North Carolina News: Citizen, Indy Week

[Updated] Wake County voters are 2-to-1 for Dix Park plan, strongly oppose state reneging: Public Policy Polling

Bob Geary — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:36:00 -0400

[Update, 10:30 a.m. Dix Park supporters are gathering on the site this afternoon at 5. See below for more.]

Wow, if there was any question about whether the Wake County Board of Commissioners — the Republican-led board of commissioners — were representing their constituents or their political party by coming out against the Dix Park plan, it's answered in the poll released today by Public Policy Polling.…

Fitzsimon: State Republicans aim to reduce voter turnout — because more voters bad for GOP

Bob Geary — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:32:00 -0400

The bill Chris Fitzsimon is talking about in the tweet below is House Bill 451, introduced yesterday by Rep. Edgar Starnes, a Republican from Hickory. (Democracy NC calls it the "Screw the Voter Act of 2013" — like!)…

Voller to Dems: March with me at HKonJ-7 in Raleigh on Saturday

Bob Geary — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:57:52 -0500

At his first press conference since being elected state Democratic Party chair, Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller called on Democrats to take a stand against the Republican-led "radical, reactionary legislature" by joining in the 7th annual HK on J march and rally Saturday in Raleigh.

The HKonJ website has details.…

Crack-up: Duke Energy says good-bye to a nuclear plant in Florida, leaving customers with the bill

Bob Geary — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:02:00 -0500

Perhaps this will cause Duke Energy to reconsider building more nuclear power plants?

MT: Duke Energy to retire idle Florida nuclear plant.…
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Mansfield out of race for Dem Party Chair, leaving Voller or ???

Bob Geary — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:34:18 -0500

Former state Sen. Eric Mansfield is out of the contest for state Democratic Party chair, citing the ill health of his mom. That leaves Pittsboro Mayor Randy Voller unopposed at this point — nine days before the Feb. 2 election meeting of the party's State Executive Committee

To read Mansfield's statement, click on the link in the tweet embedded below.…

From wars to schools to transportation: New DOT Sec. Tony Tata, renaissance man!

Bob Geary — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:43:21 -0500

(Updated to include McCrory press release, below, with bios of Tata and three other appointments, including two with extensive Duke Energy backgrounds — like McCrory himself.)

Tony Tata, ex-Army general turned ex-Wake schools superintendent, will be DOT secretary in the McCrory Administration. Puts me in mind of the "Welcome Back, Kotter" theme song.…

"Justice demands": Gov. Perdue issues pardons of innocence to Wilmington Ten

Bob Geary — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 14:48:00 -0500

Good news on New Year's Eve in the Wilmington Ten case. Gov. Bev Perdue has come through with the hoped-for pardons of innocence.…

Video sweepstakes parlors? State can ban 'em, N.C. high court says

Bob Geary — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 12:37:20 -0500

Another tough break for the palace in Roanoke Rapids formerly known as the Randy Parton Theater.

Let's see if the Republicans in Raleigh change directions now and let them stay open — w/ campaign contributions cheerfully accepted.…

NC Dems Chair Parker won't run again ... again.

Bob Geary — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:59:32 -0500

That's right. David Parker wasn't going to run again for state Democratic Party chair the last time he got himself re-elected Democratic Party chair.…

Dix Park decision tomorrow: "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to save this jewel."

Bob Geary — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 15:35:04 -0500

Seven years of advocacy, and tomorrow the prize will be won if the Council of State votes to approve a lease giving the city of Raleigh constructive control of the 306-acre Dorothea Dix Hospital tract. The advocates, members of the allied groups called Friends of Dorothea Dix Park, Dix306 and the Dix Visionaries, are cautiously or incautiously optimistic about the vote.…

AG Roy Cooper punts to Duke Energy in the NC Utility Bowl.

Bob Geary — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:03:25 -0500

As expected, the N.C. Utilities Commission today ended its "investigation" of Duke Energy's tactics in the merger with Progress Energy, approving a settlement which IMHO falls short of even slapping Duke E. on the wrist.

On the pinkie finger, maybe.…

N.C. Utilities Commission to Duke Energy: We give up

Bob Geary — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:33:12 -0500

Is there any other way to read this than that the N.C. Utilities Commission, having huffed and puffed at Duke Energy's sleight-of-hand in the "merger" with Progress Energy, is now issuing a collective, "Never mind"?

The alternatives included revoking its merger approval, a whopping fine, ousting Jim Rogers and installing a new CEO (or, if Duke balked, revoking the merger) ... am I missing any?

