Rachel Keith

5 days ago | whqr.org | Rachel Keith

The book in question is Blended, by Sharon Draper, a National Teacher of the Year and Ohio’s Outstanding High School Language Arts educator. A parent of a student at Wrightsboro Elementary is contesting the book. Blended is not currently being taught in the classroom and is not in the school’s main library (records indicate there was a copy that has since been “lost”).

5 days ago | whqr.org | Rachel Keith |Nikolai Mather |Benjamin Schachtman

Eight years after the general public found out about PFAS in the Cape Fear River, the North Carolina House has finally passed a bill that would make PFAS manufacturer Chemours cover pollution cleanup costs. Republican Rep. Ted Davis, the main author of the bill, told WHQR he's "tickled" it went through. Nikolai Mather spoke with Davis about what the bill does, and the arduous route to get it this far.

6 days ago | whqr.org | Rachel Keith

John Hinnant is the Chair of the New Hanover County Republican Party and a member of the school district’s finance committee. At a recent meeting, he recalled asking Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes whether the district had a lobbyist. “And he says, ‘Well, we use the Association of School Boards. And I said, ‘Well, how's that going for you?’ And the resonation around the room was not too good. And I just off the cuff said, ‘You need to be your own voice,'" he said.

1 week ago | whqr.org | Rachel Keith

The survey posed questions to 33 families, mostly identified as Black/African American or Hispanic/Latino. Most had a high school diploma as their highest form of education, and all made under $49,000. Note: You can find a presentation of their findings at the end of this report.

2 weeks ago | whqr.org | Rachel Keith

Board member Judy Justice reiterated that it had been 18 months since the book’s removal and that pushing until the June curriculum meeting “wasn’t really fair to the public.” Her colleague, Tim Merrick, asked why this process was taking so long. They also agreed that they had brought this item up for discussion in March and, according to board policy, it was supposed to be added to the board’s agenda within two months, which would have been the May meeting.