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It's 5.05. A good Monday morning to you and welcome into the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Talk 1110-993WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
Just south of the border, the University of South Carolina has issued an all-clear after the school warned of reports of an active shooter on campus Sunday evening. Fortunately, campus officials pointing out that there was no ongoing situation unfolding.
However, earlier in the evening, the school ordered students and staff at its Columbia campus to shelter in place, saying that an active shooter had been reported near the Thomas Cooper Library. The school said that the library would remain closed despite the fact that no shooting took place. That original initial alert went out just after 6:30 yesterday evening, warning people to avoid the area, to evacuate or barricade if necessary. With officials later reporting that there was no evidence of an active shooter on the campus, with police on scene searching the affected building, video circulated online showing a person walking towards a campus building while carrying a black object, which some said appeared to be some sort of firearm, potentially a long rifle. According to Scott Perell, the deputy chief of police for the University of South Carolina, dispelled those rumors saying that that person was just carrying an umbrella.
It didn't take very long. About 8 p.m. last night is when the all-clear was given.
So about an hour and a half between that original notice and the all-clear given by law enforcement there on the University of South Carolina campus. Fortunately, no situation unfolding as was originally reported. Any new or pertinent details, we'll pass them along to you right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. President Donald Trump, turning our attention to some other news this morning, President Donald Trump has nominated four attorneys and judges to fill vacancies on the federal district courts in North Carolina. Earning praise from the state's Republican senators, the White House announced the nominations of Susan Rodriguez and Matt Orso for the Western District of North Carolina, as well as David Bragdon.
and Lindsey Freeman for the Middle District. Under the Senate blue slip rules, both senators from the state must agree to the White House's nominees. In this case, all four were recommended to the administration by our two Republican senators, Tom Tillis and Ted Budd. Tilla saying in a statement, These four nominees are well qualified to fill these important judicial vacancies in North Carolina. and I have confidence they will serve our great state with distinction.
Important to note that Senator Tillis is on the Senate Judiciary Committee and has worked with the White House in the process of selecting those candidates. Senator Ted Budd described the selections as quote inspired choices, saying that the nominees will fill critical vacancies here in North Carolina with exceptional jurists who will serve our nation with distinction. Here's some of the background on those four nominees. Susan Rodriguez currently serves as a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Western District of North Carolina.
Before that position, she was a partner at Maguire Woods LLP, where she co-led the firm's financial institution industry team. Matt Orso is a partner at Troutman Pepper Lock, the law firm. Earlier in his career, he clerked for Judge Robert Conrad Jr. of the U.S. District of Western North Carolina.
So some work already there in the Western District. David Bragdon serves as an appellate chief for the U.S. Attorney's Office. His career includes a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and service as Justice Department's resident legal advisor in the Philippines. And finally, Lindsay Freeman is an assistant U.S.
Attorney. She previously clerked on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and worked at some other law firms as well as holding senior positions within the the Justice Department. President Trump sang of Freeman in a Truth Social post last week, quote, she is tough and smart with degrees from U Penn Law School in Harvard and knows what is required to protect our constitutional rights. Trump's nominations reflect his broader strategy to appoint more constitutionalist judges who will be aggressive and who share the judicial philosophies of Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. In his first term in the White House, the president appointed 234 total judges.
During his second term, he could surpass the record set by Ronald Reagan, who made a whopping 383 judicial appointments during his term in the Oval Office. In the closing days of the Joe Biden administration, there was a surge in an effort around judicial nominees as Democrats worked to secure more seats on federal benches. Ultimately, Biden did surpass Trump's appointment by one, just by one additional appointment, 335. Biden notably set some additional records. As it related to some of his nominations to the court.
Following the 2024 elections and Biden's loss to Trump, Tillis blocked Biden's efforts to fill the vacancies on North Carolina's federal bench on his way out of the White House and before Republicans gained control of the Senate in January of this year. The standoff stemmed from Tillis's and Bud's objection to Biden's handling of the fourth U.S. Circuit appellate court nominee at the time. The nominations for North Carolina's middle and western districts will now head to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where both Tillis and Budd are expected to play key roles in moving them forward. The middle and western districts, like many across the country, have faced increasing caseloads while awaiting permanent appointments.
