Wake schools bring DEI to America 250 | Trump assassin in Apex? | Franklin Co. fights for migrants' water access | Baric feeling the heat over COVID origins?
No. 174 — Apr. 36-May 2, 2026
The Wake County Public School System has four objectives for celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, and they all have to do with DEI. (This is not hyperbole.)
Legislators have dropped a plan to allow Franklin County to buy or seize land in neighboring counties without the permission of their governments. But the underlying fight is far from over, with Franklin seeking a long-term water supply from Kerr Lake to support the expected migration of tens of thousands of new residents to the county.
A South Carolina man has been arrested in Apex after police received a report of a suspicious vehicle covered odd messages, including one which read “HEADED TO WSH TO KILL THE PRES.”
For years, skeptics of the mainstream narrative on the origins of the coronavirus have cast their eyes towards the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, home of Ralph Baric and his coronavirus gain-of-function research. According to a recent report, Baric has been placed on leave from UNC, and has been removed from federal grants.
Another man has been fatally stabbed near a Durham greenway where another man was fatally stabbed in March; locals say the police did nothing in the meantime to stop the rampant criminality by the homeless who have camped nearby.
Teachers and their supporters gathered in Raleigh on a socialist holiday to protest for higher wages as well as various left-wing causes, leading to classes cancelled or whole districts shut down in Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Wake.
Wake schools bring DEI to America 250
Wake schools will use an ‘inclusive lens’ to explore America’s 250th anniversary - N&O
Wake schools plans lessons around ‘America 250’ - WRAL
America 250: Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence - WCPSS School Guidance
America 250: Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence - WCPSS Student Achievement Committee
Documents issued by the Wake County Public School System reveal that the district intends its educators to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as a reimagining of our nation’s history to suit the current progressive agenda.
Each of the four “desired outcomes” listed in a guidance document revolve around DEI, such as “highlight[ing] the diverse voices (Indigenous, enslaved, immigrant, and women),” ensuring the “work is inclusive” for a “diverse school community,” and “equity practices” such as “disrupt[ing] disproportionality” and “partner[ing] equitably with families/caregivers.”
The objectives make it clear that instead of promoting American culture and heritage, the instructors are to cater to “diverse” cultures and “diverse” heritages, ensuring that “EVERY student accurately sees their culture and heritage reflected in their learning.”
This focus on non-American culture and heritage is reflected in most of a page being taken up with a comparison between cultural “appreciation” vs cultural “appropriation.” (It is doubtful whether the same standard of “honoring, respecting, and showing empathy” would be applied to the culture of the founding fathers, the most moderate of whom would be considered evil racist far-right extremists by the median Wake County school board member).
The suggest activities take an activist bent as well, with more references to Civil Rights activists than to the men who signed the Declaration, or fought for American freedom in the Revolution. Beginning with kindergarteners, the Revolution given a progressive framing of “people want[ing] new rules” and “they saw a rule that wasn’t fair, so they worked together to change it” rather than that the colonists were merely insisting on the ancient rights of their English heritage, established on the fields of Runnymede and in the halls of Westminster.
Additionally, if the overt references to diversity, equity, and inclusion are not sufficient to draw a direct line to DEI, one of the documents authors, Dr. Janeen Perry-Campbell, was a student of critical race theory who was employed as a Director of DEI at a Virginia school district role prior to being hired at the Wake County Public Schools Office of Equity Affairs.
Franklin County fights for migrants’ water access
Water wars: Booming population, drought driving tension in NC statehouse and beyond - WRAL
Protesters flood legislature, succeed in defeating land-grab bill over water access - WRAL
Residents express concerns over Kerr Reservoir reallocation - Henderson Dispatch
Citizens group: Find another water source and remain in Regional Water System - Warren Record
Franklin County Water: A Generational Challenge - Franklin County
An attempt to give Franklin County power to purchase or seize land in Halifax, Vance, or Warren without the permission of their respective county governments has been dropped after public outcry.
According to Rep. Matthew Winslow (R-Franklin), the purpose of this provision was to secure increased water resources for future development in Franklin County after failed negotiations to obtain water from Kerr Lake through the current water utility, which is owned by Henderson, Oxford, and Warren County.
Although Winslow claimed that “the provision is strictly for constructing a direct raw water line from Kerr Lake to a future Franklin County treatment facility,” the actual proposed text of the bill shows no such restriction on the power being granted:
PART V. FRANKLIN COUNTY PROPERTY ACQUISITIONS
SECTION 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of G.S. 153A-15, the County of Franklin may acquire, including by condemnation, real property or an interest in real property located in Halifax, Vance, or Warren County, without the consent or approval of the other county’s Board of Commissioners.— Senate Bill 214 (4/21/2026)
However, after the strong negative reaction from citizens and their elected representatives in the counties from which the approval power was being stripped, House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) announced that the provision would be removed from the bill, but could be brought back if the involved parties didn’t “work it out.”
