Free Republic

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Lt. Gov. Dan Forest plans to sue Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration for violating the Emergency Management Act, according to a Thursday statement from Forest. “The Governor has repeatedly ignored the law, enacting mandates that selectively target the businesses and citizens of North Carolina without concurrence from a majority of the Council of State,” the statement read in part. The crux of Forest’s complaint is that executive orders made by Cooper since March does not allow him or other members of the Council of State to fulfill their oaths to uphold the state’s laws. Forest, in his...

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - An admissions department e-mail sent from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill congratulated 2,700 prospective freshmen this week on their acceptance to the school. The problem is that none of the students have been admitted. They are on the school's wait list and won't find out until March whether they've made the cut. "We deeply regret this disappointment, which we know is compounded by the stress and anxiety that students experience as a result of the admissions process," Stephen Farmer, the school's director of undergraduate admissions, said in a news release. Farmer said two...

RALEIGH -- The State Attorney General's Office will refund hundreds of thousands of dollars to unsuspecting homeowners and creditors after a scheme to keep public auction prices artificially low was uncovered. Last week, the office's consumer protection team filed 10 lawsuits against 26 people and companies accusing them of making or accepting payments not to bid on properties being auctioned at courthouses in Wake, Durham, Orange and Johnston counties. Defendants in nine of the cases have agreed to repay sellers nearly $800,000 for money lost because of unfair bidding and have agreed to stop the illegal bidding. The complaints allege...

RALEIGH, NC -- Though House Speaker Jim Black warned the N.C. Senate this week not to tinker with a bill to start a state lottery that the House barely passed, don't bet on it. "This is not Nebraska," said Sen. Tony Rand, the Senate majority leader, referring to the state whose legislature has one house, rather than two. "Making sausage, everybody has to put a little in there," said Rand, D-Cumberland. "The sausage machine is not exclusively the province of one house." (snip) "They'd better pass what we send over there," he said. "Because when it comes back to us...

RALEIGH, NC --Senate Republicans are complaining about a late vote Wednesday that appointed eight members to the UNC Board of Governors. When ballots were handed out on the floor of the Senate, eight names [all dems nominees] appeared for eight open slots -- a surprise to Republicans who had sponsored four additional candidates. Senate leaders, all Democrats, said the other four had withdrawn and rules prevented their names from appearing on the ballots. Republicans, including Sen. Neal Hunt of Wake County, said they knew of no withdrawals of the people they sponsored. Most objected strenuously. The row caused Sen. Robert...

Carolina Journal Exclusives School of the Arts Audit Detailed Investigation finds "wilful, deliberate, and intentional" violations of state law RALEIGH - High-level administrators at the North Carolina School of the Arts engaged in "willful, deliberate, and intentional" violations of state law in what State Auditor Ralph Campbell described as "similar to the debacle at Enron." Campbell said the findings at the NCSA were as serious as any his office had uncovered previously. Among the findings of the State Auditor's Investigative Audit Division were: state and NCSA-affiliated foundation funds used to make car lease payments and country club dues for NCSA...

RALEIGH – The 2003-04 session of the General Assembly ended Sunday with a congratulatory round of back-patting and what amounted to an open meeting of the inside-the-Beltline chapter of the North Carolina Mutual Admiration Society. (snip) House Speaker Jim Black sounded a major theme of the post- adjournment afterglow when he told the Associated Press that his alliance with Republican Co-Speaker Richard Morgan had proven to be a productive one. "Everybody predicted chaos and thought it was going to be the end of the world," he said, but in fact his two-year coalition in the House "began in terrible fashion...

(snip)The resolution against Morgan listed his primary offenses as working to defeat his opponents within the party and supporting a version of a legislative redistricting plan -- a redrawing of the map of what area each lawmaker represents -- that conservative Republicans said likely would prevent the election of a Republican majority in the House. Morgan said he didn't want the most conservative Republicans to be the party's "mouthpieces." "They're full of gloom and doom," Morgan said.

Carolina Journal ExclusivesEasley Proposes $16 Billion Budget Adjustments would hike spending on state employee compensation, debt service, other items By Paul Chesser May 11, 2004 RALEIGH — Gov. Mike Easley released his mid-biennium budget term adjustments yesterday, which he said maintained his priorities for spending discipline, creating jobs, and improving public education. “I think it sets priorities,” the governor said, “and reflects the priorities of the people of North Carolina.” Easley’s plan states that it would increase “non-federal spending” by $876 million over last year. Because authorized General Fund spending for FY 2003-04 was reported as approximately $14.8 billion, the...

RALEIGH — The biggest backup most of us are likely to encounter in our bathroom is easily remedied with a 99-cent plunger or a bottle of drain cleaner and five minutes of our time. But imagine being a builder whose new subdivision, school, or store can’t open on time, simply because the required paperwork is clogged up in the state’s wastewater permit approval process in Raleigh. It’s a scenario Brunswick County Health Department Program Specialist Bruce Withrow understands firsthand. He’s been caught in the middle between frustrated developers and state engineers when permitting delays have occurred on some wastewater systems...

OXFORD - Barbara Howe filed to run for governor of North Carolina as a Libertarian Monday. Howe, a 51-year-old Oxford homemaker, was the Libertarian Party candidate in 2000. She won 80 percent of the vote in that year's first-ever Libertarian gubernatorial primary. "Republicans and Democrats will offer only more of the same: higher taxes, limited choice in education, overregulation and more corporate welfare," Howe said in a faxed announcement Monday. "The Libertarian philosophy is one that emphasizes individual rights and personal responsibility. As governor, I will respect the rights of every North Carolina citizen. "Our freedom is precious, but if...

DALLAS, April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ACS (NYSE: ACS), a premier provider of business process and information technology outsourcing solutions, announced today that it has been notified by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) of their intent to award a contract, valued at $171 million over five years, to replace and operate the North Carolina Medicaid Management Information System (NCMMIS). The overall goal of the new NCMMIS is to continue to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery, which will improve beneficiary and population outcomes. ACS brings to the North Carolina Medicaid Program the best track...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina will raise spending on teenage smoking prevention by 75 percent starting next year, officials said Thursday, an increase that earned praise from health groups but is still well below federal recommendations. The Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission intends to spend another $4.2 million this year on the state's Youth Tobacco Prevention Initiative, increasing its total annual pledge to $10.9 million. The commission's decision to expand its current three-year, $18.6 million effort, was made earlier this week. The panel already has issued grants to 30 organizations, created an anti-smoking radio ad campaign and beefed up...