“We Must End This Uncivil War"
Biden takes over + Trump’s parting shots + North Carolina’s provisional voting + DHA’s maintenance shortfall + the Efland mega gas station
Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021
Happy Thursday. Give yourself a hand: You survived. … Today’s newsletter is an 11-minute read. … Weather: mostly cloudy, high around 54. (WRAL)
Correction: Yesterday, I said the first public school in North Carolina opened in 1940. I meant to say 1840.
Image of the Day
Today’s Number: 30,573
Lies and false statements Donald Trump made during his four years in office, according to the Washington Post’s database.
On This Day
1677: The first American medical publication — a pamphlet on smallpox — was published in Boston.
1793: Louis XVI met the guillotine.
1881: The elders of three churches formed the Burnt Swamp Association, which helped develop schools for Indians in Robeson County and the surrounding area.
1891: North Carolina Gov. Daniel Fowle declared “war” on northern “pirates” poaching deep-water oyster beds.
1921: Agatha Christie published her first novel, introducing the character Hercule Poirot.
1959: Lamar Springfield, the first conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, died in Asheville.
One Year Ago
Top story: “Amid Tight Security, Virginia Gun Rally Draws Thousands of Supporters”
Top 3 Google Search queries, Raleigh-Durham MSA, Jan. 21. 2020:
NCEdCloud: I’m not sure why the NC Education Cloud topped the region’s queries.
Coronavirus: The first confirmed case was reported in the U.S.
Delonte West: Video surfaced of the former NBA player handcuffed and shirtless on the side of the road after an encounter with a cop.
+TODAY’S TOP 6
1. President Trump, Day 1,461
President Trump departed the White House at 8 a.m. before taking one final flight aboard Air Force One to Palm Beach International Airport, a short drive down Southern Boulevard from his home/club, Mar-a-Lago, where, at 12:01 p.m., he became former President Trump. His last 24 hours in office were marked by a flurry of pardons and clemencies, his final weeks by a slew of executive orders and actions. A quick review:
—> PARDONS
Trump pardoned 73 people and commuted the sentences of 70 more, showing an affinity for corrupt politicians, supportive celebs, and nonviolent drug offenders. They included:
Rapper Lil Wayne, weapons charges
Rapper Kodak Black, weapons charges
Roc Nation executive Desiree Perez, narcotics distribution
Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris, attempted murder and drug-trafficking
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, corruption
Former North Carolina congressman Robin Hayes, lying to the FBI during a corruption investigation
Former Republican congressman Rick Renzi of Arizona and Randall “Duke” Cunningham of California, corruption
Campaign strategist Stephen Bannon, charged with bilked Trump’s followers into giving him money for the border wall
Republican megadonor Elliott Broidy, an unregistered foreign agent
Kenneth Kurson, a friend of Jared Kushner who cyberstalked his ex-wife
Trump did not issue preemptive pardons for himself or his family members.
“Trump’s lawyers argued to him that he could not pardon people without naming the potential crimes for which they were being pardoned and that preemptively granting people mercy before they were formally accused of a crime would set a bad precedent, a senior administration official said.”
“Advocates for criminal justice reform lamented that many deserving people were overlooked in the clemency process because the president appeared focused on handing out political favors.” (WaPo)
—> EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Since the election, the Trump administration has proposed or moved ahead with 69 potential federal regulations, according to a ProPublica database. Among the 50 finalized rules that might have slipped past your radar:
The EPA will no longer regulate greenhouse gas emissions from industries that are not responsible for at least 3% of national greenhouse gas emissions, including refineries, steel mills, incinerators, industrial boilers, and chemical plants. The Biden administration will likely block this rule. (Fed. Reg.)
DHHS revised its grant rules to allow anti-LGBTQ discrimination. These rules are scheduled to take effect on Feb. 11, though the Biden administration will seek to stop them before they do. (Fed. Reg.)
