☀️ In Today’s Edition

1. Life Without Parole Revisited
2. Let’s Be Frank
3. Around Our Network
4. What We’re Reading
5. Our Recent Stories

Pencil and felt-tip pen drawing Jesse Graham created while incarcerated.

Jesse Graham isn’t free, but he is no longer sentenced to die in prison. In November 2024, then-Gov. Roy Cooper commuted his sentence to make him parole-eligible under an obscure, short-lived 1994 law.

Only five people have become eligible for parole this way. While the numbers are small, they carry weight for people who never expected to leave prison. The folks eligible under the law are reliant on a patchwork of attorneys committed to testing whether North Carolina will reconsider sentencing them to die behind bars
—and in doing so, confront the racial inequity in who gets life-without-parole sentences. 

Sylvia A. Harvey digs into the disparities and opportunities.

A Narrow Window of Hope for People Sentenced to Die in Prison

About 225 people serving life-without-parole sentences are eligible for review under an obscure North Carolina law. It’s a rare opportunity for the state to confront the racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

Let’s Be Frank

When UNC Greensboro Chancellor Frank Gilliam marked a decade in office last year, he had a lot to celebrate.

Enrollment for the fall semester was 18,682 students, an increase of nearly 4% and the most the campus has seen since 2021. The school’s fundraising campaign exceeded its $200 million goal. U.S. News & World Report and the Wall Street Journal again ranked the campus first in the state for Social Mobility, Affordability, & Student Experience.

Even reaching 10 years was itself a milestone in today’s UNC System, where longevity and stability in top leadership roles is increasingly rare. Gilliam is tied with UNC Pembroke’s chancellor as the longest-serving current campus leader in the system. Joe Killian reports on what’s stood out about Gilliam’s tenure.

After a Decade at UNC Greensboro, Frank Gilliam May Be the Last Chancellor of His Kind

Building on his faculty roots, UNC Greensboro Chancellor Frank Gilliam has steered the university through crisis and political sea changes. He may be an endangered species.

Have a news tip for our team? You can reach us at scoops@theassemblync.com.

Around Our Network

In a one-on-one interview with INDY, Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht discusses what happened with the former town manager and what it will take to regain the public’s trust. 

The town of Godwin still doesn’t have a resolution to a dispute over its November council race, as CityView reports. And if the results are canceled, they’ll have to hold a new election.

After years of work to conserve the state’s elk population, the total number is now high enough that lawmakers are considering lifting the hunting ban. N.C. Local covered it in a story republished at Border Belt Independent.

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What We’re Reading

On the Mound: The Noquisiyi Mound in Franklin, N.C. is an important cultural site for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, but for two centuries was in the possession of private landowners or the town. This week, the city council voted unanimously to return the land to the tribe, per the Associated Press.

Bugging Out: The number of flu cases in North Carolina is on the rise, and 39 people have died from it this season, WLOS reports. The state is in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s highest tier of activity.

Dropping Bars: Kerwin Pittman served 11.5 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder. Now as founder of the Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services, he’s buying the former Wayne Correctional Center in Goldsboro to create re-entry housing and a campus for workforce development, NC Newsline reports.

Our Recent Stories

‘Death By a Thousand Cuts’

EOD technicians have the highest rate of suicide and illness-related deaths in the service. Despite increasing awareness, veterans say there’s been little progress made to protect them.

N.C. Republicans Overtake Democrats in Voter Registration

Midterm elections historically don’t bode well for the party in the White House. State GOP Chairman Jason Simmons explains how his party hopes to build momentum.

If You Build It, Will They Come?

New charter schools are struggling to enroll enough students to stay solvent. One High Point school’s implosion shows the consequences.