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Subject to change. It's 5:05, and welcome in to a Friday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you. It's a pretty major political story that broke yesterday morning, shortly after we were off the air, surrounding a member of the North Carolina General Assembly.
Representative Cecil Brockman, the Democrat from Guilford County, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with taking indecent liberties with a child and statutory rape. State leaders from both parties are now calling for his resignation. According to the Guilford County Sheriff's Office, Brockman was scheduled to be in court Thursday afternoon after being held without bond in a jail in High Point, which is a part of the district in which he represents in Guilford County. House Speaker Destin Hall, the Republican from Caldwell County, and Minority Leader Robert Reeves, the Democrat from Chatham, both called for Brockman's resignation. We'll get into some of the other reactions coming up here in just a couple of minutes.
As a Democrat from High Point, Brockman has represented North Carolina's 60th House District since 2015, covering parts of Guilford County, which do include the major metros, Greensboro and High Point. A UNC Charlotte graduate with a degree in political science, Brockman began his career working on political campaigns and as a legislative assistant before winning his seat in the General Assembly. He has served on several key committees, including appropriations. That's the group that deals with all of the money, the budget spending within the General Assembly, education K-12, health and redistricting, and has also held leadership roles such as the vice chair of the K-12 Education Committee. Brockman has started to receive flack from his own party over the last couple of months.
Earlier this year, he was a no-show during veto overrides with him not being present in the chamber. That did give Republicans in the House the supermajority that they needed to vote in favor or rather override a veto from Democrat Governor Josh Stein.
So since earlier this year, he has been dealing with some issues within his own party. And recently, he sponsored measures such as the Marriage Equality Act and a constitutional amendment on marriage equality. He has occasionally clashed with Democrat leadership, most recently accusing his party operatives of, quote, scapegoating him following those missed votes. Due to illness at the time.
So there have been some ongoing issues back and forth with Representative Brockman and members of his own party.
However, these charges Wednesday, again, taking indecent liberties with a child are obviously drawing strong reaction across the political sphere in North Carolina. They're coming in from all over the place. Democrat Governor Josh Stein described the charges as, quote, extremely serious and deeply troubling. The governor releasing a statement on Thursday saying, quote, while the legal process has yet to play out, it is clear he cannot effectively serve his constituents and should resign immediately. Anderson Clayton, who is the head of the state's Democrat Party, echoed the governor's comments, calling for Brockman to resign effectively immediately.
She released a statement on behalf of the North Carolina Democrat Party saying, The North Carolina Democrat Party calls on Representative Brockman to immediately resign. The profound seriousness of these criminal charges makes it impossible for him to effectively represent his community. Signed, NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton. House Speaker Destin Hall, the Republican from Caldwell County, called the situation shocking in a post on X and wrote, quote, the charges against Representative Brockman are shocking and extremely serious. Given the evidence that's publicly known, he should resign immediately so these charges do not distract from the work of the North Carolina House.
As Bri, as I noted, Brockman, a Democrat from High Point, he has represented the North Carolina General Assembly since 2015. House Minority Leader Robert Reeves, who represents the Democrats in the North Carolina House, said early Thursday that the allegations were very serious, but immediately did not call for his resignations. The first quote comments from Reeves' office read: The allegations against Representative Brockman are serious and, if true, would disqualify him from public office. This is a developing situation, and it is important to let the legal process unfold. That was posted around 8.45 or so Thursday morning.
A couple of hours later, just before lunchtime, Reeves released an additional statement saying in part, It has become clear that he is unable to continue serving in the House of Representatives. Representative Brockman must resign immediately. Former Democrat governor and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Cooper also chiming in on the situation, describing the allegations as disturbing, writing, quote, the criminal charges brought against Representative Brockman are disturbing and disqualifying. He should resign immediately.
Some other reaction as well from House Majority Leader Brendan Jones. He is the Republican from Columbus County. He called the behavior appalling as well as, like everybody else, demanded the resignation of Representative Brockman. In a post on X, Jones wrote, and North Carolina Democrat Representative Cecil Brockman has just been arrested for statutory rape and indecent liberties with a minor. This behavior is appalling and has no place in society.
