According to a March 14 list compiled by Guns & Ammo magazine, North Carolina ranks 17th in the “Best States for Gun Owners in 2013.” That’s higher than neighbors Tennessee (23) and Virginia (24) but beneath South Carolina (14) and Georgia (13). New legislation currently before the General Assembly, however, could nudge the state out of the middle of that pack.
At their retreat yesterday, Asheville City Council members discussed a variety of topics facing the city, focusing especially on density, budget issues, the effect of state legislation, and even a possible overhaul in the way city government deals with the arts.
Citizen access to the legislative process in the state has taken a solid step forward via new features on the N.C. General Assembly website, and Buncombe County legislators are taking solid steps forward in the Statehouse itself. Meanwhile, in recent legislative action, Doc Watson and Ruth and Billy Graham are proposed for native accolades.
Does the N.C. Department of Transportation have a broad agenda of adding privatized toll lanes on highways statewide? NC Matters looked into this question, which was posed to the Xpress this week.
At a five-hour hearing conducted by the North Carolina Utilities Commission last night, every speaker except those representing the Council of Independent Business Owners and Biltmore Farms objected to rate hikes proposed by Progress Energy. The speakers’ reasons for opposition ranged from the impact of the rate increases on the working poor to projected environmental damage. Photo by Max Cooper
The N.C. General Assembly has stirred up some high-profile controversies during the first few weeks of its 2013-2014 long session. Meanwhile, with much less fanfare, several important bipartisan bills also found their way forward in the opening weeks. One is an ambitious attempt to establish a Public Infrastructure Oversight Commission.
State Sen. Tom Apodaca is sponsoring a bill that would make violations of the state’s open records and public meetings laws a misdemeanor. Currently, civil action is the only way to enforce those laws.
Asheville City Council got glimpses of a variety of issues facing the city, including finances and state legislation. It also approved rules that make expansions and renovations of one-story buildings in downtown easier.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission wants to hear from you: On Tuesday, March 5, the commission will hold a local public hearing on Progress Energy Carolinas’ request to raise residential, commercial and industrial electricity rates by an average of 12 percent.
Buncombe Rep. Tim Moffitt has introduced legislation to add female toplessness to the state’s indecent exposure prohibitions. Except for breastfeeding, revealing “the nipple, or any portion of the areola, of the human female breast” would be illegal. Before last year’s Go Topless rally, Asheville City Council signed a letter condemning it and calling for state legislation. Photo by Max Cooper
The local fight over the legislative push to forcibly transfer the city of Asheville’s water system to the Metropolitan Sewerage District has helped spur a larger statewide reaction. Last week, the League of Municipalities adopted the defense of local utilities as one of its top priorities, and 40 cities and towns across North Carolina have passed resolutions against state government taking municipal infrastructure.
Nearly 100 area residents gathered in Pritchard Park Saturday to call on Duke Energy “to include more clean energy in [its] 2013 Integrated Resource Plan.” Some also protest what they say are unfair rate hikes by Duke Energy.
Newly elected N.C. Republican Governor Pat McCrory delivered his inaugural address Jan. 12 in Raleigh.
Newly sworn in North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory will make his first stop on the job in Asheville today, Jan. 7.
***UPDATED 2:37 p.m. Dec. 5: the retreat has been cancelled.*** Asheville City Council’s retreat this Friday will focus on relations with state and county legislators.
A proposed compensation settlement of $57 million by the Metropolitan Sewerage District of Buncombe County for the proposed Asheville water system merger was officially endorsed on Friday by the MSD board’s planning committee, and moves to the full board on December 12.
Follow live Twitter coverage of the Nov. 27 Asheville City Council meeting
After the Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday shopping frenzies, the city’s own august governing body is back at it on Nov. 27, as Asheville City Council discusses a possible water-system merger, greenway development, and more.
Despite President Barack Obama carrying Buncombe County and winning re-election nationwide, Republicans made gains in tonight’s local elections, winning all the competitive congressional and Statehouse races, while control of the Buncombe County commissioners is possibly headed for a recount. Mark Meadows greets supporters at the Hilton on Long Shoals Road. (Photo by Bill Rhodes)
While there was no formal action taken, the board of the Metropolitan Sewerage District has reviewed what were called “underlying assumptions” used by staff in studying the proposed merger of the Asheville water system with MSD’s operation. The option of leasing the approximately 20,000 acres of protected watershed, leaving ownership in the hands of the city, was one item on that list of eight.
If you don’t read more than one sentence of this news piece, then understand this: A “straight party” vote in the upcoming election does NOT record a vote for president. North Carolina is the only state in the nation where this is the case.
