Carolina News

(Raleigh News Observer) A Senate committee on Tuesday moved to legalize fracking in North Carolina, elating supporters who hail its potential economic benefits and leaving critics resigned to the inevitability of quick legalization by the state legislature.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved the measure after an emotional debate in a standing-room-only hearing room, with an overflow crowd gathered outside. About 200 protesters had marched to the legislature carrying placards and banners.

Before the debate began those in attendance were warned that any disruptions would result in ejection from the room, creating a hushed environment for the debate on energy legislation that could bring sweeping changes to the state.

Read the rest HERE!

(Raleigh News Observer) A bill to compensate people who were sterilized against their will won’t become a political pawn in the budget process, the House speaker vowed Thursday after a senator said he feared that would happen.

House Speaker Thom Tillis said he doesn’t want the bill, which has bipartisan support and would make North Carolina the first state to compensate such victims, to be tarnished by political games.

“Because anybody who would do that needs to be recognized for what they are, and I don’t believe there’s anybody in the House or Senate that would behave that way,” Tillis said at a news conference.

Read the rest HERE!

(FayObserver) Some elected officials and plant managers say Fayetteville’s new policy of requiring annexation as a condition to getting city water and sewer service could hurt industrial recruitment.

But Fayetteville’s mayor disagrees, saying the policy won’t end up costing companies more money.

Cumberland County Commissioner Kenneth Edge raised the concern at a recent Public Works Commission meeting.

“If they have to pay an additional tax bill, that could be a deal-breaker,” Edge said of potential industries looking to expand or build just outside the city limits.

Preston Hubble, president of the local Plant Managers Association, agreed with Edge.

Read the rest HERE!

(Charlotte Observer) Charlotte’s largest billboard company has requested permission to clear hundreds of trees along city interstates under a controversial new law opponents say could blight the landscape. Adams Outdoor Advertising has submitted 21 applications to remove trees – the first test of a law that went into effect March 1 and gives companies more leeway to clear vegetation that obscures roadside signs. Some requests are small and would remove a handful of trees. Other applications could have greater impact.

Read the full story HERE.

(via Winston Salem Journal) More than a year into its federally funded Race to the Top program, North Carolina has fallen behind on its plans, according to a U.S. Department of Education report released this month.

But some of the delays came because it takes time to win federal approval for changes in the program’s $400 million grant plan, according to Adam Levinson, who oversees the program for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Also, the department has taken longer than planned to hire the 118 people it wants to implement the program.

“Some is just the challenge of going from a proposal … and actually turning that into a detailed operational plan,” Levinson said. “We’re still going to deliver what we said. Some of the things are just going to be a little delayed.”

Read the rest HERE!

(via Raleigh News-Observer) North Carolina’s employers are paying more in federal unemployment taxes because the state hasn’t paid back the $2.7 billion it borrowed from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits that soared during the recession and its slow-growth aftermath.

The cost for 2011 is an additional $7 per worker. But that’s just the beginning.

The tax increases accelerate going forward.

Read the rest HERE!

(Carolina Journal) Public records show that while former Gov. Mike Easley’s campaign organization has paid only $5,335 toward a $100,000 election law fine issued in October 2009, he has paid off a $494,000 mortgage loan for a Carteret County waterfront lot and borrowed several hundred thousand dollars against his Raleigh home since the fine was levied.

State law did not require Easley to pay the State Board of Elections fine from personal funds, but he publicly has accepted responsibility for filing false campaign reports. He eventually took a felony plea for failure to report aircraft travel donated by his friend, Raleigh businessman McQueen Campbell, and was forced to surrender his law license temporarily.

Read the rest HERE!

(via Raleigh News-Observer) The state primary should be held May 8 as scheduled, a three-judge panel ruled Friday after a hearing in a lawsuit challenging new legislative and congressional voting districts.

The unanimous ruling denying the request to push the primary to July 10 was a blow to registered Democrats and advocacy groups who proposed the change so the courts could consider their challenge to Republican-drawn districts. The judges’ decision increases the likelihood that the new districts approved by the legislature will be used in this year’s elections.

A delay could have had an immediate impact on candidates and campaigns. Candidate filing is scheduled to begin Feb. 13 at noon.

Read more HERE!

(Blue Ridge Now) County commissioners took control of the Sheriff’s Office’s purchasing card accounts Wednesday after an internal auditor found questionable travel and food purchases on Sheriff Rick Davis’ credit card.

Meanwhile, an external audit — presented Wednesday by audit manager Erica Brown with Martin Starnes and Associates — found no misuse of funds or items that weren’t being used for public safety purposes.

Read the rest HERE!

(Raleigh News-Observer) — Some health crises are better – and less expensively – handled without a trip to a hospital emergency department.

At least that’s the thought behind Wake County commissioners’ vote Tuesday to apply for a nearly $1 million federal grant designed to lower the county’s emergency medical costs. The three-year program is part of a $1 billion effort by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to lower costs through innovation.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/18/1786109/wake-seeks-federal-grant.html#storylink=cpy