Will Doran

North Carolina politics reporter for @WRAL covering all things #ncpol. Formerly @newsobserver @sanfordherald @dailytarheel

[Will Doran @will_doran]

Today I start a new chapter of my journalism career at @WRAL and @NCCapitol and am very excited for what’s next.

I’ll still be covering all things #ncpol/#ncga, so keep the tips coming!

[Aaron M. Renn 🇺🇸 @aaron_renn]

WSJ: He Earns $33 an Hour as a Costco Cashier. Now He’s a Millionaire - Long-tenured workers like cashier Tony Barzar are reliable, experienced and able to speed shoppers through a checkout line. Costco is willing to pay to keep them around https://t.co/HZBTMVXpzR

[Will Doran @will_doran]

@RaleighReporter As an avid fan of the Bunnicula books in my childhood I have a sudden urge to visit Bladenboro

[Will Doran @will_doran]

@mikefor35 At least they got most of your genders correct?

[Will Doran @will_doran]

"Welcome to today's meeting. It could get contentious, so here's a gun and some live rounds"

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

Keir Starmer has just popped to the back of the plane on our way home from the Nato summit in Ankara.

He told us that Turkey's president Erdogan gave him, and all the other leaders, a surprising choice of gift: a revolver engraved with their names, with a box of live rounds.

But the PM had to leave his in Ankara - despite it coming with a note from Erdogan waiving export controls - because it would be illegal to import it to the UK. Instead, it stays behind for decomissioning.

[Brian Murphy @murphsturph]

Did NC just become the 1st state to authorize prediction markets? “The proposed NC budget legitimizes and gives a sweetheart deal to the same prediction market operators that are trampling on the state’s gambling regulations." (via @will_doran) https://t.co/EVuTWVHjcA

[Will Doran @will_doran]

Wake County handles the state's political corruption cases, and likely incoming DA @WileyNickel campaigned on ramping up those investigations.

Some of his fellow Democrats suspects that's why state GOP leaders are leaving the office under-staffed. #ncpol https://t.co/u7FnQtLFb4

[Will Doran @will_doran]

ICYMI last week the new #ncpol state budget will leave Wake County with the most under-staffed prosecutor's office in the state.

The budget funds enough new prosecutors to bring every DA's office in the state to at least 70% staffing, except Wake.

[Sophia Cai @SophiaCai99]

FULL timeline of the campaign to bring Balogun back, according to a half dozen U.S. government & soccer officials:
- Wednesday after U.S.-Bosnia match: Andrew Giuliani alerted Trump to the red card (Trump & Giuliani had been talking multiple times/week since start of World Cup and regularly before that.)
- Wed night: Giuliani, Lutnick and U.S. Soccer officials began activating on plans to challenge red card
- That kicked off 4 days of coordinated lobbying, legal maneuvering & diplomacy that stretched from Oval Office to Zurich
- On *Thursday* Trump dialed Gianni Infantino and asked abt FIFA’s rules around the red card decision and grounds for suspension. (They’ve known each other for 8 yrs.)
- FIFA declined to confirm any specific discussions but reiterated to POLITICO that the decision to suspend the one-match ban was made by an independent disciplinary committee.
- As U.S. Soccer’s legal team formally prepared & submitted its appeal to FIFA, Giuliani + Lutnick offered to make White House attorneys available to assist
- At the same time, Giuliani and Scott Goodwin — a hedge-fund manager who had helped pay the salary of Mauricio Pochettino — zeroed in on the officiating history of referee Raphael Claus
-Articles examining previous controversies involving Claus circulated among senior gov officials as they evaluated every argument that could bolster the appeal
- On FIFA side, Emilio García, who oversees the legal affairs of FIFA, advised Infantino on the available procedural options
- García + other FIFA officials worked to determine whether the circumstances of Balogun’s tackle met the narrow standards that would allow the disciplinary decision to be revisited
- By Sunday, FIFA announced that Balogun’s one-match suspension would be suspended
- FIFA insists that the decision was an independent one made by its 18-person disciplinary committee, but it would not say whether the decision was decided through a vote, and it has not published a report on the decision.

https://t.co/eXOOUkza6N

[Will Doran @will_doran]

President Trump putting his FIFA Peace Prize to use?

Everyone said this was an impossible outcome. https://t.co/2QCfMQhZ0a

[Will Doran @will_doran]

And because why not, here’s my video of the cannons for good measure. Maybe they’ll be firing off a couple celebratory rounds today once the budget officially passes, likely sometime this afternoon.

[Will Doran @will_doran]

The Alamance Battleground here will get $100,000 in the new #ncpol state budget, a nice little present in America's 250th birthday year

[Will Doran @will_doran]

Spent today with several hundred fellow history nerds at the 255th anniversary of evil colonial Gov. William Tryon stomping out the NC Regulator movement at @Alamance_1771

An important precursor to the Revolutionary War—and a fun time for my 5-year-old to watch cannons go boom

[Brian Murphy @murphsturph]

Raleigh MLB ballpark plan isn’t dead, House speaker says. He just doesn’t want NC to make first move https://t.co/WXrtK2UXLy

[Will Doran @will_doran]

@LukeFarleyNC @whitesox Interesting. I’ll ask @WRAL if they can send me to Rome to ask this important follow-up question of His Holiness

[Will Doran @will_doran]

A great sports-religion-#ncpol crossover here (although I imagine the Pope is a Blackhawks fan if anything?)

[Luke Farley @LukeFarleyNC]

When in Rome? Meet the Pope and present him with a custom @Canes jersey, of course.🧵

[Will Doran @will_doran]

The state House approved this idea a few weeks ago over Democratic objections. Senate has now approved it in the first of two votes. Once it passes the 2nd one it'll automatically be law---the governor isn't allowed to veto local bills like this one #ncpol https://t.co/IeALIG6erm

[Will Doran @will_doran]

In non-budget #ncpol news, elections in Southern Pines (and every other Moore County town) in 2027 and 2029 are being postponed by the state legislature. They're being moved to even-numbered years and turned into partisan contests. Moore County School Board also now partisan.

[Will Doran @will_doran]

State workers will get at least a 3% raise (higher for teachers, public safety) and income taxes will keep dropping.

Some other highlights: Higher taxes on sports betting companies and data centers, net 755 state jobs cut #ncpol https://t.co/H4I9x3aelv

[Will Doran @will_doran]

After more than a year of negotiating, #ncpol lawmakers have finally reached a budget deal. We've been reporting on some almost-final drafts the last few days. But the real thing was just made public a few minutes ago (link to follow)

[Brian Murphy @murphsturph]

NEW:
NC budget expected to:
- give UNC, NC State sports up to $5.8M annually from sports betting taxes; same as App, ECU, Charlotte
- allow deduction of gambling losses
- tax prediction market operators
- raise rate on sports betting operators to 23%
https://t.co/wydOIgNgHX

[Brian Murphy @murphsturph]

No baseball as we reported yesterday.
NC budget deal reached; lawmakers aim to vote this week on spending plan, sources say https://t.co/dSaAtFLjte