Law violation reveals flaw in Jackson County email system

(Smoky Mountain News) A public records request for Jackson County Sheriff Jimmy Ashe’s emails doesn’t tell much of a story — that’s because most of them are missing.

In violation of state law, Ashe deleted all but a few messages from his email accounts.

A few media outlets requested the sheriff’s emails after the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that Ashe used traffic checkpoints to find possible illegal immigrants, which led to the racial profiling of Latinos. Ashe has denied that his department setup checkpoints for anything other than the limited reasons allowed by law.

The allegations by the ACLU came just days after the sheriff found himself in the spotlight over alcohol permits. Ashe systematically delayed many businesses attempts to get an alcohol permit in the wake of a countywide alcohol vote.

Ashe was later relinquished of the responsibility of giving a thumbs-up or thumbs-down opinion on alcohol permit requests. But, the matter prompted several records request for Ashe’s emails and other related documents as well.

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Study: Sea rise faster on East Coast than rest of globe

(USA Today) From Cape Hatteras, N.C., to just north of Boston, sea levels are rising much faster than they are around the globe, putting one of the world’s most costly coasts in danger of flooding, government researchers report.

U.S. Geological Survey scientists call the 600-mile swath a “hot spot” for climbing sea levels caused by global warming. Along the region, the Atlantic Ocean is rising at an annual rate three times to four times faster than the global average since 1990, according to the study published Sunday in the journal Nature Climate Change.

It’s not just a faster rate, but at a faster pace, like a car on a highway “jamming on the accelerator,” said the study’s lead author, Asbury Sallenger Jr., an oceanographer at the agency. He looked at sea levels starting in 1950, and noticed a change beginning in 1990.

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Media sue Asheville, Buncombe DA office for police evidence-room audit’s release

(Carolina Public Press) Five Western North Carolina news organizations filed a lawsuit today calling on the city of Asheville and the Buncombe County district attorney’s office to release an audit of the Asheville Police Department’s evidence room.

Filed by the Asheville Citizen-Times, Carolina Public Press, Mountain Xpress, WCQS and WLOS in Buncombe County Superior Court, the lawsuit argues that, under North Carolina open records law, the audit, produced by a private contractor hired by the city of Asheville, is a public record.

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High court rejects parts of Ariz. immigration law

(USA Today) The U.S. Supreme Court struck down three portions of Arizona’s controversial immigration law on Monday, but allowed one of the key provisions to stand in a highly anticipated split decision.

he justices ruled that Arizona overstepped its authority by creating state crimes targeting illegal immigrants. One provision made it a state crime for immigrants not to carry federal registration papers, and a second made it a crime for illegal immigrants to solicit work. The third portion of the law struck down allowed state and local police to arrest illegal immigrants without a warrant in some cases.

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Asheville set to lose airport control

(Asheville Citizen Times) In another move aimed at the city’s regional assets, the state is expected to strip Asheville of control of the $60 million Asheville Regional Airport.

A bill to put the airport under a regional authority passed a key Senate committee Wednesday. The entire body is expected to approve it soon, said bill sponsor Rep. Chuck McGrady, R-Henderson.

The city, which started the airport more than 50 years ago, has final say on most projects. It could take even more control in 2018 when a contract with other local governments is set to expire, something McGrady said should not happen.

“There is a lot of history here. But frankly, I don’t care much about all the history. I sat on the Airport Authority board. I know it would operate better if the authority were truly independent,” he said.

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State legislators give teachers raises but little else to public schools

(Raleigh News Observer) Legislators are expected to vote Thursday on a $20.2 billion budget that gives state employees and teachers raises and shrinks the amount that school systems would have to cut from their budgets next year.

Legislative leaders praised their work, but school administrators, school board members and Gov. Bev Perdue reserved opinions until they could look at the numbers.

A possible veto by Perdue, a Democrat, looms over the discussions. The House schedule for finishing its work for the year takes into account a potential veto.

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North Carolina General Assembly bill would allow counties to tax Internet cafes

(Fay Observer) As Cumberland County seeks to tighten rules on Internet sweepstakes cafes, a bill that would clear a path for local governments to tax the businesses edged toward a vote in the state House on Wednesday.

County commissioners fear that high fees imposed on the online gambling cafes in Fayetteville will push them out to rural areas. The county wants to introduce fees of its own.

“Once these people realize they can be right outside the city, you’re going to see the floodgates open unless this is taken care of immediately by the county,” Commissioner Jimmy Keefe said at a board meeting Monday.

In 2010, Fayetteville started charging cafes $2,000 each to operate, plus $2,500 per machine. Lumberton has imposed higher fees. Business owners challenged them in court as unfair and unconstitutional. They lost, but in May the state Court of Appeals ruled that three of the Fayetteville cases dismissed by a lower court should have gone to trial.

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World government fears seep into Western North Carolina GOP runoff

(Asheville Citizen-Times) For government and economic planners, it’s become a politically charged word for liberal.

Likewise, two Republicans in the 11th Congressional District party runoff election say the words “sustainable” and “sustainability” serve as red flags signaling policies that would limit free enterprise.

The issue has come up routinely at campaign events, where candidates Mark Meadows and Vance Patterson have been asked to take a stand on the issue, just as it has become problematic for some nonprofit groups.

