system, mold remediation is one of the most neglected areas at the local, state, and national levels,” Legerton said. Legerton’s organization runs a “mold busters” program, a hands-on training and education initiative that helps give people in Robeson County the tools and knowledge they need to safely remove mold from homes, churches, and businesses following natural disasters. The program also provides free mold remediation services to vulnerable communities. He said it was created in response to the lack of timely aid in the central North Carolina community. **Waiting Takes Its Toll** Tanya Locklear faced this reality after Hurricanes Matthew and Florence severely damaged her home in Pembroke, North Carolina, in 2016 and 2018, respectively, ultimately leaving it contaminated with mold. She applied for assistance through North Carolina’s [ReBuild NC](https://www.rebuild.nc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) governmental program in August 2021 but said she did not receive approval until November 2023\. She said repairs finally began in February 2024 — more than two years after her application. It was only after local advocacy efforts — including pressure from community leaders and Legerton’s organization — that her case moved forward, Locklear said. However, she said, the initial delays had already taken a toll on her family’s health and well-being. While waiting for aid, Locklear and her children remained in the hazardous conditions of the moldy home. She said she and her family suffered health complications such as headaches, nose bleeds, and difficulty breathing. Even today, Locklear said, she has various respiratory issues, showing the long-term risks of remaining in mold-infested homes. Legerton, working with his group on the ground in North Carolina, believes that lawmakers and policymakers must focus on streamlining disaster relief programs to ensure effective and timely aid distribution for affected families and communities nationwide. Government officials should also increase funding for mold remediation to help prevent displacement and long-term health consequences, and implement stronger building codes and flood-resistant housing designs to mitigate mold risk in disaster-prone areas, according to Legerton and public health experts. Without proactive policies, Azimi said, millions more will face prolonged exposure to unhealthy living conditions. “As climate change intensifies, hurricanes and severe storms will become more frequent and destructive, increasing the risk of mold-related illnesses,” Azimi said. [*KFF Health News*](https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about* [*KFF*](https://www.kff.org/about-us?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* [Subscribe](https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/?ref=down-ballot.info) to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing. This [article](https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/mold-health-crisis-natural-disasters-public-health/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [KFF Health News](https://kffhealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150) ![](https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=2117279&ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0) --- # Feeling lonely? Appleton’s Community Living Room offers an antidote to isolation by Miranda Dunlap / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch November 12, 2025 Click here to read highlights from the story - The founders of Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative host emotional CPR training to community members and run a community living room in downtown Appleton. - Lynn McLaughlin and Karen Iverson Riggers have trained more than 2,500 people in ECPR in roughly seven years. - Their approach to teaching social connection has proved successful enough that groups in several other counties want to replicate it, and several state entities say the model is a method for building connection to prevent suicide. - The effort is grant-funded, and the community living room requires space and volunteers. Karen Iverson Riggers scrawls on a giant notepad as the 12 people around her call out rules they think should govern the next two days they’ll spend together: “It’s OK to cry.” “Authenticity over correctness.” “Judgement-free zone.” “Say it messy.” The group — a mix of mental health professionals, children and family workers and curious residents — is kicking off an “emotional CPR,” or “ECPR,” workshop, a community public health training teaching how to assist someone in crisis or emotional distress. Training leaders Iverson Riggers and Lynn McLaughlin have dedicated the last several years to encouraging northeast Wisconsinites to deeply connect with one another — and giving them a free community space to do so — in hopes they can combat the [social isolation many feel today](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). “This is not an individual problem. It's not like you are doing something wrong because you're lonely or feeling isolated,” Iverson Riggers said. “This is a community design issue … Lots of folks are being forced to work themselves to death without having any free time to engage in any kind of community or connection.” ![A person wearing glasses and a green scarf gestures while speaking at a table, with a flip chart covered in colorful sticky notes in the background.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/asse20251028-Emotional-CPR-Oshkosh-Timmerman-01-782x521.jpg) Karen Iverson Riggers, co-founder of Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative, guides the conversation during an emotional CPR training session on Oct. 28, 2025, in Oshkosh, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch) The pair founded Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative, which runs a [Community Living Room](https://www.communitylivingroom.org/what-is-clr?ref=down-ballot.info) in downtown Appleton. They describe it as an “unconditionally welcoming” space, where community members can socialize, play games, hang out or confide in certified ECPR practitioners. “There's no requirement to belong,” McLaughlin explained. “You just do.” Their approach to teaching social connection has proved successful enough that groups in several other Wisconsin counties are now trying to replicate the resources they offer. Plus, several state entities say their model is a method for building connection to prevent suicide. With funding from the Medical College of Wisconsin, the pair spent two late-October days in Oshkosh training Winnebago County residents and workers. Attendees practiced how to effectively listen to and assist people who are struggling, as a means to prevent self-harm and further distress. After the workshop, they’d be considered an ECPR "practitioner” and could go on to eventually work as a listener in a living room. ## A place to ‘just be’ The pair’s idea for bringing more northeast Wisconsin residents together was born several years ago, when they were sitting in Iverson Riggers’ living room, discussing the unhelpful ways people typically respond to those struggling with mental health issues. They also lamented the general [loss of “third spaces,”](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/business/third-place-meaning-starbucks.html?ref=down-ballot.info) or places outside of home or work where people casually connect with their community without a cost barrier. “So we said, ‘You know, what if there was a space where folks could go and could just be?’” Iverson Riggers said. That question led them to devise the idea of the Community Living Room, where people could do just that. In 2023, they received a grant from the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, which they used to launch the concept as a pop-up event in different places — the local library, community gatherings, the children’s museum. There was always food and several ECPR-certified listeners in attendance. ![A person wearing glasses and a plaid jacket speaks while gesturing at a table with papers, beverage containers and other people seated nearby.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/asse20251028-Emotional-CPR-Oshkosh-Timmerman-05-782x521.jpg) Caprice Swanks participates in an emotional CPR training session on Oct. 28, 2025, at the Oshkosh Food Co-op community room in Oshkosh, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch) Thanks to the relationships they built hosting pop-ups, a local developer gifted them space to open a permanent downtown Appleton location in October 2024\. They pay just $1 in rent annually. “It was created to break down all the barriers that people find to seeking support,” Iverson Riggers said. “There's no appointments and no forms. There's no requirement of a certain kind of identity or diagnosis. There's no requirement about how you engage.” Inside the space, which resembles a large apartment, several cozy couches invite visitors to get comfortable. There are tables to sit at or partake in board games or puzzles. A small kitchen area with a fridge is stocked with fresh snacks. A poster on the wall permits people to take what they need — clothing, food, safe sex tools, hygiene supplies and even [Narcan](https://uwpd.wisc.edu/narcan-naloxone-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work/?ref=down-ballot.info). “It just says something about creating a space … where we can go and connect and feel welcome without having to buy anything, without having to be a certain way, without having to conform to whatever the rules of the space are,” Iverson Riggers said. ![A person is below a handwritten sign that is titled](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/asse20251028-Emotional-CPR-Oshkosh-Timmerman-10-782x1173.jpg) A community agreement is posted on the wall during an emotional CPR training led by Ebb & Flow Connections Cooperative on Oct. 28, 2025\. Participants called out rules to guide the two-day session, which was held at the Oshkosh Food Co-op in Oshkosh, Wis. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch) How people use the space varies. Some simply pop in for a snack or a drink or to use the bathroom. Two visitors regularly come in and practice playing the guitar. Others want to connect one-on-one with the “listeners” trained in ECPR — at least two people who have taken the training are paid $50 per hour to be present. While the staff are trained to help people who are experiencing emotional crises and are more than ready to assist if needed, the living room aims to be a “prevention space,” they said. They believe that if people feel less lonely and isolated, or know they have somewhere where they can get support, they may not reach the point of crisis. “You know, it's not just this joy-filled, ‘everything is peaceful’ (place),” McLaughlin said. “We're learning how to navigate conflict in community. We're learning how to support people in distress, in community.” Since they started offering community ECPR workshops roughly seven years ago, they’ve helped train more than 2,500 people. For years, they felt they were “pounding the pavement” to spread the word about their ideas for connecting neighbors. Now, they’ve turned a corner and have seen a steady increase in demand. Community members across Wisconsin, including in Winnebago, Brown, Sauk and Sheboygan counties, have shown interest in replicating their approach. Prevent Suicide Wisconsin also shared Ebb & Flow’s approach in its [2025 Suicide Prevention Plan](https://www.mhawisconsin.org/Data/Sites/1/media/suicide-prevention/2025-psw-report%5Fweb.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) as a model for using peer support to reduce deaths by suicide. Thanks to this, Iverson Riggers and McLaughlin expect they’ll soon be “overwhelmed” with interest. The increased attention has come with its own challenges — they had to cut back on meetings with people who want to replicate their approach in other counties. It’s also been hard to keep up with the demands of “chasing down funding” and keeping the downtown Appleton space in shape, Iverson Riggers said. ![People sit at tables in a square-shaped arrangement in a room with notebooks, drinks and name cards on the tables, with a presentation screen and flip chart along a yellow wall.](https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/asse20251028-Emotional-CPR-Oshkosh-Timmerman-03-782x521.jpg) Leaders and participants laugh together during an emotional CPR training session on Oct. 28, 2025, at the Oshkosh Food Co-op. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch) Lanise Pitts, a practitioner certified in ECPR, said she was drawn to the warmth of the cooperative and kept returning to events after she attended the training. The Community Living Room allows her to connect with people from different circles and different career paths that she would likely never meet otherwise, she said. “When people just come in, it's just like being welcomed to somebody's house. Come in, find something to do, kick your feet up,” Pitts said while curled up on a couch in the living room. “When they leave, after we've done puzzles or colored or played card games or music games or had a 30-second dance party, it's just like the weight gets lifted. Like you might come in with a lot of baggage, but when you leave out, you're leaving some of that behind, and it just kind of dissipates.” The Community Living Room currently has funding to be open two days a week. See a schedule [here](https://www.communitylivingroom.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). *Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with* [*Open Campus*](https://www.opencampus.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*. Email her at* *mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org* *.* This [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2025/11/wisconsin-emotional-cpr-appleton-community-living-room-isolation-social-connection/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1311293&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB) --- ### Programs attempt to address the teacher shortage. Are they enough? URL: https://down-ballot.info/programs-attempt-to-address-the-teacher-shortage-are-they-enough/ Last updated: 2025-11-27T01:05:08.000Z Astrid Ramirez Guerrero (Queens University News Service) October 16, 2025 [Programs attempt to address the teacher shortage. Are they enough? - Queens University News ServiceSchools across Charlotte continue to experience teacher shortages while the demands of the job become increasingly difficult to manage. Local educators point to low pay, heavy workloads and limited support. “Teachers are being assigned more and more responsibilities, creating unrealistic expectations and a lot of stress,” one teacher told the Queens University News Service. The![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/QNS-logo-21may24-1-300x300.jpg)Queens University News Service - The Queens News Service provides news for Charlotte-Metro and Mecklenburg Areas.Chris Rudisill![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/CMS-classroom_cropped.jpeg)](https://queensnewsservice.org/2025/10/17/programs-attempt-to-address-the-teacher-shortage-are-they-enough/?ref=down-ballot.info) Schools across Charlotte continue to experience teacher shortages while the demands of the job become increasingly difficult to manage. Local educators point to low pay, heavy workloads and limited support. “Teachers are being assigned more and more responsibilities, creating unrealistic expectations and a lot of stress,” one teacher told the Queens University News Service. The news service agreed to not name the source for this story to protect them from any retribution. They also said that they are not getting support from parents or administrators when it comes to discipline and behavior issues. Students’ behavior, a lack of parental involvement and compensation that does not reflect the workload is the reason many teachers are reconsidering their careers in education. According to the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE), the average starting salary for a teacher in North Carolina is $42,542, which ranks 39th nationally. The state’s average teacher salary is $58,292, placing it 43rd in the nation, $14,000 below the national average. Over the past year, North Carolina’s average teacher salary increased by only about 3%. In a Sept. 23 press release, the NCAE called on state lawmakers to prioritize passing a full state budget. “It’s been more than two months since North Carolina should have had a new budget,” said NCAE President Tamika Walter Kelly in the statement. “That’s two months of lawmakers neglecting educators and state employees. That’s two months of neglecting our students and the public schools that serve them.” The NCAE is calling on lawmakers to pass the state budget that should have been done in July. At the end of July, the state legislature passed a small spending bill to address enrollment growth in public schools and community colleges, as well as scheduled step increases in salaries for teachers and state employees. However, the bill did not include significant raises for K-12 teachers. A comprehensive state budget has not yet been passed by North Carolina lawmakers. The problem is not unique to Charlotte. According to the State Teacher Shortages 2025 Update by the Learning Policy Institute, 31 states and the District of Columbia reported a combined total of 45,582 unfilled teacher positions. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools reported a 97% fill rate for teacher positions at the start of the 2025–26 school year, leaving roughly 243 vacancies, according to an August 2025 report. In an effort to attract and retain staff, the district has launched a new program, At Home in CMS: H.O.S.T. (Housing Opportunities for Staff and Teachers), aimed at supporting teachers and staff with housing needs. According to the district’s employee housing site, the program provides direct, one-on-one assistance to help employees find housing. Patrice Petroff, a professor of education at Queens University of Charlotte’s Cato School of Education, explained a series of initiatives implemented by North Carolina to rebuild the educator pipeline. One of these is Teacher Cadet, a high school‐level program that helps build awareness and interest early by introducing students to teaching as a possible career through curriculum and classroom observation. North Carolina has also expanded the NC New Teacher Support Program (NC NTSP), which provides coaching and professional development for early-career educators. Financial assistance programs such as the NC Teaching Fellows Program offer forgivable loans to individuals preparing for certain hard-to-staff subject areas and provide recruitment grants to school districts. Meanwhile, the Teacher Assistants to Teachers Tuition Reimbursement Pilot helps teacher assistants move toward full licensure by providing financial support for coursework. Still, significant challenges remain. “Even with these efforts, there are several hurdles North Carolina still faces, which any program will need to address carefully,” Petroff stated. Many initiatives only serve select districts or subject areas, leaving rural and high-need schools struggling. According to Petroff, teacher preparation program enrollment has declined by about 9% over the past decade and surveys continue to show burnout and workload as major deterrents. “It’s easier to recruit someone into teaching than to keep them, especially beyond the first few years,” Petroff said. “Induction support helps, but the longer-term environments matter.” She added that most education majors at Queens University secure jobs before graduation, either through student teaching or previous practicums, but many express concern about burnout, sustainability and limited career growth. “Factors such as mentorship, practicum and clinical placements, professor connections and job placement services make a meaningful difference in how confident a graduate feels,” Petroff said. “Where those supports are strong, students tend to feel better.” For Charlotte and schools across North Carolina, strengthening those supports may be essential not only to retaining current teachers but also to encouraging more students to enter the field of education. *Queens University News Service stories are prepared by students in the James L. Knight School of Communication with supervision and editing from faculty and staff. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte provides the news service in support of local community news.* ### UPDATE: NCDEQ to extend comment period for Fuquay-Varina Interbasin Transfer Certificate request URL: https://down-ballot.info/update-ncdeq-to-extend-comment-period-for-fuquay-varina-interbasin-transfer-certificate-request/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T22:58:35.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** [UPDATED: NCDEQ Division of Water Resources to hold public hearings, extend comment period on draft environmental impact statement for Fuquay-Varina Interbasin Transfer Certificate request![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/favicon-5157a809024b7dd3d618037af637e21a7603480a4a045b7714038e6fe99c5698.ico)North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/DEQ_Banner-20Jan-202025-700px.jpg)](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/3fc7d06?ref=down-ballot.info) The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources will hold public hearings on Dec. 4, 9 and 11 to hear public comment on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Town of Fuquay-Varina's [Interbasin Transfer Certificate request.](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) To expand the options for public participation, the hearing on Dec. 9 in Raleigh will be made available by livestream. This livestream will be for viewing and listening only. Those who wish to provide verbal comments must attend in-person and register to speak at the hearing. In addition to providing the livestream, the comment period has been extended until April 1, 2026\. The public can submit written comments by mail or email. > **Public Hearing Details** > **When:** 6 p.m., Dec. 4, 2025 > **Where:** Fayetteville Technology Community College, Cumberland Hall Auditorium, 2220 Hull Road, Fayetteville, N.C., 28303 > **Register:** Sign-in and speaker registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. > **Public Hearing Details** > **When:** 6 p.m., Dec. 9, 2025 > **Where:** Ground Floor Hearing Room, Archdale Building, 512 N. Salisbury Street, Raleigh, N.C., 27604\. A livestream of the hearing will also be available for viewing only. > **Register:** Participants who wish to speak at the hearing must attend in-person. Sign-in and speaker registration for the in-person hearing will begin at 5:30 p.m. > **Parking information**: Public parking will be available after 5 p.m. at Parking Deck 64, which is located across North Salisbury Street from the Archdale Building. Please see the Interactive State Parking Map for additional parking options: [Interactive Map](https://www.doa.nc.gov/divisions/state-parking/interactive-state-parking-map?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). > **Meeting link**: [Webex attendee meeting link](https://ncgov.webex.com/ncgov/j.php?MTID=m3d89ea6093f69c99ee3d6e9bd77250c9&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) > **Meeting Number/Access Code**: 2438 061 6936 > **Meeting password**: NCDEQ (62337 when dialing from a phone or video system) > **Join by phone**: 1-415-655-0003 (US Toll) > **Public Hearing Details** > **When:** 6 p.m., Dec. 11, 2025 > **Where:** Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center, 1192 U.S. Hwy 64 West Business, Pittsboro, N.C. 27312 > **Register:** Sign-in and speaker registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. The Town of Fuquay-Varina, which is located in the Cape Fear and Neuse River basins, is seeking approval for an Interbasin Transfer Certificate in order to source water supply from the Cape Fear River Basin to meet projected future water demands. Currently, the town relies on wholesale water purchased from neighboring water systems – the City of Raleigh and Johnston County, which are in the Neuse River Basin, and from Harnett County, which is in the Cape Fear River Basin. However, the town’s current contracted water supply is projected to fall short of future demands, with a shortfall projected by 2030\. The town’s preferred alternative to resolve its projected shortfalls is to source water supply from the Tri-Rivers (i.e., City of Sanford) Water Treatment Plant in the Cape Fear River Basin. This alternative requires an Interbasin Transfer (IBT) Certificate. The town is seeking approval to transfer 6.17 million gallons per day from the Cape Fear River basin to the Neuse River Basin based on 2055 demand projections. The draft EIS should include a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impacts that would occur in the source and receiving basins if the petition for a certificate is granted. The draft is available online on [DEQ’s website,](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) and via the North Carolina Department of Administration Environmental Review Clearinghouse. Access to the hydrologic model used to evaluate alternatives in the EIS is also available upon request through the [DEQ’s website](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) related to the Town of Fuquay-Varina’s IBT request. Training sessions on accessing the virtual model will be available on Dec. 2 and Dec. 16, but registration is required. Please email [maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov](mailto:maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov) to enroll. The public is invited to attend the public hearings to provide relevant written and verbal comments on the draft EIS document connected to the requested IBT certificate. Speaking time may be limited based on attendance. In addition to accepting comments at the hearings, written comments may also be submitted by mail to Maya Holcomb, Division of Water Resources, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, N.C., 27604, or by email to [maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov.](mailto:maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov) Comments must be postmarked or emailed by April 1, 2026\. The application, related materials, and the draft environmental impact statement are available online: [Fuquay-Varina Interbasin Transfer request.](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) ### Spartanburg City Council to meet Monday, Nov. 24 The Spartanburg City Council will hold its [next regular meeting](https://spartanburgsc.portal.civicclerk.com/event/522/files/agenda/748?ref=down-ballot.info) on Monday, Nov. 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the Spartanburg County Council Chambers. One of the items on the agenda is a closed session to discuss an economic development matter. ### Federal Immigration Raids Occur in N.C. URL: https://down-ballot.info/federal-immigration-raids-occur-in-n-c/ Last updated: 2025-11-21T10:00:52.000Z **It's Friday, November 21, 2025 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** As immigration raids descend on Triangle, focus turns to protecting children from trauma, Would Charlotte crime justify deploying National Guard?, N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency So Poorly Managed That State Auditor Couldn’t Determine Full Extent of Waste, Losing Money Every Month: Growing Finance Crisis Threatens Affordable Housing, Martinsville council rejects mediation for EEOC complaint brought by former city manager, Mississippi opioid settlement council members favor own organizations for grants, The Ongoing Psychological Toll of the Uvalde School Shooting, Tulane protesters allege TUPD violence, university denies wrongdoing, As Hamtramck, Michigan, awaits election results, city clerk is told to stay away, New Bern eye surgeon’s challenge of NC law could upend how health care facilities are regulated, Puerto Rico helped fuel America’s corn boom. Some locals see an unfair arrangement. **Media outlets and others featured:** NC Newsline, Carolina Public Press, South Carolina Daily Gazette, Inside Climate News, THE CITY, Cardinal News, Mississippi Today, MindSite News, Verite News, Votebeat, North Carolina Health News, Investigate Midwest. --- # As immigration raids descend on Triangle, focus turns to protecting children from trauma by Clayton Henkel, [NC Newsline](https://ncnewsline.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 19, 2025 The Wake County Public School System released data Wednesday showing how student enrollment has been affected by the federal immigration crackdown that began in the Triangle Tuesday. While no immigration enforcement activities were reported at any of its campuses, the system recorded 19,471 absences on Nov. 18\. That means nearly 11% of students in the district opted not to attend school on Tuesday, an increase of 7,841 absences above baseline data the school district examined. That represents a 67% jump in absences over an average day. More than 110 schools in the district reported an absence rate above 10% on Tuesday, according to Lisa Luten, the chief communications officer for Wake County Schools. Raleigh’s Baileywick Elementary School saw one of the steepest declines in attendance, dropping from nearly 91% on Monday to 68% on Tuesday with 161 children absent. School administrators, teachers, and support teams are now actively reaching out to families across the district to ensure students stay connected to their classrooms, Luten said. #### Anxious NC students ask how to respond The news forced parent Amanda Paoloni to have a difficult conversation with her 14-year-old daughter this week. The 8th grader had seen stories about the U.S. Border Patrol crisscrossing North Carolina. She asked what she should do if her best friend were approached or taken by unidentifiable armed and masked men. Paoloni said she knew her daughter’s best friend is of Mexican descent, but never once thought about her immigration status or that of her parents. “What I do know is, she is kind. Quick with a smile, encourages my daughter to read, and laughs at her jokes,” Paoloni said at the Wake County School Board meeting Tuesday evening. Wake County parent Amanda Paoloni. (Photo: WCPSS video stream) Paoloni said she did her best to explain in simple terms that a teenager would grasp how to best manage her fear and adrenaline while being the most help in the moment. But her daughter had so many other questions. *How do we know these people are ICE?* *Why aren’t they identifying themselves?* *What happens if they aren’t ICE?* *How is this legal?* When the teenager said there was no way she would let an unidentified masked man take her best friend without a fight, Paoloni was scared. “I looked at her and I said, ‘If you enter a physical altercation, you will lose,'” she told the school board. Paoloni said this was not a conversation about learning, but rather a conversation about survival. Wake Co. School Board member Christina Gordon (Photo: WCPSS video stream) “Children cannot learn when they are in survival mode. Fear destroys the conditions required for student achievement: focus, memory, emotional regulation and a sense of safety,” said Paoloni. Board member Christina Gordon, who has three children in Wake County’s public schools, acknowledged having a similar conversation with her own boys about the fear created by the threat of ICE enforcement. “When fear enters our classrooms, it disrupts everything for everyone,” said Gordon, who has taught in both Wake and Durham County public schools. “I want to be clear, our commitment is to students, not to systems that destabilize their wellbeing.” School board member Lynn Edmonds called the presence of masked federal agents a form of domestic terrorism. “The presence of ICE, whether it’s here in Wake County or elsewhere, causes real, unnecessary and long-term trauma,” said Edmonds. No one during Tuesday’s open comment period spoke publicly in support of the stepped up enforcement effort. #### Immigration raids and learning loss Long before the border patrol enforcement, Wake County’s school leaders made improving consistent attendance a top goal. Missing just two days a month can add up to more than two weeks of lost learning each year, according to information on the school district’s website. Irene Godinez is the executive director of Poder NC Action, a nonprofit group advocating for immigrant rights, and the mother of a 9-year-old in the Wake school system. (Photo: WCPSS video) A recent study by[ Stanford University](https://edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1202?ref=down-ballot.info) finds immigration raids in communities with large immigrant populations have resulted in increased student absenteeism. The study found that even when the raids lasted just a few days, school absenteeism remained elevated for several weeks. Irene Godinez, executive director of Poder NC Action, a nonprofit group advocating for immigrant rights, is the mother of a 9-year-old student in the Wake school system. She said the toxic stress caused by these unpredictable, unannounced raids goes well beyond learning loss. “One in four children in the U.S. live in mixed-status families. Even U.S. citizens and children carry the constant fear that a parent may be taken from them,” she cautioned. Godinez pointed to the case of a Durham 13-year-old who died by suicide in late February after being [bullied](https://indyweek.com/news/gabbys-legacy-durham-community-mourns-death-of-latina-eighth-grader/?ref=down-ballot.info) about her family’s immigration status. Godinez also urged school board members to adopt a non-punitive attendance policy during this immigration enforcement surge. “Realistically, families experiencing terror cannot be burdened with proactively advocating for their child to be excused from class, not when they are protecting themselves from being hunted,” Godinez said. Superintendent Robert P. Taylor has said the school district honors all laws protecting the privacy of Wake children and will remain focused on the well-being and education of every student, regardless of their background. The Wake County Public School System has issued the following resources for parents and caregivers: - [How to talk to children about difficult news](https://www.wcpss.net/p/~board/family-resources/post/how-to-talk-to-children-about-difficult-news?ref=down-ballot.info) - [Helping children cope: tips for parents and caregivers](https://www.wcpss.net/p/~board/family-resources/post/helping-children-cope-tips-for-parents-and-caregivers?ref=down-ballot.info) - [How to talk to kids about stressful situations](https://www.wcpss.net/p/~board/family-resources/post/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-stressful-situations?ref=down-ballot.info) - [Supporting children in politically charged times](https://www.wcpss.net/p/~board/family-resources/post/supporting-students-in-politically-charged-times?ref=down-ballot.info) - [Information on reporting absences](https://www.wcpss.net/student-life/calendars-and-attendance?ref=down-ballot.info). [Independent Journalism for AllAs a nonprofit newsroom, our articles are free for everyone to access. Readers like you make that possible. Can you help sustain our watchdog reporting today?SUPPORT](https://ncnewsline.com/donate/?oa%5Freferrer=endofstorybox&ref=down-ballot.info) [NC Newsline](https://ncnewsline.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Laura Leslie for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. --- # Would Charlotte crime justify deploying National Guard? by Lucas Thomae, Carolina Public Press November 17, 2025 Is crime getting worse in Charlotte? It’s a simple question that’s trickier to answer than one might think. On the whole, no, crime rates in North Carolina’s largest city are down compared to last year. But homicides in Uptown Charlotte, the city’s central business district which includes banking headquarters, sports arenas, night clubs and transit hubs, is at its highest point since at least 2015. The city has faced extreme scrutiny in the months since **Iryna Zarutska**’s murder on Charlotte’s light rail transit system in August, which has since escalated into calls for deployment of the National Guard to assist with policing. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ daily and weekend roundup newsletters.**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/sign-up-for-our-mailing-list/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, became a rallying point for Republicans concerned about crime in America’s cities, President **Donald Trump** among them, whose administration is fighting multiple legal battles over his deployment of National Guard troops to Portland and Chicago to support immigration crackdowns in those cities. National Guardsmen were also activated in Memphis and Washington, D.C., earlier this year specifically to address crime. North Carolina Gov. **Josh Stein** has dismissed the calls to activate the National Guard in Charlotte, which is, at least for now, enough to keep them out of the city. “Local, well-trained law enforcement officers who live in and know their communities are best equipped to keep North Carolina neighborhoods safe, not military servicemembers,” Stein’s office said in a statement circulated to reporters. Some pockets of Charlotte were also shaken this weekend by the U.S. Border Patrol, who made arrests across the city in an operation which the federal government said was targeted at undocumented migrants with criminal histories. Immigration sweeps preceded the National Guard deployments to Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland. ### Some seek National Guard deployment It’s worth looking at how Charlotte got to this point, but sorting out the politics from the reality on the ground is difficult. The firestorm surrounding Zarutska’s murder, compounded with an increase in homicides in Uptown (10 in 2025, compared to four last year), has created a narrative that the city is experiencing a “growing violence crisis,” as described in a Nov. 5 [letter](https://markharris.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-mark-harris-nc-lawmakers-demand-gov-stein-deploy-national-guard-charlotte?ref=down-ballot.info) penned by Republican Congressmen **Mark Harris**, **Pat Harrigan** and **Chuck Edwards**, requesting that Stein dispatch the National Guard to assist CMPD with policing. Harrigan’s and Edwards’ districts do not include any of Charlotte, while Harris’ mostly rural district includes small portions of eastern Charlotte. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police, a union that represents 1,690 CMPD officers, made the same [request](https://www.facebook.com/share/1C9m75xBG3/) a month earlier in a letter addressed to Stein, Trump and Charlotte Mayor **Vi Lyles**, a Democrat. FOP President **Daniel Redford** attributed the uptick of violent crimes in Uptown to a “severe staffing crisis” within the department. FOP has pressured the Charlotte City Council for years to increase pay and fund additional CMPD officer positions. According to Redford, the department has about 1,800 of 1,936 sworn officer positions filled, or about a 7% vacancy rate. In an interview with [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), he defended FOP’s request for the National Guard from criticism that it was purely a political maneuver. “If keeping our officers safe by having an adequate number of police officers and support personnel out there, I mean, if that's a political issue, then I think people need to revisit their view of politics,” he said. “Because keeping our citizens safe and keeping police officers safe should not be a partisan issue.” Prosecutors in Charlotte are also stretched thin, District Attorney **Spencer Merriweather** told CPP. The state legislature’s [crime bill](https://carolinapublicpress.org/72636/stabbing-response-crime-bill-nc-partisan-divide-death-penalty/?ref=down-ballot.info) passed in the wake of Zarutska’s death funded 10 additional assistant district attorney positions for Mecklenburg County, but that still only brings the number of full-time prosecutors to half of what Merriweather thinks should be sufficient for a county of Mecklenburg’s size. Too few prosecutors means that court calendars become backlogged and older criminal cases fall apart, allowing perpetrators to fall between the cracks. “The issues that we face within our court system are problems of scale,” Merriweather said. “Our job is to make sure that we’re not falling behind and that we’re meeting the public safety needs of our community, and as grateful as we are for the help that we’ve gotten, we’ve still got a long way to go.” ### Addressing crime in Uptown Charlotte Overall, crime is down in the city compared to last year, murders included, which CMPD celebrated in its most recent quarterly crime statistics [report](https://www.charlottenc.gov/cmpd/News-Information/Newsroom/CMPD-Third-Quarter-Report-2025?ref=down-ballot.info). But the data since 2020 shows a less positive picture, never consistently decreasing and instead remaining somewhere in the ballpark of 100 annually. To date, there’s been 83 homicides reported this year. Most recently, CMPD announced it was [investigating](https://www.charlottenc.gov/cmpd/News-Information/Newsroom/Homicide-Investigation-in-the-Central-Division-11142025?ref=down-ballot.info) the death of 31-year-old **Tanarus Tajuan Henry**, who was shot and killed in Uptown Charlotte shortly after 11 p.m. on Friday. The department has signaled that it is listening to the public’s concerns about crime, specifically in Uptown. In October, the agency announced two new initiatives focused on policing in Charlotte's city center. The first was the re-establishment of the department’s defunct Entertainment District Unit, which is tasked with policing the areas around bars and nightclubs from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m. The other is what the department calls the CROWN Culture Initiative (an acronym for Center City's Restoration of Order, Wellness and Nonviolence), which empowers officers to make arrests for what CMPD Captain **Christian Wagner** calls “quality of life” crimes: public urination, open alcohol containers and disorderly conduct. As the top officer in CMPD’s Central Division, Wagner has overseen the implementation of these initiatives in Uptown Charlotte. So far, he said, they’ve been met with positive reception from the public. The CROWN Culture Initiative strictly applies to a half-mile radius around Independence Square in the heart of the city, where Wagner said incidents involving police and resident complaints were most common. “Whatever the numbers say, the feeling that people have, their perception of crime, is really, really important,” Wagner said. “What we wanted to do is enhance the perception of safety and quality of life in Uptown by strictly enforcing statutes and ordinances that directly contribute to that sense of unlawful disorder.” He added that officers are trained to connect individuals experiencing homelessness or mental health crises – those who might be disproportionately arrested for such offenses under this initiative – with the appropriate resources. ### Border Patrol operation muddies the picture An extra layer of complexity is the commencement of U.S. Border Patrol operations in the city this past weekend. **Gregory Bovino**, a senior official in the Border Patrol who led previous large-scale immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles and Chicago this year, said on the social media platform X that his team arrested 81 undocumented immigrants in Charlotte on Saturday, many of whom had criminal histories. Because of the lack of transparency by the federal government about its immigration operations, the supposed criminal histories of those arrested is difficult to verify. Merriweather told CPP that while he doesn’t have comprehensive numbers, his prosecutor’s office does handle a “significant number” of criminal cases involving undocumented migrants, sometimes as perpetrators and sometimes as victims. “What we try to look at is really just about the crime that’s been committed and what the impact on public safety is and meet that where it is,” he said. Border Patrol is a separate agency from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly abbreviated as ICE, although both are federal-level agencies within the Department of Homeland Security. ICE has operated in Charlotte and elsewhere across the state long before this weekend, but Border Patrol’s presence so far away from a national border is unusual. Neither CMPD nor the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office were a part of the planning or operations with Border Patrol, those agencies said. Protests against federal immigration enforcement operations in several major cities across the country were the impetus for the federalization of the National Guard in those cities earlier this year. City and state leaders in those places have sued the Trump Administration over those deployments, arguing that they were illegal, and federal judges so far have ruled in the local leaders’ favor. But the president has since appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to weigh in on the matter. UNC School of Law Professor **Rick Su**, who specializes in immigration law, told CPP that what happens in Charlotte could ultimately rely on how the Supreme Court rules. “If violent protest ramps up in Charlotte, the administration will likely point to that in justifying deployment,” he said. “But I suspect it wouldn't be really that big of a deal what happens in Charlotte as the major question on authority is what the Supreme Court will say.” In a video [message](https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19mQotrvk8/) Sunday, Stein said he had been in regular contact with local law enforcement as Border Patrol operated in the city this weekend. “Public safety is our top priority, and our well-trained local officers know their communities and are here for the long haul,” he said. He commended Charlotteans for remaining peaceful while accusing the federal government of “stoking fear” rather than fixing a “broken” immigration system. “Rather than fix it, the federal government continues to play politics with it,” he added. *Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated.* This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73445/charlotte-crime-national-guard/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Senators reject SC abortion ban proposal touted as strictest nationwide by Skylar Laird, [SC Daily Gazette](https://scdailygazette.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 19, 2025 COLUMBIA — A bill touted as making South Carolina’s abortion ban the strictest nationwide proved to be too extreme even for a panel packed with anti-abortion Republican legislators. The proposal that received national attention over the last few months ultimately failed Tuesday with a 2-3 vote. Four of the panel’s six Republicans declined to vote on the bill itself, enabling the three Democrats to sink it. A vote to outright reject a GOP-led bill is rare in the South Carolina Legislature. Usually, legislators let bills that lacks support quietly die at the subcommittee level by indefinitely delaying a vote — if there’s a hearing at all. But after a day-long public hearing last month and an hours-long meeting Tuesday didn’t sway the sponsor — who also happened to be the panel’s chairman — in at least changing sections [opposed by some of the state’s most fervent abortion foes](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/10/01/anti-abortion-groups-split-over-proposal-that-could-make-scs-abortion-ban-the-strictest-nationwide/?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=The%20proposal%20faces,of%20pregnant%20women.), the panel proceeded to an up-or-down vote. And it showed the bill doesn’t stand a chance even among Republicans, said Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg. “We just think the vast, vast, vast majority of South Carolinians are against this,” he said. Supporters could still try to revive the legislation after the Legislature returns in January. But the bill’s failure to advance through a subcommittee led by the sponsor, Sen. Richard Cash of Anderson County, almost certainly means that would be futile. Even a co-sponsor on the panel couldn’t vote for it. Dubbed the [Unborn Child Protection Act](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126%5F2025-2026/bills/323.htm?ref=down-ballot.info), the bill would ban abortions from the moment a pregnancy is “clinically diagnosable.” (The odd wording is meant to avoid prohibiting emergency birth control or fertility treatments.) All Republicans on the panel were generally OK with a near-total ban on abortion. And [separate legislation](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/query.php?search=DOC&searchtext=3457&category=LEGISLATION&session=126&conid=74444345&result%5Fpos=0&keyval=1263457&numrows=10&ref=down-ballot.info) that goes further than the state’s[ six-week ban](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/05/14/sc-supreme-court-ruling-keeps-abortion-ban-at-6-weeks/?ref=down-ballot.info) that took effect in August 2023 could get traction next year. But what went too far in Cash’s bill for most Republicans were sections that criminalized women for getting an abortion, removed all exceptions for victims of rape or incest, and made it illegal to even advise someone on how to get an abortion elsewhere. > [Anti-abortion groups split over proposal that could make SC’s ban the strictest nationwide](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/10/01/anti-abortion-groups-split-over-proposal-that-could-make-scs-abortion-ban-the-strictest-nationwide/?ref=down-ballot.info) #### Attempted changes The bill would allow women to be sent to prison for up to 30 years for an abortion. It also would allow her own relatives to sue her. That was too much even for co-sponsoring Sen. Billy Garrett, who tried to delete that section. When his amendment failed 4-5, the Greenwood Republican proposed capping the punishment at two years in prison or a $1,000 fine, unless the woman who received the abortion agreed to testify in court against the person who performed it. But that failed 4-4, with Cash noting his bill already gave women immunity from prosecution if they agreed to testify. Garrett ultimately was among the four who didn’t vote. “This world needs more love than hate,” he said. “This world needs more forgiveness than hate. And we’ve got to work toward that.” Sen. Tom Fernandez spoke through tears about the possibility that his wife or one of his six daughters could end up imprisoned under the law. > “I cannot see women be put in jail,” said the Summerville Republican. “I can’t. If we’re going to sit here and continue to talk about women as if they were the worst creatures on earth, I might as well say that to all six of my girls.” And yet, he was among the two Republicans who backed the bill in the final vote. Taking out the punishment would “gut the bill,” Cash said. He contends the possibility of severe prison time or a potential lawsuit is needed to prevent women from getting [abortion medication](https://scdailygazette.com/2024/03/19/medication-abortion-rates-grew-10-over-the-last-few-years-report-shows/?ref=down-ballot.info) through the mail for an at-home abortion. That’s already illegal in South Carolina, though ordering the two pills online from [providers in states with shield laws](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/07/25/repub/texas-man-sues-california-doctor-over-mailing-abortion-pills/?ref=down-ballot.info) remains possible. “How can you have a law that criminalizes some action and then say if you break the law, there’s no penalty?” Cash said. “It’s not even logical.” Sen. Tom Corbin, R-Greenville, tried to remove a section making it illegal to even direct someone to a website providing information on getting an abortion. Telling people what they can and can’t say would violate First Amendment free speech rights, Corbin said. “It would break my heart if somebody tells somebody where to go get an abortion,” he said. “But I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of this country and this state, and I have a hard time supporting a bill with a section in it that basically says what you can and can’t talk to somebody about.” Cash likened that section to laws against hiring a hitman to kill someone. [GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.SUBSCRIBE](https://scdailygazette.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) “You don’t have the right to provide information to someone on how to kill an innocent person,” Cash said. Democrats voted against every amendment offered. “You can’t make something bad better by voting for things, so we just voted against everything,” Hutto said. Noting that South Carolina’s law already rates as [among the nation’s most restrictive](https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/?ref=down-ballot.info), he said, “To go any further is just an outright attack on women and doctors.” Doctors would face 30 years in prison and loss of their medical license under the bill. Opponents contend doctors’ fear of the existing six-week ban [already delays emergency medical care](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/09/24/sc-lawmakers-are-playing-politics-with-womens-lives/?ref=down-ballot.info) for women. Threatening doctors with 30 years in prison will endanger women further, they testified. “There are so many things in this bill that are flawed,” said Ronnie Sabb, D-Greeleyville. Only one amendment passed, and it was Cash’s. It allowed someone to take a juvenile to another state for an abortion with parental permission. It also allowed doctors to refer patients to specialists in states where abortion is legal. And it removed a section requiring the resuscitation of premature stillborn babies after a doctor testified last month that doing so would be pointless and torturous. Beyond Hutto and Sabb, the other Democrat voting “no” was Deon Tedder of Charleston. Beyond Garrett and Corbin, the other Republicans not voting were Jeff Zell of Sumter and Matt Leber of Johns Island. [YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.SUPPORT](https://scdailygazette.com/donate/?oa%5Freferrer=midstorybox&ref=down-ballot.info) [SC Daily Gazette](https://scdailygazette.