Ethics Coverage

How they voted: NC congressional votes for the week ending Dec. 15

A look at how North Carolina members of Congress voted over the previous week.

Targeted News Service

Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins set to retire

Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins told WRAL News she is planning to retire after over 30 years in law enforcement.

Ethics allegations against Fayetteville Police Chief have been dismissed

All along Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins has denied such allegations, some of which included whether Hawkins used her city vehicle for personal reasons and used officers to help her find her lost dog.

Fayetteville chief denies allegations in ethics complaint

An ethics complaint filed against Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins lists more than a dozen issues.

Cullen Browder, WRAL anchor/reporter

What happens when people use autonomous cars for bad? Experts weigh in

“Current approaches to ethics and autonomous vehicles are a dangerous oversimplification – moral judgment is more complex than that,” says Veljko Dubljević, an assistant professor in the Science, Technology & Society (STS) program at North Carolina State University.

NC lawmaker accuses multiple senators of abusive behavior

"It's like being bullied on the playground," Sen. Erica Smith says, "and everybody else is turning a blind eye."

Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter, & Laura Leslie, WRAL Capitol Bureau chief

Watchdog files second complaint over Senate leader's townhouse

A Raleigh townhouse that is the focus of state ethics and campaign finance complaints has a new owner.

Bioethicist says genetically modified babies could be ethical in 2 years

Genetically modified babies could be created ethically within two years, according to an article published in the journal Bioethics.

Documents: UNC system president didn't report board seats

Records obtained by a North Carolina news outlet show the interim president of the University of North Carolina system and former CEO of the UNC Health Care System failed to disclose his seats on the boards of major corporations while those corporations did business with the state.

Ruling closes door on eight-member NC elections board

The eight-member State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement is officially dead.

Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor

Supreme Court sides with Cooper in fight over NC elections board

A divided state Supreme Court ruled Friday that the General Assembly overstepped its authority last year when it overhauled the state elections board.

Matthew Burns, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor

Senate to hear from Comey; Dems raise new Sessions questions

James Comey, fired last month as FBI director amid a federal investigation into connections between Russia and the Trump campaign, is set to testify next Thursday at a highly anticipated congressional hearing that could shed light on his private conversations with the president in the weeks before his dismissal.

Judges dismiss Cooper challenge to elections board overhaul

A three-judge panel ruled Thursday that a law combining oversight of elections and ethics complaints under one board could move forward.

Matthew Burns

Lawmakers override Cooper again; combine elections, ethics oversight

The Republican majority in the General Assembly flexed its muscle again this week, voting to override Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of plans to combine elections and ethics oversight under one state board.

Matthew Burns

Crossover Monday roundup

State House lawmakers galloped through about three dozen bills in just a few hours Monday night. Here's what sailed and what failed.

Laura Leslie

Cooper vetoes court, elections bills

Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday issued the second and third vetoes of his administration, rejecting bills that would cut the size of the state Court of Appeals and would combine the state boards that oversee elections and ethics complaints.

Matthew Burns

Veto fight ahead over elections board rewrite

State legislative leaders and Governor Roy Cooper are likely headed for another veto fight, this time over a measure that would reconfigure the state's oversight of elections, ethics, and lobbying. State lawmakers sent the bill to the governor's desk Tuesday.

Laura Leslie and Matthew Burns

House OKs revised elections oversight overhaul

The state House voted 68-42 Thursday in favor of a new plan to combine oversight of state elections and ethics enforcement.

Matthew Burns

Lawmakers revive plan for combined state elections, ethics board

A little more than two weeks after a three-judge panel threw out a new state law combining oversight of state elections and ethics enforcement, leading Republican House members are pushing a revised version of the plan.

Matthew Burns

Judges deliver split decision in fight between Cooper, lawmakers

A three-judge panel on Friday gave both Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders a victory and a stinging defeat in their ongoing power struggle.

Mark Binker and Matthew Burns

Power struggle between Cooper, lawmakers in hands of judges

Lawyers for Gov. Roy Cooper argued Tuesday that state lawmakers illegally undercut his authority before he even took office in January, while lawyers for legislative leaders maintained that the General Assembly has the power to give certain powers to the governor or take them away.

Matthew Burns

Court ruling throws status of ethics, elections panels into doubt

Senate Leader Phil Berger says a Court of Appeals ruling Tuesday has effectively left the state with no Ethics Commission and no State Board of Elections due to the legal battle between legislative leaders and Governor Roy Cooper.

Laura Leslie and Mark Binker

Ethics panel highlights potential conflicts for Cooper cabinet

State Ethics Commission letters have highlighted potential conflicts of interest for Gov. Roy Cooper's cabinet members. Senators say they would like to ask about those potential conflicts during confirmation hearings.

Mark Binker

Supreme Court reinstates NC elections board

The state Supreme Court has reversed an appeals court order that allowed the merger of the state's ethics and elections board to move forward.

Mark Binker

Names of appeals judges who issued order in elections board case a secret

The clerk for the North Carolina Court of Appeals says "policies and procedures" don't allow him to list the three judge panel who ruled in the controversial case.

Mark Binker