John Hood’s
Daily Journal

1.31.12
Fishing for a Solution

CJ Ticker

• Transit expert David Hartgen will talk with WPTF's Bill LuMaye at 2:06 p.m. on JLF's new study on the transit tax.
• JLF expert says N.C. students struggle to keep up with peers around the globe.
• No surprise: Rep. Bill Faison, D-Orange, also in governor's race.
• Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton will seek Dem nomination for governor, WRAL reports.
• Perdue makes it official: She's not seeking re-election.
• Gov. Bev Perdue will announce today she's not running for re-election.
• A three-judge panel rejects efforts to delay the N.C. primary election because of redistricting challenges.
• Gov. Perdue proposes restoring 3/4 of the one-cent sales tax increase.

Other Opinions

1.31.12
Who will answer?

Governor Bev Perdue won’t seek re-election. Tom Campbell wonders what will it take to win the Democratic nomination.

1.31.12
Political games

While they have been going on for years now, it’s far past time to quit playing political games where voters lose out says Damon Circosta.

1.31.12
Project LIFT

The Charlotte Observer says that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board’s agreement to partner with private funders and others in the community is worth cheering.

1.30.12
On the way out

The Greensboro News & Record writes that Gov. Bev Perdue faced a very tough fight to win re-election this year. So she won’t try.

1.30.12
Search is on

Rob Christensen says that as Democrats gathered in Greensboro on Saturday for a statewide fundraising event, they suddenly had a lame-duck first-term governor and at least two new candidates.

Media Mangle

1.16.12
Anatomy of a Newspaper Hit Piece

In a Sunday piece, The Charlotte Observer employs all the steps used by the mainstream media to mislead readers.

1.03.12
A Pauline Kael Syndrome at The News & Observer?

When it comes to quoting blog sites in The News & Observer, the liberal Huffington Post seems to be a favorite.

10.19.11
Post Amazed by Obama Teleprompter Ridicule

The Washington Post is at a loss to explain all the jokes about President Obama's reliance on a teleprompter.

Carolina Beat

1.26.12
Last Stand for the NCAE?

Lead Story

Federal Election Reform Commission Advocated Voter Photo ID

January 31, 2012, By Karen McMahan

Headlines

1.31.12 - GOP activists say no one wants to take on McCrory

RALEIGH — After Pat McCrory lost his campaign for governor in 2008, he had to find a new job. He also got a second chance to impress conservative Republicans and make deeper statewide political connections. McCrory got the new job, working for a major law firm. And he worked the rubber-chicken circuit tirelessly, building up political IOUs during the 2010 mid-term elections.

1.31.12 - Democrats pursue Bowles for governor’s race

RALEIGH — When Erskine Bowles left the presidency of the University of North Carolina last year, he ruled out a future in elective politics. “I have empirical data that I was a terrible politician,” he said, referring to his two unsuccessful runs for U.S. Senate. But despite Bowles’ self-assessment, Democrats launched a major lobbying effort to get him to run for governor after Gov. Bev Perdue said last week she would not run for re-election.

1.31.12 - Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines won't run for governor

WINSTON-SALEM — Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines will not run for governor, he said Monday, because he wants to continue working to rebuild Winston-Salem’s economy. Joines, a Democrat who is in his third term as mayor, last week floated the idea of running in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in May. The Democratic nomination field opened Thursday when Gov. Bev Perdue said she would not seek re-election.

1.31.12 - NAACP leader says country’s eyes are on North Carolina

DURHAM – The largest annual gathering of left-leaning and civil rights groups in North Carolina will have as one of its main goals the opposition to a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, organizers said Saturday. That effort could be a test of how much influence they wield among traditionally Democratic voters with socially conservative views.

1.31.12 - Billboard industry got backing from lawmakers with ties

RALEIGH — Two members of the General Assembly who voted to approve a billboard industry-promoted bill allowing more trees to be cut around the signs had connections to the industry. One is Rep. Stephen LaRoque, a Kinston Republican and high-ranking legislator who has come under scrutiny for how he ran a pair of federal loan intermediary nonprofit groups.

