Remember to apply for Town of Morrisville Advisory Committees by Nov 14th! At 5 pm! 

https://www.townofmorrisville.org/government/resident-advisory-committees

The Town is growing, and your opinion matters! Advisory Committees offer residents a chance to be involved in the Town’s decision-making processes by providing input on important matters to Town Council. The deadline to apply is Monday, Nov. 14, at 5 p.m. Apply now on the Town website. Contact Town Clerk Eric Smith with any questions at (919) 463-6168 or esmith@townofmorrisville.org.

ADVISORY COMMITTEES WITH VACANCIES/OPEN TERMS

The Town is growing, and your opinion matters! Here’s an overview of advisory boards with vacancies/expiring terms:

• Environmental and Stormwater promotes local recycling, stormwater, and other environmental programs and education to residents and in local schools. 
• Smart City Steering works with and through the Information Technology (IT) Department to assist and support the town in innovation and development of smart city initiatives.
• Performance Measures Advisory makes suggestions and recommendations to staff on Town performance measures, process improvement projects and benchmarks; and reviews and publicly discusses the comprehensive annual financial report to enrich transparency and accountability.
• Planning and Zoning Board deals with land use, zoning, and development issues.
• Public Education Advisory informs and advises Town Council on specific public school needs in Morrisville.
• Senior Advisory investigates, implements, or assists with methods and concepts to improve quality of life for the seniors’ population of the town. 

Learn more about committees and apply by Monday, November 14 at https://bit.ly/3OK7lRh

Wake County Votes for $1Billion in Bonds!   

https://abc11.com/wake-county-election-results-bonds-parks/12434777/

Durham County Votes for $112 million Bonds for Durham Tech!

https://www.durhamtech.edu/news/durham-county-voters-approve-112-million-bond-referendum-fund-new-training-centers-healthcare

National Alert:

Student Loan Forgiveness on Hold and in Jeopardy.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/11/biden-administration-stops-taking-applications-for-student-loan-forgiveness.html

Nov 17th Testosterone Therapy Symposium! 

We are excited to share an invitation to the Recognizing the Value of Testosterone Therapy in Healthcare Symposium 2022. During the symposium, global experts will share their research on important topics surrounding testosterone, as well as the future of testosterone therapy. As there is a tremendous patient population that could benefit, please share with your network/anyone else who will find it valuable/relevant.

Registration link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R1l9UK6aSRqo9jWvKQ2nhA

Democrats retain control of US Senate! 

Democrats retain control of United States Senate with win in Nevada!  Cortez Masto seals the deal. House still a tossup. 

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Town of Morrisville Veterans Day celebration and our first annual Veteran Memorial 5K Walk!  We also recognized all Staff Members who served as Veterans and we thank them for their continued public service.  

A special thanks to all Veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and for setting an example of how we can serve our communities, united in our diversity.  

My Insights on Veteran Memorial:

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/635681774971175

A special thanks to everyone who came out to our Veteran Memorial 5K Walk.  I want to thank our Parks and Recreation Vice Chair, Jashi Abhirajan for spearheading the walk.  

Please send us your ideas and also, contribute to our Veteran Memorial!  

Radio Nyra Interview with Bob Butler, Chair Veteran Memorial:

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/1180579262551637

My Message to BAPS Community:

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/1302345403834332

On Sunday, I was honored to attend the Centennial Celebration of PRAMUKH SWAMI MAHARAJ.  I cannot think of a better time than now to remember how humility, faith, and love, embodied the life and legacy of Pramukh Swami and continues to inspire all of us.  He served as a role model for millions across the globe and dedicated his entire life to the well being of others, visiting more than 250,000 homes in 17,000 villages and cities.  He counseled and comforted more than 810,000 people.  

The theme of the celebrations was Param Shanti, translated to mean Eternal Peace in English.  We can only bring more peace to our world if we have faith in god, love our neighbors, and serve others selflessly.  We pray for peace in our time and for all time.   Jay Swaminarayan

I would be remiss if I did not congratulate two of my closest friends, Wiley Nickel and Chris Heagarty for winning their races. 

Wiley proved the pundits wrong, and just outworked his opponent as always.  He is such a graceful, nice person, and will be a great new voice for North Carolina in the US Congress. He also has the best wife in the world, (except me) and wonderful family. (Prescott and Adeline)  The force is Strong in this One!  

Chris’s leadership and passion for new schools brought us Parkside Elementary, Wake College Early Stem High School and a new Public High School at Wake Tech!  I cannot wait to see what his leadership brings us in his new term!  Chris’s wife, Tivey and family, are wonderful (Stephen and Sydney) and just like me, both these guys married up!

Congrats to both of you!  I am very proud of both of you and am grateful for our friendships and enjoyed working on both of your campaigns!   

