Thanks to the new Carolina Journal News Service, CJ exclusives reached a wider audience this week. The Lincoln Tribune republished Associate Editor David Bass‘ articles about a new funding scheme for the Interstate 485 project and questionable billing involving Verizon employees and state workers linked to a government contract with Verizon. The Tribune also picked up contributor Karen Welsh‘s article detailing public school teachers’ concerns about state-mandated furloughs. Cape Fear Business News picked up contributor Hal Young‘s article about unintended consequences associated with a statewide ban on plastic bottles in landfills. An editorial in the Beaufort Observer referenced contributor Sam Hieb‘s recent CJ exclusive on a targeted tax incentive scheme under consideration in Guilford County. N.C. Senate Republicans highlighted in their daily e-mail blasts Bass’ Verizon story, an exclusive from Associate Editor Michael Lowrey detailing a state Supreme Court ruling involving religious groups and property development, and Daily Journal columns from John Locke Foundation President John Hood focusing on last week’s election, state Medicaid funding challenges, and the most recent Civitas poll.