Outside of their Tea Party-related travel and media contacts, the John Locke Foundation’s research experts were busy this week addressing other topics. Daren Bakst discussed annexation reform in a presentation to the Rowan County Republicans, as reported by the Salisbury Post. Bakst also participated in an hourlong discussion of annexation issues on Charlotte’s WFAE public radio station. A recent Williamston Enterprise article mentioned Bakst’s annexation work. (Judy Hardison, of W.T. Ross Road, Williamston, said she is not in favor of the annexation by any means as well. She informed the Williamston Town Board and the crowd that the John Locke Foundation issued a position paper about forced annexation. “It states that North Carolina needs to scrap forced annexation laws because they violate democratic principles and they help cities ignore their budget problems,” she said.) The Carolina Politics Online blog noted Bakst’s recent work critiquing the N.C. House’s flawed annexation reform plan. Bakst also contributed to a continuing discussion about the free-speech implications of the Cleveland County sheriff’s efforts to block two of his employees from participating in an election forum. Both employees are candidates running against him. The Shelby Star covered the issue extensively, and Cleveland Headline News (TV33) also talked to Bakst for a story on the topic. Meanwhile, Michael Sanera hit the road for two presentations at the Stanly Early College High School. For the entire 140-student school, Sanera discussed James Madison’s famous Federalist No. 51 arguments about the separation of powers and checks and balances. For a 75-student civics class, Sanera discussed the public choice view of politics and government. Joseph Coletti hit the State Government Radio airwaves (and Internet) to analyze a proposed multimillion-dollar cut in North Carolina Medicaid’s “personal care services” program. In other news, the Rhinoceros Times published an article relying heavily on Terry Stoops’ research into the potential impact of stringent new charter school performance standards. A Civitas Institute article on education reform cited Stoops’ work showing that the state’s public school dropout prevention grant program has demonstrated no record of success. Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation’s “Insider Online” highlighted within the past week Policy Analyst Michael Lowrey‘s latest version of the By The Numbers report on local tax burdens. A letter writer in the Wilmington Star-News also mentioned the BTN report in discussing the coastal city’s tax burden. Meanwhile, WNCN Television’s MyNC.com featured a legislative candidate’s discussion of a Taxpayer Protection Act, an idea based on John Locke Foundation research.