WBT’s Tara Servatius turned to Meck Deck blogger Jeff Taylor for insight this week when Standard & Poor’s downgraded its ratings outlook for the U.S. government. In other radio news, Roy Cordato discussed inflation, “taxing the rich,” Ayn Rand, and Atlas Shrugged during a conversation with Chad Adams on WLTT. Becki Gray offered both a legislative preview and a weekly recap for WTSB listeners, while Mitch Kokai, John Locke Foundation Director of Communications, delivered his weekly legislative recap for WAAV/WFNC. Michael Sanera, Director of Research and Local Government Studies, discussed Earth Day and environmental education during an interview on Canadian radio station CKOM. The Durham Herald-Sun recently published a column from Sanera puncturing myths about high-speed rail funding. Sanera also met this week with the Wake County Sustainability Task Force as the group discussed water recommendations. The Charlotte Observer and News & Observer published letters this week from Eli Lehrer of the Heartland Institute previewing some findings from his upcoming JLF report on North Carolina’s auto insurance system. A News & Observer letter critical of legislative Republicans mentioned the Locke Foundation. The Mooresville Tribune published a recent column from Daren Bakst on state renewable energy mandates. The Ludwig von Mises Institute’s economics blog recently highlighted Roy Cordato’s views on intellectual property. The Richmond County Daily Journal published Troy Kickler’s recent column about the significance of the Halifax Resolves. A Tarboro Daily Southerner article about the history of Tarboro City Schools’ desegregation quoted from an encyclopedia entry at NorthCarolinaHistory.org. Meanwhile, a website devoted to North Carolina “Homeschool-ology” cited the N.C. History Project as a source for educational material. When he’s not writing about local government tax burdens and North Carolina appellate court cases, Michael Lowrey studies German U-boats. Uboat.net recently published a major piece from Lowrey about the disappearance of two German submarines in March 1917.