The potential for fraud and abuse within public school lunch programs has attracted Carolina Journal Associate Editor David Bass‘ attention in recent years. The Charlotte Observer‘s “Your Schools” blog noted Bass’ work this week in an entry about Charlotte-Mecklenburg school poverty numbers. The Lincoln Tribune and Tar Heel Tribune picked up Bass’ latest story about federal reauthorization of the child nutrition program. Meanwhile, the Winston-Salem Journal followed up Associate Editor Sara Burrows‘ report and Piedmont Publius blogger Sam Hieb‘s entry about a Winston-Salem State University professor who used his university e-mail account to advocate for the controversial federal DREAM Act. WGHP Television promoted the story. M2M Politics also publicized Burrows’ reporting, along with Executive Editor Don Carrington‘s story about the potential impact of legislative leadership changes on North Carolina’s state boards and commissions. The Lincoln Tribune and Tar Heel Tribune published contributor Jane Shaw‘s article about public university efforts to spur economic growth in the Hickory region. The Lincoln Tribune picked up three other CJ exclusives: Associate Editor Michael Lowrey‘s report on an appellate court ruling that could limit landowners’ ability to challenge local ordinances, contributor Karen Welsh‘s article on a stream reclassification that’s raising red flags in Transylvania County, and contributor Karen McMahan‘s exclusive about the alarming growth in unfunded public-sector pension obligations. Watchdog.org also promoted Lowrey’s report. Syndicated columnist Scott Mooneyham cited CJ in discussing Senate President Pro Tem designee Phil Berger’s ideas about teacher pay.