Despite all the recent hoopla about his extramarital affairs, Tiger Woods was not the most disappointing person of 2009, according to a new national survey by NBC and The Wall Street Journal.
That dubious distinction goes to John Edwards, the two-time presidential candidate and former U.S. senator [...]
Former Gov. Mike Easley has hired veteran criminal defense attorney Joseph Cheshire V to represent him in an ongoing federal investigation, reports Mandy Locke.
Easley has faced scrutiny by federal investigators for more than a year. They have reviewed land deals for a prime coastal lot, a [...]
Cal Cunningham received a phone call this week from President Barack Obama, another indication that he is seen in Washington as the Democratic Party's strongest potential challenger to Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.
Cunningham, a former state senator from Lexington, said he talked with Obama [...]
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr will be one of the speakers Tuesday at a rally in the Capitol by opponents of the health care legislation being pushed by President Barack Obama and the Democratic Senate leadership.
Burr, a Republican, will join radio host Laura Ingraham, Sens. [...]
About half of North Carolina voters remain happy with the job President Barack Obama is doing, according to a new poll.
The Civitas Institute surveyed 600 likely voters Dec. 1-3, and found that 48 percent had a favorable opinion of Obama. That is down from earlier in the [...]
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on the nominations of two North Carolina judges for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Judges Albert Diaz and Jim Wynn will appear before the committee at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
The hearing offers senators the chance to question the nominees [...]
Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards doesn't have long to wait for the book he isn't waiting for.
"The Politician" will be published by Thomas Dunne Books on Feb. 2, according to Amazon.com.
The author is Andrew Young, the one-time aide who claimed to have [...]
Gov. Bev Perdue said Tuesday that U.S. Attorney George Holding should be kept on until he finishes his investigations of Democrats Mike Easley and John Edwards.
Perdue said she was only speaking as a private citizen and had no influence over political patronage appointments of [...]
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan re-emphasized to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in a phone call this week that she wants current federal investigations into public corruption in North Carolina completed.
Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, has told the White House that she wants U.S. Attorney George Holding, who [...]
The "honest services" law that federal prosecutors relied on to convict the likes of former state lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings, former state Rep. Michael Decker and former U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance Jr. is about to get a thorough review.
Andy Curliss reports on The N&O's investigations blog that the U.S. [...]
A Washington-based campaign finance group has named U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, an "insurance puppet" for the political contributions he has taken from insurance companies.
The Public Campaign Action Fund has an ad on the website fivethirtyeight.com depicting the North Carolina Republican on puppet [...]
North Carolinians want the Republican federal prosecutor investigating Democrats Mike Easley and John Edwards to stay on the job, according to a new poll.
The survey by the Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank, found that 76 percent of those polled want George Holding, the U.S. [...]
Dozens of supporters of President Barack Obama will gather in Raleigh and Charlotte Saturday for training in ways to support Obama on issues such as health care and in future elections.
The workshops are designed to train volunteers to lead "Rapid Response Teams" that can activate people to lobby Congress [...]
While Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan says she is unsure whether she'll hold up the confirmation of a new U.S. attorney for North Carolina's eastern district, Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has no plans to hold up the process.
Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy has decided not to seek the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate next year.
Foy, 53, had been exploring a Senate bid for several months as he prepares to end his tenure as mayor of the college town, reports Rob Christensen.
He said his decision was [...]
With the debate over global warming heating up next week - no pun intended - both sides of the issue will be seeking to influence the debate in Raleigh with dueling lunch presentations.
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama will be Copenhagen to address the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The [...]
Three years before the next presidential election, some Charlotte leaders are trying to bring the Democratic Party's 2012 convention to town.
Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess invited former national Democratic chairman Don Fowler of Columbia to meet with her, Mayor-elect Anthony Foxx and Tim Newman of the [...]
The office expenses of North Carolina’s delegation in the U.S. House are now available online.
Each member of the U.S. House gets a certain amount for his or her office, to be used on salaries, office supplies, rent, mailings to constituents and travel to their home districts, reports Barb Barrett. [...]
The folks at the Civitas Institute have declared a winner in their "bad bill of the year" contest.
Senate Bill 848, which would allow illegal immigrants to enroll in the state's community colleges, defeated House Bill 120, which would allow public financing of municipal campaigns, to win [...]
On recent trip to the Middle East, U.S. Rep. David Price said he was impressed in Pakistan and Afghanistan with a certain segment of their parliaments: women.
