Day: May 19, 2023

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Mere weeks before North Carolina’s GOP-controlled legislature enacted a 12-week abortion limit over the Democratic governor’s opposition this week, state Republican lawmakers appeared just one vote shy of an override.

But one House Democrat — formerly a strong advocate for women’s reproductive rights — unexpectedly switched to the GOP and then voted to squash Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill to limit abortion access.

The switch by Charlotte-area Rep. Tricia Cotham also gave Republicans veto-proof margins in both the House and Senate, upending the state’s fragile power balance and perhaps opening the floodgates to a new wave of conservative policies.

Republican bill sponsors also could use their newly attained veto-proof majority to propel some GOP-backed education policies and transgender restrictions across the finish line — several of which they introduced the same week she announced her party change.

She ran last fall on a platform supporting abortion access and LGBTQ+ rights but has since supported bills that critics say are at odds with those stances.

“Some call me a hypocrite since I voted for this bill,” Cotham said after supporting the abortion override Tuesday. The former Democrat, who has strong familial ties to the party and was known for giving an emotional House floor speech in 2015 about her own ectopic pregnancy, said she thought the bill struck “a reasonable balance” and represented the “middle ground” of two extremes.

Cotham, who earlier this year signed on to legislation to codify abortion protections under Roe v. Wade in state law, was among a small group of GOP legislators who were lobbied heavily by Cooper before the vote to sustain his veto. Rep. Ted Davis, who had declined to state publicly his views on the GOP abortion bill, was another.

While Cotham had voted in favor of further restrictions when the measure initially cleared the House May 4 — a move many Democratic constituents denounced as a “betrayal” — Davis was the lone Republican absent for the vote, making him a primary target of Cooper’s eleventh-hour plea.

The Wilmington-area Republican, who said at a candidate forum last fall that he supported “what the law is in North Carolina right now,” which was a 20-week limit, contends he did not break any promises. Davis now stands by his override vote, viewing it as a separate matter and one on which he made no promises.

The new abortion limits set to take effect July 1 also include new rape or incest exceptions through 20 weeks of pregnancy and exceptions for “life-limiting” fetal anomalies during the first 24 weeks. An existing exception remains for when the life of the pregnant woman is in danger.

“Based on things that have happened in my conscience, I could not vote to support Cooper, in part because of the manner in which he has tried to pressure and bully me into voting to support him,” Davis told The Associated Press after the vote Tuesday.

When announcing her party switch in April, Cotham similarly claimed pressure from Cooper and legislative Democrats made her feel disrespected and in part prompted her defection.

Longtime Democratic consultant Gary Pearce maintains his belief that Cooper’s barnstorming strategy was smart and put the new law “under the harsh spotlight it deserves.” The governor showed voters the hypocrisy of their elected officials, Pearce said, in a move he expects will boost Democratic campaigns next year.

“They were never on the fence,” he suggested of Davis and Cotham. “This was not an inside legislative game. It’s an outside game — a 2024 political strategy.”

The governor’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment on Davis’s criticisms.

Some Democrats are calling for Cotham’s resignation. Her vote to enact new abortion restrictions “went against the will of those who elected her,” said Nina Rodriguez, a voter and constituent of Cotham’s.

Since Cotham joined the GOP, she has also voted for a ban on gender-affirming surgeries for trans minors and a prohibition on trans student athletes playing on the sports teams that align with their gender identity.

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Schoenbaum is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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Associated Press writer Gary Robertson contributed from Raleigh.

NEW YORK (AP) — Ten studio albums done, the Dave Matthews Band finds itself in a good place, maybe even at a new beginning.

“The band is really gelled right now,” says singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews. “We’re all, at least for now, shining favorable lights on each other and laughing a lot and enjoying making music together.”

The seven members — including new keyboardist Buddy Strong — released the 12-track album “Walk Around the Moon” on Friday — the band’s first studio album since 2018 — and plan a summer tour.

“We’ve come to this place in an interesting way, but it wasn’t unnatural,” says Matthews. “We’ve had some good fights that probably would scare people but with the goal being that we could find some common ground. And I think we did.”

“Walk Around the Moon” is a varied set, with the tracks veering from small and intimate to brassy and political, with a filthy groove propelling “Break Free,” a nostalgia-tinged and brooding “Monsters” and the band absolutely cooking with “The Only Thing.”

Most of the songs were written during the pandemic, with members sending audio files to each other, which may explain why the sound is so eclectic. They didn’t initially plan for an album; it sort of just happened.

“I look forward to taking this band together in one room to make another record,” says Matthews. “I’m jumping the gun because having made 10 does feel like, if nothing else, we haven’t found anything better to do. Everyone could probably find a gig somewhere else. So it says something that we haven’t left each other yet. ”

The jam band, with their mix of funk, folk-rock, jazz, blues and pop, are hoping to add to their catalogue of seven No. 1 albums and hits like “American Baby” and “The Space Between.”

The pandemic hit the Matthews household at a chaotic time — his daughters starting college and his son starting high school. The Matthews family was lucky to be able to escape into the woods near his Virginia home.

