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Public Policy Polling surveyed about 600 voters last week in the wake of Republican-sponsored legislation that would revoke Raleigh's lease on the 325-acre state property.
The bill passed the Senate last week and now heads to the House. About 52 percent of those surveyed said they support the park, while 27 percent were against the idea.
ANOTHER GAMBLING BUST WITH N.C. TIES: On the same day Florida prosecutors busted a gambling operation that snared a company with major North Carolina political ties, an Ohio prosecutor leveled a new indictment against another sweepstakes company with Tar Heel ties.
The March 13 superseding indictment updated charges filed in May against VS2 Worldwide Communications, a company that operated illegal Internet sweepstakes gaming software, according to local news reports. The company's owners, Phillip Cornick of New Jersey and Richard Upchurch of Ramseur, face charges in Ohio of money laundering and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
The two men and their wives contributed more than $45,000 to North Carolina political candidates -- including Gov. Pat McCrory -- with more than half coming after their initial May indictments.
HAGAN ONE OF 11 SENATE DEMOCRATS NOT TO ENDORSE GAY MARRIAGE: North Carolina's Kay Hagan remains opposed to gay marriage, even though three prominent Democrats colleagues recently shifted their stances. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday (California's Proposition 8) and Wednesday (the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA) about same-sex marriage.
**More on the VS2's campaign contributions and Hagan's stance on gay marriage below in today's Dome Morning Memo. Sends news and tips to dome@newsobserver.com. Thanks for reading.***
The current contract calls for the city to pay $500,000 a year with a 1.5 percent annual increase to lease a portion of the property for fair market value. Raleigh intends to build a park on the property.
The bill would put an end to plans to move state Department of Health and Human Services employees. Any revenues from the property lease would go into a special fund for mental health.
UPDATED: A day before the vote on the Dix property, Senate leader Phil Berger sent a letter to the Council of State that suggest the state isn't getting enough money under the terms of the lease deal.
Berger, an Eden Republican, asked legislative staff to analyze the deal to lease the Dorothea Dix property to the city of Raleigh for $500,000 a year with annual increases -- worth $68.5 million.
A memo from Fiscal Research staffers suggests the actual value of the lease is $22.6 million after factoring in inflation. Berger says the state could get more money if it sold the land, but Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue is proposing leasing the land -- not selling it.
Updated: The conservative Americans for Prosperity is pushing its members to send emails letters calling for the state to drop plans to sell the 325-acre Dorothea Dix campus to the City of Raleigh.
Under Gov. Bev Perdue, the state has inched closer to a deal with the city to sell the downtown property that previously served as a state mental hospital.
The land would be turned into a park managed by North Carolina State University, but AFP wants the land sold on the open market.
Gov.-elect Pat McCrory is joining Republican lawmakers who are calling for Gov. Bev Perdue to back down from her Dix park plan.
A spokesman for McCrory issued this statement: "Governor-Elect McCrory believes it is best for North Carolina to hold on any major decisions like the Dorothea Dix campus until he and the legislature can study the impact to North Carolina taxpayers and ensure it does not adversely impact the state," Ricky Diaz said. "The process should be transparent and allow sufficient time for public review and feedback with the needs of the mental health community in mind."
Perdue responded to the GOP criticism Tuesday afternoon by saying the state is fiscally secure and the consolidation of state Heath and Human Services will actually save taxpayer money. She expressed regret that "in the first few weeks after a very heated campaign season, that some of North Carolina’s leaders continue to try to divide people by political party and not bring people together.”
Republican legislative leaders are lobbying the Democrat-dominated Council of State to block Gov. Bev Perdue's plan to lease the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus to the city of Raleigh for a park.
Senate leader Phil Berger's office issued a statement Tuesday blasting Perdue -- saying she is overstepping her bounds to create a legacy piece for her administration.
“I urge the Council of State to be the ‘adults in the room’ and reject her hasty plan to hand over a valuable state asset with little in return," Berger, an Eden Republican.
The state Department of Health and Human Services is moving the last remaining patients from Dorothea Dix psychiatric hospital in Raleigh to Central Regional Hospital in Butner.
The hospital moved 21 patients today, said DHHS spokesman Mark Van Sciver, and will move 75 patients still in Raleigh to Butner in the next week or so. The remaining patients are in forensics and admissions units.
The state has talked for years about closing Dix, and Wake County legislators and local patient advocates have fought it for that long.
The state plans to have all patients out by the end of the month, leaving an outpatient clinic on the campus, Van Sciver said.
Perdue's plan: Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue plans to introduce her plans for revamping state government this week, getting a jump on the Republican legislature that will take office in January. (N&O)
Dix's last patients: Facing massive budget cuts, the state is considering saving money by outsourcing the care of people with mental illness accused of crimes that include murder. (N&O)
Edwards dies: Elizabeth Anania Edwards, who became a national figure in her fight against cancer and as a partner in her husband's political career, died Tuesday. She was 61. (N&O)
School board stalls: With federal Department of Education investigators converging on Raleigh to probe accusations of racial discrimination, Democrats on the Wake County school board succeeded Tuesday in stalling Republican-backed plans to reassign thousands of minority students next year closer to their homes in Southeast Raleigh. (N&O)
SBI leadership: Months after problems surfaced about the State Bureau of Investigation, state leaders continue to argue about a key question: Who will be in charge of the state's forensic crime lab? The legislative committee charged with sorting through the SBI's troubles wrestled with the issue Tuesday afternoon and came to no consensus. The committee is expected to make recommendations to the legislature, which reconvenes late next month. (N&O)
Game over: State lawmakers promise that a law taking effect Wednesday will once and for all shut down the Internet sweepstakes parlors that have sprouted across North Carolina in recent years. But some video gaming parlors say they plan to keep operating, with owners altering the games to comply with the law. (N&O)
Clash of titans: WakeMed claims that its rival, the UNC Health Care System, is using its status as a taxpayer-supported institution to create "predatory" competition and disrupt the Triangle's medical market. (N&O)
Dix's final days: On Friday the last patient will likely be admitted to Dorothea Dix Hospital, marking the impending end of 154 years of continuous operation at the state's oldest mental facility. (N&O)
Hayes aid sentenced: A staffer for former U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes was sentenced to two years' probation Monday on a charge of extorting money from constituents who had turned to her for help. (N&O)
Clinton in Greensboro: Former President Bill Clinton is visiting Greensboro tonight for a lecture hosted by Guilford College. (AP)
New lottery games: North Carolina lottery officials are launching three new scratch-off games Tuesday. They include a $5 ticket for a "High Roller" game, a $2 ticket to play "$50,000 Jackpot" and a $1 ticket for "Lucky 7s." The "High Roller" game is designed to look like a Craps table and brings prizes of up to $100,000. (AP)
