Daily Journal

6.19.13
Restore Real Judicial Elections

CJ Ticker

• Former Gov. Jim Holshouser, North Carolina's first Republican governor of the 20th century, died Monday at 78.
• JLF report recommends a "reverse logrolling" approach to the final N.C. budget plan.
• Gov. Pat McCrory signs Senate Bill 129, limiting the issuance of new debt that has not received voter approval.
• House passes tax reform bill 75-37. On to Senate and its different tax plan.
• House tax reform bill passes initial vote 72-32. Final floor vote as early as Monday.
• Former state Rep. Stephen LaRoque, R-Lenoir, convicted on 12 counts of stealing federal funds.
• JLF report touts sunset provision as a key tool in fighting overregulation.
• State House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, will run for U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Kay Hagan.

Other Opinions

6.19.13
Holshouser’s mark

Jim Holshouser holds a place in state history not for his political party but for helping North Carolina advance says the Greensboro News & Record.

6.19.13
Holshouser a trailblazer

The Raleigh News & Observer says that Former Gov. Jim Holshouser was a subtle but brilliant man who was a positive force in North Carolina for two generations.

6.19.13
Tax reform

Scott Mooneyham says that the Senate’s new tax reform proposal is difficult to see as serious public policy. It looks more like political gamesmanship.

6.18.13
Sexual assaults

The Charlotte Oberser says that having a college Honor Court adjudicate sexual assault charges is wrong. Serious criminal allegations should always be handled by trained law enforcers.

6.18.13
State budget

When the Honorables go behind closed doors, it’s like that box of chocolates Forrest Gump talked about – you never know what you’re going to get says the Wilmington Star-News.

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

6.12.13
Americans Saw Threat to Freedoms Before Scandals Came To Light

Lead Story

Deadline To Launch NCTracks Medicaid Computer System Looming

June 17, 2013, By Dan Way

Headlines

6.19.13 - NC Senate delays final vote on tax overhaul

RALEIGH — The North Carolina Senate delayed a final vote on a tax overhaul plan Tuesday to work out differences with House members and Gov. Pat McCrory. Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said the scheduled vote was being put off for talks with McCrory and the House, which already passed its own proposal.

6.19.13 - Charlotte says tax bill will cost city $31 million a year

RALEIGH — Charlotte is lobbying against the state Senate’s tax reform bill, saying it would cost the city at least $31 million a year in lost revenue and possibly require a property tax increase. Cities and towns could lose nearly $150 million in revenues when the tax bill is fully implemented in fiscal 2019 because it eliminates the local food tax and local privilege license tax and requires local governments to pay sales taxes.

6.19.13 - Debate forms around Rural Center’s oversight, future

RALEIGH — Several board members of the taxpayer-funded N.C. Rural Economic Development Center said this week they are concerned about practices brought to light in a recent News & Observer series and welcome additional oversight. Rural Center leaders, however, said the newspaper reports do not properly reflect the organization’s work.

6.19.13 - Voller says it’s time for State Democratic Party to unify

RALEIGH — State Democratic Party Chairman Randy Voller said Tuesday he hopes the party infighting is behind him, after he signed an unusual settlement agreement with several of his critics. Voller, the mayor of Pittsboro, agreed to a settlement that clarified the procedure for appointing the party’s executive director and ended the contracts of two of the party’s consultants.

6.19.13 - DNC: Nearly $500,000 of equipment was lost or stolen

CHARLOTTE — To stage last year’s Democratic National Convention, the local host committee raised millions of dollars, much of it for computers, phones and other communication devices. Now it appears a sizable amount of that equipment was lost, stolen – or perhaps kept by the staffers it had been assigned to.

6.19.13 - Senate panel votes to roll back building efficiency standards

RALEIGH — A legislative effort to slash the state’s energy-efficiency requirements for new buildings gained crucial support in a Senate committee Tuesday. The Senate Commerce Committee approved a bill that would roll back energy-efficiency requirements of new office buildings and commercial facilities by an estimated 30 percent.

6.19.13 - Amendment to auto insurance bill rekindles industry feud

RALEIGH — The internal feud among North Carolina’s insurance carriers over the way the state regulates auto insurance rates continues to bubble up in the halls and back rooms of the state legislature. FAIR NC, a coalition of insurance companies that this spring failed to win passage of a bill that would have remade the state’s regulatory system, hasn’t given up the fight.

6.19.13 - NC House panel OKs possible 75 mph speed limits

RALEIGH — A drive to raise North Carolina’s top speed limit to 75 mph moved ahead Tuesday after a House committee recommended a Senate bill despite warnings by legislators that higher speeds will mean more casualties. The House Transportation Committee agreed to the bill approved in the Senate in April that allows the Department of Transportation to set limits higher than the current 70 mph cap for some interstates and other limited-access highways if traffic and engineering allow it.

6.19.13 - Domestic violence monitoring bill faces questoins

RALEIGH — A bill that would allow for GPS monitoring of those accused of domestic violence faced questions in the Senate Judiciary II Committee Tuesday over cost and its constitutionality. Senators did not vote on the bill but peppered its sponsor with questions. The measure would allow judges to require someone subject to a domestic violence protective order to wear an ankle bracelet.

6.19.13 - Duke Energy looks inside to hire chief executive

CHARLOTTE — Less than a year after a tumultuous merger made it the nation’s largest electric utility, Duke Energy on Tuesday announced an insider as its first female chief executive. Chief financial officer Lynn Good will succeed outgoing president and CEO Jim Rogers on July 1. Rogers, CEO since 2006, will continue as chairman until he retires Dec. 31.

6.19.13 - Report: Most teacher ed programs are substandard

RALEIGH — Teacher education in the nation’s universities is “an industry of mediocrity,” says a new report that rates hundreds of programs and gives less than 10 percent a favorable grade. The “Teacher Prep Review” from the National Council on Teacher Quality prompted widespread attention in the education world and scorn from universities who were the target of the ranking.

6.19.13 - Wake hires Jim Merrill as schools superintendent

CARY — The Wake County school board on Tuesday hired Jim Merrill as its next superintendent, bringing back a veteran educator who was once one of the school system’s top leaders. Merrill edged out Ann Clark, deputy superintendent for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, for the job of leading North Carolina’s largest school system.

6.19.13 - Mecklenburg commissioners approve 2.35-cent tax increase

CHARLOTTE — Mecklenburg commissioners formally approved a $1.7 billion budget with a 2.35-cent tax rate increase Tuesday night, but not without great theater – and rhetoric. During the pre-vote debate, commissioners evoked the names of Caesar, Jesus and LBJ. Democrats chided Republicans for their inclination to “cut, cut, cut” to avoid tax hikes.

6.19.13 - Raleigh seeks more water capacity from Falls Lake

RALEIGH — The city council voted Tuesday to seek permission to pull more drinking water from Falls Lake, a move that would postpone Raleigh’s need to build a new reservoir in eastern Wake County. Raleigh supplies water to 500,000 people in Raleigh and six smaller Wake County towns.

6.19.13 - Quarantine issued after invasive ash beetle found

WINSTON-SALEM — An emergency quarantine was issued Monday for three North Carolina counties after an invasive beetle species was discovered in the state for the first time. Two adult emerald ash borers, a species native to Asia and eastern Russia, were spotted in Granville County last week. Destruction from the insect has also been seen in ash trees in neighboring Person and Vance counties, all three of which border Virginia where the insect is prevalent.