The feds will require banks to loan money regardless of “social, political, or environmental considerations” — i.e., to oil dealers and gun companies. (OCC)
The government will now purge health care regulations after 10 years unless it decides to renew them. (HHS)
Trump replaced the H-1B lottery with a system that prioritizes immigrants with the highest salaries, freezing out entry-level employees and those in non-lucrative positions. (Fed. Reg.)
The Department of Labor broadened the definition of “independent contractor” in a way that advantages gig employers like Uber and DoorDash. (Fed. Reg.)
The Labor Department allowed employers to set up tip-pooling with back-of-house restaurant workers, saving them labor costs. (DOL)
The administration barred judges from using discretion to close immigration cases, restricted asylum eligibility, and made it more difficult for asylum-seekers to gather evidence. (Fed. Reg., Fed. Reg., Fed. Reg.)
The administration will permit federal contractors to discriminate in hiring based on their religion. (Fed. Reg.)
Trump’s final executive order revokes one of his first — and feels like a fitting bookend for a guy who promised to drain the swamp: He reversed his order barring executive officials from lobbying any agency in which they served for five years after leaving the federal government. Other late EOs include:
Deferred deportation for Venezuelan immigrants
Requirements for stricter cybersecurity standards
Declassification of some materials related to the Russia investigation
Ending restrictions on travelers from much of Europe, the UK, Ireland, and Brazil
Building a “National Garden of American Heroes,” a statuary park
For his coup de grâce, Trump extended Secret Service protection for 14 members of his family who otherwise wouldn’t be entitled to it for six months — perhaps funneling additional cash into the Trump Organization’s coffers.
—> UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY
At his morning sendoff, Trump told his supporters to “have a good life,” promising — or threatening, YMMV — “We’ll see you soon,” and, “We will be back in some form.”
“The president urged those gathered … to ‘remember’ his accomplishments, noting that ‘we were not a regular administration.’” (NYT)
He departed to Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” a song about being a self-important asshole.
2. President Biden, Day 1
Joe Biden celebrated “the cause of democracy,” condemned white supremacy, and called for an end to our “uncivil war.” Future presidential candidate Amanda Gorman reminded us of the power of poetry. Bernie looked like the line at the Post Office was too damn long. And the whole event went off smoothly — and normally.
In his overhauled Oval Office — out with Andrew Jackson, in with portraits of FDR, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton, as well as busts of Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Eleanor Roosevelt, among others — Biden sent an expansive immigration bill to Congress and signed 17 executive actions targeting Trump policies.
—> IMMIGRATION
The White House frames the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 as a direct repudiation of Trumpism: It will “restore humanity and American values to our immigration system.” It won’t go as far as the left wants — no abolishing ICE, nor even separating immigration courts from the DOJ — but there’s a lot for reform advocates to like.
The bill creates an eight-year path to citizenship: Immediate green card eligibility for Dreamers, TPS holders, and immigrant farmworkers, with citizenship eligibility three years after that. Undocumented immigrants can apply for temporary legal status, then apply for green cards after five years and citizenship three years later.
It eliminates provisions that separate families — and explicitly includes LGBTQ families.
It bars future presidents from enacting anything like a Muslim ban.
It makes it easier for immigrant college grads to stay in the U.S.
It protects workers who are victims of retaliation from the threat of deportation.
It provides $4 billion in aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, “conditioned on their ability to reduce the endemic corruption, violence, and poverty.”
It makes it easier to file asylum claims and seeks to reduce the backlog in immigration courts.
It changes the word “alien” to “noncitizen in immigration laws, a small but powerful symbol.
—> EXECUTIVE ORDERS
Within a few hours of taking the oath, a masked Biden was seated at the Resolute Desk, plowing his way through a stack of executive orders, directives to government agencies, and memoranda, all of which were intended to wipe out as much of Trump’s presidency as possible as quickly as possible.
The U.S. rejoined the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization.
Biden halted funding for Trump’s border wall and rescinded the travel ban.
He instituted a mask mandate in federal buildings.
He extended the eviction moratorium and the student loan payment pause.
