Ryan Oehrli
@oehrli.bsky.social
NC Local Accountability Reporter via @reportforamerica.bsky.social | Past stops: The Charlotte Observer and Asheville Citizen Times
County election board members across North Carolina have promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6 riot. More here in my latest story:
Some county election officials in NC promoted conspiracy theories about the 2020 outcome and the Jan. 6 riot
Local election board members across North Carolina have promoted conspiracy theories, including the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from President Donald Trump. Some who shared fals...
nclocal.org
Police wanting to use a device mimicking a cellphone tower to locate people must first get a warrant, a Fourth Circuit panel ruled Thursday. @courthousenews.bsky.social www.courthousenews.com/fourth-circu...
Fourth Circuit calls real-time cellphone tracking a search
The panel is the first to hold the use of a cell-site simulator constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment.
courthousenews.com
15/ ProPublica is revealing the existence of the case for the first time. We reviewed a trove of evidence gathered by the FBI and thousands of pages of legal records, and have independently corroborated much of Kao’s account. This is the first piece of an ongoing series:
The FBI Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins — Until Trump Got in the Way
After the FBI caught a defense contractor’s CEO making illegal campaign contributions, it sought to launch a sweeping political bribery probe involving Collins and others. Then the second Trump admini...
propublica.org
Scoop: Investigators may have broken state laws under the direction of top Homeland Security leaders by posing as voters as part of an expansive effort to find noncitizens on the nation’s voter rolls, according to a federal whistle-blower’s account released on Monday.
"McClatchy will invest in journalism that “is differentiated, consequential and difficult to replicate; reporting rooted in our communities and strengthened by sources, investigation, verification, context and judgment." That is what all of us who got fired do. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/b...
McClatchy Makes Deep Job Cuts to Newspapers Around the Country
The owner of The Miami Herald said subscriber interest did not support its current level of investment. One employee called the layoffs a “blood bath.”
nytimes.com
We’re partnering with more than a dozen regional and statewide news organizations to answer your questions about Hurricane Helene as we mark the second anniversary. What do you want to know? Head to nclocal.org/helene to take the survey.
Asheville has joined Durham and a handful of other municipalities across North Carolina in making it illegal for landlords to collect rent on a property the city has deemed unsafe. ncnewsline.com/2026/09/10/a... @gchildress.bsky.social #ncpol #AVL
Asheville leaders make it illegal to collect rent when housing is unsafe • NC Newsline
Asheville has joined Durham and other municipalities in making it illegal to collect rent on a property the city has deemed unsafe.
ncnewsline.com
News: DOJ pushes US attorneys to ramp up rare noncitizen voting charges ahead of midterms, while some officials question how prosecutors can prove criminal intent of foreign nationals who are sometimes registered to vote accidentally by states news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
DOJ Urges Expanding Rare Noncitizen Voting Cases Before Midterms
Justice Department leaders are pressing prosecutors nationwide to boost noncitizen voting charges before the midterms, relying on a rarely-used statute that some officials acknowledge presents evident...
news.bloomberglaw.com
We uncovered a string of drastic measures taken to prove President Trump’s claims about election fraud. The administration reassigned scores of Homeland Security agents to investigate leads on illegal voting – and ultimately delivered scant results. NEW: www.propublica.org/article/nonc...
How Trump’s Unprecedented Effort to Prosecute Noncitizen Voters Fell Apart
To prove the president’s claims of illegal voting, the government has harnessed the power of Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of DHS established to combat the worst cross-border crime. So fa...
propublica.org
Flock is rolling out updates to address reports of cops across the country abusing its tools to stalk ex-romantic partners. The ACLU released an analysis of the changes, which it says appear “more focused on addressing a perceived PR problem than the significant harms its products create.”
Flock CEO: ‘We got this one wrong’
Garrett Langley has changed his mind on the company’s policy approach.
theverge.com
"The investigation in some ways called to mind Cointelpro, the intrusive counterintelligence program that the F.B.I. ran against leftist groups from the 1950s to the 1970s under the leadership of the bureau’s director, J. Edgar Hoover."
U.S. Investigated Left-Leaning Groups During Minnesota Immigration Crackdown
The government conducted expansive surveillance, infiltrated group chats and obtained financial records of organizations never accused of crimes.
nytimes.com
The US government is on the hook for potentially millions of dollars in legal bills demanded by successful challengers to some of the Trump administration’s most controversial executive actions and policies.
Trump Court Losses Leave Taxpayers Facing Millions in Legal Fees
The US government is on the hook for potentially millions of dollars in legal bills demanded by successful challengers to some of the Trump administration’s most controversial executive actions and policies.
bit.ly
“You can’t just suddenly make public records not public records." — from @oehrli.bsky.social nclocal.org/2026/07/21/c...
Citing possible investigation, NC elections board declines to name allegedly dead voters
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has declined to release the names of thousands of dead people reportedly found on voter rolls, in part because there might be “subsequent investigations or ...
nclocal.org
Democrats on the NC State Board of Elections want to subpoena Dallas Woodhouse, a Republican operative and former elections liaison on Auditor Dave Boliek’s staff, to ask him about his communications with county elections board chairs. Republicans rejected the request. @lbonner.bsky.social #ncpol
Democrats’ request to question Woodhouse at the NC elections board is rejected. • NC Newsline
GOP members on the NC Board of Elections rejected Democrats' request to question Auditor Dave Boliek's former elections liaison Dallas Woodhouse.
ncnewsline.com
Woodhouse drew scrutiny over his attempts to influence election officials to drop Sunday voting and on-campus polling sites.
