Raleigh
Worlds Apart
Call it Colbert World versus Fox World. That’s where the WakeCounty schools debate is happening today. This kind of division is nothing new in North Carolina politics. Go back to 1950: It’s been a 60-year war between conservatives (“racists,” as their opponents call them) and progressives (“socialists,” as their opponents call them.) …
Read MoreCashing In
Republicans who denounced corruption and pay-for-play in Raleigh are now racing to the trough. Like locusts, newly minted lobbyists and would-be influence-peddlers are descending on Raleigh. They brag of their access to the new legislative leaders, and they promise to deliver anything and everything to their clients. How many of them will still…
Read MoreTuning In
Even if she doesn’t know what it means, Laura Leslie is pioneering the future of journalism in North Carolina. The long-time Raleigh reporter for WUNC Radio is now the “multimedia statehouse reporter” for WRAL-TV. Here’s how Laura defined her new job: “I’ll be on TV a little, but most of my work…
Read MoreTax Bites Media
How many times have you read stories in the media along these lines: “Tax reform is difficult because special-interest groups always complain when their tax loopholes are threatened”? Then you’ll enjoy the following email from Randall Gregg of The Raleigh Telegram, president of the Triangle Press Club: IMPORTANT NOTICE: NC Tax Being Proposed…
Read MoreAnd the Winner is…
The Civitas Institute has published a right interesting report about how much North Carolina’s Senators and Congressmen have requested earmarks over the last year and the winner is… In the Senate when it comes to grabbing for the loot Kay Hagan whipped Richard Burr hands down, reaching into the Treasury to spend $3 to…
Read MoreWhat Would John A. Do?
A reader writes: “Were you as astonished as me at the reaction to Bev’s consolidation plan?” State Controller David McCoy told WRAL he is opposed to Governor Perdue’s Cabinet-consolidation plan. Linda Hayes, Perdue’s Secretary of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, dragged her feet about how difficult it would be. The reader notes: “If John…
Read MoreSign of the Times?
A wise Raleigh hand told me about a capital-city event this week that was unique in all his years: a show of real bipartisanship. Two veteran House members – Republican Danny McComas and Democrat Pryor Gibson – cohosted a reception in the Capitol for new legislators. Most people came, of course, to see…
Read MoreThe Media and the Governor
Governor Hunt and I were in Wilmington last night for a book signing, which one TV station used to pursue a feud they apparently have with Governor Perdue over her accessibility to the media, or lack thereof. The same day, I got a call from a veteran Raleigh reporter complaining about the Governor: “I…
Read MoreA Bad File to Lose
Clerk of Court races generally don’t generate a lot of sound and fury but the other day in Raleigh Republican Jan Pueschel sent out an email about her opponent – Democrat Lorrin Freeman (the incumbent) – that set sparks flying. Almost everyone knows the story of Demario Atwater, who murdered UNC student Eve Carson…
Read MoreShameless Self-Promotion
Rick Martinez, news director with WPTF radio (680AM), taped an interview with me this week about my biography of Governor Jim Hunt. It airs on Carolina Newsmaker Sunday at 7 am (which he said is one of their highest-rated shows. Go figure). I confess I had some reservations before the interview. I had never…
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