Cover

• What happened behind the scenes as the N.C. Economic Stimulus and Job Creation Act was lobbied for, and passed? Only a legislator, a lobbyist, a large public company, and an entire state agency acting with conflicts of interest know. Page 1

North Carolina

• The “clean smokestacks” law has been passed, which requires North Carolina to meet stringent emissions standards, even if it means suing neighboring states. Page 4
• A Spotlight research paper released by the John Locke Foundation says there is no correlation between high ozone levels and asthma hospitalizations in the state. Page 4

Education

• The Princeton Review, long known for preparing students to take college and graduate study admissions tests such as the SAT, the LSAT, and the MCAT, has ranked North Carolina at the top in the Review’s first annual evaluation of state testing and accountability. Page 6
• The National Education Association is arming for battle with parents, schools, and the federal government over choice and accountability provisions embedded in the No Child Left Behind Act. Page 7
• Lindalyn Kakadelis writes that the Department of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education claim to support the charter school concept, but she questions whether that is lip service to the legislative mandate, or real commitment. Page 7
• Karen Palasek reports on the advancements made in school reform by the Education Leaders Council, which was born in Vermont in 1995. Page 8
• Responding to requirements of states in the No Child Left Behind Act, various education reform organizations came together to create a rapid-deployment strategy called Following the Leaders. Page 9

Higher Education

• More than 100 faculty members worked with a handful of students and staff members at UNC-Chapel Hill to produce a proposed new general education curriculum, which would represent the first major overhaul of the curriculum since 1980. Page 10
• The faculty at UNC-Greensboro has provided state legislators and others a lesson in responsibility and charity in the face of dire fiscal times, by raising money among themselves to give to the university staff. Page 12
• Several North Carolina college and university heads have signed a statement decrying anti-Semitic actions on college campuses and in academe. Page 12
• Jon Sanders wonders whether criticism is counter to the idea of academic freedom. He says one might be tempted to think so if one had heard only academe’s recent jeremiads on the subject. Page 13

Local Government

• Under a tentative agreement with the NBA, the City of Charlotte is prepared to spend $250 million on a new arena to bring professional basketball back to the Queen City. Given the structure of the deal, the city is unlikely to recover much of the expense. Page 14
• A state Senate committee has, for now, shelved efforts to subsidize homeowners insurance for residents of eastern North Carolina. Page 14
• This year, consumers dependent upon public water systems in North Carolina encountered strict government-imposed restrictions as one of the worst droughts in history hit the state. Customers of privately operated water systems, on the other hand, fared far differently. Page 15

Learning Curve

• A review by Carolina Journal’s George Leef of the book A Question of Intent by David Kessler. Page 18

Opinion

• Richard Wagner wonders who among North Carolina’s leaders has a conscience when we need it most? Page 20
• Michael Walden says two new studies from the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.C. think tank, provide some relevant and important information about taxes in North Carolina. Page 22

Parting Shot

• The year is 2021, the newspaper is still called The News & Observer, and it still is reporting on victimization and intolerance on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill, albeit of a slightly different type. Page 24