North Carolina
updated
4:44 a.m.
Contains only posts that are ID'd as local content. An explanation. Want to help improve our local content filter? Add keywords here.
"She is more concerned about her reelection than helping people. She actively discourages any government attempt to stimulate development. This may explain why only three of 12 counties in the 5th District are targeted for new broadband infrastructure and access funding. We need a representative in Washington who helps bring jobs back home, not someone who actively discourages that! ... [Foxx] ...
Pam's House Blend - Mon 1:10 p.m. - 3 clicks 
BlueNC says there is an epidemic of bankruptcies among older adults thanks to eight years of disdain for the middle class. NC Sierra Club notes that the STOP TITAN movement is going national. The Southern Environmental Law Center lists the top ten endangered places for 2010. H/T NC Conservation Network. PPP says UNC and Duke fans [...]...
The Progressive Pulse - Mon 10:51 a.m. - 3 clicks
Last December Senator Richard Burr co-signed a letter to the EPA requesting that they not designate coal ash as a hazardous waste material. The letter expressed that the costs of the reform would be a burden on utility companies and eventually the average consumer. The Senator seems to be ignoring the blatant dangers associated with coal ash ponds. With this said, there are some valuable poin...
North Carolina Sierra Club - Mon 10:51 a.m. - 3 clicks
Last December Senator Richard Burr co-signed a letter to the EPA requesting that they not designate coal ash as a hazardous waste material. The letter expressed that the costs of the reform would be a burden on utility companies and eventually the average consumer. The Senator seems to be ignoring the blatant dangers associated with coal ash ponds. ...
BlueNC - Mon 10:51 a.m. - 3 clicks
My favorite quote from the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research press release on Medicaid is: Medicaid could consume more than 6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product by 2080, says the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I’m guessing that 70 year projections sometimes miss the target by a percent or two. Share and Enjoy: ...
The Progressive Pulse - Mon 8:20 a.m. - 4 clicks
A quick update on our first week of Candlestick, where the NC Sierra Club leads the pack on grant-gathering with their disciplined cross-posting. The top Sierra Club post garnered 286 reads. Planned Parenthood also earned grants last week with their welcome coverage of the threats to women's freedom in Apex. Their top post had more than 400 reads. For those non-profits who may have missed t...
BlueNC - Mon 7:28 a.m. - 3 clicks
Courts today are seeing an epidemic of bankruptcies among older adults, a direct result of eight years of Republican profligacy and disdain for the middle class. Richard Burr and Virginia Foxx think "the cure" is to keep on doing what George Bush did. The average age for filing bankruptcy has increased, and the rate of bankruptcy filings among those ages sixty-five and older has more than d...
BlueNC - Mon 7:06 a.m. - 3 clicks
From the dark side : A Davie County Republican is urging fellow state lawmakers to stop wasting time and money on the state’s climate change commission and support energy policy he says will have a tangible impact on the state. Brock also wants to look into building a refinery in eastern North Carolina to jumpstart economic development in distressed counties. ...
BlueNC - Mon 6:20 a.m. - 5 clicks
The numbers keep dropping for the North Carolina Association of Realtors (NCAR). The January 2010 NCAR roll came in at 35,731 members which is the lowest in 4 years. That's a loss of 595 members in one month, a loss of 2,884 since January 2009 and a loss of 7,838 members, or 18%, since the all time high of 43,569 in November 2007. ...
Stop The NC Home Ticks - Sun 6:01 p.m. - 2 clicks
Kickoff in about a minute... link to CBS coverage here. They just announced the NFL Hall of Famers doing the coin toss- YAY, EMMITT SMITH!!! Oh, I do hope for a good defensive game- love, love, LOVE me a low scoring, hard hitting battle of a game, any day. Question to my fellow football fans: Name a great player- any time, any team! I started off with Emmitt; will follow up...
Pam's House Blend - Sun 3:49 p.m. - 2 clicks
Who knew that Congresswoman Virginia Foxx was in such pain in Washington? We knew that we were in pain for having her in Washington, but the terrible water-boarding of Virginia Foxx had completely escaped us. There she was last night telling Iredell County Republicans about her great tribulations in Mugstomp-on-the-Potomac, that these past few years, since the voters ran her party out of p...
WataugaWatch - Sun 12:05 p.m. - 10 clicks
Some startling (if true) political realities : The GOP needs nine seats for control in the 120-member House. Minority Leader Paul Stam of Raleigh says among the Democratic seats he's targeting, 14 are in districts carried last year by Republican John McCain. Last month Raleigh-based Public Policy Polling found voters split. A slight majority favored Republican legislative candidates. But in...
