Civitas announced a top-ten list for wasteful projects funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation. The foundation annually disburses at least $80 million it receives from the state as part of a 1998 settlement with tobacco companies.
- In 2006, $399,000 for infrastructure for the Randy Parton Theatre.
- In 2005, $380,000 for the teapot museum.
- In 2006, $300,000 for a wine-tasting mobile “for timely, on-location analysis of grapes and wine.”
- Cumulatively, $350,000 for saving the honeybee and training beekeepers.
- In 2003, $250,000 for performing musician space inside the Cleveland County Courthouse.
- In 2005, $145,000 for recovering booty from Blackbeard’s boat.
- Two grants totaling $325,000 for UNC-TV to call attention to Golden LEAF’s revitalization efforts.
- In 2007, $150,000 for a motorsports museum.
- Cumulatively, $300,000 for equestrian competitions.
- Two grants totaling $109,000 to market and brand Mitchell County as the “Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree.”