The John Locke Foundation has announced the launch of its new Triangle-specific Web site and a new blog, Right Angles.

The new site will mark its first week of use by the time the Locke Foundation hosts some of the nation’s leading bloggers at a statewide conference in Greensboro on Saturday Oct. 7. Scott Johnson of the nationally respected Power Line blog will deliver the keynote speech at Carolina FreedomNet 2006, at the conference at the Sheraton Greensboro at the Koury Convention Center.

Right Angles offers access to news updates and political commentary. People in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, and other Triangle communities can share their own ideas through comments on the interactive blog.

“Now that the John Locke Foundation has launched Web sites and blogs covering other major sections of North Carolina, it’s time for us to turn to the hub of state government and public policy activity,” said John Hood, president of the Locke Foundation. “We are delighted to be able to offer the Triangle a new source of information and analysis. We hope Right Angles will become a hub of principled, spirited debate about the Triangle and its future.”

Three people will be the principle bloggers on Right Angles: John Locke Foundation research editor Jon Sanders in Wake County, Carolina Journal publisher Jon Ham in Durham County, and Carolina Journal associate editor Donna Martinez in Orange County.

Right Angles joins the Locke Foundation’s other successful blogs: The Locker Room, a staff-written forum examining a range of issues; The Meck Deck, a blog devoted to issues facing the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region; Squall Lines, which focuses on Wilmington and southeastern North Carolina; and Piedmont Publius, a Triad-based blog launched earlier this month.

Bloggers from across the state will converge in Greensboro this Saturday for Carolina FreedomNet 2006. Johnson’s keynote speech, “The 61st Minute: Inside the Eye of Hurricane Dan,” will focus on the role his blog and others played in exposing a flawed CBS News report involving falsified National Guard documents targeting President Bush. In addition, there will be two panel discussions featuring well-known North Carolina bloggers.

Carolina FreedomNet 2006 is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 7.