Senator Ted Budd saying in a press release, quote, ensuring principled constitutionalist judges are confirmed to the federal courts is a privilege and responsibility I take very seriously. As part of the Senate's role in this process, I work to thoroughly review the potential nominees and make recommendations to the President, highlighting individuals who will uphold our Constitution. This also comes with some other news over the past few weeks out of the Eastern District of North Carolina, where the President as well as other folks across the country. In North Carolina, I should say, have made recommendations to the Eastern District Court, which is important to note, one of the largest in the United States. We reported a few weeks ago that Attorney Ellis Boyle was installed as the new U.S.
Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, which is one of the busiest federal prosecutorial offices anywhere in the country. With that, the Eastern District covers 44 counties in North Carolina. The state only has 100 counties total, so you're talking about 44% of North Carolina counties being covered in the Eastern District. He takes over and replaces Michael Easley Jr., who stepped down earlier this year after more than three years in the role. This is a relatively common practice as new presidents of different political parties get into office.
They do have the authority and the ability to go through the process of appointing new judges. You saw Trump do it in the first. Administration, Biden doing it when he took office, and now President Donald Trump doing it again in his second term. We'll have some additional details on this story, including the names and the backgrounds of some of these individuals over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The headline story: Trump nominates four judges for federal courts in North Carolina.
It's 520. Good Monday morning to you. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, new stock 1110-993 WBT. Don't forget, if you miss any portion of our show, you can listen to it or watch it after the fact by checking out our Carolina Journal News Hour podcast. It's available in Google Play, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, anywhere you get your shows.
Search for the Carolina Journal News Hour, tap the subscribe or follow button, and you'll get a new program delivered each and every weekday morning. You can also watch live or on demand by visiting our Carolina Journal YouTube channel as well. All those links are over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Back in 2020, during the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were a lot of decisions made by governments all across the world, really dealing with a variety of issues. Here in North Carolina, the restaurant and bar sector was hit particularly hard.
There's been an ongoing legal battle for multiple years in the state of North Carolina. We've got some pretty big breaking news this morning to walk us through it. Mitch Kokai with the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Mitch, for bar owners across North Carolina, I guess this is a decision that they've hoped has been a long time coming. Yes, and actually, one of the interesting things about this is that they really get back to the starting line of where their case started.
You remember, Nick, and the listening audience will remember that in 2020, as COVID was really striking the state, most businesses shut down, and the government forced most businesses to shut down. But as time went on, businesses were allowed to reopen. Restaurants and bars were forced to shut down. Restaurants reopened more quickly.
Some bars were allowed to reopen while others could not. And a lot of bars, even when they could reopen, had restrictions on them. And so, after the initial heat of the COVID shutdowns, and as time went on, two different groups of bars sued the governor, at that time, Governor Roy Cooper, saying that the shutdowns violated their constitutional rights.
Now, these cases have worked their way all the way to the state Supreme Court. And last October, the Supreme Court heard arguments in both the cases. And then on Friday, the court issued its ruling in both cases. Two separate decisions written by two different justices, but basically the same result saying that in both cases, the bar owners do have a right to move forward with their constitutional claims against the government under the provision of the state constitution called fruits of their own or fruits of your own labor. Basically, our state constitution guaranteeing us the right to the enjoyment of the fruits of our own labor, meaning basically that the government shouldn't stop you from doing your job unless there's a really compelling reason.
Now, in In coming to this decision, there are some interesting twists. It was 5-2.
So the Republicans were in favor of this on the state Supreme Court, while the two Democrats were not. They dissented. In one case, it was the majority opinion was written by Chief Justice Paul Newby. In the other case, the opinion was written by Justice Phil Berger Jr. And then the two Democrats traded off on who was going to dissent.
Anita Earls dissented in one case, Allison Riggs in the other, and then they joined each other's dissents. But basically, the idea is that the government cannot. Basically, brush off a lawsuit when there is a constitutional claim on violation of violating the fruits of your own labor clause of the state constitution. This doesn't mean the bars are going to end up winning, doesn't mean the bars are going to end up collecting any money from state government, but it basically means they do have the right to. To go in front of a trial judge and try to make the case that their rights were violated and that they should collect money.
So, this is far from over, but it is a big win for the bar owners in the sense that the state government couldn't come along and just say, no, we did this to help. Public health and safety, you have no case and your case should be dismissed. Mitch, it's kind of hard to go back and remember what was going on during 2020. It was a long time ago, and there were a lot of moving pieces. A field goal post constantly shifting back and forth on everything.
