Latest news with #RobSchofield
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Science is on the federal chopping block and North Carolinians will suffer
A student works in a biology laboratory. (Photo by Jess Daninhirsch/Capital News Service) Americans have long maintained a healthy instinct to be skeptics. We pride ourselves on demanding proof. Unfortunately, in recent years, the explosion of social media in which every person has a public platform has allowed this natural skepticism to fuel a situation in which distinctly unscientific conspiracy theories get way too much attention. And this, tragically, has led millions of people to waiver in their faith in science. This trend is on display right now in Washington where federal budget writers are planning to slash scientific research funding at a time in which the need in numerous realms — like combating disease and developing clean energy – has never been greater. Here in And that would be a terrible mistake. The bottom line: Science — genuine science — is the ultimate expression of a skepticism-based search for the truth. By forsaking it, we head down a very dangerous road indeed. For NC Newsline, I'm Rob Schofield.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Secrecy of immigration control actions is frighteningly un-American
Immigration officials, their backs turned to hide their identities, pose with an Australian citizen who faces possible deportation back to his home country. A list of 'sanctuary' jurisdictions accused of failing to cooperate with immigration arrests, including the state of Colorado, was taken down after protests about its accuracy. (Photo by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) As long as the United States is going to maintain immigration laws, it's a given that unauthorized people will be subject to arrest and deportation. This fact is not terribly controversial. That said, there should be enormous controversy over the way federal officials are now carrying out this work. Simply put: we don't have secret police in the United States. Or at least we shouldn't. Unfortunately, it's hard to describe Trump administration immigration enforcement actions in any other way. Time and again in recent months – here in North Carolina and around the nation — masked individuals in unmarked vehicles have swooped in and spirited people away to undisclosed locations. And whatever the alleged status or crime of these arrested people – this is just plain wrong and un-American. The bottom line: It's a fundamental premise of the U.S. Constitution that no person in our country can be deprived of liberty without due process. When government starts evading this guarantee – even for non-citizens — it places all of our freedoms in grave jeopardy. For NC Newsline, I'm Rob Schofield.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New and damning school voucher data confirm worst fears
Ever since North Carolina legislators established the so-called 'Opportunity Scholarships' school voucher program, sponsors and proponents have pitched it as a means of helping low-income students escape struggling public schools. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, a new report from the Department of Public Instruction shows that this was all baloney. The DPI researchers found that just sixty-seven hundred of the state's eighty-thousand-plus vouchers in the current school year went to students who had attended a North Carolina public school in the prior year. And while the data for kindergartners were not yet available, it's clear that as much as ninety percent or more of new vouchers in 24-25 were for students who have never attended a public school. In other words, the vast majority of voucher money is going to parents – most of them well-off – who never had any intention of sending their kids to public schools. The bottom line: School vouchers in our state have nothing to do with quote 'opportunity' and everything to do with undermining and privatizing public education. Other explanations are simply false. For NC Newsline, I'm Rob Schofield.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Coverage of weight-loss drugs should be a no-brainer for state's Medicaid program
Packages of the injectable weight-loss medication Wegovy are shown (Photo illustration by) If North Carolinians lived in a perfect world, everyone would have easy access to plenty of healthy and affordable food, the self-control to resist junk food, and genes that would let them stay active, trim and fit throughout their lives. Unfortunately, we don't live in such a world. And it's in light of this that it was a no-brainer for state Health and Human Services officials to make prescriptions for weight-loss drugs a covered expense under the state Medicaid program. As Jonathan Ray – a Charlotte physician assistant – wrote in a recent essay for NC Newsline, these medicines have helped thousands upon thousands of people to achieve significant weight loss, improve their metabolic health, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Unfortunately, recent actions by state legislative leaders could end the funding for these essential medications. The bottom line: In the imperfect world we inhabit, weight-loss drugs save health, lives and money. It would be cruel and foolish to end Medicaid coverage for these essential medicines. For NC Newsline, I'm Rob Schofield.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rep. Julie von Haefen on why both competing state budget proposals at the legislature come up short
State Rep. Julie von Haefen (Photo: NCGA) Well summer is here and with its arrival, the end of the state fiscal year will soon follow, and that means North Carolina legislators are under some pressure to pass a new state budget. Right now, however, despite complete Republican control of both the Senate and House, the two chambers remain far apart and that could portend a long hot summer at the Legislative Building. So, what's at the heart of the dispute and where do both budget proposals come up short? Recently to get a handle on these issues, how lawmakers got in this fix, and why the state might be better off if they listened for a change to some different voices, Newsline's Rob Schofield caught up with a Wake County lawmaker who's spent the better part of seven years trying to get her colleagues to open their minds to some new ideas, State Rep. Julie von Haefen. Click here to listen to the full interview with Rep. Julie von Haefen.