1.31.12 - Perdue trying to lure jobs to southeastern NC

RALEIGH — Gov. Beverly Perdue's administration is trying to attract a company to invest in Brunswick County and bring what could be 1,100 jobs to southeastern North Carolina. The effort comes almost four months after a similarly-sized project fell through amid partisan acrimony. Perdue said over the weekend she planned to have breakfast Monday with company executives at the Executive Mansion and travel to the region later in the day.

1.31.12 - First Racial Justice Act case reaches court

FAYETTEVILLE — Change is coming to North Carolina through a new law that lets death-row prisoners challenge their sentences if race was a significant factor at sentencing, a defense attorney said Monday of the first case involving the state’s Racial Justice Act. The hearing involving death-row prisoner Marcus Robinson opened Monday in Cumberland County Superior Court.

1.31.12 - Perdue weighing choice of acting DA

DURHAM — Gov. Beverly Perdue has begun mulling potential candidates to fill in for suspended Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline. State law assigns the job of naming a temporary replacement for Cline to the governor, who by law has to act if a DA “becomes for any reason unable to perform his [or her] duties.” Perdue spokesman Mark Johnson on Monday confirmed that the governor is sizing up the possibilities.

1.31.12 - Police return to Occupy Charlotte camp, roust protesters

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg police returned to the Occupy Charlotte site before daybreak Tuesday, awakening and evicting several protesters who were sleeping on the lawn of the old City Hall overnight. According to several reports from the scene, about a half-dozen patrol cars arrived about 6:15 a.m. Tuesday and aimed their spotlights on the front lawn, where police had evicted dozens of protesters and torn down at least 30 tents Monday afternoon.

1.31.12 - Group ponders lawsuit over Fayetteville consent search ban

FAYETTEVILLE — The North Carolina Police Benevolent Association said Monday that it’s considering litigation against the city of Fayetteville over a temporary freeze on police consent searches while a consultant group investigates claims of racial profiling. John Midgette, the police group’s executive director, said the moratorium is unlawful.

1.31.12 - Sheriff Davis puts bipolar disorder in spotlight

HENDERSONVILLE — In a way, Henderson County Sheriff Rick Davis has really brought out discussion of bipolar disorder — and that’s good and bad. Good in that it shines a light on a disorder that is surprisingly common and notoriously tough on families. Bad in that it has given life to misinformation and speculation.

1.31.12 - Challenges mark Wake superintendent Tata’s anniversary

RALEIGH — One year ago, Tony Tata stepped into the job of Wake County schools superintendent amid questions about how he could refocus a system in flux and a school board in turmoil. Now Tata can look back on shepherding through a new student assignment plan, developing a budget that avoided teacher layoffs, bringing relative calm to the board and moving Wake back toward full accreditation for its high schools.

1.31.12 - Stakes high for Charlotte in US Airways merger talks

CHARLOTTE — As merger talk heats up around US Airways, experts say an acquisition of American Airlines or a merger deal with Delta could affect Charlotte's status as a hub city, although it’s too early to make firm predictions. Any potential deal would be months, if not more than a year, away. But since American Airlines sought bankruptcy protection in November, speculation about possible tie-ups has increased.

1.31.12 - Titan trying to calm environmentalists’ fears

WILMINGTON — For more than three years, a contentious battle has waged between area environmentalists and would-be Castle Hayne cement company Titan America. There have been defamation lawsuits, several public hearings and protests over concerns about the possible environmental ramifications of a massive cement plant operating in a picturesque coastal community.

1.31.12 - Warmth-loving plants find N.C. just balmy

RALEIGH — Area gardeners may have suspected odd weather when their rare palms, gingers and bottle brushes - which had no business growing this far north - actually survived a North Carolina winter. Winters came and went, and the subtropical exotics continue to thrive. U.S. agriculture officials confirmed last week what plants have been telling us for years: Winters aren’t as cold as they used to be.