Bladen County Schools will open with a 2-hour delay today, for staff and students.
Today is the deadline for a fundraiser for Senior Games that will be held later this spring. Lumber River Council of Government is selling raffle tickets for a Sceptre 50″ LED TV for $5 each. All proceeds benefit the Senior Games. If you are interested in supporting this event, contact Carol Mitchell at the Division of Aging TODAY (Friday, January 19). Her number is 910-872-6331
Black’s Tire Service and Recapping Co. will enter a truck in the upcoming Daytona race. David Gilliland will be the driver and Michael Hester of Bladenboro will be the crew chief. They have worked together before.
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a lower court’s order for North Carolina to rework its congressional map because Republicans violated the Constitution by drawing electoral districts intended to maximize their party’s chances of winning”, quoting a Reuters article. It continued, “The conservative-majority court granted a bid by Republican legislators in North Carolina to suspend the January 9 order by a federal court in Greensboro that gave the Republican-controlled General Assembly until January 24 to come up with a new map for U.S. House of Representatives districts…….The Supreme Court’s decision to stay the order reduces the chances that the current district lines will be altered ahead of the November mid-term congressional elections. The court offered no reason for the decision.”
Currently there are 13 Congressional Districts, 10 Republican leaning and 3 Democratic leaning, as ordered by a majority of the NC Legislature at the time of re-districting. Current voter numbers as listed on the NC State Board of Elections website yesterday (Thursday):
Democrats 2,648,202
Republicans 2,065,928
Unaffiliated 2,085,473
Libertarians 34,457
For many years, when the D’s were in charge, they played the same game. Former governors Jim Martin (R) and Jim Hunt (D), as well as voters in both parties have called for an independent committee to draw the lines, as some other states have already done. The party in power at the time of redistricting, Rs or Ds, have shown no interest in allowing that to happen.
Incidentally, in checking on redistricting, I discovered an interesting note that Bladen is one of about a half dozen counties labeled as Pivot counties in North Carolina. Pivot counties voting habits are followed closely by state and national pollsters as a way to determine the mood of voters. Other counties are Gates, Granville, Martin and Richmond. Items of interest include votes cast, voting age population and voter turnout over previous elections.
In 2008, Barack Obama received 2.07% more votes in Bladen that his opponent. In 2012, Obama won by 1.97%. In 2016, Donald Trump was favored by a 9.39% margin over Hillary Clinton in Bladen County, an indicator of the mood of the country at election time. Interesting!
Enjoy the warmer weather.
A good list to live by and remember:
The most destructive habit……worry
The greatest joy………giving
The greatest loss…….self-respect
The most endangered species….dedicated leaders
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