Name: Atkinson reacts to arrest in Taft death
Uploaded: 2010-04-16T18:56:34-0400
Duration: 107360
Description: State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson talks with WRAL News minutes after finding out an arrest was made in the death of former state schools official Kathy Taft.

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State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson talks with WRAL News minutes after finding out an arrest was made in the death of former state schools official Kathy Taft.

Atkinson reacts to arrest in Taft death

June Atkinson, state superintendent of Public Instruction

WRAL-TV News Broadcasts: Watch each newscast live or watch the most recent newscast on demand.

WRAL Late News 

Get the latest WRAL WeatherCenter Forecast whenever you need it, including the DUALDoppler5000 and the 7-Day Forecast.

I'm theologist, Elizabeth Gardner. We have waves of rain moving across the area right now and that's going to be the case for the rest of the day today tonight and tomorrow before we get a little bit of a break on Thursday. Let's take a look at the big picture. You can see, we do have a tornado watch. That's the red shaded area down near Florida and Georgia. I've had a number of severe thunderstorm warnings along that, notice how that's starting to curve up the coast. That's why our southern counties are in that level one risk for severe storms for this afternoon because some of that could start to creep on up in to our viewing area, uh, later on today. So look at all the severe reports we've had along the Gulf coast. The, uh, the gray, the gray circles are severe thunderstorm winds. Uh, so wind damage and then the tornado reports were reports of tornado damage. So, um, it's been messy again the last few days, especially along the Gulf coast. We take a look at future cast and we'll have some waves of rain, some thunderstorms that start to build in, uh, have some embedded thunderstorms and they're starting as close to noon, uh, into the early part of the afternoon and then potentially a little bit of a break during the evening. But we'll see more rain and another chance for thunderstorms as we get into the day tomorrow. So it's a level one risk for our southern counties. It's going to be parts of more all of ho parts of Cumberland and Sampson County wind damage would be the biggest threat. Some heavy rain, certainly, possibly even some hail. Then tomorrow, it's the entire viewing area potential for damaging winds, heavy rain and possibly some hail as well. We will see the increase in moisture is that low pressure system is sliding eastward, dragging up some of that more from the Gulf of Mexico. We end up with 100% chance today, 60 tomorrow, a little break, Thursday and Friday and they're going to bump it back up to 40 on Saturday afternoon and evening storms and it's looking a little more likely that we could see at least some rain on Sunday as well. The models are starting to point in that direction. So something we'll watch closely. We have rainy conditions in Fayetteville this morning, temperatures will climb into the low seventies. We're looking at mid to upper sixties before lunchtime. 72 in Raleigh, 70 in Durham, 75 in Fayetteville. So it does stay cool today. Those forecast highs in the low seventies are much cooler than normal, our average high 80 degrees. So today feeling a little bit more like April, we're seeing our monkey meter climb as well. We're going to see tropical steamy over the next few days because of all the moisture in the atmosphere. If you're looking to get outside our dry days right now, look like Thursday and then maybe Monday, we're going to see that second round of showers and storms Friday, Saturday and potentially into Sunday. Keep checking back for the timeline of that because we'll get a lot more information in between now and then.

WRAL WeatherCenter Forecast

Nightly N.C. Education Lottery drawings during the 11 p.m. News.

Good evening. I'm Gayle. Her, welcome to tonight's drawing. So Monday, May 13th 2024. Well, let's start tonight with our Carolina pick three. Our first winning number is an eight. Our second number is six and the third number tonight is one and our pick three. Fireball number is six. Joining me for tonight's drawing is our from M Connolly Jones L LP. Now let's move to the Carolina pick four. Good luck. Everyone who's that first winning pick four number, it's a three. Our second number is one third number one again and our fourth number is N eight in our pick four fireball number. There it is, it is a six. We'll turn now to the Carolina cash five. I'm going with the top prize tonight. Tomorrow's top prize is estimated at $1.1 million. Good luck. Everyone who's that first winning cash five number, it's 18. Our second number four, third number tonight is 32. Our fourth number is sweet 16. And the final number NRC five this evening is eight. The North Carolina education lottery has contributed over $10 billion to education. Get your winning numbers right here every night. In your exclusive station for the North Carolina Education lottery. Thanks for playing. Have a great night.

Evening Pick 3 Pick 4 and Cash 5

Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday Powerball drawings, as shown live on WRAL.

