After we posted a summary last week on sales tax referenda in four counties (Chatham, Forsyth, Madison, and Wayne), a citizen in Alamance County alerted us that a sales tax…
This week, JLF’s Joe Coletti published a research brief on municipal sales tax increases. Coletti explains that, in almost every election cycle, a North Carolina county has a quarter-cent sales…
The soil and water conservation districts of Haywood, Buncombe, and Madison counties received $19,474 from the federal deficit to teach people about water conservation. Tactics will include poster, essay, and…
There is a proposal in the General Assembly to reallocate sales tax revenues in a way that benefits rural counties and hurts urban counties. Jim Baker, a Madison County commissioner…
Madison County had its reputation for crooked politics while I worked out there in the 1990s and 2000s. Peter Dawes at the Mountain Guardian frequently published exposes on this or…
One of the big subject matters at Asheville City Council’s last retreat, which I could have attended if I were independently wealthy, was a pay-as-you-throw trash system. I like pay-per-use,…
Click here to view and here to listen to Sarah Curry discussing this Spotlight report. RALEIGH — Haywood County would place its local hospitality businesses at a competitive disadvantage with…
The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Department is going to donate an x-ray machine to Madison County. I’m not questioning the need of law enforcement to assess the integrity of inmates’ skeletal…
Something there is that doesn’t like a wall, and something there is that does. Determining where jurisdictions of office holders ought to be is racist, ethnocentric, classist, or some kind…
Why do I avoid writing about big stories? Sometimes it is because I don’t feel I have enough information, and I don’t want to be a tool for puppeteers. Other…
The John Locke Foundation has published a new policy report, the “First Annual NC County Privatization Survey.” 44 of 100 counties responded to the JLF’s request for information on which…
Mike Fryar has won tremendous support in response to comments made at the last Buncombe County Commissioners’ meeting. As a result, the local daily published the following: Buncombe County: chair…