North Carolina: Triangulator, Indy Week

Indeed, Cardinal Innovations receives federal funding

Billy Ball — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:32:57 -0400

As an addendum to today's story, Cardinal Innovations spokeswoman Rachel Porter confirmed after deadline Tuesday that her agency—known in official lingo as a managed care organization—does indeed receive federal funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

That information is key because it confirms the state-funded Cardinal Innovations, formerly known as Piedmont Behavioral Health, is subject to the findings of a federal investigation into whether Cardinal has broken federal law by denying mental health care reimbursements for the treatment of undocumented immigrants in its 15-county service area, which includes Orange and Chatham counties.…

One N.C. county says "no" to fracking

Billy Ball — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:03:00 -0400

Expect the debate of local vs. state control over fracking to only swell.

Tuesday night, commissioners in Anson County approved a 5-year fracking ban as they gather more information on the drilling and its prospective pros and cons.…

Hofmann Forest sale sparks protest

Will Huntsberry — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:22:00 -0400

Continuing backlash against the proposed sale of Hofmann Forest has reached Chancellor Randy Woodson's doorstep, where protestors installed a mini-installation of the forest Monday morning.

The proposed sale of the forest has had to jump through several bureaucratic hoops over the past several months, but is nearing completion.…

Last chance to publicly support Dix park

Will Huntsberry — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:19:00 -0400

After today, the fate of Dorothea Dix park will likely be out of your control.

The second and final public hearing of Wake County’s delegation of general assembly members is scheduled for 4 pm today at the legislature.…

Rachel Maddow calls N.C. GOP "amazeballs"

Billy Ball — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:27:57 -0400

For the liberals out there: Rachel Maddow—the oh-so-sharp host of MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show"—has heard your cries.

On Thursday's show, Maddow panned the ominously-numbered Senate Bill 666, a measure that—for all intents and purposes—appears geared to curb North Carolina's college vote.…

Background checks for poor people, just not teachers

Will Huntsberry — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:56:00 -0400

Just a quick post here to take note of two bills moving quickly through the general assembly that reshape the idea of who should face criminal background checks.

One would mean that all residents applying for food stamps or welfare undergo a criminal background check.…

N.C. Republicans seek exemption from U.S. Constitution (reality to follow)

Will Huntsberry — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:19:00 -0400

GOP lawmakers haven’t floated the idea of secession yet, but that may be what’s next.

A joint resolution filed by Reps. Harry Warren and Carl Ford argues that the establishment clause of the First Amendment does not—read NOT—apply to North Carolina, or any state for that matter.…

North Carolina: No Medicaid dollars for undocumented mental health

Billy Ball — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:12:00 -0400

Addendum: It seems that Cardinal Innovation's approach on mental health care for the undocumented community is not unique.

N.C. Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Julie Henry notified INDY Week after its print deadline Tuesday that undocumented immigrants are only eligible for emergency service coverage under Medicaid rule, echoing the comments of Cardinal leaders in today's story.…

The slow, painful road to voter ID

Will Huntsberry — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:59:00 -0400

Let the perfunctory public hearings begin.

On Tuesday, lawmakers in Raleigh listened to more than 100 speakers debate the pros and cons of a law that would require North Carolinians to produce a photo ID on Election Day.…

Cities could be banned from regulating greenhouse gases

Will Huntsberry — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:09:00 -0400

Currently, no municipalities or counties in North Carolina directly attempt to regulate greenhouse gases. And a bill that stalled in a Senate committee today would ensure they never do.…

Womack and the case of the vanishing blog entries

Billy Ball — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:43:00 -0500

Some of the most inflammatory entries on N.C. Mining and Energy Commission Chairman Jim Womack's blog—in which right-wingers posing as long-dead founding fathers take shots at their political enemies—are, as of this writing, down. The posts were among those cited in this week's story, in which Womack was outed as an author.…

Commerce committee hears destructive fracking bill

Elizabeth Van Brocklin — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 10:50:00 -0500

"This is simple," began state Sen. E.S. "Buck" Newton at a commerce committee meeting yesterday. "This country needs the energy and this state needs the jobs."…

McCrory eyes revenue from oil and gas drilling, counts chickens before they hatch

Lisa Sorg — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:25:00 -0500

Has Gov. Pat McCrory been hypnotized by The Beverly Hillbillies?

Specifically, the opening sequence in which Jed Clampett Is "shootin' at some food" when, as the ballad goes, "up through the ground came a bubblin' crude."

Oil, that is, black gold, "Texas Tea."