Favorite jackpot game. This is Powerball. Good evening America. I'm Laura Johnson. Tonight we have another life changing jackpot for you. It's worth an estimated $47.9 million. So, get those tickets out. Let's play that first number up is 14, followed by the number five. Tonight, we're gonna meet Lisa Hayes who won $2 million playing powerball. Congratulations Lisa. Now, for the rest of those numbers, we've got 2938 rounding it out with 66. Your powerball number tonight. Good luck. Everyone is one and your power play multiplier is two. Let's take a look at those numbers. One last time. Remember there are multiple ways to win. We'll see you back here Wednesday night. Good night everyone. It's time to play America's favorite jackpot.

Powerball Drawing

Durham County commissioners are presenting their proposed budget for the county for the 2025 fiscal year.

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Daytime Pick 3 and Pick 4 drawings are held at 3 p.m. daily. They can be seen as live or on-demand video.

Good afternoon. I'm Luis Fernandez. Welcome to this afternoon's drawings from Monday May 13th, 2024. Let's get started with Carolina pick three. The first pick three number is zero. The second is five and the third is seven and our pick three fireball number is four. Join me for this afternoon's drawing is our auditor from mcconnell and Jones L LP. Now let's move to Carolina pick four. The first pick four number is three. The second is eight. The third is two and the fourth is four and our pick four. Fireball number is five. The North Carolina Education lottery has contributed over $10 billion to education. Thanks so much for your support.

Daytime Pick 3 and Pick 4 Drawing

Community members and loved ones of fallen law enforcement officers come together in Raleigh to remember and honor heroes for their service and sacrifices.