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. --- # N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency So Poorly Managed That State Auditor Couldn’t Determine Full Extent of Waste Also known as ReBuild NC, the agency wasn’t good at rebuilding, monitoring budgets, overseeing contractors or helping hurricane victims, many of whom were left living in motels for years while their homes were supposedly being rebuilt. By Lisa Sorg November 19, 2025 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19112025/rebuildnc-was-a-disaster-auditor-says/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* The story of the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency’s disaster response efforts was itself ”a disaster.” That’s what State Auditor Dave Boliek, a Republican, concluded in a [scathing 506-page report ](https://www.auditor.nc.gov/documents/reports/performance/per-2025-4902/open?ref=down-ballot.info)released Wednesday, detailing mismanagement that left thousands of Hurricane Matthew and Florence survivors without homes and living in motels for as long as four years. “The unfortunate truth of this report is the response from North Carolina to Hurricanes Matthew and Florence was a disaster,” Boliek said in a press statement about an agency also known as ReBuild NC. “When government decides to focus on administrative procedures ahead of boots on the ground, hurricane victims get hurt.” NCORR’s accounting and monitoring was so rife with errors, the state auditor could not determine the full extent of the waste. “​​We really wanted to be able to show a full financial accounting of everything that happened at NCORR,” [Boliek said at a press conference](https://www.facebook.com/ncstateauditor/videos/1329702305522193/). “But when we took a look at the finances, the time, energy and effort would have cost well over seven figures to bring in contractors to reconstruct a true budget. It wasn’t worth the taxpayers’ dollars.” A legislative oversight committee will discuss the findings on Thursday at 10 a.m. at a [meeting in Greenville](https://www.ncleg.gov/LegislativeCalendarEvent/134055?ref=down-ballot.info#videoHeader). It will also be streamed online. NCORR received $800 million in federal funds and, when that ran out, another $297 million in state appropriations earlier this year to help eastern North Carolinians return home after the historic storms. Hurricane Matthew occurred in October 2016, followed by Hurricane Florence in 2018. Most of the money was to be used for the Homeowner Recovery Program, which pays for storm survivors’ houses to be repaired or rebuilt. The auditor’s office made several key findings: - NCORR “had no structured financial roadmap or ongoing budget monitoring,” according to the audit. Nearly $785 million in public funds was disbursed to vendors “without a single, reconciled source of financial truth or robust oversight.” - NCORR did not consistently verify that the contractors performed the work they were paid for. Only one of six program administration contracts include benchmarks for performance. - NCORR spent more than $25.4 million on design and implementation of the Salesforce platform, which tracked the progress and expenditures related to homeowner projects. But incomplete and inconsistent data in the Salesforce system “led to operational challenges and delayed recovery for many families,” the audit said. - Homeowners had to navigate eight protracted steps before contractors hired by the state would rebuild or repair their homes. It took an average of four years for hurricane survivors to return home, far longer than the agency’s goal of 18 months. During that time the state covered the costs of motels and storage, expenses that totaled as much as $2.1 million per month. The state legislature created NCORR after Hurricane Florence, in response to an earlier iteration of the agency that had also fumbled the recovery program. However, NCORR mismanaged the program nearly from its inception. ReBuild NC failed to hold many contractors accountable for their work and [awarded several lucrative contracts ](https://ncnewsline.com/2023/04/03/rebuild-nc-defends-rescue-construction-while-fining-company-for-delays-in-hurricane-recovery/?ref=down-ballot.info)to one, Rescue Construction Solutions, which did not install most of its modular homes on time. Rescue consistently denied any wrongdoing. At the time, the agency’s director, Laura Hogshead, attributed the delays primarily to the pandemic. Hogshead [abruptly left her job a year ago](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20112024/rebuild-nc-director-laura-hogshead-departure/?ref=down-ballot.info), within days of a particularly combative legislative oversight hearing. “NCORR spent a lot of time on process when their job should have been swinging hammers,” [Boliek told reporters on Wednesday. ](https://www.facebook.com/ncstateauditor/videos/1329702305522193/) NCORR had hired an outside company to manage the Homeowner Recovery Program, according to the audit, for a flat fee of $480 per application per month, until an application was formally deemed ineligible in the system. That led to applications staying in the system—and generating income for the outside company—longer than necessary. When the contractor was managing the Homeowner Recovery Program, each project cost $41,000 in administrative costs, according to the audit. After NCORR brought the management in-house, the cost decreased to just $4,100 per project. “NCORR staff reported that many applications could have been determined ineligible almost immediately, but previous NCORR management instructed staff not to send ineligibility notifications or close cases,” the audit says. “This lack of timely communication forced families to wait unnecessarily, preventing them from seeking alternative solutions for their housing needs.” But problems persisted and even worsened after the pandemic. NCORR moved money among programs that short-changed some initiatives or eliminated them altogether, state records show. “They had a pot of money and they spent it,” Boliek said. “They took the attitude that we’re going to spend it and when we’re out, then the program’s over. They didn’t spend money on a mission-oriented project with measurable incremental goals.” As of Nov. 14, there were 314 households still waiting for new or repaired homes under the Hurricane Matthew or Florence programs, according to state data. More than 3,900 have been completed. NCORR is expected to finish all projects and disband by October 2026. In a written response to the auditor, Pryor Gibson, who replaced Hogshead as NCORR director, did not dispute the findings. He wrote that in partnership with the Office of State Budget and Management, the agency has “significantly improved its financial management systems to ensure the program can complete its work and close out in accordance with statutory timelines. NCORR continues to implement process improvements with regards to strengthening vendor management, local governments, and construction vendors.” The auditor’s report is the latest probe into NCORR, state records show. NCORR lost track of storm survivors who might have been eligible for uniform relocation assistance, according to a September 2024 monitoring report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Such funds help people who are displaced from homes as the result of federally funded projects, such as residents of public housing communities that were damaged by the hurricanes. In February 2025, three months after Hogshead’s departure, NCORR officials were discovering a more chaotic financial situation than previously known, according to emails obtained under public records law. In some cases, NCORR had incorrectly spent funds on administration expenses for Hurricane Florence that were “in no way affiliated with Florence,” a state compliance specialist wrote, according to emails obtained under public records law. Officials were also moving money between classifications and programs to cover an $11 million shortfall to rebuild or repair hurricane-damaged homes. Other expenses were smaller, but suggest a lack of financial oversight: The office was still paying basic charges for state-issued cell phones for several former employees. Other cell phone expenses were being misclassified. “If we’re not allocating properly, it would be a finding,” wrote Amanda Stapleton, NCORR chief policy officer, in March 2025\. “Unfortunately things weren’t done 100% correctly in the past but, I believe we are still here because we want to do things right and successfully fix what we can. This is a good place to implement a change and fix it going forward.” Federally funded projects have strict accounting protocols. If grant recipients violate those standards, the federal government can recoup the funds. That happened in August, when the [U.S. Treasury requested](https://oig.treasury.gov/system/files/2025-08/OIG-CA-25-054--ERA1-Program-Notice-of-Recoupment---State-of-North-Carolina-%28Redacted-and-508-Compliant%29-Lovked.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) that NCORR repay the federal government more than $800,000 in pandemic-related housing assistance funds that had been disbursed to ineligible households. North Carolina had received more than $900 million in federal funds during the pandemic for its Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (HOPE) program. It was part of a $46 billion congressional appropriation to states, territories and local and tribal governments to financially assist eligible households and landlords with rent, utilities and other expenses incurred as a result of the pandemic. Hogshead was also in charge of the HOPE program. The Treasury Department found NCORR, using HOPE funds, had erroneously paid more than a dozen landlords, people posing as landlords and members of a suspected fraud operation involving a married couple and a limited liability corporation owned by the wife. The state disagreed with the Treasury Department’s findings and asserted that the payments were eligible at the time, based on federal guidance. It asked Treasury officials to “recognize the good faith compliance described above and reconsider its recoupment demand.” NCORR could not be immediately reached about whether the amount has been repaid. --- # Losing Money Every Month: Growing Finance Crisis Threatens Affordable Housing ## Landlords who run subsidized buildings say the numbers increasingly don’t add up — and that a rent freeze will put their tenants in a more precarious position. by [Greg David](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/greg-david/?ref=down-ballot.info) Nov. 19, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ![Samantha Magistro poses for a portrait in front of an affordable residential building she manages in The Bronx](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/111825_magistro_bronx-2.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) BronxProGroup manages 93 subsidized apartment buildings containing more than 3,300 affordable apartments, mostly in The Bronx. One in three units are in buildings where this year expenses are greater than the rents collected. And one in five are in buildings in such poor financial shape that the owners will have to resort to renegotiate their loans to lower their risk of defaulting. CEO Samantha Magistro, who joined the family-owned firm about 25 years ago, says half of the units are in buildings that no longer can make any payments to their owners. The business of running this kind of housing, increasingly, isn’t a viable one. These buildings are not only rent regulated, but were also built with requirements that the apartments be leased at very low rents to people with very specific low incomes. Since the pandemic, their costs have risen a lot, their rent increases have lagged badly, and rent collections have slipped. Owners and managers say Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdan’s promise of an at least four-year rent freeze will make their situation worse. “My father, who founded the company’s parent decades ago, would tell you things were worse in the 1970s,” the 43-year-old said, when areas of the Bronx saw widespread arson and abandonment. “But for my generation this is the hardest it has ever been.” Magistro’s story is being repeated throughout New York City in this crucial sector of the city’s housing stock, according to two new reports on the all-affordable housing sector released last month, estimated to include about 300,000 units. For the tenants in those buildings, this is the only housing they can afford. Without some change in course, possible future scenarios are grim: If housing stock deteriorates, or buildings are abandoned by owners, or investors are unwilling to put their money into affordable housing because the numbers don’t add up, the city’s affordability crisis will get even worse. “What our report demonstrated is that financial strain in our affordable housing stock is not limited to a few owners, or specific geographies, or building types,” said Patrick Boyle, senior policy director at Enterprise Community Partners, an organization that helps arrange housing financing and works with BronxProGroup. “It’s widespread, and as advocates and policymakers, we urgently need to turn our attention to preservation.” The search is on for solutions. “There is no one easy fix,” Boyle added. “Increasing resources like rental assistance, reducing regulatory barriers and tackling expenses head-on will all be required.” These all-affordable projects are built under agreements with either the city or state that dictate who can rent the units by income. Most are financed in part by low income housing tax credits. Industry experts estimate that about half are built and run by non-profits and the other half by for-profit developers like BronxProGroup, which specialize in this area. Many of them rely on other forms of subsidy like federal or city vouchers to make their numbers work. Those programs tie rents to a fraction of the household incomes of tenants and pay property owners the difference. About six in 10 affordable projects that have received financing help from Enterprise and the National Equity Fund have expenses that exceed their income, according to a [report](https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/learning-center/resources/distress-new-yorks-affordable-housing-stock?ref=down-ballot.info) the group issued last month. Those projects have seen their expenses increase 40% since 2017, far more than the increases in rents allowed by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, which sets rent levels for regulated apartments. The Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, a coalition of community groups including nonprofit affordable housing organizations, [found that about half](https://anhd.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ANHD-Preserving-the-Foundation-report.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) of the all-affordable buildings it studied — containing 112,000 apartments — are losing money. Previously, discussion of the plight of landlords has centered on owners of older buildings whose units are almost entirely rent regulated and whose finances have been badly hurt by 2019 changes in the rent laws. A key change effectively ended the ability of landlords to renovate vacant apartments and then charge a much higher rent, which helped them keep up with cost increases even when regulated rent increases for existing tenants were zero. (Rent freezes for regulated units happened three times during the de Blasio administration, in 2015, 2016 and 2020.) This has led to a crisis for older buildings where virtually all the apartments remain rent regulated, which has been detailed by the Furman Center and [stories in THE CITY.](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/07/bronx-rent-stabilized-apartments-freeze/?ref=down-ballot.info) Tenant advocates focus on the role of speculators who bought rent-regulated buildings at inflated prices assuming they would raise the rents dramatically over time. But BronxProGroup’s affordable buildings never saw that kind of speculation and illustrate how the financials of a much broader group of buildings are increasingly untenable. “They are a great example of a family-owned and operated business who are doing this because they believe we need more affordable housing in the city,” said Carlina Rivera, a former Council member from Lower Manhattan who is now chief executive of the New York State Association for Affordable Housing, which works with for-profit developers. “And they are telling you they are barely breaking even.” The Enterprise study found that collections for the buildings it studied now equal only 90% of the expected rent, down from about 95% before the pandemic. These buildings were financed with the assumption that collections would be 95%. “I call them workouts because I can’t afford my expenses and my mortgages even at 95%,” said Magistro. Prior to 2019, she was collecting 98%. This year she is collecting 93% which is higher than in 2022 and 2023. Both Enterprise and ANHD zeroed in on increases in the cost of insurance, utilities and maintenance as the second major part of the problem. Magistro’s insurance costs, which have gone up the most in The Bronx where her portfolio is concentrated, have jumped from $600 a unit annually to $1,600 since 2019. Another key issue for her is paying overtime to staff, in part as a result of [changes to trash collection rules](https://www.brickunderground.com/live/sanitation-rats-trash-bin-requirement-fall-2024?ref=down-ballot.info) that now force building workers to put out the garbage at night. Both Enterprise and ANHD note that when building finances are strained, landlords have no choice but to defer maintenance, which leads to a deterioration of the housing stock. Magistro this year laid off 10 staffers reducing her workforce to 143. One of her buildings shows how the factors undermine a buildings’ finances. She is collecting only 81% of the possible rent at a 30-unit building at Mapes Avenue in the Bronx, built in 2021\. Her insurance has almost doubled since the building opened to $2,500 annually. She will need an infusion of cash to reduce the mortgage if the building is to operate for the long term and avoid default. “Small projects have little resiliency to economic shocks like a spike in insurance,” she said. Mayor-elect Mamdani has promised to help landlords reduce their costs to cope with his planned rent freeze. One key target will be reform of the city’s property tax system, which levies the highest taxes on rental buildings. However, most of the all-affordable projects don’t pay property taxes. And other mayors have tried and failed to make headway on property tax reform, a thorny and complicated issue that needs Albany’s involvement to get done. He also says he will make changes to the bureaucracy that will help. Magistro notes that when one of her apartments becomes vacant, it takes an average of five months for the city to approve a new tenant if a city subsidy is involved, which costs her lost rent for that period. Eviction of a tenant who is not paying their rent averages 12 to 16 months to conclude, in large part because of the sluggish workings of Housing Court. ANHD wants the state to establish a fund for forgivable loans to help stabilize the finances of these buildings, increase voucher and other rental assistance programs, have the state intervene in the insurance markets to lower costs and provide new financing to help with rehabilitation programs. Enterprise also calls for emergency funding, more rental assistance and actions to reduce insurance costs. It also wants sped up leasing for vacancies. Enterprise says in its report that solutions “cannot come on the backs of renters.” Magistro can’t count on any of that now that property management is at best break-even. So she’s crafted a five-year plan in which her company will seek to increase its role as a developer, using the development fees she receives to keep the company afloat. And with so much talk about the need to build new housing to solve the city’s housing crisis, she has a plea to Mamdani and other officials about their priorities and how to view landlords like her. “There was a lot of work in previous decades to create and it is important to remain it stays financially feasible and it is important for the city to keep it affordable and preserved.” she said. And she added, “Yes I am a developer and a landlord but I see myself as an employer,” she said. “I live in New York City. I choose to be in business in The Bronx. My office is in The Bronx. Seventy percent of the people I employ are from The Bronx. That’s part of the story, too.” --- ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=70726&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) # Martinsville council rejects mediation for EEOC complaint brought by former city manager With mediation off the table, an attorney for Aretha Ferrell-Benavides said she intends to move forward with a lawsuit. by [Dean-Paul Stephens](https://cardinalnews.org/author/dean-paul-stephens/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 18, 2025 [Martinsville council rejects mediation for EEOC complaint brought by former city managerWith mediation off the table, an attorney for Aretha Ferrell-Benavides said she intends to move forward with a lawsuit.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-3.png)Cardinal NewsDean-Paul Stephens![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/ArethaFB-scaled.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/11/18/martinsville-council-rejects-mediation-in-eeoc-complaint-brought-by-former-city-manager/?ref=down-ballot.info) Legal proceedings stemming from former City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides’ complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the city will continue, after the Martinsville City Council decided not to participate in mediation in the case. Council members confirmed that EEOC mediation was discussed at a Nov. 12 closed meeting. They took no action following the closed session, and they declined to provide details about the discussion. On Friday evening, Councilmember Aaron Rawls said he feels the council made the right decision and he is fine with moving forward in the EEOC process, outside of mediation. “I support the EEOC process and look forward to receiving their findings,” Rawls said. Mediation is an alternative to a traditional lawsuit in which both parties have the chance to speak with an EEOC-appointed arbitrator. The arbitrator listens to the details of a particular case from both sides. Mediation allows parties involved in a dispute to avoid lengthy court battles. The city fired Ferrell-Benavides in August. In the month prior to her termination, Ferrell-Benavides filed an EEOC complaint against the city. The complaint alleges discrimination on the basis of gender and race. At the same time as the EEOC filing, there were a number of city-related controversies, including spending concerns and a federal[ civil rights suit](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/03/26/rawls-removed-from-martinsville-council-meeting/?ref=down-ballot.info) brought by Councilor Aaron Rawls against Ferrell-Benavides stemming from a March incident at a council meeting. Ferrell-Benavides maintains that she was fired in [retaliation ](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/08/08/former-martinsville-city-manager-calls-termination-retaliatory-for-eeoc-complaint/?ref=down-ballot.info)for filing the EEOC complaint. Paul Goldman, an attorney for Ferrell-Benavides, said that his side was open to mediation. “The mediation option is gone,” Goldman said. If the city had opted to move forward with mediation, the session would have been held on Monday, according to Goldman. With mediation off the table, Goldman said his client intends to move forward with a lawsuit. > “Now that there is no mediation we have to choose to sue or not,” Goldman said, adding that while his team has the option to not move the case forward, they do intend to press the matter to its conclusion. Goldman said that next steps include waiting for a letter from the EEOC to give the go-ahead to either pursue or forego further legal action. Goldman said that letter could come sometime within the next six months. --- # ‘Not how funding decisions are supposed to be made’: Mississippi opioid settlement council members favor own organizations for grants by [Allen Siegler](https://mississippitoday.org/author/asiegler/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 18, 2025 **Wake up informed.** [*Sign up for our free daily newsletter*](https://mississippitoday.org/newsletters/the-today/?ref=down-ballot.info) *and join over 35,000 Mississippians who start their day with Mississippi Today.* [In a rectangle of desks](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/11/18/mississippi-opioid-settlement-council-members-favor-own-organizations-for-grants/?ref=down-ballot.info) outlined by some of the most powerful Mississippians, Andy Taggart took control of the conversation. The former candidate for state attorney general is a member of the Mississippi [Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Council](https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/opioid-settlement-fund-advisory-council/?ref=down-ballot.info), and he speaks frequently at meetings. The group will recommend how lawmakers should spend hundreds of millions of lawsuit settlement dollars earmarked for preventing more drug overdose deaths. On that November afternoon in the Mississippi Supreme Court building, as the group discussed how the state should spend up to roughly $100 million, Taggart preemptively asked for forgiveness for monopolizing the conversation. But he had a question for Dr. Dan Edney, head of the Mississippi State Department of Health. Edney, a co-chair of the council, sat across the room from Taggart. The Health Department submitted one of 126 applications requesting money, which were reviewed by one of the council’s eight subcommittees. “I was on the prevention and treatment subcommittee that gave a very high score to the Department of Health project,” Taggart told the council members. The agency [asked for about $5 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p20/a2677204) to expand addiction treatment in rural areas. Taggart and his subcommittee colleagues scored the application one tier below the proposals most highly recommended to be funded. He seemed surprised to learn it wasn’t in the highest category. “Maybe it is Tier 2,” Taggart said. “*I* gave you a high score, Dr. Edney.” “Thank you,” Edney responded as other council members burst into laughter – the type of jesting common among people who work closely together. Knowing that the tiers and project recommendations were yet to be finalized, Taggart continued. “My question is, can you help us better understand it?” he asked Edney. “I was impressed, because I knew the heart of what was intended. But I don’t know the mechanics of what was intended.” Edney obliged, and went into further details about the project. The opportunity to explain his application demonstrates one of the advantages of being an opioid settlement council member who represents an organization requesting part of the settlement money. Just one floor below where the state’s most difficult legal questions are argued in front of state Supreme Court justices, multiple council members who represent opioid settlement applicants used time to further explain why proposals they closely work with deserved funding. Those opportunities weren’t extended to applicants who didn’t have council representation, at least at the Nov. 3 meeting. “That’s problematic,” Greg Spore, a state public defender and opioid settlement council member, said after the meeting. “Who’s lobbying for them?” Of the roughly $142 million requested from applications scored in the top two tiers, over $94 million was sought by organizations with representatives who serve on the council. When asked after the meeting about his back-and-forth with Taggart, Edney said he was not and will not be involved in scoring his department’s opioid settlement applications. “I was answering questions that were posed to me,” he told Mississippi Today. Taggart, who has for decades been involved in state Republican politics, said he deferred all public comments related to the council to its chair and vice-chairs — Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Department of Mental Health Executive Director Wendy Bailey, and Edney. Fitch’s office declined to speak on behalf of Taggart, and Edney and Bailey didn’t respond to Taggart’s email. The council, only a few months old, [adopted a rule](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222585-osc-administrative-rules-81125/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p6/a2676943) over the summer that prevents its members from voting on applications they’re closely associated with. But Matthew Steffey, a Mississippi College School of Law professor, said members have other avenues to lobby for projects they consider important. Adopting rules that prohibit applicants from voting on their own applications is the absolute minimum ethical standard, Steffey said. It would be stronger, he said, to require applicants to leave the room whenever their applications are being discussed by the council. “Most of the persuasion happens before the vote,” Steffey said. Michelle Williams, Fitch’s chief of staff, said in an email to Mississippi Today that the council is made up of leaders from a variety of backgrounds related to addressing substance use disorder. “These are also the people who may be best able to use the funds to continue their work responding to the opioid crisis for Mississippi and it would disadvantage the State’s response to prohibit them from applying,” Williams wrote. he added that many council members sought clarification from applicants throughout the review process, but she did not provide examples. Neither Fitch nor Williams answered Mississippi Today’s question asking whether the attorney general believes the council needs stronger rules on ethics. Edney said he can’t speak to whether the process has been fair to applicants who don’t have council representation. Bailey echoed Williams’ sentiment in an email, saying it was always likely that council members would also be applicants. Two of the Department of Mental Health’s three opioid settlement applications [received the highest grades](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p17/a2676948) of the 126 proposals. Bailey said she is always open to reviewing and strengthening procedures to improve the council’s fairness and public confidence. “We all share the same commitment to accountability and integrity in how these funds are allocated,” she said. The council is set to meet again on Dec. 2, and members [are expected to further discuss](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/11/03/mississippi-opioid-settlement-meeting-grant-requests/?ref=down-ballot.info) the applications ranked in the top two tiers and other applications the council flagged at the last meeting. The group is required by [state law](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/dt/SB/2700-2799/SB2767SG.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to finalize recommendations for the Legislature by Dec. 7 — 30 days before the start of 2026 regular legislative session. Spore, the public defender, said he wishes many applicants ranked in lower tiers could further explain their proposals to the council so they could share why their aims are important and unique. One of them was Grace House in Jackson, which offers affordable sober living as women recover from addictions. Spore said when he worked for the Hinds County Public Defender’s Office, one of his clients entered the program as a condition of receiving probation. “She completed the program there, and she was thriving,” he said. Grace House [applied for $600,000 ](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p30/a2677569)to create more treatment options for women who’ve recently finished intensive addiction rehabilitation. Stacey Howard, its executive director, said many Jackson-area programs that provided these services have shuttered in recent years because of funding challenges. The council scored Grace House’s application in the third tier, and the proposal is unlikely to be discussed at the next meeting. Howard said she has received no information about why her organization received the grade it did. Because the secondary program was aimed at people without health insurance, she thinks a rejected grant proposal would be a loss for the most financially vulnerable Mississippians. “If you’ve got money, then you can afford to go places, even out of state if you need to, to get treatment,” Howard said. Brittany Denson, the sober living home’s operations coordinator and former Grace House participant, said on-the-ground organizations like hers have important knowledge on the prevention, treatment and recovery needs — information the [Department of Mental Health has said](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p17/a2676948) the state doesn’t have a comprehensive handle on. The settlement money could be an opportunity to further act on that knowledge. But she hasn’t seen Mississippi fund these types of efforts in the past, which makes her skeptical of the council’s aims. “Of course, it’s unfair,” she said. “But that’s expected.” ### **‘We all have to have well-established practice’** Last spring, the Legislature instructed the settlement council to establish its members, solicit and review grant proposals and recommend to lawmakers which applications should be funded – all in the span of eight months. After multiple delays this summer, ranging from [missing application materials](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/07/11/state-struggles-opioid-money-distribution/?ref=down-ballot.info) to a [cybersecurity hack](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/07/29/hackers-derail-opioid-council/?ref=down-ballot.info), the committee [released its application](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/08/08/mississippi-opioid-settlement-council-finalizes-grant-applications/?ref=down-ballot.info) in August. Groups had six weeks to read grant materials, develop an idea and fill out the application. Stacey Riley, chief executive officer for the Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, said the timeline felt rushed. The center has a vending machine for naloxone, the opioid overdose-reversing medication, and works to address addiction among survivors of domestic violence. The application Riley submitted proposed a partnership between her organization and four others that serve South Mississippi communities — one that would expand trauma-informed addiction treatment, address other basic needs of those struggling with substance use disorder and work to address community stigma about drug use. The application had a typo that resulted in final miscalculations of annual costs and total requests. But the two lines above the final calculation show the correct cost amount, according to a Mississippi Today review. When the council released application grades a few hours before the Nov. 3 meeting, Riley found her proposal listed under “Incomplete Proposals.” The council’s document [said the application had](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p40/a2677227) “facial deficiencies in the project budget.” In a recent email to the council members, Fitch’s office said the application’s miscalculated budget figures is the reason why the Gulf Coast Center’s is listed as incomplete. But he told the other members he was concerned about that application being scored below other applicants. He said he thought nearly no other applicants had as much hands-on time addressing substance use disorder as drug court employees. “And yet they’re in Tier 2,” he said. Minutes later, Taggart said he would like to see the courts’ application moved to the highest tier. Shortly after, Randolph called on the courts office’s director of intervention and treatment courts, Pam Holmes, from the audience to clarify council members’ questions. “That’s not how funding decisions are supposed to be made,” Riley said when asked about the interaction. “We all have to have well-established practices that we do not engage in anything that even looks like a conflict of interest.” After the meeting, Randolph told Mississippi Today that making sure these funds are spent appropriately is important to him, and it’s hard to know whether that will happen years down the line if private nonprofits get money. He said that won’t happen with the drug court application because of strict judicial oversight. He also cited a [pamphlet produced by the state judiciary office](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26222701-money-matters-fy26-august-2025-10132025/?ref=down-ballot.info) that says such courts have saved Mississippi taxpayers nearly $1.8 billion over 20 years, mostly by diverting people from prisons and jails. “Any money that runs through the drug court is accounted for because we control it,” Randolph said. Randolph also said not every council member pitched their proposal. Hattiesburg recovery advocate James Moore, [whose son Jeffery died of an overdose](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/10/21/father-reflects-on-his-sons-overdose-death-and-ways-to-battle-opioid-crisis/?ref=down-ballot.info), worked on [a roughly $86,000 application to help fund and improve](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p33/a2676961) the weekly bike rides he hosts for those in addiction recovery. It scored in the second-lowest tier. After the meeting, Moore said his application was so far down the list that he didn’t know whether bringing it up would have made a difference. But he also said it didn’t feel right to make an argument for his project when other organizations in similar situations didn’t have that opportunity. Riley said that if she had the opportunity to ask the committee questions about the review of her application, she would have. But the center doesn’t have a representative on the council. The Administrative Office of Courts, however, did have a representative who could clarify its [request for roughly $61 million](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p19/a2676960) to provide more financial assistance for its drug courts — the most money any applicant asked for. Fitch, Bailey and Edney reviewed that application and scored it in the second-highest tier, recommending only partial funding. Early in the first November meeting, Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice and council member Michael Randolph said he and the other judges didn’t score the Administrative Office of Courts’ application. That decision could be costly. Moore said the account that funds his recovery rides and other efforts to prevent overdoses in the Pine Belt region, [named in Jeffery’s honor](https://www.wdam.com/2021/04/21/hattiesburg-church-raises-funds-addiction-recovery-organization/?ref=down-ballot.info), doesn’t have enough money to do much in the immediate future. “I was asking for such a very small percentage of what’s available compared to what some of the other grants were seeking,” he said. “That was a little bit disheartening.” Because Fitch [allowed 30%](https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com//wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Memo-of-Understanding-12.7.21.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) of Mississippi opioid settlement funds to [be spent on any public purpose](https://mississippitoday.org/2025/09/18/years-behind-opioid-funds/?ref=down-ballot.info), all of the national opioid settlement money the council oversees must be spent on one of the [strategies the lawsuits list](https://www.attorneygeneral.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Exhibit-E-Final-Distributor-Settlement-Agreement-8-11-21.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) as addressing addiction. But unlike the applications from Moore, Grace House and Gulf Coast Center for Nonviolence, some proposals that will be further considered may not qualify. Two proposals in the top two tiers seek funds for automated electronic defibrillators, purchases that aren’t very [effective at responding to opioid overdoses because](https://www.iaedjournal.org/aed-for-opioid-arrest?ref=down-ballot.info) overdoses [impact the respiratory system](https://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/overdose-prevention-response-kit-pep23-03-00-001.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) rather than the cardiovascular system. [California’s state government](https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Documents/CSD/CA-OSF-FAQs.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) has said AED purchases aren’t allowed by the settlements, and Pennsylvania’s says AEDs [are not considered opioid remediation](https://www.paopioidtrust.org/about-us/faqs?ref=down-ballot.info) except in particular circumstances. The Yazoo County Sheriff’s Department [requested around $225,000](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26212267-113-osc-meeting-notice-agenda-and-draft-materials/?ref=down-ballot.info#document/p25/a2676964) for license plate readers, tasers and two tablets. While the settlements’ lists mention some permitted uses for law enforcement, they’re focused on officer education and connecting people to treatment. Fitch did not answer a question about whether she worried about Mississippi violating terms of the opioid settlement agreements. Williams reiterated that money the Legislature controls that isn’t overseen by the council can be spent on any public purpose. In a recent email, Fitch’s office told council members that some projects that don’t qualify as addressing addiction “may be funded by the Legislature through a portion of the Fund.” But [state law](https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/dt/SB/2700-2799/SB2767SG.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) says money the Legislature oversees that doesn’t have to be used for addiction will be spent without recommendations from the council. ### **‘Once in a multi-generation opportunity’** Nabarun Dasgupta, a University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health senior scientist and recent [MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellow](https://www.unc.edu/posts/2025/10/08/nabarun-dasgupta-wins-macarthur-genius-grant/?ref=down-ballot.info), has used some of his state’s opioid settlement dollars [to continue his lab’s work](https://www.streetsafe.supply/?ref=down-ballot.info) of determining what drugs are on the street and quickly getting that information to those most at risk of overdoses. While that work is crucial, Dasgupta said it’s just as important to make sure the communities most impacted by the opioid epidemic — many of whom staff some of the small nonprofit organizations applying for dollars — get an opportunity to use this money. Those groups of people scarred by the epidemic will often be better positioned to make strides in ending the overdose crisis than the people in suits on Mississippi’s council, Dasgupta said. “We sitting in offices and labs aren’t going to be the ones who do the last-mile outreach to get services where they need to go,” he said. Without hearing from and investing in these last-mile providers, Dasgupta said he worries the money will be wasted — a disservice to those who’ve been suffering. “This is a once in a multi-generation opportunity to address a longstanding social problem,” he said. Denson, the Grace House operations coordinator, said the accountability she learned as a resident of the sober living home was crucial for her long-term recovery. She learned to cook for herself, got a job and felt like she became a productive member of society. Organizations like Grace House have operated without opioid settlement funding for years, and Denson said she hopes that will continue even if the Legislature doesn’t invest in them. But she thinks discounting them for politically connected groups is a missed opportunity to end the public health crisis that has permanently taken many of her friends away. “It’s going to kill people.” *Correction 11/18/2025: This story has been updated to reflect Dr. Dan Edney’s position as co-vice chair of the council.* --- # ‘That Day, I Died’: The Ongoing Psychological Toll of the Uvalde School Shooting by Aitana Vargas, MindSite News November 13, 2025 ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27100114/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-12.01.02-PM-1024x650.png) ****A personal item belonging to a victim hangs in the memorial space located in Uvalde Plaza.** *This project was produced with support from* [*The Carter Center*](https://www.cartercenter.org/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, the* [*Economic Hardship Reporting Project*](https://economichardship.org/2025/08/three-years-after-uvalde-shooting-survivors-support/?ref=down-ballot.info) *, the Mesa Refuge, and the Commonwealth Fund, and co-published with* [*Impremedia*](https://laopinion.com/2025/09/04/el-precio-de-un-tiroteo-masivo-uvalde/?ref=down-ballot.info)*. A version of this work was republished in English by The Pulse (*[*WHYY*](https://whyy.org/segments/three-years-after-uvalde-school-shooting-families-and-teachers-still-seek-mental-health-support/?ref=down-ballot.info) */NPR ).* **Text and photos by Aitana Vargas** **Warning:** *The content and descriptions in this report may be disturbing to some individuals. If you need emotional support, call or text 988, the Suicide Prevention and Crisis line, which offers free and confidential assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.* “I closed the door! I closed the door!” Amy Franco shouted from the hospital emergency room as she was being treated for an anxiety attack. That May 27, 2022, has been etched in this Latina's memory and spirit like a burden that will stay with her until her last breath. Barely three days had passed since the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — one of the deadliest ever to occur on U.S. soil. Franco had just watched a televised press conference during which an officer blamed her for leaving a school gate open, a charge later disproven by security camera footage. In fact, Franco, who had only been working as an educator at the school for a month, had closed the door while rushing to warn staff and students about the presence of a gunman on the premises. But the accusations from law enforcement had already caused irreparable damage. “That day, I died,” Franco says. More than three years have passed since Salvador Ramos, a former student at the center, killed 19 children and two teachers with an AR-15 rifle and wounded 17 others, and Franco is still struggling to find the Amy she was before the massacre. “It’s a mental, physical, and emotional battle,” she says. Franco embodies the aftermath that mass shooting survivors often face on their long and lonely road to recovery, processing grief, trauma, depression, and other psychological and psychiatric disorders. Added to this are the daunting and endless bureaucratic hurdles to access government aid, the devastating economic consequences of prolonged sick leave, and, in Franco's case, the loss of her home. But in Uvalde, the 77 minutes it took the shooter to wreak havoc also created deep fissures in the social fabric of this rural, majority-Latino community. Three years later, for some survivors and affected families, the twilight lingers on the horizon. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27095945/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-11.59.32-AM-1024x589.png) Amy Franco during an interview in Uvalde Located about 54 miles from the Mexican border, [26.3% of Uvalde's 15,300 residents live below the poverty line](https://datausa.io/profile/geo/uvalde-tx?ref=down-ballot.info) , a socioeconomic reality that became even more prominent after the massacre. The tragic shooting became a showcase for the systemic barriers the city had historically faced, including a lack of access to basic needs — such as clothing and shoes for some students — and a limited supply of psychotherapy services. Franco's psychological and physical scars are palpable in her voice and body. When she recalls the security forces' unfounded accusations against her, her face tenses, and she tries to contain her tears and anger. "Did you hope that the attacker would kill me and that their version (of what happened) would be accepted as the truth?" she asks. During the interview, Franco trembles uncontrollably. “Everything comes from that day,” she says. At home, she keeps the blinds and windows closed to preserve darkness. She fears going outside to take out the trash and collect the mail and often delegates these tasks to her children. She is undergoing treatment for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), depression, and anxiety, and she walks with the aid of a cane after suffering a foot injury the day of the attack. Yet she was frequently denied workers' compensation insurance for her injures. "That's a battle in itself, and it's horrible," she laments. Even when insurance approves claims, "it's crazy how hard it is to find a doctor who will accept workers' compensation insurance," she says. Over the past three years, Franco has seen several psychotherapists. “It’s sad because I would have liked to stay with the same one forever,” he says. And when he finally found one who specialized in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) – a psychotherapeutic technique that helps patients process traumatic experiences – Franco had to abandon treatment because her insurance hadn’t paid the provider’s bills. For the past few months, she’s been receiving free psychological support through the Uvalde Juntos Resilience Center. After the shooting, Franco never returned to her job. Eventually, she retired. Now 60 years old and in continuing physical decline, she relies on social assistance and her children to stay afloat. But the assistance is falling short: After the latest evaluation of her health, her employer's insurance cut her compensation from $487 to $315 a week, a decision that is causing her difficulties making ends meet, especially since she stopped living with her daughter a year and a half ago. Despite the persistent financial problems, a glimmer of hope appears on the horizon. Franco is 89th on the waiting list for a program that provides rental assistance for a year. Although Franco's face fills with joy as she shares details about the program, it is underfunded, and it could take at least another year before she begins receiving payments. Unlike other affected families, Franco embarked on a cumbersome bureaucratic process to apply for assistance from the Texas Attorney General's Crime Victims Assistance Program (CVC). For a year, she received checks. One day, they ran out. “I applied for the second year thinking, 'OK, you know what? It'll help if I get (money).' But they sent me a check for $2,000 and told me, 'You've exceeded the amount of funds available to you,'” she says. Now she fears her workers' compensation insurance payments will also stop. ## Double Victim: Bureaucratic Obstacles in Uvalde Three years after the shooting, the lack of support and constant bureaucratic obstacles continue to remain insurmountable barriers for Franco. Not a day goes by that she doesn't wish she'd died at the hands of the attacker, she says. The emotional scars that haunt hier are as profound as the frustration she feels when she details the lack of centralized and coordinated efforts to ensure critical assistance to the survivors and affected families. Despite the initial outpouring of aid from various agencies in the days and weeks following the shooting, chaos ensued in Uvalde, to the detriment of those affected. Most organizations disappeared from the scene within weeks. Franco didn't know where to turn for help, even though it was available. Nor did others. According to statements from the Texas Department of State Health Services (HHSC) sent to this reporter via email, Texas made an initial disbursement of $5 million to the Uvalde Juntos Resilience Center to provide community services and crisis counseling. Additionally, Texas awarded $1.25 million to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) to provide various mental health services to students and staff. School district officials canceled a scheduled on-site interview with this reporter, and the Uvalde City Council did not respond to multiple attempts to obtain their version of events. Franco, however, says she had to learn to navigate the system independently, and word of mouth became an essential tool for learning about and accessing some of the services she needed. One day, someone told her about the generosity of Father Michael K. Marsh, and Franco went to St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Uvalde to ask for help. She needed money for gas and a doctor's appointment in San Antonio. When she stood up to shake Marsh's hand and he handed her a check, Franco was perplexed: "It was a $1,000 check." Franco used that money to pay for her rent. "I had to make sure I had a home," she says. Despite the constant financial need and difficulties accessing medical services, Franco has been reluctant to seek help. “I don't feel comfortable because… I was raised with the belief that I have to work. You're supposed to be self-sufficient,” she says. ## The Indestructible Wounds of Uvalde ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27100216/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-12.02.05-PM-1024x644.png) St. Philip's Episcopal Church has stepped up to help the victims and survivors of the mass shooting. It's a rainy morning when Father Marsh, who traded his career as a civil lawyer for the cassock in 2000, greets me with a smile in his office. The Texas clergyman articulates his thoughts and impressions eloquently, calmly, and with compassion. His face reflects concern for the well-being of his community and the pressing difficulties it is currently facing — challenges he believes will persist into the future. Since the day of the massacre, Marsh has played a central role in providing spiritual support and financial assistance to the affected families, as has Sacred Heart Catholic Church and a group of volunteers from the Fire Department. “I think many (impacted families) were already experiencing economic problems, and the shooting created even more problems,” Marsh says. Marsh says that, until November 2022, his church used the generous donations it received from third parties to cover rent, food, and other bills for those affected — not medical expenses. The circumstances for which families requested assistance varied: from mothers who quit their jobs to homeschool their children, to families who, according to Marsh, couldn't get to work because they had medical appointments in San Antonio. The shooter's family also benefited from Marsh's financial charity and understanding. After the shooting, the father lit 22 candles in tribute to all the lives lost that fateful day: 21 in memory of the children and teachers killed in Robb; the other in the name of the shooter. This latter decision, however, did not sit well with some members of the community. “But who am I to exclude him (the shooter)?” Marsh asks. “I can't help but think about what exclusions he suffered throughout his life that may have contributed to this (the mass shooting).” Despite his commitment, Marsh is concerned that money alone will not address the needs of a community that must heal its wounds and recover from tragedy. To truly recover, he says, it is crucial to create a space that allows for difficult and uncomfortable conversations about the loss of a loved one, grief, mourning, social fractures, conflict between different members of the community, as well as to learn to accept different experiences and perspectives about what happened. According to Marsh, the lack of a community committee leading the response to the shooting has also contributed to the community's inability to regenerate from the tragedy. "(Groups) have emerged in isolation...but there hasn't been a centralized way to do it. Maybe it's not possible...but we all have a responsibility in this," he says. The shooting, he continues, created deep divisions between families who lost a loved one and those with survivors. “There are so many broken hearts in so many places, and in so many different ways, that it’s hard to know where to begin… How do we begin to heal the wounds of the community?” he asks. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27100249/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-12.02.38-PM-1024x486.png) Father Michael Marsh visits Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. The attack, in turn, generated a climate of tension between those who defend police intervention and those who reject it. Adding to these conflicting feelings, Marsh says, is the fact that, while part of the community yearns to look to the future and put the tragedy in the past, this step is unfeasible for the vast majority of affected families. “Healing is going to take decades,” he adds. The massacre has also left an indelible emotional mark on the clergyman. It can be felt through his warm brown eyes, which overflow with tears when the pain becomes too acute. On the day of the shooting, Marsh went to the hospital and accompanied Gloria and Javier Cazares to identify their daughter, Jackie, who died on the way there. She was 9 years old. “I was also asked to pray for a murdered child who couldn't be identified (initially) because he had been shot in the face,” he said. Marsh's words and thoughts are filled with empathy and emanate from years of reflection. He also draws from his personal experience, since he knows firsthand the grief of losing a child. Fifteen years ago, his eldest son, [Brandon](https://interruptingthesilence.com/fr-mike/?ref=down-ballot.info) , died in a work-related accident, and Marsh was forced to confront human mortality and the searing pain it instills within us when we face deaths that shatter — or regenerate — our faith in the existence of a higher being. For years, Marsh has been working with a spiritual guide who has helped him process his loss. He believes the community needs to confront and articulate its grief, but he acknowledges that doing so in public spaces may not be the most appropriate option for everyone affected. “They are conversations that take place between two people or in small groups, because they are vulnerable conversations, and they are conversations from the heart, not the head,” he says. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27100324/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-12.03.12-PM-1024x575.png) One of many artworks in Uvalde paying tribute to the victims and survivors of the shooting. ## “Protect Children, Not Guns” One hot and humid morning, Marsh and I drive through the streets of Uvalde, some of which are covered with colorful murals honoring the victims. We first stop at the local cemetery. Then, we stop at Robb School. A black tarp covers part of the school's facade. The rest of the tarp hangs barely aloft, like an abandoned building. After getting out of the car, we walk toward the humble memorial that pays tribute to the victims. The passage of time and inclement weather have eroded the white wooden crosses, photographs, and some mementos of the victims. On each cross rests a bouquet of flowers: one of the few touches of color in this bleak scene. Marsh silently approaches each cross, pauses at each one, and observes them carefully. As he looks up, he sighs, and his watery eyes meet mine. Three years after the massacre, the school is still a crime scene, Marsh explains. While the legal proceedings are being finalized, the school grounds are under police surveillance. As we walk through the area, a patrol car stops momentarily in front of us, and from the vehicle, an officer nods to Marsh. The police presenceand ongoing investigation are yet another open wound on this long path toward an uncertain future. After a few minutes of reflection, Marsh approaches me and breaks the silence. His words take a political turn, questioning the almost unlimited right to bear arms in the United States and the impact they have on community security — or insecurity. “We have more guns than people in the US,” he says. “What drives this need and desire to own them? … People say gun ownership isn't the problem, it's mental health. So why does the US have mental health problems that others don't…and we give them access to guns?” This sentiment is also shared by some of the victims' families. A modest memorial to the students and teachers remains in the town square. Beneath a cross lies an orange-painted stone with a clear call to action: "Protect children, not guns." ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27100429/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-12.04.16-PM-1024x621.png) Call to action posted at the memorial space in Uvalde Plaza. Uvalde's deep emotional wounds and social fissures are difficult to digest for those directly affected, its residents and visitors alike. But they are also an undeniable reminder of the high price this small town has paid for the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the country's rampant gun crisis, which is taking a toll on some ethnic minority groups. According to [a September 2024 report](https://publichealth.jhu.edu/sites/default/files/2024-09/2022-cgvs-gun-violence-in-the-united-states.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, between 2020 and 2023, gun violence was the leading cause of death among children and adolescents under 18 in the U.S. Gun violence has a disproportionate impact on young people of color, and the death rate for Latino youth doubled between 2013 and 2022\. This upward trend is compounded by the fact that the number of firearm homicides increased by 70% from 2013 to 2022 among Hispanic males. ## Uvalde's Battle for Mental Health ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27100521/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-12.05.09-PM-1024x542.png) The Children's Bereavement Center is located just steps from St. Philip's Episcopal Church. In his efforts to address the community's trauma in the aftermath of the shooting, Marsh played a key role in the creation of the Uvalde Children's Bereavement Center. Located just a few yards from his church, this mental health center offers free services to the community in English and Spanish. The facility is located in what was once an abandoned auto repair shop with no running water. Despite the extensive facelift, Marsh says residents are reluctant to receive psychotherapeutic care. He, however, has never stopped referring them to the center, and even set up a large room in the church where the center's staff conduct activities with patients. Over the years, the center's staff has grown from two mental health specialists to a team that includes three psychotherapists, a music therapy specialist, a community manager, and an operations manager. Currently, 114 weekly appointments are held with individuals ranging in age from 3 to 70\. The majority are minors, and 10% are Hispanic men. But, from the beginning, it hasn't been easy to gain the community's trust. “Getting children to come in for treatment was initially quite difficult because of the large number of agencies in the city and because those affected were directed to the Ecumenical Center and the (Uvalde Juntos) Resilience Center,” says Brenda Faulkner, who moved from Dublin, Texas, to Uvalde a few months after the attack to direct the center and contribute her extensive experience as a psychotherapist. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27100555/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-12.05.43-PM-1024x593.png) Brenda Faulkner runs the Uvalde Children's Bereavement Center. According to Faulkner, another initial barrier was the lack of community education about the benefits of psychotherapy, the available treatments, and the center staff's obligation to ensure confidentiality. As a result, efforts were focused on door-to-door psychoeducation. Part of this process focused on children. Faulkner asserts that some children mistakenly believe their parents bring them to the center to address problematic behaviors. In these situations, the therapists' job is to dissuade these concerns and ensure a nurturing and safe space where children feel comfortable expressing their feelings, processing grief, and building healthy interactions at home and at school — all at the individual's pace, because it is impossible to predict how long each individual will take to recover. In fact, Faulkner warns that society has created illusory expectations about death and grief. “You lose someone close to you — even a classmate, as happened with Robb — and they expect you to recover from the pain and loss in three days,” Faulkner explains. “It’s just not realistic.” This type of social pressure is compounded by the low income of most Uvalde residents. "A lot of people are poor, so they don't have the resources they might have in Parkland and other places," Faulkner says, referring to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018\. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27101128/collage-1024x375.png) Another public tribute to the victims and survivors of the shooting. Despite Faulkner's efforts to ensure free services for the community, some families whose children were killed in Robb have created alternative support systems. This is the case for Gloria Cazares, mother of Jackie; Kimberly Mata-Rubio, mother of Lexi; and Veronica Mata, mother of Tess. Together, they lead Lives Robbed, a nonprofit organization that provides support to families affected by the massacre. One of their goals is to honor the victims' legacy through activism and the pursuit of legislative changes aimed at reducing gun violence. After losing Jackie, Cazares experienced emotional paralysis and denial, and she quit her job as a home health nurse for a year. Still, for two years, she managed to channel her loss through political and legislative activism, spending money she received from a victims' fund on trips to Washington, DC and Austin, Texas. When legislative sessions began to become more frequent, Cazares noticed a dramatic change within herself. “I don't know if I'm finally allowing myself to feel the pain, but now it's much harder for me to get out of bed,” she reflects. Cazares has never sought the support of a mental health specialist, but she knows she probably needs to share her grief with one. Her husband, a glassmaker who has worked only odd jobs since their daughter's death, initially received psychotherapy, but stopped attending when he was told he had to change specialists. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/27101154/Screenshot-2025-10-27-at-12.11.40-PM-1024x611.png) A mural pays tribute to little Jackie Cazares. She died at age 9. The domino effect of the shooting has created financial hardship for his family. It's also true for Mata-Rubio's family, who acknowledges that many families in Uvalde are barely making ends meet. Theirs is one of them — both before and after the shooting. Mata-Rubio, her husband, and their five children moved to another home after Lexi's death. Their landlord was a police officer, which added to the family's tensions and worries. As a large family with limited financial resources, finding a new home was a huge challenge, Mata-Rubio explains. Lexi's murder also derailed her career: She quit her job as a crime reporter at the local newspaper and transferred to the sales department — a more emotionally supportive position. Although Mata-Rubio has devoted much of her time to activism and even ran for mayor of Uvalde, one constant has always been her heartache. The alliance that Mata-Rubio, Cazares, and Mata have forged has become a judgment-free platform for sharing their struggles, feelings, and reminiscing about their daughters. For all three, Lives Robbed is a safe space that has replaced the lack of the centralized, community-based group they would have liked. Yet, they have managed to fill that void. While these mothers continue to fight for legislative changes, Marsh has already packed his bags and said goodbye to his community. After 20 years leading the church, last July he hung up his cassock and left Uvalde — a crushing blow to a small town that hasn't been able to process the tragedy and heal the chasms created in the community three years ago by an 18-year-old gunman. But wherever Marsh goes, Uvalde will always be present in his spirit and prayers. “In many ways," he says, the community "is treating the symptoms, not the disease," which he sees as gun violence, economic inequalities, and systemic barriers. "We have to move forward and treat the disease.” This [article](https://mindsitenews.org/2025/11/13/uvalde-the-price-of-a-mass-shooting/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MindSite News](https://mindsitenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # Tulane protesters allege TUPD violence, university denies wrongdoing by Aliana Mediratta, Verite News New Orleans November 14, 2025 Tulane University students and activists are alleging that the school’s police department used violence to break up a protest opposing an event where members of the Israeli Defense Forces were giving a talk earlier this month. Several of the protestors say they were threatened with arrest for violating a noise ordinance and were injured as a result of the police action. University spokesperson Michael Strecker did not directly address the allegations of excessive force from the organizers of the protest — including a claim that one of the officers placed a protester in a chokehold while trying to break up the demonstration. While a video taken that evening shows an individual in a chokehold, Verite News has not been able to verify that it was an officer carrying out the act. But Strecker alleged that one of the responding officers was assaulted and injured by members of the group. The incident is still under investigation, he added, and Tulane is “carefully reviewing” any allegations of violence. TUPD was alerted of the protest, which occurred on Nov. 3, after local neighbors called in a noise complaint. The local activist group Together United Louisiana Students for a Democratic Society (TULSDS), which has historically been involved in pro-Palestine organizing, were gathered to oppose a speaker event where two members of the Israeli Defense Forces recounted their experiences during Hamas’ attacks on Oct. 7, 2023\. The event was held at the Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana’s building on Freret Street near campus. Chabad-Lubavitch did not sponsor the event, but allowed host organization Students Supporting Israel, a student group at Tulane, to use their space. Verite News contacted members of TULSDS, which is not affiliated with the university, local pro-Palestine activists and the TUPD to attempt to verify the course of events that evening. A representative for the TUPD declined to provide comment, citing the department’s media policies, and referred to Strecker. ![Students pass Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana’s Btesh Family Chabad House on Freret Street in Uptown New Orleans on Nov. 12, 2025.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/14115630/20251112_CZB_LilyMathis_08.jpg) Students pass Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana’s Btesh Family Chabad House on Freret Street in Uptown New Orleans on Nov. 12, 2025. ### **Conflicting narratives about escalation** Protesters gathered on the sidewalk across from the Chabad-Lubavitch house, as the house itself is private property. While the house is not on Tulane’s campus, TUPD has agreements with the New Orleans Police Department that allow it to respond to issues surrounding campus. Both Strecker and the demonstrators agreed that the protesters were banging on pots and pans and chanting as a form of protest. But narratives differ on how TUPD officers handled the situation after they arrived. According to Strecker, at 7:30 p.m., neighbors contacted TUPD to report a disturbance, and they determined that the volume was over the legal limit using a noise meter. In an email to Verite News, he wrote that officers issued multiple verbal warnings to reduce the noise level before attempting to issue a summons for a noise ordinance violation. Protester Rory Macdonald, who is finishing their senior year at Tulane, said that after officers informed the group of the alleged noise violation, they proceeded to turn down the volume on their sound system and told others to be quieter. But, Macdonald said, an officer told the protesters that it was too late to turn the volume down and threatened Macdonald with arrest. No arrests took place throughout the course of the night, though video shows officers threatening members of the group with arrest. ![Senior Rory Macdonald speaks to a gathering of students and supporters on Tulane University’s campus on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 after the ‘Q Spot,’ a space for LGBTQIA+ students, was closed. TUPD officers threatened them with arrest at a separate, unrelated protest on Nov. 3, 2025.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/14120843/20251024_CZB_TulaneQ_05.jpg) Senior Rory Macdonald speaks to a gathering of students and supporters on Tulane University’s campus on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 after the ‘Q Spot,’ a space for LGBTQIA+ students, was closed. TUPD officers threatened them with arrest at a separate, unrelated protest on Nov. 3, 2025. ### **Video shows physical conflict** Verite News reviewed several videos of the encounter posted online by TUSDS, individual members of the group, other local activists groups, and [the Tulane Hullabaloo](https://tulanehullabaloo.com/71723/news/police-disperse-protesters-outside-israeli-soldier-speaker-event-at-tulane-chabad/?ref=down-ballot.info), that show physical interactions between the protesters and police. After police arrived, a video shows officers lined up in front of protesters, who continued to bang on pots and pans as they chanted “shame on you.” One video shows Blu DiMarco, a local activist, telling other protesters that one officer asked specifically for Macdonald and expressing concerns that they might be arrested as the police are on the sidewalk. Another video shows police moving into the crowd of students. Officers can be heard telling students to back up. Macdonald said that TUPD threatened to arrest them. In the video, an individual can be heard addressing Rory and telling them to “stop.” Macdonald responds, telling TUPD to let them go and says that they are not going anywhere with them. “You don’t have a choice, this is not an option,” the individual in the crowd responded. The video shows TUPD Chief Frank Young walking into the crowd as people pushed one another. He told the students gathered around him that Rory is “going to jail.” Young then walked back in the direction he first came in and forcibly moved a student out of his way as he started to exit the crowd, then told another protester to “get away from the police” with his hand on the protester’s shoulder. Protesters and police officers can be seen pushing one another as the crowd moved around the sidewalk. Another clip shows that after officers moved into the crowd, a scuffle ensued. It is difficult to see exactly what was happening in the center of the group, but at one point, the video shows a person lying on the ground with another person’s legs wrapped around their neck. Multiple students in the video can be heard simultaneously yelling “he’s in a headlock” and “get off him, pig.” Tulane SDS has alleged that a student was put into a chokehold by a TUPD officer until they eventually lost consciousness. In his statement, Strecker wrote that an “officer was assaulted and injured by protesters.” In a different video, showing another angle of the same interaction, Young walked over and pulled an officer up from the ground and escorted him out of the crowd toward the sidewalk. In an interview, DiMarco said that, as the officers were moving in toward the crowd, one officer hit him in the face multiple times, knocking his glasses off, pushed him, and grabbed his arm hard enough to leave a bruise. Lily Mathis, a sophomore at Tulane, alleged that a TUPD officer hit her in the stomach and threw her to the ground. The following day, she went to the emergency department at University Medical Center because she was not feeling well and had concerns about internal bleeding. Verite News reviewed a patient visit report from Nov. 4 that notes the presence of abdominal pain and bruising on Mathis’ arms and legs. Notes within the report state that Mathis told doctors she received these injuries while protesting at Tulane. “I just felt a really harsh hit to the stomach,” Mathis said. “It was a cop who picked me up from behind and threw me on the ground.” According to Mathis, she and other protesters asked TUPD for their badge numbers but officers did not provide any information, including their names. This [article](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/14/tulane-tupd-protest-idf-chabad-house/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=26426&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- This article was [originally published](https://www.votebeat.org/michigan/2025/11/12/hamtramck-clerk-rana-faraj-missing-ballots/?ref=down-ballot.info) by [Votebeat](https://www.votebeat.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. # As Hamtramck, Michigan, awaits election results, city clerk is told to stay away Hayley Harding, Votebeat Nov 12, 2025 at 7:00pm EST *Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S.* [*Sign up for Votebeat Michigan’s free newsletter here.*](https://votebe.at/michigannewsletter?ref=down-ballot.info) More than a week after Election Day, results from the Wayne County community of Hamtramck remain in limbo because of dozens of ballots that weren’t counted — some of which may never be tallied. Thirty-seven absentee ballots were not properly tabulated on election night due to what Hamtramck Deputy City Clerk Abe Siblani called “human error at the counting board.” He said the issue would be resolved during the county canvassing meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday. County officials did not immediately respond to questions Wednesday. The outcome of the city’s mayoral election may depend on what happens. It is unclear why the ballots weren’t counted. Mismatches between the number of ballots received and counted are rare, and usually stem from simple counting errors that are corrected before results are sent to the county. Typically, only “cured” ballots — mail ballots with signature mismatches that have been reconciled — are added in during the canvassing process. Officials say there are potentially also [a significant number of those](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1369369504557389), which could also affect the outcome of the mayoral election: The current margin stands at just [11 votes](https://michigan.totalvote.com/Wayne/ResultsSW.aspx?type=CIT&cid=05&map=&ref=down-ballot.info), with Adam Alharbi narrowly leading City Council member Muhith Mahmood. Meanwhile, City Clerk Rana Faraj has been absent from the office. Siblani said that city officials told her not to come to work Monday and that he has not heard from her since. Faraj could not be reached for comment. It’s not clear whether Faraj has been suspended in some way, or why she was told not to appear for work. City officials did not return multiple voicemails asking for information. She did, however, [tell TV station WDIV](https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/investigations/2025/11/11/hamtramck-election-crisis-deepens-37-uncounted-ballots-found-clerk-suspended-residency-lawsuit-filed/?ref=down-ballot.info) that she “respectfully but firmly” disagreed with the city’s decision. Clerks are appointed by the city manager in Hamtramck, according to [the city’s charter](https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/hamtramck/latest/hamtramck%5Fmi/0-0-0-12666?ref=down-ballot.info), and serve at the pleasure of the manager. Faraj’s absence is the latest election mystery in Hamtramck, a city of about 28,000 people bordering Detroit that has been rocked by allegations that council members were involved in an election fraud scheme. An investigation into those allegations [led to felony charges](https://www.votebeat.org/michigan/2025/08/11/hamtramck-city-council-election-forgery/?ref=down-ballot.info) this year. “We’re used to scandals at this point,” Siblani said. In March, Faraj [wrote a letter](https://www.thehamtramckreview.com/breaking-news-city-clerk-demands-ag-act-on-election-investigation/?ref=down-ballot.info) to Attorney General Dana Nessel, asking her office to “take action” on alleged election fraud in the city, saying that an unidentified City Council member — whom Faraj [later confirmed](https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2025/03/25/hamtramck-clerk-sends-letter-to-ag-dana-nessel-alleging-election-fraud/77737369007/?ref=down-ballot.info) to be Mohammed Hassan — “acts as though he’s above the law.” Nessel [later requested a special prosecutor](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26047838-spa-petition-draft-hamtramck/?ref=down-ballot.info) to investigate Hassan, council members Abu Musa, Muhtasin Sadman, and Mohammed Alsomiri, as well as two others. The petition alleged they conspired to collect unvoted absentee ballots from newly naturalized citizens, fill them out, and pay for votes. In August, Hassan and Sadman [were charged with felonies](https://www.votebeat.org/michigan/2025/08/11/hamtramck-city-council-election-forgery/?ref=down-ballot.info). Felony charges against Sadman were later dropped after two subpoenaed witnesses failed to appear, [The Detroit News reported](https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2025/10/20/election-fraud-felonies-against-hamtramck-city-council-member-dismissed/86802671007/?ref=down-ballot.info) last month, although he still faces a misdemeanor charge. Court records show Hassan is set to have a jury trial in April. No others have been charged. Despite the investigations, Musa and Nayeem Choudhury — who was one of the others named in Nessel’s petition — both won council seats last week, according to unofficial results. Just before the August primary, footage from surveillance cameras appeared to show Musa [allegedly handing a driver bundles of ballots](https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2025/08/13/video-appears-to-show-hamtramck-councilmember-dropping-off-stacks-of-ballots-before-primary-election/?ref=down-ballot.info) to place into a city drop box. Michigan State Police say they are investigating; [Michigan law](https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-168-764A&ref=down-ballot.info) allows only family members or those in the same household to return ballots for voters. The repeated irregularities have shaken some voters’ confidence in the city’s electoral processes. Several voters told Votebeat on Election Day that they felt charges of election crimes should disqualify a candidate. Rich Lash, a Hamtramck voter, said he turned up to vote on Election Day despite the scandals because he felt it was his civic duty. He was voting for new people to “shake it up,” he told Votebeat, particularly after hearing from a number of family and friends that his vote wouldn’t matter. “I’m pessimistically hopeful,” he said just a few hours before polls closed. *Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at* *hharding@votebeat.org* *.* Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters [here](https://votebeat.org/newsletters/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # New Bern eye surgeon’s challenge of NC law could upend how health care facilities are regulated by Anne Blythe, North Carolina Health News November 17, 2025 #### **By Anne Blythe** A New Bern eye surgeon who is [challenging North Carolina’s laws that ](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/10/23/lawsuit-tests-nc-certificate-of-need-law/?ref=down-ballot.info)cap the kinds of medical services, facilities and equipment that can be offered in geographic regions of the state will take his case back to court this week. Jay Singleton, owner of [Singleton Vision Center](https://singletonvisioncenter.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) has been fighting for five and a half years to upend how health care industries have done business in this state for nearly half a century. The ophthalmologist filed a lawsuit in April 2020; it argues that North Carolina’s [Certificate of Need statute](https://info.ncdhhs.gov/dhsr/coneed/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info), or CON law, is unconstitutional. [The law requires](https://www.ncsl.org/health/certificate-of-need-state-laws?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Certificate%20of%20need%20%28CON%29%20laws,expenditures%20meet%20a%20community%20need.) nursing homes, surgical centers outside hospital settings, hospitals, ambulatory cancer care and cardiac amenities, substance use treatment beds, hospice and other facilities to obtain a certificate from the state Department of Health and Human Services before developing or offering the services. Adopted in 1977 and amended over the years, the law was established as part of a national effort launched in the mid-20th century to contain health care costs by reducing over-investment in facilities and equipment. The theory at the time was that states would prevent unnecessary capital expenditures by requiring certificates of need for the development of things like medical services, hospital beds, imaging machines and other high-priced equipment. Singleton contends that North Carolina’s law restricts his right to earn a living and to reap the full fruits of his labor. He also asserts that the CON system violates the anti-monopoly clause of the state constitution and grants special advantages to existing health care facilities without giving broad consideration to the public good. Singleton Vision Center is “a full-service eye clinic” in New Bern. For years, according to Singleton’s lawsuit, he has wanted to perform surgeries for all his patients at the clinic, which he contends could save them “thousands of dollars over the cost of obtaining those procedures at nearby hospitals.” The [State Medical Facilities Plan](https://info.ncdhhs.gov/dhsr/ncsmfp/index.html?ref=down-ballot.info), which is developed each year as part of the certificate of need process, found no such need existed in Singleton’s geographical region, which spans Craven, Jones and Pamlico counties. In fact, [The Washington Post reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/01/02/certificate-of-need-competition-health-care/?ref=down-ballot.info) early this year that regulators haven’t seen a need for new surgical centers within an 1,800-square-mile area of New Bern since at least 2007\. So Singleton had to perform most of his surgeries at the hospital that is just two miles from his clinic. Singleton’s attorneys argued that had the ophthalmologist been permitted to run such a program, he would have been able to provide “high-quality outpatient eye surgeries consistent with the standard of care,” and provide it at a more affordable rate than the hospital. Singleton’s case initially was dismissed in Wake County Superior Court on June 11, 2021, by Judge Michael O’Foghludha. On Oct. 18, 2024, the state Supreme Court issued [an unsigned, unanimous four-page ruling](https://appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=1&pdf=44132&ref=down-ballot.info) that gave the case new life while leaving open the question of whether the certificate of need law is constitutional. The case goes back to Superior Court, where a three-judge panel appointed by Chief Justice Paul Newby will weigh the legality of the CON law. #### **A con or boon?** Depending on whom you ask, you can get two widely diverging views on [North Carolina’s Certificate of Need law](https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter%5F131E/Article%5F9.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Hospital industry advocates and state regulators say such laws prevent unnecessary duplication of facilities, equipment and services, which theoretically cuts down on wasteful spending and ensures more equitable access to care. They argue that is especially the case in rural areas, where sparse populations might not be as enticing to private market systems that are motivated by profit. For instance, they say that facilities such as Singleton’s would more likely be built in urban areas where potential customers are likely to be wealthier than in rural areas — thus concentrating services there instead of spreading them across the state. Critics call CON laws a “con,” using the play on words to describe the statutes as fundamentally anti-competitive. They say such statutes disincentivize existing providers from being efficient and controlling costs, arguing that free-market competition rather than government control will lead to lower patient prices, more choices and ultimately a higher quality of care. A lower barrier to entry, critics contend, would encourage more providers to create facilities such as Singleton’s in more disparate places. These opposing views are on display in Singleton’s case. Organizations and individuals who aren’t part of the lawsuit are seeking to share their perspectives to help shape the outcome of the judges’ decisions. Republican judges Jeffrey Foster of Pitt County and Troy Stafford of Iredell County are scheduled to hear arguments with Democratic Judge Jacqueline Grant of Buncombe County on Tuesday (Nov. 18) at a Campbell Law School courtroom in Raleigh. [North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner](https://www.nctreasurer.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) and the [State Employee Association of North Carolina](https://www.seanc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) are seeking to intervene in the lawsuit, siding with Singleton in his challenge of the CON law. They cite the [North Carolina State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees](https://www.shpnc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) as their interest. The plan provides health care for nearly 750,000 current and retired state workers and their dependents, making it one of the largest purchasers of health care in the state. For the fiscal year that ended on June 30, the plan’s expenditures totaled $4.5 billion, according to the brief filed by the treasurer and SEANC, a nonprofit organization with nearly 23,000 current state workers and another 19,000 retired employees as members. “Although the CON law’s stated purpose is to lower healthcare costs while increasing access, the law’s actual purpose is to protect institutionalized and incumbent healthcare providers at the expense of would-be competitors, those who need healthcare, and taxpayers,” attorneys for the treasurer and SEANC wrote in the brief. “\[T\]he CON law effectively prohibits new providers from entering the market, imposing a draconian burden,” the brief continues. #### **Varied pricing** The treasurer and SEANC offered examples of the difference in costs for services inside hospital settings versus freestanding centers. Their attorneys contend: - An MRI performed for State Health Plan members at a standalone radiology center, on average, costs $872, while the same procedure at an outpatient hospital facility costs on average $1,252 — a 44 percent difference. - A colonoscopy at a freestanding center costs on average $1,000\. The same procedure at an outpatient hospital facility costs, on average, $3,500 — a 250 percent difference. While the treasurer and SEANC acknowledge in their brief there could be other factors contributing to the pricing differences, they argue that they “exist in part due to the CON law.” [The John Locke Foundation](https://www.johnlocke.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), a right-leaning think tank that advocates for free market principles and has long been a critic of certificate of need laws, expressed similar views in its “friend-of-the-court” briefs supporting Singleton. The [state Department of Health and Human Services](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info), its secretary, the governor and the leaders of both legislative chambers have asked the three-judge panel to dismiss Singleton’s case. The federal government encouraged states to adopt certificate of need laws in the 1970s through the [National Health Planning and Resources Development Act](https://www.congress.gov/bill/93rd-congress/senate-bill/2994?ref=down-ballot.info). The federal law suggested states create their own regulations and threw in a stick by adding that those that did not go along [could lose federal funding for care](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00469580241251937?ref=down-ballot.info#bibr3-00469580241251937). The worry was that without CON regulation, states would allow the proliferation of increasingly expensive and potentially unnecessary services. Most states complied. Later, in the 1980s, the federal government [rolled back its laws](https://www.mercatus.org/research/data-visualizations/40-years-certificate-need-laws-across-america?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=In%201986%2C%20the%20federal%20government,had%20repealed%20their%20CON%20programs.), and 12 states immediately followed suit. North Carolina is one of [at least 35 states](https://www.ncsl.org/health/certificate-of-need-state-laws?ref=down-ballot.info) that have CON laws in place, according to the state’s Oct. 15 motion to dismiss, but those regulations haven’t gone unchanged over the decades. Since North Carolina adopted the law in 1977, it’s been amended 50 times, the motion further states. As recently as 2023, the General Assembly modified the law in conjunction with the expansion of Medicaid to at least 650,000 more people in the state. Those changes removed certificate of need requirements for ambulatory surgical centers in the 23 counties that had populations greater than 125,000 in the 2020 census. The modifications also eliminate CON review for MRI equipment in those counties and makes it easier to add beds in some psychiatric and chemical dependency facilities. ![Shows a map where 35 states are colored in green, as having CON laws in place, three states are blue, where they have a variation on CON programs and 12 states that are yellow, where there are no CON laws](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/US_CONlaws_NCSL.png) Certificate of need state laws #### **Thorny topic** The state’s certificate of need law has long been a source of debate in the General Assembly. The discussions have run the gamut of possibilities — from minor tweaks to full-fledged overhauls. Powerful hospital advocacy groups typically are quick to mount strategic opposition when changes are proposed, often thwarting them. Federal law [requires hospitals to treat patients with an emergency medical condition](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12355?ref=down-ballot.info) regardless of their ability to pay. Hospital leaders argue that because many of those patients have not had preventative care, they often have more severe and complex — and thereby expensive — medical needs. Hospitals have been able to offset the financial burden of that uncompensated care with commercially insured patients and specialty services that they contend would be eliminated by CON rollbacks. They worry that ambulatory surgical centers would be in a position to cherry-pick patients, turning away those who cannot afford their services and pushing them to hospitals that are obligated to help them. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, which does business as Atrium Health, the Cumberland County Hospital System (or Cape Fear Valley Health System), the [North Carolina Healthcare Association](https://www.ncha.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), the [North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association](https://www.nchcfa.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), the [Association for Home & Hospice Care of North Carolina](https://www.ahhcnc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), [the North Carolina Senior Living Association](https://ncseniorliving.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and Bio-Medical Applications of North Carolina filed a “friend of the court” brief together on Nov. 5 supporting the state’s stance on the Singleton case. The CON law does not ban anything, the health care associations argue. As part of the certificate of need process, the 25-member [North Carolina ](https://info.ncdhhs.gov/dhsr/ncshcc/members.html?ref=down-ballot.info)[State](https://info.ncdhhs.gov/dhsr/ncshcc/members.html?ref=down-ballot.info)[ Health Coordinating Council](https://info.ncdhhs.gov/dhsr/ncshcc/members.html?ref=down-ballot.info) — which includes licensed physicians, professors, elected officials and at least one member each from the state Senate and the House of Representatives — develops an annual State Medical Facilities Plan to guide strategies for the state’s health care facilities and services. That plan is developed with opportunities for public comment and input then forwarded to the governor for approval. Using a series of criteria established through law, the state health and human services department then reviews applications for certificates of need and gives a thumbs-up or down that can then be appealed to the state [Office of Administrative Hearings](https://www.oah.nc.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info). Those decisions can be challenged at the state Court of Appeals. Singleton’s case was different in that he did not apply for a certificate of need in the first place, because the State Medical Facilities Plan showed no need for a new surgical center in his geographical region for at least two years. #### **Sorting through research** North Carolina is not the only state seeing challenges to its certificate of need laws. Nebraska, Kentucky, West Virginia, Mississippi and Oregon have seen court or legislative action in the past few years seeking change. Retired Duke University economist [Chris Conover](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-conover-64b70b5?ref=down-ballot.info) argued in [a 2020 research paper](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7427974/?ref=down-ballot.info) that certificate of need laws cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars per year while also acknowledging that the dollar estimates were “quite uncertain given that the literature on how CON affects key outcomes such as mortality and spending is quite mixed. “The literature provides mixed results, on average finding that CON increases health expenditures and overall elderly mortality while reducing heart surgery mortality,” wrote Conover and his co-author [James Bailey](https://economics.providence.edu/faculty-profiles/james-bailey/?ref=down-ballot.info), an economist at Providence College. “Our cost-effectiveness analysis estimates that the costs of CON laws somewhat exceed their benefits, although our estimates are quite uncertain.” Although the decisions in Singleton’s case on his first go-’round in court focused mostly on his individual situation and narrowly tailored relief, the state Supreme Court ruling last year pushed questions of the constitutionality of the law into a broader realm. In their request to dismiss the case, the state’s attorneys pointed out North Carolina Supreme Court decisions that have upheld the law. The partisan makeup of the top court has changed since then, however, moving from a 4-3 Democratic majority in 2022 to a 5-2 Republican majority in 2023. The current state Supreme Court majority has reversed precedent set by previous benches, creating questions about the impact those dynamics will have on the North Carolina CON law. “North Carolina’s certificate of need (CON) law bans healthcare providers from entering the market without a CON,” Singleton’s attorneys wrote in his Oct. 15 motion for the judges to rule in his favor even before a trial. “Unlike a professional or facility license, a CON does not regulate health or safety. Instead, whether a provider can obtain a CON turns entirely on whether a state agency projects a ‘need’ for more services — a decision that depends, at root, on whether there are already providers serving that region. “Put differently: Whether a new provider can enter the market depends on whether old providers got there first.” This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/17/nc-eye-surgeon-challenges-certificate-of-need-law/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # Puerto Rico helped fuel America’s corn boom. Some locals see an unfair arrangement. by Isabella Schoonover, for Investigate Midwest November 11, 2025 More than a third of the world’s corn supply comes from America’s Corn Belt, a region of sprawling grain fields stretching from Nebraska to Ohio. But most of the seed varieties planted in those midwestern fields were first tested and researched in Puerto Rico, the small Caribbean island that has sacrificed much of its own agricultural resources to meet the growing needs of major U.S. crop producers. Several seed companies and researchers use farmland in Puerto Rico to breed and genetically engineer high-yielding, pest-resistant and herbicide-tolerant seeds. Eighty-five percent of all seeds used in the global seed chain pass through Puerto Rico at some point, according to the Puerto Rico Agricultural Biotechnology Industry Association (PRABIA). However, some Puerto Ricans believe these seed companies are exploiting the island’s resources without providing meaningful economic benefits in return, given the generous tax incentives and regulatory concessions they receive from the local government. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Magha-Garcia-photo-headshot-658x1024.jpg) Magha Garcia, organic farmer and member of the Boricuá Organization of Ecological Agriculture “They don’t produce food, but they are using the resources that we need to produce food,” said Magha Garcia, an organic farmer and a member of the Boricuá Organization of Ecological Agriculture, an organization that opposes corporate agriculture and advocates for more localized, organic food and farming. Over the last 30 years, thousands of acres of test farms have been opened in Puerto Rico by agribusiness giants like Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, Syngenta and BASF, which combined control more than half of the global seed market. The total economic output of corn to the U.S. economy was [$123 billion](https://dt176nijwh14e.cloudfront.net/file/800/Economic%20Contribution%20Summary%206-2025.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2024, according to the National Corn Growers Association. ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20750139/thumbnail) Puerto Rico, however, hasn’t seen the same benefits. [PRABIA](https://prabiapr.org/prabia-celebrates-its-30th-anniversary-with-new-leadership-and-groundbreaking-findings-on-agricultural-biotechnology-in-puerto-rico/?ref=down-ballot.info) reported employing about 2,900 people and generating $284 million in economic activity in 2024\. The association also said ag-bio collectively paid $9.3 million in taxes in 2024 – a low amount considering the more than $22 billion earned in crop science sales by Bayer alone that same year. Puerto Rico’s own agriculture has been in decline since the 1940s, when a joint government initiative between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, called “[Operation Bootstrap](https://dp.la/primary-source-sets/puerto-rican-migration-to-the-us?ref=down-ballot.info),” sought to transform the island from an agrarian to an industrial society. As a result of industrialization, farmers and farm workers were forced to move into cities or leave the island for the U.S. mainland in search of employment. Today, the island imports 85% of its food, despite having a favorable farming climate. Yaminette Rodriguez, a retired USDA agronomist and resident of Salinas, said the relationship between seed companies and Puerto Rico is one-sided. “They don’t sell the seeds over here,” she said. “We are just a place where they can produce seeds all year.” Rodriguez said the biggest challenge Puerto Ricans face in building up local agriculture is that the government prioritizes incentivizing ag-biotech over small farms. The government has relied heavily on [corporate tax exemptions](https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Arthur%20MacEwan%20and%20J.%20Tomas%20Hexner%20%28Submission%206%29.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), credits and worker wage subsidies to entice corporations to come to the island, including a 90% income tax exemption for corporations. However, Garcia, from the Boricuá Organization of Ecological Agriculture, said increased corporate presence on the island has not translated to an improvement in the quality of life for Puerto Ricans. “Puerto Ricans, we have struggles everywhere. We are basically surviving,” she said. The island’s poverty rate is [more than twice](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/puerto-rico-us-territory-crisis?ref=down-ballot.info) that of Mississippi, the poorest U.S. state. Puerto Ricans are also paid 40% to 60% less on average than American workers, a statistic [advertised](https://www.investpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/IPR%5FBioscienceSectorProfile%5F11.20.2021%5FFINAL.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by Puerto Rico’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce to encourage companies to hire skilled talent at a lower cost. Six foreign corn companies currently rent a total of 5,225 acres of land along the island’s south coast, according to a 2024 study by research firm Estudios Técnicos. Illinois, the second-largest corn-producing state, has been a key partner to the seed industry in Puerto Rico. In fact, the Illinois Crop Improvement Association, the state’s official seed certification agency, has a 200-acre winter nursery in Juana Díaz, a municipality on the island’s south coast. It is the only nonprofit seed research station in Puerto Rico, providing third-party winter seed breeding and growout services to help plant breeders conduct year-round research for business or academic purposes. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-1024x576.jpeg) Corn grows on the Illinois Crop Improvement Association’s winter farm in 2022\. Corn breeders are able to plant more generations of seeds per year with their winter farm services. photo courtesy of the Illinois Crop Improvement Association “We work with a lot of people from the Midwest,” said Lizandro Perez, the farm’s station manager. Every week, Perez and his small team of agronomists in Puerto Rico convene over Zoom with their main office in Champaign, Illinois, to discuss the continuous shipping and management of seeds to and from their farm throughout the year. Illinois Crop Improvement Association CEO Doug Miller said the customers they serve range from university researchers and small-scale seed breeders to the largest seed companies on the island, but mostly include plant breeders from Illinois or other parts of the U.S. who would otherwise get only one growing season per year in their home environments. “We just did a buckwheat increase for someone, and they sent us 14 ounces of seed, and we generated 14 pounds to send back to them,” Miller said. “It’s not without its challenges, but that’s a primary means of supporting Illinois agriculture.” ## **America’s corn boom and how the seed industry came to Puerto Rico** Indigenous Americans have cultivated corn and its wild ancestor, teosinte, for [thousands of years](https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/mixed-origin-made-maize-successful?ref=down-ballot.info), originating the practice of selective breeding to develop hundreds of heirloom corn varieties. In the 1800s, white settlers in the American West [adopted](https://www.ars.usda.gov/oc/timeline/corn?ref=down-ballot.info) the practice of corn farming and seed selection by saving the seeds of the strongest crops at the end of each season to plant the following year. In the 1930s, plant geneticists began developing hybrid seeds by crossing two [inbred](https://passel2.unl.edu/view/lesson/c3ded390efbf/9?ref=down-ballot.info) corn varieties, or self-pollinated corn, to create a new variety with more desirable traits, such as bigger ear size and drought resistance. Seeing the immense market opportunity for hybrids, prominent geneticist [Henry A. Wallace](https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2655/henry-wallace?ref=down-ballot.info) founded Pioneer Hi-Bred, the first commercial producer of hybrid corn seeds. In the following decades, plant breeders rushed to bring their own hybrid seed varieties to market. By 1965, nearly all U.S. corn acres were planted with hybrid seeds. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-2-1024x682.jpeg) A sign in Dekalb, Illinois, pictured in 2025, marks the first hybrid corn breeding plot of the Dekalb Genetics Corporation, one of the first commercial producers of hybrid corn. The Dekalb corn seed company was acquired by Monsanto (now Bayer) in 1998\. photo by Isabella Schoonover for Investigate Midwest Over the second half of the 20th Century, corn farmers increased production to meet global demand for feed grains, [biofuels](https://ethanolrfa.org/ethanol-101/ethanol-timeline?ref=down-ballot.info) and other corn-based products. Large seed companies also [expanded intellectual property protections](https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2023/august/expanded-intellectual-property-protections-for-crop-seeds-increase-innovation-and-market-power-for-companies?ref=down-ballot.info), enabling them to seize greater control over hybrids and the emerging GMO seed market. In 1996, the U.S. also passed the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act, which allowed farmers to make crop planting decisions based on the most profitable crop in a given year. With growing global demand for ethanol, farmers invested more heavily in corn acreage. As a result of incremental advances in plant breeding, yields have increased by an average of [1.8 bushels](https://ncga.com/stay-informed/media/the-corn-economy/article/2023/09/rising-u-s-corn-yields-boost-production-without-additional-land?ref=down-ballot.info) per acre per year since the 1930s and are projected to reach a record 186.7 bushels per acre for 2025. ![chart visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/24806419/thumbnail) The first field trials for genetically modified or transgenic crops brought seed companies to Puerto Rico. By crossing plant genes with a bacterium that produces a toxin deadly to insects, seed makers could reduce crop loss from pests. Seeds were also bred for herbicide tolerance. Puerto Rico’s tropical climate offered seed companies a year-round environment that accelerated seed research and development. Its status as a U.S. territory gave it an advantage over other foreign tropical regions, according to the Illinois Crop Improvement Association. Its close proximity to the mainland also made it easier and cheaper than transporting seeds from Hawaii, another major site for corn and soybean production. In 1983, the Asgrow Seed Company (later acquired by Monsanto) opened a permanent seed research facility in Isabela, Puerto Rico., Illinois Crop Improvement established its winter farm in Juana Diaz in 1986, followed by Pioneer Hi-Bred (now Corteva) in Salinas in 1989. Monsanto was issued its first Puerto Rico GMO seed trial permits in 1989, leading to the development of the first glyphosate-tolerant soybean in 1993. University of Illinois commercial agriculture specialist Talon Becker said that seed research in Puerto Rico helps significantly shorten the research and development process for bringing new seed varieties to market, which can take 10 years or longer. “You have to find those specific gene combinations that just happen to yield better on a larger scale than the other ones,” Becker said. “If you can do that in three generations in a tropical place, you can get a whole lot more seed per year than you can in Illinois.” Puerto Rico now ranks No. 1 in total transgenic crop permits of any state or U.S. territory issued during the last five years, according to Invest Puerto Rico. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-2-1024x662.png) This map shows the five seed and agrochemical companies with research stations in Puerto Rico, which are clustered along the island’s south coast. map courtesy of the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce ## **Pesticide pushback** Environmental risks associated with pesticide and herbicide use by seed companies have also been vocally opposed by Puerto Ricans. Ruth Santiago, a community and environmental lawyer in Salinas, said a main area of concern is the contamination of drinking water in the south coast aquifer, the primary water supply for municipalities from Patillas to Ponce. ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Ruth-Santiago-photo-edited-1.jpg) Ruth Santiago, attorney “Here in Salinas, we depend exclusively on groundwater for human consumption,” Santiago said. “Our drinking water comes from the aquifer, and so it’s very critical that we protect the quality of the water.” A [2011 study](https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/669/noaa%5F669%5FDS1.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found evidence of pesticide contamination in the Jobos Bay watershed, an estuary and mangrove reserve connected to the south coast aquifer. The primary pesticide found in the watershed was Syngenta’s [atrazine](https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/atrazine?ref=down-ballot.info), the second-most widely used herbicide after Bayer’s glyphosate. Syngenta has a 200-acre test farm in Salinas, just two miles north of Jobos Bay. Studies have linked atrazine exposure to endocrine disruption in humans and DNA damage in aquatic species, including [those found](https://blaypublishers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/leb31sastre-et-al-pp-3-14-ecotoxicology-clams-jobos-bay-puerto-rico.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in Jobos Bay. Contamination poses a threat to human reproductive health and the biodiversity of aquatic ecosystems, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. A 2013 University of Nebraska study has also found a link between atrazine exposure and increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when combined with nitrates in drinking water, which results from the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. Nitrate contamination was also detected in Jobos Bay according to the NOAA study. Following [legal action](https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/endocrine-disrupting-pesticide-atrazine-be-banned-hawaii-five-us-territories-prohibited-conifers-roadsides-2020-09-23/?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Center for Biological Diversity and Pesticide Action Network against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2020, atrazine use is now banned in Puerto Rico. Some companies on the island have adopted an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategy, including Illinois Crop Improvement, which considers pesticide use as a last resort when other control methods are ineffective.But some say the long-term harms of any pesticides outweigh short-term benefits. “The negative impacts come when they run downstream,” said Daniel Rath, a soil scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “It’s folks that depend on groundwater, that depend on clean air, that are facing the brunt of these negative impacts.” ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/image-1.jpeg) A sign outside Syngenta’s administrative offices in Salinas recruits workers for one of its farms in Juana Díaz. Lizandro Perez of the Illinois Crop Improvement Association said seed companies in Puerto Rico are dealing with worker shortages, which can be attributed to significant population loss on the island. photo by Isabella Schoonover for Investigate Midwest ## **Future outlook and solutions: from Puerto Rico to the Corn Belt** Farmers and activists in Puerto Rico and beyond have called for policies and systems that support local agriculture and sustainable farming, rather than corporations. Rath said that many of the challenges associated with the seed industry can be attributed to a hyperfocus on one product – in this case, corn – rather than a diversity of crops. “When you have a monoculture system, very often the one thing you think about is yield; Yield, yield, yield,” Rath said. “The way we used to farm, before the 1970s, yeah there were less yields, but it was way more diversified and environmentally sustainable.” Today, Rath said farmers are incentivized to engage in more large-scale, industrialized agricultural systems, which provide short-term gains but are ultimately worse for the environment and the land they grow on.. He said building a better system starts with normalizing more diversified farming practices. “For example, in Belize, they don’t think of it as diversified agriculture,” Rath said.“They just think of it as agriculture.” Becker, the commercial agriculture specialist at the University of Illinois, said there’s been a growing appetite in recent years among Corn Belt farmers to promote soil health and remediate environmental impacts of chemical use, such as reducing nitrogen fertilizer loss and planting cover crops to control pests and diseases. However, he says that any broader, systems-level change will require more aggressive incentives for implementing sustainable practices. “Agriculture is 12,000 years old, and it’s constantly evolving, right?” Becker said. “But if you’re going to say this is better for the environment, and you want farmers to do it, then there has to be some incentive that matches, if not surpasses the cost.” This [article](https://investigatemidwest.org/2025/11/11/puerto-rico-helped-fuel-americas-corn-boom-some-locals-see-an-unfair-arrangement/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Investigate Midwest](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/investigatemidwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-IM_RIT_logo_color-2.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) ![](https://investigatemidwest.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=756584&ga4=G-R9VE8P61LG) ### S.C. Senate subcommittee meeting on Tues. Nov. 18 to discuss Senate Bill 323 URL: https://down-ballot.info/n-c-immigrant-advocates-create-map-of-ice-activity/ Last updated: 2025-11-18T14:46:03.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners Chairperson Mark Jerrell, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board Chairperson Stephanie Sneed and Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles issued a [joint statement ](https://news.mecknc.gov/Nov152025-Joint-Statement?ref=down-ballot.info)that was posted on Mecklenburg County's website. "It is important for people to understand their rights. There are a number of organizations standing ready to assist individuals seeking legal guidance on immigration matters and if anyone has questions about their immigration status or rights, please reach out to those organizations," the statement read. The officials stated the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department does not participate in federal immigration enforcement actions. > "If you need the police, don’t hesitate to call 911\. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department does not participate in Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Customs and Border Protection operations and is not involved in the planning or execution of any federal immigration enforcement activities. "We know many of you want to speak out and make your voices heard — and that’s your right. We ask that, as a community, we do so peacefully. We do not want to see violence like many witnessed in other cities. We can stand up for what we believe in without resorting to violence. Our region has thrived and grown because our strength lies in our diversity and our collective commitment to each other and to this community. Let us all— no matter our political allegiance – stand together for all hard working and law-abiding families. ### S.C. Senate subcommittee to meet tomorrow, Nov. 18 regarding anti-abortion bill A subcommittee of the South Carolina Senate's Medical Affairs Committee will [meet](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/agendas/126s15582.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.in the Gressette Office Building to discuss [Senate Bill 323](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=323&session=126&summary=B&ref=down-ballot.info), the so-called "Unborn Child Protection Act". According to the [agenda](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/agendas/126s15582.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), no further testimony will be taken at the meeting. The subcommittee previously met to discuss the issue on Oct. 1\. [S.C. Senate subcommittee to hold Oct. 1 meeting on anti-abortion billWritten and electronic correspondence must be received by Monday, Sept. 29 at 9 am.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1.png)Down BallotBen Ledbetter![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Colorful-Pin-Local-Shop-Logo---1-6.png)](https://down-ballot.info/s-c-senate-subcommittee-to-hold-oct-1-meeting-on-anti-abortion-bill/) ### Asheville City Council to meet Tuesday, Nov. 18 Asheville City Council will hold its [next regular meeting](https://www.ashevillenc.gov/government/city-council-agenda/?ref=down-ballot.info) on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 5 p.m. ### ### BRIEFS: Palmetto State measles cases at 47 URL: https://down-ballot.info/briefs-palmetto-state-measles-cases-at-47/ Last updated: 2025-11-15T01:04:45.000Z **Down Ballot Staff Reports** COLUMBIA, S.C. ― The [South Carolina Department of Public Health ](https://dph.sc.gov/news/friday-measles-update-dph-confirms-additional-measles-case-upstate-outbreak-bringing-0?ref=down-ballot.info)(DPH) is reporting [one new case of measles](https://dph.sc.gov/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/measles-rubeola/2025-measles-outbreak?ref=down-ballot.info) in the state since Tuesday. The total number of cases in South Carolina now related to the Upstate outbreak is 44, and the total number reported to DPH this year is 47. Potential exposures for this case are still being investigated. There are currently 18 people in quarantine. The successful early quarantining as a result of an identified exposure is a positive public health outcome that has prevented additional community spread during this outbreak. Our response to the ongoing measles outbreak focuses on identifying cases and their contacts quickly to stop spread and to encourage the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine for those who are not immune to protect people from illness and complications from measles, including those who cannot be vaccinated because they are too young or have underlying health conditions. We are reminding people that travel for the upcoming holidays increases the risk of exposures greatly for those traveling and for those accepting visitors. Consider getting vaccinated now to prevent measles from disrupting your holiday plans. To increase access to MMR vaccines, DPH has activated a Mobile Health Unit to deploy to the following locations this week to offer MMR vaccine to unvaccinated individuals at no cost. > **Locations:** > Monday, Nov. 17: 1-4 p.m. Landrum Library, 111 East Asbury Drive · Landrum, S.C. 29356 > Tuesday, Nov. 18: 1-4 p.m. Landrum Library, 111 East Asbury Drive · Landrum, S.C. 29356 Since being deployed beginning Oct. 16, the Mobile Health Unit has administered 31 doses of MMR (measles vaccine): 25 adults, 6 children. To check if you are up to date with vaccines, people who receive immunizations from South Carolina providers can access their immunization record through the [SIMON public portal](https://dph.sc.gov/public/vaccinations/online-access-immunization-records?ref=down-ballot.info). Doses administered prior to 2017 may not be recorded in the registry. If you have questions regarding your immunizations, please reach out to your primary health care provider or the provider that administered the vaccines. **Outbreak Data Points** *Age breakdown of 44 cases:* - Under 5: 9 - 5-17: 25 - 18+: 5 - Minors under 18 (age undisclosed): 5 *Vaccination status:* 42 unvaccinated, 2 with one of the recommended two-dose MMR sequence. ### Local governments in the Carolinas meeting next week \-- Durham City Council will hold its[ next regular meeting](https://cityordinances.durhamnc.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=714&doctype=1&ref=down-ballot.info) on Monday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. \-- York County Council will hold its [next regular meeting](https://yorkcosc.portal.civicclerk.com/event/73/files/agenda/4979?ref=down-ballot.info) on Monday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. \-- Albemarle City Council will hold its[ next regular meeting](https://granicus%5Fproduction%5Fattachments.s3.amazonaws.com/cityofalbemarle/4d604329a095550b8431f0a0574ca6a90.html?medium=email&source=govdelivery) on Monday, Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. One of the agenda items is a [public hearing](https://d2kbkoa27fdvtw.cloudfront.net/cityofalbemarle/07f44e58999016016f4c93c17024a3200.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) to consider abandoning part of Jeffries St., which is maintained by the city. \-- Haywood County Board of Commissioners will hold its [next regular meeting](https://docs.google.com/gview?embedded=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgranicus%5Fproduction%5Fattachments.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fhaywoodcountync%2Fc3160ae668a2eb245910f2d640f5b4300.pdf&ref=down-ballot.info) on Monday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m. — Brunswick County Board of Commissioners will hold its [next regular meeting](https://www.brunswickcountync.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=637&ref=down-ballot.info) on Monday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. One of the agenda items requests the board adopt a resolution opposing [Fuquay-Varina’s interbasin transfer. ](https://down-ballot.info/n-c-deq-to-hold-public-hearings-on-transco-and-fuquay-varinas-interbasin-transfer-request/) According to a news release from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, Fuquay-Varina is seeking approval for an interbasin transfer in order to source water supply from another river basin, the Cape Fear River Basin, to meet projected future water demands. Currently, the town relies on wholesale water purchased from neighboring water systems – the City of Raleigh, Harnett County and Johnston County. However, the town’s current water supply is projected to fall short of future demands, with a shortfall projected by 2030\. ### Lexington, N.C. gathering input for housing needs study The City of Lexington and the Piedmont Triad Regional Council, will host an in-person community meeting to gather input for its [city-wide housing needs study](https://www.lexingtonnc.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/12905/?ref=down-ballot.info). *This meeting will be held on November 18, 2025, at 6 p.m. at Robbins Recreation Center at 512 Hargrave Street, Lexington, NC 27292.* ### Residents Invited to Public Meeting for the Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan *\*This is an initiative led by North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) and ESP Associates, Inc. Brunswick County is not responsible for the accuracy of this information. For the most up-to-date information, visit the* [*Plan Update Project website*](https://arcg.is/1S4PWG0?ref=down-ballot.info) *or* [*contact ESP*](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/800f3a2d116d437093ce694d241406e7?ref=down-ballot.info#ref-n-F8p3Vc) *directly.* PUBLIC NOTICE North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) and ESP Associates, Inc. will hold a public meeting for the [Southeastern North Carolina Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan](https://arcg.is/1S4PWG0?ref=down-ballot.info) on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025 (see below). The regional hazard mitigation plan identifies hazards that can impact the region and actions that can be taken to reduce the impact of future hazard events. Your input can help shape the actions identified in the plan and contribute to your community becoming more resilient. ## Public Meeting Details - **When:** Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. (come and go anytime) - **Where:** Pender County Board of Commissioners Meeting Room, 805 S Walker St., Burgaw, NC 28425 - **Virtual Option:** [Register and Join Microsoft Teams Meeting](https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/bb3a2ed6-53af-40b8-bed8-a1ebcf41a3e5@f7f3568d-363f-4e58-a4d8-1c07f43b09fb?ref=down-ballot.info) - **What to Expect: *All residents from Brunswick, New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender Counties are welcome to attend a public meeting to learn about and provide input on the Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan 2025 update. This meeting provides a platform for open dialogue where you can share your experiences, help identify risks, and weigh in on strategies that protect our region.*** NCEM and ESP representatives will be available during the meeting to answer questions and receive comments regarding the plan. More information can be found on the [Plan Update Project website](https://arcg.is/1S4PWG0?ref=down-ballot.info). Comments or questions regarding the public meeting or the Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan 2025 update can be submitted online using the [contact form on the Plan Update Project website](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/800f3a2d116d437093ce694d241406e7?ref=down-ballot.info#ref-n-F8p3Vc). [Residents Invited to Public Meeting for the Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation PlanAll residents from Brunswick, New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender Counties are welcome to attend a public meeting on Thursday, Nov. 20 to learn about and provide input on the Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan 2025 update.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/favicon-3.ico)Brunswick County, NCGovernment Websites by CivicPlus®![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Document-1)](https://www.brunswickcountync.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=636&ref=down-ballot.info) ### Spartanburg City Council approves greenway extension, redevelopment of Montgomery Ward property on E. Main St. Spartanburg City Council voted 6-0 at a recent meeting to approve a bid to construct phase II of the Mary H Wright Greenway trail on the city’s Southside. The new extension will create two new spurs for the greenway, both extending from its current southern terminus at the intersection of Marion Ave. and Hudson L Barksdale Blvd. An eastern spur will follow Alexander and Winsmith avenues, then following Cemetery St. to its intersection with Duncan St. A longer spur will extend southward along Hudson L Barksdale Blvd to its intersection with Caulder Ave. The new segments will connect deeper into the city’s Southside community, better connecting residents to such nearby trails as the Mary Black Foundation Rail Trail, the Hub City Hopper downtown connector, and the trails at Duncan Park. The new extension adds to the current 55 miles of [The Daniel Morgan Trail System, spearheaded by the nonprofit, PAL](https://www.palspartanburg.org/the-dan?ref=down-ballot.info). Bird Corporation of Inman was the low bidder of the project, at $468,300\. State grant funding will cover $365,228 of the cost, with the City covering the remainder. Construction is expected to begin in the coming weeks. Also at Monday’s meeting, City Council approved 6-0 final reading for a development agreement for the redevelopment of the building at 111 E Main St., once home to Montgomery Ward department store, and the adjacent space at 109 E Main St. The redevelopment project, announced several years ago, had been delayed due to high interest rates and issues with nearby utilities that needed to be resolved. The $18 million mixed-use project is expected to include more than 7,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and between 22 and 26 apartment units, revitalizing a historic building in Downtown Spartanburg that has been vacant for decades. Along with the former department store, the property at 109 E Main St., which currently only houses a building facade, would see a new five-story building constructed. Plans show the former department store’s exterior maintaining its historic form, paired with a large courtyard space behind the new structure at the 109 E Main property, allowing natural light for the development’s apartment units. The project is expected to begin construction in the second quarter of 2026, in anticipation that interest rates will continue to fall. Terms of the development agreement include a fees-in-lieu of property tax component, with the first year beginning at $36,500 and escalating annually until reaching $193,400 in its 20th and final year. [City Approves Mary H Wright Greenway ExtensionSpartanburg City Council voted 6-0 to approve a bid to construct phase II of the Mary H Wright Greenway trail on the city’s Southside. New segments will connect deeper into the city’s Southside, better connecting residents to the Dan Trail System![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/favicon-4.ico)Spartanburg, SCGovernment Websites by CivicPlus®![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Document-2)](https://www.cityofspartanburg.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=94&ref=down-ballot.info) ### Asheville hospital out of immediate jeopardy; Analyzing the voting data in NYC and Va. URL: https://down-ballot.info/asheville-hospital-out-of-immediate-jeopardy-analyzing-the-voting-data-in-nyc-and-va/ Last updated: 2025-11-14T10:00:33.000Z **It's Friday, November 14, 2025 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** Arizona veterans protest federal workforce cuts and veteran deportations, Challenger alleges Orleans clerk Lombard lost hundreds of thousands of dollars for court, D.A., Every NYC neighborhood saw more voters show up to vote for mayor than in the last election. See who put the winner over the top, Virginia’s Rural Voters Shift 12 Points Toward Democrats, Worker’s comp bill with first raise in a decade for permanently disabled up for public hearing, Simple, short-term solutions to Asheville’s Black population decline are difficult to find, implement, NC invests $9.5 million in teams to help people with serious mental illness after their release from incarceration, McIntosh spends $491K, so far, to defend rezoning of Hogg Hummock, How Alabama Power Kept Bills Up and Opposition Out to Become One of the Most Powerful Utilities in the Country. **Media outlets and others featured:** Cronkite News, Verite News, Carolina Public Press, THE CITY, The Daily Yonder, Wisconsin Watch, North Carolina Health News, The Current, Inside Climate News. --- # Arizona veterans protest federal workforce cuts and veteran deportations by Gabrielle Wallace, Cronkite News November 11, 2025 PHOENIX – Veterans laughed and teased each other outside the Arizona State Capitol, but the reason for their gathering wasn’t so chipper. Dozens joined with lawmakers and community advocates to denounce the federal government’s treatment of veterans. Their main message was loud and clear on the shirts many wore: “Stop Firing Vets.” "The same government that thanks us on Veterans Day turns its back on us the other 364 days of the year,” said Omar Algeciras, a 20-year Air Force veteran and vice president of the American Federation of Government Workers Local 2391, a union representing federal employees. At the rally Monday morning, he and others called for the federal government to do more for people who had been willing to sacrifice their lives for their country. They demanded more job support, improved social services and an end to deportations. They chanted “si se puede,” Spanish for “yes we can” or “we can do it.” It expressed the theme of the rally which was the third and final destination of a three-stop tour across the state. Only a dozen states have more veterans than Arizona. Roughly 515,000 live in the state, 7.4% of the population. Those veterans haven’t been exempt from workforce cuts – in fact, they have been disproportionately affected, veterans said, because about one in four federal workers is a veteran. “The firing of these federal workers sends a message that our service, our dedication, does not matter, and that is wrong,” said Signa Oliver, an Army veteran and member of the Phoenix Union School Board, choking up as veterans behind her waved signs and American flags. ![Veterans and community allies chant “Si se puede,” a phrase meaning “Yes we can,” at a rally advocating for veteran workers and deported veterans on Nov. 10, 2025 at the Arizona Capitol. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Lovan_Vets-Presser_20251110_08-1024x741.jpg) Veterans and community allies chant “Si se puede,” a phrase meaning “Yes we can,” at a rally advocating for veteran workers and deported veterans on Nov. 10, 2025 at the Arizona Capitol. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News) At the beginning of his second term in office, President Donald Trump promised sweeping federal job cuts to curb spending. The Office of Personnel Management has projected a reducting of 300,000 federal jobs by the end of the year. The veterans felt betrayed, they said. “The benefits and services that we earned are being stripped away from us,” said Algeciras. “Veterans who fought for this country are now fighting to keep their jobs. Veterans who risk their lives are being told they are expendable.” Apart from job losses, the rally also focused onDepartment of Veterans Affairs services and veterans facing deportation. The rally came as the longest shutdown in U.S. history is winding down. The Senate approved a plan to reopen the government on Monday and keep it funded through Jan. 30\. The House will vote Wednesday afternoon on the deal, which includes an agreement to freeze federal job cuts. until the stopgap funding bill runs out. Democratic holdouts in the Senate also wrested a small concession on Affordable Care Act subsidies, a promise that the Senate will vote next month on the expiring subsidies. The deal promises respite for federal workers through the holidays. But it doesn’t make complaints and concerns disappear altogether, they said. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat who served in the Marines, said veterans won’t stand for being used as political pawns any longer. “We will fight for the dignity of veterans,” he said. “We will fight for the livelihood of their families, and we will continue to fight for that sometimes unfortunately elusive American Dream that has been trampled under the politics of the day.” Rep. Aaron Márquez, D-Phoenix, took to the podium as well. Márquez co-founded VetsForward, a liberal advocacy group, and served two deployments in Afghanistan in the Army. “I don't think we make America great again by firing the people that serve the country in uniform and continue to serve our federal government,” Márquez said. “I think we can make America great again if we remember what's happening right now, in about a year from now, when we have elections again and we fire the people that are trying to fire our veterans.” Rally attendees poked and prodded at each other, making fun of rival military branches. ![An attendee holds a sign at a rally advocating for veteran workers and deported veterans on Nov. 10, 2025 at the Arizona Capitol. State politicians, veterans and others joined the event. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News)](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Lovan_Vets-Presser_20251110_05-1-1024x715.jpg) An attendee holds a sign at a rally advocating for veteran workers and deported veterans on Nov. 10, 2025 at the Arizona Capitol. State politicians, veterans and others joined the event. (Photo by Sydney Lovan/Cronkite News) The rally fell on the Marine Corps' 250th birthday, and several “oorahs” erupted from the crowd. The playful jeering and cheering didn’t take away from the central message, calling on veterans and community members to speak out and to pressure their state and federal representatives.. “We are warriors,” Oliver said. “Through our voices, through our organizing, through our activism, we won't give in, and we won't surrender.” Márquez encouraged civilians to support veterans throughout the year, not just the one day dedicated to their memory. “I think for those of you that are not veterans,” he said, “the best way you can celebrate veterans over this next year is to find a way to make a difference.” This [article](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2025/11/11/arizona-veterans-protest/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # ‘I didn’t know it was this bad’: Challenger alleges Orleans clerk Lombard lost hundreds of thousands of dollars for court, D.A. by Robert Stewart, Verite News New Orleans November 12, 2025 Amid an already contentious and tight race to determine who will win the seat for Orleans Parish Criminal District Court clerk, challenger Calvin Duncan dropped a bombshell last week alleging dysfunction in the clerk of court’s office under incumbent Darren Lombard. Last Monday (Nov. 3), Duncan’s campaign released several emails, obtained through a public records request, in which the [Orleans Parish District Attorney](https://orleansda.com/?ref=down-ballot.info)’s Office alleged that Lombard’s office was doing work that was inconsistent and not thorough in reviewing, documenting and filing records. According to the emails, sent between January and October, those problems played a role in the improper release of defendants from pre-trial detention and forced the court and the DA’s office to leave hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table. The uncollected money was from bail bonds that DA Jason Williams’ office claimed should have been forfeited after defendants who were out on bail missed their court appearances and were ordered jailed. But in order to collect that money, which is split between the court and the DA’s office, prosecutors have to prove that the court — through the clerk or the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office — sent court appearance notices and arrest warrants to the defendants, their bail bond agents and bail-bond insurers, called surety companies. According to a letter sent last month, between August 2024 and August 2025, the clerk’s office failed to ensure those notices were sent on time in dozens of cases, totaling more than $600,000 in unforfeited bond money. Through court records, Verite News confirmed that at least $200,000 was uncollectible due to problems with court notices. The DA’s office also claimed that poor record-keeping in Lombard’s office imperiled appeal outcomes, oversights led to defendants being wrongly released on bail and alleged a number of instances where the clerk’s office failed to properly send out notices of arrest warrants. “I take every concern raised by our justice partners seriously, and I’ve worked directly with the district attorney to identify and resolve the issues outlined in his correspondence,” Lombard said in response to the allegations. The release from Duncan’s campaign comes in the final days of the race to lead the clerk’s office. After a tight October primary in which neither candidate secured enough votes to win outright, Duncan, a political newcomer who spent 28 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder, will face [Lombard in a runoff election](https://veritenews.org/2025/10/12/criminal-district-court-clerk-runoff/?ref=down-ballot.info) on Nov. 15. In an interview with Verite, Duncan described the DA’s office’s emails as indicative of dysfunction at the clerk’s office. In an emailed statement responding to Duncan’s remarks, Lombard described the emails from Williams’ office as not representative of the full scope of his work in the office. He pointed to an [ongoing modernization effort](https://veritenews.org/2025/08/05/new-orleans-tech-upgrade-criminal-justice/?ref=down-ballot.info) that he said can strengthen accountability, ensure accuracy and minimize the potential for clerical error. Williams has not formally endorsed either candidate in the race. Keith Lampkin, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said the clerk’s thoroughness or lack of it has a direct impact on the entire criminal justice system. “When these clerical duties aren’t carried out with precision, defendants who fail to meet their court-ordered obligations escape legal accountability, and the system forfeits revenue owed to the city,” Lampkin said. “The clerk’s office’s failure to properly notice criminal defense and surety agents makes it legally impossible to collect.” ### The letter from the DA’s office An Oct. 6 letter from the DA’s office lays out the alleged financial losses accrued from bond money that should have been forfeited to the court — and split with the DA’s office — but was instead not collected from bail bond companies or the insurance agencies backing the companies as a result of alleged clerical errors. When defendants don’t show up, the court issues an arrest warrant, which triggers a legal countdown for the bond companies to find the defendant or risk forfeiting the bail money. In Louisiana, the clerk has 60 days to notify the defendant and the bond companies of the arrest warrant as part of that process. If the clerk does not do so, the bond companies are off the hook. The Oct. 6 email highlights 43 cases involving $610,000 in allegedly lost bond money, but in many instances Verite could not independently verify by time of publication that forfeiture judgements were reversed and that there was an error attributable to the clerk’s office. https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/26222666/pages/1/?embed=1 Through court records, Verite confirmed that bail bond or surety companies were allowed to keep at least $200,000 between August 2024 and August 2025 even though defendants in those cases failed to appear during court proceedings. Most of that money was connected to one case, a multiple-count charge where the bail was set at $155,000 — the largest bond amount in all of the cases the DA’s office highlighted. According to court records in the case, the defendant didn’t show up for his arraignment and the court ordered an arrest warrant. The following year, the DA’s office moved to have a judge order the bond forfeited. The judge granted the request, but the defendant’s attorney moved to nullify that judgment, saying that there had been no proof that notices were sent in time filed into the record. They also pointed out that the defendant had already been in custody roughly a week after the arrest warrant was issued. The bond ruling was subsequently overturned. In another case involving a $27,500 bond, the DA’s office moved for bond forfeiture after the defendant failed to appear for his arraignment, and the court issued a warrant for his arrest. But the DA withdrew the request after the attorney for the defendant requested proof that notifications were sent out. “As best our staff can recall,” Lampkin told Verite News, “in each of the cases with SDTs (subpoenas duces tecum), the judge read the return in open court, and \[the DA’s office\] then orally withdrew the RTSC (rule to show cause) due to the clerk’s office being unable to prove that notice was sent when asked to verify the certificate of notice.” In six other cases, in which bond amounts totaled $19,000, court records appear to show that after defendants failed to appear for their hearings and the court issued arrest warrants for them, the clerk’s office sent the warrants out after the 60-day deadline had expired. Lombard, in a statement sent by his campaign team, said that attempting to generalize or group these cases together for political purposes is “misleading and irresponsible,” and he categorized the email as containing numerous factual inaccuracies and errors. When asked for specifics, his campaign said that many of the cases had a lag that could be attributed to the DA, a judge or the state, pointing out cases where bond forfeitures were not requested. “The only responsible way to evaluate this matter is by reviewing each case individually,” Lombard said. “Attempting to generalize or group these cases together for political purposes is both misleading and irresponsible.” But Lampkin told Verite News that if the DA’s office cannot provide proof or if it's clear that more than 60 days has passed between the warrant being issued and the clerk sending notice, they cannot pursue bond forfeitures. “When there is no proof of service or no notice within 60 days, a prosecutor cannot legally move forward. The law is very strict and very clear on this. A court ruling is not required to say the bond forfeiture was unenforceable. It’s simply the black letter of the law,” Lampkin said. In the other 35 cases highlighted by the DA’s office, things were unclear for a variety of reasons, including there not being a consistent online record of an overturned bond forfeiture ruling or of the DA withdrawing their attempt to obtain the forfeited bond. As of press time, Verite News has not reviewed the full files — which the clerk’s office maintains in hard copy at the courthouse — for all cases mentioned in the Oct. 6 email. “In each instance, we’ve outlined what the law requires to lay out and emphasize the clerk’s legal obligations and to help ensure his staff are properly trained and equipped to meet those mandates,” Lampkin said in an email statement to Verite News. “Unfortunately, these issues have persisted.” ### What does this mean for the Nov. 15 runoff? While incarcerated, Duncan worked as a “jailhouse lawyer,” assisting fellow prisoners with appeals and requests for post-conviction relief. He continues that work today as the director of Loyola University’s Light of Justice program and said that through his work assisting incarcerated people with their cases, he was aware of what he described as a certain level of dysfunction at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. He said that learning about how the office functions made him want to run for office and seek a better understanding of issues in the office through filing a public records request. But the public records request revealed new details, which required his campaign to get a thorough grasp of before sending out a press release Monday morning (Nov. 3). “I didn’t know it was this bad,” Duncan said. ![Signs for clerk of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court campaigns with supporters near the Lake Vista Community Center on the first day of early voting, Nov. 1, 2025.](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/11151150/DSC_7494.jpg) Campaign signs for the clerk of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court race near the Lake Vista Community Center on the first day of early voting, Nov. 1, 2025. Robert Collins, political analyst at Dillard University and contributor for Verite News, said that the impact of the revelations on the clerk’s race depends on how soon voters learn about it. Unlike an October surprise, where voters still have time to be persuaded by an argument against one or the other candidates, this November surprise came while early voting was already underway. The number of people who go out and vote in early elections fluctuates. Collins estimates between 15 - 30% of voters may vote early, but the majority of people still vote on Election Day. As of Nov. 11, more than 20,500 people have already cast their ballots in the November elections, according to data collected and published by the Louisiana Secretary of State. But Collins said that most people already know whom they’re voting for, and that the challenge for the candidates at this point is persuading voters who didn’t vote for them or cast a ballot in the primary to vote for them. During the October elections Duncan won by less than 700 votes. More than 6,000 voters selected Valencia Miles as their choice, and about 7,000 more people cast a vote for mayor than for the clerk’s race. According to Collins, the undecided voter or the voter that did not cast the vote for either candidate in the last election is more likely to lean toward Duncan. “I think those that show up to vote, I think the majority will tend to vote for Duncan, simply because I think all of the Lombard voters have already shown up,” Collins said about voters still on the fence. Lombard acknowledged that challenges can arise in an office handling the magnitude of filings the clerk’s office does. In response to allegations, he emphasized the work his office is doing to modernize record-keeping and to collaborate with criminal justice partners in training on new technology and resolving issues raised by the DA’s office. “The true measure of leadership is not whether issues occur, but how quickly and effectively they are addressed, and that’s what my team and I have consistently worked to do,” Lombard said. Duncan said that the problems highlighted in the emails touched on some of the “basic duties of that office.” “I understand the significance of those duties and of that office,” Duncan said. “I would make sure that it runs like it should.” This [article](https://veritenews.org/2025/11/12/court-clerk-darren-lombard-duncan-bonds/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Verite News New Orleans](https://veritenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://cdn.veritenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/11131054/cropped-Verite-icon-150x150.png) ![](https://veritenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=26390&ga4=G-MBPTYVCMYR) --- ## NC hospital out of Immediate Jeopardy. Critics question whether regulatory system works. by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press November 10, 2025 This fall, Asheville’s Mission Hospital faced Immediate Jeopardy, the most serious citation federal regulators can deliver, for the second time in two years. Once again, the beleaguered hospital system appears to have wiggled its way out of meaningful consequences. The hospital has submitted a plan of correction by Sunday’s [deadline](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73044/federal-regulators-nc-mission-hospital-deadline-plan-fix-problems/?ref=down-ballot.info), CMS told [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). The citation has now been removed, according to hospital CEO **Greg Lowe**. Now, CMS will send surveyors on an unannounced visit to Asheville to see whether Mission is really fixing its problems. This year, those problems included preventable patient death, unsafe patient transport, patient misidentification and harmful infection protocol. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ alerts and weekend roundup newsletters**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/sign-up-for-our-mailing-list/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** The hospital [failed](https://carolinapublicpress.org/72985/regulators-notify-asheville-hospital-of-immediate-jeopardy-for-2nd-year/?ref=down-ballot.info) to provide a safe environment for patients, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and CMS. That finding put the hospital at risk of losing its Medicare and Medicaid funding — which would be a death knell for the biggest hospital in Western North Carolina. Now, elected officials and nurses at the hospital are raising questions about whether Immediate Jeopardy findings have enough teeth to actually hold the hospital accountable. The punishment — which would likely result in the hospital closing — is so draconian that it may not be realistic to actually [enforce](https://www.cms.gov/regulations-and-guidance/guidance/manuals/downloads/som107ap%5Fq%5Fimmedjeopardypdf.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), they say. Last year, the follow-up survey visit was successful and Mission emerged from Immediate Jeopardy with only a spat of bad press to show for it. That will likely happen again, according to Sen. **Julie Mayfield**, D-Buncombe. “I am 100% sure that Mission’s corrective action plan will bring it into compliance,” Mayfield told CPP. “They know how to do that all day long. Our assumption has to be that they may surge resources now and then allow staffing levels to abate over time. And then we'll find ourselves in this situation again.” ### Immediate Jeopardy accountability questions Is it still possible for the follow-up visit to go so disastrously that the agency considers revoking critical funding? Yes. Is it likely? No, say both Mayfield and Mission cardiology nurse **Kerri Wilson**. “We are the critical hospital between Charlotte and Knoxville,” Wilson said. “It’s not realistic for them to take that Medicare and Medicaid funding away. It would be detrimental for the people of Western North Carolina. People would not survive without Mission Hospital. I think (hospital owner) HCA counts on that, and they exploit it.” So what would an actionable punishment look like for the hospital after repeated Immediate Jeopardy findings? Mayfield thinks HCA should lose control of the hospital, and it should be taken over by a third-party administrator. That’s never happened with a hospital, but CMS has done similar things with [nursing homes](https://carolinapublicpress.org/67539/scathing-audit-for-nc-oversight-of-nursing-homes/?ref=down-ballot.info), she said. “We are asking for the imposition of a third-party administrator,” Mayfield told CPP. “Three Immediate Jeopardies in six years is too many. It shows too much of a pattern. We will continue to be in this pattern until HCA is forced to make changes that it does not want to make. We think a third-party administrator for some period of time is the thing that makes the most sense.” ### On the ground at Mission For now, though, HCA is still in control. Wilson says conditions at the hospital have felt more punitive than productive since the Immediate Jeopardy finding. The focus of the corrective plan so far seems to be re-educating nurses on proper protocol, rather than relieving them of the stressed staffing conditions that lead to unsafe scenarios, Wilson said. Mission [announced](https://www.bpr.org/health/2025-10-30/mission-hospital-says-it-has-hired-200-workers-in-65-days?ref=down-ballot.info) that it spiked staff by 200 nurses over recent months to combat shortages. But the staffing spike is “not keeping up with the nurses that we're losing every day because of the unsafe situations they're put in,” Wilson told CPP. In late summer, 140 nurses left Mission in 90 days, she said. The spike doesn’t even help them break even, staff wise. “My hope, as a nurse, is that we see real changes and real accountability from this, rather than it being a temporary solution to make things look good and get us out of trouble,” Wilson said. “But what we’ve seen so far is very similar to what we’ve seen in the past. HCA is putting the blame on the staff, rather than taking accountability for systemic issues.” > Mission Hospital in Asheville is the flagship hospital of the Mission Health group, a chain of six rural hospitals across the region, all part of the formerly nonprofit Mission Health group that for-profit HCA acquired in 2019\. It's the only hospital in the group to face Immediate Jeopardy. But Mission Hospital is also the only one of this group where nurses have [unionized](https://carolinapublicpress.org/36991/asheville-nc-mission-hospital-nurses-win-union-ruling-protest-hca-policies/?ref=down-ballot.info). It’s actually the only unionized hospital in North Carolina. “The focus right now is on Mission Hospital’s main campus, because we are the ones who have been speaking out and getting surveyors in the building,” Wilson said. “One can’t help but imagine that our other regional hospitals that are run by HCA are having the same issues. They aren’t being vocalized because nurses don’t have the same union protections we do. They’re not reaching out, but I feel like they probably have the same situations and we don’t just know it.” This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73371/nc-hospital-out-of-immediate-jeopardy-critics-question-whether-regulatory-system-works/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # How Mamdani Won, By the Numbers ## Every NYC neighborhood saw more voters show up to vote for mayor than in the last election. See who put the winner over the top. by [Haidee Chu](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/haidee/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Mia Hollie](https://www.thecity.nyc/author/mia-hollie/?ref=down-ballot.info) Nov 6 4:54pm EST ![Voters cast ballots in Jackson Heights, Queens on Election Day,](https://i0.wp.com/www.thecity.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/110425_election_day_jackson_heights-1.