You might think McCrory has drunk the Texas Tea if you heard him crow about the financial benefits of tracking offshore drilling in his State of the State address last night: "Think what we can do with future revenue."

Yes, let's think about it: Besides the obvious environmental hazards (have we forgotten the BP disaster already?), it is unknown how much "economically recoverable" deposits—those that can be accessed cheaply enough for energy companies to turn a profit— lie in federal waters in the mid-Atlantic.…

McCrory: To be or not to be moderate

Billy Ball — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:07:35 -0500

Those troubled by Gov. Pat McCrory's far-right appointments and statements in recent weeks will find more to wail about in at least one of the governor's prospective appointments to the N.C. State Board of Education.

McCrory's nominations include former U.S. Congressman Bill Cobey, a Chapel Hill resident who currently sits as vice chairman for the Jesse Helms Center's operating board in Wingate.…

Eve Carson killer to be sentenced again

Billy Ball — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:51:23 -0500

Expect a swift—and angry—response on this one.

The N.C. Court of Appeals released its opinion today in the case of Laurence Alvin Lovette, one of two men convicted of killing UNC-Chapel Hill Student Body President Eve Carson in 2008.…

New Democracy NC report analyzes election by race, gender, age

Jane Porter — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:11:00 -0500

Today’s Democracy NC analysis of the 2012 election results by gender, race and age has yielded some predictable results, but also some surprises.

…

Roy Cooper to DMV: Some undocumented immigrants can be issued driver's licenses

Lisa Sorg — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:30:00 -0500

Undocumented immigrants in North Carolina who have been granted a special status by the Department of Homeland Security can apply for a state driver's license if they have proper legal documentation. This is according to a opinion issued today from N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper.…

Economic segregation increases in N.C. schools

Will Huntsberry — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:06:00 -0500

Poor schools are getting poorer, while the rich get richer, a new study from Duke University finds.

“The average imbalance by race in North Carolina hasn’t really changed,” says Charles Clotfelter, a public policy professor who helped conduct the study.…

McCrory's chief lobbyist, Fred Steen, also an ALEC bigwig

Lisa Sorg — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:52:09 -0500

Gov. Pat McCrory picks so many winners he should play the ponies.

McCrory named as his chief lobbyist Fred Steen II, a state chairman and board member of ALEC, a rightwing organization funded in part by the Charles Koch Foundation.…

John Skvarla, new Sec'y of DENR: snake oil salesman?

Lisa Sorg — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 12:34:16 -0500

John Skvarla, the newly anointed Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, has publicly stated that under his watch, regulations—and the relaxation thereof—will be grounded in science and fact.

In an illuminating interview with WRAL’s Laura Leslie, Skvarla failed the scientific sniff test.…

EPA: Lots left to do on fracking study

Billy Ball — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 16:18:22 -0500

If you enjoy reading instruction manuals, chances are Friday's webinar report on a long-awaited fracking study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was a hoot.

EPA scientist Jeanne Briskin, who is helping to lead the study, explained the multi-pronged approach the agency is taking to tackle fracking, which could begin permitting in North Carolina as soon as 2014.…

Get an update on the EPA's fracking study

Billy Ball — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:54:51 -0500

Those looking for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) final word on fracking impacts will have to wait—at least until 2014.

But the EPA is hosting webinars today and tomorrow to provide a progress report on the ongoing study.…

DOJ sues Alamance County sheriff

Billy Ball — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:51:01 -0500

A much-anticipated civil rights lawsuit for Alamance County's embattled sheriff is upon us.

In a statement Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice said it has officially filed a civil suit against Sheriff Terry Johnson, three months after accusing Johnson's office of racially profiling Latinos.

Following a two-year investigation of Johnson's office, DOJ officials alleged in September that Alamance deputies target Latinos for traffic stops, install checkpoints in Latino neighborhoods and vary enforcement activity based on a driver's ethnicity.…

No smoke: Pope selected as McCrory's deputy budget director

Lisa Sorg — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 12:46:00 -0500

There was no white smoke flowing from Gov.-elect Pat McCrory's chimney to indicate he had selected Art Pope, one of the most powerful people in North Carolina politics, to be his new budget director. But a h/t to WRAL, which reported that the conservative millionaire will be the No. 2 man in charge of crafting the state's financial priorities.…

Governor Perdue Announces Plan To Keep Group Homes Temporarily Open

Vernal Coleman — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:04:06 -0500

The fix is only temporary, but a just announced plan from Governor Bev Perdue could keep group homes for the low income disabled open through the end of January. A one time injection of $1 million in idle rental-assistance funds will help pay the expenses for nearly 1,400 developmentally and mentally disabled group home residents.…