The reason why is that Honolulu came in 3rd on BusinessWeek.com’s list of Best Cities in the U.S. Whereas Raleigh came in — exactly! — No. 1, baby. SOOO — Curious Hawaiians are sure to be scoping out Raleigh soon to see what we’re got (Deep South? Slim’s?) that they don’t. Get your list ready.
Bob Geary
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General Assembly underhandedly passes Defense of Marriage Act
For shame It’s not surprising that 65 of 68 House Republicans voted for DOMA (two didn’t vote and one had an excused absence). However, 10 Democrats batted for the other team, shall we say, to pass Senate Bill 514. Here are the names of the representatives: William Brisson, Jim Crawford Jr., Elmer Floyd, Ken Goodman, […]
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(UPDATED) Senate passes anti-LGBT constitutional amendment; voters to decide in 2012 primaries
The Senate vote was 30-16, with 30 needed for passage. A second and final vote was taken immediately. The Governor can’t veto a constitutional amendment, but the voters can — SB 514 sets the referendum for the first primary election of 2012, which is scheduled for May. Click here for the vote: 30 Republicans out […]
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(UPDATED) This is democracy? House passes anti-LGBT amendment with no hearings, ever
photo by Bob GearyHouse Majority Leader Paul Stam moves the bill in committee [Update, 8:30 am, 9/13: I heard from several good sources late last night that the outcome in the Senate today is uncertain. Three or four Republicans, including Sens. Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus, and Richard Stevens, R-Wake, were said to be unwilling to vote […]
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Would single-sex academies in Wake be single-race too? And other notes from the District 6 debate
Here’s something I learned last night at the District 6 school board election debate. Superintendent Tony Tata’s been talking up the idea of single-sex academies in Raleigh, specifically an all-male academy at the Longview School next door to Enloe HS and an all-female academy in the former Raleigh Charter HS in Pilot Mill. (Raleigh Charter […]
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9-11 ceremonies on Sunday in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza Sunday will mark 10 years since the deadly events of 9-11, Sept. 11, 2001. How many days in American history have had a greater impact on our sense of what America is, or should be, than 9-11? A few, perhaps. But not many. Does the United States matter, […]
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About that anti-gay marriage amendment: Watch out for collateral damage
The NC Coalition Against Domestic Violence came out against the anti-LGBT marriage amendment today, warning that a similar constitutional change in Ohio wrecked havoc with its laws protecting people — married or unmarried — in domestic violence cases. In Ohio, the DV law protected unmarried folks who lived together “as if married,” but of course, […]
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Forum tonight with the Sierra Club’s endorsed candidates: McFarlane, Stephenson head the list
photo by Bob GearyRaleigh Councilors Nancy McFarlane and Russ Stephenson The Sierra Club’s NC chapter — very influential with local environmentalists — is out with its list of endorsed candidates in the Raleigh City Council elections. It will host a public forum with them tonight at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meeting hall, 3313 Wade Avenue. […]
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Anti-gay marriage amendment? NC voters see it like this —
Human Rights Campaign logo Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling in Raleigh spells out the voters’ views in a short, very understandable piece that confirms everything else I’ve seen in other surveys: Ask NC voters if they’re for gay marriage, and mostly they’re not. Ask them if they support an amendment to the state constitution […]
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The right wing’s twisted arguments against gay marriage
Republican leaders in the General Assembly see a problem, and they’re calling the Legislature back into session next Monday to address it. No, the problem they see isn’t the state’s need for jobs. Rather, it’s the state constitution, which proclaims in Article 1, a ringing Declaration of Rights, that all citizens are created equal, that […]