ROKU TV HINDU HERITAGE INTERVIEW:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIkw4q3VJMQ

Critical Conversations Podcast

Made by Debut on the Podcast Critical Conversations with Kenia Thompson.

https://www.facebook.com/kenia.c.thompson/videos/2135504183293818

88.1 FM Geet Bazaar

Wonderful interview with Secretary of State Elaine Marshall on 88.1 FM Geet Bazaar!  

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/454623026620604

Deadline Approaching to Become a Town Advisory Committee Member

The Town is growing, and your opinion matters! Advisory Committees offer residents a chance to be involved in the Town’s decision-making processes by providing input on important matters to Town Council. The deadline to apply is Monday, Nov. 14, at 5 p.m. Apply now on the Town website. Contact Town Clerk Eric Smith with any questions at (919) 463-6168 or esmith@townofmorrisville.org.

Registration Now Open for Winter Athletics

Registration for youth winter athletics, including boys’ and girls’ basketball, is now open. Browse class offerings, which are separated by age, on ActiveNet. 

Morrisville Senior Center to Host Workshop on Independent Living Options November 16

Freda Hamlett of the Milestone Moves Realty Group will present a workshop on independent living options for seniors at the Morrisville Senior Center, 4117 Davis Drive, on Nov. 16, from 10-11 a.m. The workshop will provide information on how to search for independent living options, discuss typical costs and how to manage them, review the benefits of these communities, and more. The workshop is free, but advanced registration is required. Click here to sign up for the workshop.

Morrisville Aquatics & Fitness Center Hosting 'Maintain, Don't Gain' Program for Holidays

The Morrisville Aquatics & Fitness Center (MAFC) is hosting its annual community challenge to help participants maintain their weight and stay healthy through the holiday season. “Maintain, Don’t Gain” will run through Jan. 6, and it will include fitness classes, fitness challenges, and regular weigh-ins. Everyone who completes the challenge will be entered into a drawing for prizes, which include personal training sessions, a one-month membership, special entry into classes, and swag. Those who wish to participate must register at the front desk at the MAFC, 1301 Morrisville Parkway, by Nov. 21.

Now Hiring: Join the Public Works Team

The Town of Morrisville Public Works Department has three exciting career opportunities open now. Join one of only three North Carolina municipalities with an American Public Works Association (APWA) accredited Public Works Department. We are looking for individuals to serve in our Streets Maintenance, Athletics Maintenance, and Grounds Maintenance divisions. For more information click on the following links:

• Streets Maintenance Tech I
• Athletics Tech I
• Street Maintenance Supervisor
• Grounds Maintenance Tech I

Panther Creek DECA

Panther Creek DECA Networking Night!

Brierpoint Senior Living

Brierpoint Senior Living Opens in Morrisville! 

Solarize Triangle

Solarize Triangle Networking Social at Bond Brothers in Cary! 

Global Peace Day

Celebrating Vishwanathan Mahotsav Global Peace Day at HSNC!  

My Insights on Peace:

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/807587927203008

Hoppy House

Hoppy House Opens in Morrisville!  

Insights from Hoppy House:

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/498243588914090

NC Executive Roundtable

Inspired by Brigadier General Stephen Iacovelli at NC Executive Roundtable. 

Ted X

I would like to thank Bearta Alachar for speaking and I will dedicate another newsletter highlighting, the other speakers.  

Sig Hutchison

Celebrated and roasted Sig Hutchison! We will miss his leadership.

NC Vet Biz Gala!

Black Issues Forum

Sharing my insights on the Midterm Elections

Black Issues Forum | PBS NC

SAM IT Solutions

Visit with SAM IT Solutions!  

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/688649989120208

Splash Schools

Visit with Arvind at Splash Schools at Morrisville Diwali!

Visit with Arvind at Splash Schools

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/440983728145467

Bombay Central

Drop in at Bombay Central!  Come get Diwali sweets at Bombay Central

Insights from Bombay Central! 

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/1256765408453437

Lemon Lime

Great visit with Lemon Lime in Chapel Hill!  

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/639837417809069

Social Equity

Wonderful visit with Brian Lora, CEO and Founder of Social Equity!  

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/1527625694328424

Happy Mug Coffee

Thanks to the Barbara Kreitzer and Happy Mug Coffee Truck for being at Kiran! @happymugcafe

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/659750855494655

Arpam Mart

Caught up with Arpam Mart at Battakuma!

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/826696298358704

Rush Hour Karting

Visit with Adam and Tamer Saad Rush Hour Karting! Opening this year near Wake Competition Center!

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/1403043800177000

Chutney’s

Thanks to Chutney’s for hosting India Pakistan Cricket Match!  Great Match!

https://www.facebook.com/steve.s.rao/videos/808974113609759

NC Supreme Court is now Republican Majority 

Republicans have reclaimed a majority of the North Carolina Supreme Court with the election of Judge Richard Dietz to Seat 3 and Trey Allen to Seat 5.