A group of tea party and 9/12 Project members asked Cherokee County commissioners this week to stop funding the Southwestern Commission, an agency that offers planning support for North Carolina’s seven westernmost counties, because of fears it was promoting Agenda 21.

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Contempt? GOP lawmakers weigh citing AG Holder

(Raleigh News Observer) In a mounting confrontation with congressional Republicans, President Barack Obama invoked executive privilege Wednesday to withhold documents a House committee is seeking. The panel neared a vote on citing Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt.

Comments rapidly grew more heated. A spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner suggested administration officials had lied earlier or were now “bending the law,” while Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings said the committee’s GOP chairman “had no interest” in resolving the issue and was trying to pick a fight.

In a letter to the committee chairman, Darrell Issa of California, a Justice Department official said the executive privilege applies to documents that explain how the department learned there were problems with an investigation in Arizona of gun-running into Mexico, called Operation Fast and Furious.

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Bedford County dead dog receives voter registration forms

(WSLS 10) When Tim Morris got his mail last week he found a pretty big surprise, a document asking his dog Mozart to register to vote.

Not only is Mozart a dog but he’s been dead for two years.

“I opened it up and looked at it and I just laughed,” Morris said. “I thought it was a joke at first and it turns out it’s real.”

The form is addressed to Mo, the family’s nickname for the dog.

What amazed Morris is that if Mozart was human he would have been eligible to vote for the first time in 2012.

“He would have been 19 years old this year and he passed away two years ago,” he said. “I still have no earthly idea how they got his information.”

10 On Your Side looked deeper and found that the voter registration forms were sent by the non-profit Voter Participation Center, not the State Board of Elections.

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Altered letters from Perdue staff push money for toll projects that DOT says aren’t ready

(Raleigh News Observer) Gov. Bev Perdue’s staff drafted a pair of false letters last week in an effort to start the flow of money for two major toll road projects that transportation officials say won’t be ready for state funding until 2014, according to documents obtained by The News & Observer.

The documents indicate that Perdue herself was involved in the issue, which concerns a budget debate over $63 million in start-up money for the Garden Parkway, a highway project near Charlotte, and a planned bridge to the northern Outer Banks known as the Mid-Currituck Bridge.

The letters were rushed to legislators Thursday morning over the signature of Jim Trogdon, chief operating officer of the state Department of Transportation. Trogdon disavowed the letters and retracted them Thursday afternoon.

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Taxpayer subsidy for I-77 toll lanes could reach $110 million

(Charlotte Observer) Taxpayers could end up paying a one-time subsidy of $25 million to $110 million to build Interstate 77 toll lanes from Charlotte to Mooresville, a state Department of Transportation official said.

“This project is not 100 percent supported by the (toll) revenues, so there will be a subsidy,” DOT engineer Barry Moose told the Lake Norman Regional Transportation Commission at its meeting last week at Mooresville Town Hall.

The meeting marked the first time a subsidy had been stated publicly before the commission, which previously endorsed the toll-lane concept.

Asked later to explain his prediction that a taxpayer subsidy will be needed, Moose backed away from the assertion, saying it’s unclear how much of a subsidy will be needed, if any.

The transportation commission’s I-77 task force endorsed the concept of high-occupancy toll lanes – or HOT lanes – in 2010.

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House wants to merge tax credit into education reform package

(WRAL) The version of Sen. Phil Berger’s Excellent Public Schools Act the House Education Committee took up Monday night would add in Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam’s tax credit for companies that donate to a private school tuition program. In some respects, it reflects what a House-Senate compromise on education policy might look like, although Berger, R-Rockingham, said he would like to see portions of the Senate bill that were taken out restored in any final measure.

Committee members did not vote on the bill, which has already passed the Senate. It could come up again later this week. However, portions of the bill are caught up in budget negotiations between the House and the Senate, since both the tax credit provision and some of Berger’s bill would require funding.

Here’s what the House and Senate versions have in common:

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N.C. House passes Moffitt budget amendment keeping TVA funds in WNC

(Mountain Xpress) Last Wednesday, an amendment sponsored by Rep. Tim Moffitt (R-Buncombe) passed the North Carolina House as a part of Senate Bill 229. The bill subsequently passed the full House on Monday night. The Moffitt amendment ensures that funds received by the state from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) lawsuit will be given only to 16 Western North Carolina counties that are served by the TVA or are in the Tennessee River watershed.

“Any funds received from a settlement in the TVA lawsuit should directly benefit the counties served by the TVA,” Moffitt said. “My amendment ensures that Western NC counties will have exclusive access to the TVA settlement funds.”

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New honey labeling rules implemented at NC farmers markets

(Asheville Citizen-Times) Mountain beekeepers like Calvin Robinson pride themselves in producing sourwood honey, known for its distinctive flavor and ability to fetch premium prices.

“It’s got a wonderful taste,” said Robinson, who has several hives in the Candler area. “It’s a delicacy. Most of the sourwood is produced in the mountains. It has been referred to as the honey of royalty.”

But some unscrupulous sellers are known to slap the sourwood label on their products in an attempt to deceive unsuspecting buyers and inflate their profits.

Read the rest HERE!