BlogNetNews.com » North Carolina

The Meck Deck: About Those Moonshine, Daycare Arrests

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:27:23 -0500

First, note that the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s website details a misdemeanor arrest for one Artis Lejune Johnson, 27, last year with the same home address as that recorded for Gwendolyn Brown-Johnson, 57, and her husband, Artis Johnson, 64, for the ALE moonshine arrests on Friday.

Also, this [...]

Civitas Review Online: Polling the Health Care Bill

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:21:41 -0500

Support for Obamacare continues to struggle in North Carolina according to our latest poll with only 40% supporting and 48% in opposition.

We’ve had the public opposed to the bill by an 8-10 point margin since September and it doesn’t seem much has changed despite all the rhetoric and debate on [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: Wells Fargo awards $6M in Charlotte-area grants

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:17:18 -0500

The Wells Fargo & Co. has awarded more than $6 million to 14 Charlotte-area nonprofits through its “Spirit of Caring” community grants program. (WFC) [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Re: Obama unveils his latest

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:07:00 -0500

It is interesting, Jon, how Obama has approached this. Most Keynesians, especially modern, do not claim that government spending is the only way out of a recession, just the most efficient and fastest. Here, however, is what Obama said back in January: ...only government can provide the short-term boost... [...]

The Progressive Pulse: Sen. Richard Burr, friend of low-income and minority Medicare recipients

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:01:43 -0500

Sen. Burr is fighting hard to maintain Medicare overpayments to private insurance companies.

But amid the usual silliness there was an interesting claim on his website:

The additional benefits provided by Medicare Advantage are particularly important to some of our nation’s most vulnerable seniors — a higher portion of [...]

The Progressive Pulse: Where is the real Ron Margiotta and what have you done with him?

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:55:32 -0500

Compare and contrast these two items:

#1 – Raleigh’s News & Observer – May 13 2009:

Wake County School board member Ron Margiotta got some negative reaction from other board members last week when he proposed elimination of the district’s vaunted magnet program.”

#2 – Letter to magnet school [...]

Public Policy Polling: Charmed First Term Republicans

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:54:00 -0500

One thing I thought about doing the South Carolina poll over the weekend is that pretty much none of the new Republican Senators elected in 2004 are seen as vulnerable in their attempts for reelection. There is basically zero discussion about Democrats trying to win the seats of DeMint, Lisa [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: Report: BofA’s Curl under scrutiny

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:52:53 -0500

The office of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating Bank of America Corp. executive Greg Curl regarding the bank’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co., The New York Times reports. (BAC) [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: GMAC cutting 45 jobs in Charlotte

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:50:38 -0500

GMAC Financial Services is cutting about 45 mortgage jobs in Charlotte, despite its plan to expand its corporate operations here. [...]

Right Angles: Cary Watchmen release Part II of Recycling Study

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:48:12 -0500

The Cary Watchmen have released the second of their two part study on Cary’s Recycling program. Part I, as reported on 11/13/2009, focused on the financial aspects. Part II describes the environmental impact of recycling, comparing it to the alternative, disposal in the Wake County landfill in Holly Springs. [...]

Under the Dome blog: Freshman offer health amendments

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:44:36 -0500

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's amendments to the health care bill are part of a package offered by a group of Democratic freshman senators.

Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, spoke on the Senate floor this morning about two of the group’s amendments, which she submitted, Barb Barrett reports.

Among [...]

Right Angles: Climate-Gate Update; Affects Cary’s Planning

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:43:47 -0500

The scandal that is giving cause for reconsideration of “green” efforts around the globe continues to develop rapidly. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Phil Jones, head of the East Anglia University’s Climatic Research Unit and a key promoter of man-made global warming theories, has decided to step [...]

Right Angles: Cary’s own Water-Gate erupts over leaks

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:42:54 -0500

Further investigation by the Cary Watchmen into the just-approved $17m AMR water meter project yielded a big surprise this week: our Town has been paying upwards of $200,000 annually to reimburse citizens for water losses in their own homes! To the surprise of at least one Council member, the Town [...]

Right Angles: Cary Cost-Cutting Proposal #2: Recycling

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:41:47 -0500

As detailed in our recent Part I and Part II Position Papers on the subject, Cary’s Recycling Program is costing taxpayers millions with no clear environmental benefit. We propose changing the program to an “Opt-In” basis, with all participants covering the entire net costs, or reaping the entire [...]

