☀️ In Today’s Edition

1. Democrats’ Dilemma in Huntersville
2. Back to the Drawing Board for Lumbee Recognition?
3. Around Our Network
4. What We’re Reading
5. Our Recent Stories

In 2023, Amanda Dumas was one of seven Democrats elected to the town board of Huntersville, a Mecklenburg County community of nearly 70,000. Democrats swept both the board and mayor’s office in the nominally nonpartisan election.

Earlier this year, she proposed a nondiscrimination ordinance to protect residents on the basis of gender identity and expression when it comes to employment and housing. But after initial momentum, the measure now appears all but dead.

As Jim Morrill reports, the board’s misgivings mirror the dilemma for Democrats across the country on transgender rights: How do they support a vulnerable community without potentially alienating some voters?

Democrats’ Dilemma on Trans Issues

A proposed nondiscrimination ordinance to protect transgender people in Huntersville has divided the Democratic-controlled town board and underscored the risks of gender politics.

“Is it a message we want to send as Democrats? Absolutely,” said Drew Kromer, Mecklenburg County’s former party chair. “But what’s the cost? And what do you gain?”

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When President Donald Trump ordered the Department of the Interior in January to submit a report outlining ways for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina to get full federal recognition, some lauded the move as historic and long overdue.
The Interior Department’s report, however, was met with less fanfare. Its central message, as best we can discern from people who have actually seen it: Keep asking Congress. 

A spokesperson for the Interior said the report was submitted to the White House back in April.  But Interior would not provide the report, instead directing us to submit a Freedom of Information Act request. It has not responded to that request.

Sarah Nagem has more on the latest in the long-standing fight for federal recognition.

For a Chapel Hill couple, flooding from tropical depression was both a singular catastrophe and the culmination of years spent watching their situation become more precarious, INDY reports.

Cumberland County is considering a program that would would cover up to three months of rent, a security deposit, and a one-time utility payment as a way to address homelessness, per CityView.

Guilford College’s Board of Trustees appointed a new president last week amid ongoing financial uncertainty and cost-cutting at the private Quaker institution. The Thread has more.

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What We’re Reading

On Watch: Hurricane Erin has prompted evacuations on the Outer Banks and could generate high surf, rip currents, strong winds, and storm surge over the next few days, per The Weather Channel.

The Price of Free Speech: WUNC brings us the story of a Chapel Hill alum whose full-ride scholarship was suspended 50 years ago for joining protests over law enforcement’s killing of a Black man. He sees similarities to today’s political environment.

Civic Disengagement: Carolina Public Press kicked off a three-part series on the decline of civic education and the impacts it may have on policy and political engagement around the state.

Our Recent Stories

‘Compromised’ Video Got Him Life in Prison. He Wants a New Trial.

A prosecutor used low-quality video to convict a former pro-basketball player in a double murder. Now he’s getting another shot in court.

The Cattle Con

The recent sentencing of a Surry County man sheds light on how the shady world of fraudulent cattle traders operates.

Saint Augustine’s to Keep Accreditation While Litigation Continues

A court order means the school can open for the fall semester, but the Raleigh HBCU said its board chair would step down.

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