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July 04, 2008
Happy Fourth of July
By CJ Staff
 In celebration of Independence Day, Carolina Journal offers the text of the Declaration of Independence as a reminder of what this day signifies.
7.03.08 - House passes annexation moratorium
RALEIGH — The N.C. House of Representatives approved a temporary stop to forced annexations yesterday, acknowledging complaints from residents who say that cities are abusing the state’s lax annexation laws. The bill — passed by a vote of 98-18 — would enact a nine-month moratorium on efforts by cities to annex residents of unincorporated areas against their will.
Related Property Rights Articles:
Pinewild fight goes to Court of Appeals
Senate wants to end land transfer tax
Raleigh rental unit fee approved, but jeered
Irked Raleigh landlords talk of raising rent
JLF: Annexation good for city leaders, bad for the public
Committee OKs annexation ‘timeout’
7.03.08 - Mary Easley’s NCSU pay soars
RALEIGH — First lady Mary Easley got a $79,700 pay raise from N.C. State University this week. Her salary as an executive-in-residence and senior lecturer — a job created for her in 2005 — went from $90,300 to $170,000. Her job title has not changed, but university officials said they have greatly expanded the duties for Easley, a former prosecutor and lawyer who has taught law courses.
Related Higher Education Articles:
CJ: Mary Easley gets 88 percent pay raise
UNCG hangs up on landlines
UNC to release draft Carolina North study
More scrutiny vowed at NCCU
Senate OKs name change for NCSA
HPU, UNCG mull school of pharmacy
No. 938: Skills College Grads Really Need
7.03.08 - NC budget votes won’t happen this week
RALEIGH — The General Assembly won’t vote on a final state budget bill before the holiday weekend, legislative leaders said late Wednesday, as negotiations eliminated most House and Senate differences but uncertainty remained on whether Gov. Mike Easley would accept it. House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight met several times to work out conflicts in competing budget bills to adjust the second year of a two-year budget that began Tuesday.
Related NC Budget and Tax Articles:
Legislative leaders now working on budget
JLF: Budget progress and regress
Legislators continue budget negotiations
Easley presses budget
Teachers’ pay still sticky
Tax breaks planned
7.03.08 - McCrory, Perdue spar over lottery
RALEIGH — Gubernatorial candidates Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory tussled Wednesday over McCrory’s willingness to repeal North Carolina’s lottery. Perdue, the Democratic nominee, highlighted McCrory's answers in March to a candidate questionnaire from the conservative N.C. Family Policy Council. The questionnaire asked, “Should the law that authorizes a state sponsored lottery in North Carolina be repealed?”
Related NC Politics Articles:
McCrory, Perdue differ on how to achieve school goals
McCrory blasts Dems for records request
Heavyweights leave N.C. FREE
GOP leaders promote policies and candidates at rally
Rally lures 1,000 conservatives
Primary season ends with low turnout
7.03.08 - Panel OKs bill to ban video slot machine
RALEIGH — A type of video slot machine commonly found in convenience stores, truck stops and bars would be outlawed under a bill approved Tuesday by a House Judiciary Committee. Legislators who proposed the law say the machines’ operators have exploited a loophole left open when the state passed a law in 2005 that banned stand-alone video poker machines.
Related Regulation Articles:
House panel approves extending game ban
Hearing to address auto insurance rates
Restaurant inspections revamped
Marion voters approve beer, liquor sales in restaurants
House panel wants labels for raw milk
Fayetteville to ban roadside vendors?
7.03.08 - Legislative leaders fire health plan chief
RALEIGH — George C. Stokes — who oversaw the health plan for nearly 650,000 state employees, teachers, retirees and their dependents — has been abruptly fired after legislative leaders said the plan’s finances dropped $115 million. The N.C. State Health Plan swung from $50 million in the black to $65 million in the red.