He canceled the Keystone XL pipeline.
He extended workplace discrimination protections to include LGBTQ people.
He cemented DACA and relaxed immigration enforcement.
He required appointees to sign an ethics pledge.
He directed OMB to undo Trump’s regulatory approval process.
And late last night, DHS announced a 100-day moratorium on most deportations.
The White House says a lot more is coming over the next week or so: strengthening collective bargaining, focusing on climate change, improving refugee policies, pushing to end private prisons, and eliminating the anti-abortion Mexico City Policy, among them.
—> MEANWHILE, IN RALEIGH
For all the talk of armed demonstrators, more cops than protesters showed at the State Capitol yesterday.
—> MEANWHILE, IN CRAZYTOWN
The QAnon crowd, which thought today would herald “the storm” of mass arrests and Trump’s triumph, are started to figure out that they’ve been conned. At least some of them.
“Many major QAnon influencers on the encrypted messaging app Telegram were not bellicose or angry that ‘the storm’ had not arrived, but were trying to process their loss. Some were sanguine and committed to encouraging believers to, as the oft-repeated slogan goes, ‘trust the plan.’”
“Some diehard respondents were placated by such messages of encouragement; others, however, were furious and wildly disillusioned with the fact that their fantasy of blood-soaked vengeance against pedophile leftists had not come to fruition. ‘That’s it. It’s done. I feel like a fool, 6 months over obsessing over Q,’ said one followed by a string of teary emojis. Another was more to the point: ‘this was all fuckin stupid. But I’m even more stupid for believing it.’” (Rolling Stone)
3. Who Voted Provisionally in North Carolina?
This November, 40,767 North Carolina voters cast provisional ballots — which voters cast when their eligibility is unclear — a decrease of about 20,000 from four years ago despite the record-breaking turnout, likely due to the surge in early and absentee voting, Carolina Public Press reports.
Two-thirds had no record of their registration.
13% had been removed from their county’s voting list.
10% were voting at the wrong precinct.
9% hadn’t reported a change of address.
Of those 40,000-plus ballots, about 40% were fully or partially approved.
“But the distribution of provisional ballot use and approval is not even across the state. Some counties consistently rank high or low in provisional ballot use.”
“For the second straight presidential election year, Robeson County led North Carolina in provisional ballot use rate, with only 35.51 votes for every provisional cast.”
“A 2019 study of provisional ballots in North Carolina from 2012-16 showed that ‘in counties with more than one polling place per precinct, the expected count of provisional ballots cast decreased by 7 percent.’”
4. DHA Says It Needs Funds for Maintenance
With everything that’s happened in the last 12 months, it’s easy to forget that 2020 began with the evacuation of McDougald Terrace, the oldest housing project in Durham, due to elevated carbon monoxide levels. The tenants are back in McDougald, but the housing authority is still far behind on maintenance.
“While the Durham Housing Authority plans to launch a maintenance hotline that families can call to help speed up repairs, DHA officials said they are in need of more federal funding to rebuild many of those units.”
“‘McDougald Terrace needs to be replaced, Cornwallis needs to be replaced, Hoover Road really needs to be replaced,’ said Dan Hudgins, chair of DHA’s Board of Commissioners. ‘We would need several million dollars more to bring all of our units back up to a standard that we would like folks to live in.’” (CBS 17)
Part of the repair backlog at the Mac is due to the pandemic, DHA CEO Anthony Scott told WRAL.
“Scott acknowledges that many repairs weren't completed because of the coronavirus pandemic and staffing shortages. … The pandemic prevented the DHA from completing the transition to electric appliances.”
“The agency has spent more than $9 million so far to address the McDougald Terrace carbon monoxide crisis, with $3.7 million going toward repairs and the rest to house and feed residents in hotels for weeks.
Scott: "That $9 million took up a significant chunk of all the money we had for all of our public housing communities. … We are dealing with repairs that should have been done 15 or 20 years ago, in some cases."