"We paid special attention to women members of parliament — who are a pretty aggressive group," said Price, a Chapel [...]
N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Rick Elmore has announced he will run for re-election in 2010, reports Mandy Locke.
Elmore was initially elected to the court in 2002. Prior to that, he practiced law in Greenboro, specializing in criminal defense and real property law. He represented indigent clients in state [...]
As President Barack Obama continues to ponder the future of American troops in Afghanistan, U.S. Rep. David Price stressed this week that the matter isn’t just one for the military.
"Nobody thinks this should be a rushed decision – or a decision that should just be about the [...]
There has been some grumbling among lobbyists who thought it was inappropriate that they received a campaign solicitation from Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, whose office regulates lobbyists.
Marshall, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate race next year, sent out an e-mail solicitation on her birthday [...]
N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight told the state’s congressional delegation today that North Carolina doesn’t need any more study about a Navy outlying landing field.
The Navy, he wrote, can save its money.
“I am pleased to inform you that these studies and their significant costs are [...]
Generally speaking, folks don't like taxes.
But North Carolinians seem divided on the question of tax fairness, according to a new poll by Elon University.
Almost half (48 percent) of North Carolina residents polled Nov. 16-19 say the current state tax system is either "not at all fair" or "not too [...]
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr said on the Senate floor this morning that health reform should empower Americans to make healthier choices.
In a conversation ahead of a key Senate vote Saturday about health reform, Burr criticized the bill put forward by Democrats, reports Barb Barrett. He said [...]
A portrait of the late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, done by an African-American artist, will be unveiled Wednesday in Washington's Capitol Hill Club.
The unveiling of the painting by Rene Dickerson is expected to bring together Helms friends and admirers, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, conservative activist [...]
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be in Harnett County on Friday to meet with farmers and discuss agriculture issues. He’ll be joined by U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat.
Comments (1) [...]President Barack Obama has nominated North Carolina’s top consumer advocate for a position on the Federal Trade Commission.
Julie Brill became the senior deputy attorney general and chief of consumer protection and antitrust for the N.C. Department of Justice in February. Before that role, she spent 20 years in [...]
North Carolinians appear to be a bit more satisfied with U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.
The latest survey by Public Policy Polling shows that the numbers have improved slightly for Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican who is up for re-election next year.
PPP surveyed 711 North Carolina voters from [...]
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge is going to decide soon whether he’s running for U.S. Senate.
Any day now.
Etheridge figured in August he’d have a decision by September. Earlier this week, he was expected to reach a decision by the end of the week. This morning, he told Dome [...]
State GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer said Tuesday's election results are good news for Republicans.
"I think the pendulum is turning back as it always does," Fetzer said in an interview with reporters and editors of The News & Observer. "I think there is a wave cresting [...]
The state has published a new book on the 1898 Wilmington race riot. It is called, not surprisingly, "A Day of Blood: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot."
The book, by LeRae Umfleet, is being published by the Historical Publications Section of the N.C. Office of Archives [...]
Gloria Steinem, one of the stars of the women's movement, will be in Raleigh and Chapel Hill next week, at events sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina.
Steinem will give a talk at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh on November 7th at 1 p.m. Ticket prices range from [...]
U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Banner Elk Republican, this morning said Americans have more to fear from the Democratic health bill than from terrorists, reports Barb Barrett.
According to a YouTube clip posted by liberal media watchdog Media Matters, Foxx said in a House floor speech:
“I believe that the greatest [...]
The State Board of Elections this morning ordered former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign to pay $100,000 for failing to report campaign flights and sent Easley's case to the Wake County District Attorney's Office for a criminal review.
Board chairman Larry Leake said the board had received evidence that [...]
The Washington Post reported this morning that U.S Rep. Heath Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat, is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over a land-swap deal in eastern Tennessee.
Comments (0) [...]
Two members of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet toured a solar energy project in Cary today to tout the expansion of the renewable energy industry.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu visited the project at SAS Institute headquarters in Cary. There, [...]
Gov. Beverly Perdue issued the following statement on today's vote by a U.S. Senate committee on health care reform:
Today’s vote is an important step toward much-needed health care reform. Health care is the issue that got me into public service, and I look forward to working [...]
Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan issued the following statement on today's committee vote on health care reform:
Today, the Finance Committee passed a health care reform bill that prevents insurance companies from turning you away due to a preexisting condition, removes annual and lifetime caps on coverage, and [...]
U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre touted North Carolina’s agriculture and alternative fuels while in Greece today for an international conference on energy.
McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat, is a senior member of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, which promotes security through human rights, democracy and environmental cooperation, reports Barb Barrett.
He spoke in Athens [...]
Is it possible that North Carolina voters aren't happy with Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, but still like him a lot better than any of the Democratic alternatives?
That seems to be the message from the latest survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm that surveyed [...]
No, not the kind you're thinking about.
In this case, we're talking about what's known as "the other white meat."
Seven of North Carolina’s members of Congress have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect the pork industry from its economic troubles by buying $100 million worth of meat [...]
The numbers are getting worse for Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue.
A pair of polls from the left and the right show that voters are increasingly dissatisfied with Perdue, a Democrat.
Perdue's approval rating is 24 percent in the latest survey by Public Policy Polling, a [...]
State Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry expressed concern this morning about some of the invoices connected to the state's legal battle with the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Berry, a Republican, noted invoices for $5.50 for a beer, unused hotel rooms, hotel upgrades, valet parking and candy, [...]
The hearing into possible violations of campaign laws by former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign and the state Democratic Party will be held in a familiar location: Raleigh's downtown Clarion hotel.
That's where board members met several years ago to hear testimony about the campaign [...]
The North Carolina lottery has come up with a new scratch-off ticket game offering the chance to win some very big bucks.
But you have to be ready to shell out some big bucks to play.
The lottery is starting its first $20 scratch-off ticket, the $200 Million Extravaganza. [...]
U.S. Sens. Richard Burr, a Republican, and Kay Hagan, a Democrat, have introduced the Lumbee Recognition Act to provide full federal recognition to the Lumbee tribe based in Robeson County along Interstate 95.
The Lumbee have for years tried to earn federal recognition through congressional action, but have repeatedly [...]
North Carolina is a national leader in "energy infrastructure," but the state's not doing so well in energy generation or energy storage.
Those are some of the findings in a new profile of North Carolina's green economy by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.
The NGA prepared profiles [...]
Should Gov. Beverly Perdue take on taxes?
Gary Pearce says it may be just the issue Perdue, a Democrat, needs to make her mark.
Pearce, in his Talking About Politics blog, writes today that Perdue needs to find an issue that will get more attention than recent announcements [...]
It's only September, so we can't call it March Madness.
But the Civitas Institute has started its own form of bracketology with a "bad bill of the year tournament."
The conservative think tank has pulled together what it considers the 32 worst bills introduced in the recent legislative session.
It [...]
Gov. Beverly Perdue's travels aren't usually dictated by a public transit schedule, but she rushed out of a Buxton public meeting on wind energy Friday to make the Ocracoke ferry.
Perdue told the crowd one of her son's is getting married on Ocracoke this weekend, and she [...]
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Kenneth Lewis has been busy raising money this week.
Lewis, a Durham lawyer, has held fundraisers at the Womble Carlyle law office in Greenville, S.C., and at the private Pyramid Club in Philadelphia this week, reports Barb Barrett.
Lewis, a corporate attorney at Womble Carlyle, [...]
State GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer said today that conditions are ripe for Republicans to win control of the North Carolina legislature next year for the first time since 1898.
Fetzer said the $1 billion in tax increases passed by the legislature combined with a spate of Democratic scandals in Raleigh, [...]
Frank Roche says he wants some answers about a program at UNC that has little to show for more than $7 million it has received to help deployed soldiers of the National Guard and Army Reserves.
Roche, a Republican challenger to Democratic U.S. Rep. David Price of Chapel Hill, [...]
Gov. Beverly Perdue has named Angella Dunston the new director of the Office of Citizen and Faith Outreach.
Dunston has worked for the past nine years at the N.C. Justice Center's Education and Law Project.
Perdue said that Dunston will be in charge of outreach to constituent [...]
There will be plenty of talk in the Triangle about health care in the coming days.
The N.C. Chamber is hosting a conference on health care on Wednesday, Sept. 30, featuring Ron Brownstein, political director for Atlantic Media Co. and a former political columnist for The Los Angeles Times.
Among [...]
U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan has joined U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota in introducing legislation to crack down on kids who don’t show up for school.
The senators, both Democrats, want to establish a national truancy resource center and a federal grant program for schools, reports Barb [...]
With the Democrats' annual Vance-Aycock fundraising dinner in Asheville a little over a week away, there is still no scheduled speaker.
