This newsletter is going to be a little abbreviated since I spent most of last week up in the mountains with my family. We had the chance to go to Grandfather Mountain, Spruce Pine, and my personal favorite place in the world, the Orchard at Altapass. Go check out my Instagram for some pictures.
Western North Carolina needs you! The closures on the Blue Ridge Parkway make it a little more difficult to get around from town to town, but there’s still plenty you can do, and the small businesses are ready for you to come back.
Here are some notes from the week.
I just published an in-depth analysis of absentee-by-mail ballots in the 2024 election. The short version is this: A significant number of votes come in from outside North Carolina with no clear explanation why. The State Board of Elections needs to put in more guardrails to make sure people voting from out-of-state are really still N.C. residents.
We had another mass shooting in North Carolina, and once again, leaders say we need to “do more.” In my newspaper column this week, I wrote what “more” should actually look like. Nobody’s going to love all of it, but that’s the point. Read free with gift link here: Political sides must compromise to combat mass shootings and violence in NC
State Auditor Dave Boliek’s rapid-response audits continue to impress me. Last week, he did a quick one showing that the Charlotte Area Transit System has continually spent more on its “public safety” contract but with fewer officers to show for it. This is essentially investigative reporting that news outlets should be doing, but with the power of the law compelling governments to produce the record quickly. I love it.
Right at the deadline, Gov. Josh Stein finally signed Iryna’s Law. He didn’t really have much of a choice, because vetoing the bill would have been politically toxic statewide. But his delay in signing the bill and his three-minute video explaining his decision make him look incredibly weak. If you’re a governor criticizing a bill for having a lack of vision, that’s on you. That’s a big part of the job for the executive, and I cannot tell you what exactly Stein’s vision is for public safety in North Carolina. I’m grateful for House Speaker Destin Hall for standing up a new committee to examine our state’s involuntary commitment laws.
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Top spenders on social media last week
Question of the week
Last week, I asked you for a read on the political environment right now. A majority of you (56%) said that it’s mixed and too early to tell. That’s where I net out, too. Maybe it was a bad question.
This week, I want to go back to my big article on absentee-by-mail ballots.