Right Angles: Raleigh to raise taxes; is Cary next?

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:40:56 -0500

As a consequence of the same “buy now, pay later” policy that has driven Cary’s debt service rapidly upwards in recent years, Raleigh’s City Council is poised to increase its property taxes by a whopping 8%, despite stagflation, nation-leading unemployment and an economic climate comparable to the Great Depression.

In an [...]

Right Angles: Cary pays for private water leaks

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:39:50 -0500

Our research into the $17m AMR/Aquastar Orwellian water meter system the Town wants produced a big surprise last week – the Town has been reimbursing residents and businesses who discover a water leak on the own property!

The Town of Cary gives water and sewer rebates to customers that have water [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: The public school double standard

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:28:00 -0500

Under new rules established by the State Board of Education, the state will close charter schools that do not meet performance standards on state tests for two out of three years. This rule does not apply to district schools but what if it did? I dug into the data and [...]

The Progressive Pulse: Health Reform Compromise: Insurance Company-Style

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:20:07 -0500

Number of comments: 1

An AP report today (I haven’t found it anywhere else yet) has yet another compromise from the Senate on a public option health plan. Here’s the idea – current nonprofit health plans (read NC Blue Cross Blue Shield and other similar nonprofit state plans) would be able to sell [...]

The Progressive Pulse: The Blue Cross campaign to kill health reform at the state level

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:19:51 -0500

Number of comments: 1

ThinkProgress reports that The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association — of which NC Blue Cross is a member — is working to craft legislation that will allow states to strike down key health reform provisions as unconstitutional. (Thanks to Facing South for highlighting the [...]

Carolina Politics Online: Marine Shot to Death in Havelock Over Football Game Argument

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:14:32 -0500

And here I thought this only happened in Oakland.

Cpl. Johnathon Clinton Rodriguez, 21, an aircraft electrical systems technician at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, was shot in the chest around 1 a.m. at an off-base home in Havelock, according to an air station news release. He was pronounced dead [...]

EdCone.com: Hearts and minds

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:45:25 -0500

Not a whole lot of internet access in Afghanistan and Pakistan, so the State Department is making translated excerpts of Obama's surge speech available for mobile devices. Smart, but..."To make sure the people the message reaches more of the people..." [...]

BlueNC blogs: Looneys lining up to challenge Kissell

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:35:46 -0500

Conventional wisdom suggests that incumbent Democrats will be slammed next November for failing to do almost anything important, a description that certainly applies to Larry Kissell in NC-8. Perhaps that's why a slew of government-hating Republicans are lining up at the public trough to take him on.

Jim Morrill [...]

News 14 Carolina: New Obama plans: 'spend our way out' of downturn

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:24:38 -0500

President Barack Obama outlined new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals Tuesday, saying the nation must continue to "spend our way out of this recession" until more Americans are back at work. [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Johnston Commissioners: Fair and balanced

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:09:00 -0500

As a resident of Johnston County (and hoping to continue to be), I was really excited to read in The News & Observer today about the commissioners' giveaway of $16 million in tax breaks to Talecris Biotheraputics allegedly in exchange for expanding its plant in... [...]

Under the Dome blog: Stam pitched anti-fraud software

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:04:23 -0500

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan says the nation needs software to prevent health care fraud.

The pitch by Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, is probably going to make state Rep. Paul Stam mutter something about already telling us so.

Stam, an Apex Republican and House minority leader, [...]

Squall Lines: Is our money really ours?

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:58:41 -0500

Our right to property has been under assault for a long time in America. Since the Roosevelt-era government has increasingly taken a larger share from those who earn more than others—a “progressive” view of taxation, while lower income people are taxed less and less. Class envy has embedded this [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Obama unveils his latest "Dig up, stupid" economic proposal

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:57:00 -0500

Background: Last February the AP reported that: On a single day filled with staggering sums, the Obama administration, Federal Reserve and Senate attacked the deepening economic crisis Tuesday with actions that could throw as much as $3 trillion more in government and private funds into the fight against frozen credit [...]

BlueNC blogs: Why BlueNC readers should get behind Patsy Keever.

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:42:34 -0500

Patsy Keever remembers your name. She listens and recalls details of your life. It’s uncanny – one of the first things that tells you that Patsy is in this for you, not for her.