Democratic leaders are sending out fundraising e-mails boasting about what big speakers they had last year, reports Rob Christensen. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen was the keynoter, but Democratic presidential [...]
Half a million people want a say in how or whether the Obama administration develops energy from the Outer Continental Shelf along the nation’s coastlines.
The Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service announced today that 530,000 people have responded in the public comment period about the issue, reports Barb [...]
President Barack Obama's recovery act adviser said today that states that already slogged through budget cuts could face more tough choices when stimulus money runs out.
"It's going to stop at some point," said Ed DeSeve, special adviser to the president for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act implementation, reports [...]
A federally funded program at UNC-Chapel Hill was supposed to help deployed soldiers of the National Guard and Army Reserves.
Instead, the Citizen Soldier Support Program has produced reams of paperwork but few concrete results, according to an internal review.
"The CSSP is vulnerable to the accusation [...]
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr has been busy raising money of late.
Burr held his annual Krispy Kreme breakfast this morning in Washington, D.C., and he was honored at a fundraising dinner the night before by the financial services industry, reports Barb Barrett.
Burr, a Republican, hails from [...]
U.S. Rep. Howard Coble is among the top recipients of campaign money this year from the National Football League, according to a report from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan group that tracks spending in Washington.
Coble, a Greensboro Republican, was one of seven House members [...]
Paul Kirk, who was named Thursday as the late Ted Kennedy's replacement in the U.S. Senate, once defeated North Carolina's Terry Sanford in the race for Democratic National Committee chairman.
Kirk, a former Kennedy aide, was the frontrunner to become party chairman in 1985, when Sanford entered the race, [...]
Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former presidential candidate John Edwards, will appear Sunday on North Carolina Bookwatch to discuss her best-selling book "Resilience."
The show will air on UNC-TV at 5 p.m.
When it came out last spring, Edwards' book garnered considerable national attention because it [...]
A new study covering the journalism of the recent scandals regarding ACORN blames right-wing media blogs and conservatives for stirring up controversy about the community organizing group during last year’s presidential campaign and the first months of the Obama administration.
The study, “Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why [...]
North Carolina has moved into a new Top 10 list, for having a high concentration of nanotechnology companies.
A new study by the Project on Emerging Technologies says that North Carolina has broken into the top 10 states for nanotechnology.
The same study says that Raleigh has moved into the top [...]
President Barack Obama's popularity in North Carolina continues to slide.
The latest survey by Public Policy Polling found that 51 percent of North Carolina voters disapprove of Obama's job performance, while 45 percent give Obama good marks.
The survey of 600 North Carolina voters was taken Sept. [...]
The State Board of Elections and the Legislative Ethics Committee are taking a look at the campaign expenditures of state Rep. Ty Harrell, a Raleigh Democrat.
Of particular interest are Harrell's expenditures from January through June of this year, the middle of a non-election year [...]
Reaction by U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, a Cherryville Republican, to President Barack Obama's health care speech:
"The president spent the majority of his speech repudiating the legislation that is ready to be voted on by Congress. He wants to lower costs and protect ‘what works’ about our current system but [...]
Reaction by Adam Searing of the N.C. Health Access Coalition to President Barack Obama's health care speech:
"It reminded me of Dean Smith's old 'Four Corners' offense: Tough to beat, but easy to understand.
"The president was very clear: You keep your insurance if you like it. You have affordable options [...]
Reaction by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, to President Barack Obama's health care speech:
"I applaud the president’s call for action on health care reform, and agree that we must do something. Whatever we do, however, we must get it right. Any plan we consider must [...]
Reaction from U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, to President Barack Obama's health care speech:
"I think the president did an effective job of communicating that health care reform will bring security and stability to Americans by reducing costs and preserving choice. This bill will also enable [...]
Reaction from U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick, a Charlotte Republican, to President Barack Obama's speech on health care:
"There were several things he mentioned – medical liability reform, no preexisting conditions that we can agree on... But I can’t understand how it can be paid for if [...]
Reaction from David Young, chairman of the N.C. Democratic Party, to President Barack Obama's speech on health care:
"The core of his plan is simple: provide more security and stability for people who have insurance, provide quality, affordable care to those who don’t, and rein in skyrocketing costs that [...]
Reaction from U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, a Raleigh Democrat, to President Barack Obama's speech on health care:
“President Obama tonight got the chance to tell Americans what his health care proposal really does, and to remind us why we need it. A handful of Americans are getting really, [...]
