Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger fires off the traditional Republican criticisms of the Democrats running the state as taxing too much, spending too much and holding office too long.

But he adds to that: messing up too much. Berger, who sat down with N&O editors Tuesday, rolled out his list of Democratic bumbling, such as a string of state officials, including a speaker of the House, sent to prison for corruption.

He highlights the state health plan's financial crisis that required a bailout, deaths and neglect in the mental health system, a probation system that lost track of parolees who went on to kill and what he sees as a history of budget mismanagement that has contributed to the state's current debacle.

"The Democrats have been given a pass on competence," Berger said. "They've not done a very good job over the past 10 or 12 years."

Berger acknowledged that, given that backdrop, Republicans fail to capitalize on those failings and win elections. He attributes that to a fundraising disparity, Democrats nominating solid candidates and national momentum behind Democrats in recent elections.

A bill that would give probation officers access to juvenile court records and broader leeway in doing warrantless searches sailed through the state Senate with little discussion.

The proposed bill, part of a probation system reform package recommended by Gov. Beverly Perdue, still must clear the House, Anne Blythe reports.

The proposal, introduced by Sen. Tony Rand, a Democrat from Fayetteville, comes after a series of articles in The News & Observer detailed a probation system rife with supervision problems.

High vacancies forced officers to carry perilously high caseloads, resulting in botched oversight of many cases and 13,000 missing offenders. Since 2000, 580 probationers killed while under state supervision. Since then, Perdue has made management changes. She also has recommended spending nearly $24.2 million over the next two years to hire 175 more officers.

Gov. Beverly Perdue has given a taste of her budget.

In the past week, Perdue has declared she will increase per-pupil spending, boost pro-business initiatives, expand the Earned Income Tax Credit and spend more on parole and probation, among other things.

By far the largest promise so far was on education, though even there Perdue shied away from specifics. At a minimum, the governor could spend the same amount as this year and see per-pupil spending rise, thanks to an expected drop in the number of kindergarteners.

(That is a one-year quirk, however, caused by a change in state law that will push back at what age students start school.)

A rough estimate of the minimum spending on students Perdue has promised, then, would be about $8.1 billion, or about 38 percent of the current $21.5 billion budget.

The other spending she has promised so far totals $155.2 million, or less than one percent of the current budget.

After the jump, the math.

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* Cigar-smoking restaurateur says he has no regrets about opening two smoke-free places in Fayetteville, though one customer wanted to fight.

* WUNC reporter Laura Leslie notes that Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton's daughter, Elizabeth, has been a registered lobbyist for eight years.

* Republican consultant Carter Wrenn gives some more advice to Senate Republicans about how to hold the governor's feet to the fire on probation problems.

* Liberal commentator Chris Fitzsimon notices a "puzzling" entry on a list of politicians who should be considered for the U.S. Supreme Court: Mike Easley.

Overcrowding at state prisons could lead to lighter sentences for some crimes.

The latest projections show that in the fiscal year that begins July 1, the state will not have space for nearly 2,300 inmates — the equivalent of two new prisons.

But state legislators do not have the time or money to build more cells. They already face a $2 billion budget deficit, and it takes more than a year to build a prison.

The state has 79 prisons with 40,00 inmates. Lawmakers have approved new projects that would add space for roughly 2,250 more inmates by 2012.

Problems with the state's probation system could also cause problems, if it means that probationers end up spending more time in prison. (N&O)

House and Senate Republicans touted a bill Tuesday that would allow all law enforcement officers to conduct a warrantless search on any probationer.

The bill is in response to a series in The News & Observer that found that the state's probation system frequently lost track of its charges. One story reported that a probation officer was disciplined for conducting a search on a probationer who was living in another county.

The bill, which is still in the drafting stages, would require judges to place all supervised probationers on a restriction that requires them to submit to warrantless searches. Currently, that restriction is not mandatory.

The bill would also allow any sworn officer or any probation officer to conduct those searches. The idea, said Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger is to make it easier to keep an eye on probationers. It would also seek to correct instituational failings, such as restrictions on probation officers who want to find violators.

"I think the first thing that needs to be done is we need to get bureaucracy cleaned up," Berger said.

Berger also said he is asking the state's probation officials to post on its Web site the names and photos of some 14,000 probationers that have been "lost" in the system.

The bill would also require drug testing for all probationers. Drug testing is currently ordered only in certain cases.

* Probation supervisor in Harnett County assigned regional managers to spend two days investigating an overturned potted plant in her office.

* Legislative aide for Sen. David Hoyle who joined the "steno pool" in 1959 celebrates a half-century of working at the General Assembly this week.

* Liberal columnist Chris Fitzsimon notes that 75 percent of the 78,000 state employees make less than $50,000 a year, 26 percent less than $30,000. 

* Winston-Salem Journal reporter James Romoser signs off (for now) on his always entertaining Trail Mix blog, citing lack of, you know, elections. 

The state's probation system has a new leader, at least for now.

Tim Moose, a 25-year employee who started his correction career with the Wake probation office, will serve as the director of the Division of Community Corrections until a permanent replacement is found, according to an announcement made this morning by the N.C. Department of Correction, Sarah Ovaska reports.

Moose is filling the job left open when Robert Guy stepped aside when Gov. Beverly Perdue came into office this week. Moose was named director by Alvin Keller, the new N.C. Correction Secretary.

The probation office has been rocked by crisis this year, after the March death of UNC-Chapel Hill student Eve Carson exposed problems with the statewide system. The two men accused in her killing were on probation at that time, but received scant supervision.

Last month, the News & Observer reported that 580 probationers had killed since the start of 2000. The series also showed that the probation system had lost track of nearly 14,000 convicted criminals and that Guy and other leaders missed chances to help officers keep up with their charges.

More after the jump.

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Friday will be Robert Guy's last day of the state's probation system.

No word yet on who will replace him, Sarah Ovaska reports.

Guy, the director of the state’s probation system since 1997, had been one of the focuses of "Losing Track," an N&O series that ran in December and found, in several cases, probationers had been unwatched, and went on to kill.

The investigation also found that Guy missed several chances to implement technology to help his officers and didn’t respond to years of warnings that in several urban officers the high level of vacancies left remaining staff with unmanageable caseloads.

His retirement won’t be effective until Feb. 1, but he'll be out of his office by the end of the week, he wrote in a letter distributed to community correction staff on Monday.

"The staff of the Division of Community Corrections is the hardest working and most dedicated public servants at any level of government," Guy wrote. "In closing, I love our chosen profession and I will always love and cherish our work together and wish all of you the best!"

More after the jump.

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