N&O

Full-page ads attack liquor tax

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:27:36 -0400

The American Beverage Institute will run full-page ads against liquor taxes.

The ads, which will run Sunday in the Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer, advertise a Web site, NoDrinkTax.com.

"Want to send more tax revenue out of state?" says one ad, above a picture of a Welcome to South Carolina sign. "North Carolina's liquor prices are already 30 percent higher than South Carolina's. Now politicians want to raise them even more to help fund their bloated budget."

The other ad says state legislators want taxpayers "shaken, not stirred."

The state budget includes a 1.5 percent increase on the liquor tax, the only one of several proposed "sin taxes" on alcohol and tobacco that were proposed that has not been cut.

The American Beverage Institute is run by a lobbyist or the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries.

Perdue: I'd bandage Ty's toe

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:05:33 -0400

Gov. Beverly Perdue met with the N&O this morning.

As the session with the editorial board drew to a close, executive editor John Drescher said "I've got an important question for you..."

"...Who's going to win the ball game," Perdue completed.

Drescher: I know you're a big college basketball fan. What's your assessment of this NCAA tournament and how the teams from North Carolina are going to do?

Perdue: Well I just sent you my picks. Bob and I had an argument last night because he picked, I forget, one team and I did pick Louisville. ... I really hope that Carolina wins. Everybody knows that I'm a big Carolina fan. ... It would be wonderful to see Wake or Duke do well. ... I hope that Tyler and Ty do well.

Drescher: Now you have a lot of sources we don't have. What do you know about Ty's toe?

Perdue: I would go bandage it myself if I thought it would help.

Perdue said her husband will be in Greensboro for some NCAA games. She said she may not be able to attend because of another commitment.

"If you see me there don't think I'm shirking my responsibilities as governor," she said.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 16:24:08 -0400

* Gov. Beverly Perdue had a brief run in with a bear while taking her two dogs outside during a visit to the Western Residence in Asheville.

* News & Observer cutting 27 full-time reporters and editors as part of a companywide plan to pay down debt owed to Wall Street.

* Central Regional Hospital in Butner is again in danger of losing federal funding after a patient tried to commit suicide using a bedsheet.

* North Carolina ranks near the bottom on a per-capita basis of states receiving federal stimulus money for road and bridge projects.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:28:44 -0500

* N&O public editor Ted Vaden has been appointed deputy secretary of communications at the N.C. Department of Transportation.

* U.S. Sen. Richard Burr could put a hold on Fourth Circuit vacancy unless longstanding Senate "blue slip" tradition is shuttered.

* A proposed state House bill would allow mopeds and scooters to go 50 miles per hour, rather than the current 30 mph speed limit.

* How N.C.'s presidents fared in new C-SPAN poll of historians: James K. Polk, 12th; Andrew Jackson, 13th; and Andrew Johnson, 41st out of 42.

Quick Hits

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:47:09 -0500

* Conservative blogger Katy Benningfield writes that former Lee County commissioner Chad Adams appears to be running for chairman of the N.C. Republican Party.

* Republican state Rep. Ric Killian files a bill that would give a hunting and fishing license exemption for members of the military on active duty.

* UNC-Chapel Hill journalism prof Leroy Towns thinks the "hand wringing" over the N&O's new health care newsletter is unwarranted; liberal blogger Adam Linker disagrees.

* Greensboro News-Record reporter Mark Binker writes that a bill to extend legislators' terms to four years is not likely to gain much traction in either chamber.

A few examples of 'chunked'

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:10:23 -0500

It seems that "chunked" is in common use.

Here are a few examples culled from North Carolina newspapers in recent years of the verb "to chunk" being used instead of "to chuck" (as used by former Gov. Mike Easley and President George W. Bush):

* Food correspondent Debbie Moose, in a March 23, 2008, article about Duke mayonnaise: "And she chunked another jar of Big D into our cart."

* Charlotte Observer sports writer Ron Green Jr. writing about Padraig Harrington at the British Open on July 23, 2007: "When Harrington chunked his 229-yard third shot into the water, visions of Van de Velde danced in every head."

* Winston-Salem Journal writer Lenox Rawlings writing about football on Jan. 9, 2006: "The Carolina Panthers, striving for legendary status as the NFL's ultimate playoff road team, read that conventional scouting report and chunked it into the Hudson River yesterday."

* Durham Herald-Sun columnist Jason Hawkins discussing a fishing trip on Aug. 3, 2003: "He said, something was wrong with the cantaloupe, and he chunked his half overboard."

The word seems to be mostly used in the context of golf, but other sports writers use it a lot as well. That could be because sports writers use a more colloquial voice or possibly because more of them are Southerners.

Wrenn: Easley projecting onto Beck?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:45:52 -0500

Carter Wrenn wonders if Gov. Mike Easley is projecting.

In a post on Talking About Politics, the Republican political consultant notes that Easley was a bit defensive of Correction Secretary Theodis Beck in criticizing the N&O and the Charlotte Observer.

The governor also says it's a shame that after 33 years of government service, with three weeks left until his retirement, the News and Observer did a 'hatchet job' on his State Correction Secretary, Theodis Beck. One almost feels the governor could have been describing himself. But if we're gonna define success in governing based on a standard of niceness – well, was the governor and Secretary Beck losing track of thousands of paroles ‘nice’ – or negligent?

Wrenn says that Easley's discussion of "niceness" is misplaced.

"After all, is letting a mental patient die after sitting in a chair for two days without care — 'nice'?" he writes.

Drescher disagrees with Easley's comments

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:05:10 -0500

John Drescher responded to Gov. Mike Easley's comments.

In an interview with an N&O reporter, the newspaper's executive editor objected to Easley's characterization of the probation problem as being that too many convicted criminals receive probation instead of prison time, Ben Niolet reports.

"Gov. Easley might be the only person in North Carolina who thinks our probation system is working well and that the state is monitoring probationers as it should," Drescher said. "The correction secretary himself has acknowledged the state needs to do a better job."

Easley also blamed an ongoing lawsuit over e-mails for the N&O and Charlotte Observer's treatment of his administration. Drescher said the paper is doing its job by publishing tough stories.

"Our job is to dig, and we're going to keep digging," he said. "We'll do that in a professional way."

Drescher said the parties in the lawsuit are in discussions.

"We believe we've made a reasonable request that all state government e-mail be considered a public record," Drescher said.

Car dealers push for bailout in ad

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:03:16 -0500

Car dealers angling for an auto industry bailout have launched advertising to encourage constituents to contact their members of Congress — but so far they're having just limited success.

A full-page ad in this morning's News & Observer urged readers to call a toll-free number, "press 2 if you're a concerned American," and then type in a ZIP code to be connected to their local senators or House members, Barb Barrett reports.

The ad was bought by a retail company that does advertising for General Motors dealers.

Congress is in a lame-duck session this week to consider whether to put $25 billion or more of taxpayer money toward saving the Big Three domestic automakers based in Detroit, all of which are struggling for survival. Democrats are pushing for the bailout, but they have met resistance from Republicans and President George W. Bush.

Sen. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, had received just a handful of pro-bailout calls as of about 10:30 this morning, a spokesman said.

Burr has said he would only support a bailout with a top-to-bottom restructuring of the auto companies' business models.

It's common practice for industries to reach out to constituents to help lobby elected leaders in Congress about a particular issue.

Harrison robocalls for McCrory

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:16:52 -0400

Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison is robocalling for Pat McCrory.

The Republican sheriff is calling voters in the Raleigh area urging them to attend a rally for the Republican gubernatorial candidate at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the state Capitol.

In the recording, he notes that the N&O has recently endorsed McCrory.