Reaction from U.S. Rep. David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, to President Barack Obama's speech on health care:
“A strong leader recognizes when our nation is facing a crisis and inaction is simply not an option. The president embodied that resolve tonight, clearly outlining a plan that [...]
President Barack Obama scolded both the right and left tonight on the way forward on health reform, saying each side is using too much rhetoric in place of substantive discussion.
"To my progressive friends, I would remind you that for decades, the driving idea behind reform has been to [...]
President Barack Obama referenced Sen. Richard Burr’s health plan about 10 minutes into his speech tonight, though without mentioning it by name.
After talking of how some on the left are pushing for a single-payer system, Obama said: “On the right, there are those who argue that we [...]
Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy traveled to Washington last week to meet with members of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and others familiar with U.S. Senate campaigns, Foy said while waiting for a plane back to North Carolina.
"I'm just trying to get a clear idea of [...]
U.S. Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan plan to meet Wednesday with top Navy and Marine Corps officials to talk about the decades-old controversy surrounding contaminated water from Camp Lejeune.
Thousands of Marines and their families stationed at Camp Lejeune in the 1970s are thought to [...]
The White House has released a copy of the prepared remarks that President Barack Obama plans to broadcast to school children across the country on Tuesday.
In the remarks, Obama says he has often talked about the responsibilities of teachers, parents and school administrators to help children do [...]
U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, went to Africa last week for a congressional trip with the House Committee on Financial Services.
Watt traveled to Tunisia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. He and other members of Congress met with dignitaries in those countries to discuss monetary policy, reports Barb Barrett.
The trip [...]
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr plugged a Republican alternative health care insurance plan today, saying Democratic plans before Congress were too large and government-oriented.
The Winston-Salem Republican pushed the Patients Choice Act, which relies on refundable tax credits, state health insurance exchanges and an emphasis on prevention. But [...]
Gary Pearce says Ted Kennedy was "both an inspiration and political poison to North Carolina Democrats."
Pearce, writing on his Talking About Politics blog, says Democrats loved Kennedy for the way he unabashedly fought for causes such as civil rights, education and health care.
"But we couldn't afford to be seen [...]
I once shared an elevator with Jesse Helms and Ted Kennedy.
It happened years ago when I was the Washington correspondent for The News & Observer. A big part of my job was keeping tabs on Helms, who made plenty of headlines.
One of the best ways for regional reporters in [...]
The N.C. Justice Center says that tax increases approved by the legislature this year are likely to prevent job losses in the private and public sectors.
The Center issued a release on a new report that contends that the popular notion that tax increases will lead to job losses [...]
Two former judges and a former U.S. senator have been named to investigate the disappearance of state Highway Patrol records pertaining to then Gov. Mike Easley's travels in 2005.
N.C. Crime Control Secretary Reuben Young said today that Willis Whichard, a former state Supreme Court justice and [...]
Eleven North Carolina residents were in the room with President Barack Obama this afternoon for his chat with volunteers from Organizing for America, a group organized by the Democratic National Committee to rally support for Obama’s health reform.
Among them was Charles Coble of Chapel Hill, who told [...]
State Auditor Beth Wood testified today before the federal grand jury investigating former Gov. Mike Easley.
Most of the questions revolved around an unreleased audit reviewing the $170,000 salary paid to Mary Easley at N.C. State University before she was fired in June, according to Dennis Patterson, [...]
Elizabeth Edwards says she expects that her husband, former presidential candidate John Edwards, will take a test to determine the paternity of the child born to his former mistress, Rielle Hunter.
“My expectation is that at some point, something happens," Elizabeth Edwards said during an appearance Wednesday night on [...]
Democratic U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge said today that he is giving some thought to running against Republican Sen. Richard Burr next year.
Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat, said he has been courted by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as a potential candidate, reports Rob Christensen.
“I’m evaluating it,” [...]
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr wants U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to hold off on investigating CIA interrogators for suspected abuse of detainees.
Burr, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, was one of nine Republicans signing a letter to Holder, who is reportedly considering an investigation, according [...]
North Carolina voters apparently would have difficulty picking their two senators in Washington out of a line-up.
That's the conclusion of the folks over at Public Policy Polling, who say that their polling in 14 different states indicates that North Carolina voters are less familiar with their senators than voters [...]
It’s not only health care that is prompting rallies and counter rallies across North Carolina during the August congressional recess.
On Thursday, Energy Citizens, a coalition of industry groups, will hold a rally at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, reports Rob Christensen. Greensboro is the home of freshman Democratic Sen. [...]