I am calling on Brockman's resignation immediately.
So bipartisan calls across the political aisle for individuals. Excuse me, for individuals across the aisle calling for Representative Brockman to resign from this position. There was set to be a first court appearance yesterday for the representative out of Guilford County.
However, there are some questions this morning. A couple of media outlets reporting that Brockman was dealing with some health issues yesterday, was potentially rushed to the hospital to deal with some of those. It's not immediately clear exactly what is going on there, but the hearing has been rescheduled for Friday, as some of those court documents say that Brockman was in the hospital. It doesn't say why that's the case, but there are hearings that are supposed to take place this morning. I'll note Brockman was being held, and even being in the hospital would still be being held without bond due to the seriousness of these charges.
So we will await that first court appearance later on in the day today. We were first one of the first outlets in the state to break this news yesterday. Morning. Always a great opportunity and great information over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. There's a banner right at the top page that says sign up for breaking news text alerts.
You would have received that text message. Completely free breaking news from North Carolina political news available over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. Just tap on that link at the top of the page. Sign up for breaking news text alerts. And you can keep up to date with those breaking news stories around the clock as well over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
The North Carolina General Assembly is slated to be back in a little over a week. On October the 20th, lawmakers will return from the break over the last couple of weeks to deal with a variety of various issues. There are still six outstanding veto overrides in the North Carolina House. Whether Brockman will be there, will he have resigned his position? Not immediately clear this morning.
This is still a relatively dynamic and fluid situation. We will be keeping an eye on the courts in the High Point area coming up a little bit later on today, and I'm sure throughout the portions of early next week, whether Brockman will take the call from both Democrats and Republicans and resign, or whether the General Assembly will have to go through the process of removing Brockman from that position. There is some precedent of that back. Back in 2008, a Democrat representative from New Hanover County was dealing with some financial issues. He had to be removed by his colleagues in the North Carolina General Assembly.
So there is a process for that. And depending on what shakes out and unfolds here over the next week or so, there is a possibility that we could see something similar if Representative Brockman determines that he is not going to resign from the General Assembly. Again, in North Carolina politics, major news breaking over the last 24 hours. You can read those details. We'll keep you up to date with all of it over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com.
It's 520. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News talk 1110-99.3 WBT. Keeping our attention this morning on the North Carolina General Assembly. We are tracking some other news out of Raleigh this morning.
Back a couple of weeks ago, we brought you details that Representative Jared Lowry. Represents Robinson County was stepping aside from his position as a member of the General Assembly to join the Trump administration. We now have some details on who will take his spot, and it's actually set to be his brother, John Lowry. He is set to take the spot in the place of his brother. That decision coming down as a unanimous decision from the Robinson County Republican Party as the process for filling a slot and seat in the General Assembly is the party of the individual, Representative Jared Lowry, a Republican, that political party of the county, which would be Robinson, that does have the ability and is obligated to recommend an appointment for that.
And they did recommend his brother, John Lowry. And this, of course, is going to come during a pivotal time in what could be potentially more veto overrides from Democrat Governor Josh Stein. Jared Lowry announced in September that he would resign his role as a representative from House District 47 to join the Trump administration. We learned details this week that Jared has announced that he would be taking a position at the United States Department of Interior as a senior advisor to the department's assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. This announcement was made by Representative Lowry a few weeks ago.
This is just a little bit in part of what he had to say when he made the announcement that he was stepping aside from the General Assembly back a couple of weeks ago. Hi everyone, I'm Jared Lowry, representative for North Carolina House District 47 representing Robinson County. The past three years being in the General Assembly, it has been not only a pleasure, but an honor to serve you. The people, nearly 90,000 people live in my district in Robbins County gave me an opportunity of a lifetime to be able to come here and advocate for everyone. Since I've been in the General Assembly, I've been able to provide a valuable voice for the people and not only a voice, but a seat at the decision-making table that had been missing for several years.
