WALKER ON THE VERGE OF DROPPING OUT OF GOP SENATE PRIMARY: A candidate seeking North Carolina's Republican U.S. Senate nomination for over a year says he'll now reveal whether he'll stay in the race. Former U.S. Rep. Mark Walker scheduled a Thursday evening announcement in Greensboro, much of which he represented in Congress for six years through 2020. Walker fell behind nomination rivals Ted Budd and former Gov. Pat McCrory in campaign fundraising in 2021. Budd — a current congressman — received President Donald Trump's endorsement in June. That's made it harder for Walker to win over Trump loyalists, especially among conservative Christians. Walker's campaign says he was offered the ex-president’s endorsement if he ran instead for a House seat in central North Carolina. The Trump effect: when a gun dealer steals the Christian vote from a Baptist Minister.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article257766498.html

SCOTUS SHARPENS ITS KNIVES FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: The U.S. Supreme Court will weigh in on whether colleges and universities can consider race in admissions as it agreed to hear a case brought by an anti-affirmative action group against UNC-Chapel Hill. The group, Students for Fair Admissions, alleges UNC-CH discriminated against white and Asian American applicants by using race as a factor in its undergraduate admissions process. The justices will also hear a similar case against Harvard University brought by the same group. The court consolidated the two cases Monday, allotting a total of one hour for oral arguments. The outcome of these cases could have sweeping implications for affirmative action in higher education and diversity of student bodies on campus. And with the court becoming more conservative in recent years, the fate of race-conscious admissions is in doubt. UNC-CH has defended its admissions process in this legal battle for several years. Funded by right-wing dark money, of course. Seven Degrees of Sarah Scaife. I need to take another shower.
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article257655768.html

DELTA FLIGHT SLIDES OFF RDU RUNWAY DUE TO SNOW: The airfield at Raleigh-Durham International Airport reopened after being closed for a little more than an hour Friday night when a plane landed safely but rolled into mud while taxiing, the airport announced on Twitter. Delta Flight 5501 from Washington, D.C., landed safely and rolled off runway 5L/23R, an RDU spokesperson told The News & Observer. A total of 19 passengers were onboard, the spokesperson said, and no injuries were reported. All passengers were safely transported to Terminal 2, the spokesperson added. Airport crews removed snow from alternate runway 5R/23L, the spokesperson said. Runway 5L/23R remains closed while the aircraft is safely towed off the tarmac, the airport said. A total of 10 incoming flights had been diverted to other airports, and four were delayed, according to the airport’s website. I hate when that happens...
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/weather-news/article257578408.html

RESIDENCY CHALLENGED FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN WAKE SCHOOL BOARD APPOINTEE: Artis, an educator and former teacher, won over most of the board members last week with a promise to make equity issues a focus if he was appointed. But Artis’ educational views and whether he can legally serve in District 4 was questioned Tuesday on social media and at the school board meeting. People pointed out that Artis’ education consulting business still lists his District 1 address on his state business records and that his wife is still registered to vote at the prior address. Artis said Wednesday that he no longer lives with his wife. “Provide proof of Mr. Artis’ residency immediately if you plan to proceed to appoint him to District 4 — and residency as in now, not that he plans to move there some time soon,” Becky Lew-Hobbs said during public comments at Tuesday’s board meeting. Apparently she's miffed because Wake Schools no longer wants her volunteering. And I can see why...
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article257480139.html

A TRUE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS DOESN'T LEAD TO A RESULT "INCOMPATIBLE WITH DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES": The judges were unwavering in their dislike of the voting districts enacted by the legislature. “This Court neither condones the enacted maps nor their anticipated potential results,” the judges bluntly stated in their 260-page opinion. “Despite our disdain for having to deal with issues that potentially lead to results incompatible with democratic principles and subject our state to ridicule, the Court must remind itself that these maps are the result of a democratic process.” So, the judges say, an undemocratic legislature or congress is fine as long as it was conceived as the result of a “democratic process.” With that concept in place, the political party in power now will be able to control the designation of election districts now and in the future – and draw those lines to perpetuate its majority forever. Republicans destroyed one smoking gun (concept maps), but the other is just as damning: the maps they adopted are so statistically improbable the word impossible fits, without using partisan data to guide them. Which they claim they didn't, adding perjury to their long list of crimes against the people.
https://www.wral.com/editorial-true-democratic-process-doesn-t-lead-to-a-result-incompatible-with-de...