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1) Zohran Mamdani’s decisive victory in the mayoral race Tuesday night broke records in more ways than one. > Not only will the Queens Assembly member become the city’s first South Asian and Muslim mayor, and the youngest in more than a century, he also hauled in nearly as many votes — more than 1,036,000 — as cast in entire mayoral elections in recent years. In all, voters cast more than 2 million votes, the most since 1969. > Nearly 39% of the city’s registered voters turned out to vote in this election. The last election to see that level of turnout was in 2001, when Michael Bloomberg won his first term as mayor and 41% of voters cast ballots. Not a single neighborhood in NYC had a smaller turnout this election than in the last. Many of Mamdani’s most loyal bases showed up in numbers. Mamdani won 60% of the votes in election districts where there are more South Asians than people of any other ethnicity. Young voters also showed up in droves, with Millennials casting 29% of the votes this election — a larger share than any other generation, according to voter history records obtained by THE CITY Thursday. But the mayor-elect didn’t just win the general election on the strength of voters who had already cast ballots for him in the June primary. His campaign also [mobilized voters](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/09/30/mamdani-canvass-canarsie-cuomo-mayor-election/?ref=down-ballot.info) in communities that had turned out heavily for Cuomo in the primary, which only included registered Democrats. (In 85% of election districts, more than half of all voters registered as Democrats.) Here are four constituencies that Mamdani flipped Tuesday night that catapulted him to success: ## 1\. Black Neighborhoods During the primary, Mamdani was bested by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by nearly 6 points in neighborhoods with more Black residents than those of any other race — a crucial voting bloc in New York City mayoral elections. Mamdani won 64% of the votes in those areas this time around, up 25 points from his 39% in June. The top 10 neighborhoods where he gained the most since the primary are all located in either southeast Queens or the eastern parts of Brooklyn — in historically Black neighborhoods [where Mamdani turned his focus to after the primary](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/09/30/mamdani-canvass-canarsie-cuomo-mayor-election/?ref=down-ballot.info). While registered voters in Black neighborhoods were less likely than those in heavily white or Asian neighborhoods to have turned out for the election, they were also much more likely to have voted for Mamdani. Mamdani won more decisively in those neighborhoods than in areas where other races were the plurality, crushing Cuomo by 32 points. ## **2\. The Bronx** Of all five boroughs, turnout was lowest in The Bronx — where just 28% of registered voters cast a ballot. But that didn’t stop Mamdani from reversing his 18-point defeat to Cuomo in the primary to take The Bronx by 11 points during the general election, winning 51% of the votes there. While some of Mamdani’s closest races with Cuomo also came in The Bronx — including in Co-op City, North Riverdale, and Clason Point, where he narrowly took by four, six and eight points respectively — his triumph in the borough was helped by large-margin victories in areas [where his canvassers had left their mark](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/06/04/zohran-mamdani-volunteers-support-mayoral-race-progressive/?ref=down-ballot.info). That includes Parkchester, home to a large Bengali population, where he bested Cuomo by 29 points to win 61% of the votes, and in nearby Westchester Square, where he won by 42 points, with 68% of the votes. Mamdani also made some inroads with Latino voters, many of whom live in The Bronx. He gained 8 points from the primary to win 58% of the votes, widening the margin since the primary and defeating Cuomo by 24 points in neighborhoods where more than half the residents are Latino. While direct comparisons between the Democratic primary and general election results are not possible because different groups of voters were eligible to cast ballots — for instance, Asian voters are less likely than those in other groups to be registered Democrats — the shifts nonetheless suggest how Mamdani’s base has evolved since June. ## **3\. Public Housing** The mayor-elect has vowed to double the city’s capital investment into NYCHA, which is heavily funded by the federal government and has been overseen by a court-appointed monitor since 2019\. On a subway ride with THE CITY the day before the election, [Mamdani said](https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/05/mamdani-interview-subway-mayor-city-hall/?ref=down-ballot.info) he was looking forward to “a return to the city’s understanding of its own fiscal responsibilities to NYCHA.” That message may have resonated with NYCHA residents: Mamdani gained 18 points in election districts that include NYCHA developments — winning 55% of the votes in the general election where he had gotten just 38% in June, when Cuomo took the lead there by 6 points. He made 30-point improvements in election districts covering 25 of the 335 NYCHA developments. But his biggest gain came in districts that cover Baisley Park Houses in Jamaica, Queens, as well as Glenwood and Woodson Houses in Flatlands and Brownsville, Brooklyn, where he made improvements of 40, 38 and 37 points respectively. ## 4\. Lower-Income Neighborhoods Mamdani struggled to capture a majority of votes from lower income New Yorkers in the June primary despite his affordability agenda, marked by promises to freeze rent, make buses free and provide universal free child care. But on Tuesday he ultimately took 51% of the votes from neighborhoods where most households make below median income — up 10 points from his 41% there during the primary. He gained more than 30 points in 12 of these neighborhoods compared to the primary, including Flatlands in Brooklyn, Edenwald, Wakefield, Williamsbridge and Eastchester in The Bronx, as well as South Ozone Park in Queens. ![](https://www.thecity.nyc/?republication-pixel=true&post=70323&ga4=G-1SD504K0YR) --- # Virginia’s Rural Voters Shift 12 Points Toward Democrats by Tim Marema and Bill Bishop, The Daily Yonder November 7, 2025 Rural voters in Virginia were part of a statewide shift toward the Democratic Party since the last gubernatorial election in 2021, according to a Daily Yonder analysis. Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Winsome Earle-Sears by 15 points this week, a marked turnaround from the 2021 governor’s race when Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe by 2 points. > Rural Virginia moved 12 points toward the Democratic Party compared to 2021, from a Republican advantage of 40 points in 2021 to a Republican margin of 28 points in this week's election. In the 2024 presidential election, rural Virginians supported Republican Donald Trump by 34 points. The graph above compares the shift toward the Democratic Party in this week’s election to both the 2021 governor’s race and the 2024 presidential race. The graph is broken out into the Daily Yonder’s standard geographic categories, which are defined at the bottom of this article. The Democratic shift in voter preferences occurred statewide but was largest in the state’s metropolitan areas, especially the Northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington, D.C., and the Tidewater region. In large metropolitan areas, voters shifted toward the Democratic Party by about 17 points from 2021 to 2025. Voters in the state’s small metros moved 16.1 percentage points toward the Democrats, the largest shift outside the major metropolitan counties. This group of cities – including Fairfax, Harrisonburg, Radford, and Staunton – gave 44.3% of their vote to Democrats in 2021\. Tuesday, Democrats earned 52.4% of the small city vote. Turnout was a major factor in the shift toward the Democratic side of the ticket. Democrats turned out more voters in 2025 than they did four years ago in every type of county. Democrats saw their biggest turnout gain (24%) in small metropolitan areas. Republicans, meanwhile, had fewer voters in 2025 than in 2021 in every category of county, with the biggest loss (20%) in the core counties of major metropolitan areas. A similar pattern in turnout was apparent when comparing the 2025 governor’s race to the 2024 presidential election. (Turnout is always lower in off-year gubernatorial races in Virginia than in the preceding year’s presidential election, so the numbers are negative.) Republican turnout statewide in 2025 was 30% lower than in the 2024 presidential election, while Democrat turnout was just 16% lower. ### Daily Yonder County Categories - Major metropolitan areas have 1 million or more residents. These include the cities and surrounding counties of Richmond, Northern Virginia (Washington, D.C.), and Norfolk/Virginia Beach. Major metros are separated into core counties and suburbs. - Medium-sized metropolitan areas have 250,000 to under 1 million residents. These include the cities and surrounding counties of Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Bristol. Medium-sized metros are separated into core counties and suburbs. - Small metropolitan areas have under 250,000 residents. These include cities such as Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Harrisonburg, Staunton, and Winchester, plus nearby counties. - Nonmetropolitan counties, which the Daily Yonder classifies as rural, do not have a city of 50,000 or more, and they aren’t generally within easy commuting distance of a county that does. This [article](https://dailyyonder.com/virginias-rural-voters-shift-12-points-toward-democrats/2025/11/07/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Daily Yonder](https://dailyyonder.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cropped-dy-wordmark-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://dailyyonder.com/?republication-pixel=true&post=234565&ga4=G-QXTK9L73TZ) --- # Worker’s comp bill with first raise in a decade for permanently disabled up for public hearing by Tom Kertscher / Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch November 10, 2025 Legislation is being introduced that would, for the first time in a decade, increase benefits for the most severely injured workers in Wisconsin. [The bill](https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:d2240160-f6c9-4536-be40-6fe8480a01e2?ref=down-ballot.info), if adopted by the Republican-majority Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, would make a number of changes to the state’s worker’s compensation system. In particular, it would give raises to people declared permanently and totally disabled such as 77-year-old Jimmy Novy and paraplegic Scott Meyer. They were featured in a September Wisconsin Watch [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2025/09/wisconsin-severely-injured-workers-compensation-raise-disabled-legislature-budget/?ref=down-ballot.info). It reported that more than 300 PTD recipients haven’t gotten a raise in their worker’s compensation benefits since 2016. Novy, who lives in southwest Wisconsin, receives a worker’s comp check of $1,575 per month. Had his benefit kept pace with inflation, which rose 34%, he would have received nearly $21,000 more over the past nine years. Meanwhile, Wisconsin employers have seen their premiums for worker’s compensation insurance decrease 10 years in a row, saving them $206 million in the past year and over $1 billion since 2017. Unlike most workers injured on the job, who get temporary worker’s compensation benefits before returning to the job, Wisconsin PTD recipients get worker’s comp checks for life. Twenty-three states provide automatic cost-of-living raises for PTD recipients. But Wisconsin PTD recipients get raises only if worker’s comp legislation proposed every two years, known as an “agreed bill,” becomes law. The new agreed bill was proposed by employers and labor leaders on the state Worker’s Compensation Advisory Council. The Assembly Workforce Development, Labor and Integrated Employment Committee will hold [a hearing on the bill Thursday](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/raw/cid/1952676?ref=down-ballot.info). The bill would make these changes for PTD recipients: - Make an estimated 210 more PTD recipients eligible for raises, known as supplementary benefits. Currently, only PTD recipients injured before Jan. 1, 2003, are eligible for raises. The bill would change that date to Jan. 1, 2020. - Raise the maximum weekly benefit for PTD recipients by 57%, from $669 to $1,051, effective Jan. 1, 2026. - Give PTD recipients annual raises, with the amounts set shortly before taking effect. The raise amounts would vary based on when the recipients were injured and their earnings at the time. One example, provided by the state Department of Workforce Development when the agreed bill was proposed: A PTD recipient injured in 1985 and receiving $535 a week would get a 57% increase to $840\. The increase would amount to nearly $16,000 per year. Spokespersons for the Assembly committee chair, Rep. Paul Melotik, R-Grafton, and for Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, chair of the Senate Committee on Government Operations, Labor and Economic Development, said the lawmakers had not yet reviewed the bill. Novy, while in his late 20s, learned he had been exposed to manganese, a key component in batteries, from working in a battery manufacturing plant. He suffered neurological problems that affected his left leg, severely limiting his ability to walk or even maintain his balance. The bill would raise Novy's monthly worker's comp check to about $2,450 from $1,575, an annual increase of about $10,000. “That’s about time,” Novy said Friday about the bill, eager to hear when he might see a raise in his check. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4O\_lgkhdtYWisconsin Watch’s Tom Kertscher explains how permanently and totally disabled workers haven’t seen a raise to their worker’s compensation benefits in nine years. (Video by Trisha Young / Wisconsin Watch) The money for worker’s compensation checks comes from worker’s compensation insurance companies and from employers who are self-insured for worker’s comp. No tax dollars are involved. Agreement among employer and labor members on the Worker’s Compensation Advisory Council on the bill was reached after a “fee schedule” for worker’s compensation medical services was included in the 2025-27 state budget adopted in July. The schedule limits how much health care providers can charge for worker’s comp care. Meyer, who lost both legs following a workplace accident in 1993 and now lives in Colorado, said he hopes that for PTD recipients on fixed incomes, the proposed raises make “a meaningful impact on their day-to-day lives.” Appleton lawyer John Edmondson, who represents worker’s comp recipients, said the raises would be “a very nice step in the right direction, albeit coming far too late for those PTD workers who economically suffered and some who simply died waiting.” This [article](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2025/11/wisconsin-worker-compensation-bill-raise-permanently-disabled-injured-benefit/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Wisconsin Watch](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1) ![](https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1311242&ga4=G-D2S69Y9TDB) --- [Simple, short-term solutions to Asheville’s Black population decline are difficult to find, implement • Asheville WatchdogThe last of four parts The steady dwindling of Asheville’s Black population shows no sign of abating, but slowing or reversing this decades-long decline has no simple solutions. As Asheville Watchdog’s four-part series has shown, young Black people are leaving the city for better opportunities, and residents who remain are fragmented, lacking the cohesion that \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-4.png)Asheville WatchdogJOHN BOYLE, DAN DeWITT![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/Solutions-muted-3500px-scaled.jpg)](https://avlwatchdog.org/simple-short-term-solutions-to-ashevilles-black-population-decline-are-difficult-to-find-implement/?ref=down-ballot.info) # Simple, short-term solutions to Asheville’s Black population decline are difficult to find, implement With reparations effort under threat, city and county focus on broad problems; private sector, nonprofits look for ways to provide help by [JOHN BOYLE](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/jboyle/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [DAN DeWITT](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/dan/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 9, 2025 *The last of four parts* The steady dwindling of Asheville’s Black population shows no sign of abating, but slowing or reversing this decades-long decline has no simple solutions. [As *Asheville Watchdog’s* four-part series has shown](https://avlwatchdog.org/where-are-all-the-black-people-the-story-behind-ashevilles-loss-of-african-americans/?ref=down-ballot.info), young Black people are leaving the city for better opportunities, and residents who remain are fragmented, lacking the cohesion that once thriving African American neighborhoods provided. A diverse, well-rounded populace benefits everyone, experts and others say, and the Black population decline has contributed to Asheville losing its soul. To attract and keep Black residents, they say, the city needs more and better jobs, lower-cost housing and the kind of cultural vibrancy that existed before [urban renewal](https://avlwatchdog.org/how-asheville-became-a-city-black-residents-leave-the-unhealed-wound-of-urban-renewal/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [gentrification](https://avlwatchdog.org/advance-of-the-slim-talls-big-new-homes-mark-gentrification-upending-ashevilles-historically-black-neighborhoods/?ref=down-ballot.info) drove out African American businesses. City and county government officials are addressing some of the broader problems that affect all races – a lack of affordability and economic opportunities. But efforts aimed specifically at Black residents have been stymied. The Buncombe-Asheville Community Reparations Commission provided a blueprint in September with 39 recommendations that could improve living conditions and opportunities for Black residents, the culmination of a five-year effort to acknowledge and redress historic inequities. But [the Trump administration immediately sent a letter to the city and county](https://avlwatchdog.org/u-s-department-of-justice-threatens-buncombe-county-with-investigation-over-reparations-recommendations/?ref=down-ballot.info), threatening them with the loss of federal funding if they undertook any initiative that favored one race over another, and it’s unclear how they will proceed. There is hope, some Black leaders say, that white-owned businesses are increasingly aware of past injustices and the role they can take in redressing them. Private foundations, businesses and nonprofits have stepped in with funding, grassroots programs and other support, but their efforts are not on a scale to stop the decline of Asheville’s Black population. Former Reparations Commission chair Dwight Mullen said he thinks it might take 20 years to reverse the decline. “I think it will bottom out, but I don’t think it will be within 10 years,” Mullen said. “On the other hand, I do think that to keep a community as white as Asheville is an act against nature.” Bruce Mitchell, who has studied gentrification extensively as the principal researcher for the [National Community Reinvestment Coalition](https://ncrc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info), said one crucial step to containing displacement, seeking input from Black residents about the future of their neighborhoods, can be simple and inexpensive. Far costlier initiatives, while important, don’t typically produce quick results, he said. Over a 25-year period private and public organizations poured more than $1 billion into improving education, housing and infrastructure in a predominantly Black Baltimore neighborhood with mixed outcomes, according to a 2022 [study](https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2022-10/The%20East%20Baltimore%20Development%20Initiative.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by the Urban Institute. “It’s really difficult to find the magic solution for residents,” Mitchell said. #### **The aging of Asheville’s Black population** Population data shows just how difficult a challenge it will be to stem the tide. In 2020, 18 percent of Black Asheville residents were 65 and older, compared with 13 percent in 1970, according to U.S. Census data. The percentage of children 14 and under shrank from 29 percent to 19 percent during that period. Meanwhile, the prevalence of working age adults increased slightly from 58 percent to 63 percent. ***Asheville Watchdog’s panel discussion about the Losing Our Soul series has reached capacity, but you can watch a live stream of the event on our*** [***Facebook page.***](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog/) ***Tune in at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 12*** The North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management projects an increase in the number of Black residents in Buncombe County by 2040 but a continued slide in their percentage of the population, said Tom Tveidt, a research economist and founder of Syneva Economics. Black people will comprise 5.6 percent of Buncombe’s population in 2040, compared with 5.9 percent this year, according to the office. The Black population is projected to grow by 9 percent during this period – a slower rate than other racial groups and one that won’t keep pace with Buncombe’s overall rate of 16 percent, Tveidt said. Also, what small growth there will be in Buncombe’s Black population will mostly come from older people, Tvedit’s analysis found. Though the reparations effort didn’t directly address the decline in Asheville’s Black population, it offered a path to making the city a place where African American residents could stay and build a life. Its recommendations included major education reform, the creation of an economic development center, neighborhood hubs and business corridors to spur economic growth, direct cash payments to those displaced by previous policies and repurposing of land bought from Black families for pennies on the dollar during urban renewal. Buncombe set aside about $3 million for the effort and the city another $3.4 million. City and county leaders say they are reviewing the recommendations to identify those that can be feasibly advanced. Neither Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell, who is African American, nor City Attorney Brad Branham said it’s the city’s job to stem the tide of Black population loss. Branham said directing benefits to one specific group “runs the risk of being legally discriminatory,” but thinks the city can identify recommendations that would continue efforts to boost affordable housing, diversify the economy, improve public safety and support “neighborhood partners that provide programs to lift up the community.” “The reality is that the data shows many of our neighbors are leaving, and that is likely true for a variety of reasons,” Branham said via email. “But the city should always ask itself why. What might be broken, and how can we fix it?” > Mullen disagrees that it is illegal for public agencies to provide “benefits for specific populations.” It happens all the time, he said, pointing to government aid targeted for the elderly, children or native Americans. Lifting the prospects of such groups, he said, lifts everyone. Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer acknowledged that “threatened federal interference creates concern about our ability to do all kinds of affordability and equity work.” But the city will still try to address problems affecting all citizens, she said. “The City of Asheville and City Council recognize the past harms to legacy communities and the need to address those wrongs through the tools available to us,” Manheimer said. “We continue to do that by investing in communities and creating opportunities for the communities torn apart by urban renewal.” Those efforts include investments in affordable housing, infrastructure in historically marginalized communities, use of matching grants to support neighborhood revitalization efforts, “and listening to those most impacted through our reparations process,” Manheimer said. After Tropical Storm Helene, the city secured $225 million in federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds, much of which must be used in areas of low or moderate income, she added. City Council member Sheneika Smith stressed that any reparations that are adopted “are going to have to be coupled with some type of housing incentives.” She cited the Dollar-a-Lot program, which offered residents displaced by urban renewal a chance to buy cleared lots for a dollar or a deeply discounted price. While the program sometimes fed lots to white developers, Smith said it worked well in some parts of the city. Nathan Dollar, the director of Carolina Demography at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, said tax policy can be used to address displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods, and earlier this year Raleigh’s Wake County eased the tax burdens of more than [600 residents](https://serpromise.org/neighbors-win-historic-property-tax-justice-in-southeast-raleigh/?ref=down-ballot.info) of historically Black communities, according to the [Southeast Raleigh Promise nonprofit](https://serpromise.org/neighbors-win-historic-property-tax-justice-in-southeast-raleigh/?ref=down-ballot.info). Branham said he and other city staffers have also researched a request from a group of minority communities, the Legacy Neighborhood Coalition, to create overlay districts intended to prevent displacement with measures such as limiting development density. Similar programs are in place in several North Carolina cities, [including Raleigh](https://raleighnc.gov/planning/services/character-preservation-overlay-districts?ref=down-ballot.info#:~:text=Neighborhood%20Conservation%20Overlay%20District%20%28NCOD,building%20setback%2C%20and%20building%20height.), he said, but they are legally complex, especially because a state law passed last year limits local governments’ power to impose zoning changes, especially rules calling for reducing the intensity of development. And any effort at protection can have unintended consequences such as limiting density that can promote affordability, he said. Gene Bell, the retired chief executive officer of the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, said an expansion of the federal Section 8 voucher program (Housing Choice Vouchers), a subsidy that helps low-income people afford private market housing, could help local residents break into more housing markets. “The voucher program could probably balance more things than any one thing going,” Bell said. “It gives people a chance to live in different places, and then the community lives together, so to speak. And it deters the ongoing segregation of Black people and white people.” Bowen National Research, which published the “Housing Needs Assessment” report for the Asheville region this year, found that as of March 2024, Buncombe had 3,128 housing choice vouchers issued, 70 that were unused, and a waitlist of 3,754 households. Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chair Amanda Edwards noted that the county’s 2030 Strategic Plan addresses affordability issues by proposing pathways to high wages and expanding education and workforce training. She said the county also needs to reduce cost burdens on all residents, lobby for full federal funding of programs that support the most vulnerable, attract higher-wage employers and build more affordable housing. “These are years-long efforts, not quick fixes,” Edwards said. #### **Providing an economic boost** In 2023, the average annual income of Black residents of Asheville was about half that of white residents –- $24,311 compared with $44,119, census data show. With public aid to meet the Reparations Commission’s economic development goals off the table, at least for now, nonprofits and other private groups are taking on this role. The mission of Dogwood Health Trust, which was created from the proceeds of HCA Healthcare’s $1.5 billion purchase of Mission Health in 2019, is to “dramatically improve the health and wellbeing of all people and communities” of western North Carolina, said Rebecca Noricks, vice president of communications at Dogwood, adding that “many of those efforts support people and communities that have experienced historical disinvestment and disconnection.” “Dogwood Health Trust invests in efforts to help people find safe, affordable housing, to find good jobs or create businesses, to educate and care for their children, to access healthcare they need, and to work together to create the change they want to realize,” Noricks said. “Many of the commission’s recommendations are consistent with work Dogwood is actively funding – education, work with older adults, doulas, health access and more.” Spectrum, the communications company, has provided the Black-led YMI Cultural Center with $90,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to partner in a jobs training program, said YMI Executive Director Sean Palmer. Nonprofit KL Training Solutions, best known for its My Daddy Taught Me That mentoring initiative, has operated an apprenticeship program for teenagers (most but not all of them African Americans) for 11 years, founder Keynon Lake said. The nonprofit pays its apprentices $15 to work with experienced professionals in a range of fields. Offering direct financial support to Black entrepreneurs can require efforts on several fronts. Khiyara Wynn and her mother, Rhonda, opened the Sistas on Montford soul food restaurant about two months ago, and have already established a large following. At 3:30 on a recent afternoon their counter at the Montford Convenience store was crowded with customers. To reach the goal of replicating the success of the New Ritz Restaurant her grandmother Margaret Harrison owned in the historically Black neighborhood of East End, they need a full-sized restaurant where patrons can eat, Khiyara Wynn said. “This is kind of like remembrance … to keep her legacy going,” she said. But “to try to expand to where we have seating is very hard right now, trying to run a full-service soul food restaurant out of a convenience store.” They have looked at the former Laughing Seed Cafe space downtown, she said, but need a grant or a loan to secure the location. Sistas on Montford could definitely fill a gap in the Asheville food scene, said JeWana Grier-McEachin, the executive director of the Asheville Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement, a nonprofit that promotes economic, social, and health equality for African Americans and other underserved Buncombe communities. ABIPA regularly hires Sistas for catering as a way to support minority businesses. “Because one of the things that we know when people come to Asheville they’re always looking for (is), ‘Where’s the soul food restaurant?’” she said. The [Eagle Market Street Development Corporation](https://www.eaglemarketstreets.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) is connecting the restaurant to more direct financial assistance, said Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Swepson Twitty. Named for the streets that were at the historic center of East End’s hub of Black enterprise, the corporation aims to help BIPOC businesses, Swepson Twitty said, using the acronym for Black, Indigenous and People of Color, especially enterprises run by women. In 2019, Eagle Market’s Community Equity Fund provided $780,000 in deferred loans to 12 entrepreneurs but hasn’t issued any since then. So Swepson Twitty has reached out to Institute Capital (ICAP), a nonprofit community development financial institution that opened an Asheville office in the East End in March. She and Aaron Soto, ICAP’s commercial loan officer, plan to meet with the Wynns, she said. ICAP will consider lending to all businesses that apply, Soto said, but focuses on assisting minority- and woman-owned enterprises. Though the interest rates of institution’s loans are slightly higher than those offered by conventional lenders, he said, it can offer loans “to businesses that are not quite bank-ready.” “We can work with lower credit scores, as low as 600, and we only ask for about a 10 percent injection from the business owner,” he said, compared with the 20 or 30 percent required from banks. #### **Closing the achievement gap** Housing and economic opportunity were just two elements that the reparations commission identified as inequitable. Another was education. Lake, the KL Training Solutions founder, called the racial achievement gap in Asheville City Schools the “worst in North Carolina,” an assessment backed by the nonprofit Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s most recent Racial Equity Report Card for Asheville City Schools. Just 4 percent of the district’s Black high schoolers achieved “career and college-ready” scores on end-of-course exams during the 2023-24 school year, compared with more than half of whites, the report said. Black students were 8.4 times as likely as whites to serve short-term suspensions. Asheville has already seen one community-led program address this problem – PEAK Academy, a charter school geared toward increasing minority achievement, especially among Black children. Mullen and Bell, who also served eight years on the ACS board, including six as chair, helped found the school. Bell, formerly PEAK’s board and a current member, cited the ACS achievement gap as one of the most serious problems facing the city and said “education would be No. 1” when it comes to attracting and keeping Black people in Asheville. PEAK, which opened in 2021, quickly narrowed the difference in test scores between white students and those of color. As *The Watchdog* previously [reported](https://avlwatchdog.org/legal-case-could-be-costly-for-peak-academy-which-was-established-to-close-student-achievement-gap/?ref=down-ballot.info), for the 2022-23 year for end-of-third-grade tests, PEAK’s students earned a 72.2 percent proficiency rate on math, and 44.9 percent on reading, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI). Just 15.5 percent of Black third graders in ACS showed proficiency in reading for that time frame, compared with 75.6 percent of whites. The gap was even greater in math, with 13.8 percent of Black third graders showing proficiency, compared with 80.1 percent of whites. But PEAK’s mission has been challenged by WNC Citizens for Equality, which filed a federal complaint against the school alleging racial discrimination against white students and faculty. The local group bills itself as a “volunteer coalition dedicated to defending constitutional rights to equal protection under the law.” PEAK maintains that all applicants for student and faculty positions are welcome, regardless of race, and that the school does not discriminate in any way. The complaint remains listed on the Citizens for Equality website under “court cases,” but the status of the complaint is unclear, as the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has undergone mass layoffs under the Trump Administration and is currently closed because of the federal shutdown. Another education initiative comes from Lake’s organization. It began offering summer school classes in 2020 to address COVID-19 school closures, which were compounding the achievement gap. The nonprofit hired three city school teachers to lead the program’s math, reading, science and history classes, and paid its students to attend the program 12 hours per week. Doing so relieved them of the need to find minimum-wage jobs that might not teach them valuable skills, Lake said, while passing on basic lessons of employment. “If you’re not performing academically, we dock your pay. If you’re late to school, we dock your pay,” Lake said. “And we don’t reward bad behavior in any way,” he said. The program, which has been extended to 16 hours weekly, has continued to grow and this summer paid 60 students $15 per hour. “This was our biggest year yet,” Lake said. Shaniah Robinson, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Erwin Middle School, said she developed into a more fluent reader during the last session, which allowed her to build on academic skills she had learned the previous school year. “It helped me remember stuff from seventh grade,” Robinson said. #### **Building a sense of Black community** Many African American residents see the need to rebuild Black culture as crucial in stemming the departure of young people. “One reason this place is a very transient place for professionals, there is not a strong Black middle class community,” said Palmer of the YMI Cultural Center. “That means in a lot of ways you’re here by yourself … It’s easy to feel like you’re the only Black person in the room.” But Black people won’t feel that way at YMI, he said. Founded in 1893 as the Young Men’s Institute, it bills itself as one of the oldest African American cultural centers in the country. Over the past decade, the center, located at 39 S. Market St., has endured funding issues and executive turnover, but has regained its footing. It closed in early 2022 for a [$6.2 million renovation,](https://mountainx.com/news/community-news/ymi-cultural-center-starts-its-next-chapter-with-renovations-and-new-leadership/?ref=down-ballot.info) but reopened in February. To further the sense of belonging and to create professional connections, Palmer is also working with more than a dozen other members of the Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. to revive the fraternity’s local chapter. “What we are seeking to do, is to ensure that African American communities have a place to go, have a place to socialize and connect,” he said. The Black Business Alliance, which was recently launched by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, also aims to create connections among African American entrepreneurs. The effort is led by Ava Smith, founder and president of a Greenville, South Carolina-based recruitment company that recently opened an office in the Grove Arcade. The alliance will create a forum for Black-owned businesses, and help them become “more integrated and visible because they’re hidden gems,” she said. “They’re hidden gems that just need a platform to be flushed out.” #### **Raising awareness of injustice** Along with connections, Black Asheville residents need a unified voice to make public officials aware of their concerns, said Justin Blackburn, the president of the Asheville Branch of the NAACP since August. Blackburn is helping revive the organization’s chapter, which had been dormant for several years. Now that the chapter has been reactivated, he said, its members will decide what issues it will tackle. Dwelling on past injustices can be counterproductive, said Smith, the City Council member. “I’ve heard this growing up repeatedly,” she said about urban renewal. “It’s almost like the wound that keeps us stuck … I’m ready to heal and repair.” But spreading the word of past injustice can lead to healing, said Priscilla Robinson, 64, who has been researching and speaking out about urban renewal for more than 15 years. She is encouraged that white elected officials and business leaders seem increasingly aware of urban renewal’s destructive impact and other injustices, and are reaching out to redress the harm they did. Despite the DOJ threatening a loss of funding, she said, she remains encouraged that both the City Council and County Commission recognized the need for reparations in 2020, when they also apologized for past injustices. > Another good sign, she said, was a recent meeting held at the Black-owned Grind AVL coffee shop. Unified RAD, a group of River Arts District businesses owners, artists and other stakeholders, hosted a meeting to talk about its RAD Planning and Visioning Project, which is mapping out post-Helene recovery goals. Its members recognize the district includes part of the historically Black Southside neighborhood, said hospitality business owner Joe Balcken, the co-leader of the project. They realized the need to invite a range of Black leaders, including Robinson. Too often, white business and political leaders have imposed plans on Black neighborhoods without considering residents’ wishes, Robinson said. At the meeting, the RAD group listened to Black attendees and made changes based on their input. “That was the best community meeting I’ve ever been to, because it was diversified, with people from all – not just color – but age and position,” she said afterward. “Everybody was just meeting and networking, and it was just awesome.” *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on* [*our Facebook page.*](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog) *Please submit your comments there.* --- [*Asheville Watchdog*](http://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Dan DeWitt is The Watchdog’s deputy managing editor/senior reporter. Email: ddewitt@avlwatchdog.org. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org.* [*Asheville Watchdog*](https://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to*[ *avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* --- # NC invests $9.5 million in teams to help people with serious mental illness after their release from incarceration by Rachel Crumpler, North Carolina Health News November 10, 2025 #### By Rachel Crumpler Trying to get back on one’s feet in the community after leaving prison or jail is rarely easy. People often [face steep hurdles](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/12/19/reentry-simulation-highlights-challenges-after-incarceration/?ref=down-ballot.info) finding housing, employment and health care. For those with serious mental illness, the transition can be even more difficult. [About two in five people who are incarcerated](https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/imhprpji1112.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) have a history of mental illness — roughly twice the [prevalence of mental illness within the general adult population](https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness?ref=down-ballot.info). Many of them leave prison or jail without a job or even [a place to live](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/08/06/more-than-1-in-4-people-released-from-nc-prisons-faced-homelessness-in-2024/?ref=down-ballot.info). Some may have a single outpatient mental health appointment scheduled and a 30-day supply of their medications. Others might just get handed a list of resources and phone numbers. Too often, it isn’t enough. Ted Zarzar, a psychiatrist who divides his time between UNC Health and Central Prison in Raleigh, [previously told NC Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/25/charlotte-light-rail-killing-exposes-gaps-in-ncs-mental-health-system/?ref=down-ballot.info) the period where people reenter their communities is especially critical — and high-risk — for people with a mental illness. Without a direct handoff to care and support, Zarzar said [staying stable in the community is nearly impossible](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2024/03/06/fit-wellness-transforms-lives-with-reentry-support-for-formerly-incarcerated-people-with-serious-mental-illness/?ref=down-ballot.info). Many people end up right back in a jail, prison or the hospital in a frustrating — and costly — cycle of recidivism. And taxpayers foot the bill: Incarceration in a North Carolina prison costs [more than $54,000 a year](https://www.dac.nc.gov/information-and-services/publications-data-and-research/cost-corrections?ref=down-ballot.info). It’s a cycle state leaders want to break — and they’re trying a new approach. On Nov. 3, North Carolina officials [announced a $9.5 million pilot program](https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2025/11/03/ncdhhs-and-first-lady-anna-stein-unveil-fact-teams-improve-outcomes-people-whose-mental-illnesses?ref=down-ballot.info) to provide intensive support to people with serious mental illnesses — such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder — as they reenter the community after incarceration. The goal: to reduce repeat encounters with the justice system and guide people to the help they need. ![A woman stands at a podium with the seal of North Carolina on it talking about the launch of FACT teams to help people with serious mental illnesses leaving incarceration](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_7760-371x450.jpeg) Kelly Crosbie talks about the launch of FACT teams in North Carolina on Nov. 3, 2025 at DHHS headquarters. "Providing alternatives to incarceration when it's appropriate, and then supporting people upon their release from incarceration with things like treatment, but also housing and employment are critical if we're going to stop the cycle of justice system involvement," she said. These [Forensic Assertive Community Treatment,](https://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/pep19-fact-br.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) or FACT, teams will deliver personalized clinical and social support to justice-involved individuals with serious mental health needs who also present a medium to high risk of repeated criminal behavior. “​​We want to make sure that they are effectively connected to the treatment and supports that they need,” said Kelly Crosbie, director of the state’s Department of Health and Human Services Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services. “It is good for them, it is good for their families and it is good for our communities.” #### **High-risk, high-needs population** The first FACT teams will be based in Pitt, New Hanover, Wake/Durham, Buncombe and Mecklenburg counties. Each team will receive $636,000 per year for three years — funding that comes from the [$835 million in behavioral health funding the state legislature appropriated](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2023/10/06/state-officials-tout-once-in-a-lifetime-investment-in-north-carolinas-mental-health-services/?ref=down-ballot.info) in the 2023-25 state budget to improve the state’s mental health system. Teams are designed to tailor care based on a person’s needs — from mental health and substance use treatment to housing and employment support and assistance with daily living tasks. North Carolina’s first lady, Anna Stein, has focused on [supporting rehabilitation and reentry programs for people leaving incarceration](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/04/23/nc-prison-reentry-efforts-continue-in-second-year/?ref=down-ballot.info) and on [reducing stigma against people with substance use](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/07/29/nc-launches-campaign-to-reduce-stigma-around-substance-use/?ref=down-ballot.info) and mental health disorders as two of her top priorities during her husband’s time as governor. She helped announce the new program at NC DHHS headquarters in Raleigh. “It is critical that we address the intersection of mental health needs and the criminal justice system,” Stein said. While the pilot program has been in the works for more than a year, its launch comes amid increased public attention on [gaps in North Carolina’s criminal justice and mental health systems](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/09/25/charlotte-light-rail-killing-exposes-gaps-in-ncs-mental-health-system/?ref=down-ballot.info). On Aug. 22, Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death on a Charlotte light rail train. The man charged in her killing had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was homeless at the time of the incident. He had been arrested more than a dozen times over two decades and spent more than five years in prison for armed robbery. #### **‘People want support’** Data shows that people with mental illnesses are overrepresented in [incarcerated](https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/imhprpji1112.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), [probationary](https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2024/01/adults-with-mental-illness-are-overrepresented-in-probation-population?ref=down-ballot.info) and paroled populations nationwide.Crosbie said that many people have mental health concerns and behaviors that contribute to their criminal involvement, and others see their conditions worsen behind bars. Some even develop new mental health conditions once they’re incarcerated. That’s turned [jails and prisons into de facto mental health institutions](https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/more-mentally-ill-persons-are-jails-and-prisons-hospitals-survey?ref=down-ballot.info) — even though they’re ill-equipped to manage the growing, complex mental health needs of those in their custody. The FACT model builds on [Assertive Community Treatment](https://www.med.unc.edu/psych/cecmh/unc-institute-for-best-practices/assertive-community-treatment-act/?ref=down-ballot.info) — a model of care developed in the 1970s when psychiatric hospitals across the nation closed and care shifted into the community. ACT uses multidisciplinary teams who constitute “walking hospitals” to bring treatment directly to community members with the most serious mental health challenges. Forensic assertive community treatment, or FACT teams, adapts that model to serve a justice-involved population by pairing treatment with interventions to reduce risks for future criminal behavior. Each North Carolina FACT team will include nine roles: a team leader, psychiatrist or nurse practitioner, nurse, mental health counselor, substance use counselor, peer support specialist, housing specialist, vocational/educational specialist and forensic navigator. The team members work collaboratively to go beyond traditional outpatient care and “wrap” services around them. “This program in particular is for people with very severe mental health issues,” Crosbie said. “These are folks that probably need more than once every two weeks a 45-minute counseling appointment. They really need intensive support through that peer who can be with them every day if that’s what they need, through a doc who they can talk to every day if they need to, a clinical social worker who’s directing the rest of the team and providing counseling services to them. “It’s just a much more intensive level of clinical services, in addition to some of those other life supports, like housing and employment.” Crosbie said teams can meet clients anywhere — at home, in a park, a doctor’s appointment or even at a job interview. That flexibility is key for client engagement, said Lacey Rutherford, FACT team lead in Buncombe County. Each FACT team has the capacity to work with up to 30 clients — a smaller caseload to allow staff to meet each person’s intensive needs. Team members are available around the clock, with no time limit on how long they can work with someone to become stable in the community. The Buncombe and Mecklenburg county teams are already operating and accepting referrals, Crosbie said. The remaining teams are expected to launch by the end of the calendar year. Referrals can come from law enforcement, court officials, community corrections, behavioral health care providers and even family members who think someone would benefit from FACT services. Rutherford, who previously worked for two years on an assertive community treatment team in Buncombe and had clients with histories of incarceration, said she believes the specialized teams to serve justice-involved individuals will help better address unmet needs. “People want support. They really do,” Rutherford said. “Of course, we’re going to have situations where people are going to be resistant to this — to treatment — but overall, this is something that these individuals haven’t had. They haven’t had support. They haven’t had people in their corner fighting for them.” #### **An emerging strategy** While FACT teams are new to North Carolina, the approach has been in limited use elsewhere since the 1990s. [One early FACT team](https://www.blueprintsprograms.org/programs/1452999999/rochester-forensic-assertive-community-treatment-r-fact/print/?ref=down-ballot.info) was created in 1997 in Rochester, New York, by psychiatrist J. Steven Lamberti, who is also a professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Lamberti saw the gaps between the mental health and justice systems when many of his patients landed in jail. The program is still operating today, with Lamberti serving as team psychiatrist. “FACT brings together best practices in community mental health with best practices in crime prevention,” Lamberti told NC Health News. “It’s a mobile one-stop shop to meet people’s needs medically, psychiatrically and socially.” He described a typical FACT client as someone with a serious mental illness who may not recognize their condition and has previously refused treatment, living on the streets without stable housing or income — conditions that lead to frequent encounters with the justice system. “At some point, they get involved in a survival crime like stealing food or aggressive panhandling because they’re starving and trying to get money,” Lamberti said. “If they get arrested, they’ll go to jail. It’s usually a misdemeanor charge, and they’ll be right back out on the streets.” Breaking the cycle, Lamberti said, requires treatment, along with addressing the [“criminogenic needs”](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4045616/?ref=down-ballot.info) that drive justice involvement — issues like housing instability, food insecurity, poor family relationships and more. Lamberti [published the first paper on forensic assertive community treatment](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ps.55.11.1285?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2004\. At the time, he identified 16 teams operating in nine states — though he noted differences in their structure. The number of teams has grown in recent years — aided by the [Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration](https://www.samhsa.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info) naming [FACT among best practices](https://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/pep19-fact-br.