My time here in the General Assembly, I've worked with my delegation mates to secure critical funding needed for important projects across the district.
Some of those are a new town hall, town of Fairmont. A new police station, town of Maxon. Downtown revitalization for Town of Roland. New Parks, Town of Red Springs. A new park in the town of Reynard.
much needed transportation projects in the town of Pembroke, downtown revitalization for the city of Lumberton, and even new hangars for the Lumberton Regional Airport. Other projects that are going to be instrumental in continuing to grow Robinson County is new nursing program building at O'Robinson Community College, more funding for additional health programs at UNC Pembroke, including the School of Optometric Medicine, the first in the state, which has been a 20-year journey we were finally able to complete. Continued support for the Lumby Tribe of North Carolina as they develop the Lumby Culture Center in their Department of Agriculture. All of these projects have been significant impact in the county and will be going forward. Also, the public schools in Robinson County is building their first new school since 1983.
And one last project that was funded is much needed in every corner of Robinson County. Is a major cleanup of the Lumber River Basin, one of the largest in U.S. history. With getting $60 million from the federal government, supported by Senator Tom Tillis, matched with $20 million from the General Assembly, this project is going to alleviate flooding all across the county from our major rain events, something that has been desperately needed since Matthew occurred in 2016 and Florence in 2018. But I'm here today to make a spatial announcement.
To my family, to my friends, to my community, my supporters across the state. I will be effectively stepping away from the General Assembly at the beginning of October. And that's exactly what Representative Jared Lowry did stepping away, taking that. Job, that role in the United States Department of Interior as an advisor to the department's assistant secretary of Indian Affairs. Back in 2022, Jared Lowry flipped House District 47 from Democrat to Republican and said that the Republican Party is offering voters access to the American Dream.
Back in June, Lowry, speaking to the Carolina Journal, wrote: The story of Robinson County's political realignment is a continuation of Democrats leaving the working-class people behind. From their unfair trade policies to bidnomics, they have crushed the American dream for working people. But the Republican Party is standing in the gap not only to protect liberty, but to reinvigorate the American dream for all people. I welcome the commissioners to the Republican Party, and I'm excited for the future. The Robinson County Republican Party's executive committee did select his brother John Lowry to fill the vacancy as his brother is also the chairman of the Lumbee Tribe.
Dr. Philip Stevens, who is the chairman of the county's Republican Party, said in a press release: quote, I am thrilled to see John Lowery be selected as our next State Representative. His years of expertise serving in tribal, state and federal governments, as well as delivering for the residents of Robeson County, makes his exceptionally makes him exceptionally prepared for this position. I look forward to seeing him serve out the remainder of Representative Jared Lowry's term at the General Assembly. The Robeson County Republican Party recommended the appointment to Stein on Tuesday, who has a couple of days to make the appointment before it takes effect.
This is all coming ahead of the North Carolina General Assembly's return, which is going to be taking place on October the 20th. As we were talking about earlier, some other issues ongoing in the General Assembly with Representative Cecil Brockman, the Democrat out of. Guilford County.
So, math is going to be very interesting for lawmakers as they do return to Raleigh, seeing if John Lowry will be in that position beforehand, what will be going on with the seat that Brockman is holding. A lot of very interesting things going on there. One of the other portions of this is as the Lumbee tribe continues to push for federal recognition. Back in January, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum directing the Secretary of the Interior to submit a plan within 90 days to assist the Lumby tribe in obtaining full federal recognition. Granting full federal recognition to the tribe, which is based in Robeson County, would provide them access to federal services and benefits that they do not have access to right now.