But one of the major things I remember when this lawsuit was getting kicked off and from some of the individuals that are part of these lawsuits, and as you mentioned in the open, restaurants were able to reopen pretty quickly, albeit with limited capacity, maybe some outdoor dining, not as many people inside with some restrictions. But as the months and days went on through COVID-19 and through 2020, A lot of bars were essentially shuttered almost permanently.
Some of them no longer in business because they continued to have to pay their ABC license and all of the other costs associated with operating their business. The restaurant next door was open, but because the bar didn't serve food, they were almost permanently closed. That's right. One of the arguments that was made in both of these cases is disparate treatment: that some bars were allowed to reopen if they were in a restaurant or if they were in some sort of country club setting, but that private bars had to remain closed. And even when they were allowed to reopen, the restrictions were such that they couldn't actually make a living.
One of the Supreme Court opinions made reference to the fact that the trial court record showed that restrictions on bars lasted for 400 days or so, so well over a year, well beyond the point that most people were getting back to work and deciding that COVID-19, while still a concern, was certainly not something that should stop them from doing their jobs and stop them from doing things out in the public.
So that is going to be one of the arguments as this goes forward in a trial court level, assuming that it does, assuming that there isn't some sort of settlement, that the bar owners will argue. Look, we were treated differently and in a way that violated our rights. If every business had had to face the same sort of restriction, or if every business that served alcohol had faced the same sort of restriction, there would probably be a weaker case for the bar owners. But they argued that what was done to them was different than what was done to other businesses that basically faced the same sort of situation and same sort of circumstances. And that's going to be one of the parts of the argument.
I think from a constitutional perspective, the biggest piece of this is that the state Supreme Court is really putting a lot of weight behind this provision in the state constitution that says that you have a constitutional right in North Carolina to the enjoyment of the fruits of your own labor. And if the government is going to restrict that right, it really needs to have a great justification for doing so. It can't just say, we think this is a good idea and it's reasonable. And so you can't sue. You really have to have a legitimate, compelling reason to violate someone's economic rights.
We'll continue the conversation with Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation coming up after this. You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour. At Blinds.com, it's not just about window treatments. It's about you, your style, your space, your way. Whether you DIY or want the pros to handle it all, you'll have the confidence of knowing it's done right.
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It's 5:35. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. Turning our attention to some statewide news this morning, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction unveiled a new comprehensive five-year strategic plan last week aimed at improving the state's public education system. The plan received approval from the State Board of Elections back on august fourteenth and introduced specific measurable goals for the school years in twenty six, twenty seven and all the way through twenty thirty. The plan was developed with input from thousands of educators, parents, students, and community members gathered through Superintendent Mo Green's Mo Wants to Know listening tour, according to a statement from DPI.
It outlines eight key pillars to guide reforms, including preparing students for post-secondary pathways, supporting educators, and strengthening community involvement. According to Mo Green, he says, quote, this plan is both a commitment and a call to action to prepare each student for their next phase in life, to evaluate and revere our educators, to strengthen family and community partnerships, and to ensure that our schools are safe, healthy, and inclusive spaces for all. The plan sets forth several target metrics designed to evaluate progress towards the initiatives set forward. A couple of them include getting a four-year graduation rate of 92%. It's currently at 86.9%.
An average ACT score of 20%, currently at 18.5%, 30% participation in advanced placement or AP courses among high school students, increasing that from where it stands right now at 21.5%. 41% engagement in career and technical education. Those are CTE programs where that metric currently sits at 36%. 89% of school-age children enrolled in public schools. That's at 84% right now.
And some additional objectives, including increased participation in character education, leading us southeastern states in educator compensation, and achieving national recognition in both reading and math scores.
So, here's really how it breaks down. The eight pillars of action include preparing students for subsequent education or careers, recognizing and supporting educators, enhancing community and family support, ensuring safe and healthy school environments, improving operational efficiency within schools, leading systematic changes in education, recognizing excellence across public education, and finally, engaging stakeholders to fully support and invest in schools. During the event launching the plan last week, Mo Green, a Democrat, said that the goal is by 2030 to have the very best public education system in the entire nation, saying, quote, we are going to lead in the nation in the way that we talk about our educators. We revere our educators. This is the highest word.
