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BREAKING NEWS: Gov. Easley Crashes Car At Lowe's Motor Speedway POSTED: 11:45 a.m. EDT May 9, 2003 CONCORD, N.C. -- A race car driven by Governor Mike Easley has crashed at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Emergency officials are on the scene. There is no word on the extent of injuries at this time.

New deficit in N.C. may top $2 billion By AMY GARDNER, Staff Writer Gov. Mike Easley and the General Assembly are facing yet another budget shortfall that could exceed $2 billion, and they have begun to confront the certainty that they must either cut existing programs or raise taxes when lawmakers return to Raleigh in January. Government number-crunchers already are poring over the likely big-dollar new expenses for the spending year beginning July 1. Looming largest is the need for Easley and lawmakers to replace $850 million in one-time revenue and reserves used to pay for ongoing expenses in the...

NORTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY 1506 Hillsborough St. Raleigh, North Carolina 27605 Tele. (919) 828-6423 • Fax. (919) 899-3815 •www.NCGOP.orgFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 17th, 2002 An Offer You Can't Refuse Cobey Calls on Easley to Fire Aide Who Uses Threats to Pursue Governor's Agenda (RALEIGH) - A top aide to Gov. "Tax-Hike Mike" Easley has made public what many had already suspected: that this administration will stop at nothing, even using extortion and threats against state projects in local areas, to pursue this governor's political agenda. According to the Wilmington Star, on Friday John Merritt, the Governor's senior assistant for...

Posted on Tue, Sep. 17, 2002 House votes on lottery today Democrats tie plan for Nov. 5 referendum to delayed budget bill ANNA GRIFFIN AND SHARIF DURHAMS Staff Writers RALEIGH - The N.C. House of Representatives will vote on both a lottery referendum and a budget today. But Democratic leaders are hedging their bets about whether tying the numbers game to the budget would save or sink it. After hours of bleary-eyed backroom debate, legislative leaders went to bed Monday with a budget compromise that includes a Nov. 5 vote on the lottery as part of a $14 billion spending...

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- Gov. Mike Easley has delayed accepting the resignation of a Superior Court judge in western North Carolina, and Republicans say he's stalling so he can appoint someone to the office rather than hold an election.</p> <p>They question whether Easley is violating the law by holding open the seat vacated at the end of August by Superior Court Judge Loto Greenlee Caviness.</p>

Easley: Hire 1,200 more teachers SHARIF DURHAMS Raleigh Bureau RALEIGH - Gov. Mike Easley ordered schools to hire more than 1,200 teachers for the coming school year Wednesday, even though lawmakers haven't given him the money to pay them.His order -- which puts 6,000 more at-risk 4-year-olds into classrooms and reduces class sizes statewide for kindergartners and first-graders -- will cost the state $54 million this year.It comes as lawmakers are waging partisan, election-year battles over state budget cuts. And it sends local school leaders scrambling to hire teachers for classrooms set to open within weeks.Easley justified his move by...

By APRIL BETHEA, STAFF WRITER Hundreds of state employees gathered at the Legislative Building Wednesday afternoon to let legislators know that they are fed up with pay, layoffs, and reductions in their health benefits. The gathering was sponsored by the State Employees Association of North Carolina, a statewide organization that represents 60,000 active and retired state employees. State employees have faced a multitude of challenges this year. Roughly 1,400 employees received notices May 31 that they their jobs may be in jeopardy. Some employees and retirees have run into trouble getting prescriptions because of a dispute in the state's...

By WADE RAWLINS, Staff Writer Gov. Mike Easley moved Monday to seize $60 million in payments to the Tobacco Trust Fund and the Health and Wellness Trust Fund, in case more money is needed to plug the state's $900 million-plus shortfall this year. Cari Boyce, a spokeswoman for Easley, said the administration would decide this week whether to place in escrow the intercepted payments to the two funds, which receive part of North Carolina's share of the national tobacco manufacturers' settlement with the states. She said the decision to seize the money was no indication of worry by the...

We reported on 2/19/01 that signs (pictured at left) had appeared in various around the State, that reference legislation proposed in the House and Senate that would loosen restrictions on the concealed weapons law. The signs purported to be paid for by "The Republican Party" and referenced legislation in the General Assembly that proposed reform of concealed weapons laws. At the time, we were the first to report that members of the House Republican caucus were said to be seeking a SLED investigation as to whether laws had been broken. Herb Hayden, executive director of the State Ethics commission,...