Both seats were previously held by Democrats, allowing Republicans to take a 5-2 majority.

Seat 3

Dietz narrowly beat Democratic candidate Lucy Inman for the open Seat 3 with just over 52 percent of votes statewide.

Inman won Orange County by collecting over 77 percent of the votes cast.

Dietz said in an email statement to The Daily Tar Heel that he centered his campaign on being a leader in the court system, basing his definition on skill, character and improvement of the justice system beyond the courtroom.

“I’ve made the theme of my campaign ‘leadership, not politics,’" he said. "I don’t bring any political mission to my job. My only mission — from the moment I took the oath as a judge--is to defend our rights, protect the rule of law, and help people resolve their legal disputes fairly."

Seat 5

Incumbent Justice Sam Ervin IV lost his reelection bid against Republican Trey Allen. Ervin earned about 47.6 percent of the vote, while Allen gained 52.4 percent.

Allen is currently general counsel for the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts, and was formerly on the faculty of the UNC School of Government as an associate professor. He has worked as a clerk for the court’s Chief Justice Paul Newby and is a Marine Corps veteran. 

I hope he enjoys doing the work of the court as much as I have,” Ervin said.

Allen’s judicial philosophy, according to his website, is based on the idea that “judges must follow the Constitution as originally understood and the laws as written.”

He says on his website that judges should remain non-partisan, and that judges who issue rulings based on their political views, “they exceed their authority and abuse the public’s trust.”

Allen’s term will last until 2030.

Republican majority

Having a Republican majority in the N.C. Supreme Court opens the opportunity for the overturning of various decisions made along party lines, such as the N.C. Supreme Court’s order to allocate of hundreds of millions of dollars for public education in the Hoke County Board of Education v. North Carolina case.

Some N.C. voters are concerned that the Republican majority will impact reproductive rights in the state.

“The Supreme Court races for North Carolina are very important to me specifically due to the ongoing legislation on abortion rights and health care for pregnancy,” said Anne Stuart Freemon, a 19-year-old nursing major at UNC.

Currently, abortion access is legal in North Carolina through 20 weeks of pregnancy, but the shift in majority could allow for harsher abortion restrictions.

The state Supreme Court has also been involved in gerrymandering cases, including a recent case which determined that a racially gerrymandered legislature cannot propose amendments to the state’s constitution.

The Court also ordered districts to be redrawn in February. Leaders in the Republican-led General Assembly appealed this intervention to the Supreme Court. The case, Moore v. Harper, will be argued in the U.S. Supreme Court in December.

“With the U.S. Supreme Court decision coming out soon about whether or not they have the right to gerrymander without the NC court being able to say anything makes me really nervous for our voting rights in the future,” Kailey Murray, a fifth-year senior at UNC and resident of Chapel Hill, said.

NC WILL REDRAW MAPS IN 2024

North Carolina evenly split its U.S. House delegation in Tuesday’s midterm election, with Democrats and Republicans each winning seven of the 14 seats up for grabs.

But with Republicans flipping control of the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, it’s highly likely state lawmakers will be allowed to redraw the maps next year in a way that more aggressively favors Republican candidates for elections throughout the rest of the decade.

“The Republican Party has made a significant investment in judicial elections the last two cycles, and it has paid off,” said Bob Orr, a former Republican justice on the N.C. Supreme Court who has become a critic of his former party in the last few years. “For better or worse, whether you like it or not, they have put together a strong slate of candidates, with a lot of funding, and they have won.”

icans swept every statewide judicial race in both 2020 and 2022. Those wins gave the N.C. Court of Appeals a stronger GOP majority and flipped the Supreme Court from a 6-1 Democratic majority in 2019 to, starting in 2023, a 5-2 Republican majority.

On Tuesday Trey Allen defeated incumbent Justice Sam Ervin IV for one seat, and Richard Dietz defeated Lucy Inman in the other seat up for grabs.

Elections for the court are staggered, and all three Republicans currently on the court won in 2020. Since justices serve eight year terms, that means that unless two or more Republican justices leave the court early, Democrats won’t have another chance to take back control until the 2028 elections.

Republican politicians have not tried hiding their anger at the Democrats on the court for handing them a number of high-profile losses in political cases recently. After the election they reveled in taking back control — and the implications that will have for elections throughout most of the rest of the decade.

NC Senate Wins Supermajority/Falls 1 Short in House

Democrats appear to have prevented Republicans from winning a supermajority in the state House, which would help preserve the strength of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.

Republicans had been shooting for veto-proof majorities in both chambers, but appeared to have achieved that goal only in the Senate.

