* Employees of Verizon Business spent more than $21,000 over four years on gifts and meals for state employees, many of whom had direct oversight of a $51 million, no-bid contract given to the company.
State officials had previously disclosed they were investigating the gifts. On Tuesday, Division of Motor Vehicles commissioner Mike Robertson revealed the extent of the gift program.
The names of nearly three dozen DMV employees appear on a list of those Verizon says accepted steak dinners, spa treatments and a ticket to a Carolina Hurricanes game.
Among those listed as being among the most frequent recipients of Verizon's largess was Deborah Brewer, deputy director of DMV's License and Theft Bureau.
Brewer and her boss, bureau director Brian K. Bozard, both retired May 1, shortly after Robertson reopened an inquiry into whether the pair had accepted $900 in tickets to sit at Verizon's table during Gov. Beverly Perdue's Inaugural Ball in January.
Bozard and Brewer, neither of whom could be reached for comment Tuesday, helped oversee DMV's implementation of the eSticker program, a digital system for tracking state automotive inspections that ended the need for windshield stickers. (N&O)
* State Reps. Wil Neumann and Pearl Burris-Floyd plan to introduce a bill in the General Assembly that would block the enrollment of illegal immigrants in community colleges. The Gaston County Republicans announced their intention at a Tuesday news conference outside the Gaston County Courthouse. (Gaston Gazette)
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Re: Verizon spent $21,000 on gifts
Business as usual in the License and Theft. It doesn't seem to bother Bev. This is the way DMV has operated for many years and I don't expect any changes. Senator Rand still calls the shots.