Instead, we have a trivial levy, Rogers stays on for another year, the Duke Energy board remains in control, but it is required to "receive comments" from time to time from the Commission. I thought it was already required to receive their comments.…

(Updated: Now, it's on Sunday, details still TBD) Bill Clinton coming to Raleigh: N.C. in play

Bob Geary — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:59:01 -0400

So yesterday we learned that neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has N.C. on their travel schedules for the rest of the campaign. Then we learned Michelle Obama will be in Charlotte Monday.…

Yes, Virginia, North Carolina is a total tossup too for president: New Elon University Poll

Bob Geary — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:23:14 -0400

The headline from the Elon University Poll is that Obama has pulled into a tie with Romney in North Carolina among likely voters, 45-45. Way down is the news that Obama leads by 2 points with registered voters.…

(Updated w/ McCrory's passable answer) Does N.C. gov't need an auditor? A serious question for Pat McCrory

Bob Geary — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:02:42 -0400

[Update, 10-25: So yes, I did watch and McCrory was asked the Goldman question. He said he was "very concerned" at what he was reading about Debra Goldman's behavior and wondered if it was "appropriate for an elected official."…

State must provide pre-K schooling for all at-risk 4-year olds: N.C. Court of Appeals upholds Judge Manning's order

Bob Geary — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:44:43 -0400

The three-judge panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals unanimously upheld Superior Court Judge Howard Manning's ruling. You can read the decision here.…

(Updated) Will Utilities Commission crack Duke for sacking Bill Johnson?

Bob Geary — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:35:00 -0400

[Update, 3:50 pm: Phase one of the case is over. Chairman Finley announced that the Commission is following the evidence where it leads, and where it leads is a next phase that will be more "traditional" and "evidentiary."…

(Update x 2) 2nd primary results: Tedesco wins; Gurley, Gardner beaten

Bob Geary — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:30:01 -0400

Watching the returns in runoff primaries. (That's right, today was the day.…

Gov. Perdue on Andy Griffith's death: We've lost our favorite son. [The President offers his tribute too.]

Bob Geary — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:54:31 -0400

Gov. Perdue’s statement on Andy Griffith’s death at 86:

“North Carolina has lost its favorite son. Andy Griffith graciously stepped into the living rooms of generations of Americans, always with the playful charm that made him the standard by which entertainers would be measured for decades.

Throughout his career, he represented everything that was good about North Carolina: a small town boy and UNC graduate who took a light-hearted approach to some of the attributes he grew up with and turned them into a spectacularly successful career.…
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Virtually dead: Judge rejects company's bid for online NC charter school

Bob Geary — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:54:56 -0400

If you've been following the efforts of the very profitable K12 Inc. (we talked about them in this story) to open a virtual charter school for students in North Carolina — ostensibly it would be a school "based" in Cabarrus County, but in (virtual) reality the school would've consisted of online courses only, plus some tellers to cash the checks — it's been blocked by Superior Court Judge Abe Jones:

Judge rules that state edu board doesn't have to review #ncvirtual charter - its silence earlier was in effect a denial #ncga
— Sarah Ovaska(@SarahOvaska) June 29, 2012

Sarah Ovaska's been covering this — start here; and for more, check the links listed at the end.…

Bad budget: Perdue will give GOP's work the old veto — for 20 reasons

Bob Geary — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:50:50 -0400

Gov. Perdue held a press conference this morning and announced that she will indeed send the General Assembly's budget back at them. The Republican-led G.A. has the option of:

1) Negotiating with the governor — and truly, her requests have been on the very small side in terms of dollars (but, as in the eugenics issue, sometimes the point isn't the sheer dollars) — or,

2) Taking their ball and going home — because, remember, the budget enacted a year ago is for two years, and what's before the body now is a bill to amend that two-year plan.…

Perdue vetoes GOP bill gutting Racial Justice Act

Bob Geary — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:04:54 -0400

Gov. Bev Perdue acted today to protect the Racial Justice Act from the GOP-led General Assembly's effort to gut it. The ACLU of NC is out with a reminder that the fate of the veto hangs on whether three House Democrats (Brisson, Hill and Owens — see below) will stand with her or — as they did when the measure was on the floor — with the Republicans.…

No school vouchers bill this year: Advocates throw in the towel

Bob Geary — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:28:24 -0400

House Majority Leader Paul Stam's bill to support private schools with public funds — a.k.a. vouchers — won't be law any time soon. Despite his high status in the Republican Party, Stam couldn't get his plan funded in the state budget, and his efforts to get the bill enacted separately are apparently at an end today as the current "short" legislative session heads to a close.…

Fate of Racial Justice Act likely hangs on three House Democrats

Bob Geary — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:59:51 -0400

Gov. Bev Perdue is expected to veto Senate Bill 416, which essentially guts the historic Racial Justice Act. According to the ACLU of North Carolina:

The North Carolina House and Senate have approved a bill that would effectively repeal the Racial Justice Act, which allows death-row inmates to appeal their sentences and receive life without parole if they can prove that race was a significant factor in their sentence.

Whether Perdue's veto will be upheld in the House (it won't be in the Senate, apparently) seems to depend on getting three House Democrats who voted for SB-416 to turn around and vote no on an override.…

Public $$$ for private and Christian schools, and the billionaires who want your money spent on them: Facing South

Bob Geary — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 13:40:07 -0400

Last week we reported on the Republican General Assembly's plans to send big chunks of public funding to private and Christian schools. [Inventively headlined: "GOP plan would send public funds to private schools"]

Since then, the Republican scheme's been steaming along.…