NC auditor reassigns Dallas Woodhouse after controversy over early voting plans
Woodhouse drew scrutiny over his attempts to influence election officials to drop Sunday voting and on-campus polling sites.
bit.ly
Gov. Josh Stein endorsed her opponent, then this NC lawmaker helped the GOP override his vetoes. Former Democratic Rep. Carla Cunningham was absent during floor votes, leading to overrides of immigration & anti-DEI bills. (Via @kyleingram.bsky.social) www.newsobserver.com/news/politic... #ncpol
Stein endorsed her opponent, then this NC lawmaker helped the GOP override his vetoes
Cunningham had spoken against one of the bills that Republicans overrode this week, thanks to her absence.
newsobserver.com
So far in North Carolina, Democrats are blowing past their Republican opponents in campaign fundraising, buoyed in part by a surge in small-dollar donations. Here’s what to know about the money race in the state.
Ahead of midterms, North Carolina Democrats lead the fundraising race. Does it matter? • NC Newsline
So far, Democrats are blowing past their Republican opponents in campaign fundraising, buoyed in part by a surge in small-dollar donations. That advantage may not last, observers say.
ncnewsline.com
For more than a decade, police in Bristol, England, have developed at least 23 separate predictive models to score people’s likelihood of becoming perpetrators or victims of crime. Most of the population knows nothing about it. www.wired.com/story/britis...
British Police Built a Sprawling Crime-Prediction Machine. Some Results Couldn’t Be Trusted
As UK police embrace the AI revolution, a WIRED investigation reveals the messy inside story of one region’s experiment with predictive analytics.
wired.com
The remarkably stiff penalties, issued by Judge Mark T. Pittman and Judge Reed O’Connor, were significantly longer than the lengthiest sentence handed down to any of the more than 1,500 rioters who were prosecuted — and then given clemency — for joining in the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Protesters Accused of Antifa Ties Sentenced to Up to 100 Years in ICE Attack
nytimes.com
SCOOP: ICE is planning to offload seven warehouses purchased for more than $700 million by either giving them to other federal agencies or selling them outright, according to documents obtained by The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/u...
ICE Spent $700 Million on 7 Warehouses. Now It Wants to Get Rid of Them.
nytimes.com
Years before he was charged with child sex crimes, a tennis pro at an NC club faced similar charges in Florida. The club's owner was warned about his history. More here: www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/c...
‘Horrified’: NC tennis pro faced child sex allegations years before recent arrest
The club’s owner said he wishes he never hired the tennis pro Lincoln County deputies arrested.
charlotteobserver.com
1/ Spurred by my reporting for @propublica.org, Democratic lawmakers in North Carolina have introduced a package of bills aimed at protecting traditional powers of the state’s governor and reforming oversight of its court system. #ncpol www.propublica.org/article/nort...
North Carolina Democrats Propose Changes to Block GOP Power Transfers and Secrecy
The legislation, prompted in part by ProPublica’s reporting, aims to protect traditional powers of the state’s governor and reform oversight of its court system.
propublica.org
I’ve read this story a few times now, and every time I do, I’m just as stunned. Republicans on Jackson County’s election board say their own party and the state auditor pressured them to block an early voting site on a college campus: nclocal.org/2026/06/03/j...
Jackson County Board of Elections Chair alleges pressure from Raleigh and auditor's office forced his early voting plan vote
Jackson County Board of Elections chair alleges Raleigh pressure forced off-campus polling place vote and that the state Republican Party considers university locations "non-neutral."
nclocal.org
Immigrant detainees across at least 33 states allege in court documents that the government is failing to provide them with adequate medical care.
From festering infections to untreated cancer, ICE detainees across the US describe medical neglect
Immigrant detainees across at least 33 states allege in court documents that the government is failing to provide them with adequate medical care.
bit.ly
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wouldn’t rule out the possibility that rioters who attacked police at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could receive payments from a new $1.8 billion taxpayer fund being created by the Justice Department.
Jan. 6 Rioters Who Beat Police May Get Payouts, Blanche Says (1)
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche wouldn’t rule out the possibility that rioters who attacked police at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could receive payments from a new $1.8 billion taxpayer fund being created by the Justice Department.
bit.ly
When it formed in 2021, many saw NC's Juvenile Sentence Review Board as a real pathway to freedom for juvenile lifers and others sentenced to long prison terms for crimes they were convicted of committing as teens. It turns out, most were denied. for @boltsmag.org boltsmag.org/north-caroli...
North Carolina Governor Denies Nearly All Juvenile Lifers Seeking Clemency - Bolts
After the state’s previous governor created a board to consider clemency for people sentenced to lengthy prison terms as minors, a new administration closes their pathway to freedom.
boltsmag.org
DOJ has filed dozens of lawsuits against immigrants in courts across the country seeking payment for billions in civil immigration penalties.
Trump Is Taking Immigrants to Court, Seeking Millions in Fines
The Trump administration has issued thousands of fines against immigrants and has started taking people to court, seizing their tax refunds, and demanding payments for being in the US illegally, accor...
news.bloomberglaw.com