Here. She is Miss Judy. Thank you so much. I personally want to thank you for all that you have done at this time. I invite everyone to stand with me and please remain standing for the posting of the colors by our Wake County multi-agency color guard and remain standing for the national anthem sung by Raleigh Police Department. Senior Officer Kendall Strong followed by the invocation by Reverend Sarah Meares. I er no, that's oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light? What so proudly we hail at the twilights and last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the pear road was for the parts we watch were some gling streaming in the rockets red, the bombs bursting GP pro through the night that a flag was still there. Who say does that star spangled? And we for the and of the free? Yeah. Ok. Mhm. Officer at this time, we will have the invocation by Reverend Sarah Meares. Ok. Please pray with me, loving and gracious God as we gather together in this sacred hour. We are assured once more of your presence among us, we know that you are with us as you have been and will always continue to be in moments of loss and heartache, in moments of joy and remembrance in every mountain top and valley of our lives. You walk beside us. And so we come today asking that you cover us once more with your mercy, grace and love as we remember and honor those who served and paid the ultimate sacrifice to care for us and to keep us safe. We are here to honor husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, neighbors, colleagues and friends. We are grieving, but we are thankful oh God for their lives and the legacies they leave. We are thankful for their service, dedication to this community, strength, courage and care. Your word reminds us that there is no greater love than this to lay down one's life for his friends. We are deeply grateful and we will not forget. We ask that you keep their families and friends in your loving, embrace, comfort, their broken hearts, give them peace that can only come from you, guide them in their grief and help them to feel your presence. May they feel your love and compassion and be encouraged, knowing their loved one's legacy will not be forgotten. May today honor the lives lost and the dedication and service to this community. And may you be present in every moment leading us comforting us and challenging us to honor their memories and sacrifice in every day of our own lives in Jesus. Name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Reverend Meares for that very heartfelt prayer. This time you may be seated. It is now my pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker, Attorney General, Josh Stein, who is both a friend of to law enforcement and a fierce advocate for justice for every North Carolinian in our state. Josh Stein was sworn in for his first term as Attorney General in 2017 and his second term in 2021 he is focused on protecting North Carolina families from crime and consumer fraud. He diligently works to keep communities safe by recruiting and retaining well trained law enforcement officers. He also works to keep Children safe online, improve data security and lead a national effort to combat robocalls. Attorney General Stein is also leading efforts to combat the opioid crisis and bring treatment and recovery resources to North Carolinians struggling from drug addiction. He is working to make North Carolina's law enforcement and criminal justice systems fair and fighting the teen vaping epidemic all the while he's taken measures to protect clean air and water for our environment. Attorney General Stein previously served as a state senator and senior deputy attorney general in the North Carolina Department of Justice. He has led the efforts to put more violent criminals behind bars by expanding the state's DNA database. He uh he has also wrote the School Safety Act and the Identify the Identity Theft Protection Act and he has worked to protect kids from online sexual predators. It is my distinct pleasure and my honor to introduce North Carolina, Attorney General Josh Stein. Thank you, Chief Patterson. Good morning. Everyone I want to recognize and thank, uh, Sheriff Rowe, Chief Penry, uh, Reverend Meares, and of course, Chief Patterson, and we're grateful to Doctor Haley and Hayes Barton Baptist Church for hosting us this morning. And from the for to the Raleigh Youth Choir who will be participating shortly. It's an honor to be with you as we remember, heroes who have fallen in the line of duty here in Wake County to offer our praise and gratitude for their service to mourn their loss and to stand with their colleagues and families who've been forced to pay a heavy toll. Wake County has been my home now for three decades, I love living here. My wife Anna and I have raised our three Children here. They all went to public schools here. We work and worship here. Our neighbors are kind and thoughtful and I am so grateful and honored to be able to call Wake County home. Part of what makes this such a wonderful community is the commitment of our local police and deputies to keeping us safe. I thank them for their service to protect the people of Wake County. We make an enormous ask of peace officers. We ask them to fulfill a high calling which is to run straight to the very threat that every human instinct is telling them to go the other way to go toward the danger so that we and our loved ones can sleep safely in our homes at night. Our Children can be safe at school or at play. Being a peace officer is hard work, dangerous work, often underappreciated work. But my goodness, it is important and meaningful work. Every officer makes a choice to enter this field even though they understand the perils that may lay ahead. But they do so anyway, because they are heroes in life just as some are heroes in death. And unfortunately, we've been reminded all too recently of the sacrifices that some make. We've only just buried the four law enforcement officers we lost in tragedy in Charlotte. Their loved ones shared memories and painted portraits of officers who in and out of uniform were stand up. People looked out for others and acted with dignity and bravery. This past Tuesday, we commemorated North Carolina Peace Officer Memorial Day in Statesville. We recognized four other officers from across the state, including Raleigh Police Department's own Gabriel Jesus Torres. I want to say a word to the family members here today of the wake County officers who've lost because we know that fallen officers do not sacrifice alone. You all do as well. You were forced to wake up the next day and every day after and pick up the pieces of your lives and move forward without your loved one beside you. I'm incredibly sorry for the losses you've suffered. May the memories of your loved ones be a blessing to you today and always you played an integral role in nurturing the flame of service that burned within these fallen officers. Your support, your patience, your faith, your bravery, your love were sources of strength that supported their bravery and heroism. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And now it's up to the rest of us to surround you with the love and support that you so deserve. I hope and pray that we fulfill this responsibility to you and to this brotherhood and sisterhood of officers who've lost friends and coworkers from your ranks. I offer my condolences to you as well. I can't presume to imagine what it must feel like to lose a colleague in uniform. But I know well, what it means to lose someone you love and care about a friend, a colleague, a mentor. I pray that the bonds among you sustain you in sorrow and in your service and the legacies of those we've lost con continue to inspire you. Today is a testament to the immense gratitude that we have for all of you and the sacrifices you make on this job for the people that you serve and protect you all are the embodiment of strength and courage. It is right and good to thank and honor you all. Both the officers here with us today and the officers we have lost. There is no shortage of challenges facing our communities today. And in almost every instance, law enforcement officers are on the front lines of our community's response to those challenges. We call on them to make a measurable number of sacrifices as our guardians. And in the most tragic of these circumstances, they make the ultimate sacrifice. No amount of thanks can repay the debt we owe them. So we must resolve to stand tall and stay strong, to watch out for each other and care for each other to do our part, to make our community safer and stronger and to live up the le to the legacies of the fallen. Thank you all. And may God hold you all closely. Thank you, Attorney General Stein for those inspiring words and thank you so much for always being a partner to law enforcement. At this time. We will have a musical selection from our Raleigh youth choir. Yeah. Ok. Wow, that was wonderful. So good to see our young men singing and doing something positive at this time. With all law enforcement officers stand with me as we prepare for the reading of the names of our fallen heroes, guests and family. You may remain seated. I invite all. I invite Wake County Sheriff, Willie Rowe to come to the podium for the roll call of names following the roll call. Please remain standing for the 21 gun salute and the playing of taps. Sure fro ok. Ok. Thomas J Crabtree Raleigh Police Department in the Watch. September 1st 1922 Guy Cecil Massey, senior Wake County Sheriff's office. End of March. September 10th, 1933. Ok, John L Taylor Wake Forest Police Department. End of Watch. May 30th 1944 George C Mitchell Wake Forest Police Department. End of March. April 26th, 1947 Robert Earl Sparks Raleigh Police Department end of March March 8th, 1968 James Gail Lee Raleigh Police Department end of March December 5th, 1968 James Wade Allen Raleigh Police Department end of watch December 5th, 1968. Mm, Robert Randall East, North Carolina State highway patrolled end of March, December 21st, 1972 Del Mar D, Adams Raleigh Police Department end of Watch, February 3rd, 1980 Coen Low Wake Forest Police Department end of March, February 26th, 1984. We Bayless the third, North Carolina State Highway patrol. End of March February 5th, 1988 Denise Holden Raleigh Police Department end of March August 4th, 1995 William Earl Godwin Marsel Police Department. End of March May 22nd, 1997 Paul Andrew Hale Raleigh Police Department end of March, July 11th, 1997 Charles Radford, Paul the third Raleigh Police Department end of March, September 10th, 2002, William Franklin James, the second Wake County Sheriff's office end of March September 5th, 2003, Phil Owens Wake County Sheriff's Office End of March October 2nd 2003, Mark Reed Tucker. Wake County Sheriff's office end of March, February 12th, 2004 and drew Stocks, North Carolina State Highway patrol. End of March September 9th, 2008, Stephan, Maurice Wall. Wake County Sheriff's office end of March, April 22nd, 2018, Ryan A Hayworth night, Dale Police Department. End of March October 17th, 2021. NED P by Wake County Sheriff's Office. End of March, August 11th, 2022 Gabriel Jesus Torres Raleigh Police Department end of March October 13th, 2022 K nine, Santos Wake County Sheriff's office end of March May 26th, 2023. Ready. Hey, no. Hey, no. Hey, thanks. Yeah. Yeah. Ok. Officers please. We will now have another musical selection from our amazing Raleigh youth choir. All they are. They Move Me up, all they are. Yeah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah H 01 on Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Yeah. Halle. Halle, we are there. Go here, you know, other than God and they do me up. Yeah, we have all that. We have truly amazing what a solemn yet joyous occasion. This has been to celebrate the lives of our fallen brothers, sisters and canine partner. Scripture reminds us that in our sufferings, there is glory because suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, produces character and character encourages hope. And we know that hope maketh not a shame. Sometimes the truths of these words are difficult to understand and even consume. But let me assure you that the losses we have suffered in the deaths of our heroes whose names were read today are not in vain. Each loss has produced incredible strength and a perseverance that builds character and hope for a better tomorrow. Subsequently, those of us who are still standing, have a responsibility and the awesome privilege of carrying the legacy of each of the fallen officers by fulfilling what they all loved so dearly. And that was serving their community. Let us leave today with a renewed energy and desire to give a little bit more for the betterment of the whole. We live in a wonderful county where at least the 65 people who are moving here daily thinks that this region is the finest the state has to offer and we have a duty to protect and serve with the same valor enthusiasm, integrity and selfless service of our fallen comrades. The mantle has been passed on to us to continue the good fight that keeps the scales of justice balanced, to close out this wonderful service. I invite you to stand to your feet for the benediction by wake Tech police chief Michael Penry and the retiring of the colors. OK. Scripture reads in Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in the time of trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with surging the Lord Almighty is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Would you pray with me? Lord? Anytime we lose a law enforcement officer in the line of duty, it seems like the storms of life rage. It seems as though mountains crumble and seas roar and um and everything is, is out of control. But God, you are a refuge and you are our strength and you are with us and you are our fortress. So God, I pray that in these times uh of remembrance that you would overwhelm us with comfort and strength and compassion. Lord, for the families of those that have lost loved ones in the line of duty. I know that some grief comes like waves over and over and lord I pray that they would seek you for strength and refuge. We thank you for this opportunity. We have to remember those who gave all in the, in their line of duty. And Lord, we will always remember them and recognize them. And may we live out the courage that they lived before us? Lord, we love you. It's in jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Opposite. Yeah. Yeah. OK. Thank you for joining us today. And I'd like to extend a special thank you to our Special Operations Division for putting everything together so well and so amazingly, they had me a little bit worried but they did a fantastic job. So thank you for that. I do invite you to please remain with us and in your seats while our guests exit the stage along with the families of our heroes and then our command staff and we invite everyone to a special lunch, lunch, and reception. We have for the families to support you in your loss. We, our ushers will be available to direct you where to go for that and family. We really want you to be there with us. So if you are able to stay for that special luncheon, we appreciate it greatly. Thank you all again for being here and God bless you. Yeah. Ok. Ok. Yeah. Yeah, it's ok. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Ok.