This includes health care through the Indian Health Service and eligibility for federal funding programs supporting housing, education, and economic development. Earlier this year, Representative David Rauser, who is the congressman out of the 7th congressional district, which does also cover portions of Robinson County, introduced the Lumbee Fairness Act, House Resolution 474, which would grant full federal recognition and benefits to the North Carolina-based tribe. The memorandum signed by Trump claims, quote, Considering the Lumbee Tribe's historical and modern significance, it is the policy of the United States to support the full federal recognition, including the authority to receive full federal benefits. In September of this year, the United States House passed the National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA, with an amendment giving the Lumbee Tribe full federal recognition. It has gone to the Senate for a vote, but however, it has not yet been taken up by the United States Senate.
Obviously, a lot still going on in Washington, D.C. this morning with a government shutdown continuing. That is now in day 10 of that shutdown.
However, after that is behind us, there's a strong likelihood that the Senate will pass the NDAA, and that would give the Lumbee Tribe full federal recognition. The Lumbee Act of 1956, which has been in place since then, acknowledges the tribe's existence.
However, it does block them from receiving that full federal recognition.
So, a couple of different Threads here ongoing. We will keep an eye on all of the details out of the North Carolina General Assembly and what former Representative Jared Lowry is doing up in Washington, D.C., as a member of the United States Department of Interior, working under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. We've got some additional details, including the full video that Representative Lowry did release on his social media channels a couple of weeks ago talking about his decision to step aside from the North Carolina House. All of those details available this morning over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. The headline story: John Lowry nominated for brother seat during a pivotal window.
Those details at CarolinaJournal.com. Uh It's 537. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour. News Talk 1110-993 WBT recapping our big North Carolina political story this morning. State Representative Cecil Brockman, the Democrat out of Guilford County, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with taking indecent liberties with a child and statutory rape.
Since then, state leaders on both sides of the political aisle, Democrats and Republicans, have called for him to resign immediately. According to the Guilford County Sheriff's Office, Brockman was scheduled to be in court Thursday after being held without bond in High Point.
However, court documents updated throughout the day indicate that that hearing was rescheduled for Friday because Brockman was in the hospital.
However, it did not shed any additional details or any additional information as to why. But obviously, being hospitalized, he was unable to attend that first hearing yesterday. Another one has been rescheduled that is scheduled to take place today. Reaction continuing to pour in across from North Carolina. Democrat Governor Josh Stein calling the situation extremely serious and deeply troubling, writing in a statement: While the legal process has yet to play out, it is clear he cannot effectively serve his constituents and should resign immediately.
The North Carolina Democrat Party, echoing similar calls, Anderson Clayton, the chair of the state's Democrat Party, wrote: The North Carolina Democrat Party calls on Representative Brockman to resign immediately. The profound seriousness of these criminal charges makes it impossible for him to effectively represent his community. House Speaker Destin Hall, the Republican from Caldwell County, called the situation shocking and wrote on X, quote, The charges against Representative Brockman are shocking and extremely serious. Given the evidence that's publicly known, he should resign immediately so these charges do not distract from the work in the North Carolina House. These were also again echoed by House Minority Leader in Robert Reeves, who wrote, it has become clear that he is unable to continue serving the House of Representatives.
Representative Brockman must resign immediately. Governor Roy Cooper, former Governor Roy Cooper and United States Senate candidate, described the allegations as disturbing and, like most others, called for his resignation alongside House Majority Leader Brendan Jones, the Republican from Columbus County, who wrote, North Carolina Democrat Representative Cecil Brockman has just been arrested for statutory rape and indecent liberties with a minor. This behavior is appalling and has no place in society. I'm calling on Brockman's resignation immediately. This is still a very active and fluid political situation.
Brockman sent to have a first court appearance today, as I would imagine more calls for his resignation will continue in Raleigh. This is all ahead of a return for the General Assembly on October the 20th. Math very close in the North Carolina House.
So Republicans are just one vote shy of a super majority. And without a Democrat in Brockman's seat, if he does decide to resign, that would give them the veto-proof majority needed to override currently six Stein vetoes that sit in the North Carolina House. We will keep a very close eye on this story. You can get additional details. By visiting our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com, and we'll keep you up to date throughout the day as we learn more information.
