Good morning everyone! We’re not in Kansas anymore but it’s still windy out there. Here are your headlines:

1. Yes, it’s true: another complaint against McCrory has been filed.

This time Progress NC, a “liberal advocacy group,” is accusing the Guv of blurring the lines between his reelection campaign committee and a committee he organized to promote the $2 billion statewide bond referendum that will be on the ballot in a couple of weeks.

Naturally McCrory is blaming this all on Roy Cooper.

Here’s the N&O’s report:

The complaint is about a video released last week of McCrory talking about the benefits of the $2 billion bond issue, which was distributed by the bond committee by email. It contends that production values in the video are similar to a recent McCrory campaign video, noting both use footage apparently filmed with a drone in “dramatic swooping manner.”

In December, in response to an inquiry from Progress N.C. Action’s attorney, Michael Weisel, the state elections director said that the bond committee can use candidates’ photos, statements or videos so long as they don’t coordinate with the campaigns. They can use material already in the public sphere. The complaint contends that there was illegal coordination.

Bob Orr, chairman of the Connect N.C. bond committee and a former state Supreme Court justice, says the committee has complied with the law. He said in a statement the video was from an interview with McCrory during the Jan. 5 kickoff of the bond drive. He noted that state Sen. Dan Blue, a Raleigh Democrat, and also appeared in a video from that event. Both videos were emailed separately to supporters. The McCrory video also appears as a paid advertisement on The News & Observer’s website.

The complaint says the Blue video and a video of former Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton from the same event differ from the McCrory video, which is markedly more staged. Democrats raised concerns about McCrory appearing in bonds ads last October, saying he should not appear in commercials that would help him get re-elected. His opponent, Attorney General Roy Cooper, supports the bonds but said he didn’t think it appropriate to appear in TV ads for it.

McCrory campaign spokesman Ricky Diaz contends Progress N.C. Action amounts to a super PAC working for Cooper. It is not registered as an independent expenditure committee, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money for candidates. It has filed previous complaints against McCrory.

“Instead of helping to pass the bipartisan Connect NC bond that invests in education, National Guard readiness and infrastructure without raising taxes, it’s pretty obvious that Roy Cooper, the Democrat Party and their super PAC Progress NC are trying to undermine it,” Diaz said in a statement. “They have been coordinating for months and laying the groundwork to try and thwart the bond with a bogus complaint just like this, which will only waste taxpayer money and get thrown out like their other frivolous complaints.”

Cooper’s campaign spokesman Jamal Little issued this response: “Attorney General Roy Cooper has been crystal clear since day one that he supports the bond referendum. Any suggestion otherwise is a flat out lie.”

The complaint says the Connect N.C. committee has purchased up to $3 million of TV advertising time to run from Wednesday through the March 15 election.

2. Raleigh is used to being at the top of every list but when it gets lumped in with Cary…Well. Bad things happen.

The Triangle Business Journal reports that something called the “Raleigh-Cary metro” is one of the worst hybrid metros in the country for women-owned businesses.

In its list of “2016’s Best & Worst Cities for Women-Owned Businesses,” WalletHub evaluated the nation’s 100 most populated metros based on overall new-business friendliness, female entrepreneurship and business climate for women.

With an overall score of 47.83, the Raleigh-Cary metro ranks No. 68. Raleigh-Cary is No. 63 for overall new-business friendliness, No. 31 for female entrepreneurship and No. 40 for business climate for women.

In North Carolina, Greensboro leads the state with an overall ranking of No. 9; Winston-Salem ranks No. 24 and Charlotte ranks No. 49. For comparison, the number of women-owned businesses in Raleigh grew 2.45 percent between 2007 and 2012, the most recent data available, but Greensboro’s women-owned businesses grew 4.9 percent during the same time period.

Durham-Chapel Hill did not rank among WalletHub’s list of the 100 most populated metros.

So, is this matter of Raleigh actually being bad for women-owned businesses or can we blame this unfortunate list placing on our weird, beige neighbor? You know where I stand.

3. Crime and dropout rates are up in North Carolina schools, according to a new report. Because that’s what happens when your lawmakers don’t care at all.


4. Here are some tornado pics in case you didn’t get your real-life fill yesterday.

And here is where my head space is now in case you were wondering. Three weeks til the N.C. primary!



Here’s to taking the bad with the good: Thursday is little Friday!