BlueNC - Sun 10:05 a.m. - 6 clicks
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx once again says one thing, does another. The Congresswoman's attack on President George W. Bush's "No Child Left Behind" (Winston-Salem Journal, Jan. 31), amounts to damage control. She recently stood on the House floor and declared that the federal government "should not be funding education." Period. Her radical and blanket condemnation of all federal help fo...
WataugaWatch - Sat 6:28 a.m. - 5 clicks
Thursday afternoon the EPA announced action plans for 43 coal ash impoundments at 22 facilities throughout the U.S. Since May 2009 the EPA has been investigating the structural integrity of coal ash ponds. After each facility reviews an EPA report on their facility, they propose a plan of action. This plan is then reviewed and approved by the EPA. Duke Power operates 5 facilities in North Car...
North Carolina Sierra Club - Fri 6:42 p.m. - 8 clicks
The nation’s unemployment rate for January fell unexpectedly to 9.7 percent. For some, the decline was a hopeful sign. Still many analysts expect the outlook for job growth will remain bleak for 2010. This Monday and Tuesday, state leaders and policy experts gather in Raleigh to discuss how to grow tomorrow’s jobs through creativity. Anita Brown-Graham, director [...]...
The Progressive Pulse - Fri 5:09 p.m. - 2 clicks
The NC GOP spent the summer screaming that eliminating fraud and abuse in Medicare to keep the program solvent would somehow endanger seniors. Now the Republican Party has posted an anti-Medicare ad on its website. The piece was originally recorded by Ronald Reagan in 1961 to oppose the Democratic attempt to provide health insurance to seniors. [...]...
The Progressive Pulse - Fri 12:49 p.m. - 3 clicks
Consumer Reports recently analyzed data on central line infections at hospitals across the country. Central lines are catheters that deliver fluids to patients and they can produce particularly nasty, and dangerous, infections. Although our state’s hospitals are not rated overall, two did stand out as reporting zero central line infections — Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville [.....
The Progressive Pulse - Fri 12:06 p.m. - 3 clicks
In case Senate Republican leader Phil Berger didn’t receive the memo: under proposed curriculum changes, students in North Carolina schools will receive more instruction on US history, not less. Berger is miffed by the plan that 11th grade history will examine the US after 1877. TV tea-baggers posing as journalists have been similarly miffed. State Superintendent, [...]...
The Progressive Pulse - Fri 11:04 a.m. - 4 clicks
Last month the EPA announced that they were tightening the federal air quality standards. The new regulations will try to lower the ground-level ozone found in communities around the country. Ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but is instead formed when Co2, Nitrogen oxide and methane mix together and come in contact with sunlight. The major sources of ozone are man-made, whether its in...
North Carolina Sierra Club - Wed 9:06 p.m. - 9 clicks
by Chris Blue, Assistant Chief of Police Starting this weekend, the Chapel Hill Police Department plans to undertake a unique approach to hear about our community's expectations of us. Beginning on February 6th, we will hold a series of community conversations to hear how we are doing as an organization. Each session will last no more than two hours and will be managed by an outside facil...
OrangePolitics - Wed 11:42 a.m. - 4 clicks
Today, NASA Climate Expert Dr. James Hansen addressed students, faculty and community members outside of the campus's coal-fired steam and power plant. Dr. Hansen who heads NASA's research institute on atmospheric and climate change, urged UNC administrators to stop burning coal at the facility. Already the plant burns 100,000 tons of coal annually, that makes it the largest emitter of Co2 in...
North Carolina Sierra Club - Tue 2:25 p.m. - 5 clicks
Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) has less cash on hand than either of his two Republican primary challengers. Sorry, but it won't matter. Keadle and Patterson will divide the anti-McHenry vote between them, will elbow each other for advantage while failing to draw sharp distinctions between themselves and McHenry, and McHenry will waltz right through another primary. 'Course, nothing wou...
WataugaWatch - Tue 11:47 a.m. - 5 clicks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, February 2, 2010 Billy Kennedy for Congress website Billy Kennedy Launches Campaign for Congress Billy Kennedy, a Watauga County talk radio host and community leader, will formally announce his candidacy on February 8 for the U.S. House of Representatives, 5th District of North Carolina. The "Billy Kennedy Caravan" will stretch from Boone to Raleigh that d...
WataugaWatch - Tue 10:49 a.m. - 4 clicks
I have reviewed a lot of letters sent to the Chapel Hill Town Council about whether or not the Town should move forward on expansion of our Library. Letters fall on either side of the issue, but in letters against expansion, I see a theme. Writers often want it known that they are a fan of books, but they don't want to pay more taxes toward making more available to Library users. read m...