Related State Government Articles:
Easley defends travel outlay
Mary Easley trips cost state $109,000
JLF: How to pay state employees
Decaying zoo needs millions
State braces for worker exodus
Treasurer tiff turns theatrical
7.03.08 - Tax credit stalls for special needs
RALEIGH — Opposition from the state’s top public education groups has blocked a bill that would help some parents of special-needs children pay the cost of sending their children to private schools. Supporters of the legislation insist the $6,000-a-year tax credit for families will save taxpayers money and help children get the services they need.
Related Education Articles:
DPS has had trouble keeping new teachers
State’s reading tests count, feds say
JLF: Dropout prevention grants ineffective
Credits to-do list may be used to cut dropout rate
CMS year-end test results show progress in some areas
CMS board rejects plan on magnets
No. 933 SCHOOLS AS PSYCHIATRISTS
7.03.08 - State could take over care home
RALEIGH — For 15 years, the state has had the right to take over an adult-care home if residents were at risk of death or serious harm. Now the Cleveland County social services department is asking officials to take that step for the first time. Fearing injury or even death for residents of a Cleveland County adult-care home, the county has asked for something that officials say is an unprecedented action — a state takeover of the privately owned center.
Related Social Services Articles:
JLF: How mental health reform went wrong
Flexibility granted on mental health service
Real solution, real home for homeless
Sean’s short life shows system’s flaws
Claimants suffer, wait for disability benefits
Broughton recertification likely
7.03.08 - Lower bar for jobs at GTP
RALEIGH — With much fanfare, state leaders in May announced that Spirit AeroSystems would create 1,031 jobs within six years at the Global TransPark in Kinston. But volumes of records released by the Department of Commerce, at the request of The News & Observer and other media, suggest that the expected job benefits could take longer to attain and might not be as big as promised.
Related Economic Incentives Articles:
Durham courting IBM facility
Buncumbe County OKs $1.4M incentive for jobs
Buncombe awards $1 million in incentives
Tweetsie plan given green light
Firm in plant deal, state have history
Firm pledges jobs for TransPark
7.03.08 - Sewerage probe reaches grand jury
MONROE — A federal investigation into allegations involving Union County government and county officials has reached a federal grand jury, according to the Union County attorney and a former county advisory board member. For more than a year, the FBI has been looking into Union County government and particularly how it provides sewer service.
Related Water & Sewer Articles:
Rage for rain barrels relents
Blowing Rock gets loan to draw more water
Boone plan to tap river has residents raging
JLF: Variable prices can work better than restrictions
Another Asheville area well tests positive
Drought response bill gets a rewrite
State Government
State government coverage includes CJ exclusives and other stories about the North Carolina General Assembly, state departments and agencies, statewide political trends and institutions, and key policy
issues such as health care, regulation, and the environment.
Education
Education coverage includes CJ exclusives and other stories about public education, charter schools, private and home schools, testing and accountability, standards and curriculum, parental choice, and
the best practices of successful North Carolina educators.
Higher Education
Higher education coverage includes CJ exclusives and other stories about North Carolina’s public and private colleges and universities, with a focus on such issues as academic integrity, taxpayer
funding, free speech, political bias, and affirmative action.
Local Government
Local government coverage includes CJ exclusives and other stories about the challenges facing cities and counties in North Carolina, with an emphasis on issues such as tax and budget policy, privatization,
Smart Growth, transportation, and management.
Opinion
Opinion coverage includes columns by CJ staff and a diverse and timely collection of the best editorials and op-eds published by other North Carolina and national media on issues of great importance to
state residents.
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 7.03.08
Flashback: Monorails Of The Decade
Municipalities seem to be under the impression that their citizens will lack access to the Internet without government intervention.
7.03.08
Travel tips
Taxpayer-funded trips including first lady Mary Easley raise eyebrows — and should raise interest from the state auditor says the Raleigh News & Observer.
