Thursday, March 3, 2011
politics Bill: Let armed elected officials roam Capitol
Posted by Travis Fain on Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 5:00 AM
A new gun bill at the statehouse would let elected officials carry concealed weapons onto the House and Senate floors and most other places in North Carolina, giving elected officials gun rights other state residents don't have.
House Bill 184 would allow state, federal and local elected officials with a concealed carry permit to take their weapons anywhere it's not forbidden by federal law, which basically excludes airports and federal buildings. The measure is a response to a recent space of shootings targeting elected officials, including the the one in Arizona that killed six people and put U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the hospital with a massive head wound.
"I just felt like in this day and time elected officials just seem to be more exposed," said state Rep. Stephen LaRoque, the bill's primary sponsor.
LaRoque said he'd rather roll back concealed-carry restrictions for all license holders. But since that may not be politically feasible, he called H 184 "a good first step."
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
politics Anti-city cable bill rolls on at the Capitol
Posted by Travis Fain on Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 5:04 PM
House legislators pushed forward today on a bill that would make it harder for cities to provide Internet service to residents.
House Bill 129 passed the chamber's Public Utilities Committee on a voice vote, despite bill sponsors saying they planned to overhaul key sections of the bill as soon as this afternoon. Committee members were basically told to trust fellow legislators as negotiations continue on the controversial measure, which moves now to the House Finance Committee.
"My word is my bond," said co-sponsoring state Rep. Julia Howard, who promised to work with cities that have already gotten into the broadband game to make sure the bill's restraints don't collapse their systems.
There was some grumbling over the tactic, but it's not terribly uncommon at the North Carolina General Assembly. The bill still has several hurdles to clear before it makes it to the House floor, and then the floor of the Senate.
But the push indicates the bill's high-priority as private companies try to stymy potential taxpayer-funded competition.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Raleigh / Durham / North Carolina Durham: We're not fat, we're Rubenesque
Posted by Lisa Sorg on Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 9:53 AM
The Bull City ranked No. 11 on the Men’s Health list of the 100 fattest cities in the U.S.
And Raleigh, before you start gloating about your rotund neighbors to the west (besides, our insulation allows us to survive much longer in cold water), uncinch your belt a notch because you ranked No. 47.
The magazine arrived at its rankings using several criteria:
- the percentage of people who are overweight
- the percentage who have Type 2 diabetes
- the percentage who haven’t left the couch in a month (we’re assuming MH doesn’t mean that literally)
- the amount of money spent on junk food
- and the number of people who ate fast food nine or more times in a month.
Greensboro received a No. 70 ranking, while Charlotte was 74th.
Corpus Christi, Texas, came in at No. 1, while San Francisco, unsurprisingly, was last.
In that case I would edit article to this:
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