Races for Congress and the legislature are getting a lot of attention, but a number of North Carolina counties will ask voters to make a critical decision of another kind: whether or not to approve a quarter-cent sales tax hike. John Locke Foundation Local Government Analyst and Director of Research Michael Sanera analyzes the fiscal situation of the counties in question and discusses local government trends in spending and taxing. Then we turn to health insurance and health care. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina earned headlines recently when it announced plans to refund $155 million to 215,000 individual health insurance customers. State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin trumpeted the announcement as great news, and Blue Cross CEO Brad Wilson explained why the insurer is able to make the repayments. You’ll hear their comments, along with reaction from Joseph Coletti, John Locke Foundation Director of Health and Fiscal Policy Studies. Next, when you think of traditional Southern conservatism, the word “Catholic” might not come to mind immediately. But Douglas Minson of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute has found a number of ties between Catholic thought and conservative Southern ideas. He outlined those ties during a presentation this year for the N.C. History Project. You’ll hear highlights. That’s followed by a look at one of the most interesting stories in recent North Carolina history. It involves state government’s efforts to recover its original version of the Bill of Rights. David Howard recounts that story in the book Lost Rights: The Misadventures of a Stolen American Relic. Howard recently discussed key elements of the story, which started with an FBI sting operation in 2003. And finally, we turn to K-12 education. Five public charter schools are suing the Durham public school system for more than $5 million they say the district has kept from them over the past five years. John Locke Foundation Director of Education Studies Terry Stoops explains the suit’s issues and discusses a court ruling from Charlotte that addressed the money public systems must provide to local charters, which are part of the public system.