This is a higher word than respect. We revere those who make all of this learning possible. Governor Josh Stein, also a Democrat, issued a statement supporting the plan, with him noting that North Carolina's public schools serve approximately 1.5 million students and said that the plan, quote, sets a bold and ambitious vision for our schools to be the very best in the nation.
However, critics are raising questions about accountability and emphasis within the plan. Dr. Bob Lubke, the Center for Effective Education at the John Locke Foundation, questioned the focus on academic achievement. Telling the Carolina Journal, quote, if we are to glean the guts of this plan from the eight pillars, I'm not encouraged. Where is the emphasis on academic excellence?
The topic is not even specifically mentioned in any of the eight pillars. Another plan to make North Carolina the best in the nation is not news. Yes, it's laudable to aim high. My question, where is the accountability for past plans and past failures? Has the State Board of Education or the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction paid a price for missing goals?
A plan for correcting those oversights might be a good place to start. You can read some additional details this morning, including the eight pillars of action, which are drawing some criticism from some folks, including Bob Lubke and others across the education sector, as well as some of the metrics designed to evaluate some of the progress in this plan moving forward. All of that is available over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. That stories headline. NCDPI releases five-year plan for public education, but critics have questions.
Again, you can read those additional details over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. It's now 5.40. You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour. A very interesting story we're following this morning. Bar owners back during the COVID nineteen pandemic suing former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper and the state of North Carolina over claims that their businesses were unjustly shut down by the state of North Carolina.
Continuing that conversation this morning with Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation. And as you noted, this may actually be the start of all of this going on, this legal challenge moving forward, even though we're looking at something that at this point is in some cases more than five years in the rearview mirror right now. Did you gain anything else reading through the different majority or dissenting opinions on this? Anything else that you picked out that you thought was interesting?
Well, one thing that was interesting in one of these cases is that there were other claims that were made, and basically the Supreme Court unanimously threw them out: things like equal protection and laws being violated, or that there was a claim under the Emergency Management Act for some sort of damages, and one set of bar owners was trying to get some information under the Public Records Act. Basically, the Supreme Court kind of threw all that out, but did say this fruits of your own labor clause is something that can be a hook for a lawsuit.
Now, in the dissent, one of the things that I believe it was Justice Anita Earls wrote was that she was concerned that the court is really turning this fruits of your own labor clause into some sort of judicial weapon, that it was going to be something that would allow the courts to step in and second-guess the political branches on issues that deal with economic rights. My guess is, among those who have been pushing for Protection of economic rights, they'll say, yes, that's true, and it's a good thing that the courts should step in when governments are doing something that hurts economic rights and ensure that the government is not overstepping its authority and is allowing people to enjoy their economic rights to as great a degree as possible.
So as we watch this potentially unfold, it will probably take months, if not years, again, to get more of these details figured out. What exactly would be the next step for the two different groups in this case that got the big win from the North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday?
Well, both of these cases will eventually get back to a trial judge. They're going to have to go to the Court of Appeals first, and the Court of Appeals has to respond to what the Supreme Court said. But then that means that they get sent back or remanded officially to trial court. And then you would go through the whole process of going through discovery and people taking witnesses and gathering evidence. And then you'd go through a trial, which is why I think that one possibility is that there ends up being some sort of settlement if the government thinks.
You know, it's not worth it for us to go through this for a long time. When we could reach some sort of settlement agreement, they might try to do that. Or that decision might be made for the bar owners, too. I mean, they've been at this now for, as you said, five years. They might decide that some sort of settlement with the state might be a better option than continuing through a trial.
Though I know that there are some who would definitely like to see this play out as far as possible, so that there would be some sort of determination that what was done during COVID was too much of a violation of people's rights. And that would help set a standard so that the next time we have some sort of health-related emergency, that government would think twice about some sort of shutdown that's really going to block people from doing their jobs. Yeah, those judicial standards are incredibly important, especially for things unforeseen that could happen in the future. Mitch, I know you've been following this case for quite some time. We appreciate the details this morning.
You can read some additional coverage over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again, it's 5.50. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. The University of South Carolina issued an all-clear notice last night after the school warned of reports of an active shooter on the campus Sunday evening.
Campus officials noting that fortunately there was no ongoing emergency.
