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Joshua Duggar (left) is introduced by First Baptist Church Senior Pastor Mark Harris (right) at a bus event. On Thursday, October 30th, 2014, the FRC Action “Faith, Family, Freedom Tour” stopped at the First Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC at 10:00 am. on its last tour stop As part of its seven-state bus tour, FRC Action’s Executive Director Joshua Duggar (and from the reality TV show “19 Kids and Counting”) encouraged pro-family voters to vote their values when casting their ballot on November 4th. Joshua mixed afterward with the crowd, having photos taken with brothers Josiah and John-David Duggar.

Elections

From politics to the pulpit and back again: Mark Harris’ rise on the religious right

Who is Mark Harris? The former pastor of First Baptist Church in Charlotte, Harris’ rise paralleled the fusion of the religious right and the Republican Party. He won the 9th District congressional seat over Democrat Dan McCready, but that’s in jeopardy.

Seaside village destroyed by Hurricane Maria struggles to rebuild one year later

Congress

Senators want broader probe of FEMA contracts in Puerto Rico

More than a year after Hurricane Maria’s deadly tear across Puerto Rico, the island struggles to rebuild and FEMA is under increased scrutiny as senators demand a broader look into its contacting practices.

President Donald Trump’s Rally in Charlotte, NC

Midterms

Trump is on the minds — if not ballots — of NC voters this year. Who does that help?

President Trump has said the election is about him, even though he’s not on the ballot. Whether they’re for him or against him, voters told the Observer that’s one reason they’re excited about the election

Health Care

South Florida Democrats are betting that healthcare is their winning issue

Miami is home to the largest concentration of Obamacare recipients in the U.S., and Democrats are spending millions on TV ads to motivate voters on the issue, certain that healthcare is the top issue to voters.

Republicans are attacking Donna Shalala’s tenure leading the University of Miami.

Midterms

Sensing an upset, Paul Ryan-aligned super PAC attacks Donna Shalala

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, is running a Spanish-language ad targeting Democrat Donna Shalala. The ad is the super PAC’s first foray into a Miami-based seat where President Donald Trump lost to Hillary Clinton by nearly 20 points.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley addresses the United Nations Security Council, Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, at U.N. headquarters.

Diplomacy

Nikki Haley’s private plane flights raise ethics questions, watchdog says

A Washington, D.C., ethics watchdog is calling for an investigation into U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s use of private aircraft owned by S.C. businessmen. Haley says the flights are gifts from long-time friends.

Democratic challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Carlos Curbelo.

Health Care

Citing health care, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell wants to be part of Florida’s blue wave

Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, an immigrant from Ecuador who came up short in her first race for office, hopes to oust Rep. Carlos Curbelo, arguing he’s more of a Republican than he claims.

How the N.R.A. fought gun control after Parkland

Midterms

How Parkland school massacre turned guns into a top 2018 campaign issue in Florida

Parkland and the March For Our Lives movement started by a group of Broward County high school students has thrust gun politics into the top tier of issues ahead of the 2018 elections.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2018.

Elections

SC Democrats want to oust Lindsey Graham in 2020. One is considering running

S.C. Democrats put their party on notice Thursday: Find a replacement for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in 2020 after the Republican defended President Trump’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh.

Mel Watt, former U.S. representative from North Carolina, is nearing the end of his five-year term as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Congress

Watt strongly denies harassment allegations

Former Rep. Mel Watt, now a federal housing agency finance director, appeared before a House committee Thursday. So did the woman accusing him of sexual harassment.

Temperatures have increased in the Mojave National Preserve and many other national parks across the west, leading to increased fires that threaten native species, such as Joshua Trees and Saguaro cactus. In this undated photo, fire erupts from buffelgrass, which thrive in the warmer desert environment, adding to risks of fires.

Environment

National parks are getting hotter and drier. What’s the outlook for 2100?

America’s national parks are becoming warmer and drier than other U.S. landscapes, threatening iconic ecosystems from the Everglades in Florida to Joshua Tree in California to Denali in Alaska, according to a new climate change study.

Inside South Florida’s only legal medical marijuana grow operation

The Influencer Series

Tallahassee should fulfill voters’ wishes on medical marijuana, influencers say

Nearly two years after Florida voters approved the use of medical marijuana, Tallahassee needs to implement the policy more effectively, but state officials should not take the extra step of legalizing the drug completely.

Hurricane Florence slams North Carolina coast

Congress

Funding fight: Hurricane Florence relief aid could be a battle in Congress

Congressional Republican leaders are confident the government has enough money in FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund to help with Hurricane Florence relief. But some Democrats think more money will be needed.

Rep. Kevin Yoder poses with Sunayana Dumala (front), whose husband was murdered in a hate crime Yoder’s district last year, and other Indian born activists from the Kansas City area seeking green card reform during an event in Washington, D.C.

Immigration

New idea for funding hurricane aid: Charge high-tech immigrants for green cards

Immigration lobbyists have pitched Rep. Kevin Yoder’s office on a proposal to pay for hurricane disaster relief by allowing high-skilled workers from India and China to obtain green cards after decades of waiting.

Florida citrus industry won’t roll over to greening disease

Agriculture

Citrus disease could kill California industry if Congress slows research, growers warn

Congress is poised to continue spending $25 million a year into finding a way to stop citrus greening. But some on the farm bill conference committee want to eliminate the special category created for citrus research.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order on immigration, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., Jan. 27, 2017.

Politics & Government

ICE demands ‘exhaustive’ voting records from North Carolina

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has subpoenaed voting records from North Carolina and 44 counties, according to the state elections board.

Cyber Security

South Carolina needs money to protect elections. Its senators aren’t helping.

A bill that would help states like South Carolina modernize their voting machines has hit a snag on Capitol Hill. But the state’s senior U.S. senators aren’t sounding the alarm bells, despite the state election commission’s lack of funding for the ambitious project and a lawsuit accusing bureaucrats of not doing enough to ensure better safeguards.

Trade

Trump’s budget chief is trying to protect his home state from tariffs

Mick Mulvaney, Donald Trump’s budget director, is trying to use his influence to help a South Carolina business that could be badly wounded by the president’s trade policies.

The East

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