Raleigh
No Contrition in Sight Anywhere
The election in North Carolina has moved from old fashioned elbow-throwing into a more interesting topic – sex. When she lived in Pennsylvania Debra Goldman was a volunteer firefighter – then she moved to Raleigh, ran for School Board, won in the Republican sweep in 2009 and now she’s running for State Auditor. …
Read MoreSchool Board Not Boring
All this time we thought firing the Wake schools superintendent was a juicy story. Who knew? As the N&O’s Keung Hui wrote on his blog yesterday: “It’s not every day that one elected official accuses another of potentially committing a felony and then both tell police about their relationship.” Especially when both are…
Read MoreMoney to Burn
Amid the turmoil and hard times, when 47% of the Americans depend on government for support, it came as a surprise to open the newspaper and read Raleigh is spending $60 million on a train station. Medicare is, with mathematical certainty, heading to bankruptcy. Social Security is not far behind. And the government in…
Read MoreRadical Extremists in the Suburbs
If Mitt Romney feels like he’s up to his hips in alligators – he ought to consider the alligators that have chomped down on poor Tony Tata. Two years ago, the newly elected Republican School Board made short shift of the old School Superintendent and hired Tata. Then the Democrats won the next election…
Read MoreTaking Out Tata
Even strong Democrats believe the Wake school board flunked this test. The board majority may have done the right thing, but they sure did it the wrong way. And Democrats may pay the price. It was a mistake to fire Tony Tata without first setting out a bill of particulars. You can’t fire a…
Read MoreThorp’s Mistake
UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp made one mistake. When the News and Observer first asked him for Matt Kupec and Tami Hansbrough’s travel records, Chancellor Thorp said, I’ll get back with you. When he got back with them a week later he told them Kupec and Hansbrough had taken the trips together at the University’s…
Read MoreJohn Drescher Responds
N&O Executive Editor John Drescher retweeted my blog about UNC and the N&O, but took issue with another blog, in which a TAPster criticized the N&O for dedicating much of Sunday’s front page to a “40-year-old murder mystery.” Drescher responded: “At the moment, today’s MacDonald story is No. 3 on the newsobserver.com most-read list (which you…
Read MoreThis Just In…
A TAPster takes an admitted “cheap shot” at the N&O: “In the middle of a game-changing election season, the newspaper’s Sunday edition underscored its irrelevance by living in the past. “It ran an exhausting front-page rehash of a 40-year-old murder mystery and dragged former columnist Dennis Rogers from retirement to add his dusty…
Read MoreLegislators and Lobbyists
A veteran legislative hand and former lobbyist offers this perspective on how Raleigh has changed: “If you want to really understand today’s political world, understand how the politicians view the role of lobbyists. “Democrats see lobbyists as a source of information to help them make a decision. “Republicans see lobbyists as a…
Read MoreFast Food Politics
Two of my guilty pleasures are Snoopy’s hot dogs and Chick-Fil-A. So what’s a good Democrat to do when the Snoopy’s owner attacks President Obama and Chick-Fil-A’s owner condemns gay marriage? I’m reminded of McDonald’s some years back. The founder and owner, Ray Kroc, was a big buddy and big contributor to Richard Nixon.…
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