NC DOJ: Undocumented students okay
The
NC Department of Justice cracked the door open ever so slightly on the
possibility of undocumented immigrants attending North Carolina
community colleges on July 24 when department lawyer JB Kelly wrote to NC Community College System lawyer Shante Martin that
federal law does not prohibit the students from attending publicly
supported colleges and universities. In the absence of a state statute,
the college system is free to devise its own policy.
“The
individual states must decide for themselves whether or not to admit
illegal aliens into their public post-secondary institutions,” wrote Jim Pendergraph, executive
director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of State
and Local Coordination on July 9. As sheriff of Mecklenburg County,
Pendergraph oversaw the state’s first 287(g) program, which coordinates
with federal government to identify and deport offenders who are in the
United States illegally. He concluded, “In the absence of any state
policy or legislation addressing this issue, it is up to the schools to
decide whether or not to enroll illegal aliens, and the schools must
similarly use federal immigration status standards to identify illegal
alien applicants.” — JG
Stop loss
Charlotte-based Wachovia Corp. showed Chief Financial Officer Tim Wurtz the
door last week after the bank announced net losses of $8.9 billion for
the second quarter of 2008. The bank, which was headquartered in
Winston- Salem until its 2001 merger with First Union, still keeps its
wealth management division in the Camel City. The company hasn’t
announced any layoffs in the Winston-Salem offices, but the recent run
of bad news still has some city leaders worried about the health of one
of their largest corporate citizens. Councilman Dan Besse said
the body is watching the developments closely to see whether local
operations will take a hit. “That’s why you want a corporate
headquarters in the city,” he said. “It’s less expendable.” — AK
New cops on the block
Thirty
police cadets graduated from GTCC’s police basic introductory course on
July 25 in a ceremony that included Greensboro notables such as police
Chief Tim Bellamy, Mayor Yvonne Johnson and City Manager Mitchell Johnson. The
course encompasses 1,000 hours of training, nearly double the 618 hours
required by state law, and the new officers will work with police
training officers in the fields for the next 14 weeks, after which,
pending an evaluation, they will be full-fledged Greensboro police
officers. GTCC’s next police basic introductory course, which is full,
begins in August; applications are being accepted for another session
beginning in March 2009. — BC
He’s Mo Green
The
Guilford County School Board voted on July 24 to hire a Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Schools administrator and former federal judicial clerk as
Guilford County Schools next superintendent.
Mo Green replaces
Terry Grier, who left Guilford County in February to lead the public
schools in San Diego. Green will be Guilford County Schools’ first
black superintendent. “This is a great day for Guilford County,” said
Chairman Alan Duncan in a written statement. “In Mo Green, we
will have a superintendent who demonstrates tremendous educational
leadership and empowers others by instilling confidence in those around
him. His extraordinary intellectual abilities are well suited to the
dynamic academic climate of this school system.” — JG
Money for trucking
In
a 9-2 vote, the Guilford County Commission decided to grant FedEx
Ground $952,500 in property-tax incentives over three years to build a
trucking hub near Kernersville, a separate facility from the air hub
that comes to fruition at Piedmont Triad International Airport in 2009.
FedEx Ground now must decide between this site, at the Triad Business
Park, and two others, in Tennessee and South Carolina. If constructed,
the 415,000 square-foot facility — a $100 million investment — would
employ 80 people in the first year, with the number swelling to 259
over the next five years. The jobs average $40,000 a year. The deal
approved by the commission requires FedEx to pay property taxes the
first three years — about $1.5 million — before the incentives
kick in. FedEx spokesperson William F. Conner said the company will choose a location in the next two months. — BC
Your government at work
The
NC General Assembly adjourned without passing the School Violence
Prevention Act. Gay-rights advocates and their allies mobilized
significant pressure to dissuade Democratic members of the House from
supporting a Senate version of the bill that stripped language offering
specific protection against bullying based on sexual orientation.
Christian right activists responded in kind and bills supported by
either side went nowhere.
Likewise, legislation pushed by
House Republican leadership — that would have urged Congress to give
the state the authority to determine whether offshore oil drilling
should take place off the coast of North Carolina — died after getting
sent to the Committee on Rules, Calendar and Operations. Among the
bill’s primary sponsors were Minority Whip Bill McGee and Joint Caucus Leader Dale R. Folwell, both
of Forsyth. Likewise, the Open Government Act, which would have allowed
citizens who prevail against government in public records lawsuits to
recover attorney fees and would have mandated that the NC Department of Justice provide legal opinions on public records requests, died in committee.
Offshore
drilling and open government may have hit the skids, but help for
homeowners facing foreclosure sailed through the Democratic-dominated
General Assembly. The bill, which awaits the signature of Gov. Mike Easley, requires
mortgage servicers to provide borrowers with detailed information such
as an itemization of past due amounts and added charges at least 45
days before filing for a foreclosure hearing. The legislation also
appropriates $600,000 for a program to be administered by the Banking
Commission to make grants for housing counseling for homeowners trying
to avoid foreclosure. And one piece of legislation that’s a done deal:
Easley signed a bill entitled Community Colleges/Tobacco Free,
co-sponsored by Sen. Katie Dorsett (D-Guilford), gives local
community college boards of trustees the authority to ban tobacco use
on campus. GTCC becomes a tobacco free campus effective Friday. As
defined by statute, that includes products such as cigarettes, cigars,
blunts, bidis, pipes, chewing tobacco, snus and snuff. — JG