Remembering heroes: 23 fallen officers honored in Raleigh

Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, explains preparations for North Carolina's second primary, a runoff with four races on the ballot. Polls will be open Tuesday from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

<p>I'm Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State board of Elections. I'm here with Paul Cox, our general counsel to the state board. Thank you to all the members of the press in attendance for helping us to get accurate information to the public. Tomorrow. Tuesday, May 14th is the second primary election day in North Carolina. There are two statewide Republican second primaries on the ballot tomorrow. State Auditor and Lieutenant governor to be eligible to vote in those contests. You must either be a registered Republican or an unaffiliated voter who either did not vote in the March 5th primary election or voted the Republican ballot in the primary. The winners of these contests will be the Republican nominees in the November general election. Also on ballots in some locations. Tomorrow are a Republican second primary in the 13th congressional district as well as local contests in Gaston and Orange counties. Tomorrow is the last opportunity for registered and eligible voters to cast their ballot in this election election day. Polling places will be open statewide from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters should go to their assigned voting location. You can find your assigned voting location and your sample ballot in the voter search tool. On the state board's website N CS ve.gov, some election day voting sites have been consolidated for the second primary. So please make sure to confirm the location of your election day poll in place through the voter search tool. Another important reminder, voters will be asked to show a photo ID. When they check in to vote, most voters will simply show their driver's license but there are many other acceptable forms of photo id for more information including the full list of acceptable I DS visit, bring it nc.gov. If a voter cannot show a photo ID, they can still vote by filling out an ID exception form and voting a provisional ballot. Finally, a crucial reminder to absentee voters. If you still want to vote your absentee ballot, your only option is to drop off your ballot at your county board of elections office by 7:30 p.m. Tomorrow. Today is too late to put that ballot in the mail. It must arrive at your county board of elections office by 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. As an alternative, you can still, you can simply discard your absentee ballot and vote in person at your assigned voting location tomorrow. So how will results get reported? Unofficial election results will be posted as they come in tomorrow night on the state Board's elections, dashboard results dashboard as always just remember, elections are not over on election night during the 10 day canvas period after election day, bipartisan county boards of elections in all 100 counties count the remaining absentee ballots, research and count provisional ballots, audit the results and conduct any necessary recount. For example, every county conducts a sample hand count of ballots in randomly selected election day precincts, early voting sites or the absentee ballots cast in the county. Even during second primaries, we do this with every election. This process is to confirm results tabulated by our certified and tested voting equipment. Counties must conduct these hand counts in public. Finally, I just want to tell voters all voters in North Carolina who are eligible to vote in the Republican second primary that there is still time to make your voice heard all too often. We see low turnout in second primary elections. Yet votes cast in these contests will decide the nominees of the Republican party for the general election in these particular contests. So get out there and vote. And with that, I will take your questions, please put your name and media organization in the chat if you wish to ask a question. All righty. Uh looks like Michael Highland was first, Michael, go ahead and unmute. And are you able to hear me? Ok, I can hear you. Ok, great. Um My first question related to what you just said at the end about the um history of the low turnout in these um second primaries. Um What if anything do you think the state could do, are there any steps you think could be taken to help improve turnout in these, uh, second primaries if we're gonna continue to have them? I don't tend to weigh in on that. Um, but I'm happy to talk to legislators. It did actually come up um, briefly in a question from a legislator, uh, during the joint elections committee meeting recently and there are options. Um, we have adjusted this law in the past. Um And I think, you know, that's something that legislators can consider. Um And, and determine whether a second primary method is the right path for North Carolinians or not. Um And then are there any um recommendations for counties who may be concerned about the cost of doing this with seeing so few people turn out any other things that maybe could be done to help with that? Uh The, the cost of elections by our state law is the responsibility of the counties. Um You know, that might be something else. Uh There's different methods of who pays for primaries and second primaries and runoffs in other states. So that would be something we need to look at from a legislative standpoint and happy to discuss with uh our lawmakers on how those methods and, and processes work in other states. Um So, yeah, but at this point, you know what we do, whether it's a second primary or a general election, whatever