Ultimately, although the counties bordering the body of water and currently benefitting from its storage capabilities may feel the greatest sense of ownership, John H. Kerr Reservoir aka Kerr Lake was created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1952, and it is to the USACE that Franklin County directed a request in December for 15.7 million gallon per day.
A recent document on the Franklin County website cites “growth” as the explanation for the county’s water demand, with the population expected to double by 2060.
To be clear, the county is not pursuing the expected water needs of its current citizens or their posterity; instead, it is planning for the future needs of the thousands and thousands of migrants expected to “flood” into the county from across the state, across the county, and across the world. (The last two of which can both be linked to federal immigration policy.)
Would-be Trump assassin intercepted in Apex
Man arrested in Apex accused threatening President Trump now faces federal charges - CBS17
Secret Service places detainer on SC man accused of threatening message toward the President - ABC11
Man accused of threatening Trump will appear in federal court Monday - WRAL
Who is the man accused of making threats against the president at an Apex car wash? - N&O
A South Carolina man arrested in Apex faces charges including communicating threats against the president just days after a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents’ Association and allegedly shooting a Secret Service agent.
Daniel Rodney Swain, 41, was charged by Apex Police with possession of methamphetamine, resisting a public officer, and displaying a fictitious license plate after officers responded to a call regarding a suspicious vehicle at a local car wash.
As photos captured by media and law enforcement show, the windows of Swain’s vehicle were covered with messages, one of which read “HEADED TO WSH TO KILL THE PRES.”
According to the federal complaint regarding the threat, Swain had been previously interviewed by the Secret Service regarding a post he made about the attention that would be gathered by shooting the president’s father. (President Trump’s father died in 1999 at the age of 93.)
The complaint also cites a more recent Facebook post by Swain in which he wrote that “somebody oughta go put a round in his f---ing head and then do it to his son and do it to his wife and then do it to the rest of Congress.”
The vehicular messages and Facebook posts also referenced the deaths of Swain’s family members, which he believed the government was responsible for.
Swain told investigators that he was merely in North Carolina to look for work in the Research Triangle Park area and take pictures of local buildings with his drone, before possibly eventually heading to DC exercise his First Amendment rights.
Follow-ups
Lead COVID-19 virologist placed on leave from UNC?
COVID Cover-Up: Hiding Star Researcher Ralph Baric’s Ties to Global Pandemic - Real Clear Investigations
Did Ralph Baric at UNC Create SARS-CoV-2? - Brownstone Institute
According to exclusive reporting by Real Clear Investigations, coronavirologist Ralph Baric has been placed on leave from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and has been removed from all his grants from the National Institutes of Health.
Baric’s award-winning internationally-acclaimed expertise on coronaviruses has also brought scrutiny to UNC-CH, with skeptics continuing to press on in their investigation of the previously-suppressed theory that COVID-19 may have leaked from a laboratory.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Baric’s work included the “Project DEFUSE” proposal, which has been described as a “smoking gun“ or a COVID-19 “blueprint“ for its proposed gain-of-function research on bat coronaviruses. (The authors privately noted was “downplaying” the planned involvement of researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), with Baric himself writing that “US researchers will likely freak out” if they found out that the viruses in question would be “grown” under substandard biosafety conditions.)
The efforts to get past the censorship, coverups, and repression of this line of inquiry have included a lawsuit by medical watchdog group U.S. Right to Know against UNC over its refusal to hand over certain records, including those related to Baric and his associations with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
According to the RCI report, UNC has been uncooperative with NIH officials investigating Baric’s coronavirus research, with one anonymous source attributing the university’s lack of transparency to a cognizance of complicity:
A senior official inside the Department of Health and Human Services told RCI that the answer is obvious. After reviewing the government’s classified material, the official said that UNC is terrified that the public will learn that they were complicit in starting the pandemic.
“Baric designed the gun,” he said. “But the Chinese built it, and then they pulled the trigger.”
