The News & Observer‘s “Under the Dome” blog spotlighted John Locke Foundation President John Hood‘s column on the research that supports conservative policy proposals. “Under the Dome” also noted JLF opposition to taxpayer funding of judicial election campaigns. A letter writer in the Sampson Independent responded to Hood’s analysis of Gov. Pat McCrory’s Medicaid reform proposals. N.C. Senate Republicans noted Hood’s columns on transportation funding priorities and Gov. Pat McCrory’s role as “Mr. Fix-It.”

Vice President for Outreach Becki Gray discussed top legislative news during an appearance this week on the WRHT Radio morning program, and she continues her semiweekly discussions with hosts on WTSB Radio. Gray heads to Tarboro Saturday to speak at the First Congressional District Republican Convention.

The Triangle Business Journal interviewed Director of Communications Mitch Kokai for an article about business at the taxpayer-subsidized Raleigh Convention Center. Both a news article and editorial in the Wilson Daily Times quoted Kokai discussing the flurry of bills filed in recent weeks in the N.C. General Assembly addressing socially conservative themes. (Some observers say it’s no accident that the barrage of bills targeting social issues has come toward the end of the legislative session. In fact, John Locke Foundation spokesman Mitch Kokai says it shows that lawmakers have put the economy first. “If you’re dealing with issues that may appeal to socially conservative voters but don’t have a direct impact on the economy, it’s not likely that those would be among the first bills being filed,” Kokai said.)

N.C. Education Alliance Director Lindalyn Kakadelis recently answered questions about Common Core standards during a presentation to the Stokes Tea group in Walnut Cove. The Duplin Times quoted JLF’s “Squall Lines” blogger in an article discussing taxpayer spending for amenities in downtown Wallace. ([T]he Wilmington blogger for the John Locke Foundation, Bob Smith, penned a blistering column entitled “Visions and Creeping Government.” Smith wrote, “Should they decide that revitalization is necessary, the Wallace Town Council should ask themselves: ‘Can we accomplish downtown economic improvements with private resources without subsidies using money confiscated from others?’ The stakeholders should be those property owners and residents willing to invest their time, talents and personal wealth in making a better place; rather than expect other uninterested citizens to forcibly share their wealth to support the local interests.”)

A Columbia Journalism Review article about news coverage of the North Carolina General Assembly mentioned the Locke Foundation.