Again, over on our website, CarolinaJournal.com. It's now 540. You're listening to the Carolina Journal News Hour. Multiple lawsuits against the former owner of a tire factory in Charlotte could have some broader implications in the business community across the state of North Carolina. To walk us through some of those details this morning, Mitch Kokai of the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Mitch, we talk about lawsuits pretty regularly.
Sometimes they're very narrow in individual cases and individual companies and people. And then other times we've got lawsuits that, yes, are focused on one person or one company, but they could have a broader reach across many other industries in North Carolina. What are you following out of Charlotte this morning? This is a case that's more than a decade in the making. What happened was this former tire factory owned by Continental Tire years ago, about 150 different people connected to that plant filed suit saying that they were exposed to asbestos at the plant and it caused them health problems.
And so what happened was as these various suits were filed, The plaintiffs in the case and the company decided that they would put together a handful of representative cases, what's called. Bellwether cases to sort of sort out the major issues of the case. And then the Bellwether cases would help determine what was going to happen with all of the rest of the suits. As the Continental Tire folks focused on in their latest briefing in this case, they said the idea was if the plaintiffs lose in the Bellwether cases, then that's going to really rule out. Anyone else being able to win.
If the plaintiffs win, then that's a signal to other plaintiffs and to the company that. You're probably going to lose the company's probably going to lose the rest of these.
So you ought to start thinking about settling these cases.
Well, what happened was as this case moved, as the various cases moved forward, the court tribunal overseeing the The Industrial Commission overseeing the initial bellwether cases ruled against the plaintiffs, saying that there was not enough evidence that there was asbestos present at a level that would have caused any health problems for these plaintiffs. The North Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed that ruling, and what Continental Tire is saying is that should have basically ended the case. But what happened was a handful of plaintiffs, and by a handful, I'm talking about 13 out of the initial 150. Continued to press their case, saying that the Bellwether cases didn't address all of the issues in their particular concerns and complaints. They went forward.
The Industrial Commission Threw out their cases saying, No, you know, we've gone through the bellwether cases, you can't move forward. They appealed once again to the state court of appeals, and this time. Rather than affirming the Industrial Commission, the Court of Appeals split two to one. And the two judges on the majority said that the cases could go forward. They said these Bellwether cases did not say that these plaintiffs could not press their claims.
They can go forward. One judge dissented. The judge who dissented was the chief judge, Chris Dillon, said, look, the Bellwether cases have decided the main issues. This litigation should be over.
So now, as the cases are scheduled to move forward, the 13 cases remaining out of the initial 150 or so, Continental Tire is appealing to the North Carolina Supreme Court. They've filed a petition saying, look, Supreme Court, please take these cases because you need to. settle whether this bellwether principle is going to survive in the future. If it's not going to work, if Plaintiffs are not going to abide by what the Bellwether cases say, then why would anyone ever do this again? The whole thing is designed to simplify this legal process.
And they make the larger argument that this could have a potential negative impact on North Carolina's business climate. They've talked about some of the things that help the business climate beyond things like taxes and regulatory reform. There is the idea of having an industrial commission. There is the idea of having a business court that deals with business issues. And one of the other things that's part of this is being allowed to have bellwether cases when you have multiple plaintiffs filing suit.
And if that piece of the process Falls short, that's going to hurt North Carolina's business climate.
Now, of course, this is the argument that the tire company is making to try to help stave off these lawsuits.
So they have definitely have skin in the game, but it is an interesting piece of North Carolina's legal puzzle, and it will be interesting to see whether the North Carolina Supreme Court decides to take the case because of those arguments.
