Responding to complaints from state Sen. Marc Basnight about bureaucratic obstacles to a replacement for the deteriorating N.C. 12 bridge over Oregon Inlet in Dare County, an environmental group says Basnight himself is to blame for delaying the project.
[...]From Nate Aspenson, a Dem NC Advocate who met a few days ago with Senator Hagan's staff to discuss environmental legislation:
When you want to get to the bottom of something, it's always a useful hint: follow the money. Whether you're a hard-hitting journalist or you drive around in a' [...]
North Carolina’s unemployment rate inched up to 11.1 percent in January from 10.9 in December, indicating that firms were not yet ready to add full-time workers to the payroll.
You also might be interested to know that the state is now 9th in the country for unemployment and is [...]
Children's advocates want the legislature to prohibit school personnel from hitting disabled students and to require districts to report instances of corporal punishment to the state Board of Education.
Districts reported 1,400 acts of corporal punishment last year to Action for Children North Carolina. Two districts that allow corporal [...]
It seems the folks at Red State have notice our cocaine and monkeys article and have written a post about it. They also were quite creative in coming up with the following image to parody this wasteful spending.
[...]
N.C. State University on Tuesday dedicated a court yard in memory of former Tar Heel governors Kerr Scott (1949-53) and Bob Scott (1969-73.)
About 150 people showed up at the McKimmon Center on Tuesday morning for a brunch and remarks by former University of North Carolina President Bill Friday, [...]
Analyst: Federal and state lawmakers must maintain public investments, which boost the economy and support workers
RALEIGH (March 10, 2009) – More than one-half million North Carolina workers are unemployed and actively seeking work, according to data released today.
According to numbers from the state’s Employment Security Commission today, the seasonally adjusted [...]
Health care is still the central issue of the day, unless you count how many copies of a certain video a certain someone has, and how that differs from how many he told the judge about.
On health care, progressives are rallying to convince Dennis Kucinich to vote for the [...]
One has to wonder what legislative leaders and the governor are thinking as unemployment rises yet again to a staggering 11.1%, up from the 10.9% in December. In spite of millions upon millions in incentives and hundreds of millions from Golden Leaf and still more millions given away at [...]
MEDIA ADVISORY: Pro-health care rally in Raleigh tomorrow, Thursday, March 11
Coalition organizes counter-protest to anti-reform event; health care experts available for comment
RALEIGH (March 11, 2010) – A coalition of groups fighting for quality, affordable health care in North Carolina will hold a pro-reform rally in front of Congressman Bob Etheridge’s [...]
Hello folks, my name is Mike Cooper. I’m a volunteer for the Cal Cunningham for Senate Campaign.
For the better part of my life, I had always wanted to be a sports journalist, and was on a set path to make that happen. In college I was already writing for [...]
It’s somewhat dated news (two days) but it still is worth mentioning. As I was hosting “Take A Stand” on Monday I saw Pelosi’s comments to the National Association of Counties. Maybe a gaff, maybe an honest statement, but still worth mentioning (from USNews):
Pelosi began the windup of her [...]
For Edwin Aly Ramirez of Greensboro, his first thought after being arrested on immigration charges was that he would never see his wife and three children again. Mr. Ramirez was asked about his status and arrested after he had gone to court to help translate for a friend. ”I thought [...]
Last night the Wake County School Board placed Del Burns on administrative leave until the effective date of his resignation as superintendent of the Wake County Schools, June 30th. While I respect Mr. Burns’ contributions to Wake County Schools, I cannot agree with his decision to refuse to sign a statement that [...]
Little Ricky's strings are showing:
The nastiness surrounding the Wake County school board's move away from schools' economic diversity grows increasingly vile. It's also irrelevant.
Folks, the conversion to community-based schools is a done deal.
The state NAACP can file as many rant-laden complaints against the new majority as it pleases. Its [...]
The Charlotte O
reports this morning that Republican consultant/on and off Pope Civitaser Jack Hawke has “parted ways” with Congressional candidate Tim “Christ’s War” D’Annunzio. According to the article, Hawke was apparently unhappy that D’Annunzio was blogging at all hours:
“I don’t think any candidate [...]
Gov. Perdue today announced that North Carolina state employees won’t be getting a pay raise in this summer’s budget. Perdue did, however, mention the possibility of paying back the unpaid two-day furlough from last year; but that remains in doubt.
Perdue’s administration writes the first draft of the state budget every [...]
At least is should not be — but Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, I guess that is something of a newsflash.
The not so minor problem is that Mecklenburg County cannot afford the debt on all the things CMS would like to build, forcing the board into the unfamiliar territory of actually having [...]
Gov. Bev Perdue's Facebook fan page is being bombarded by animal rights activists who are urging her to investigate claims of abuse at a Robeson County animal shelter.
The posts, many by people with profile pictures that feature dogs or cats, began sometime before noon Tuesday and have [...]
Want to know exactly how national health reform will help North Carolinians? Justice Center national partner Families USA has put together a great report on the gaps in NC’s health system – like discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions – and pairs that with exactly how national [...]
EMPLOYED IS THE NEW PAY RAISE: North Carolina's teachers and state employees can expect another year without a pay raise.
Gov. Bev Perdue said that, although salaries will remain flat in the coming budget year, she's aiming to pay back the 0.5 percent pay cut that state workers and [...]