Previous Coverage:
Public Records Lawsuit Against UNC by Medical Watchdog Group Investigating COVID-19 Origins Advances (Original Article — Nov. 6, 2023)
UNC claims “research project collaborations” are exempt from public records statute in COVID-19 origins investigation lawsuit (No. 57 — Feb. 3, 2024)
U.S. Right to Know public records lawsuit reveals efforts to evade transparency (No. 58 — Feb. 10, 2024)
Coronavirus Pandemic Subcommittee alleges FBI interest in UNC/COVID origins public records requests (No. 59 — Feb. 17, 2024)
UNC COVID-19 Origins Public Records Lawsuit: what does “proprietary mean”? (No. 61 — Mar. 2, 2024)
“Stop Gain of Function” rally at UNC-Chapel Hill (No. 62 — Mar. 9, 2024)
UNC-linked coronavirus researcher accused of “discrepancies in testimony” (No. 66 — Apr. 6, 2024)
UNC coronavirologist Ralph Baric: “can’t rule out” lab leak origin of COVID-19 (No. 70 — May 4, 2024)
3rd Party Report Finds UNC Withheld Public Records Requested by Medical Watchdog Group Investigating COVID-19 Origins (Original Article — Aug. 1, 2024)
Judge rules in favor of UNC in public records suit brought by medical watchdog investigating COVID-19 (No. 94 — Oct. 19, 2024)
U.S. Right to Know appeals public records lawsuit ruling vs UNC (No. 99 — Nov. 23, 2024)
UNC lab leaks? Evidence indicates seven lab-acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections in Chapel Hill during pandemic, researchers say (interview) (Original Article — Apr. 26, 2025)
US Right to Know files brief filed in appeal of UNC COVID-origins public records lawsuit (No. 126 — May 31, 2025)
COVID-19 origins transparency? Legislative committee requests UNC records (No. 128 — Jun. 14, 2025)
AG Jackson files response to COVID-19 origins public records appeal (No. 136 — Aug. 9, 2025)
Appeals court sides with UNC in public records lawsuit over COVID-19 origins (No. 158 — Jan. 10, 2026)
Another man fatally stabbed near homeless-infested Durham greenway
Durham Police investigate deadly stabbing near American Tobacco Trail - ABC11
Man stabbed to death along American Tobacco Trail in Durham - WRAL
Man stabbed to death in area of American Tobacco Trail in Durham, police say - CBS17
Durham police investigate second stabbing in 2 months near American Tobacco Trail - N&O
Howard Reade, 44, has been found fatally stabbed near the same intersection of the American Tobacco Trail where a man was fatally stabbed in March, which has been noted for years as a particularly perilous area due to the presence of homeless camps, as well as numerous documented incidents of violence and sexual assault
There’s few details available on this latest stabbing besides the victim and location; however, as an update in our coverage of the last stabbing in this location, the Durham Police did locate and arrest LaRue Barbee, the repeat violent offender named as the suspect in the murder of Chesleigh Eloyd Lyons.
According to locals familiar with the area interviewed by WRAL and the News & Observer, the “open-air drug market” and rampant criminality of the area have not been checked by police intervention since the March murder.
Previous Coverage:
Man fatally stabbed on section of Durham greenway known for homeless, violence (No. 167 — Mar. 14, 2026)
Repeat violent criminal named as suspect in deadly American Tobacco Trail stabbing (No. 169 — Mar. 28, 2026)
Protest Watch
Teachers’ union strikes for better pay and left-wing causes on socialist holiday
Senate District 26 Republican candidate Sam Page spotted at NCAE May Day protest - North State Journal
Thousands from across NC join teachers protest in Raleigh. Catch up on Friday’s rally - N&O
Teacher rally: NC educators focus on funding, pay issues as thousands march in Raleigh - WRAL
On Friday, at least 22 school districts representing over 700k students closed down or cancelled classes in association with the protest by the North Carolina Association of Educators in Raleigh, which the teachers’ union characterized as “ma[king] the powerful choice to support their workers.” (These districts include Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Chatham, Durham, Orange, and Wake.)
Increasing teacher pay could theoretically be a bipartisan issue, with local Democrats and Republicans in the NC House seeking to raise the starting teacher salary to $50,000, and Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page (Republican nominee for Senate District 26) seen speaking with the union president at the rally.
However, the thousands of teachers and their supporters who gathered at the state’s capital for “Kids over Corporations” on the historically socialist May Day did so with an overtly left-wing agenda, matching the political tenor of the union. In addition to increasing for public schools, the event called for
Ending “corporate tax breaks”
Eliminating private school vouchers
Making the “wealthy finally pay what they owe” (presumably shifting an even more disproportionate amount of the tax burden onto their shoulders)
Enacting “fair maps” for elections
This specific protest was organized as part of the “May Day Strong” nationwide 50501-associated anti-Trump event, which also called for ““No ICE. No War.,” “Tax the rich,” and “Hands off our vote” with additional Triangle-area events listed in Durham and Chapel Hill.