7.03.08
Going-away junkets
The Greensboro News & Record says that if Mary Easley’s trips abroad at taxpayers’ expense were anything but junkets, they should have been publicly announced.
7.03.08
Write budget in the open
Jane B. Pinsky says that if the General Assembly wants to enjoy citizens’ confidence, then it must be more open about how it creates the state’s budget.
7.02.08
Elect fewer officials
Tom Campbell says that shortening our ballot would require a constitutional amendment but would fix many of the problems involving runoff elections.
7.02.08
State budget
Families and businesses across the state have to cut their own budgets to make ends meet. The Jacksonville Daily News says the state government should do the same.
7.01.08
New Chancellor to Follow in Predecessor’s Steps
Statements and past actions suggest UNC's new chancellor will follow the same questionable policies as his predecessor.
6.06.08
It was 20 years ago today
June 6, 1988, was a D-Day in its own way for me and about 20 reporters, editors, ad reps and circulation folks. It was the day The Chapel Hill Herald first hit the streets.
2.21.08
Young journalists unto the breach
As I looked out on a sea of shining faces at the University of North Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communication on Tuesday, I couldn’t help thinking to myself: “Man, I’d hate to be you guys.”
11.30.07
Is the MSM depressing the hell out of us?
RALEIGH — Extrapolating from recent polling research, I think it’s fair to conclude that journalists are depressing the hell out of us.
Monday, July 07, 2008 at 12:00 Noon
A meeting of the Shaftesbury Society
with our special guest Dr. Jean Palmer-Moloney
Blackwater, Economic Development, and the Political-Military Geography of NC
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 12:00 noon
Headliner Luncheon in Raleigh, NC
with our special guest Roy Spencer, Ph. D.
Climate Confusion:
How Global Warming Hysteria Leads to Bad Science, Pandering Politicians and Misguided Policies that Hurt the Poor
Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 12:00 noon
Headliner Luncheon in Charlotte, NC
with our special guest Robert Novak
The 2008 Elections
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 12:00 noon
Headliner Luncheon in Winston-Salem, NC
with our special guest Michael Barone
2008 Elections
Thursday, September 25, 2008 at 12:00 noon
Headliner Luncheon in Fayetteville, NC
with our special guest Lt. General Thomas McInerney, USAF (ret.)
Update on War on Terrorism
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7.03.08
Neighborhood Fights Density Mandates
7.02.08
Mary Easley Gets 88 Percent Pay Raise
7.01.08
McCrory Pushes Off-Shore Drilling
6.30.08
Appeals Court Rules in Inspection Case
A meeting of the Shaftesbury Society with our special guest Dr. Jean Palmer-Moloney
Headliner Luncheon in Raleigh, NC with our special guest Roy Spencer, Ph. D.
Headliner Luncheon in Charlotte, NC with our special guest Robert Novak
Headliner Luncheon in Winston-Salem, NC with our special guest Michael Barone
Headliner Luncheon in Fayetteville, NC with our special guest Lt. General Thomas McInerney, USAF (ret.)
2007 Legislature
Air Quality in NC
Amendment One
America's Founding Principles
Center for Climate Strategies
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Climate Change
Covering the 2004 Elections
Covering the 2006 Elections
Covering the 2008 Elections
Covering the State Courts
DFI/Ethanol Affair
Early Childhood Programs
Economic Incentives
Frank Ballance's Foundation
Friday Interviews
Golden LEAF
Gov. Easley / Marina / Cannonsgate
Governor's School of NC
Legislative Slush Funds
Mass Transit
NASCAR
Natural Gas in Northeast NC
Northeast Partnership
Privaris Incentives
Randy Parton Theatre
Redistricting
Six Simple Tools
Spotlight on Speaker Black
The Currituck Ferry
The Global TransPark
Who's Who at the Board of Elections Hearings
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Friday
2.02.05
No. 163: Cracking the Code: Hoping for a Libertarian Outcome on Income Tax
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