Gary, you’re pretty kind to those Howard Dean Democrats who’re trying to take over The Planning Commission – even when you’re disagreeing with them. It says a lot about these folks that they are now flying under the flag of ‘Smart Growth Democrats’ and not Deaniacs (rhymes with maniacs) anymore. Who are these folks? They…
Read MoreWe may not have a bird flu epidemic in America yet, but it looks like there is an outbreak of mea culpas in Raleigh and Washington lately. This week Speaker Jim Black apologized for mistakes in judgment. His statement didnât solve all his problems, but it gave him some badly needed political breathing room. But…
Read MoreMayor Meeker now wants the City to help build a grocery store downtown. The City Council has voted to loan $300,000 to a real estate company to build an upscale ‘Fresh Market’ type grocery store downtown (News and Observer, 12-08-05). Now, as far as I can tell there have been several hundred grocery stores built…
Read MoreRonald Reagan used to say the closest thing to eternal life on earth was a government program. I’m beginning to think the Triangle Transit Authority is may prove his point. The News and Observer reports that yesterday Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr wrote the TTA that the Federal Transportation Administration had “thoroughly examined” the…
Read MoreIn the 70s and 80s, Brent Hackney was a familiar figure in Raleigh political circles. Yesterday, I got the bad news that he had died – at 57 – at his home in Moore County. Brent came here in the mid-70s as a capital reporter for The Greensboro News & Record. He was about the…
Read MoreFive Wake County Mayors have “asked the North Carolina Turnpike Authority Tuesday to figure out how fast it could build the western and southern arcs of the Outer Loop by making them toll roads.” (News and Observer, 12-14-05) Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker was not one of them. Now it may just be Mayor Meeker is…
Read MoreThe Turnpike Authority apparently wants to build the last two portions of the Outer Loop as toll roads (News and Observer, 11/28/05). Here’s an alternative. Put a tollbooth in front of Mayor Meeker’s Convention Center. Then put another one in front of the Exploris Museum (which is showing the new Harry Potter movie to fulfill…
Read MoreI know Gary is all for the lottery and it’s probably foolish of me to even bring it up since every poll shows 70% of voters agree with him. But there’s something about the lottery – besides the highly entertaining scandal it brought us – that is troubling. It’s this: with the lottery the politicians…
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