OrangePolitics - Tue 10:00 a.m. - 4 clicks
Today the grassroots group, Citizens Against Titan will present Hanover County Commissioners with a petition signed by over 5,000 concerned citizens. The proposed cement plant to be built in Castle Hayne, north of Wilmington, would likely emit hundreds of pounds of mercury annually, along with a number of other greenhouse gases. Much like the coal used to power the plant, limestone the main ingre...
North Carolina Sierra Club - Feb 1 - 2 clicks
The Blue Ridge Parkway is indisputably a major economic engine for the 5th Congressional District of North Carolina, as well as elsewhere. Almost 20 million visitors come every year and drive its two-lane blacktop and buy fuel, food, lodging, and the geegaws that gladden the tourist heart, generating almost $2.3 billion in revenue annually in North Carolina and Virginia. Even conservative Repu...
WataugaWatch - Feb 1 - 11 clicks
Let's review, shall we? When Republican Minority Leader John Boehner announced to his Republican House troops on January 20th that President Barack Obama had accepted an invitation to appear before Republican members of Congress during their Baltimore retreat this past week, Madam Virginia Foxx was nonplussed (that's Latin for "pissed off"): North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx asked Boehner w...
WataugaWatch - Jan 31 - 10 clicks
Last Thursday I had the chance to travel up to Hickory, N.C., for Mitchell Gold’s appearance at Lenior-Rhyne University’s Visiting Writers Series. Gold, editor of “CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing up Gay in America,” to which I contributed a chapter, was interviewed on stage by CNN [...]...
IntersateQ.com - Jan 31 - 9 clicks
This upcoming Tuesday, the UNC Beyond Coal Campaign will be hosting a press conference with Dr. James Hansen, NASA's foremost expert on climate change. Dr. Hansen heads NASA's Goddard Institute which predicts atmospheric and climate changes in the 21st Century, he is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University. The press conference comes on the heels of Chancellor Thorpes formation of a new ...
North Carolina Sierra Club - Jan 29 - 7 clicks
The number of people living in poverty has jumped by nearly 2,600,000 to 39,800,000, the highest number since 1960. Check! The number of children who live in poverty increased by 744,000 to 14,000,000. Check! According to a resolution passed in the U.S. House on Wednesday of this week, "The next Census report on poverty will likely illustrate higher levels of poverty as the report will refl...
WataugaWatch - Jan 29 - 5 clicks
Earlier this week during the State of the Union, President Obama said, "The nation that leads the clean energy economy, will be the nation that leads the global economy. And America must be that nation." Well here in North Carolina we've already begun that fight. This week, the UNC Beyond Coal Campaign kicked off the spring semester with a group meeting focused on brainstorming ideas and re...
North Carolina Sierra Club - Jan 29 - 9 clicks
Today, EPA Secretary Lisa Jackson announced a $544 million investment in North Carolina's high speed rail corridor. As Mrs. Jackson said, “Every dollar we spend on high speed rail is an investment in job creation and in cleaning the air we all breathe.” Once again North Carolina will be a leader in the fight to support cleaner transportation solutions. A majority of the funds, nearly 520 mill...
North Carolina Sierra Club - Jan 29 - 9 clicks
That monument to bad judgment, Karl Rove, was in Raleigh yesterday raising money for Sen. Dick Burr, who apparently needs help in the worst way. Rove gave an interview to the News&Observer in which he opined that Republicans need "to address the kitchen-table issues that people talk about at home that affect their lives: jobs, the economy, health care, access of their children to college, ho...
WataugaWatch - Jan 29 - 7 clicks
At the Town Council meeting on January 25, 2010, I petitioned the council to open discussions about prohibiting hand held cell phone usage while driving in Chapel Hill. I also proposed that the town hold a public forum on this topic where concerned citizens can express their opinions about this issue. Since the election I have heard from many citizens who feel that it is becoming increasingly da...
OrangePolitics - Jan 28
This from Kay Hagan Judges Jim Wynn and Al Diaz were both approved by the Judiciary Committee today – with the overwhelming support of both Democrats and Republicans. North Carolina’s nominees for the 4th Circuit have for far too long been held up by petty, partisan politics. North Carolina, the largest state within the 4th [...]...
Exile on Jones Street - Jan 28 - 5 clicks
At last night's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting a decision was put off regarding the Town Manager's recommendation to move forward and issue the voter-approved bond for the Library expansion. There were two major issues. First, the anticipated operating expenses for the expanded Library would result in a tax rate increase of $0.0113. This would add about $34 to the tax bill of a homeowner wit...
OrangePolitics - Jan 26 - 2 clicks