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2019, Lamberti said. A recent June 2024 survey led by UNC Chapel Hill researcher Lorna Moser, who has spent her career providing training and evaluation of assertive community treatment, found FACT teams may be operating in 19 states. ![A map of the United States with just under half of states shaded blue to indicate the presence of FACT teams to help people with serious mental illnesses involved in the justice system](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/FACT-Team-Map.jpg) Based on a 2024 national survey, researchers estimated that roughly 50 FACT teams may be operating across 19 states. Implementation remains limited, with generally only a few teams in each state. Lorna Moser, who led the survey, noted that determining the total number of teams is difficult because there's variability in how FACT teams are defined. "I think that there's teams out there that will call themselves a FACT team, simply because they're serving a lot of folks that are justice-involved, but they've done very little to actually modify what they're doing to try to align with the model," Moser said. In the past year, Lamberti said at least four states — including North Carolina — have launched FACT teams as state leaders look for better ways to serve this high-need population. “People that are appropriate for FACT services are high service utilizers because they’re cycling in and out of jails and hospitals,” Lamberti said. “That’s very costly, not just financially but emotionally. These are human beings with families, and they and their families are suffering immensely by watching a loved one become homeless, cycle through and become incarcerated. “For a variety of humanitarian and financial reasons, there’s really great interest \[in FACT teams\] on the part of the states.” FACT is a [relatively new service delivery model](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cns-spectrums/article/forensic-assertive-community-treatment-an-emerging-best-practice/F72130BE7ECF2ECD456B8CD6FFC42680?ref=down-ballot.info), so its effectiveness is still being gauged. So far, Lamberti said, the [growing evidence base](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00938548211061489?ref=down-ballot.info) is showing that “outcomes are generally positive.” Evaluations have shown that FACT can help reduce days spent in jail and promote greater use of outpatient mental health services. It also appears to be cost-effective. A [2022 study published in *Psychiatric Services*](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ps.20220186?ref=down-ballot.info) found that the Rochester FACT program was associated with a $1.50 return on investment for every $1 spent — largely by preventing hospitalization and incarceration. And that was without factoring in potential savings from other sources such as crime-related damages. North Carolina health leaders said they’ll be monitoring the outcomes of North Carolina’s FACT teams closely. “Our goal is that this is incredibly successful, and we’re able to replicate this in more counties,” Crosbie said. This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/10/nc-fact-teams-serious-mental-illness-release-from-jail-prison/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # McIntosh spends $491K, so far, to defend rezoning of Hogg Hummock by Mary Landers, The Current November 8, 2025 McIntosh County has spent almost half a million dollars defending its 2023 rezoning of Hogg Hummock, a small neighborhood on Sapelo Island that’s traditionally been home to a Gullah Geechee community. Through open records requests, *The Current GA* gathered [attorneys’ invoices](https://www.documentcloud.org/projects/213000-mcintosh-county-commission/?ref=down-ballot.info) and county purchase order summaries from October 2023 through August 2025\. The payments, connected to Sapelo-rezoning-related lawsuits, add up to more than $491,000 and continue to accumulate in a county where the 2026 fiscal year budget comes in at about $21 million. The county commission passed the rezoning in September 2023, in a tumultuous meeting packed with citizens opposed to the changes, which were designed to allow larger houses to be built in the enclave thus increasing the rural county’s tax base. Longtime residents, many of them descendants of people enslaved on Georgia’s sea islands, feared the resulting gentrification and higher property taxes would drive them out of their homes and sweep in wealthy developers. ![](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/IMG_3368-768x1024.jpeg) Alberta Mabry of Darien and a Hogg Hummock descendant talks to commission chair David Stevens after he cast the deciding vote on zoning for the community. In litigation that is ongoing, the residents sued the county claiming the zoning amendment violates state law and their constitutional rights to due process and equal protection. Through August, county taxpayers have paid Cumming-based Jarrard & Davis $254,604 in this case, *Grovner et al. v. McIntosh*. The spending could be slowing, however. Earlier this week Senior Judge F. Gates Peed issued a [30-day stay](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26220937-2025-11-06-order-granting-joint-motion-to-stay/?ref=down-ballot.info) requested jointly by both parties to allow them to negotiate a settlement. “The parties in our case are discussing settlement, and our case has been stayed, and we're going to give the court an update in 30 days about where we are,” said Senior Attorney Miriam Gutman of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is representing the Sapelo residents. Preliminary talks have touched only on logistics, Attorney Ken Jarrard, who represents the county, told *The Current GA.* “The County welcomes the opportunity to sit down with all parties and work in good faith toward solutions,” Jarrard wrote in an email. ### **Paying for both sides** In a separate attempt to undo the rezoning, community groups in the summer of 2024 successfully filed a petition in probate court to force a countywide vote to repeal the zoning change. Early voting was already underway last year ahead of the scheduled Oct. 1 referendum when a Superior Court judge granted the county’s request to shut down the special election. But that decision was appealed to the state Supreme Court, [which in September ruled to put the referendum back on the ballot.](https://thecurrentga.org/2025/09/30/ga-supreme-court-upholds-citizens-right-to-vote-to-repeal-sapelo-zoning/?ref=down-ballot.info) A special election is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2026. ![The McIntosh County Board of Elections is the site for early voting.](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IMG_4697-1024x768.jpg) Early voting on the Sapelo referendum began in October 2024at the McIntosh County Board of Elections office with 52 voters casting ballots. The cost to hold the referendum – previously estimated at $20,000 – was cited as one reason the county shouldn’t be forced to conduct it. But fighting against it in court ultimately cost the county at least $236,681 in legal fees. Most of that money went to Jarrard & Davis. But because the county was suing its own probate judge, Harold Webster, it was required to pay for his legal fees, too. Those fees totaled $54,020 for the services of Attorney Kellye Moore of Perry-based Walker Hulbert Gray & Moore. In October 2024, Moore informed the county that [her rate for defending Webster was increasing](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25419168-kellye-moore-invoices-to-mcintosh-for-sapelo-referendum/?ref=down-ballot.info) to $375 an hour. “I confirmed with attorney Ken Jarrard the hourly rate that McIntosh County is paying him for his representation in this litigation and have adjusted my hourly rate accordingly,” she wrote. McIntosh has increased its budget for legal fees significantly over the course of the zoning litigation. [In fiscal year 2024](https://www.mcintoshcountyga.com/DocumentCenter/View/474/FY-2024-Budget?bidId=&ref=down-ballot.info), before any of this litigation began, the county expected to spend $132,750 in legal costs. [The next year](https://www.mcintoshcountyga.com/DocumentCenter/View/666/FY-2025-Budget?bidId=&ref=down-ballot.info) it bumped that number up to $230,000\. In t[he current 2026 fiscal year](https://www.mcintoshcountyga.com/DocumentCenter/View/673/FY26-Operating-Budget?bidId=&ref=down-ballot.info) budget, it’s $300,000\. ### **Encouraged by talks** Josiah “Jazz” Watts, a Sapelo descendant and One Hundred Miles Justice Strategist, is encouraged that talks are underway. “I would hope that they would come to the table in good faith with an understanding of doing the things that can protect the culture, the heritage of the community,” Watts said. “This community has brought so much to not only McIntosh County and the state of Georgia, but I also see people from all over the world come to visit the island. If we can all come to the table with that understanding, then everybody wins.” Watts sounds wistful talking about how the Hogg Hummock community, which suffered the loss of seven Gullah-Geechee festivalgoers when a ferry dock collapsed last year, could have benefitted from the tax dollars that instead went to the zoning fight. ![Josiah](https://thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMG_4437-768x1024.jpg) Josiah "Jazz" Watts, left, with Savannah attorney Dana Braun, holds copies of the petitions with signatures requesting a referendum to repeal the new zoning ordinance affecting Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island. “This is nothing that we asked for,” Watts said. “This is something that we responded to that still is threatening our way of life. So I'm glad that somebody is finally saying, ‘You know, maybe we do need to sit down and have a discussion and see if there's a possibility of working this out.’” Parties from both the referendum litigation and the ongoing zoning litigation will be involved in the settlement talks. It’s unclear how the upcoming referendum will be affected if a settlement is reached before Jan. 20, 2026, when voters again go to the polls. Attorney Dana Braun, of Savannah-based Ellis Painter, which represented Sapelo residents in the state Supreme Court case, said if the parties can reach an agreement that obviates the need for a referendum they’ll still have to determine if there’s a legal way for the referendum not to go forward. It’s uncharted territory, especially given how new the use of the referendum process is, the attorneys noted. “I think there's a lot of complexity here, and I'm hoping – I think the parties are hoping – that through settlement negotiations we can resolve it,” Gutman said. This [article](https://thecurrentga.org/2025/11/08/mcintosh-spends-491k-so-far-to-defend-rezoning-of-hogg-hummock/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Current](https://thecurrentga.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/thecurrentga.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-TheCurrent_site-icon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1) ![](https://thecurrentga.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=93553&ga4=G-L05EDNCRHK) --- # How Alabama Power Kept Bills Up and Opposition Out to Become One of the Most Powerful Utilities in the Country ## In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators. By Dennis Pillion, Lee Hedgepeth November 3, 2025 *This article originally appeared on* [*Inside Climate News*](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03112025/alabama-power-electric-rates-profits/?ref=down-ballot.info)*, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter* [*here*](https://insideclimatenews.org/newsletter/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* **Wired for Profit:* First in a series about Alabama Power’s influence over electric rates, renewable energy, pollution and politics in the Yellowhammer State.* MCCALLA, Ala.—Mary Rosenboom is fed up. Like 1.5 million other Alabamians, Rosenboom is forced to pay ever-increasing electricity prices set by Alabama Power and approved by the state’s Public Service Commission. Each month, Rosenboom forks over hundreds of dollars to the utility—and [a massive hyperscale data center](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25072025/alabama-proposed-hyperscale-data-center-impacts/?ref=down-ballot.info) proposed near her home, she fears, will make the situation even worse. Her electricity costs are already a huge financial burden. Rosenboom, who works as a sales professional, said she chooses not to run her air conditioner during much of the day to prevent an untenable power bill. Even that isn’t enough. Often, Rosenboom said she must turn to high-interest credit cards to keep the lights on. “I’m robbing Peter to pay Paul,” she told Inside Climate News. “It makes me sick.” Rosenboom’s plight isn’t unique. Inside Climate News examined the 2024 federal filings of 100 of the largest electric utilities in the country. None reported higher total residential electric bills, on average, than Alabama Power. Because Alabama is one of the [poorest states in the nation](https://hdpulse.nimhd.nih.gov/data-portal/social/table?age=001&age%5Foptions=ageall%5F1&demo=00011&demo%5Foptions=income%5F3&race=00&race%5Foptions=race%5F7&sex=0&sex%5Foptions=sexboth%5F1&socialtopic=030&socialtopic%5Foptions=social%5F6&statefips=00&statefips%5Foptions=area%5Fstates&ref=down-ballot.info), that hits especially hard. Electricity customers here are among the [most financially burdened in the nation](https://www.energy.gov/scep/slsc/lead-tool?ref=down-ballot.info), the U.S. Department of Energy found. And an [analysis by think tank RMI](https://rmi.org/1-in-7-families-live-in-energy-poverty-states-can-ease-that-burden/?ref=down-ballot.info) showed that among households with extremely low incomes, Alabamians pay nearly a quarter of their earnings for electricity—the highest percentage in the country. So why are power bills so high? Experts point to lax regulation by the Alabama Public Service Commission, which is charged with regulating Alabama Power and overseeing any large spending or rate increases proposed by the utility. Robert Blanton, chair of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has been digging into the mechanisms that allow Alabama Power to earn record profits in such an impoverished state. Ultimately, he said, there’s strong evidence that Alabama Power has effectively “captured” its regulator, the PSC. Academics use the concept of regulatory capture to describe a situation in which regulators are more beholden to the entities they are charged with regulating than the public they represent. The commission conducts much of its regulation of Alabama Power [behind closed doors,](https://apnews.com/article/alabama-power-utility-rate-hikes-public-input-1096fac93db2e499bbafb4a074155468?ref=down-ballot.info) with little to no access for the public or outside interest groups. It has consistently granted Alabama Power unusually high profit margins. The company’s return on equity was 11 percent in 2023, according to a utility analysis by financial firm S&P Global. That’s down slightly from the company’s historical average of around 13 percent, but still among the highest of any utility in the country. Nationwide, the average rate of return approved for electric utilities in 2024 rate cases was 9.74 percent, [according to S&P](https://psc.ky.gov/pscecf/2025-00113/kyle.j.smith124.civ%40army.mil/09232025010656/MPG%5FCopyright%5FProtected%5FWP%5F27.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info). “I don’t think there’s a single utility in the country that would be upset with an 11 percent earned ROE,” said Kent Chandler, former chairman of the Kentucky Public Service Commission, now a senior fellow in energy and environmental policy for the R Street Institute. “I mean, that’s like double what I know some utilities are actually earning.” Meanwhile, Alabama Power and its parent, Southern Co., have boasted about their record profits. “Every quarter for 78 consecutive years, Southern Company has paid a dividend to its shareholders that is equal to or greater than the previous quarter,” the company said in a July press release. In a statement, representatives for Alabama Power said the company’s rates were fair and its reliability was among the best in the nation. The company pointed to high per capita electricity usage in the state, the [seventh-highest in the country](https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=AL&ref=down-ballot.info), according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and the third-highest residential usage. The company said that its residential rate, not the total bill, is a more appropriate way to evaluate the company’s affordability. “On those price-based measures—paired with our industry-leading reliability—Alabama Power’s residential service is fairly priced under PSC oversight,” the company said. Alabama Power’s average residential rate last year was 16.77 cents per kilowatt-hour, higher than the national average of 16.48 cents and 35th highest out of 100 utilities examined by Inside Climate News. But the national average includes places like Hawaii, Connecticut and Southern California, which are all among the top 10 states for median household income. [Shipping fuel oil to Hawaii](https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=HI&ref=down-ballot.info) and [wildfire prevention in California](https://calmatters.org/environment/2024/12/pge-utilities-wildfire-prevention-customer-bills-california/?ref=down-ballot.info) are also huge costs that don’t apply in Alabama. Alabama Power notes that the company faces its own “high-cost reliability risks” due to tornadoes, thunderstorms and hurricanes in the state. Alabama Power’s combination of above-average rates with top-five usage yielded the highest total residential bills in the nation last year. Other states with similar or greater usage feature lower rates. One reason Alabama’s usage is so high: nearly 70 percent of Alabamians use electric heat, as opposed to natural gas, thanks in part to incentives offered by Alabama Power. [Louisiana](https://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=LA&ref=down-ballot.info), which has the highest per capita residential electricity use in the nation, has electric rates that averaged 11.64 cents/kWh in 2024, about 30 percent lower than Alabama Power’s rate. The average Alabama Power residential customer used 1,129 kWh of electricity per month last year, at a cost of about $189\. A customer using the same amount of electricity in Louisiana would have paid $58 less every month. Those figures do not include state or local taxes, so the actual bills are even higher. Average residential rates in the states bordering Alabama—Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida—are 15 to 25 percent lower than Alabama Power’s rates. Alabama Power’s rates are also well above those of other providers in the state—46 percent higher than the average rate last year charged by Huntsville Utilities, which serves almost 200,000 residential customers in north Alabama. The R Street Institute, the think tank where Chandler now works, gave Alabama an “F” in its ranking of [electricity competition](https://www.rstreet.org/research/state-by-state-scorecard-on-electricity-competition/?ref=down-ballot.info)—how much choice consumers have about where their power comes from. No other state received such a bad grade. The group only considered investor-owned utility companies in its rankings, and Alabama Power is the only such company in Alabama. Alabama Power also charges about 16 percent more than Mississippi Power and about 8 percent more than Georgia Power, the other two utilities owned by its parent company, Southern Co. The difference, at least in part, is that Alabama Power’s rates are driven up by the company’s ever-increasing profits. The company reported a $1.4 billion profit in 2024, almost double the $712 million it earned in 2013, the year the PSC changed its formula for measuring Alabama Power’s profits. The company’s book value—its assets minus debt—more than doubled over that span, going from $5.5 billion to $13 billion. Alabama Power said the increase in equity is driven by investments made to improve the system. “Growth in book equity primarily mirrors system investment—storm hardening, cyber and physical security, as well as transmission and distribution upgrades, along with other investments driven by reliability and compliance,” the company said. ## **Almost No Public Participation** In virtually all states with regulated utilities, rate cases force the company to justify its proposed increases in a public forum, providing sworn, expert testimony and allowing outside groups to challenge the projections and assertions made by the power company. Not in Alabama. The PSC hasn’t conducted a formal rate case related to Alabama Power since 1982, more than four decades ago. “There are no courtroom-style hearings on Alabama Power’s long-term energy planning or how those plans impact customers’ bills,” said Christina Tidwell, a senior attorney in the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Alabama office. “These types of proceedings are routine in other states. When the public can participate, we believe they’re better informed about how this process impacts their lives.” Chandler, the former chairman of the Kentucky Public Service Commission, said that while rate cases can be tedious, they are valuable to the public. “One of the benefits of having rate cases is that you get a holistic look at a utility’s revenues and a utility’s costs,” Chandler said. “In my experience in Kentucky, consumers benefit from having periodic reviews by an objective regulator.” And since regulated utilities earn profits on all their approved spending, the more they spend, the more they earn, he said. “They have an incentive to over-invest,” Chandler said. “And if you never check things after the fact, then you’re just writing them a blank check.” Alabama Power said in a statement that the lack of formal rate cases does not mean the company faces no oversight. The company said its “formula-based oversight” from the PSC includes monthly filings, annual reviews and automatic refunds or adjustments when its earnings fall outside of a specified range. “Different structure does not equal lack of regulation,” the company said. Wall Street has taken notice. A [2024 report](https://www.floridapsc.com/pscfiles/library/filings/2024/07242-2024/07242-2024.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) by S&P Global put Alabama in a tier of its own atop the rankings in its State Regulatory Evaluations, examining the likelihood that state regulators might decrease or limit a utility’s profits. The report found no other state where a utility’s profits were as safe as in Alabama. ### **Tips?** If you have questions or tips about Alabama Power and its role in the state, you can reach out to our reporters at alabamapowerstories@gmail.com. The last PSC commissioner to advocate for formal rate hearings for Alabama Power—Terry Dunn in 2013—was promptly voted out of office in the next election. Dunn, a self-described conservative Republican, faced a curious and largely anonymous campaign linking him to environmental groups. Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh, the former PSC president, described Dunn’s efforts to initiate formal reviews of Alabama Power as a “full frontal assault” by “extremist groups” and their “fancy San Francisco environmental lawyers.” Dunn, who died last year, called the efforts “[a smear campaign](https://www.al.com/archiblog/2013/01/pcs%5Fcommission%5Fdunn%5Fsets%5Frecor.html?ref=down-ballot.info) orchestrated against a Republican by fellow Republicans,” in a letter to the state party in 2013\. Later that year, about 10 people staged what many believe to be a [faked environmental protest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp4eTWAaLAI&ref=down-ballot.info) on the front steps of the PSC building. The protesters, wearing blue surgical masks and other items obscuring their identities, bore signs with slogans such as “Environmentalists \[heart\] Dunn,” and “Save the Warrior,” likely a reference to the Black Warrior River, which runs through Tuscaloosa. Representatives of environmental groups who were there to attend a meeting said they had no idea who the people were. Ultimately, Dunn was defeated in the 2014 Republican primary by Chris “Chip” Beeker Jr., a cattle and catfish farm operator and former county commissioner in rural Greene County—a county whose largest employer was an Alabama Power plant. Beeker had help. Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, whose lobbying firm represented Alabama Power’s parent company, [organized a fundraiser for Beeker](https://www.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/10/former%5Fgov%5Fhaley%5Fbarbours%5Fties.html?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2013. Beeker stepped down from the commission partway through his term last year, citing health issues. His son, [Chris Beeker III](https://alabamareflector.com/briefs/gov-kay-ivey-appoints-chris-beeker-iii-to-fill-fathers-seat-on-public-service-commission/?ref=down-ballot.info), filled his seat after being appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey. The PSC’s new president, Cynthia Lee Almond, has said [transparency will be one of her priorities](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/21072025/alabama-utility-commission-president/?ref=down-ballot.info). But PSC staff would not make her or other commissioners available for an interview to discuss the absence of rate hearings or the public’s limited role in PSC affairs. Instead, the PSC’s press office provided written responses to questions. When reporters reach out to the agency seeking information, the answers come with this warning: “All verbal and/or written responses provided by the staff of the Alabama Public Service Commission (“APSC”) are for informational purposes only and may not be the subject of quotation(s) attributed to staff in any public medium without the express permission of the APSC.” ## **A Profitable Change** A turning point for Alabama Power’s profits came in 2013\. That’s the year Alabama state regulators changed the way they measure Alabama Power’s returns, switching from the industry standard return on equity metric to a formula they created, called weighted retail return on common equity. The weighted return rate rewards Alabama Power for having higher ratios of equity to debt. The idea was that by incentivizing company officials to carry a greater percentage of equity as opposed to debt, they would secure higher credit ratings and be able to borrow money under better terms, decreasing overall costs. At the time, commissioners and the company said they expected electric rates to go down as a result. “I will tell you as you see adjustments over the next few years, you are going to see a decrease,” then-PSC President Cavanaugh said. That didn’t happen. Instead, the company benefited from the change far more than its customers did. Alabama Power’s electric rates have risen 45 percent across all customer groups since the novel rate formula went into effect. That’s far more than the national average, which increased 29 percent over the same span. Meanwhile, the company’s profit nearly doubled, despite producing less electricity today than it did in 2013\. Since Alabama Power earns a return on all of its equity, having more power plants and infrastructure in place increases its profitability. The company also earns bonuses under the rate structure for maintaining positive credit ratings by financial agencies and for having a greater than 50 percent ratio of equity to debt. The PSC, in a written statement, denied that its switch to weighted common equity was driving Alabama Power’s increased profitability. “With regard to your analysis of public documents, which reflect the financial position of Alabama Power, please be advised there is no correlation between Alabama Power’s current financial position and the implementation of the weighted retail return on average common equality mechanism in 2013,” a commission representative told Inside Climate News. Instead, the PSC said the increased net income was the result of Alabama Power’s “significant capital investments to modernize its systems,” which were approved by the PSC. ## **“If That’s Not Regulatory Capture…”** Blanton, the political science professor at UAB, sees the absence of rate-making cases, the nation’s highest residential electric bills and Alabama Power’s record profits as unmistakable signs that Alabama’s PSC has been captured by the company it regulates. He points to three ways regulatory capture manifests itself in Alabama. “One is campaign finance, the ability of the regulated industry to financially contribute towards the campaigns of regulatory bodies,” he said. A 2024 [analysis by Floodlight,](https://floodlightnews.org/utility-regulators-are-taking-millions-from-industries-they-oversee/?ref=down-ballot.info) a nonprofit newsroom, showed that of the states that elect the members of their utility regulator, Alabama tops the list of those receiving the most campaign finance cash from fossil fuel-linked interests. Fifty-five percent of political donations to Alabama public service commissioners above $250 from 2013 to 2023 came from fossil-fuel interests, the analysis concluded. “You don’t have to have a conspiratorial mindset to figure out that gives these donors leverage—if they’re the ones that are financing the campaigns of the people they’re supposed to be regulating,” Blanton said of such contributions. Part of the problem, Blanton said, is that Alabama is one of 10 states that directly elects its utility commissioners. PSC commissioners say they don’t accept money directly from the utilities they regulate, but lax campaign finance laws provide ample opportunity for influencing regulators, Blanton said. An examination of “information flows” in the state also points toward capture, he said. There’s a general opacity and complexity around the information involved and a relative dominance of the industry as the primary source for information for the regulators, according to Blanton. The third aspect of regulatory capture is “cultural capture,” Blanton said, a concept that alludes to the extent to which industry and regulators share similar worldviews or perspectives. “The key is whether or not regulators are likely to unquestioningly accept evidence and opinions put forth by the industry, and the extent to which regulators accept information from outside sources,” Blanton said. Looking at these three lines of evidence, Blanton said there are some clear takeaways about where Alabama finds itself—captured. “There’s no objective reason why Alabama should be an outlier. We’re not hotter than Texas. We don’t have worse conditions than Louisiana,” he said. “There’s just nothing that makes sense. … Any reasonable person, looking through the data, looking through the evidence, will say, ‘We have a situation that’s, if that’s not regulatory capture, I don’t know what is.’” ## **Data Center Angst** Inside Climate News interviewed more than a dozen Alabama Power customers for this story, and each shared the concerns voiced by Mary Rosenboom, the customer who lives near the proposed hyperscale data center—rising energy costs, a lack of transparency and fear about what the future may hold. Rosenboom and others worry that construction and operation of power-hungry data centers will drive their electricity costs even higher. “I know that’s what’s coming,” Rosenboom said. “And it’ll be us that foot the bill. It’s not good for the citizens. It’s good for Alabama Power’s pocketbook.” Alabama Power and the PSC both insist that data center costs will not be passed on to other customers. But they also declined to say whether those agreements with data centers will be made public, making it impossible to verify those claims. In a statement, a representative for the company said that it takes a “disciplined approach” to engaging with potential data center customers. “We understand that budgets are tight, and affordability is central to our mission. That is why we work hard to connect customers with offerings like Budget Billing, payment plans, efficiency tools, and assistance programs,” the company’s response said. Data centers will “pay the full, fair cost to serve their needs,” the company said. “We work with the Alabama Public Service Commission to approve large-load customer contracts and any needed operational investments, ensuring a thorough process that validates needs and protects customers.” Alabama Power declined to provide a list of planned data center projects and their anticipated electricity demand. “Long-term capacity planning is reviewed with the PSC,” the company responded. “We don’t publish speculative load projections for individual customer classes or projects. Any major resource additions follow established processes to ensure reliability and fairness for all customers.” Regulatory interactions involving Alabama Power and the PSC are often similarly opaque. During depositions involving Alabama Power’s request to purchase a natural gas plant earlier this year, lawyers for environmental groups questioned company management about data centers and their anticipated loads. The company’s representatives were often vague in their answers, though they did admit that data centers are the “primary driver” of increased load projections. When company lawyers did provide substantive information about specific load figures, their answers were redacted in PSC transcripts. “I’ll say that some projects fall off of this list and some projects are added to this list and the net change is \[redacted\] megawatts,” Alabama Power forecasting manager Maria Burke said in a deposition. “They have a mixed answer because in the previous forecast I would say we only had \[redacted\] megawatts to data centers and in this forecast we have \[redacted\]. So the delta is \[redacted\].” Alabama Power said the new gas plant was needed to meet a “system-wide winter reliability need in 2029,” rather than to serve any single customer, like a data center. “It’s like improving the main road for everyone when traffic increases,” the company said. “The new business park adds some traffic, but it pays its share—and everyone drives on a more reliable road.” If built to capacity, a proposed data center campus in Bessemer, just southwest of Birmingham near Rosenboom’s home in McCalla, is expected to consume as much as 1,200 megawatts of electricity, running every hour, 24 hours a day, according to estimates provided to residents. That amount of energy is about 10 times the usage of all residences in nearby Birmingham or around 90 times the usage of all residences in Bessemer. In one fell swoop, it could increase Alabama Power’s total demand across the state by around 10 percent. “My power bill’s already not affordable,” said Brenda Small, who lives in a trailer park adjacent to the site of the proposed data center. “I had one bill that was $495\. No one can afford that.” ## **Reliant on Fossil Fuels** Alabama Power’s electricity is not only expensive, it’s dirty and comes with a heavy environmental footprint. The PSC has approved costly upgrades to old coal-fired power plants, allowing Alabama Power to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to delay their retirements by only a few years. The PSC greenlit massive natural gas additions in 2020, 2022 and 2025, making Alabama Power increasingly reliant on fossil fuels for decades to come and its customers vulnerable to price spikes in natural gas and supply shortages in times of heavy energy use. Its coal-fired power plant near Birmingham, the James H. Miller Jr. Electric Generating Plant, has been the [nation’s largest single source of greenhouse gases](https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16102024/alabama-coal-plant-top-greenhouse-gas-polluter-ninth-consecutive-year/?ref=down-ballot.info) for nine years running. The company charges hefty fees to customers who install solar panels, smothering the small-scale renewable market. Alabama ranks second to last among states in energy efficiency efforts in a [recent scorecard](https://www.aceee.org/research-report/u2502?ref=down-ballot.info), and upgrades to its old and expensive coal plants seem destined to continue as electricity demand rises due to large data centers. The company has also stuck to its guns on plans to leave nearly 77 million cubic yards of toxic coal ash in unlined ponds along Alabama’s rivers, leaching contaminants into the groundwater indefinitely, even as other utilities in the South have agreed to dig out some or all of their ash ponds. And this environmental record, UAB’s Blanton said, has come under the watch of state regulators, who have minimized the effects of climate change and Alabama Power’s pollution. ## **A New Profit Formula Review—With No Public Input** When adopting the 2013 profit formula, called Rate Stabilization and Equalization, or RSE, the commission agreed to review its performance every six years. The first review was conducted in 2019, with no changes made to the rate structure. In its responses to Inside Climate News, the commission said the second review has already begun—with no public input—through a series of closed-door meetings with Alabama Power and the state attorney general’s office. Whether outside experts or concerned members of the public will be provided an opportunity to weigh in on the review will only be decided after the commission’s staff has made its findings, the PSC statement said. Tidwell, the Southern Environmental Law Center attorney, said public participation should be essential in utility regulation. “Alabama Power customers who are impacted by the PSC’s decisions deserve to have a say in the process,” Tidwell said. “The Public Service Commission is tasked with ensuring that rates are just and reasonable not just for Alabama Power, but also for the public. … How can you protect customers’ best interests when there are almost no avenues for them to participate in the process?” *Correction: This article has been updated after an earlier version incorrectly described Alabama Power as having the nation’s highest electricity rates. It has the nation’s highest residential electric bills. Additional responses from Alabama Power sent after publication have also been added to the article.* *Coming next: Part two of Wired for Profit, how the Alabama Public Service Commission has allowed Alabama Power to earn profits far above the national average for decades.* --- \-30- ### N.C. DEQ to hold public hearings on Transco and Fuquay-Varina's Interbasin Transfer request URL: https://down-ballot.info/n-c-deq-to-hold-public-hearings-on-transco-and-fuquay-varinas-interbasin-transfer-request/ Last updated: 2025-11-08T02:07:43.000Z **DOWN BALLOT STAFF REPORTS** The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality (DAQ) is [accepting public comment and is holding two public hearings](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/3f9df37?ref=down-ballot.info) on draft air quality permit modifications for air compressor stations associated with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC’s (Transco) proposed natural gas pipeline project, known as the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project. As part of the project, Transco is seeking to make upgrades at two existing compressor stations along its pipeline: Station 150, in Mooresville, Iredell County, and Station 155, in Lexington, Davidson County. These upgrades are associated with potential increases in air pollution. Public comments on draft air quality permits for both projects will be accepted until Nov. 19\. An in-person public hearing will be held on each draft permit, with the first public hearing on Nov. 13 to accept comments on Station 150\. > **Public Hearing on Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC - Station 150** > **Date and Time:** Thursday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.) > **Location:** Lake Norman High School, 186 Doolie Road, Mooresville > **Submit Email Comments**: [daq.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov](mailto:daq.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov) with “Transco150.25A” in the subject line. > **Submit Voicemail Comments:** Call 919-707-8714. > Station 150 currently operates as a major source holding a Title V air quality permit. The modification would allow the addition of a new natural gas-fired combustion turbine and emergency generator. The facility will remain a minor source of hazardous air pollution. The permit would require that Transco limit emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) to less than 250 tons per year. The second public hearing on Nov. 18 will be to receive comments on Station 155’s draft air quality permit. **Public Hearing on Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC - Station 155** **Date and Time:** Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.) **Location:** Edward C. Smith Civic Center, 217 S. Main St., Lexington **Submit Email Comments**: [daq.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov](mailto:daq.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov) with “Transco155.25A” in the subject line. **Submit Voicemail Comments:** Call 919-707-8726. Station 155 currently holds a small air quality permit with emissions of NOx and CO of less than 100 tons per year. This modification would allow the addition of three new natural gas-fired combustion turbines and emergency generators. This will increase emissions to major-source levels, requiring a Title V air quality permit. The facility will remain a minor source of hazardous air pollution. The permit would require that Transco limit emissions of NOx and CO to less than 250 tons per year. Both stations are subject to federal emissions standards. Air dispersion modeling reviewed by DAQ demonstrated that emissions of toxic air pollutants at both facilities are not expected to cause an exceedance of any acceptable ambient level. DAQ will consider all public comments before making a final decision on the proposed permits. Comments on these projects can also be submitted until Nov. 19 via the voicemail numbers and email addresses above, or mailed to: NCDEQ Division of Air Quality 1628 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1628 Copies of the respective public notice, draft permit, draft permit review, permit application and one-page project fact sheet for each facility are available online: - [Station 150 Public Notice Documents](https://www.deq.nc.gov/Transco150.25A?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) - [Station 155 Public Notice Documents](https://www.deq.nc.gov/Transco155.25A?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) More information about [Transco’s Southeast Supply Enhancement Project](https://www.deq.nc.gov/news/key-issues/southeast-supply-enhancement-transcowilliams?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) can be found on DEQ’s website. ## Public hearings on Fuquay-Varina's Interbasin request to start in December 2025 The [North Carolina Environmental Management Commission and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources ](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/NCDEQ/bulletins/3f8eb2c?ref=down-ballot.info)will hold public hearings on Dec. 4, 9 and 11 to hear public comment on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Town of Fuquay-Varina's [Interbasin Transfer Certificate request.](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) > **Public Hearing Details** > **When:** 6 p.m., Dec. 4, 2025 > **Where:** Fayetteville Technology Community College, Cumberland Hall Auditorium, 2220 Hull Road, **Fayetteville**, N.C., 28303 > **Register:** Sign-in and speaker registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. > **Public Hearing Details** > **When:** 6 p.m., Dec. 9, 2025 > **Where:** Ground Floor Hearing Room, Archdale Building, 512 N. Salisbury Street, **Raleigh**, N.C., 27604 > **Register:** Sign-in and speaker registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. > **Parking information**: Public parking will be available after 5 p.m. at Parking Deck 64, which is located across North Salisbury Street from the Archdale Building. Please see the Interactive State Parking Map for additional parking options: [Interactive Map](https://www.doa.nc.gov/divisions/state-parking/interactive-state-parking-map?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). > **Public Hearing Details** > **When:** 6 p.m., Dec. 11, 2025 > **Where:** Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center, 1192 U.S. Hwy 64 West Business, **Pittsboro**, N.C. 27312 > **Register:** Sign-in and speaker registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. > The Town of Fuquay-Varina, which is located in the Neuse River Basin, is seeking approval for an Interbasin Transfer Certificate in order to source water supply from another river basin, the Cape Fear River Basin, to meet projected future water demands. > Currently, the town relies on wholesale water purchased from neighboring water systems – the City of Raleigh, Harnett County and Johnston County. However, the town’s current water supply is projected to fall short of future demands, with a shortfall projected by 2030\. > The town’s preferred alternative to resolve its projected shortfalls is to source water supply from the Tri-Rivers (i.e., City of Sanford) Water Treatment Plant in the Cape Fear River Basin. This alternative requires an Interbasin Transfer (IBT) Certificate. The town is seeking approval to transfer 6.17 million gallons per day from the Cape Fear River basin to the Neuse River Basin based on 2055 demand projections. The draft EIS, which should include a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impacts that would occur in the source and receiving basins if the petition for a certificate is granted, is available online on [DEQ’s website,](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) and via the North Carolina Department of Administration Environmental Review Clearinghouse. Access to the hydrologic model used to evaluate alternatives in the EIS is also available upon request through the [DEQ’s website](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) related to the [Town of Fuquay-Varina’s IBT request](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery). Training sessions on accessing the virtual model will be available on Dec. 2 and Dec. 16, but registration is required. Please email [maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov](mailto:maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov) to enroll. The public is invited to attend the public hearings to provide relevant written and verbal comments on the draft EIS document connected to the requested IBT certificate. Speaking time may be limited based on attendance. In addition to accepting comments at the hearings, written comments may also be submitted by mail to Maya Holcomb, Division of Water Resources, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, N.C., 27604, or by email to [maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov.](mailto:maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov) Comments must be postmarked or emailed by Feb. 1, 2026\. The application, related materials, and the draft environmental impact statement are available online: [Fuquay-Varina Interbasin Transfer request.](https://www.deq.nc.gov/about/divisions/water-resources/water-planning/water-supply-planning/interbasin-transfer-certification/fuquay-varina-ibt?utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=govdelivery) ### Spartanburg councils to meet in next two weeks URL: https://down-ballot.info/spartanburg-councils-to-meet-in-next-two-weeks/ Last updated: 2025-11-08T01:44:35.000Z **DOWN BALLOT STAFF REPORTS** Spartanburg City Council will hold its [next meeting](https://spartanburgsc.portal.civicclerk.com/event/464/files/agenda/735?ref=down-ballot.info) Monday, Nov. 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the Spartanburg County Council Chambers. One of the agenda items is a closed session and the listed reasons were to receive legal advice, discuss matters relating to an economic development project and discuss a personnel matter. The [runoff](https://www.spartanburgcounty.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=1190&ref=down-ballot.info) for the Spartanburg City Council District 2 spot will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 18\. According to [The Post & Courier's Spartanburg edition](https://www.postandcourier.com/spartanburg/news/city-council-district-2-election-spartanburg-november/article%5Fb7819302-9634-488c-bed4-79ee58279dd3.html?ref=down-ballot.info), the seat became vacant when former council member Rob Rain resigned to join the S.C, Ports Authority Board. Josh Summers had the highest [vote total](https://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/Spartanburg/124401/web.345435/?ref=down-ballot.info#/summary?v=365570%2F) with 39 percent while Leslie Rodgers finished with 35.98 percent. Spartanburg County Council [will meet](https://www.spartanburgcounty.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/%5F11172025-1993?ref=down-ballot.info) Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 5:15 p.m. in its chambers. One of the items on the agenda that was current on Friday, Nov. 7 is a second reading of an ordinance regarding a[ joint industrial park with Cherokee County.](https://www.spartanburgcounty.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/%5F11172025-1993?ref=down-ballot.info), ### Spanberger to become Virginia’s first woman governor URL: https://down-ballot.info/spanberger-to-become-virginias-first-woman-governor/ Last updated: 2025-11-07T10:00:19.000Z **It's Friday, November 7, 2025 and in this morning's issue we're covering:** VirginiaHouse ofDelegatesSpeaker Scott: Democrats plan to legislate with ‘restraint’ after decisive victoryHigh turnout for NC municipal elections as voters make themselves heard**,** “We don’t know what we’re going to eat”: Texans are still waiting for November SNAP benefits**,** Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50 just passed. Here’s what happens next**,** SC congressional delegation donating, pausing paychecks amid government shutdown, Moore defends redistricting as effort to ensure fairness; Republicans prepare to go to court, The human cost of the Yuma’s vegetable empire, With SNAP Benefits Delayed, Fountain House Clubhouses Scramble to Feed Hungry Members, Republican Barbour and Democrat Thompson both praise legacy of former VP Cheney, Generous community support not nearly enough to fill gap in SNAP funding, food advocates say, As SNAP benefits are slashed, renovated Sandhills food bank braces for surge in need. **Media outlets and others featured:** Cardinal News**,** Carolina Public Press, The Texas Tribune, CalMatters, South Carolina Daily Gazette, Maryland Matters, Cronkite News, MindSite News, Mississippi Today, Asheville Watchdog, North Carolina Health News. # Speaker Scott: Democrats plan to legislate with ‘restraint’ after decisive victory Del. Don Scott said the Democratic caucus plans to legislate responsibly to avoid government “overreach” after this week’s election saw the party grow its majority by 13 seats in the chamber. Also, Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger names her transition team. by [Elizabeth Beyer](https://cardinalnews.org/author/elizabeth-beyer/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 6, 2025 Democrats in Virginia’s House of Delegates grew their majority by a margin not seen in nearly 40 years after Tuesday’s election. Regardless, the caucus leader, House Speaker Don Scott, vowed during a press conference Wednesday morning that the party would wield its legislative power “responsibly.” The Democratic majority in the House of Delegates now stands at what Scott, of Portsmouth, called a “historic, unbelievable” 64 seats. Democratic candidates ran in all 100 House districts and picked up five districts that were won by President Donald Trump in 2024, he added. “This is what a mandate looks like,” Scott said. “We’re going to keep focused and we’re going to remain disciplined. The word of the day now is ‘restraint.’ We can’t overreach. We have to be restrained, we have to be wise with the gift that the voters have given us, to govern.” He pointed out that voters are interested in kitchen-table issues and protecting democracy. “We’re going to listen to the voters — they already told us what our priorities should be,” Scott said. Those priorities include lowering the cost of housing, health care, making schools safe and protecting public safety, among others, he added. Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County, chair of the campaigns committee in the House Democratic caucus, said the party approached the 2025 election like a military campaign. From recruiting and training candidates to collecting a “dragon’s hoard” of resources, the caucus was able to raise over $30 million, nearly tripling what was raised in 2021, he said. Republicans were outspent in the television and online ad space two to one in the final weeks of the campaign, he added. “We ran the biggest battleground campaign in modern history, the biggest field campaign in modern history,” Helmer said. ### Youngkin vows to support Spanberger as he prepares to leave office Outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin congratulated Democratic Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and vowed to support her as she builds her transition team and prepares to take office, during another press conference that took place earlier Wednesday. “We will support her in that process, so that she and her team can hit the ground running,” Youngkin said. “She will step into a Virginia that is stronger than it’s ever been.” The governor-elect on Wednesday announced her transition team, which includes former Democratic Congressman Rick Boucher of Abingdon, who represented Virginia’s 9th Congressional District from 1983 to 2011, as an honorary co-chair. Youngkin stopped short of calling the outcome of Tuesday’s election a referendum on the Trump administration, but he did say that the ongoing federal government shutdown was a “big, big challenge” that may have influenced voters in a state that has a large population of federal workers. Virginia’s off-year statewide elections are often considered a bellwether for how the midterm elections may go, as well as a referendum on the current presidential administration. Youngkin said, when asked by a reporter, that he did not believe the outcome of the statewide election was a referendum on his own administration. “I believe that Virginians thoroughly support what we’ve been doing. I mean, at the end of the day when people say ‘Is the state heading in the right direction?’ people say ‘Yes,’” he said. Youngkin’s job approval rating hovered around 50% between August and October, according to a poll released by [Roanoke College on Oct. 30](https://www.roanoke.edu/news/rc%5Fpoll%5Fpolitics%5Foctober%5F2025?ref=down-ballot.info). That same poll saw the governor’s disapproval rating decline by 7 percentage points. Spanberger, a former congresswoman, defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in a decisive 15-percentage-point victory. Term limits for Virginia’s executive office are bound by the commonwealth’s constitution: A governor may not serve two consecutive terms. [Speaker Scott: Democrats plan to legislate with ‘restraint’ after decisive victoryDel. Don Scott said the Democratic caucus plans to legislate responsibly to avoid government “overreach” after this week’s election saw the party grow its majority by 13 seats in the chamber.…![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-CardinalNews_icon-500--C3-97-500-px-2.png)Cardinal NewsElizabeth Beyer![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/IMG_5425-scaled.