News

Senate OKs Asheville water transfer bill

(Asheville Citizen-Times) The state Senate gave final approval Monday to a bill to take the Asheville water system out of the city’s hands on a vote of 31-16.

The bill, which would give the system to the Metropolitian Sewerage District, now goes to the state House for consideration of changes made by the Senate. The Senate had tentatively approved the measure Thursday.

Senate bill manager Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, was not present for the debate Monday, apparently because of his father’s death. Sen. Pete Brunstetter, R-Forsyth, asked the Senate to go ahead and approve the bill.

He did not debate the measure other than to say, “We had a good, thorough debate on this bill the other day. Sen. Apodaca would like you to go ahead and pass the bill.”

No one else spoke in favor. Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, urged its defeat after his motion to delay the vote by a week because of Apodaca’s absence failed.

Read the rest HERE!

Independent Brewer Wants Out of Wholesaler Controls

(Carolina Journal) Bill Sherrill feels like he has an uphill battle in an effort to continue self-distributing the beer he brews at Red Oak Brewery in Guilford County.

He chooses to hire people to distribute his beer instead of going through a distributor. But under current state law, that option would not be available to him once he tops 25,000 barrels of beer per year.

“I’ve invested $10.5 million in this place,” Sherrill said. “I just invested $500,000 in tanks.” Those tanks, Sherrill said, would lead to the brewery exceeding the 25,000-barrel limit. According to Sherrill, once he reaches that cap, every drop he brews — not just the first 25,000 barrels — would have to be handled by a separate distributor.

Sherrill believes he’s fighting against a powerful lobbying group in the N.C. Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association. He’s tried to get the cap raised in past years, but his efforts have gotten nowhere.

Indeed, bills have been introduced in the last three legislative sessions to increase the cap to between 60,000 barrels and 100,000 barrels.

Sherrill, who employs 22 people, says he wants to keep controls on the beer once it leaves his brewery until it gets to the retailer. He doesn’t pasteurize his beer or put preservatives in it, so it’s important that his beer stay refrigerated.

“If you don’t keep it cold, it will go bad quick,” Sherrill said. Sherrill said that a contract he would have to sign with a wholesale distributor “is prohibitive.”

Sherrill said he’s even pulled his beer out of some sporting venues because it wasn’t refrigerated properly.

This year, Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, who has sponsored similar bills in the past, is taking up his cause. She has introduced House Bill 781, which would raise the cap to 60,000 barrels a year.

Read the rest HERE!

Asheville native to defend Boston bombing suspect

(Asheville Citizen-Times) An Asheville native and prominent anti-death penalty lawyer who has managed to get life sentences for several high-profile clients, including the Unabomber, has joined the defense team representing the Boston Marathon bombing suspect.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction during the April 15 marathon. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line.

A judge on Monday approved the appointment of death penalty expert Judy Clarke, who grew up in Asheville, to defend 19-year-old Tsarnaev. But judge Marianne Bowler denied, at least for now, a request from Tsarnaev’s public defender, Miriam Conrad, to appoint a second death penalty lawyer — David Bruck, a professor at Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Tsarnaev’s lawyers could renew their motion to appoint another death penalty expert if he is indicted, the judge said.

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Cuts threaten to end legal help for 2,200 domestic violence victims

(Mountain Xpress) A $330,000 reduction in Pisgah Legal Services’ state and federal funding could leave more than 2,200 local domestic-violence victims without legal assistance. The Asheville-based nonprofit is scrambling to close the gap but may reduce services.

Pisgah Legal is losing $210,000 a year from the Governor’s Crime Commission, a state agency that distributes federal funds. And the U.S. Department of Justice is cutting another $120,000 from what it typically awards the organization. The total is 59 percent of the organization’s budget for helping domestic-violence victims. Last year, according to Pisgah staff, they helped 4,300 people escape abusive situations. They estimate that the cuts will mean 2,200 less victims get legal aid, and that the organization will need to lay off seven attorneys.