That inspired the title track, a psychedelic trip into a forest. “It’s blue and it’s red/Found a new door inside of my head/How could I go to bed/Think I’ll walk around the moon instead,” he sings.

Another album highlight is “Madman’s Eyes,” a powerful song about gun violence, with the lyrics “Don’t sacrifice another child/It’s not black and white/’Less you’re looking through a madman’s eyes.”

The issue hits close to home: Matthews noted that there had been a shooting at a local public school and that his daughters have lost friends to gun violence.

“How is it possible that it is wrong for me to want to make my children safer in the world?” he asks. “I don’t understand how anybody with a straight face can tell me that I’m somehow against freedom if I think there should be more control.”

Matthews has been dismayed as the culture lately seems to be taken over by loud talking heads on TV or online making issues absolutes — clear right and clear wrong.

“I think all my life I’ve felt like there’s much more gray in the world,” he says. “Everything is more nuanced than that. We’re not always good and we’re not always right.”

The Dave Matthews Band won’t waste any time hitting the road. On Friday — album release day — they’re kicking off a tour in Texas that will take them to more than 20 states. It concludes with their annual three-day, Labor Day weekend celebration at Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state.

What exact songs the band will play live is always in flux, but Matthews says he feels the group is at a new beginning and that there’s a greater possibility of bringing old music back.

“Everything is kind of new. We have a somewhat new perspective looking at each other, and I feel like we’re a little more versatile than we have been,” he says. “I feel very lucky when I walk on stage right now. And hopefully that inspires some confidence in the audience as well.”

While he admires younger artists who incorporate dance into their concerts, Matthews will stick to his herky-jerky shuffles, what one critic called “nerdy dad-rock dancing.”

“When I see Taylor Swift, I think it’s really cool when the show is such an incredible performance like hers. And I love all the synchronicity and all this unity, which I hope we have some of at least musically speaking,” he says.

“But it makes me quite sure that we definitely don’t want to bring any dance steps into our performance. We should just stick to, at least some way, with what we know.”

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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brittney Griner got a chance to shake off some rust last week when she played a preseason WNBA game for the first time since she was detained in Russia on drug-related charges.

That’s all over now. She plays for real Friday night.

Griner and the Phoenix Mercury visit the Los Angeles Sparks as part of a four-game slate on the first day of the WNBA season. The 32-year-old center scored 10 points in 17 minutes in a home exhibition loss against Los Angeles last week.

Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February 2022 after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She returned to the U.S. in December after she was part of a high-profile prisoner swap.

Since her release, Griner has used her platform to advocate for other Americans being detained abroad. She was already an LGBTQ+ activist since publicly coming out in 2013.

Griner announced in April that she is working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed last year by the family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees held overseas. She said her team has been in contact with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in Russia on espionage charges.

With all that has happened off the court, it’s easy to forget Griner had arguably her best season in 2021. She finished second in the MVP voting after averaging 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game. She was a major reason the Mercury reached the WNBA Finals before losing to the Chicago Sky.

The 6-foot-9 Griner is expected to receive a warm reception in Los Angeles and other WNBA arenas across the country this season. She received a standing ovation before the Mercury’s preseason game last week.

Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard called the extra attention a challenge — but a welcome one.

“I’m anticipating the first time we go everywhere, it’ll be the ‘BG’ game, and it’ll be a thing,” Nygaard said. “So maybe we have to get through all the cities, and then it’ll be more normal. But it’s going to be a great tour. She’s going to go into a bunch of spaces where people are really excited and supportive.”

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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brittney Griner got a chance to shake off some rust last week when she played a preseason WNBA game for the first time since she was detained in Russia on drug-related charges.

That’s all over now. She plays for real Friday night.

Griner and the Phoenix Mercury visit the Los Angeles Sparks as part of a four-game slate on the first day of the WNBA season. The 32-year-old center scored 10 points in 17 minutes in a home exhibition loss against Los Angeles last week.

Griner was arrested at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport in February 2022 after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She returned to the U.S. in December after she was part of a high-profile prisoner swap.

Since her release, Griner has used her platform to advocate for other Americans being detained abroad. She was already an LGBTQ+ activist since publicly coming out in 2013.

Griner announced in April that she is working with Bring Our Families Home, a campaign formed last year by the family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees held overseas. She said her team has been in contact with the family of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in Russia on espionage charges.

With all that has happened off the court, it’s easy to forget Griner had arguably her best season in 2021. She finished second in the MVP voting after averaging 20.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game. She was a major reason the Mercury reached the WNBA Finals before losing to the Chicago Sky.

The 6-foot-9 Griner is expected to receive a warm reception in Los Angeles and other WNBA arenas across the country this season. She received a standing ovation before the Mercury’s preseason game last week.

Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard called the extra attention a challenge — but a welcome one.

“I’m anticipating the first time we go everywhere, it’ll be the ‘BG’ game, and it’ll be a thing,” Nygaard said. “So maybe we have to get through all the cities, and then it’ll be more normal. But it’s going to be a great tour. She’s going to go into a bunch of spaces where people are really excited and supportive.”

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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

AP correspondent Lisa Dwyer reports on Iran Protests.