City council members told CBS 17 they’d be open to more funding for the DHA. But with a pandemic-battered economy, Durham’s not exactly rolling in the cash itself.
—> SPEAKING OF DURHAM
The council voted to spend $935,000 to hire more staff for the city’s violence interrupters team.
318 people were shot in the city last year, a nearly 70% increase over 2019.
“Since 2017, Bull City United staff members have worked in part of the Southside community and an area encompassing the McDougald Terrace public housing community. Those two areas have seen a 1.78% decrease in gun-related crimes since 2013, compared to a citywide increase of 16.49% over the same time period.” (N&O)
5. Orange County Skeptical of Mega Gas Station
County commissioners didn’t seem enthusiastic about the proposed 60-pump Buc-ee’s gas station in Efland at their meeting Tuesday. The board voted 5–2 to send Buc-ee’s a list of conditions ahead of the Feb. 16 meeting when they’ll vote on the project. Primarily, the county wants the gas station chain to think smaller.
“The commissioners asked the company to consider a smaller travel center with fewer gas pumps, to guarantee the station will open with 10 electric vehicle charging stations, and to provide more details about water usage, solar potential, and what else could be built. Commissioner Amy Fowler … also asked the developer to consider a 24-foot sign that meets county rules, instead of the 80-foot sign proposed.”
“The county has estimated that the $40 million project could generate up to $1 million in local property and sales tax revenues in the first phase and more later.” (N&O, sub. req.)
There’s an interesting dynamic here. Opponents say the project will affect their way of life — more noise and traffic — and damage the environment. However:
“Proponents … said they were excited to see good-paying jobs, tax dollars, and business investment proposed for the rural community, where roughly 1 in 5 residents earn less than $15,000 a year. The divide also has fallen along racial lines, with mostly Black residents backing the project.”
—> OTHER LOCAL NEWS
Wake is running behind other counties in COVID vaccinations. The county says it’s simply not getting enough supply. (WRAL)
North Carolina startups raised more than $3.6 billion in 2020. Half of it went to Epic Games. (N&O)
Johnston County teachers want to stay remote until they’re vaccinated. The school board voted 4–3 last week to bring kids back to the classroom on Feb. 1. (N&O)
The Rialto Theatre is hosting private screenings to try to stay afloat. (ABC 11)
A federal judge voided Zion Williamson’s agreement with a marketing firm, a damaging blow in the firm’s $100 million lawsuit against the former Duke star. (TBJ, sub. req., N&O)
6. What I’m Reading: “How a German Doctor Erased Reporting of Sexual Abuse Allegations”
Löffler and Vorreyer documented thirty possible cases of abuse for their investigation. They included in-depth stories of abuse allegations from five different men—changing their names to protect them from legal repercussions—and corroborated their accounts. They also disclosed that the doctor was the subject of a criminal investigation opened in 2014; the trial will take place later this year. …
Immediately following the articles’ publication, the doctor filed a cease and desist order, first against Vice and then BuzzFeed, as well as Löffler and Vorreyer, in Berlin’s regional court. Both media companies were forced to take the articles down. Then, the following month, the court ruled that BuzzFeed/Vice had violated German law regarding reporting on criminal allegations. The investigation had to remain offline for good, unless an appeal could be won.
Meanwhile, in the months that followed, more than thirty-five additional people reached out to Löffler and Vorreyer to say that they had been abused, too. …
The doctor has also taken legal action against two outlets—Der Spiegel and Queer.de—that published articles about the alleged abuse, even though the articles did not identify him by name. And posts on online doctor review portals mentioning abuse allegations against him have disappeared. The full name of “Heiko J’’ is Heiko Jessen. But because the reporting around him has not used his full name, when you Google Jessen, all you are likely to see are links to his private practice and profiles of his work in German media and in the New York Times. Today, Jessen is still a practicing HIV specialist. In an era of #MeToo reckoning, how is it possible that the voices of so many people have been silenced?
Source: Columbia Journalism Review