RALEIGH — Dare County landscaper Bill Boykin thinks neither politically connected man who acquired property he once owned known as Island L on state maps — nor the state of North Carolina, which claims partial ownership — had clear title to the property when a boundary line agreement was drafted in 2011. Boykin thinks there are "clouds on the title," signaling potential irregularities in the chain of ownership.
RALEIGH — Less than two months remain before the elections in November, and while Republicans nationally worry how scandals and spending could lessen their prospects for maintaining power in Congress, in North Carolina it’s the reverse — Democrats fear that corruption might be their undoing.
RALEIGH — A recently reappointed member of the North Carolina Utilities Commission is the subject of a write-in mayoral campaign, even though he says he's not a candidate. But R.V. "Bobby" Owens, Jr. has said publicly that should he win the election on Tuesday, he will accept the office.
Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight personally has exacted a terrible toll on North Carolina's economy and its reputation.
RALEIGH — State officials botched the recruitment of a biotechnology company because of a power struggle between the Department of Commerce and an economic development agency in northeast North Carolina, officials of the company say. Documents also show that rather than helping the company in negotiations, North Carolina’s Northeast Partnership continued a practice of seeking equity in the companies it recruits. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight appears to wield strong influence over the Partnership, sometimes determining whether and how businesses get state incentives.
RALEIGH — Fragmentation of leadership and responsibilities has diminished the effectiveness of North Carolina’s publicly funded economic development agencies, says a private developer who once had dealings in the northeast area of the state. The developer said "that region is controlled by [Senate President Pro Tem Marc] Basnight and by R.V. Owens (III)." Owens is Basnight’s nephew, chief fund-raiser, and a powerful influence in the Northeast. "Everybody has to stay in line and stay in step," the developer said, "or there are negative ramifications held over their heads."
RALEIGH — In 1998 voters approved, by a 51 percent to 49 percent ratio, $200 million in bonds to extend natural-gas pipelines to 22 unserved counties in the state. However, the weight of State Senate leader Marc Basnight’s influence apparently enabled political allies in eastern North Carolina to manage $188.3 million of the available funds. None of the money is likely to be paid back because the bond legislation doesn’t require it, and because the pipeline project isn’t expected to be economically feasible for decades, if ever.
RALEIGH — A Raleigh businessman is suing a consortium of interests, one of them linked to publicly funded Golden LEAF for allegedly conspiring to keep him from building an ethanol plant in Beaufort County. His accusations include racketeering, extortion, corruption, and conspiracy, which reach “the highest levels of state government.” The action was filed Feb. 10 in Wake County Superior Court by William Horton, president of The DFI Group, who alleges that a coalition of eastern North Carolina farmers and economic development officials used their political connections to state Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight to pressure Horton to give up his business plans and site options for building the plant.
The Golden LEAF Foundation, which administers half of North Carolina’s share of the national tobacco settlement, claims to operate independent of political persuasion. But documents obtained by Carolina Journal suggest that Gov. Mike Easley and N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight wield significant influence over the nonprofit foundation, reports Paul Chesser.
