Here’s how Gov. Cooper spent every day of 2021. Read schedules for NC’s top officials
By NC Watchdog Reporting Network
Gov. Roy Cooper speaks as Secretary of the NC Department Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen looks on after announcing the first winners of the Summer Cash Drawing and Summer Cash 4 College Drawing at the Monday, June. 28, 2021 at the NC Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh.
Travis Long
tlong@newsobserver.com
How do state officials like Gov. Roy Cooper, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Attorney General Josh Stein spend their workdays?
For Sunshine Week, an annual celebration of open government, the N.C. Watchdog Reporting Network requested the calendars of the state’s top leaders. That included members of the Council of State — the 10 statewide elected executive officials — and each of the cabinet secretaries who run state agencies in Cooper’s administration.
The goal was to gauge how willing government leaders were to let the public see what they do on a daily basis.
Those 20 calendars are now available to read, based on responses from each agency.
In addition to Cooper, Robinson and Stein, there are schedules for former N.C. Department and Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mandy Cohen, Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt and Secretary of Commerce Machelle Sanders.
Tyler Dukes is the lead editor for AI innovation in journalism at McClatchy Media, where he leads a small team of journalists that helps the company’s 30 local newsrooms responsibly harness data, automation and artificial intelligence to elevate and strengthen their reporting. He was previously an investigative reporter at The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C. In 2017, he completed a fellowship at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University and grew up in Elizabeth City, N.C.
Sara Coello investigates issues across North Carolina for The Charlotte Observer. Before joining the team, Coello covered criminal justice and breaking news for The Dallas Morning News and The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.
