John Hood’s
Daily Journal

2.09.10
It’s Tough on Everyone

CJ Ticker

• Prosecutors want trial of ex-Easley lawyer to begin in mid-May, N&O reports.
• U.S. Education Secretary Duncan, Minn. Gov. Pawlenty among speakers at Institute for Emerging Issues forum in Raleigh today and tomorrow.
• Mike McIntyre's opponent says he should return "tainted" donations from Lanny Wilson, others.
• Perdue responds to Mike Easley's secret "Nick Danger" e-mail account.
• Andrew Young found in contempt over withholding of Edwards sex tape.
• U.S. Justice Department to investigate Wayne County schools.
• Seven-term Democratic State Sen. Larry Shaw announces he won't seek re-election.
• TV appearance: JLF's Terry Stoops on Fox News at 6 p.m. discussing the N.C. public school curriculum.

Other Opinions

2.09.10
Walking a high wire

Whether it’s four or eight years, Gov. Bev Perdue will be performing a precarious high-wire act for the remainder of her time in office writes Scott Mooneyham.

2.09.10
It’s personal

The Raleigh News & Observer says that new legislation requiring stricter oversight of whether clients really need help through Medicaid’s "in-home services" is required.

2.09.10
2010 campaign

Filing for the 2010 election begins this week. Barry Smith explains what’s at stake.

2.08.10
You can speak up now

JLF’s Daren Bakst says that at its core, the First Amendment’s free speech protections were designed to protect political speech. Yet, its political speech has been under attack.

2.08.10
Probation gaps persist

The Greensboro News & Record says that since the murder nearly two years ago of Eve Carson, there’s been an alarming lack of progress in efforts to reform the state’s probation system.

Media Mangle

2.06.10
MSM: Fetal homicide and abortion aren‘t the same thing

The juxtaposition of stories on abortion and fetal homicide show the mainstream media doesn't see a connection.

2.06.10
The mainstream media and the Tea Party Movement

There's only one reason the media is suddenly interested in the Tea Party movement, and it's not because it's newsworthy.

1.19.10
MSM giving good imitation of Inspector Clouseau

Mainstream media never seems to notice outrageous comments and hate speech coming from the left.

Carolina Beat

2.05.10
Can Republicans Cash in on the Massachusetts Miracle?

Lead Story

Appeals Court Grants Cherokees Exclusive Video Poker License

February 09, 2010, By Michael Lowrey

Headlines

2.09.10 - NC GOP head wants 2 top Perdue aides to quit

RALEIGH — The head of North Carolina’s Republican Party said Monday that two top aides to Gov. Beverly Perdue should resign their positions or be fired over poor performance. Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Reuben Young should resign for failing to investigate claims that former Gov. Mike Easley ordered e-mail messages deleted to prevent them from becoming public, North Carolina GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer said. Young was Easley’s chief legal adviser.

2.09.10 - Privatization of state’s ABC system is risky business

WILMINGTON — Could a one-time windfall of up to $700 million be attractive enough to win state leaders over to privatizing North Carolina’s liquor industry? That money could fund government projects, such as transportation needs, or supplement other aspects of the state’s budget. It would require, however, a move considered financially and socially risky by some and perhaps the most momentous change the governor’s budget reform committee could recommend.

2.09.10 - Cary convict getting new hearing in 1991 murder case

RALEIGH — A three-judge panel will hear evidence Tuesday that could free a Cary man from prison. The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission decided last September that Gregory Taylor, who was convicted of killing a prostitute and has served 16 years in prison, should get a new hearing in the case. Taylor is serving time for the 1991 stabbing and beating death of Jacquetta Thomas, 26, who worked as a prostitute. He has maintained his innocence throughout.

2.09.10 - Lincoln sheriff’s case is dropped

LINCOLNTON — Lincoln County Sheriff Tim Daugherty is a free man. In a brief burst of courtroom drama even before jury selection began, the charges against the sheriff - two felony counts of obstruction of justice and a misdemeanor charge of making a false report to an officer - were dismissed. A few hours later, the first-term Democrat was filing for re-election.

2.09.10 - Dentist wants help to broaden care

RALEIGH — Some North Carolina dentists hope to create a new kind of mid-level dental worker as a way of expanding care to people in poor and rural areas of the state. But the effort faces a long and arduous road. Dr. Steven Slott, a Burlington dentist who founded a traveling free clinic, wants the state legislature to study the idea of an entirely new work force of mid-level dental positions. Such an approach has been tried in Alaska and is gaining ground in several other states.

2.09.10 - Group home shut after stabbing

RALEIGH — State inspectors have shut down a Holly Springs group home for adults with mental illness after a resident was stabbed over the weekend with a screwdriver nearly two dozen times. In an order issued Monday, the state Division of Health Service Regulation suspended the home’s license to operate after inspectors found “an imminent danger to the health, safety and welfare of the clients and that emergency action is required to protect the clients.”

2.09.10 - As more students apply for aid, funding pool may shrink

ASHEVILLE — Financial aid may be spread more thinly among North Carolina college students next year as universities respond to a rapid increase in requests for assistance. UNC Asheville and Western Carolina University have seen requests through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, grow by about 10 percent this year as families grapple with shrinking budgets and job losses. FAFSA applications have skyrocketed statewide by more than 25 percent so far this year compared with all of last year.

2.09.10 - CMS panel: Access to AP classes is unequal

CHARLOTTE — Students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s high-poverty schools face an “opportunity gap” in access to college-level classes, says a report from a citizen advisory panel being presented today. Students at several low-poverty suburban schools can choose from more than 20 Advanced Placement subjects this school year, while students at four high-poverty schools have fewer than 10, the report says.

2.09.10 - Fish bypass in Cape Fear River to cost $12 million

WILMINGTON — More than a decade after it first promised to do it, the Army Corps of Engineers has announced plans to build a fish bypass at Lock and Dam No. 1 on the Cape Fear River. The $12 million project, which was mandated by environmental regulators in the late 1990s as mitigation for the deepening of the Cape Fear River shipping channel, has languished because of budget constraints and a lack of priority for the corps. But President Obama’s stimulus bill freed up money for the work.

2.09.10 - Regional partnership’s spending questioned

CHARLOTTE — Faced with a $250,000 deficit, Charlotte Regional Partnership chief Ronnie Bryant stood before his bosses last July and put his job on the line. The economic development group, which gets half of its $3 million budget from state and local taxpayers, was seeing cuts in state and private dollars. It needed to cut more costs or raise more money. Bryant said he’d plug the hole himself. “I said it would rest on my shoulders,” he recalls.

2.09.10 - Judge overturns McLeansville annexations

GREENSBORO — Three McLeansville subdivisions are no longer part of the city, after a judge declared their 2009 annexation void. Four McLeansville residents sued Greensboro last year to stop the planned July 1 annexation. Greensboro added the land, but late last week, Judge Edwin Wilson sided with residents, who argued the city could not hold them to annexation agreements made with the subdivision developers. Wilson’s ruling means that the three subdivisions — including 151 acres and about 285 homes — will go back to being part of Guilford County.