Maybe it’s the decades of teaching public school or her three terms on the Buncombe County [...]

Charlotte Blogs: Wednesday December 9, 2009 | CATS Update

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:37:40 -0500

We’ll meet with top officials from the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) to talk about the year in transit and what lies ahead for 2010. We’ll talk about the announcement of a new CEO, who will join the organization in the new year. We’ll also talk about how the economy [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Re: Global warming and the totalitarian impulse

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:35:00 -0500

Sanera's quotation of C.S. Lewis in response to George's post brings to mind a quotation from another rare moral voice of the 20th century.... [...]

Under the Dome blog: Hagan: NC tools prevent fraud, waste

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:34:23 -0500

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan says a North Carolina initiative and software sold by a Cary company could save billions in wasted and fraudulent health care expenses.

Hagan was speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday in support of an amendment to the health care reform package that is meant to lower [...]

EdCone.com: Save the liver!

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:33:19 -0500

"You know it's over when he'd rather show you 'Team America' than his penis." Really? Sharing "Team America" should be a tender and beautiful thing, and it sounds healthier than some of the stuff Julie Powell gets into in her...' [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: CHS nets $388M through September

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:29:08 -0500

Carolinas HealthCare System netted nearly $387.8 million for the first nine months of the year, improving on a loss of $309.8 million in the same period a year ago. [...]

Public Policy Polling: Looking at Huck

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:27:00 -0500

After Mike Huckabee's bad news week his poll numbers must be completely shattered, right?

Not so much. Our monthly look at the 2012 Presidential race, due out Thursday, will show Huckabee's favorability at 35/35, pretty much unchanged from 36/37 on our November poll. And not only does it show [...]

Right Angles: What a Great Idea

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:20:14 -0500

From NC State’s Technician:

This week, students find themselves in the season of exams, which is typically one of the most stressful times of a college student’s semester.

To help alleviate some of the scholastic tension, the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service is offering pet therapy through [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: N.C. approves Duke’s 7 percent rate hike

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:09:08 -0500

N.C. regulators have approved Duke Energy Carolinas’ proposed 7 percent overall rate increase in North Carolina. (DUK) [...]

Under the Dome blog: Advocates: Charter law weak

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:50:30 -0500

An national organization that promotes charter schools has given North Carolina a "D" on its charter school law.

The Center for Education Reform, based in Bethesda, Md., deducted points from North Carolina because the state limits the number of charters to 100 and does not help the schools with [...]

Under the Dome blog: No formal opinion issued on I-485 plan

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:39:57 -0500

Attorney General Roy Cooper said his office never issued a formal opinion on whether the Department of Transportation can use a new financing plan to pay for finishing I-485 in Charlotte.

Both Gov. Bev Perdue and transportation officials indicated a few days after the [...]

Right Angles: Trouble in paradise

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:31:10 -0500

Secret agreement, closed-door meetings of the “in” crowd? Sounds like the Obama administration general modus operandi:

The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: Manpower survey predicts moderate hiring in Charlotte

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:27:01 -0500

Charlotte-area employers expect to hire at a moderate pace during the first quarter, according to a Manpower Inc. survey. (MAN) [...]

The Progressive Pulse: The Senate Health Care Debate

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:22:31 -0500

Watching the Senate debate health care is painful. It is like watching paint dry, but this issue is so important I can’t turn away. Senator McCain keeps talking about the need for tort reform and using Texas as an example.

Of course, a quick check at www.statehealthfacts.org [...]

STOP The NC Home Ticks: Leading Builders of America

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:11:00 -0500

This just in: Leading Builders is a new trade association of builders (independent from NAHB). Members include: Beazer Homes, The Drees Companies, K. Hovnanian Homes, K B Home, Lennar, M/I Homes, MDC, Meritage Homes, Pulte Homes, Ryland Homes, Shea Homes, Taylor Morrison, Toll Brothers, David Weekley Homes and Weyerhaeuser Realty.
[...]

Public Policy Polling: DeMint favored, not inevitable

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:11:00 -0500

Jim DeMint is favored for reelection, although it may not be quite as inevitable as expected.

47% of voters in the state say they plan to vote for DeMint next year, compared to 38% who say they'll choose his Democratic opponent. DeMint has his party pretty unified, as GOP' [...]

