RALEIGH — A Wilson-area taxpayer group is calling for a review of a controversial city grant program that has distributed about $6 million in utility bill late fees to nonprofit cultural and social service groups during its 14-year history. Critics say the money should be used to fund key city…
RALEIGH — The General Assembly is scheduled to wrap up its 2003 session soon. The session provided some notable action, although legislators avoided several controversial issues. For the first time in state history, the House elected cospeakers after Rep. Michael Decker switched parties and cost Republicans a majority in the…
RALEIGH—A bill aimed at strengthening the public health infrastructure in North Carolina is moving through the legislature toward likely passage this year. The measure calls for every county, through its public health agency, to develop local priorities that will serve as a basis for greater collaboration with the state. Sponsored…
RALEIGH — Because the state’s Repairs and Renovation Reserve has been drastically underfunded for at least three years, universities and other state institutions are patching their buildings with operating funds — or in some instances, are closing buildings. In Raleigh, even the State Capitol building proved no match for neglect.
RALEIGH—Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, speaking at a John Locke Foundation luncheon Tuesday, said Democrats in the U.S. Senate are hijacking the nation’s courts. Meese criticized techniques used by Democrats to prevent a Senate vote on the Bush administration’s judicial appointments. “The Democratic leadership in the Senate is unwilling…
RALEIGH—State legislators and a group of conservative students Wednesday denounced UNC-Chapel Hill for its choice of a summer-reading book about the plight of low-paid workers in America. The legislators and students questioned the agenda, intellectual honesty, and scholarly merit of author Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By…
RALEIGH—The Senate on Tuesday approved legislation creating a new agency that will provide high-speed broadband Internet access for rural counties and “distressed” urban areas in North Carolina. The Senate approved the measure establishing the E-NC Authority by a 41-6 vote. The E-NC Authority will continue and expand the work of…
WINSTON-SALEM — Winston-Salem played host to more than 8,500 North Carolina home schoolers in May who were attending the 19th annual North Carolinians for Home Education conference and book fair. Retired teacher John Taylor Gatto was featured in three conference lectures. Gatto is a 26-year veteran of the New York…
RALEIGH—Magazine publisher and espionage enthusiast Bernie Reeves urged attendees at a luncheon Monday to visit an upcoming International Spy Conference in Raleigh. The conference, “Spies, Lies, and Treason: The KGB in America,” will feature speakers from the CIA, Britain’s MI6, and a former KGB major general. Reeves, publisher of Metro…
RALEIGH—In an effort to add businesses to its township and expand its tax base, Clayton has set its sights on annexing the area occupied by three major pharmaceutical companies. Opponents of the plan, including state Rep. Billy Creech, fear that new taxes could drive away the companies and deprive Johnston…
