Bills introduced in the N.C. House last week included action to hold a statewide referendum on medical marijuana, introduce more energy efficiency in state-funded buildings and in the state building code, and establish a Department of Military & Veterans Affairs.
Legislation introduced yesterday in the N.C. General Assembly could make public records more accessible by allowing for recovery of attorney’s fees in successful suits for disclosure.
In 2006, Maya Angelou—poet, playwright, author and more—spoke at Mars Hill College to a full house of 1,500 people. She returns to the small WNC campus April 16, just a few days after marking her 81st birthday (April 4). An evening with Maya Angelou: Eminent poet, playwright, best-selling author, professor and more returns to the […]
Windfall: The past week in the state legislature saw another host of new bills moved for such purposes as aiding public libraries and small businesses, and establishing wind-energy permitting procedures. Overall bill numbers this year are down, however, by around 12 percent, as the legislators economize on their ambitions.
A variety of bills went into the legislative queue over the past week, including a renewed effort to regulate steep-slope construction and a Consumer Health Freedom Act to provide for access to alternative and complementary medicine.
Lanier Cansler, North Carolina’s new secretary of health and human services, minced no words, proclaiming, “I’ve made it clear: Mental-health reform is over.” Citing a pattern of “constant change and problems” since 2001’s failed attempt to transition patients from state hospitals into community-care networks that never adequately materialized, Cansler declared, “We’ve got to create the […]
Among the far-ranging topics of legislation submitted in the N.C. General Assembly over the past week were bills that would amend the absentee voting law, permit immediate euthanization of stray animals that bite humans, limit mandatory testing in the public schools, and provide written parental notification when a student is recommended for expulsion or suspension.
Gov. Bev Perdue seems to have started out on the right foot in Western North Carolina. It wasn’t just that she and her husband, Bob Eaves, had begun the day by walking around downtown Asheville. It had a lot more to do with the fact that, barely 60 days into her term, she was in […]
Honoring Sunshine Week and its focus on freedom of information, Democracy North Carolina has released an analysis of the campaign-finance activity of Blue Cross Blue Shield of N.C., which insures some 3 million state residents and administers the flagging state employee’s health insurance plan.
An $870,000 sliver of the $410 billion federal spending package passed last week will support the Red Wolf Recovery Project operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services. Some of that money is slated to trickle down to the WNC Nature Center, which is one of 32 breeding sites for the endangered species.
Local WNC bills introduced last week in the Legislature could allow an Asheville ordinance addressing nonconsensual (predatory) towing, the incorporation of the town of Swannanoa, and an amendment to the Sullivan Act affecting Asheville’s water management.
Duke Energy Carolinas has received an OK from state regulators to try a “smart-grid” pilot in Charlotte, aimed at reducing energy consumption.
The new governor of the state of North Carolina will deliver her first biennial State of the State address tonight to a joint assembly of the N.C. Legislature—and to the public via live television. Meanwhile, legislative bills have moved forward to aid the state’s food banks, including WNC’s MANNA FoodBank. Also, Perdue will speak in Asheville on Thursday.
Joint bills in the N.C. Senate and House filed in the past week would prohibit the use of coal from mountaintop-removal mining for electricity generated by the state’s public utilities.
Area politics kick into higher gear as the Buncombe County Democratic precinct meetings take place on Saturday, and the newly organized Young Republicans have a kickoff party on Monday.
Funds for state programs ranging from Kids Voting to the archaeological exploration of Queen Anne’s Revenge (ostensibly Blackbeard’s ship) were included in appropriations bills filed last week in the N.C. General Assembly.
Bills to increase the number of charter schools in the state and to institute a “No Adult Left Behind” program moved forward in the N.C. General Assembly this past week, along with authorization to make Grandfather Mountain an official state park.
Western Carolina University has beat the pack by becoming the first N.C. university to reach a 30 percent energy-reduction goal.
As N.C. grows, so grows the infrastructure cost. And a sold-out forum in Raleigh this week began sifting through the billions of dollars needed to accommodate the state’s projected growth.
The General Assembly’s second week of the 2009 session included the introduction of a number of bills of particular interest to Western North Carolina legislators and constituents, including a provision to create four-year terms for the legislators.
State legislation has been filed that would make it illegal to communicate libelous or slanderous material through online services, blogs, forums and other electronic means.