This Old State: Readers fire back on tax reform

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:08:00 -0500

Number of comments: 1
Sunday's column about tax reform brought several responses, including one from a Charlotte businessman who moved here years ago because of its attractive tax atmosphere and who's about to move his information technology business elsewhere:

I enjoyed your opinion article in the Observer yesterday as this topic has [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Re: Global warming and the totalitarian impulse

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:07:00 -0500

George, your post reminds me of this quote from C.S. Lewis: Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his [...]

Public Policy Polling: Lindsey Graham's standing

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:48:00 -0500

Lindsey Graham has more crossover appeal than almost any other US Senator in the country. He's also one of the least popular Senators within his own party. Such is the product of being a rare politician with any bipartisan instincts in these highly polarized times.

Overall 43% of South [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Re: Appeals court rules against Union County's adequate public facilities ordinance

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:46:00 -0500

[...]

Under the Dome blog: Cooper mum on LEA

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:45:10 -0500

Attorney General Roy Cooper won't say whether the State Bureau of Investigation is looking into issues surrounding Law Enforcement Associates, the cop gear company whose board is chaired by Sen. Tony Rand.

"It would be unwise for me to talk about potential criminal investigations," Cooper said [...]

WataugaWatch: How the Republicans Play in Wake County

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:18:00 -0500

The Republican take-over of the Wake County school board has already been chronicled.

Now add the Wake County Commission, where one Democrat is sick (and hence absent) from the 4-3 Democratic majority, and another commissioner had to go to the bathroom, so in her absence down the hall [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Global warming and the totalitarian impulse

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:15:00 -0500

In today's WSJ, Bret Stephens has an enlightening column in which he looks at the psychology of the climate alarmism movement. In it, he sees evidence of "the totalitarian impulse" -- that is, that the alarmists act as if the thing that matters above all is for them to get [...]

EdCone.com: Out of the mouths of babes

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:12:41 -0500

Luke Wilson appeared on the teevee, again, and I told my daughter that I had just read an article that said both AT&T and Verizon ads were not to be trusted. Sydney: "Duh." Our work as parents is not done,... [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: SPX buys Yuba Heat Transfer for $125M

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:02:28 -0500

An SPX Corp. subsidiary has acquired nearly all the assets of Yuba Heat Transfer, a supplier of heat-transfer equipment and technology to the power-generation industry. (SPW) [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: "Government assistance for newspapers is as alarming as overregulation"

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:55:00 -0500

That's what Rupert Murdoch concluded in an op-ed published in today's Wall Street Journal. I could not agree with this more: The most damning problem with government "help" is what we saw with the bailout of the U.S. auto industry: Help props up those who are producing things that... [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: McClatchy to end wage freeze

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:54:43 -0500

The McClatchy Co. will lift its companywide wage freeze beginning next month, company Chief Executive Gary Pruitt wrote to employees in an internal memo. (MNI) [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Essential services

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:45:00 -0500

Jack Betts worries the state may cut essential services if tax reform is not also a tax increase. But the budget passed for FY2010 is $750... [...]

Right Angles: Interesting story about Charlotte

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:41:12 -0500

Number of comments: 1

I got my University of Georgia Magazine yesterday and found this bit from an alumni profile of North Carolina Chamber of Commerce chairman Robert Stolz interesting (emphasis added):

Robert Stolz had been in Charlotte just a couple of weeks when a group of older men from the business community came to [...]

Under the Dome blog: Cunningham's announcement video

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:35:22 -0500

Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham launched his campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate on Monday with a Web video.

As Dome expected, it includes plenty of references to Cunningham's military service. Cunningham takes a few digs at Republican Sen. Richard Burr and notes that [...]

WataugaWatch: Who Knew the NC Constitution Was Such a Dick!

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:34:00 -0500

The US Constitution, Amendment 1: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

The NC Constitution, Article 6 Sec. 8: "The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God."

On [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Appeals court rules against Union County's adequate public facilities ordinance

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:26:00 -0500

A unanimous three-judge panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals reversed a lower-court ruling this morning and struck a blow against Union County's adequate public facilities ordinance. The appellate judges ruled that Union County did not have authority from the General Assembly to use an APFO to secure the equivalent [...]

