Daily Journal
5.21.13
Is Learning Better With A Box?
Screen saturation for young children amounts to a grand experiment with potential negative consequences.
CJ Ticker
- JLF research analysts say Senate budget plan moves in the right direction, with room for improvement.
- JLF report recommends that N.C. emulate Indiana, Florida in moving toward consumer-driven Medicaid.
- JLF's education expert raises concerns about Common Core-based English tests with no focus on spelling, grammar, mechanics, or usage.
- House Bill 274, TABOR, passes House Govt Cmte 22-14. On to Finance.
- Senate passes charter school board measure 32-17. On to House.
- Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx nominated as U.S. transportation secretary; U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, D-12th, picked to head federal housing finance agency.
- Perdue 'aircraft provider' participants Buzzy Stubbs, Robert Lee Caldwell, and Charles Michael Fulenwider plead guilty in campaign probe.
- Mooresville knocks Charlotte from the top spot in JLF's annual By The Numbers report ranking local government tax-and-fee burdens.
Other Opinions
5.21.13
Questionable move
The Senate budget would transfer the SBI from the attorney general to the governor. That needs careful study says the Greensboro News & Record.
5.21.13
Human trafficking
Tom Campbell says that human trafficking will continue growing until we stand up and make it becomes too risky and unprofitable to attempt.
5.21.13
Beach erosion
The Wilmington Star-News says that North Carolina’s seawall ban has been good for the beaches and good for the tourism industry.
5.20.13
Bad bills
A deadline for legislation passes, and this turbulent session of the General Assembly has produced decidedly mixed results says the Raleigh News & Observer.
5.20.13
Tax reform
The Winston-Salem Journal writes that the complexity of tax reform translates into a bonanza for the political workers who conduct opposition research.
4.26.13
Dirty Politics at Dix
If anyone has engaged in dirty politics, it’s the crowd who rushed the 75-year lease for the Dix property through state government as Gov. Bev Perdue was heading out the door.
Media Mangle
9.06.12
How to downplay an embarrassing story
The N&O buries the one moment of real drama at the Democratic National Convention.
3.21.12
Death of a narrative
The world's media found the neo-Nazi meme in stories about the school shooting in France just too enticing.
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.
Carolina Beat
Lead Story
Senate Budget Would Require EV/Hybrid Drivers To Pay More
May 21, 2013, By Barry Smith
RALEIGH — Drivers of some of the most fuel-efficient cars in North Carolina could be hit with extra license registration fees. The proposed Senate budget would add $100 annually for electric vehicle registration and $50 annually for hybrid vehicles.
05.20.13 - Institute of Medicine Study Overstates Number of Uninsured Due to Medicaid Rejection
RALEIGH — A study by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine concludes that 500,000 people would be left uninsured by the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act. But the estimate is contradicted by that same study, as well as other state sources.
05.20.13 - Telemedicine Initiative Could Deliver Mental Health Services More Effectively
RALEIGH — Under the proposal, officials at emergency rooms or jails would be able to connect with psychiatric professionals in real time via two-way video for assessments and care instructions. Such a system could reduce the time it takes for a patient to receive care, and free up emergency room and psychiatric hospital beds much faster, reducing costs.
Headlines
5.21.13 - Jury seated in trial of Stephen LaRoque
RALEIGH — As a powerful member of the Republican leadership in the N.C. House, Rep. Stephen A. LaRoque railed for years against big government and those who take taxpayer handouts. The former Kinston lawmaker was set to go on trial Monday on a dozen felony charges stemming from a pair of government-funded non-profit corporations federal prosecutors allege he used as personal piggy banks.
Related NC Ethics & Corruption Articles:
5.21.13 - Law enforcement backs Cooper on SBI
RALEIGH — N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper is opposing a state Senate budget provision that moves much of an investigative unit from his department to one headed by an appointee of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. Cooper, a Democrat, spoke against the idea Monday, alongside police chiefs and prosecutors who also oppose moving the State Bureau of Investigation to the Department of Public Safety, which includes all other law enforcement agencies.
Related Police/Public Safety Articles:
5.21.13 - Berger ousted from New Hanover board
WILMINGTON — In a history-making move, Brian Berger has been removed from the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners. Following a four-hour-long amotion hearing Monday afternoon, the commissioners voted to remove Berger from the five-member board. The vote was 3-2, with Berger and Commissioner Jonathan Barfield dissenting.
Related NC Ethics & Corruption Articles:
5.21.13 - Moeser criticizes coverage of UNC-CH scandal
RALEIGH — In an interview with a local magazine published last week, former UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor James Moeser complained that media coverage of an academic scandal that involved many UNC athletes was more about taking down championship banners than getting at what went wrong.
Related Higher Education Articles:
5.21.13 - Senate proposes defunding Rural Economic Development Center
RALEIGH — In their quest to dismantle commissions and organizations created by Democrats in past years, N.C. Senate Republicans are taking aim at the granddaddy of them all: the state’s Rural Economic Development Center. The proposed Senate budget defunds the Rural Center, which received about $16.6 million in the state budget last year.
Related Economic Development Articles:
5.21.13 - Senate leaders: ‘Medicaid is driving’ state budget
RALEIGH — Senate budget writers say their plan, rolled out Sunday night, doesn’t make many big spending changes - with one very large exception. The single largest increase by far in the Senate budget plan is an additional $584 million dollars plowed into Medicaid in the upcoming year. Next year, the increase will be $796 million. Senate leaders say that has to change.
Related Health Care Policy Articles:
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