The North Carolina Court of Appeals (Photo: nccourts.gov) The North Carolina Court of Appeals this week ordered a trial court to resentence a man imprisoned for murder he committed when he was a child. The imprisoned man at the center of the case is James Kelliher, who is serving life sentences for crimes he committed when he was 17 years old. Kelliher has been incarcerated since 2001. His story was detailed in a 2022 NC Newsline report. At oral arguments heard earlier this year, lawyers for the state said the trial court was allowed to resentence Kelliher to serve a sentence for the same cri ..read more

People in this tent encampment off of U.S. 70 near Garner were forced to move last month. (Photo: Greg Childress) The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) reported this week that there have been nearly 2,000 incidents of violence against people experiencing homelessness since 1999. The attacks have resulted in at least 588 deaths, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit reported. Donald Whitehead Jr. (Photo: National Coalition for the Homeless) There were between 25-49 acts of violence against people experiencing homeless in North Carolina between 1999-2022, according to NCH. Nationally ..read more

A manager of a medical marijuana dispensary shows marijuana plant buds. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has proposed loosening the illegal status of marijuana at the federal level – but that doesn’t mean the federal government now condones recreational or medicinal use in the many states that have legalized the drug. Moving marijuana from the government’s list of the most dangerous and least useful substances to a less serious category was a clear signal that the federal government, at least under President Joe Biden’s administration, wants to e ..read more

Southwest Power Pool runs a portion of the American electric grid that runs from the Canadian border to Texas and includes all or part of 17 central and western states. The organization has successfully integrated thousands of megawatts of variable wind power into its system. (Courtesy of Southwest Power Pool) A little more than two years ago, a clean energy record was broken. For the first time, a regional transmission organization met more than 90% of its electric demand, called load, with renewable power. But if you don’t follow the electric industry closely, you might be surprised where i ..read more

Image: Adobe Stock The post Business blockade of PFAS rules must not stand appeared first on NC Newsline ..read more

Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed speaks at Wednesday's press conference organized by N.C. Asian Americans Together (Photo: Ahmed Jallow) Representatives from the nonprofit advocacy group North Carolina Asian Americans Together called on state lawmakers Wednesday to protect voter ID exceptions, establish an independent redistricting commission, and support DEI initiatives and ethnic studies. The advocates spoke at a Legislative Building press conference alongside a small group of Asian American and Pacific Islander lawmakers Later in the afternoon, advocates met with legislators to lobby for those i ..read more

As more than 23 million households nationwide lose federal aid to pay for internet services, some states and localities have stepped up by expanding their broadband initiatives and programs. (Photo by Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Getty Images) In the small North Carolina town of Bryson City, just outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Kathleen Wain raises two grandchildren in her subsidized-rent apartment, taking them to sing in a church choir on weekends. For the past year and a half, Wain has received a discount on her internet service through a short-term federal program, allowing her ..read more

People in this tent encampment off of U.S. 70 near Garner were forced to move last month. (Photo: Greg Childress) The Raleigh City Council has approved spending $5 million on a new pilot program that includes a component to provide direct rent assistance to unsheltered individuals. The council approved funding for the “Unsheltered Homelessness Response Program” on Tuesday during its regular business meeting. Approximately $1.9 million is earmarked for direct subsidies to unsheltered individuals living in camps and $1.1 million for administrative cost and staffing. As many as 40 households wil ..read more

A bill passed in the U.S. House Wednesday would add a citizenship question to the census and end the practice of including noncitizens in the official population count. (Getty Images) WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans passed a bill Wednesday to add a citizenship question to the census and exclude noncitizens from the official headcount when determining population for representation in Congress and electoral votes. The legislation, which passed on a 206-202 party-line vote, is part of a trend of House GOP bills relating to immigration as the November elections approach. Republicans and their ..read more

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf testifies before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. (Screenshot from Senate livestream)  WASHINGTON — The commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said at a congressional hearing Wednesday the agency is preparing for the possibility the strain of avian influenza affecting dairy cattle could jump to humans, though he cautioned the probability is low. Robert Califf told senators on the panel in charge of his agency’s funding that top officials from the FDA, Agriculture ..read more