Statewide viewers of the syndicated “N.C. Spin” television program will see John Locke Foundation Vice President for Outreach Becki Gray this weekend. Gray discusses state gas tax proposals, a court decision linked to the controversial Map Act, certificate-of-need reform, and other timely topics. Gray discussed recent North Carolina government reforms and assessed the 2015 legislative session during a speech to the Republican Speakers’ Forum in Greensboro. The Mount Airy News published Gray’s column on 21 ways to save money in North Carolina’s state budget. The Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail published her column on tax reform. The N.C. Spin website promoted her “Locker Room” blog entry on tax increases and transportation. Gray continues twice-weekly politics and public policy updates for WTSB Radio.
The Charlotte Observer noted the John Locke Foundation’s 25th anniversary. The Raleigh News & Observer interviewed JLF Chairman John Hood for an article about the potential shutdown of a controversial poverty center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Asheville Citizen-Times cited Hood’s tweet about a Democratic senator’s legislative “coup” linked to this week’s inclement weather.
Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson and JLF Director of Outreach Donna Martinez analyze the week’s top political developments for this weekend’s edition of Curtis Media Group’s “People In Politics.” Time Warner Cable News interviewed Director of Communications Mitch Kokai about the Obama administration’s latest transportation spending plan. Kokai also discussed a new study on higher education‘s economic impact during his latest appearance on TWC News’ “Capital Tonight” program. WTVD interviewed Kokai about a proposal to convert the state school superintendent‘s job from an elected to an appointed position. The Winston-Salem Journal interviewed Kokai about privacy issues linked to North Carolina’s new law on drones.
The Hendersonville Times-News cited Carolina Journal in an article about recent improvement in North Carolina’s unemployment rate. (As noted in the Carolina Journal, “U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics measures show that even after accounting for workers dropping out of the labor force, unemployment has dropped faster in North Carolina than in all but a handful of states.”) The Wake Forest Weekly published CJ Associate Editor Barry Smith‘s article on legal challenges involving the N.C. Department of Transportation’s use of the state Map Act. The Beaufort Observer cited Associate Editor Dan Way‘s article on a public records law dispute involving Alamance County schools.
N.C. Senate Republicans promoted in their daily press email Hood’s columns on recent state polling data and Democrats’ economic attacks on Gov. Pat McCrory, Smith’s articles on state court system reforms and an upcoming school voucher hearing, Way’s story on monitoring N.C. Medicaid rolls, contributor Sam Hieb‘s report on a federal challenge of the state’s municipal broadband law, and the transcript of a Carolina Journal Radio interview with scholar James Piereson about the problem of sluggish economic growth.
N.C. History Project Founding Director Troy Kickler recently took part in a Duke University panel discussion on careers in nonprofits. The Jesse Helms Center highlighted a NorthCarolinaHistory.org commentary on the relationship between Helms and Russian dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