EdCone.com: Business as usual

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:23:09 -0500

Doing the same thing and expecting different results is one definition of insanity. Our financial system just blowed up pretty good, but there's a lot of resistance to doing things differently. That's insane. "When the financial crisis began, few players..." [...]

JLF > The Locker Room: Center for Education Reform gives NC charter law a D

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:21:00 -0500

According to the Center for Education Reform's 2010 charter school law ranking and scorecard, North Carolina has the 12th weakest of the nation's 40 charter school laws. CER researchers point out, • Unsupportive state leaders ignore long-reached school cap • Charters have had to sue to gain access... [...]

Right Angles: I hear the gnashing of liberal teeth

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:07:27 -0500

Number of comments: 1

Get ready for a lot of liberal weeping and teeth-gnashing, angry editorials about incompetence and the incivility of the “tea baggers,” and more slander of rural and other mainstream Americans:

A pair of new surveys revealing that Democrat President Obama is still declining and has hit a new low in [...]

Under the Dome blog: Poll: Support soft for health care bill

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 09:05:39 -0500

A new poll shows that 48 percent of North Carolina voters oppose the Democratic health care reform proposals.

The poll conducted Dec. 1-3 for the Civitas Institute found that 40 percent of voters supported the proposals while 12 percent were undecided. The numbers are similar to Civitas' October polling, which [...]

Right Angles: The key to freedom

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:57:51 -0500

This Swiss citizen says: “The key to freedom is to be able to defend oneself…and the key to that is guns.” Truer words have never been spoken. That’s why tyrannical governments and anyone with a totalitarian instinct (you know who you are) try to outlaw guns.

(Link via Instapundit)

[...]

EdCone.com: What Tony said

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:51:17 -0500

Transparency in local government: a commission member with a blog. As it happens, I agree with Tony right down the line on the swim center issue -- I'd like to see it built, I think the process to date has...' [...]

Under the Dome blog: State pays twice for work

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:38:49 -0500

BUY TWO, GET ONE: A Maryland company has two separate contracts from the state to do the same work. The N.C. Department of Transportation awarded a $1.8 million contract to EBX to clean up nitrogen in the Neuse River Basin. The N.C. Department of [...]

EdCone.com: Let's make a deal

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:36:47 -0500

"Over a 28-year-period, megamergers — the largest 1% of all transactions — destroyed on average 3% of the short-term stock returns of acquirers." Too bad this WSJ article is behind the paywall, it's worth reading. Bankers and managers walk away... [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: Conference Board: More good news on jobs

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:35:40 -0500

The Conference Board’s national Employment Trends Index rose for the fourth consecutive month in November, a good sign for the severely depressed labor market. [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: Report: Wells, Citi seek to repay TARP funds

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:29:49 -0500

Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc. are negotiating with government officials to exit the Troubled Asset Relief Program, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the situation. (BAC) (C) (WFC) [...]

Charlotte Business News - Local Charlotte News | Charlotte Business Journal: Baker & Taylor buys Blackwell units

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:20:49 -0500

Baker & Taylor Inc. has acquired Blackwell United Kingdom’s Australia-based James Bennett bookseller and Blackwell Book Services North America. [...]

Piedmont Publius: Arena blues

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:15:35 -0500

Interesting N&O article on N.C. State’s inability to fill the RBC center for Wolfpack basketball games. I realize that the Pack’s dismal record under Sidney Lowe doesn’t help matters much.

A few things about this article remind me of the goings-on up here in Greensboro. Maybe it’s UNCG’s loss [...]

News 14 Carolina: Mass. voters taking 1st step to fill Kennedy seat

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:04:57 -0500

For the first time in half a century, the state's voters are going to the polls without a Kennedy to choose on the ballot to fill a storied Senate seat. [...]

Squall Lines: Doctors debate Titan Cement issue

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:01:30 -0500

As controversy continues to surround the siting of a Titan Cement plant in the area, the Greater Wilmington Business Journal has published a column and a response column, both from local physicians. Dr. Dennis Nicks argues the case for allowing the plant to proceed:

Some say the Carolinas Cement plant [...]

Scrutiny Hooligans: “I Don’t Believe In Global Warming…” C’mon, Everybody Sing…

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:00:07 -0500

Dip a little Copenhagen? [...]