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/11/06/speaker-scott-democrats-plan-to-legislate-with-restraint-after-decisive-victory/?ref=down-ballot.info) [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/2025/11/Abigail_Spanberger_Tour_2024_-_54043037470-2.jpg)](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/11/05/13-reasons-why-spanberger-and-the-democrats-won-so-big-trump-is-just-one-of-them/?ref=down-ballot.info) ****OPINION:** 13 reasons why Spanberger and the Democrats won so big. Trump is just one of them. [Read more at Cardinal News ](https://cardinalnews.org/2025/11/05/13-reasons-why-spanberger-and-the-democrats-won-so-big-trump-is-just-one-of-them/?ref=down-ballot.info) --- # High turnout for NC municipal elections as voters make themselves heard by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press November 5, 2025 **Diana Medoff** passed out pamphlets to Durham voters Tuesday afternoon at Cole Mill Road Church of Christ, her third stop of the day. Medoff, a candidate for Durham City Council Ward III, used to teach third grade, when students learn about their city. She taught them about Durham’s development, and how it wasn’t always done well — for example, when the city’s construction of the Durham Freeway displaced Black communities and businesses in the 1970s. Today, Durham is once again facing growth. This time, Medoff thinks the city could handle it differently. It can shape inevitable population growth in a smarter way, she said. ##### **\[**[**Subscribe for FREE to Carolina Public Press’ alerts and weekend roundup newsletters**](https://carolinapublicpress.org/sign-up-for-our-mailing-list/?ref=down-ballot.info)**\]** “There were promises that just weren't kept about rebuilding homes and businesses, and so there's a lot of people here that fear growth and change, because they're thinking, ‘We're going to get kicked out,’” she said. Medoff echoed the concerns of many North Carolina voters who traveled to the polls for Tuesday’s municipal elections. How to address population growth was on the minds of nearly every voter, from Greensboro to Apex, who spoke to [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). North Carolina voters in 447 municipalities and 88 counties elected mayors, city councils, boards of education, boards of commissioners and voted on a few ballot referendums. According to an [analysis](https://chriscooperwcu.substack.com/p/its-municipal-election-day-in-nc) from Western Carolina University political science professor **Chris Cooper**, about 39% of North Carolina voters were eligible to vote. Each municipality’s election was defined by its own local issues, candidates and drama. At stake is who will lead those communities for the next two, three or four years. Election winners will guide tax policy, development and growth, education policy and budgetary decisions. Many of North Carolina’s municipal elections are nonpartisan — although that doesn’t stop electioneers from each political party outside the polls passing out sample ballots with their recommended candidates. “Off-year elections historically predict the policy issues, partisan enthusiasm and voter turnout statistics for the upcoming midterm elections,” Common Cause President **Virginia Kase Solomón** told CPP. ### Turnout strong for off-year Not all municipalities in North Carolina conduct elections at the same time, or [in the same years,](https://www.ncrabbithole.com/p/why-north-carolina-has-off-year-elections?utm%5Fcampaign=post&utm%5Fmedium=web&ref=down-ballot.info) so turnout is not quite an apples-to-apples comparison. Nonetheless, turnout was up from previous municipal elections Tuesday. That’s not saying much. From 2015 to 2023, municipal turnout ranged from 14% to 17% of registered voters. Tuesday, more than 19% of registered voters turned out. Early voting and absentee mail-in voting numbers were strong. As of Monday afternoon, nearly 222,000 ballots had been accepted by county boards of elections, according to State Board of Elections spokesperson **Colin Loftin**. Since fewer voters generally show up in off-year elections, close races are much likelier. Since voters who forget their photo ID or have some other issue that prevents them from casting an official ballot are allowed to cast provisional ballots and fix the issue before the county canvass, all Election Night tallies are unofficial. Provisional voters have until Friday at noon to fix any issues, and county boards of elections will meet Nov. 14 to certify the official results at their canvass meeting. ### Durham council and mayor races Diana Medoff didn’t win. Current councilmember **Chelsea Cook** defeated her by 49 percentage points. Neither did **Anjanee Bell**, who challenged current Durham Mayor **Leo Wiliams** along the same lines as Medoff — smarter, slower development that includes more affordable housing and input from Durham’s Black community. She lost by about 15 percentage points. Even so, Durham residents will see change in their council makeup as incumbent councilmembers **DeDreana Freeman** and **Mark-Anthony Middleton** lost to their challengers, **Matt Kopac** and **Shanetta Burris**. Williams, Middleton and fellow councilmember Carl Rist have almost always approved pro-development zoning changes, according to analysis by the [Durham Dispatch](https://www.durhamdispatch.com/post/after-progressive-stands-freeman-faces-multiple-challengers-in-ward-1-durham-city-council?ref=down-ballot.info). Freeman, Cook and Councilmember **Nate Baker** have voted in favor of them only about two-thirds of the time. Kopac and Burris appear poised to join Cook and Baker in development discussions, which may create a more evenly divided council. One Durham woman who talked with CPP at the polls on Tuesday said her priority was affordable housing and “not selling out to developers.” Another voter, **Chris Williams** also cited affordable housing as a top issue, but had another concern: Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Two weeks ago, Durham Food Hall shut down for several days after an ICE recruitment ad appeared on one of its screens, according to [News & Observer reporting](https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article312675700.html?ref=down-ballot.info#campaignName=raleigh%5Funder%5Fdome%5Fsp%5Fnewsletter&linkType=longform). Durham is home to many immigrants, and the national uptick in immigration enforcement is a tense subject. “Our local governments are the ones that fight — the last line of defense between us and the presidential administration,” Williams said. ### Greensboro council and mayor contests Greensboro elected a new mayor on Tuesday. Current mayor **Nancy Vaughan** did not run for reelection, so voters had a blank slate. They chose **Marikay Abuzuaiter,** the current mayor pro tem, over **Robbie Perkins**, former Greensboro mayor and current commercial brokerage businessman. Voters also chose five members of the Greensboro City Council. Several incumbent city council members lost to challengers, signaling a desire for change. ![](https://carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/greensboro-9-scaled.jpg) Electioneers talk with Greensboro voters outside the Claxton Elementary polling place in Guilford County on Nov. 5, 2025\. Sarah Michels / Carolina Public Press In District 1, **Crystal Black** defeated incumbent **Sharon Hightower**. In District 3, **April Parker** bested current councilmember **Zack Matheny**. Incumbents did not run in Districts 2 and 4, where **Cecile Crawford** and **Adam Marshall** were elected, respectively. The only Greensboro City Council seat that remains the same is District 5, where **Tammi Thurm** won reelection with 68% of the vote. Tuesday, voters said property taxes, affordable housing and bringing business to Greensboro were top issues. Voters **Morgan** and **Christopher Drazek** told CPP on Tuesday that they wanted their vote to balance out national politics. “Seeing more of a liberal government at a local level, considering the broader scope of the United States right now, is something that is important,” Morgan Drazek said. ### Apex council voting While Apex Mayor **Jacques Gilbert** was not on the ballot Tuesday, a lot of newcomers were competing in the Town Council race. A pair of councilmembers, **Brett Gantt** and **Audra Killingsworth**, told [IndyWeek](https://indyweek.com/news/wake/apex-mayor-and-town-council-navigate-an-increasingly-strained-relationship/?ref=down-ballot.info) they were not running for reelection partly due to difficulties working with Mayor Gilbert, particularly on zoning, development and appointment issues. They were especially concerned about one Town Council candidate, **T.J. Evans**, Gilbert’s daughter’s partner. They need not worry any longer. Evans did not place in the top three vote-getters Tuesday. **Sue Mu**, **Shane Reese** and incumbent **Ed Gray** all earned 22% of the vote, beating out the other five candidates. Apex voters who talked with CPP didn’t specifically mention the tension between the mayor and the Town Council, but they shared concerns over development and growth. One Apex couple who has lived there for 17 years said they had seen a lot in their time in the once-small Wake County town. They feel a loss of community as the town has grown. People don’t feel as connected as they used to be, they said. “It’s hard to have that sense of community, I think, when you’re getting so large,” the wife said. She added that growth is inevitable and could boost the town’s tax base, but wants the town council to stop letting just anyone come in and build a six-story apartment. “They need to find a balance,” she said. Voter **Kevin Fitzgerald** agreed. He hopes his vote helps stop a data center from locating in Apex. “Things have been changing,” he said. “The growth has gotten disproportionate, and data centers seem to be all over the place now. So, it's time to take a stand.” ### Charlotte tax passes In Charlotte, 52% of voters approved a 1-cent sales tax increase to pay for transit improvements. The rate hike would amount to a $240 annual tax increase for the average Charlotte household. It would raise about $20 billion over the next three decades to be used to improve rail and bus services, roads, sidewalks and bike lanes. Charlotteans have disagreed over whether the transit board that will decide how to use this money will spend it in the most equitable way, or include the people who rely on public transit the most. Also in Charlotte, Democrats predictably swept the mayoral and city council elections, with the exception of unchallenged Republican **Ed Driggs**, who will keep his District 7 seat. In Charlotte, the primary election tends to decide the overall winners. The only competitive race was in District 6, where Democrat **Kimberly Owens** defeated Republican **Krista Bokhari,** the wife of a former councilmember who went to work for the Trump administration. ### Fayetteville sticks with incumbents In Fayetteville, there were few surprises. Mayor **Mitch Colvin** handily won reelection against challenger **Kathy Keefe Johnson**. Incumbent councilmembers **Malik Davis**, **DJ Haire**, **Lynne Greene**, **Derrick Thompson**, **Brenda McNair** and **Dono Hondros** won in Districts 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9, respectively. In districts with no incumbents running, **Stephon Ferguson**, **Antonio Jones** and **Shaun McMillan** beat their opponents. ### Wilmington council election amid allegations In the week before Election Day, an alleged scandal broke in Wilmington. The North Carolina Republican Party claimed to have evidence of a vote-buying scheme involving three Democratic City Council candidates. The North Carolina State Board of Elections is aware of the allegation, according to [WUNC](https://www.wunc.org/2025-10-31/ncgop-wants-investigation-of-alleged-wilmington-election-fraud-local-democratic-party-calls-it-a-political-stunt?utm%5Fsource=NC+Tribune+subscribers&utm%5Fcampaign=0a0b1f0631-EMAIL%5FCAMPAIGN%5F2025%5F11%5F02%5F06%5F17&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F-0a0b1f0631-122916569). While Republican City Council candidates **Luke Waddell** and **Richard Collier** outraised their opponents by tens of thousands of dollars, per a WHQR and WECT [analysis](https://www.whqr.org/local/2025-10-30/deep-dive-record-breaking-money-raised-in-races-for-wilmington-mayor-city-council?utm%5Fsource=Business+North+Carolina+Daily+Digest&utm%5Fcampaign=99b4639c12-EMAIL%5FCAMPAIGN%5F8%5F12%5F2019%5FCOPY%5F01&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F7ae5defd0d-99b4639c12-390707737#new%5Ftab), Democrats **JC Lyle**, **Cassidy Santaguida** and **Chakema Clinto-Quintana** took the top three spots in the election. None were incumbents. Waddell and another incumbent candidate, **Clifford Barnet**t, were pushed out of their seats. However, one incumbent did win — Wilmington Mayor **Bill Saffo**. Saffo earned nearly 50% of the vote against two opponents. To check results for these races, or any of the other hundreds of races, visit the [State Board of Elections website](https://er.ncsbe.gov/?ref=down-ballot.info). *Correction: This article has been updated to show that Durham City Council members Freeman, Cook and Baker have voted in favor of development issues about 2/3 of the time according to Durham Dispatch analysis. An earlier version of the article described this analysis inaccurately.* This [article](https://carolinapublicpress.org/73287/high-turnout-for-nc-municipal-council-elections-voters-voice-concerns/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Carolina Public Press](https://carolinapublicpress.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/carolinapublicpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cropped-cropped-CPPlogo_icon_RGB.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # “We don’t know what we’re going to eat”: Texans are still waiting for November SNAP benefits by Colleen DeGuzman and Jess Huff, The Texas Tribune November 5, 2025 AJ Wark, a third-year maritime studies student at Texas A&M University at Galveston, started the fall semester on food stamps. In May, her parents kicked her out of their home after she came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, taking away her car and money that helped pay for textbooks and other essentials. But now that her food stamp account sits empty, the 21-year-old has yet another expense to worry about — how to pay for her next meal. “There are these social safety nets that are supposed to be in place to help stay stable, but now we’re seeing them taken away,” Wark said. “I never thought this would happen.” Wark is among 3.5 million Texans — including 1.7 million children — on the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program, also known as SNAP, who have become political collateral as the country’s leaders waffle over how to fund benefits for the month of November. On Friday, two federal judges ordered the Trump administration to fund SNAP after states were notified [last month that the USDA wouldn’t](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/28/texas-snap-food-stamps-federal-shutdown-explained-2/?ref=down-ballot.info) be able to pay out benefits because the federal government is shut down. Although the president suggested on [social media Tuesday](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115492285081397189?ref=down-ballot.info) that SNAP wouldn’t be funded until the government reopens, USDA [has said it will pay at most half](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/31/snap-benefits-texas-court-rulings/?ref=down-ballot.info) of what people would typically receive for the month. As of Wednesday, Texans still haven’t seen any November SNAP benefits, which could take days to roll out. “It's not just numbers,” Wark said. “It's actual people with lives, people with mouths... it's people who have jobs…who have children, and I think that really gets lost on politicians." ![A screenshot of AJ Wark's Lone Star benefits page.](https://www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/YourTexasBenefits-1024x559.png) A screenshot of AJ Wark's Lone Star benefits page. In SNAP’s 60-year history, recipients — 40 million of them today — have never gone without a monthly payment. Lawmakers in Congress have been locked in a stalemate since Oct. 1, causing the longest government shutdown on record. Democrats are demanding that Congress address expiring health insurance subsidies and Republicans are refusing to negotiate until the government reopens. SNAP offers critical federal food assistance to the nation’s poorest citizens, and although many have been bracing for the program’s pause, Democrats in the state Legislature warned Gov. [Greg Abbott](https://directory.texastribune.org/greg-abbott/?ref=down-ballot.info) of the long-term effects on the state: “Suspending federal benefits could intensify an already critical demand for food assistance across Texas,” senators wrote in a [letter to Abbott](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vRlFZS-Xz3a3HHzB9m7TyC%5FjUN5U3F66/view?ref=down-ballot.info) last week, urging him to allocate state funds to support SNAP recipients. Without the safety net designed to help the country’s poorest put food on the table, many Texans, whose situations range from single parents trying to make ends meet to college students like Wark, were starting to ration food and preparing to skip meals. A [petition](https://www.change.org/p/hold-congress-accountable-no-pay-or-benefits-during-government-shutdowns?ref=down-ballot.info) on [Change.org](http://change.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) demanding that Congress pause lawmakers’ salaries and benefits throughout the shutdown has received more than 150,000 signatures. The petition says that “Government shutdowns are not just political games — they disrupt lives, harm communities, and erode public trust.” ## “I'm not the only student on campus who's going to be impacted” Wark usually gets her SNAP payments on the second day of the month, and as of Tuesday, her Lone Star Card was empty. On top of stressing about exams and homework, Wark is now worried about how she’s going to pay for food. When Wark first learned that SNAP was being paused, “the first thing that I started doing was crunching numbers in my head to try to figure out how I would make it work, where I could go for food, what I could hold off on,” she said. Wark is a financial aid adviser for students on campus, but working just 20 hours a week for $10 an hour isn’t enough to cover everything — especially now that her parents no longer financially support her. Wark, who grew up in Grandbury, southwest of Fort Worth, said SNAP helped her maintain a balanced diet during her transition to being independent. “SNAP has been the difference between canned chicken, instant rice and Pop Tarts, to things like vegetables and actual meats,” she said. Wark loves mushrooms and tries to put them on any dish she can. “I'll put mushrooms in anything, tacos, mushrooms, you name it,” she said. But canned foods are cheaper, so until SNAP resumes, she’s planning to rely mostly on canned meats and vegetables. She’s also planning to visit her campus’ food pantry more often, which she’s noticed has been lower on food than before. “I'm also kind of worried, specifically for the food pantry because I'm sure that I'm not the only student on campus who's going to be impacted by this,” said Wark. To make up for the food stamps she’s not getting this month, she’s planning to cut out some of the hygiene products she usually purchases, like shaving products. Since she’s moved out of her house, she’s been needing household items such as clothing hangers — but she said those things can wait. “It's just kind of whatever I can take, you know,” Wark said. “Whatever I can put in my mouth, pretty much at this point.” ## **“**We’re families who are just trying to feed our kids” Sarah Jones is a 44-year-old mother of two teenagers in Liberty County. A seamstress by trade, she has struggled to make ends meet for more than a decade since Hurricane Ike hampered her small business in 2008\. She has relied on food stamps to feed her family in a local economy with few jobs that fit her skills.She has been staring down a month of hunger while news reports go back and forth on when or how she will get her benefits. “We’re not bums sitting around getting handouts,” Jones said. “We’re families who are just trying to feed our kids and they’re making it extraordinarily hard.” Jones has been out of the traditional work force for more than a decade. She has filled out applications for any local job that would take someone with limited experience, but even being a janitor or Walmart shopper have been out of reach. Recently, she began running deliveries for a local florist, which helps a little. Her story isn’t unique. Liberty County, which had about 108,000 residents in 2023, sits between Houston and Beaumont. More than half of Liberty County’s households are either impoverished or considered working poor, according to the [United for ALICE](https://www.unitedforalice.org/county-reports/texas?ref=down-ballot.info#10/30.1891/-94.8038). For most of Liberty County’s existence, the primary industry has been agriculture, according to County Judge [Jay Knight.](https://www.co.liberty.tx.us/page/liberty.county.judge?ref=down-ballot.info) But that has been changing, and he’s trying to bring new jobs into his county, but that work is slow. “Most of our people who live in Liberty County go out of county to work,” Knight said. “They go to the Houston market or to the refineries and oil companies down south of our county.” Jones can’t do that. Her 2004 Mazda that shakes when she drives faster than 60 mph wouldn’t make it far from home. Plus, the jobs she could get to wouldn’t pay enough to warrant burning gas. To move out of Liberty County would mean to leave her village and her rent controlled housing and it wouldn’t guarantee employment. It is difficult to stock up on food with a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old. So when the SNAP payment didn’t arrive on Saturday, Jones and thousands[ of her neighbors](https://pmas-tableau-iamo.hhs.state.tx.us/t/PMD/views/SNAP%5FWeb%5FReport/County%5FSNAP?%3Aembed=y&%3Aiid=1&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&ref=down-ballot.info) turned to each other for help. Shehad been working out a meal sharing program with her neighbors and they have discussed ride-sharing to food banks. Jones built a career making costumes, clothes and quilts. But in 2008, life hit hard and fast. She was dealing with a tough pregnancy with complications when Hurricane Ike wrecked many East Texas communities — and took her customer base and business with it. Seeking SNAP benefits was supposed to be a short term solution. “I was so determined. I wasn't going to abandon \[my business\], I was not going to drop it,” Jones said. “But the economy just suddenly got worse, especially for things that people don't necessarily need, those luxury items.” Jones then became the primary caregiver for her mother and took custody of her niece. To save money, she kept the kids home from day care. But that meant she had to stay home, too. She took whatever odd sewing or crafting jobs that came her way. When COVID-19 struck, it culled the number of people willing to pay for handmade goods. Jones began submitting job applications wherever she could. There were 3.4 million other [jobseekers](https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/archive/2020/sep/unemployment.php?ref=down-ballot.info) at that time. Little has improved since. The family of three still lives month to month, saving what they can because they know good months won’t last. Jones has kept her expenses minimal. She developed a personal relationship with her landlord, built on trust that has kept her rent low. She tracks utility usage and only pays for streaming services on good months, when she brings in more than $1,200 from her crafts. But those months are not regular. She runs her household on less than $2,000 a month, including $700 a month in SNAP benefits, which barely meets the needs of her growing children. ## **“**It's gonna affect a lot of people” When Edinburg resident Navitidad Noriega learned that she wasn’t going to get food stamps this month, her first thought was about how grateful she was that this was happening during the school year — at least she knows that her two eldest kids will be getting breakfast and lunch. Noriega is a mother of four, her oldest is 7 and her youngest is just a year old. Since her husband became incarcerated last year, SNAP helped her put food on the table. She usually gets around $1,200 for groceries every 11th day of the month. Noriega said she’s going to be relying on her local food bank more than before, but she’s worried it’s not going to be enough. “I’m not sure how I’m going to do it, maybe I’ll get a job but then everything would mostly go toward daycare,” Noriega, 29, said. Edinburg is a city in the Rio Grande Valley, where the percentage of residents who receive SNAP benefits is the highest in the state. Around 28% of households in Hidalgo County, which includes Edinburg, are SNAP recipients. The Rio Grande Valley is a heavily Latino community, and in Texas, 1 in 4 Latinos are experiencing food insecurity, according to Feeding Texas. The overall food insecurity rate for Latinos in Texas is 24%. “It's gonna affect a lot of people also, not only me,” she said. “There's a lot of single mothers, people that have disabilities.” To reserve money just for the essentials, she will forgo the items that typically put a smile on her kids’ faces — cookies, juices and treats. She’s planning to make her kids sopa de fideo, a low-cost Mexican noodle soup, more often than before. “Whenever I'm having a hard time or whatever, that's what I make,” Noriega said. ## “We would always go without food to feed our son” Amber Harrington doesn’t know what she’s going to feed her 7-year-old son, Xavier, this week. He is autistic with high needs that will likely last his whole life. Because of his disability, Xavier has an extremely sensitive palate and can only eat certain foods. “Even when he tries different foods, he gags on it because of the different textures,” Harrington said. To accommodate that, she and her husband have often gone hungry to make sure the pantry is stocked with foods Xavier can eat. When they were finally accepted on to SNAP last year, after years of applying, it gave them a moment of relief. They appreciated their bellies being full for the first time in years. Harrington’s husband is a full-time custodian at the high school in Onalaska, a town of 3,300 about 85 miles north of Houston. Amber is a part time cashier at the local pizzaria, Simple Simons. She works part time because it allows her to care for Xavier after school. Harrington struggles with what she has seen online when people criticize the way SNAP benefits are used. She does believe people need to eat healthier and she does her best. But, the small family also spends some of their benefits on cheesy balls and Goldfish crackers because those are some of the only things Xavier will eat. Now, Harrington worries all three of them will go hungry. “We would always go without food to feed our son,” Harrington said. “Our son's the only one that eats sometimes. It was hard, but when we got the food stamps it helped out greatly. My husband and I got a chance to eat. Now that they're cutting it off, we don't know what we're going to eat.” Without considering groceries, the couple’s monthly spending sits around $1,500 a month. They rent a house for $850 a month, pay about $140 a month for electricity and another $250 a month for car insurance. They normally receive about $300 a month in SNAP benefits, and they make it stretch. “We sometimes have to wait till my husband gets paid on the 15th, because that's when he gets a good check and we have to buy food on that check,” Harrington said. “If we don't get that check, we don't have food.” The Harringtons will go hungry again if benefits don’t resume. They tried to make a plan and save for the shutdown, but then the truck loan payment came due and it had to be paid. They can’t access community food banks because they’re only open when one of them is at work. And they can’t ask family for help, because many of their family members are in the same boat. They splurged and bought a small turkey breast for $12 last week to put in the freezer for Thanksgiving. When she checked on Monday, Harrington’s SNAP deposit was still listed as “delayed.” *Disclosure: Feeding Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete* [*list of them here*](https://www.texastribune.org/support-us/corporate-sponsors/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* This [article](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/11/05/texas-snap-food-stamp-families-hunger/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [The Texas Tribune](https://www.texastribune.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.texastribune.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/cropped-cropped-texas-tribune-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1) --- # Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50 just passed. Here’s what happens next By [Maya C. Miller](https://calmatters.org/author/maya-miller/?ref=down-ballot.info), CalMatters ![A black and white lawn sign, that says "Vote" in both English and Spanish, is placed near a sidewalk where people wait in line to enter a vote center.](https://i0.wp.com/calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/110425_Prop-50-Election-Fresno_LV_CM_33.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1) Voters wait in line at the Armstrong Transit Center in Clovis on Nov. 4, 2025\. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local This story was originally published by [CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). [Sign up](https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/?ref=down-ballot.info) for their newsletters. Three months ago, conventional wisdom suggested that Gov. [Gavin Newsom](https://calmatters.org/tag/gavin-newsom/?ref=down-ballot.info)’s redistricting plan faced a brutal uphill battle amid an impromptu 10-week campaign sprint. But within minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, The Associated Press and national news networks had already proclaimed that [Proposition 50](https://calmatters.org/tag/prop-50/?ref=down-ballot.info) would pass handily, with voters agreeing to temporarily suspend California’s independently drawn maps and adopt ones gerrymandered in favor of Democrats. Prop. 50’s landslide victory proved that Newsom and his allies bet correctly on pitching the measure as a countermaneuver to gerrymanders by Republican states such as Texas and an act of resistance [against President Donald Trump](https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/11/california-proposition-50-last-day/?ref=down-ballot.info). It also spells the beginning of the end for several of California’s Republican House members, who now must make the unpleasant calculation of whether to run in their current district, switch to a new seat or drop out entirely — questions they could previously dodge under the guise of “Prop. 50 won’t pass.” But it’s not yet clear how widely Prop. 50’s influence will stretch outside of California. The five-seat gain for Democrats could offset at least some redistricting efforts in Republican states, although Republicans stand to gain more seats from an all-out redistricting arms race. Then there’s the looming possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will outlaw the use of race in the redistricting process, which could [give Republicans a major advantage in Southern states](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/upshot/supreme-court-voting-rights-gerrymander.html?ref=down-ballot.info). Opponents also haven’t given up, despite losing at the ballot box. Just over 12 hours after polls closed, California Republicans announced a lawsuit challenging Prop. 50 in a Fresno-based federal court on the grounds that it violates the 14th and 15th Amendments by drawing districts that favor Latino voters at the expense of other ethnic and racial groups. All the while, incumbents and challengers on both sides of the aisle are scrambling to mark their turf in whichever newly drawn district they think will give them the best chance of winning, which could lead to some tense and expensive intra-party matchups. As all eyes turn to 2026, here are five key takeaways from Prop. 50’s success and what comes next: ## **Democrats leveraged Trump and national politics** Newsom repeatedly told Californians that a vote for Prop. 50 was a vote against Trump. It worked. Droves of Democratic voters who were hungry to “do something” meaningful to fight back against what they perceived as an out-of-control Trump administration weighed in on a single-issue ballot measure. With thousands of outstanding ballots still to count, the measure was leading by a 64% to 36% margin Wednesday. Secretary of State Shirley Weber said there was “huge turnout” in person Tuesday night, with long lines wrapping around buildings at many polling sites. The nationalization of the campaign, which harnessed many Californians’ palpable fear of and disgust with the actions coming out of Washington, drowned out the good governance case that Prop. 50 opponents tried to push. Absent the “Trump effect,” an argument against gerrymandering likely would have played well in California, a state that just 15 years ago voted to take map-drawing powers away from politicians and give them to citizens. ## **The opposition lacked money and a clear message** While the Yes campaign focused on antagonizing Trump, the opposition steered clear of the president and settled instead on a California-focused good governance message that avoided national politics altogether. To Cathy Abernathy, a Bakersfield-based Republican political operative and longtime mentor of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, that was a big mistake. “The word was, ‘Well, don’t make it about Trump,’” Abernathy said. “Why in the world aren’t we making it all about Trump?” she added. “Trump didn’t even campaign here for president and got 40% of the vote.” ![A line of people forms near a row of voting booths with the County of Orange logo on it, alongside the words "Orange County Election."](https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/110425_OC-Voting_JH_CM_01-1024x682.jpg) A line of voters at a vote center at the Huntington Beach Central Library in Huntington Beach on Nov. 4, 2025\. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters Abernathy also criticized the state Republican Party for its sloppy get out the vote mailing blitz, which wasted precious money by failing to target only voters who hadn’t yet returned their ballots, sending mailers to thousands of people who had already voted. She placed the blame on consultants who cared more about making money than winning elections. “I just don't think there's respect for the money donated to the party by the people that are spending the money,” she said. ## **Let the musical chairs begin** Now that voters have approved Prop. 50, [a major shuffle is underway](https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/11/proposition-50-overnight-results/?ref=down-ballot.info) as some incumbents scramble to preserve their careers in newly redistricted seats while challengers jockey for the chance to unseat them. Five congressional Republicans in California, Reps. Doug LaMalfa, Kevin Kiley, David Valadao, Ken Calvert and Darrell Issa, face much steeper challenges to retaining their seats. And on the defensive side, five incumbent Democrats — Reps. Adam Gray, Josh Harder, Dave Min, Derek Tran and George Whitesides — have seen their seats grow safer. Among the incumbents switching districts is Calvert, who for more than 30 years has represented a Riverside County district that was redrawn eastward into Los Angeles County. He announced Wednesday that he would instead run for reelection in the neighboring 40th District, setting up an intraparty showdown with fellow incumbent Republican Rep. Young Kim. Kim upped the stakes Wednesday by announcing that her campaign has already placed a $3.25 million ad buy in advance of the June primary election. On the Democratic side, Rep. Ami Bera announced he would challenge Kiley in the newly gerrymandered 3rd District, which encompasses Sacramento suburbs. That in turn prompted Dr. Richard Pan, a former state senator and a pediatrician who had already declared his candidacy, to relocate to the newly drawn 6th District to avoid a tough primary battle with a well-known incumbent. ## **Legal challenges could change the maps again** California Republicans on Wednesday [sued to block the Prop. 50 map](https://www.dhillonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/20251105%5FDoc%5F1%5FComplaint.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), as they previously did twice, unsuccessfully, when the proposal was still on its way to the ballot. The suit, funded primarily by the National Republican Congressional Committee, claims the map causes “stigmatic and representational injury” by placing certain candidates, such as Republican Assemblymember David Tangipa of Fresno, who is Polynesian, into districts drawn with a specific racial or ethnic minority group in mind. “The map is designed to favor one race of California voters over others,” said Mike Columbo, an attorney for the Dhillon Law Group, the firm founded by Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights in Trump’s Justice Department. Dhillon’s firm, along with the California Republican Party and Tangipa, is suing Newsom and Weber, asking a three-judge panel for a temporary restraining order before Dec. 19, the date when candidates can start collecting signatures to get their names on the 2026 primary ballot. Legal scholars say the case faces long odds. The plaintiffs would have to prove that the primary intent of the map drawers – and California voters who approved Prop. 50 — was to racially gerrymander without proper evidence of racially polarized voting. “It would be a very hard case to win,” said Emily Rong Zhang, an assistant professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. “But if the Supreme Court changes the law, then the likelihood of success here might be higher.” The justices are weighing Louisiana v. Callais, on whether to strike down the part of the Voting Rights Act that requires creating districts in which racial and ethnic minorities have a chance to elect their preferred candidate. That could render both the Prop. 50 maps and those drawn by the independent redistricting commission unconstitutional. Supporters of Prop. 50 have repeatedly said their maps will hold up to legal scrutiny. Paul Mitchell, the data consultant whose firm drew the lines, said the group in many cases hewed closely to configurations proposed by the citizens redistricting commission. An analysis by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute found the new maps [largely kept communities together.](https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/10/proposition-50-communities-split/?ref=down-ballot.info) Regardless of how SCOTUS rules, other states are still deciding whether to weigh in on the redistricting wars. Republicans in Kansas recently dropped an attempt to redraw their district lines, citing a lack of support. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, [announced Wednesday](https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/governor-moore-announces-redistricting-advisory-commission-to-recommend-new-congressional-maps.aspx?ref=down-ballot.info) that he was forming a committee to propose new congressional maps to eliminate the state’s one safe Republican seat, held by Rep. Andy Harris, who leads the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus. This article was [originally published on CalMatters](https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/11/california-proposition-50-takeaways/?ref=down-ballot.info) and was republished under the [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info) license. --- # SC congressional delegation donating, pausing paychecks amid government shutdown by Jessica Holdman, [SC Daily Gazette](https://scdailygazette.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 4, 2025 At least five GOP members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation have asked to have their salaries withheld until the ongoing federal government shutdown finally comes to an end. Two more congressmen — Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman — opted to forgo their pay entirely, instead donating it to charity. And two others did not respond to calls or emails from the SC Daily Gazette. Under federal law, the president, Congress and federal judges all receive regular paychecks during shutdowns, unlike the 2 million civilian government employees and thousands of congressional staffers. Members of Congress have the option to receive their pay as normal, donate it to charity, give the money back to the Treasury to buy down the federal debt, or have their checks withheld. They will get backpay when the shutdown ends, like other federal workers who don’t get an option. Congress members’ base salary is[ $174,000 annually,](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/RL30064?ref=down-ballot.info) or $14,500 a month. #### Pay withheld In separate statements to the SC Daily Gazette, five of South Carolina’s Republicans on Capitol Hill said Congress should not get paid while federal employees and families across the country go without because of the ongoing stalemate, but they will collect when it’s over. Those statements came from U.S. Reps. Sheri Biggs, Russell Fry, Nancy Mace, William Timmons and Joe Wilson on Tuesday, 12 days after federal workers missed their first full paycheck since the shutdown began Oct. 1. “I’ve refused my paycheck during the shutdown because if our troops, border agents, and essential workers aren’t getting paid, I shouldn’t either,” said Biggs, whose conservative 3rd Congressional District spans 11 counties from Edgefield County on the Georgia border to the state’s northwest corner. “Public service means putting others first, and I’ll always stand with the hardworking Americans who keep this country running,” she added in a statement. [GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.SUBSCRIBE](https://scdailygazette.com/subscribe?ref=down-ballot.info) Wilson pointed to his pledge on social media at the onset of the shutdown. “A government shutdown is irresponsible,” he posted Oct. 1, noting he voted with Republicans on the stopgap spending bill that cleared the House. “In solidarity with those Americans who feel the financial hardships of this ill-advised vote, I will not accept my own government salary until this government shutdown is over.” The 2nd District congressman said he’s followed through with that pledge. Democrats and Republicans have pointed fingers, each blaming the other for prolonging the shutdown. Republicans in the House passed a stopgap spending bill Sept. 19 that would have kept government running at then-current levels through Nov. 21\. Republicans in the Senate can’t pass that on their own because their narrow majority can’t reach the chamber’s required 60-vote threshold. The measure [failed in the Senate](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/11/04/repub/congress-remains-deadlocked-with-government-shutdown-now-on-day-35/?ref=down-ballot.info) for a 14th time Tuesday on a 54-44 vote. Graham and Sen. Tim Scott were again among the “yes” votes. Democrats are holding out for a permanent extension of [enhanced federal tax credits](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/09/18/repub/permanent-extension-of-enhanced-federal-health-care-subsidies-estimated-to-cost-350b/?ref=down-ballot.info) that buy down the cost of health insurance in the online marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Initially approved during the pandemic, [those enhancements](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/06/17/more-than-100000-people-in-sc-could-lose-health-insurance-if-federal-help-expires/?ref=down-ballot.info) that make private health insurance affordable are set to expire Dec. 31\. Republicans contend the government must open before those negotiations begin. “While Senate Democrats play politics and hold the government hostage, Congresswoman Mace refuses to collect a dime until our troops and federal workers get the pay they’ve earned,” according to a statement from the coastal 1st District representative’s office. “She voted to keep the government open and won’t take her salary until theirs is restored.” Active-duty military actually have continued to receive a paycheck. President Donald Trump ordered the [U.S. Department of Defense](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/10/13/repub/pentagon-to-shift-research-dollars-to-pay-troops-during-shutdown/?ref=down-ballot.info) to repurpose money to keep those dollars flowing — at least for now. [To make the troops’ most recent payday](https://www.axios.com/2025/10/29/white-house-omb-troops-pay-shutdown?ref=down-ballot.info), the defense agency pulled $2.5 billion from a military housing fund included in Republican’s “One Big Beautiful” spending package passed earlier this year. In addition, $1.4 billion came from military research funds and another $1.4 billion came from an account that pays for the building of U.S. Navy ships. #### A constitutional push Graham and Norman, both Republicans, have each introduced a [constitutional amendment](https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/%5Fcache/files/ba2e10cb-e4fb-4048-b5e3-702e176abeca/constitutional-amendment-text.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) in their chamber that would do away with congressional pay in any future shutdown. There would be no back pay to members of Congress. Instead, their pay would automatically go to the Treasury. Fourth District Rep. Timmons, of Greenville; and 7th District Rep. Fry, of Horry County, also voiced support for the idea. Congress has voted several times over the years to officially withhold members’ salaries during a shutdown, but none of the proposals passed. A measure to change the Constitution likely stands even less of a chance. The process requires two-thirds majority approval in each chamber, then approval by three-fourths of the states for ratification. But in the meantime, both have pledged to donate their pay to charity. When the shutdown started, Graham [announced](https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=66F0BE4E-E26A-4A04-A20A-FBBA9D5A4DE9&ref=down-ballot.info) he will donate his salary to the Upstate Warrior Solution, which helps veterans and their families with needs such as housing and jobs. Norman said he will make donations to the Children’s Attention Home, which helps foster children and homeless youth, and the Westminster Presbyterian Church Fund. “If members of Congress had to forfeit their pay during government shutdowns, there would be fewer shutdowns and they would end quicker,” Graham said in a statement. “Not only should members of Congress not get paid during shutdowns, but the forfeited salaries should be used to pay down the federal debt.” Norman, who is among five Republicans [running for governor](https://scdailygazette.com/2025/07/25/rock-hill-congressman-becomes-4th-republican-to-enter-sc-governors-race/?ref=down-ballot.info) in 2026, called it “unconscionable” for politicians to get backpay during a shutdown. “While hardworking Americans are tightening their belts, Congress shouldn’t be insulated from the very consequences it helped create,” the 5th District congressman from Rock Hill said in a statement. The church and the veterans’ charity declined to comment on how they would put the donations to use. The SC Daily Gazette was unable to reach the Children’s Attention Home for comment. Scott and 6th District Rep. Jim Clyburn, the state’s lone Democrat in Congress, did not respond to requests for comment. [YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.SUPPORT](https://scdailygazette.com/donate/?oa%5Freferrer=midstorybox&ref=down-ballot.info) [SC Daily Gazette](https://scdailygazette.com/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. SC Daily Gazette maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seanna Adcox for questions: info@scdailygazette.com. --- # Moore defends redistricting as effort to ensure fairness; Republicans prepare to go to court by Bryan P. Sears, [Maryland Matters](https://marylandmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 5, 2025 A Republican lawmaker who successfully challenged redrawn congressional districts three years ago said she is preparing to go back to court if Gov. Wes Moore and other Democrats produce a new set of districts aimed at eliminating the state’s only Republican-held seat. “This just seems like Kabuki theater,” Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County) said of the governor’s claims that he wants fair congressional districts. “It’s very theatrical, big on theatrics and short on substantial, genuine efforts to serve the citizens of the state of Maryland.” Moore Tuesday announced the formation of a five-member redistricting advisory commission, chaired by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), to recommend “fair and representative” congressional district maps. Even as he was insisting to reporters that the effort is about ensuring fair districts, however, Moore acknowledged that the push is part of a larger effort to counter mid-cycle hyper-partisan redistricting in Republican-controlled states. Moore’s redistricting panel is expected to lead to an anticipated special session — perhaps before the end of the year. Maryland is expected to join a national scrum over which party controls the House of Representatives after the 2026 midterm elections. Del. Kathy Szeliga (R-Baltimore County). (File photo by Danielle E. Gaines/Maryland Matters) The state’s eight current congressional districts were passed after Szeliga successfully filed suit against a legislative redistricting plan in 2022. Senior Judge Lynne A. Battaglia struck the legislative plan down, calling it “extreme partisan gerrymandering.” Her ruling linked partisan map-making to potential violations of Maryland’s Declaration of Rights. Democratic lawmakers soon after that ruling crafted the current maps. #### ‘Do we have fair maps?’ The governor said Tuesday that he is concerned that the maps are not fair. “I would argue that if you’re looking at the maps that we have right now, that were put together in days, that cut through neighborhoods, that cut through jurisdictions, that I would argue that I’m not sure if these maps actually reflect that,” Moore said. “And so, by going through that process of simply saying, ‘Do we have fair maps?’ I think that’s democracy, and I think that’s fair.” Those maps are as old as Moore’s nearly three-year career as an elected official. He did not explicitly explain when he became concerned about the fairness of maps the super-majority Democratic legislature drew in place of those offered by then Gov. Larry Hogan (R). But in comments to reporters Tuesday, Moore himself linked Maryland redistricting to a national skirmish in which states controlled by Republicans and Democrats are trying to slip congressional seats into the hands of their own party using mid-decade redistricting. Moore said President Donald Trump “cannot just sit there and call certain Republican states and say, ‘Hey, I want you all to find me a congressman here, and find me a congressman there,’ and then expect other states to just simply sit on their hands,” Moore said. He said that even though states like Maryland redistricted recently, they cannot stand pat “when we are watching this type of attack on our democracy.” “When we are watching the president of the United States rip up the rules because he knows the only way he can win elections is by actually changing the rules, because you’re not going to win elections on your policies. Your policies are deeply unpopular. So, what do you do? You change the rules,” Moore said of Trump. “And so, the only point that I have, and I have long felt this, and I’m not moving on, is if you have other states that are deciding whether or not they have fair maps, then so will Maryland.” Moore and other Maryland Democratic leaders face heightened pressure from their own party at the national level. U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic leader, flanked by Reps. Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar. (File photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom) House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has called Moore to discuss the issue. Moore declined to characterize the discussions, calling them private conversations. But Jeffries, in public statements, has urged Maryland to answer the party’s call to redistrict. Szeliga and other Republicans criticized Moore’s definition of fairness. “You need a new dictionary to define fair,” Szeliga said. In Maryland, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans about 2-1\. The number of unaffiliated voters is nearly that of Republicans. Despite that, the state’s eight congressional districts have shifted from an even four-four split 23 years ago to Democrats controlling seven of eight seats today. Senate Minority Leader Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) said Moore’s committee aims to “wipe out the Republican Party” in the state. “Instead of restoring integrity to the process, Governor Moore has chosen to rig the system,” Hershey said in a statement. “This is a partisan power grab disguised as reform, designed to silence dissent and cement one-party rule in Maryland.” Moore dismissed those like Hershey who believe a fair map might include two or potentially three districts where Republicans could win a seat. “Part of the reason that I pulled together this bipartisan commission is because I want this bipartisan group of leaders to be able to have conversations with people of our state to determine whether or not we have fair maps within the state of Maryland,” Moore said. “So, for anyone who said they would have a problem with going to the people to determine whether it’s a fair map, I guess my only answer is, ‘What’s your issue with democracy?'” #### Advisory panel all but set Alsobrooks will lead the five-member panel that includes former Attorney General Brian Frosh and Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss, all appointed by Moore. The panel will also include the House speaker and Senate president, or their designees. House Minority Leader Jason C. Buckel (R-Allegany) said Morriss, whose city is in Buckel’s district, is in a politically difficult position. “The lone nominal Republican, after a fruitless search by the Moore Administration to persuade others to participate in this farce, must seriously consider his involvement and recognize that he will obviously be asked to either aid and abet the political crime of stealing representation from Republican citizens, or be a meaningless ‘nay’ vote with little to no real input,” Buckel said in a joint statement with House Minority Whip Del. Jesse T. Pippy (R-Frederick). > [Moore pushes for congressional redistricting, sets up confrontation with Senate](https://marylandmatters.org/2025/10/30/moore-pushes-for-congressional-redistricting-sets-up-confrontation-with-senate/?ref=down-ballot.info) “We urged other Republicans and fair-minded leaders not to participate in this charade,” the pair said in the statement. “As it stands, the commission allegedly seeking ‘fair’ congressional districts is made up of four elected Democrats from the Baltimore/DC area, including a sitting US Senator beholden to protecting her party, the most nakedly partisan Attorney General Maryland has perhaps ever seen, and legislative representatives of the Democratic Party who have alternatively already pledged their support for raw gerrymandering for political advantage from the House and conversely committed not to do so in the Senate.” House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) named Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles) to the panel Tuesday. Wilson is chair of the House Economic Matters Committee. “I know Chairman Wilson will listen to all perspectives as the Commission hosts public hearings around the State to ensure fair congressional maps,” Jones said in a statement. “Given his representation of a growing region in Charles County, he understands the importance of fair representation and the need to get it right.” Senate President Bill Ferguson has yet to announce if he will sit on the panel or assign another senator. In a letter last week, Ferguso said that he and the majority of the 34-member Democratic Caucus oppose mid-cycle redistricting. A mid-cycle redistricting bill sent to the Senate is seen as a nonstarter. Moore and Ferguson’s office confirmed the pair are scheduled to meet over dinner later this week. “I respect his opinion,” Moore said of Ferguson. “We have a very fundamental disagreement on this. I think this moment requires urgency, and I think this moment requires us to really think critically and make sure that the people’s voices can be heard in a very practical and legal way.” Ferguson did not meet with reporters Tuesday. A spokesperson, when asked about Moore’s comments earlier in the day, referred a reporter to a statement issued by Ferguson that same morning. In it, Ferguson called for public meetings in all eight districts, among other things. “Marylanders’ voices remain central to this process, and these public meetings will provide an opportunity for voters to hear about the unique legal barriers in Maryland – barriers that could unintentionally give Donald Trump another one or two of Maryland’s congressional seats should this effort backfire in our courts,” Ferguson said. “The Senate Democratic Caucus understands that this is an unbalanced risk reward calculation. It is why there is overwhelming concern about Maryland joining the mid-cycle redistricting wars rather than focusing on tangible, immediate policies to protect our State from this lawless Trump Administration,” his statement said. #### ‘We’ve got it teed up’ A schedule for meetings of the commission has not been announced. But Moore told reporters “the commission’s work has already commenced.” He said he expected the panel would use technology to “hear the voice of the people in public ways” leaving open the door to virtual meetings or some sort of hybrid approach combined with in-person testimony. Expectations among lawmakers in the House and Senate is that Moore’s panel could lead to a special session before the end of the year. Many are looking to the first week of December. The governor on Tuesday would not commit to a special session nor rule it out. “There is no state that has been more exposed to the cruelty of the Trump administration than the state of Maryland,” Moore said. “I will use any and all tools at my disposal to make sure that my people are protected all across the state of Maryland, and that includes I will never take the option of calling a special session, which is my right as the governor, I will never take that option off the table.” Meanwhile, Szeliga said she is preparing for the possibility of new maps. She and U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st) have already talked to the legal team that represented her in 2022. “We haven’t signed any papers, but we’ve got it teed up to go right back to the Supreme Court” of Maryland, she said. [Maryland Matters](https://marylandmatters.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org. --- # The human cost of the Yuma’s vegetable empire by Oliver Boye, Cronkite News November 5, 2025 YUMA – As night falls over the 121-square-mile stretch of land at the corner of California, Arizona and Mexico – land almost twice the size of Washington, D.C. – crop planes and helicopters boot up. Under the cover of darkness, pilots drop thousands of pounds of pesticides over fields in one of the nation’s most productive agricultural regions growing lettuce, wheat, melons, lemons and dozens of other crops. A few hours later, legions of farmworkers head to these same fields to plant, irrigate, pick, cut, bag and run machinery. The scale is massive: the region’s industry generated over $4.4 billion in the Arizona economy in 2022, according to a study by the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics and the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension. Farms in Yuma have shifted from mass-produced field crops, such as alfalfa and cotton, to high-value specialty crops, including lettuce, which sell at higher prices and require more labor. This makes vegetable farming employment in the Yuma area 58 times higher than the national average. That means more money, more labor, more pesticides and, according to a growing body of research, more adverse health effects among farmworkers. Yuma County [employs more than 80%](https://azfeps.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2024-10/2024%20AZ-FEPS%20Final.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info) of the state’s agricultural workforce. The county has more than 65,000 farmworkers, including about 16,000 migrant workers and roughly 50,000 seasonal workers. Researchers and advocates have long raised concerns about the adverse short- and long-term effects of pesticides. These range from headache and nausea to cancer, Parkinson's disease, diabetes and stillbirths. “In rural agricultural areas where people are working on farms, there are higher incidences of diabetes, obesity, pulmonary issues, endocrine disruption, cancer …” said Sara Grantham, the advocacy manager at Beyond Pesticides, a D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for non-chemical alternatives in agriculture. Multiple reports link these conditions to environmental toxins farmworkers are exposed to. Many of them also examine a potential link between pesticides and chronic health effects. “We do believe any synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are going into our environment, they're going into our bodies, and they're poisoning us,” Grantham said. “This science isn't new”. The science is nearly 60 years old; however, the impact of these pesticides remains alarmingly current, with comprehensive studies conducted over the past 20 years. From 2013 to 2016, diabetes rates among Southwest farmworkers were almost twice the national average. Researchers and healthcare professionals noted the heightened risk among Latino communities and said pesticide exposure may compound that risk by interfering with hormone regulation. “Some pesticides and herbicides that we're using affect different hormone imbalances in the body. Many of the chemicals we use are endocrine disruptors,” said Dr. Luc Lanteigne, a physician in Yuma’s largest medical center, Onvida Health. However, tracking the health effects of pesticide exposure in Yuma is difficult, in part because the region’s farm labor force is uniquely mobile. According to [a 2024 estimate of Yuma’s farmworker population](https://azfeps.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/2024-10/2024%20AZ-FEPS%20Final.pdf?ref=down-ballot.info), cross-border labor is a core part of the region’s agricultural workforce. “We have people who come across every single day,” said Katherine Ellingson, an epidemiologist and co-author of the report. In recent years, growers have increasingly relied on H-2A visas, which allow the hiring of foreign nationals for temporary farm work when domestic labor is unavailable. The number of H-2A workers has grown sixfold nationwide since the early 2000s, with more than 10,000 visas certified in Arizona in 2023\. The reliance on short-term and cross-border labor, often hired by contractors that work with growers, makes it difficult to track health outcomes. “Growers in Yuma might have 20 to 30 full-time employees that get health benefits and vacation days and they're really proud of taking care of them,” Ellington said. “But most of the actual labor, at least with certain crops like lettuce, melons … is done by the temporary workforce they don't even have on payroll.” Workers may return to Mexico or move on to other states, meaning effects of pesticide exposure – especially long-term – often go unreported. The Environmental Protection Agency sets the national standards for protecting agricultural workers from pesticide exposure, but Grantham said these guidelines are inadequate as the EPA does not include independent scientific data when registering or re-registering pesticides and “only consults the industry-provided data.” “They (EPA does) not currently study any of the active ingredients that go into pesticide products sufficiently,” Grantham said. “They don’t look at cumulative effects. They don’t look at synergistic effects.” Cronkite News reached out to the EPA for comment, but the agency did not make anyone available for an interview. Some national voices argue that systemic factors deepen the challenges. “Farm workers are in one of the least empowered positions in our economy,” said Alexis Guild, the vice president of strategy and programs at Farmworker Justice, a national nonprofit that advocates for better working conditions and safety in agriculture. “If they speak up about unsafe conditions — whether that’s pesticides, heat or breaks — they risk retaliation or losing their jobs. That imbalance makes enforcement incredibly difficult”. This does not mean there’s no progress. Farmworker Justice is a part of the EPA’s Pesticide Program Dialog Committee, which worked to pass the 2022 Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (PRIA-5). This law, among other things, mandates pesticide labels to be in English and Spanish. Advocates say that farmwork is essential and skilled and protecting workers’ health is a matter of basic dignity. “If you talk to farm workers, they're extremely proud of the work that they do, and they are extremely proud of their contributions to their communities, to the economy, to the country,” Guild said. “I think that this narrative often gets lost.” This [article](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2025/11/05/yuma-vegetable-empire/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [Cronkite News](https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # With SNAP Benefits Delayed, Fountain House Clubhouses Scramble to Feed Hungry Members by Rob Waters, MindSite News November 4, 2025 ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/04105617/Fountain-HOuse-kitchen-food-prep.jpeg) Members prepare a meal together at the South Bronx Fountain House clubhouse in 2023\. Photo courtesy of Fountain House. A MindSite News interview with Fountain House members and staffers *This story has been updated with links where donations can be made to support the efforts of Fountain House and affiliated clubhouses to feed their members.* Starting this week, some 42 million Americans were faced with an existential dilemma: How would they feed themselves and their families while the federal SNAP benefits they use to buy groceries are cut off by the Trump administration? As of Monday afternoon, the White House, in response to court orders that SNAP benefits be reinstated, said people should expect to receive only partial benefits this month and that those payments would be significantly delayed. The problem is particularly grave for the estimated 20% of SNAP beneficiaries who are grappling with mental illness. For this group of people – already struggling to cope with uncertainty and stress – losing the ability to pay for food adds another huge stressor to their lives. One group stepping up to help is the members and staff of [Fountain House](https://mindsitenews.org/2024/07/31/an-antidote-for-loneliness-among-the-mentally-ill/?ref=down-ballot.info), an organization founded 77 years ago to provide a place where people with serious mental illness gather together at a "clubhouse" and provide mutual support to each other. That mutual support is now being focused on a critical task: ensuring that all members get the food they need. Members from the original Fountain House, in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, and those in Harlem, the South Bronx and the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles – along with affiliated clubhouses in other states – are stepping up their efforts to provide meals and food to members who need it. Fountain House is [accepting donations at this link](https://give.fountainhouse.org/campaign/739921/donate?c%5Fsrc=lightbox&c%5Fsrc2=FY261101BFC&ref=down-ballot.info) to help it feed its members, and also released [a directory of affiliated clubhouses](https://www.fountainhouse.org/news/fountain-house-united-statement-on-snap-funding-lapse-and-impact-on-mental-health-community?ref=down-ballot.info) around the country that are seeking support for their food programs. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/04095219/Screenshot-2025-11-04-at-11.52.10-AM-1024x753.png) An Instagram post from Fountain House posted last week. MindSite News Editor Rob Waters spoke with members and staff of Fountain House programs and affiliates to learn more about how they are caring for each other. As member Shawn Guffey said: “Once it became clear that SNAP benefits were going to be cut off, the question was never *will we* make sure that the members of our community have food to eat. It was, *how* *will we*?” “Fountain House has been around since 1948,” he added, “and we've been through wars and pandemics and terrorist attacks and there's never been a question that we are not going to take care of one another.” Here are edited excerpts from that conversation. https://vimeo.com/1133587854Safi Chaudry, from video interview. **Safi Chaudry**, communications team member: I came to Fountain House six months ago. I was very hesitant at first to join – my therapist had recommended that I take a hard look at it – and it took me a year to go through those green doors. And then I finally did, and it's been mind-blowing – the change in my mood, the change in my health, the positive effects it's had. I find community, I find belonging. I find a sense of cohesiveness which was lacking before, and being able to see other people struggle and still make through their day is inspiring. https://vimeo.com/1133586074?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ciShawn Guffey, from video interview. **Shawn Guffey,** member, education employment unit and community programming and facilities team, responsible for direct services in the clubhouse and programming. I was a high school teacher in the Bronx, and then I did an all-but-dissertation PhD program in developmental psychology. But as I was getting worse and going into the hospital more and more, I was never able to finish. And then I spent about seven years basically completely alone, never leaving the house except to walk my dog and going in and out of the hospital. I came directly from an inpatient psychiatric unit – that's one of our biggest referrers, along with post-incarceration programs and housing programs for people who were unhoused. The requirement is that you have a serious mental illness and not be a danger to the community. So I came from an inpatient program. I used to say that I spent my summers at Columbia Presbyterian. As I had gotten older, my illness had gotten worse and worse. I've had over 200 electroconvulsive therapy treatments. At one point, I was having a treatment every month, because nothing worked for my illness. At one point I thought my life was – that I would never have any kind of meaningful role in society, and that has changed as a result of Fountain House. I found a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose. I'm one of 12 people who work together to run the place. And this is four club houses with 1600 members. That's a lot of work. **So tell me about how your SNAP benefits. How much have you been getting? How far does it go — and what's going to happen now?** **Shawn Guffey:** I get around $180 a month in SNAP benefits, which is not a lot when you think about the cost of groceries. Our best guess is about 80% of our members receive SNAP benefits. Many of our members get the majority of their meals from the clubhouse, and now many of them will be getting *all* of their meals at the clubhouse. **Safi Chaudry:** I get around $177 per month, which isn't much, but it does help bolster my budget throughout the month. I've just been trying to figure out where I can make cuts, or where I could dip into my savings, or what the next steps look like. **Shawn Guffey:** People are going to have to make choices between, you know, buying food and paying the utilities or paying a copay on a medication or paying for a metro card, right? If you can't afford a metro card, you can't get to the clubhouse, which means you can't eat the meal that's being provided by the clubhouse. Once it became clear that SNAP benefits were going to be cut off, the question was never *will we* make sure that the members of our community have food to eat. It was, *how* *will we*? How can we ramp up? How can we order the food? Every single day, the members make lunch for one another and make breakfast for one another, and some days we make dinner for one another. All of this is being done by members, from ordering the food to serving the meals to cooking the meals to serving the meals to cleaning up afterwards. **One thing I've been impressed by when I've visited Fountain House is the diversity of people that are there – where you are and what you've done in life, as well as racial and ethnic diversity. How do all those different kinds of diversity sort of bring themselves together at Fountain House?** **Safi Chaudry:** It's like a tapestry in a way – everyone is threaded together from these different backgrounds, these different beliefs, different races, different educational levels. I mean, I've met people that haven't finished high school, and then I've met people with three PhDs, all in the same room trying to figure out what's next, trying to find community. That cohesiveness is very much on display every day in Fountain House. **Shawn Guffey:** I don't think there is a more diverse place on Earth – you name it, we've got it, and they are a part of the community. Human beings need community. They need to be needed. They need to be with one another. When you're together in community, that's more important than your differences, it's more important than your diagnosis, and that's how we hold one another together. **Turning back to SNAP, when did the members and leadership team start to think about how you would address this problem, and what have members been saying in terms of their fears about losing this life-saving benefit that they depend on?** **Shawn Guffey**: I think our members have been very afraid, but also confident, knowing that we would take care of one another. I don't think anyone was afraid that they were just going to be left hanging with no assistance whatsoever. Fountain House has been around since 1948 and we've been through wars and pandemics and terrorist attacks and there's never been a question that we are not going to take care of one another. **Tell me about the planning and fundraising and logistics of increasing the amount of meal preparation that you all are doing.** **Shawn Guffey**: We found out early last week that this was definitely going to happen. We knew this was a possibility from the beginning of the year, when the current administration came in, so we knew essentially what elements needed to be put in place: We've got to find ways to store more food. We've got to find ways to raise more money. We are reaching very deeply into our operating funds right now and hoping our supporters will come through to assist us. There's talk that the SNAP benefits will begin again soon, but money talks; we'll wait and see. We have a SNAP delay contingency plan. There's one for every clubhouse. And so every meal will be free in Hell's Kitchen – breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served Monday through Friday. For the weekends, people will get a weekend pack, which is groceries, in a box, like subscription services that send you food. It's a box of food that's fruits and vegetables, healthy and hearty. It also has instructions and recipes. For people who can't leave their home, they will be delivered. If a member can't come in during the day, they can pick up in the evening. They can pick up meals for the next day. Every day of the week, we have vans going out to deliver meals. Thanksgiving is our big holiday at Fountain House. It's a huge tradition – we have a gigantic Thanksgiving dinner. During the pandemic, we had Thanksgiving dinner delivered to every single member of Fountain House, and everybody ate their Thanksgiving dinner looking at the screen. So we have some experience scrambling to deal with emergencies. Our members are tremendously resilient. They are tough. They have been through a lot, and they can survive through a lot, especially together. There's a line from an early member of Fountain House, Michael Obaleski, who says, "All we have is one another, and that's more than enough." We just buckle down and get it done. **Safi Chaudry:** I've been talking to a lot of folks in the clubhouse, and they are frustrated and anxious. There's a general sense of worry about how long the delay will last, and members are talking about how it's affecting their ability to stay healthy and focused. At the same time, there's also a feeling of support, since everyone understands what others are going through. ![](https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/04095422/Screenshot-2025-11-04-at-11.54.06-AM-1024x582.png) ****Paige Huff,** director of Alliance House in Salt Lake City, Utah. **Paige Huff,** director of Alliance House in Salt Lake City, Utah: Alliance house has 370 active members, but I would say 90% of those are going to be impacted by this, because those that don't utilize snap or don't receive SNAP, are utilizing the food banks. In Utah, a lot of people utilize the food banks, and as of last weekend, the food banks are turning people away because they no longer have food. We have committed to do a food drive. Members can come and get a box, and then they can take that with them. One thing that we're struggling with is that a lot of our members are unhoused, and therefore having a large box of food is not going to be conducive for them, whereas on the SNAP benefits, they could just go get food for that day. So we're trying to coordinate for people to come in daily, rather than getting a box, because they don't have anywhere to take that box. Those are kind of the nuances that we're trying to figure out. But I'm also here with my colleague, Trudy, and I will let her speak to her perspective. **Trudy Moser,** Alliance House member**:** I've been a member of Alliance House for almost eight years. I'm trying to come to the clubhouse every two days a week at least. I help in the cooking, I help in the graphics, I help in the food behind us. I'm affected because I have $70 that I usually get on the 11th and not getting it is just stressful. It adds to my anxiety and depression, makes me worry, but Alliance House – having their help right now makes me feel like I can breathe a little more. It makes me happy. A lot of the people around here are shocked and confused and don't know what to do, but we're working our way through it. **Jillian Santoro,** clubhouse director of Fountain House Hollywood: We're providing 21 meals a week to each of 140 members. We serve breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday. For the month of November, breakfast and lunch will be free for members who come into the clubhouse, and then every day, they'll be able to take a bag home with a meal. For example, tonight they can take home a bag with spaghetti and sauce and a can of mushrooms that they can cook at home if they have a kitchen. But if they don't have a kitchen, they have nowhere to cook. And so many of our unhoused members don't have access to cooking or even a microwave, so we're doing that. On the weekends, we're providing three meals on Saturday and three meals on Sunday, because the clubhouse isn't open. We also have Thanksgiving this month, and that's kind of a big deal. If our members don't have their SNAP, their Thanksgiving dinner is not going to exist. We do have Thanksgiving in the clubhouse, and we offer that. It usually costs the members a couple dollars, but we're going to have Thanksgiving be free for our members this year. But you this is coming out of our emergency fund, and that's going to affect our programming in the future and down the line. I spent $2,000 on groceries this week to give food to our members, and I can't do that forever. I'm going to run out of money. And so that's something we haven't even brought up, that I'm sure Paige is also nervous about – we're taking money from other places, other bucket items in our budget, to try and make sure that our members can eat. This [article](https://mindsitenews.org/2025/11/04/fountain-house-clubhouses-scramble-to-feed-hungry-members/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [MindSite News](https://mindsitenews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). --- # Republican Barbour and Democrat Thompson both praise legacy of former VP Cheney by [Geoff Pender](https://mississippitoday.org/author/gpender/?ref=down-ballot.info) and [Emily Wagster Pettus](https://mississippitoday.org/author/epettus/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 4, 2025 **Wake up informed.** [*Sign up for our free daily newsletter*](https://mississippitoday.org/newsletters/the-today/?ref=down-ballot.info) *and join over 35,000 Mississippians who start their day with Mississippi Today.* After Hurricane Katrina walloped south Mississippi in 2005, then-Vice President Dick Cheney was among the national leaders who traveled to the area to assess damage, and he was instrumental in helping the state secure federal money for recovery, Republican former Gov. Haley Barbour said Tuesday. Cheney died Monday night of complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said. He was 84. Barbour and Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson are among the Mississippi political figures who say they appreciate the legacy of Cheney, who is widely considered [one of the most powerful vice presidents](https://apnews.com/article/dick-cheney-dies-079591b529f048489650e7569bc675d2?ref=down-ballot.info) in U.S. history. Barbour was governor from 2004 to 2012, overlapping with most of the Bush-Cheney terms from 2001 to 2009. “He wasn’t loud, but he was strong … and he was a very nice man,” said Barbour, who was chairman of the Republican National Committee in the mid-1990s and served on the first Bush-Cheney national campaign committee in 2000. Cheney has been a polarizing figure in Republican politics. Once a hero to the right, he fell out with the GOP in recent years as he criticized President Donald Trump. After a heart transplant in 2012, Cheney remained politically active and was a frequent critic of President Barack Obama’s administration. But after initially endorsing Trump in 2016, Cheney had sharp words for the Trump administration and supported his own daughter, Republican U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, as she became a leading “never Trump” Republican. Dick Cheney later published a statement saying he would vote for the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, in the 2024 presidential election. Cheney spent decades in government and politics, including as White House chief of staff for President Gerald Ford, congressman from Wyoming, secretary of defense and vice president. He was influential in Bush’s tax policies and rolling back environmental protections opposed by big businesses. He was a main architect of Bush’s “War on Terror” and invasion of Iraq after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. > Thompson, Mississippi’s lone Democrat in Congress, is a former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. As chairman of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thompson appointed Liz Cheney as vice chair. > “When I met Vice President Cheney, he personally thanked me for that decision and for the integrity with which the committee conducted its work, even at a time when many in his party chose not to participate in the one-year commemoration of January 6th,” Thompson said in a statement Tuesday. “Vice President Cheney’s legacy in shaping America’s national security will be remembered, and I extend my prayers to the Cheney family during this difficult time.” Thompson said he worked with Cheney during creation of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11. “His leadership and support were invaluable as we brought together 22 federal agencies to form the Department of Homeland Security and strengthen our nation’s security,” Thompson said of Cheney. Thompson also said Cheney’s death “saddens me deeply.” Paul Hurst, an attorney who was Barbour’s gubernatorial chief of staff, said Tuesday that Cheney was “a great friend of Mississippi, and I was honored to work with him a few times.” “He supported all of our recovery efforts after Katrina and advocated for others in DC to do the same,” Hurst said. Barbour first worked for Ronald Reagan’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1976\. After Ford fended off a challenge from Reagan at the Republican National Convention, Ford hired Barbour to run his campaign in seven Southern states. “Cheney was very bright, but he was quiet,” Barbour told Mississippi Today in a call from his Washington office Tuesday. “He wasn’t loud. He spoke in short sentences. He was always very nice to me. “When he got picked for vice president, I was on the George Bush national campaign committee,” Barbour said. “Cheney had for a while gotten out of politics at that time.” Barbour said he remembers a letter he wrote after Bush and Cheney were elected that could have gotten him into hot water with the vice president. “I wrote Cheney a letter about how we always said the Democrats, the Clinton administration, had kowtowed to the environmentalists, and that he and Bush and other Republicans said they were not going to do that any more,” Barbour said. “… I said, ‘Mr. Vice President, you have said this, and we want to see you back it up. Environmentalists are pushing bad policy that doesn’t do any good and just makes everything more expensive, so we are watching to see how you do.'” A reporter “somehow got hold of the letter,” Barbour said, and he faced questions from his lobbying client, Southern Company, and apparently Cheney didn’t initially find the letter amusing. “But Cheney thought the letter was funny after a while,” Barbour said. “He and I stayed friends long after that, and I have always had great admiration for him.” Barbour said Bush, Cheney, their administration and Congress were a great help to Mississippi after Katrina. “We were blessed to have President Bush the younger, Dick Cheney, (U.S. Sen.) Thad Cochran at that time,” Barbour said. “We had a very supportive Congress, and Cheney was part of that. They bent over backwards to help Mississippi and other states.” --- ## Generous community support not nearly enough to fill gap in SNAP funding, food advocates say ### As shutdown stretches into sixth week, program’s recipients grow more desperate by [DAN DeWITT](https://avlwatchdog.org/author/dan/?ref=down-ballot.info) November 6, 2025 [Generous community support not nearly enough to fill gap in SNAP funding, food advocates say • Asheville WatchdogBrittany Ebert thinks federal lawmakers might reopen the government and resume food stamp funding if they knew what it was like to feed three children on a tight budget. Ebert, who filled a bag with free produce Monday at the nonprofit Bounty & Soul’s market in Swannanoa, is a part-time substitute teacher. Her husband is \[…\]![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/icon/cropped-Watchdog-paw-print-3.png)Asheville WatchdogDAN DeWITT![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/ee/78/ee782f90-8fa8-4806-b44d-c225d61a342e/content/images/thumbnail/BountyandSoul-1-scaled.jpg)](https://avlwatchdog.org/generous-community-support-not-nearly-enough-to-fill-gap-in-snap-funding-food-advocates-say/?ref=down-ballot.info) Brittany Ebert thinks federal lawmakers might reopen the government and resume food stamp funding if they knew what it was like to feed three children on a tight budget. Ebert, who filled a bag with free produce Monday at the nonprofit Bounty & Soul’s market in Swannanoa, is a part-time substitute teacher. Her husband is an Ingles Markets Inc. warehouse employee who lost two months of work after the chain’s distribution center near Black Mountain was flooded by Tropical Storm Helene. They are rearing children ages six, seven and eight, whose appetites seem to be growing every day, she said, and feeding two neighborhood kids who regularly stop by for meals. “It’s hard to tell somebody about something if they’ve never been through it,” Ebert, 32, said of federal legislators whose 36-day standoff is jeopardizing $8.3 billion in monthly funding for food stamps, the informal name for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). “If they were in our shoes, and saw hungry kids, they’d be in a different position.” Without the monthly $490 SNAP payments that make up about 15 percent of her family’s total budget, Ebert will likely go to more food distribution events like the one Monday, she said. Thousands of other food-insecure residents will likely do the same, pressing Bounty & Soul and other already strained food nonprofits into a role they aren’t equipped to fill – the primary food providers for Buncombe County’s nearly 30,000 SNAP recipients, their leaders say. Even if the Trump administration complies with the court-ordered release of $4.65 billion in reserve SNAP funding – and the president said at one point Tuesday it would not – the money would cover only about half the cost of the program and only for one month, said Bounty & Soul Deputy Director Paula Sellars. The NC General Assembly has no immediate plans to fill the remaining gap, said state Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, and the [$18 million in food aid announced](https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2025/10/30/governor-stein-announces-nearly-18-million-contributions-north-carolina-food-assistance?ref=down-ballot.info) by Gov. Josh Stein’s office last week is a small fraction of the more than $230 million in SNAP benefits paid across the state monthly. And none of the much-appreciated local efforts – the ramped up operations at food organizations, the fundraisers, the food drives launched by local businesses, the city of Asheville and Buncombe County – can fill the yawning void left by the SNAP cuts, said Joe Beckler, chief development officer of MANNA FoodBank, which serves more than 220 food pantries in western North Carolina. In a typical month, the program pays for nine times as many meals as MANNA provides, Beckler said. “We’re going to do our level best and lean in and help people make it through this holiday season,” he said. But making up the deficit from SNAP “is just not scalable. There’s no way we can do that.” “If this doesn’t get resolved very soon,” Sellars said. “We’ll see hunger at a scale we have never seen before.” #### **Elected leaders cast blame** Both Sellars and Beckler said that filling the gap left by SNAP cuts comes on top of challenges to their organizations [described to *Asheville Watchdog* in August](https://avlwatchdog.org/snap-cuts-may-double-already-soaring-demand-for-food-from-manna/?ref=down-ballot.info). Demand at Black Mountain-based Bounty & Soul tripled after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and doubled again after Tropical Storm Helene, Sellars said at the time. MANNA’s Swannanoa warehouse and all its contents were destroyed by Helene, and the organization was completing its move to its new Mills River location earlier this year when it learned of deep cuts to two major federal food initiatives – The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA). MANNA received only 160,000 pounds of food from TEFAP in August compared to 386,000 pounds the same month last year, Beckler said, and the LFPA cuts are expected to take $1.3 million from the food bank’s $10.4 million annual food budget. In August, the organization expected demand to double with the shifting of $420 million in SNAP payments to the state starting in January 2027, a measure included in July’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” budget reconciliation. But that was a partial funding shortfall, months in the future, Beckler said. The current cuts are immediate, and depending on the level of funding from the White House, the shutdown will eliminate all the program’s allocations in the state, which totaled more than [$2.8 billion in 2024](https://governor.nc.gov/may-8-letter-governor-stein-regarding-proposed-snap-cuts?ref=down-ballot.info). “What we’re talking about effective Nov. 1 is no SNAP benefits,” Beckler said. As welcome as the food drives are, the non-perishable and often processed groceries they collect are not a healthy long-term substitute for fresh meals families can prepare with SNAP benefits, Sellars said. “The longer SNAP is lapsed and access to fresh food is low, the more risk to people’s personal health and the greater risk that the healthcare system will take a population-wide hit,” she said via email. There is also SNAP’s irreplaceable economic impact, Beckler said, forwarding a [statement](https://www.nationalgrocers.org/news/national-grocers-association-leads-industry-pushback-against-proposed-snap-cuts/?ref=down-ballot.info) from the National Grocers Association trade organization. SNAP supports “over 389,000 American jobs” according to the release. “The disruption to program funding may lead to reduced employee hours, perishable food losses, and declining sales for many community grocers across our nation.” #### **Elected leaders cast blame** The Trump administration announced Monday it would release some funds after a federal judge in Rhode Island ruled last week it must spend the available reserves. Late Tuesday, the White House affirmed its intention to comply with the court order. But that was hours after Trump said otherwise in a post on Truth Social. Under “crooked Joe Biden” the program had been expanded to give handouts to “anyone for the asking,” he wrote, before pledging that payments would resume “only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!” U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-Hendersonville, blamed “Democrats in the Senate who have failed to vote to fund the government,” in a [statement ](https://edwards.house.gov/government-shutdown/resources-snap-recipients?ref=down-ballot.info)this week on his website that also listed organizations providing food aid. Mayfield said responsibility for providing emergency funding for SNAP lies with the General Assembly’s Republican leaders, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Speaker of the House Destin Hall, neither of whom returned emails to their offices from *The Watchdog*. State lawmakers, Mayfield said, are just as deadlocked over budget issues as their federal counterparts. They still haven’t passed the biennial budget that was scheduled for approval before July 1\. Republican leadership has failed to close the gap in the state’s contribution to Medicaid, she said. And when lawmakers met last month, she said, the priority was redrawing maps of congressional districts, not addressing SNAP funding. “I have no confidence that they would fund whatever this would cost, even on a temporary basis,” she said. #### **Locals doing what they can** Asheville and Buncombe, local restaurants and other businesses are attempting to fill this breach left by the federal and state government. In an [Oct. 31 news release](https://www.buncombenc.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=453&ref=down-ballot.info), Buncombe urged residents to drop off canned goods and other non-perishable items at, among other locations, the 12 branches of the county’s Public Library. The drive is scheduled to continue through Nov. 25, county spokesperson Lillian Govus wrote in an email. “As we head into the holiday season and with continued instability in Washington, we want to ensure that MANNA FoodBank, Bounty & Soul … and all our other community partners have supplies on hand to help address food insecurity.” Residents can also bring food to four of Asheville’s community centers, the city wrote in a [statement](https://www.ashevillenc.gov/news/small-act-big-impact-places-to-donate-food-in-our-community/?ref=down-ballot.info). The Chai Pani restaurant in Asheville was scheduled to host a Give Back Night on Wednesday, pledging that 10 percent of the proceeds of its dinner service would go to MANNA. The Sand Hill Kitchen on Sardis Road is providing free bagged lunches, primarily for school children, but also adults, server Sarah Hill said Wednesday. “It’s ‘no questions asked.’ It’s like, if you need it, you need it,” Hill said, adding that customers had donated about $7,000 to support the effort. BMAZ – The Adventure Zone in Whittier, about an hour west of Asheville, is offering discounts to customers who donate food and contributing 10 percent of its proceeds in November to MANNA and an area food pantry, Rose Johnson, the gaming center’s creative director, wrote in an email. Increased demand at MANNA has been met with a flood of monetary donations to its [virtual food drive](https://4agc.com/donate/2025virtualdrive?ref=down-ballot.info) and groceries delivered in person, including by a teenaged girl who bought supplies from money earned babysitting, Beckler said. “She poured all of it into buying food so she could deliver food to help out,” he said. “We’ve become just acutely aware of how much the community cares.” #### **Confronting a ‘disaster**‘ At this point, local sources of food – accessible through [MANNA’s food finder interactive map](https://mannafoodbank.org/food-finder/?ref=down-ballot.info#googtrans%28en%7Cen%29) – are the only option for many of the estimated 100,000 food SNAP recipients in MANNA’s coverage area, which includes 16 counties and the Qualla Boundary. Emily Hernandez, a 34-year old single mother of three, said she hasn’t worked regularly as a food server since the restaurant that employed her was flooded by Helene. Without the roughly $620 she receives from SNAP, she said, she will depend on Bounty & Soul and food distribution events hosted by churches and other organizations. “I guess food banks and the community coming together,” she said of her options. Freida Fisher has been living in a donated camper in Transylvania County since her apartment in Rosman was flooded by Helene. She was recently notified that she will have to move the camper to make way for homes that Transylvania Habitat for Humanity plans to build on its current site. She has been unable to work at her long-time job as a restaurant server since a June surgery on her wrist to repair carpal tunnel syndrome and remove a cyst. Though she has applied for disability benefits from the Social Security Administration, she has not begun receiving them. And though she is due for a widow’s benefit from the agency, payments won’t kick in until after she turns 60 in January. Until then, she will live on her deceased husband’s $89-per-month pension and whatever remains of her $298 in SNAP benefits. The loss of food stamps is “more than a chunk out” of her income, she said Friday. “That’s what I live on right now.” Like Hernandez, she will depend on food organizations such as Sharing House, a Brevard organization that offers a range of services for struggling residents including a food pantry that receives about 30 percent of its groceries from MANNA. Sharing House has seen an outpouring of donations of money and food since news of the looming cuts to SNAP began to spread, said Executive Director Shelly Webb. But the number of new residents accessing its programs increased 200 percent in October compared to the month before, and in her 12 years with the organization, she said, “we’ve never seen a disaster like this.” Without cash reserves to weather such dramatic cuts, Sharing House’s neighbors are foregoing medical treatment and skipping rent payments to cover the cost of food, said Jackie Curtis, the group’s crisis assistance director. “Everybody’s coming in saying, ‘I’m scared. I don’t know what to do,” she said, “because they don’t have any way to plan for what’s coming.” When one neighbor recently told her of such concerns, “my response was, call your representatives,” Curtis said. “Tell them your story. Tell them what is going on and how this directly affects you, and get as many other people you know who this affects to call as well.” --- *Asheville Watchdog welcomes thoughtful reader comments on this story, which has been republished on* [*our Facebook page.*](https://www.facebook.com/avlwatchdog) *Please submit your comments there.* [*Asheville Watchdog*](http://avlwatchdog.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) *is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Dan DeWitt is The Watchdog’s deputy managing editor/senior reporter. Email: ddewitt@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to*[ *avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/*](http://avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/?ref=down-ballot.info)*.* --- ## [](https://grist.org/labor/the-people-behind-americas-disaster-recovery/?ref=down-ballot.info) [](https://grist.org/extreme-weather/first-came-the-wildfire-then-came-the-scams/?ref=down-ballot.info) [](https://grist.org/housing/disasters-destroyed-their-homes-then-the-real-estate-vultures-swooped-in/?ref=down-ballot.info) # As SNAP benefits are slashed, renovated Sandhills food bank braces for surge in need by Jaymie Baxley, North Carolina Health News November 5, 2025 #### **By Jaymie Baxley** When the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina began renovating its Sandhills branch in 2023, the nonprofit did not expect the project’s completion to coincide with [the threat of a national hunger crisis. ](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/03/north-carolinians-awoke-to-snap-freeze-recipients-navigate-new-food-insecurities/?ref=down-ballot.info) The $1 million overhaul of the Moore County facility, which also serves Lee, Richmond and Scotland counties, was originally meant to address an uptick in food insecurity across the largely rural region. “We were prepared for the increase in demand for food assistance due to economic factors like the rising cost of living and the fact that wages in the region are not keeping up with that cost,” said Jason Kanawati Stephany, vice president of communications and public policy for [Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina](https://foodbankcenc.org/?ref=down-ballot.info). “We were not ready for the largest cut in the history of SNAP grocery support.” Yet that is the reality Food Bank officials faced as they celebrated the re-opening of the branch — which boasts new offices, an expanded warehouse freezer and other upgrades — with a ribbon cutting on Monday. ![Officials from the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina cut the ribbon in front of the bank’s newly renovated Sandhills branch in Moore County.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Sandhills-Food-Bank-Ribbon-scaled.jpg) Officials from the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina cut the ribbon in front of the bank’s newly renovated Sandhills branch in Moore County. The event happened just hours after the Trump administration announced that people participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would receive only half their normal benefits amid the ongoing federal government shutdown. About 40,000 residents depend on SNAP in the four-county area served by the Sandhills branch. The slashing of their benefits, which were already delayed and may not be issued for several weeks still, means more local families will need help putting food on the table, just as the holidays arrive. “We know that our community needs us, and so we have to be positioned to support the work that needs to be done,” said Mariah Murrell, chief community impact officer for Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. The branch's work, she added, "matters more than ever — not just as a response, but as a lifeline.” #### **A well-timed facelift** While the disruption in SNAP will be felt across the Food Bank’s regional network of six branches covering 34 counties, the staff at the Sandhills site are at least better equipped to handle a surge in demand than they were two years ago. ![Map showing the counties covered by the six branches of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Copy-of-SNAP-Enrollment-in-NC.jpeg) Map showing the counties covered by the six branches of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. The renovation is the first major update the branch has received since 2003, when it was relocated from its former home in nearby Aberdeen to the end of a gravel path off Sandy Avenue in Southern Pines. Now, a fully paved road leads to a proper parking lot in front of the facility. Inside, the outdated equipment and cramped cubicles that workers made do with for decades have been replaced with modern hardware and actual offices. “This is my first time having an office with a door,” said Jessica Ledbetter, a network engagement manager who has been with the branch since 2009\. “I used to have to try to find a private space if I needed to take a call that needed to be confidential.” ![Jessica Ledbetter, the network engagement manager for Food Bank at Sandhills.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Jessica-Sandhills-Food-Bank-scaled.jpg) Jessica Ledbetter, network engagement manager for Food Bank at Sandhills. The “most exciting” addition, Ledbetter said, is a larger conference room that can host representatives from the many local organizations that assist the branch with food distribution. “We had wanted more space to invite our partner agencies for meetings and to have trainings,” she said. “Before, we had to either rent a space or look for an external space to use.” Another significant upgrade can be found in the facility’s warehouse, where a walk-in cooler has been expanded to hold more meats and produce. About half of all food distributed by the branch is perishable. ![A white man wearing a green sweatshirt and bucket hat walks into the newly expanded freezer of the Sandhills food bank in Southern Pines.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Food-Bank-Freezer-scaled.jpg) With its newly expanded freezer, the Sandhills food bank can store twice as much perishable food. Amy Beros, president and CEO of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, called the renovation a “significant investment.” “The timing is fortunate for us to be able to have this extra capacity to meet the continuing increased demand,” she said. #### **No substitute for SNAP** Still, Beros said, the upgrades don't mean the branch can completely fill the gap created by the current shortfall in SNAP. “For every one meal we provide, SNAP provides nine,” she said. “There’s no way to charity-food-system our way out of those gaps. We can’t fill those gaps, and we were never meant to replace the federal safety net.” More than 486,420 people are enrolled in SNAP across the Food Bank’s larger network across eastern North Carolina. Those beneficiaries account for nearly 35 percent of the state’s total enrollment in the program. “We would need to basically more than double the size of our food bank to fill that gap,” Beros said. “It’s just not possible for us. It’s not possible for our partners.” ![Amy Beros, president and CEO of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, speaks during an event marking the re-opening of the nonprofit's Sandhills branch on Nov. 3, 2025.](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Amy-Sandhills-Food-Bank-scaled.jpg) Amy Beros, president and CEO of Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, speaks during an event marking the re-opening of the nonprofit's Sandhills branch on Nov. 3, 2025. Stephany, the vice president of communications, said SNAP is the nation’s “first line of defense against hunger” because it “puts money directly into families’ pockets to buy food” — a service the food bank can’t replace. “Our network is moving mountains to keep food on folks’ tables,” he said. “But even with the incredible community generosity that we benefit from, we can’t make up for these cuts through community support alone.” #### **Cuts after cuts** The limitations have been compounded by an additional loss of federal dollars that arrived just as demand for food assistance began to grow. Much of the funding that helped food banks keep pace with rising demand during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has been eliminated. For example, this spring, the Trump administration sunsetted a pandemic-era program that enabled[ food banks to buy food from local farmers](https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/30/business/wisconsins-farmers-usda-funding?ref=down-ballot.info). “Over the last nine months, we have lost millions of dollars in federal funding to purchase food,” Stephany said. “The resources that we use to meet the rising need have been cut at a time when that need is increasing significantly.” Stephany, who said he grew up in a food-insecure household and used food stamps to feed himself as a college student, anticipates that SNAP-dependent families will be leaning on his organization for support in the coming weeks. “We just want to make sure that folks know that food is available right now to all who need it,” he said. “And if you are fortunate enough to be in a position to get involved, whether that’s as a donor or a volunteer, there has never been a more important time to do so.” People can also help, he said, by reaching out to lawmakers. “They need to hear from us and know that we can’t afford to let these cuts stand.” This [article](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2025/11/05/sandhills-foodbank-renovation/?ref=down-ballot.info) first appeared on [North Carolina Health News](https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/?ref=down-ballot.info) and is republished here under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/?ref=down-ballot.info). ![](https://i0.wp.com/www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-favicon02.jpg?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1) --- # _Truncated after 5 MiB. 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