Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - 4:18pm

It's nice to know somebody's looking out for them:

Hagan is cosponsoring two amendments to the Senate version. One of them, which would exempt family operations from new performance and record-keeping requirements, is now being rewritten.

“We had started out having it by a dollar amount,” Hagan explained. “It was $500,000 [in gross income] but now it’s being looked at [by] the metric … like how many bushels of peaches that they would sell.”

Focusing on the metric of production will make it easier to isolate smaller-scale operations, explained the senator.

1,182
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - 10:03am

And this guy wants to be our Governor:

New Bern Police Chief Frank Palombo says a criminal summons was issued on Tuesday for Mayor Lee Bettis. The 46-year-old faces misdemeanor charges of assault on a female and disorderly conduct.

The charges stem from a June 16 incident at a YMCA pool. WITN-TV reports that Bettis and a woman argued over whether she was bumping into the mayor's wife.
The woman says Bettis shook her, but he told the TV station he never touched her.

"I don't know what happened, officer. One minute she's standing there yapping at me, the next minute she's shaking like a leaf. Maybe it's epilepsy."

1,267
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 1:48pm

Just got this heads-up in the (e)mail:

We have some breaking good news on North Carolina's response to the Gulf oil disaster and an urgent request for you to contact your state representative in the next 24 hours.

A House committee in the state legislature just passed a bill (S836) which would:

- ensure that oil companies like BP are fully liable for damage to our state from offshore oil spills, including if oil from the Gulf of Mexico disaster hits NC beaches,

1,529
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 7:30am

And don't remember to vote, but then decide it's a waste of time, or you don't feel strongly enough about either one to make a choice, or you're disgusted about some of the tactics, or whatever other reason that might keep you home. You need to vote today because your voice needs to be heard.

As Progressives in North Carolina, we have far too many examples and indicators that we are in a distinct minority. But even with that seemingly insurmountable barrier, many of our ideas have found wider acceptance and have been implemented. Partially because they're good ideas, but also because of the energy with which they're presented. And taking an active role in the political process, which includes voting, helps sustain that energy that is so critical.

1,912
Monday, June 21, 2010 - 1:04pm

What are you starin' at?

Randy Dye will sometimes carry a gun on his hip, right out in the open, no jacket pulled over it, no inside-the-belt holster. It draws funny looks, and Dye doesn't much care.

One time, Dye explains, he was standing in line for a money order when the guy behind him asked, "Are you a police officer?" Dye said no, and the guy kept staring, so Dye stared back. "We good?" Dye asked, and the conversation stopped.

"I wasn't trying to intimidate," says Dye, a retired trauma nurse in Chatham County. "He approached me. If you don't understand your constitutional rights, you need to go read them."

1,621
Saturday, June 19, 2010 - 11:55am

They may be relatively clean, but are they sustainable?

In addition to the high cost and risks, new reactors create another problem, one that is rarely mentioned: they put enormous pressure on water resources. Nuclear reactors require huge amounts of cooling water to operate; without adequate water, they cannot produce electricity.

Scientists say that warmer temperatures from climate change will mean a less dependable supply of water. This should be of special concern to residents of the southeastern United States, which is seeing its energy demand grow - and its water resources become increasingly stressed.

1,579
Friday, June 18, 2010 - 6:16pm

Sen. Eddie Goodall tries to earn his keep:

But in January, Goodall became president of the N.C. Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which wants to increase the number of charter schools allowed in the state, among other goals.

Goodall raised eyebrows in the Senate chamber Thursday when he tried to run an amendment to an education and jobs bill that would lift the cap. Goodall’s proposals were shot down.

It should have raised a lot more than eyebrows. It should have triggered an ethics probe.

1,324
Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 1:27pm

Those poor little multi-state corporations need protection from the mean old tax collectors:

The state Senate and the business lobby want to take away a big stick that the state's tax collector says it needs to punish big businesses that dodge their taxes.

The issue is up for debate in budget negotiations under way between the state House and Senate. The Senate's version includes a provision that would prevent the N.C. Department of Revenue from assessing a penalty on businesses it thinks are hiding income.

2,847
Thursday, June 17, 2010 - 11:56am

The Justice Department is still seeking justice for innocent victims of the Nisour Square massacre:

There was more than enough untainted evidence to justify a trial for five Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad, the Justice Department told a federal appeals court.

In court papers seeking to reinstate criminal charges, the department asserted that some of the evidence tainted by immunized statements in the case was harmless and did not justify scuttling the manslaughter charges against the guards.

1,261
Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - 2:31pm

And I thought Reeves was prone to paranoid delusions:

Republican Congressional candidate William "Bill" Randall is suggesting that the Obama Administration and BP conspired to intentionally spill oil in the Gulf, resulting in 11 deaths and the worst environmental disaster in the nation's history.

Randall, who has aligned himself with the Tea Party movement, readily admits that he has no evidence that what he says is true. But that is not stopping him from from making the claim as he campaigns for in the June 22 GOP runoff to face incumbent Democratic Rep. Brad Miller on the November ballot.

2,187