Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 9:56am

This past week Scrutiny Hooligans highlighted the North Carolina Democratic Party Chair race between Bill Faison, David Parker, and Dannie Montgomery. The same questions were asked of each of the candidates, and their responses are republished there without changes. They are posted in the order they were received.

Bill Faison

Dannie Montgomery

David Parker

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Wednesday, November 3, 2010 - 12:51pm

Good Morning, BlueNC. It's been ages since I voyaged onto this front page, and I want you to know I've missed you! The following was posted at Scrutiny Hooligans earlier today, and I'm posting it here as well because I would like to broaden this conversation to include everyone who cares about progressive politics in North Carolina.

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Sunday, September 27, 2009 - 10:22am

Every Sunday at Scrutiny Hooligans I put up a musical selection, and I thought I'd drop a little mountain talent on this page today. Laura Blackley is a singer/songwriter swampy folk blues legend in these parts, and you ought to make an effort to get to know her better. This video is a little out of sync with the audio, but give it a listen.

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Monday, September 14, 2009 - 4:08pm

Pam Spaulding features my Asheville City Council campaign today at The Blend. In addition to my stances on affordable housing, sustainability measures, and multimodal transportation - I am an unflagging advocate for equality for our LGBT citizens. Here's a teaser, but go read the whole thing:

The gay and lesbian citizens of Asheville deserve equal recognition and equal benefits. To deny these benefits is to relegate gay and lesbian couples to second-class status. We all know that Asheville is a gay-friendly city, and our city government ought to reflect our commitment to honoring the civil rights of all our citizens.

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Tuesday, August 18, 2009 - 12:49am

Pam Spaulding has all the details at The Blend.

Teaser:

"I am very proud of my hometown tonight after attending the Durham (NC) City Council meeting where a resolution supporting civil marriage equality for same-sex couples was passed unanimously. Mayor Bill Bell and council members affirmed marriage equality."

Durham LGBT
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009 - 2:37pm

The city of Asheville, North Carolina is a blue oasis in west of North Carolina. Seated in Buncombe County, Asheville has a population of 73,875 (per 2007 Census calculations) and is made up of 41.3 square miles of neighborhoods, industrial areas, forest, and rivers. Famous for its vibrant arts, openmindedness, architecture, environment, and various tourist attractions, Asheville winds up on several top ten lists a year.

This charming, bustling mountain mecca stands at a crossroads in its history. Property value spikes have made purchasing a home all but impossible for many citizens, and finding affordable rentals is also very expensive. Rapid growth and development have threatened our slopes and our public square. Industry after industry has closed up shop, leaving a service-based economy subject to the fluctuations in tourism. An influx of new residents has raised our energy demands to the point that some considered building a diesel-fueled power plant upwind from west Asheville. Cyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders have sought infrastructure improvements for years. City employees have been denied domestic partnership benefits in what's considered one of the gay-friendliest towns in the southeast. The DOT threatens to raze a historic neighborhood that only recently began winning its fight against drugs and violence.

I'm running for Asheville City Council because I want to help create more affordable housing and a more sustainable economy, environment, and community. I'm writing this post at BlueNC because I need your help.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009 - 12:36am

Doug Gibson at Scrutiny Hooligans put together an enlightening and germane Harper's Index style rundown of fast facts about North Carolina health care and health care reform.

I'll drop a few lines here, but you ought to read the whole thing.

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Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 7:49am

Asheville Citizen-Times:

Buncombe County GOP Chairman Timothy Johnson is running for N.C. Republican vice chairman today at the state party convention in Raleigh. Delegates will select a vice chairman and chairman to the lead the badly battered GOP, which suffered serious losses from the federal level on down in last year's elections.

The leadership race has been marked by infighting and personal attacks. Chairman candidate Tom Fetzer felt it necessary to respond to claims that he was gay. Another candidate, Chad Adams, had to deal with circulated e-mails between him and a former mistress.

Now Johnson has found himself responding to high-level criticism about a charge of felony aggravated assault against his ex-wife in Ohio. He pleaded guilty to the crime in 1996.

ncgop
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Monday, June 8, 2009 - 11:14pm

Doug Gibson at Scrutiny Hooligans has posted an excellent primer about NC tax structure in ten easy bullets. Here's a fun excerpt:

5. Our state government has refused to include services among the items included in the sales tax. This reduces revenues and means that we pay taxes when we buy necessities like clothing, but not when we buy luxuries like pedicures and bikini waxes.

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Monday, June 8, 2009 - 12:11pm

This letter came from Shelley Pereda Camp. She gave permission to republish it here:

I am the mother of a 12 year old autistic child in Asheville. She was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at the age of 1-1/2 and then diagnosed with autism with MMR tendancies at the age of 4 1/2. At 4-1/2, my almost catatonic, she only spoke 25 words, was still in diapers and was a danger to herself and those around her. You would never know this about her if you met her today but this would not have been possible without community support services, OT, PT, Speech and Medicaid.

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