Right Angles: Evidence That Every Vote Counts

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:55:23 -0500

Number of comments: 2

First it was the Wake County school board that took no prisoners. Now it’s the Wake County commissioners. Whether you see the tactics as bold or arrogant depends on where you sit. Expect the fireworks to continue on both boards.

[...]

Squall Lines: Saffo still undecided on Senate bid

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:48:35 -0500

Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo continues to be coy about the possibility of seeking the Democratic nomination to replace outgoing Sen. Julia Boseman. There’s more, from WHQR:

The Chairman of the New Hanover County Democrats says he thinks Saffo would be a great state senator and hopes Saffo will consider running.

Boseman [...]

Squall Lines: Carolina Beach stalking case ends

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:41:39 -0500

If you’ve been following the odd case of Carolina Beach police officer Darrell Collins accusing Councilman Dan Wilcox of stalking him, then the conclusion of the story may not come as much of a surprise. Collins has resigned his job with the police department:

Additionally, former officer Darrell Collins asked [...]

The Meck Deck: Jennifer Roberts, Part of the Problem

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:23:29 -0500

Number of comments: 1

I think I’m done cutting Roberts any slack on this DSS mess. For her to obstruct and slam the attempts of other commissioners to find out what is going on with county’s massive, $200m. DSS operation is too much. And for Roberts to suggest that a closed session airing [...]

The Progressive Pulse: Top of the morning

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:07:29 -0500

Number of comments: 1

The nation’s big banks and financial institutions, the ones we bailed out with our money, are busier than ever making sure that Congress doesn’t pass any regulations to crack down on their greedy and irresponsible behavior.

Check out the latest Newsweek for the most recent report. The [...]

News 14 Carolina: Foxx says hello to Charlotte as McCrory says goodbye

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:00:16 -0500

There was an official changing of the guard in Charlotte Monday night. New Democratic Mayor Anthony Foxx and the new Charlotte City Council were sworn into their two-year terms, while former Mayor Pat McCrory tearfully bid farewell to the office. [...]

BlueNC blogs: condo foreclosures in las vegas

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:46:20 -0500

foreclosures homes in las vegas
las vegas forclosed
las vegas summerlin foreclosures

[...]

The Village Scribe Online: Hospital CFO’s Wife Starts Petition to support CMC-Waxhaw Emergency Department

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:27:43 -0500

W ith Christmas just around the corner, most of us are busy getting ready, buying gifts, decorating trees and writing Christmas cards — not signing petitions, which brings me to the subject of this post. Over the weekend, Julie Moore, a resident of the Champion Forest subdivision and the wife of John [...]

News 14 Carolina: Anthony Foxx sworn in as Charlotte's new mayor

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:57:57 -0500

BlueNC blogs: Keep. It. Clean.

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:55:04 -0500

Can we PLEASE avoid the circular firing squad in this primary?

Burr, with his billionaire backers across corporate America, is going to be tough enough--and we NEED to replace him. Any of the three announced Democratic candidates would be light-years ahead of our current echo chamber for right-wing talking points.

Read [...]

BlueNC blogs: Water woes

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:13:26 -0500

It doesn't take much imagination to connect the dots between America's chronic health risks and our collective consumption of poisons and contaminants from the water we drink.

An analysis of E.P.A. data shows that Safe Drinking Water Act violations have occurred in parts of every state. In the prosperous town' [...]

Carolina Politics Online: The “Successes” of Public Education in America

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:07:59 -0500

I didn’t think the girl in the pink was going to fall for it.

[...]

Under the Dome blog: A company that's like family

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:58:51 -0500

The Tippett family had a veritable reunion at last week's shareholder's meeting of Law Enforcement Associates, the company with directors-in-high-places that sold pricey goods to state agencies.

Former N.C. Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett was elected to the board, which is chaired by his friend, Sen. Tony Rand, [...]

Carolina Politics Online: Carolinas Allow Domestic Violence to be Pre-existing Condition

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:31:02 -0500

WASHINGTON — Eight states and the District of Columbia don’t have laws that specifically bar insurance companies from using domestic violence as a pre-existing condition to deny health coverage, according to a study from the National Women’s Law Center.

The states are Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, [...]

News 14 Carolina: Charlotte's new mayor, city council sworn into office

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:12:05 -0500

There's officially a changing of the guard for Charlotte city leaders. New Democratic Mayor Anthony Foxx and the new Charlotte City Council were sworn into their terms. [...]