So Mitch, as you talk about these these bellwether cases, do these only come forward when you've got a large group of potential plaintiffs in the case you mentioned, around one hundred and fifty or so employees. Is that typically when you see these these bellwether cases in North Carolina? Yes, and I don't know the details of how many plaintiffs you would have to have before you'd start considering bellwether cases, but certainly it has to be a large enough number that it makes sense to pick a handful of representative cases to deal with rather than the whole range of cases. And certainly it would seem to make sense when you have about 150 of them that you would not want to have 150 separate trials, that you would try to pick a handful of cases that really cover. Most, if not all, of the major issues, and then once those are settled, it really gives.
all sides a good idea of how the rest of the cases are going to play out. As I said earlier, if the plaintiffs win, that gives a signal to the defendant, the company, that. It looks bad for us. We ought to get into settlement negotiations with everyone else. But if the defendant wins, if the company wins, that should be good news for the company and bad news for the plaintiffs in that you're probably not going to win because these cases that really have the same general types of facts that your case has.
Those cases failed, you're probably not going to succeed when those other cases have failed. It's definitely an interesting story that we are tracking this morning. We'll keep an eye on and see what the North Carolina Supreme Court has to say about it. We appreciate the details this morning. Mitch Kokai from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Good morning again. It's 553. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, News Talk 1110-993 WBT looking at some other statewide news this morning.
Soybeans, which is one of the top five cash crops in North Carolina, continues to face pressure as a result of the ongoing trade war with China. which has been ongoing now for months. Pressure is now mounting as the harvest season is not far off, with farmers expecting a significant harvest at the same time facing the loss of their largest market, which is in fact China. Charles Hall, who is the executive director of the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association, told the Carolina Journal: quote, China has not placed any orders for new crop soybeans in the current marketing year, which started on September the 1st. China brought 30% of US soybean crops in recent years, and overall, China buys 60% of the global soybean supply annually.
Roughly 10 to 12 percent of soybeans grown in North Carolina are exported, which is a relatively small share compared to some other states, according to Hall.
However, our biggest customers though are right here at home. North Carolina's livestock industry. About 10 million pigs and up to 1 billion poultry birds, including all of the things that you would expect in the poultry industry, consume roughly twice as many soybeans as we produce in the state.
So fortunately, while the trade war does continue ongoing and there is some significant level of exports that do take place in the soybean industry in North Carolina, there is a lot of domestic purchase right here stateside. Hall continued by saying, quote, soybeans are a true commodity. There is a global market and farmers are impacted by disruptions in the global market. For example, Tennessee pharma exports are about 72% of all soybeans that they grow, and added that the Dakotas, North and South combined, probably depend on China to buy some 80% or more of all of the soybeans that they produce. Farmers in Midwest U.S.
states are feeling the impacts of the trade disruption first. In the form of depressed local prices due to grain piling up in storage silos with no one to buy it. The impact is expected to drag prices down for everybody given a certain amount of time. Hall said that North Carolina's farmers have diversified their exports in recent years of soybeans, however, to other markets in Southeast Asia outside of China and continue the search for new markets as we sit here this morning. He noted and said, we probably expect to export 2% or less of North Carolina's products to China, as the rest goes to Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia primarily.
And again, exports account for only 10 to 12% of our annual production. Despite their essential role, North Carolina's soybean farmers continue to be squeezed. The cost of key inputs, things like fertilizer, pesticides, and equipment, those spiked during COVID-19 and really have not fallen back to normal levels. They've been stubbornly high ever since. While the prices paid for soybeans and other raw crops, such as corn, have steadily declined over the last couple of years.
As a result, many farmers are increasingly being viewed as unbankable, according to Hall, as agricultural lenders are becoming less likely to renew lines of credit, both in North Carolina and nationwide. And it is being warned that if this trend continues, many farmers may not make it to next year's spring planting season without that influx of cash. Hall concluded his comments to Carolina Journal by saying North Carolina farmers certainly follow what's happening with the crop markets where it's abundant and where the export channels have been disrupted. That situation could ultimately depress the prices paid to farmers here in North Carolina. We've got some additional details on the uh very uh important soybean market over on our website this morning, CarolinaJournal.com.
That's going to do it for a Friday edition. WBT News is next. Followed by Good Morning, BT. We're back with you Monday morning, 5 to 6, right here on News Talk 1110 and 99.3, WBT. This is the story of the one.
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