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 through 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 [...]
Local school districts no longer have to hunt for former students who left school without diplomas to offer them the chance at the credential.
Former students who did not graduate because they failed state competency or computer skills tests are now eligible for diplomas if they earned enough credits, Lynn Bonner [...]
Recent overpayments to hospitals by the state health plan are more evidence of the need to put the plan under new management, said the State Employees Association of North Carolina.
A preliminary audit last week showed six hospitals owe the state $2.5 million for overcharges.
"Overpayments in those amounts are [...]
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 [...]
Rep. Wil Neumann, a Belmont Republican, plans to run for the Gaston County senate seat currently held by Sen. David Hoyle, a Democrat who lives in Dallas.
The district is Republican, but Hoyle has managed to hold the seat because of his pro-business record and ties to the [...]
With the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee trying to recruit former state Sen. Cal Cunningham into the race, Elaine Marshall has issued a poll memorandum arguing why she would be a strong opponent of Republican Sen. Richard Burr next year.
The memo by her pollster, [...]
The N.C. Republican Party's top legislative leaders asked party officials not to block independents from voting in the Republican primary.
Republican candidates have to form a coalition with independents to win races in the state, wrote Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger, of Eden, House Republican [...]
Voters are slightly more likely to vote for Republican legislative candidates, according to a recent poll.
The GOP has independents to thank, since they said they would vote Republican by a wide margin, according to the survey by Public Policy Polling.
Voters said they would vote Republican in state legislative races [...]
GOING CHILLY: Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin didn't appreciate having to share a campaign bus with U.S. Sen. Richard Burr when she was stumping the state. Palin is scheduled to appear at Ft. Bragg next week to promote her book, which could make for an [...]
NO GOOD TIMES: Gov. Bev Perdue says group of prisoners who could soon be released have to stay. (N&O)
TOLL FREE: Wake County wants to know why they have to pay tolls and Charlotte doesn't. (N&O)
COURTHOUSE ENVIRONMENT: A state environmental regulator was called to the courthouse [...]
Republican Sen. Richard Burr, long a critic of Democratic efforts to craft a health care overhaul, says he can not support the new Senate proposal.
Burr said the bill "is yet another attempt by Washington Democrats to take over our nation's health care system," Rob Christensen reports. [...]
Sen. Julia Boseman announced she will not run for reelection to the state Senate.
A Wilmington Democrat in her third term, Boseman is the state's first openly gay state legislator. Her decision not to run again leaves a swing-district seat without an incumbent.
In a statement, Boseman said her greatest [...]
Gov. Bev Perdue was in Charlotte this afternoon to announce a state partnership with Microsoft to offer free technology training.
The governor appeared on the campus of Central Piedmont Community College to announce that North Carolina will receive 10,500 vouchers for Microsoft Windows and Office online [...]
Former Alaska Gov. and former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be allowed into Ft. Bragg for her book signing on Monday but the news media won't.
Army officials said they don't want the base outside Fayetteville used as a political platform for criticism of the President. The' [...]
Gov. Bev Perdue said Thursday that a group of violent offenders who are serving life sentences from the 1970s won't be released from prison until at least 2054.
Perdue said the N.C. Department of Correction will not award time off for good behavior, which was a key point [...]
U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler was one of three dozen lawmakers who had been persuaded by lobbyists for a drug company to read the lobbyists' talking points into the Congressional Record.
A spokesman for Shuler acknowledged the language was provided by lobbyists for a subsidiary of Swiss drug maker [...]
The departure of state Sen. Tony Rand has a lot of people wondering how the Senate will operate without the powerful master of rules, legislative maneuvers and hard-ball politics.
It even has state Rep. Paul Stam wondering if he'll finally get a favorite bill [...]
VOTE HAUNTS: Nearly two weeks after U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell bucked his party and voted against health care legislation, Democrats in his district are seething. The talk is that Kissell may face a serious primary challenge. (Charlotte Observer)
PORTRAIT PLEASES: Rene Dickerson was nervous as he prepared [...]
Gov. Bev Perdue told the first meeting of the Energy Policy Council on Wednesday that she wanted her advisors to come up with a plan make the state more energy efficient and environmentally friendly by April in time for the short session of the legislature.
The governor [...]
A longtime aide and the former campaign manager for former Gov. Mike Easley did on Wednesday what he didn't do last month: Answer questions from authorities probing his old boss.
Jay Reiff, Easley's campaign manager in 2000 and 2004 who also was on Easley's administrative staff at different points, was [...]
Former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker said Wednesday that he would not challenge Republican Sen. Richard Burr next year.
Wicker, a Raleigh lawyer and a Democrat, said he seriously considered a Senate bid this time and received strong encouragement to take the plunge, Rob Christensen reports.
"The demands of raising $15 [...]
Gov. Bev Perdue is not the woman she used to be — and she's proud of it.
The governor got personal Wednesday morning when she gave a pep talk at the opening ceremony of the State Employees Wellness Fair at the State Fairgrounds, Rob Christensen reports.
"I've always thought [...]
Vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin wasn't happy about having to share her campaign bus with U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.
We at Dome know the Winston-Salem Republican as a personable guy who's pretty easy going. And so, Palin's unhappiness over her travel companion has us thinking of possible reasons, [...]
Campaign finance watchdog Joe Sinsheimer is urging Gov. Bev Perdue to remove Ruffin Poole, a former top aide to Gov. Mike Easley, from the Golden LEAF board because he refused to testify at last month's state elections board hearing.
Sinsheimer, a Democratic political consultant who has [...]
State Rep. Hugh Holliman didn't have to resort to National Guard troops to defuse a protest at a recent fundraiser.
Holliman's event at a Raleigh restaurant was to come under withering protest from members of the State Employees Association of N.C. who are unhappy with [...]
As she campaigned around the country, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin feuded with Sen. John McCain's senior staff.
In her new book, "Going Rogue," Palin describes those staffers as trying to hold her back and making big blunders. But e-mail messages obtained by the Atlantic [...]
POLITICAL WIND: A decision by the U.S. Capitol Police suggesting that pigs were a threat to spread H1N1 to humans created an unlikely alliance between People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Lillington Democrat and farmer. The police were wrong, [...]
NAACP President William J. Barber led a delegation to U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan's Washington office today.
Barber was part of a lobbying effort by the NAACP, which says that 880,000 African-Americans have died over the last 10 years because of a lack of health insurance, Rob Christensen [...]
Gov. Bev Perdue appointed two new district court judges Tuesday.
Perdue appointed Raleigh attorney Margaret Eagles to the bench for the 10th Judicial District for Wake County.
A graduate of Wake Forest University and the Campbell University school of law, Eagles is a former clerk to N.C. Supreme Court Justice [...]
Senate Democrats elected Sen. Martin Nesbitt, a racing crew chief and self-described mountain populist from Asheville, as their new majority leader today.
Nesbitt quickly tried to quell any fears – or hopes, depending on the perspective – that he would steer the Senate down a more [...]
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 [...]
Democratic senators are scheduled to meet at 11:30 this morning to elect a new majority leader, a proceeding which is expected to be a coronation of Sen. Martin Nesbitt, of Asheville.
Nesbitt goes into the meeting with the endorsement of Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight [...]
The N.C. Republican Party's executive committee will consider banning unaffiliated voters from voting in Republican primaries.
The party has until Dec. 1 to decide whether to allow both Republicans and unaffiliated voters to participate in primaries and will consider a ban this weekend.
According to the proposed resolution, the participation of [...]
