The first batch of postcards went out Monday. Raleigh, city officials tell us, is beginning the process of rezoning 35,000 properties using its new and improved zoning code. In italicized letters, we’re also told: Don’t Panic! OK, not panicking. But we do havewe Raleigh residentscause for alarm. Which is what David Cox is saying as […]
Bob Geary
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Did Thom Tillis just wreck his Senate bid by opposing a minimum wage?
Americans divide into two camps. One, the free enterprisers, rejects the minimum wage. The other, the interventionists, likes what Franklin D. Roosevelt said when he signed the first federal wage minimum-wage law in 1933: “No business which depends for its existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue […]
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Two years later, Amendment One is already overdue for the scrap heap
photo by Bob GearyPaula Womack (right) and Jane Weidig were married in Massachusetts. Their marriage isn’t recognized in NC — but as of today, it is recorded at the Wake County Register of Deeds office. Singing “One Step Closer Now, Love Won’t Be Denied,” same-sex couples who were married in other states marched with supporters […]
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Can Republicans squeeze a teacher pay raise from their denuded budget?
Ayear ago, Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” was Gov. Pat McCrory’s theme song. Today, as public school teachers blast him for their frozen pay and swollen classes, a chastened McCrory says he wants to give them a raiseif he can. But the budget he signed last year, with tax cuts for corporations and the […]
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Aiken, Cleary, win Democratic congressional primaries in Districts 2, 13
Whoa, the Democratic primary in U.S. House District 2 was a squeaker, mainly because Fayetteville’s Toni Morris captured almost 20 percent of the votes — very unexpected. That left Clay Aiken and Keith Crisco with little margin for error as they 1) tried to reach the 40 percent threshold for victory, and 2) tried to […]
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Tillis vs. Hagan: A U.S. Senate race about the General Assembly?
Imagine a great Republican candidate to go against U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan this fall. H/she is a business owner. Or a doctor. Self-made, anyway. A diplomat would be great — whatever happened to Jim Cain? The point is, you want a Republican candidate who personifies national issues — the economy, jobs, trade, the cost of […]
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Wake DA candidate failed political test with state employees association mailers
Democrats have a close call to make in the primary election for Wake County District Attorney. Lorrin Freeman, 43, now Wake’s Clerk of Superior Court, would be a solid choice. Most Democratic leaders (Josh Stein, Caroline Sullivan, Charles Meeker) are for Freeman. Boz Zellinger, 32, an assistant district attorney, is an up-and-comer. Former Congressman Brad […]
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In Wake Dems’ DA primary, Boz Zellinger displays weakness
Updated at 5pm Thursday, April 24: Updated X 2 at 12 noon, April 26 — with the text of a Zellinger campaign email sent Thursday night. It’s copied at the end of the original post. Also, Dana Cope of SEANC called, objecting to my statement that SEANC’s attacks on Freeman are in retaliation for her […]
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A panel on saving North Carolina’s ruinous public education system
Among public school reformers, scholar David Kirp observes, the “no excuses” camp is pitted against the “social context” camp. The first sees public schools as “fossilized bureaucracies” filled with time-serving teachers concerned with their own job security. It wants resultsnow! The second views the schools as our best chance to combat society’s ills, starting with […]
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What happens when Thom Tillis calls the tune
Poor Thom Tillis. Every sorry move the N.C. General Assembly made in the last three years to enrage the progressive-minded, Tillis, the House speaker, was right there calling the tune. Tax cuts for the wealthy. Banning Medicaid expansion for the poor. Slashing unemployment benefits for those who’ve lost jobs. Obstructing voting rights and reproductive rights. […]