The Winston-Salem Journal‘s readers had a chance Saturday to learn why Daren Bakst, John Locke Foundation Director of Legal and Regulatory Studies, believes North Carolina needs to rein in overly burdensome regulations. Bakst’s opinion column on the topic, along with a separate syndicated column from John Hood, prompted a critical letter to the Lexington Dispatch. (A different letter writer attempted to tell Dispatch readers about the John Locke Foundation’s political philosophy.) Bakst also granted an interview this week to the Associated Press in connection with an article about the N.C. Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change. The StopNCAnnexation blog promoted Bakst’s upcoming presentation Monday to the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society. In other news, Michael Sanera, Director of Research and Local Government Studies, released a new glossary of government planning jargon. Mountain Xpress and the Bayboro County Compass both responded to that report. Joseph Coletti, Director of Health Care and Fiscal Policy Studies, contributed to the national health-care reform debate with posts to National Review Online’s blog, “Critical Condition,” and to StateHouseCalls.org. Coletti also did much of the legwork for the Illinois Policy Institute’s new alternative state budget. Meanwhile, a Fayetteville Observer editorial this week quoted concerns from Roy Cordato, Vice President for Research and Resident Scholar, about city plans to use business privilege licenses as a “money grab.” Cordato also contributed to an Americans for Prosperity North Carolina “tele-town hall” about the problems associated with the proposed federal health-care reform bill. (Speaking of AFP, the organization used a CarolinaJournal.tv report on a health-care rally this week in downtown Raleigh to prove its case that Americans oppose the plans President Obama and congressional Democrats are promoting.) Each of the researchers cited above, along with Jon Sanders, Associate Director of Research, and Terry Stoops, Director of Education Studies, will join John Hood, Rick Henderson, and Becki Gray, Vice President for Outreach, for a candidate briefing this afternoon in the John Locke Foundation offices. More than 65 Democratic, Libertarian, and Republican candidates for legislative, congressional, and U.S. Senate seats have signed up for the briefing. Speaking of Gray, the Richmond County Daily Journal published this week her column on forced annexation reform. The Rocky Mount Telegram also interviewed Gray about proposals to privatize the state’s government-run alcohol sales program.