The Orange-Chatham Progressive Democrats and the Progressive Democrats of NC will sponsor a public forum on the Citizens United decision on April 11th, from 4-5:30 pm at the Carrboro Century Center in Carrboro.
Gene Nichol of UNC Law School will be the primary speaker.
Tentative:
Chase Foster of NC Voters [...]
It's not me, it's you:
Hawke said he parted ways in part over D'Annunzio's posts on a blog called "Christ's War," which combines politics with Biblical references and end-times theology. Hawke said he advised the candidate to take it down after a February Observer story quoted passages from it.
"He took'" [...]
The prosecution has rested its case against Keith Antoine Carter, on trial for the murder of Winston-Salem police officer Howard Plouff, who was shot while helping break up a fight at the Red Rooster night club in Feb. ‘07.
Note that Carter’s attorney made a motion to dismiss the case, [...]
Over the weekend, Sen. Kay Hagan made some visits in Wilmington and nearby. Perhaps she enjoyed them, but she probably didn’t enjoy the presence of Tea Party activists protesting her votes on health care and federal spending. From the Brunswick Beacon coverage:
Joe Kronski, with the grassroots organization We the [...]
The Juggling Gypsy hookah bar in Wilmington has been fined $400 for violating North Carolina’s new smoking ban for restaurants and bars. The manager says the bar will appeal the fine. Good.
In my view, the state legislature should never have presumed to intrude on the rights of [...]
A fascinating policy debate is brewing. Some enterprising businessmen want to open an internet cafe in Apex. Town leaders want time to determine whether the business is, in essence, video poker — which is illegal in this state — and what kind of impact the business might have on [...]
Here is the question to ponder this almost-spring Wednesday morning. It comes from the N&O editorial about the news that Republican Attorney Thomas Farr, hired by the Wake County School Board, is charging taxpayers $250 an hour to to write emails asking for information that is available on the school [...]
UNC Chapel Hill prides itself on taking a leadership role in addressing social and environmental issues. But UNC now finds itself not as champion of a cause, but as target. The case involves a Sierra Club-led anti-coal student group. I recently reported on the group’s push to get the university [...]
If you live in the Triangle it's hard to miss RBC Bank's presence. Whether your headed to a Hurricanes game at RBC Arena or walking downtown around RBC's new skyscraper the bank is becoming a staple. Unfortunately, most folks are unaware that RBC is the #1 investor in the Alberta' [...]
Asheville City Council hung out from 3:00-10:00pm today. At their first meeting, a worksession, they discussed the budget. Revenues came in $1 million less than expenditures. The city would begin the next year $5.1 million short if the state didn’t require them to balance their budget. The shortfalls include appropriations [...]
Public pressure might be building on Bubba or maybe it’s his shoddy polling numbers, but something is possibly causing Spratt to reevaluate his position on the health care legislation. According to a few different publications, Spratt is being referred to now as a possible undecided vote on reconciling the health [...]
Randal O’Toole, aka Antiplanner, talks not-as-slow-speed rail with John Stossel.
In fairness to organizations like PART, O’Toole advocates spending money on buses rather than very expensive trains that nobody will ride.
Anyone fired up about North Carolina’s $520 million for not-as-slow-speed rail should watch this.
[...]Apparently Bubba has set up a call screening system in order to stop the influx of out of state residents from calling into his office about the health care bill. I guess I can sort of understand. He doesn’t represent people that live outside of the Fifth District. Although [...]
The concept of “incentives” to lure large, select high-profile businesses to an area by political fiat with tax breaks and public cash repulses all of us who believe in free markets—without government meddling.
Yet, many of our state and local representatives support these “corporate welfare” schemes. Fact is; [...]
Abbreviated site another example of Commissioner Goodwin's Good Government Initiative
Cross-posted from Wayne's World
Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin today announced the launching of a mobile version of the N.C. Department of Insurance's Web site, www.ncdoi.com, to provide a mobile-friendly way for consumers to link with the Department using their' [...]
Guilford County Board of Education chairman Alan Duncan is mentioned in this N&O article on the latest Rielle Hunter -Andrew Young-sex tape hearing. Just a reminder, Duncan is one of Hunter’s attorneys.
Meanwhile, John Edwards’ name comes up during Matt Lauer’s combative interview with Karl Rove about Iraq and [...]
College students were kicked out of a legislative committee meeting Tuesday afternoon after they started chanting their opposition to increased tuition and fees.
Rakhee Devasthali, a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, told Dome that the students — about 15 of them representing four universities — tried and failed to get on the [...]
I understand they're in business to make money, and I'm not saying they should give it away for free, but this is really cold:
Mary Martin says it felt like she had gotten punched in the chest - by her utility bill. It has run as high as $350 during [...]
No doubt Candiate Spagnola must be the dumbest Neo-Con GOP candiate for political office in North Carolina this year...
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
Dr. Mary SLAPPS Back These Days, (Candidate) Sam (Spagnola)
There was an e-mail in my Inbox this morning that I would like to share with Housecalls readers. Opening [...]
National Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele vowed to reclaim North Carolina for his party Monday and introduced a TV ad seeking to build support for the GOP brand in the state.
"Nancy Pelosi and President Obama and Harry Reid have certainly lost their mind when it comes to spending the people's' [...]
From the 
