From the Asheville Citizen-Times
The judge handling Asheville’s lawsuit seeking to block the loss of its water system focused on whether the law mandating the transfer is unconstitutional local legislation during arguments on procedural issues Friday.
Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. heard from attorneys in the case for more than two hours in Raleigh. He issued no rulings Friday.
Two people who were present said it seems unlikely that Manning would dismiss the city’s case at this point, although both conceded that predicting a decision based on a judge’s demeanor during oral arguments is not an exact science.
At issue Friday [Sept. 6] was whether Manning will grant a preliminary injunction to prevent the transfer while the city’s lawsuit works its way through the court system and whether he would grant a motion by the state to dismiss the city’s complaint.
Manning has given himself an Oct. 14 deadline to rule on those questions. …
It’s disappointing that no local media covered this hearing. It was fascinating, especially when the Judge made an overt comparison between what is happening to Asheville, and the lead-up to the war in Iraq. It’s too bad that only a handful of people will have heard about that.
At least AC-T went to the trouble to do a story letting people know that the hearing had occurred…
The silence from Xpress has been deafening. Who were Tim Moffitt’s clients before he ran for public office? He self-funds his campaigns, whaddupwiddat?
Barry Summers does better investigative reporting in his spare time.