• Political Theater at Hearing on CHCCS Policies
  • Opposition to Fuquay-Varina’s Water Plans
  • ICYMI: Allam Challenges Foushee 
  • Op-Ed: We Need Experience in Congress
  • Durham Will Give You Feedback on Your Recycling

Good morning, readers.

Accusations of grooming, mentions of vulvas, and hurling of books—my recent reporting trip to the state legislature was anything but boring.

State representatives ostensibly called the oversight hearing to grill Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools leaders over whether the district is complying with the state “Parents’ Bill of Rights” law. 

Instead, Republican lawmakers charged the progressive district with the greatest crime of all: Being too woke.

“You’re here because you chose to wage war against the law,” Republican committee chair Brenden Jones told the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school superintendent and board chair at the beginning of the hearing. “You weren’t just indoctrinating, you were grooming.”

At the session’s most theatrical, Jones held up books, apparently from a third-party suggested reading list that the district formerly linked to on its website.

“These are my eyes, this is my nose, this is my vulva, these are my toes,” read Jones from a picture book. “This is damn trash,” he said as he tossed the book on the floor behind him to join the recently-flung Santa’s Husband. 

The hearing made for some pretty zestful political theater before I’d even finished my morning coffee. But, melodrama aside, there were some real warnings for Chapel Hill-Carrboro, one of the most high performing districts in the state, as lawmakers threatened future state funding for the schools.

Check out my full rundown below. And have a good weekend.

—Chase

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The latest from INDY, plus other stories around the state you’ll want to read. Handpicked every day by INDY Editor-in-Chief Sarah Willets.

Credit: Photo from Wikipedia

Water Woes

Fuquay-Varina will soon be in serious need of more water, but its plan to get it faces sharp opposition from stakeholders in the eastern part of the state, INDY’s Jane Porter reports.

Credit: Illustration by Nicole Pajor Moore

Off to the Races

Durham County commissioner Nida Allam filed to run Congress, challenging Representative Valerie Foushee in a near replay of the 2022 race, INDY’S Chase Pellegrini de Paur reports.

Credit: Courtesy of the author

NC-04 Needs Experience

A longtime activist calls on voters to choose Representative Valerie Foushee in the 4th Congressional District primary.

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STATE: FEMA must restore $200 million in infrastructure improvement grants that were cancelled across the state, including for Hillsborough’s pump station, which was inundated by Tropical Storm Chantal, WRAL reports.

EDUCATION: The UNC system is considering making syllabi publicly available amid a push from conservatives looking for instruction on things like diversity and gender issues, The Assembly reports.

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