When the N.C. House approved legislation Thursday promoted as annexation reform, John Locke Foundation Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst Daren Bakst pointed out the bill’s many flaws. Freedom Newspapers’ legislative reporter Barry Smith covered Bakst’s comments, as recorded on ENCToday.com. Meanwhile, The Charlotte Observer interviewed Joseph Coletti for an article this week about a suspicious case of targeted tax breaks. In other newspaper news, both the Stokes News and Rural Hall Weekly Independent covered a recent Independence Day tea party speech from Vice President for Outreach Becki Gray. “In Gray’s keynote address, she urged the crowd to “get back to the values and principles that have made our country great.” She noted: “I’ve .been accused of wanting to take the state backwards. . . . Yes, I want to take the state back to the old ways.” Applause greeted many of her statements, such as: “I want the government to take care of me and my family, not coddle criminals,” and “I want to go to MY doctor when I’m sick; I don’t want to have to ask the President for permission. It’s none of his business,” and “I’ll teach [my children] values, thank you very much!” Gray closed by encouraging the audience to fight to change things: “If you don’t do it, who will? If not now, when? Fight as if your very freedom depends upon it, because it does.”