“We stopped a GOP supermajority tonight when North Carolinians voted for balance and progress,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a tweet early Wednesday. “I’ll continue to work with this legislature to support a growing economy, more clean energy, better health care and strong public schools.”

Three-fifths majorities are needed to override vetoes. That’s 30 votes in the 50-member Senate and 72 votes in the 120-member House. Republicans needed to pick up only two seats in the Senate and three in the House to win supermajorities that able override Cooper’s vetoes without Democratic lawmakers’ help.

Black Democratic incumbents in the eastern part of state, Reps. Howard Hunter III, Linda Cooper-Suggs, and James Galliard were defeated, as was Sen. Toby Fitch.

Rep. Ricky Hurtado, the only Latino legislator currently serving, appears to have lost to Republican Stephen Ross. Hurtado defeated Ross two years ago to win the seat, but Republicans redrew the boundaries of the district to give Ross a better chance to win.

Results will not be final until absentee ballots are counted and provision ballots reviewed. The State Board of Elections is set to certify results on Nov. 29.

LEANDRO FUNDING OF PUBLIC EDUCATION COULD BE REVERSED

The election of two new Republican judges to the North Carolina Supreme Court has people on both sides of a long-running lawsuit wondering what will happen next.

In January 2023, Republicans Trey Allen and Richard Dietz are set to join the state’s highest court. On Tuesday, Allen defeated Democratic incumbent state Supreme Court Associate Justice Sam Ervin IV, and Dietz defeated Democratic Appeals Court Judge Lucy Inman.

Critics of the Nov. 4 Leandro ruling are speculating the new state Supreme Court might reverse it. In the ruling, the court ruled the state has not adequately funded education. It directed a lower court to order the transfer of up to $500 million to various agencies.

House Speaker Tim Moore, a Republican, called the ruling ridiculous.

“To think that they can appropriate that, I think we're unified in a message that that's not something this General Assembly supports at all,” Moore

“And [it’s] something that we're going to revisit.

“I feel confident on that on a number of fronts.”

Years ago, Rick Glazier was an attorney on the Leandro case. He said there’s no precedent to overturn it.

“It cannot be that the Constitution lives or dies based on a change of election, or it would render, effectively, any decisions of the court temporary, and that's not what can happen here or what should happen here,” Glazier said.

Raleigh-based Parker Poe partner and lawyer Melanie Black Dubis echoed Glazier's sentiments.

There is no procedural mechanism by which a newly-constituted Supreme Court could revisit and overturn the issues that have already been decided," she wrote in an email to WRAL News. "If the court attempts to overturn the ruling based on the election results, it will lose any semblance of independence and integrity it [ever] had."

However, an attorney for Senate Leader Phil Berger, Brent Woodcox, predicted on Twitter that the ruling would be overturned next year by the Supreme Court’s new Republican majority.

Wake County Leaders Change Gun Ordinance RULES 

Wake County approved updates to decades-old shooting rules for unincorporated areas on Wednesday.

Homeowners had recently raised concerns about bullets coming too close to their homes.

The board of commissioners approved several changes:

• You now have to be 300 yards away from a home, building or livestock before discharging a firearm. That's an increase from 100 yards.
• A backstop is now required to block bullets.
• And it is prohibited to discharge a firearm between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m
• Increasing the maximum fine for violation from $50 to the statutory limit of $500.

There is an exception for the distance requirement. Residents will be able to discharge a firearm within 300 yards of someone else's home if the person first gets written permission from the owner or current resident. The permission form can be downloaded from the county's website and must be signed and dated.

The permission is valid for one year, and anyone shooting must have the form with them.

"For the safety of all our residents in Wake County, we needed to make these improvements," said Sig Hutchinson, chair of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. "We are thankful for the thoughtful input from gun owners and others, including the Wake County Sheriff's Office whose deputies will enforce this ordinance. Our community has grown so much since this ordinance was last updated in 2001, and these changes better reflect that growth."

The ordinance only applies in unincorporated areas of Wake County, meaning outside of any city or town limits where firearms activity, like target practice, is allowed.

The areas inside the boundaries of Wake County's 12 municipalities prohibit shooting at any time of the day or night.

Hunting animals or birds would not be affected by changes to this county ordinance, as they are regulated by state and federal law.

New Rules go into effect on Dec. 9th.

Nov 17th Testosterone Therapy Symposium! 

We are excited to share an invitation to the Recognizing the Value of Testosterone Therapy in Healthcare Symposium 2022. During the symposium, global experts will share their research on important topics surrounding testosterone, as well as the future of testosterone therapy. As there is a tremendous patient population that could benefit, please share with your network/anyone else who will find it valuable/relevant.

Registration link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_R1l9UK6aSRqo9jWvKQ2nhA

NC Tech Association AWARDS  Nov 29th 6 pm Raleigh Convention Center!