However, that's not what it seemed like around 6:30 yesterday when the school ordered students and staff at its Columbia University campus to shelter in place, saying that an active shooter had been reported near the Thomas Cooper Library. The school said that the library would remain closed at least through the rest of the day yesterday. That alert went out just after six thirty last night warning people to avoid the area and to evacuate or barricade themselves if necessary. Just a short while later, officials noted that there was no evidence of an active shooter, even though with the alert noting that police were actively searching the affected buildings. Video circulated on social media of a person walking towards a campus building while carrying a black object, which some in the video said appeared to be some sort of firearm, potentially a long rifle.
Scott Prill, the deputy chief of police for the University of South Carolina, dispelled that rumor, saying that the person was just carrying an umbrella. That all-clear notice was given around 8 p.m., so about an hour and a half window between the alert going out and police and school officials giving that all-clear notice. Fortunately, no active event taking place, but it did make some national news last night. That's why we're passing along to you this morning on the Carolina Journal News Hour. In some North Carolina news this morning, a report from the Office of the State Auditor shows a dire financial situation.
For the Winston-Salem-Forsyth County School District, concerns submitted through the auditor's tip line led to an investigation that revealed an estimated $46 million budget deficit for the fiscal year 2025. State Auditor Dave Bollick noting in the report, quote, Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools dug itself into a deep financial hole and it's going to take real discipline to climb out of it. Our schools need to be focused on teaching students. That becomes a lot more difficult when you're staring down at a $46 million budget deficit. By shining a bright light on these specific problems, it is our hope that a sense of urgency will develop in Winston-Salem and the Forsyth County School District to right this ship in a hurry.
The report uncovered multiple issues, including the use of onetime COVID funds to cover ongoing expenses like employee salaries as well as failure to adjust staffing levels despite a declining student population and generally overall financial mismanagement. Education funding for public schools in North Carolina are largely determined by per-pupil spending. meaning the amount of money a district receives is closely tied and tied directly to the number of students enrolled. Enrollment changes such as population growth, decline or shifts to private or charter schools is a major factor in shaping a district's budget and the resources that they have available. Since 2018, the district's student enrollment has fallen by more than 3,000 students, yet the number of full-time equivalent employees has increased by 245.
The report reads in part, the school district appears to have proportionately reduced staffing as a result of declining enrollment through fiscal year 2022, but that practice has not persisted. Specifically, the number of full-time employees added since 2022 does not reflect the general decline of student enrollment that occurred in the district.
Some of the other issues noted in the audit is that the district routinely bypassed its budget limits, according to the OSA report, using an override function to approve 308 purchase orders that exceeded account budgets between July 1st, 2024 and May 9th of 2025. While policy required the CFO to approve these overrides and the Board of Education to adjust budgets accordingly, the district only made timely budget adjustments in 33 of the 311 cases, leaving 278 instances where overspending was not corrected in a timely manner. The uncorrected overrides left accounts inaccurate, reducing budget clarity and contributing to the ongoing deficit. Superintendent Caddy Moore responded to the report, acknowledging that the district must accept responsibility for its actions, writing in a letter to State Auditor Dave Bullock and the Auditor's Office: quote, We appreciate the time and effort taken by the Auditor's Office in reviewing our financial records and providing recommendations for how we can continue to improve our processes and procedures. The Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools accepts responsibility for its current financial situation and acknowledges the difficult path forward in restoring the financial health of the district.
We are committed to transparency, accountability, and to rebuild the public's trust by showing good stewardship of public dollars. Other highlights in the report include more than $75 million in bonuses given out as the school district overspent its annual revenue during fiscal year 22 and 22. 23 problems with reconciliation of budgeted and actual revenue as well as expenditures in a timely manner, misusing suspense accounts meant to hold transactions until proper clarification, and that the Wake Count or the Winston-Salem-Forsyth County School District was not fully reviewing all active contracts when creating the system's annual budget. All of that combined, all of that added up, leads them to where they are this morning: an estimated $46 million budget deficit for the fiscal year 2025. That full audit report is available this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
We've also got some links and some additional quotes from the auditor's office as well as they produce this report and the response from the school district.
Well, that's going to do it for a Monday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour. WBT News is next, followed by Good Morning, BT. We're back with you tomorrow morning, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3, WBT.