“We’d received these funds for several years, and we were surprised,” Julie Klip Nicholson, a Pisgah attorney who works with abuse survivors, tells Xpress. “We’re not really sure what happened. They said there’s some reduced funding from the sequester, but I don’t know that explains a 59 percent cut.”

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DOT to pave the way for new casino coming to Murphy

(Smoky Mountain News) The construction of a bridge and entrance road to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ second casino in Murphy has jumped from not even on the radar to the front of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s list of top road-building priorities.

The Eastern Band just recently approved plans to build a second casino on an 85-acre tract just off the four-lane highway in Murphy. The $110 million casino will create about 800 high-paying jobs in a county plagued by 12 percent unemployment.

“Unemployment is high in our neck of the woods and in Cherokee County. The jobs are desperately needed,” said Joel Setzer, the head of a 10-county division of DOT in the western mountains.

For that reason, the state agreed to construct and pay for a bridge and road necessary to take casino-goers from the four-lane to the planned site of Murphy casino about half a mile away.

“This project was necessary to secure the enterprise, and it creates so many jobs at such a high wage that the state government did offer the incentive,” Setzer said.

The estimated cost of the project is between $7 million and $11 million.

Read the rest HERE!

Transylvania residents wary of ‘biomass’ plant

(Asheville Citizen-Times) Residents of a county trying to promote itself as an outdoor recreation mecca are opposing construction of a biomass gasification facility by a New York-based developer.

A group called People for Clean Mountains has formed to stop construction of the proposed RD-Penrose 1, a project that aims to convert biomass — that is, household garbage and agricultural and other waste — into electricity in this small Transylvania County town near Brevard.

The region, nicknamed “the Land of Waterfalls,” sits along the French Broad River near Pisgah National Forest.

Although the actual site proposed for the plant is already home to an asphalt plant and a gravel quarry, in a county with no zoning laws and in need of jobs, PCM members say they want a voice in what types of industry locate there.

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Hager Vows Bill Capping Renewable Energy Mandate Remains Alive

(Carolina Journal) A handful of House Republicans dealt a stunning blow to state Rep. Mike Hager’s bill to phase out slowly North Carolina’s subsidies, tax credits, and purchase mandates propping up renewable energy companies. Despite this setback, the Rutherford County Republican said he plans to bring House Bill 298 to another committee vote.

“I can bring it forth any time I want to” under House rules, Hager said. “I can bring it up as many times as I want to. Being the chairman [of the Public Utilities and Energy Committee], I would say there’s probably more than a possibility” that will happen.

Six Republicans voted against the Affordable and Reliable Energy Act in Hager’s committee Wednesday, helping to sink it on a 13-18 vote.

“This is a horrible vote for Republicans, and they need to be held to account for it,” said Dallas Woodhouse, state director of Americans for Prosperity. It was among 16 organizations that presented a letter in committee supporting passage of the bill.

Read the rest HERE!

McCrory replaces State Board of Elections as inquiry into contributions begins

(Raleigh News & Observer) Gov. Pat McCrory on Friday evening announced he was replacing all members of the State Board of Elections. The appointments take effect Wednesday – just as an investigation into political contributions made to McCrory and other top Republicans’ officeholders’ campaigns is getting underway.

Three Republicans and two Democrats will replace the current three-Democrat, two-Republican board. The board’s majority represents the governor’s party.

The move puts the progress of the board’s investigation into campaign contributions from an indicted sweepstakes software company owner in question.

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Mumpower threatens to leave GOP over water bill

(Asheville Citizen-Times) Two of North Carolina’s largest counties would not be forced to give up their public water systems under Senate amendments to a bill that would move the city’s to a regional authority.

Former Congressional candidate and Republican city Councilman Carl Mumpower said he would leave the GOP in protest if the bill passes.

“The unprecedented use of eminent domain to seize a city owned water system reveals a party power structure indifferent to the principles upon which that party is founded,” he said in a statement.

Read the rest HERE!

NC Teacher Absent for 10 Years with Full Pay

(Charlotte Observer) Why would someone who hasn’t set foot in Providence High for a decade be listed as a teacher there, earning more than $69,000 a year?