the case, we prepare for 100% turnout and um and hope that we will see that kind of turnout, whether it's a second primary or a presidential general election. Laura Leslie. Uh You should be unmuted. Can you hear me? Ok. Hi Laura. Hey. Um, so couple questions. Number one, what was our turnout for the prime for the uh first primary? Uh We were at about 24% if I remember correctly. What do we average for a second primary? Uh, second primary or of far too often in single digits? It does certainly depend on what might be happening in a local contest. Like we've got going on in Orange and Gaston counties or, uh, we'll probably see a higher turnout in the counties with the 13th congressional district. Um, but overall statewide, we're at about 0.7% turnout for those voters who are eligible, which is about, uh, uh, not quite 5 million eligible voters considering the unaffiliated and the Republican, uh, voters, you're saying so far so far? That's right. Hopefully that goes up tomorrow. We don't see people turn out. All right. Um, ok. So another question, um, what do people do if they are one of those folks who has gotten delayed getting their driver's license because of the glitch that's happening at the DMV. So, say you've got a paper driver's license. How do you vote? There's actually an exception for that on the exception form. So we could, um, help them that way or potentially they may have another acceptable form of ID. Um, you know, there are many student I DS that are acceptable public, uh, employee I DS that are permitted tribal veteran I DS passports. Um, so there are options and that's why we definitely encourage voters to look at our website. And the list of I DS that are acceptable, uh, bring it nc.gov is the site for that. And again, if it's this particular case where they have not gotten their ID from the DMV, at this point in time, that is a, uh, an exception on the exception form as well. Great. Thank you. Um, and just real quickly, do we know that is Jennifer Moore withdrawn from the primary in Orange County? Um, she's actually uh past the point to withdrawal, um, but she has resigned. So, uh, we have a situation where she will appear on the ballot. The ballots had already gone out. Um Similarly, we have an indication from the 13th congressional district that the, one of the candidates does not, you know, intend to continue. Um, but the ballots had already gone out in both of these situations. So, um, that, that process will, you know, continue, those votes will be counted. Um If, if those individuals um happen to be the top vote getters, then we'll address that with them and, and how they choose to continue. So there's nothing but there's nothing like if you go to an election site, right? You go to, to tomorrow on election day, there's no signs or anything that are telling you that that one of these people is no longer running. That's correct. They have announced that, but they, um, they, they could not withdraw at the point when they made that announcement, Paul, is there anything from a legal standpoint? You want to add in on that? No, I think you said it correctly. I mean, at this point, um, our law requires that the election continue as is and that the results be declared. Uh And because the, the Orange County contest is not a primary contest, it's like the actual election, the, the, the run off to determine who's going to take office. So whoever is the highest vote earner in that runoff contest will be declared the new, um, uh person who's eligible to assume office for that Board of Education seat in Orange County. And then it'd be up to that person whether to assume that office just like it is for anyone who's elected. And if they don't, then it'd be up to the Board of Education to um, uh fill that vacancy if, if no one takes office once they're elected. Thank you. Uh Gary Robertson should be able to unmute and ask your question. I can hear you. Gary, let's, it's a little static. Let's see. OK. I wanted to ask, I was intrigued by the idea that there are some counties where precincts have been consolidated for the second primary. How, how is that accomplished? And is that a potential solution for counties to deal with second runoff expenses in the future? It's actually a, a practice that in my 18 years of working in elections administration, uh that we've seen this practice has gone on um for some time when we have second primaries where we anticipate a lower turnout or even in municipal elections, when there are fewer eligible voters, we can consolidate. Um There's a provision within the law about, you know, uh the, the locations being adjacent, the precincts being adjacent to each other, so that we're not um you know, creating a burden for someone to have to travel across the county. It's not that level of consolidation, but nearby precincts can be consolidated. Um The boards had to take action on that and notice to the voters that were affected. Um So it, it's, it's something that's um we've approved many weeks ago actually, I guess you could say um almost months ago, um as the, they rolled into the second primary to be prepared. And um and, and it does help to reduce costs. We still um are able to uh identify uh the ballots cast by precinct um because we still, the voters are still registered with the precinct that they um you know, their boundaries uh where they belong. Um But we are able to use a uh a consolidated polling site Thank you. All right. I see a couple of hands raised. Um, I'm gonna get to you all. First, Lisa Worf. Do you have a question? How many fewer, uh, polling sites are you expecting in the second primary compared to the, the first one?</p>

Atkinson reacts to arrest in Taft death

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