Kannapolis

State Senator Fletcher Hartsell and State Representative Jeff Barnhart, both Cabarrus County Republicans, last week set up a non-profit corporation called “Real Debate.org, Inc.”. Only Hartsell’s name appears on the corporate filing but Barnhart is listed on a parallel filing last week with the IRS establishing “Real Debate.org, Inc.” as a 527 Political Committee along with Wilmington millionaire Fred Eshelman.

The North Carolina Research Campus project is underway and public improvments to the site are proposed to be financed by Tax-Increment Financed (TIF) bonds. Because of the size of the project, the City of Kannapolis has asked Cabarrus County to participate in the TIF. While a number of Commissioners have expressed support, there is - as always - a small vocal minority that's opposed to improvement of the site for unrelated political reasons.

This is a bipartisan effort - supported by Republicans (Cabarrus NC Legislature Delegation, Cabarrus Board of Commissioners) and Democrats (Mayor of Kannapolis, Kannapolis City Council)

I've put the reports that detail the TIF and the fiscal and economic impact on my site here - if you would like more information.

Lest you think I do nothing but pick on poor newspaper reporters, I've decided to take another approach today. I'm going to show a couple some love. The first, Joanie Morris of the Salisbury Post really earned it. The second, Tim Funk, of The Charlotte Observer is going to get some love for a much better job in portraying Larry's campaign.

After the hatchet job last week of GOP shill, Tim Whitmire, seeing some good strong reporting is refreshing. On a side note, I find myself chuckling over the fact that Whitmire's piece was picked up by only a handful of papers or news sites and only one was in-market. Voters in Fort Wayne, Indiana will probably be wondering who the hell Larry Kissell is and why they can't vote for him as will voters in Myrtle Beach and Hampton Roads, VA. Only WCNC (Channel 6 News) had the piece printed on their web site. The paper of record in North Carolina still has not picked up on the story. The Art Pope Digest in Raleigh carried it, though - big, BIG surprise.

More on the flip...