The question struck me as one of those “too strange to be true” rumors. But this is the reason I check them out: In this case, CMS confirms that a math teacher who’s still listed on the Providence High web site and the 2013 CMS payroll has been on worker’s comp leave since an injury that happened in 2003.

This raises a host of follow-up questions: Why isn’t this teacher on long-term disability or, given that he’s 71 years old, retired? How common is it for schools to have teachers on leave for years? How many inactive teachers held onto jobs during the years when CMS was laying off active teachers by the hundreds?

Read the rest HERE!

City buys greenway property

(Asheville Citizen-Times) After years of negotiations, the city has purchased two small pieces of property separating French Broad River Park and Carrier Park.

The city spent $50,000 of taxpayers’ money to buy a 0.04-acre tract and a 0.10-acre tract along the French Broad River. The transaction closed Thursday, according to city spokeswoman Dawa Hitch.

“It’s great news for the community,” Hitch said.

The city had been negotiating with property owner Robert Burris Jr., who created a stir last fall after posting a “No Trespassing” sign and a chain on his property, which separated a well-worn path used by runners, dog walkers and people using the two parks.

Read the rest HERE!

Asheville looks closer at tax increase

(Asheville Citizen-Times) The city’s budget gap seems to be narrowing as the deadline for adopting a new budget approaches, but some members of City Council say a tax increase may still be necessary.

City government is spending 14.1 percent less per resident now than it did in fiscal year 2007-08 — just as the national and local economies plunged into recession — in its general fund after adjustment for inflation, according to Citizen-Times calculations.

The $89.9 million general fund excludes some city funds, like the parking fund, operated solely on fees paid by customers.

Read the rest HERE!

McCrory tells small business owners that workforce training is top priority

(Raleigh News & Observer) About 150 people gathered downtown Wednesday to discuss immigration, workforce training and other issues critical to the state’s small businesses.

Gov. Pat McCrory, the keynote speaker at the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Day at the Capitol, told an audience at the Raleigh Marriott City Center that his administration aims to bridge the disconnect between commerce and education in the state.

“I have heard from many of you saying you have job openings, but ‘We can’t find qualified people to fill the jobs,’ ” McCrory said. “And these are in areas with 15 to 20 percent unemployment.”

McCrory said he’s also working on solving the state’s perennial Medicaid overruns, and moving to improve customer service among the many agencies that deal with small business owners on a regular basis.

Read the rest HERE!

Filmmakers fight bill to end subsidies

(Charlotte Observer) RALEIGH Is “Homeland” under threat?

It is, according to North Carolina’s film community.

Advocates of the state’s film industry say a House bill that would change the way the state subsidizes film production would essentially drive the business away.

“You’d see productions just leaving North Carolina – including ‘Homeland,’” said Aaron Syrett, director of the North Carolina Film Office.

“Homeland” is the Emmy Award winning Showtime drama shot in Charlotte and about to enter its third season. It’s one of more than 40 projects that Syrett said resulted in $376 million worth of spending and thousands of jobs last year.

Critics of incentives – which amounted to $45 million in 2012 – say the money could be put to better use. And they point to a legislative study that found the credit itself is responsible for a fraction of the jobs the industry claims.

Read the rest HERE!

House OKs Epi-Pens in schools

(WRAL) The House voted 115-0 Thursday in favor of a proposal that would require schools to have two epinephrine auto-injectors, or Epi-Pens, on hand to treat cases of severe allergy or anaphylactic shock.

Current law requires a patient-specific prescription for the pens. That means students have to bring their own pens to school with them, and the school can’t have spares on hand to treat students who don’t have a prescription for them.

House Bill 824 would allow schools to use the injectors to help anybody having an allergic reaction on school property or at a school-sponsored event. School buses would be excluded.

“It’s estimated that one out of every 12 kids has a food allergy,” said sponsor Rep. Tom Murry, R-Wake. “A lot of times, you don’t know you’re allergic to something till your first event, and that happens a fair amount at schools.”

“I think it’ll help save some lives,” he said.

Read the rest HERE!