A new biography of former North Carolina Gov. Jim Martin written by JLF Chairman John Hood explores his legacy of reform in education, transportation and more. But it also looks at his impact on spurring a new generation of Republican leaders, many of whom serve in office today. Martin discusses why he ran for governor and the priorities of his administration. Then we turn to environmental policy. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is pursuing two policies described as “power grabs” by the head of North Carolina’s top state environmental regulator. Donald van der Vaart, secretary of the newly renamed Department of Environmental Quality, details the controversies surrounding proposed federal water and air regulations. He explains why DEQ has concerns about both sets of mandates from Washington. Next is a look at North Carolina’s law against cyberstalking, which has not covered a person using a Global Positioning System device attached to a car to track another person’s location. State lawmakers recently debated legislation designed to close that loophole. That’s followed by a look at religion and politics. Some people characterize evangelical Christians as a monolithic bloc with one set of opinions on public policy issues. Molly Worthen, assistant professor of history at UNC-Chapel Hill, dispels that notion in the recent book “Apostles of Reason.” Worthen explains how pundits and partisans miss the mark when they lump evangelicals together as one united group. And finally, we look at a revision of the worldwide medical coding system that has created chuckles for some of the maladies it details, but serious concerns as well for health care providers who must comply with the ever-growing rules and bureaucracy that surrounds health care. John Locke Foundation Health and Human Services Analyst Katherine Restrepo explains the code changes and what has providers wondering what comes next.
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