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Mon: O-Day minus one...
posted at 2009-01-19 11:18 | Last modified 2009-01-19 11:18
Not much state news to round up this holiday weekend – it’s been pretty much all inauguration, all the time.
New Governor Bev Perdue was in DC for some of the weekend festivities (including an Emily’s List luncheon, according to Dome), but she decided not to stay for tomorrow’s ceremony. She said late last week that “things are too dire” here at home for her to attend the celebrations. (Besides, she said, the hotel rooms are too expensive.)
Plenty of other Tar Heels will be in attendance, though. WUNC’s Leoneda Inge says four buses left from Durham this morning. Many, many more are en route from all corners of the state. Even my next-door neighbor is going. I’ve been kidding him about the cold and snow, but if the latest forecast is right, it won’t be much better here in NC. Sigh. Hey, maybe we’ll all get a snow day for Inauguration.
On-the-ground coverage
The N&O’s Ryan Teague Beckwith will be liveblogging the day for Dome, of course. But this inauguration offers something new. It’s the first to be “Tweeted” – that is, covered real-time via Twitter by people at the event.
Twitter updates, or tweets, have to be 140 characters or less, so don’t expect in-depth reporting. It’s more about what’s going on as it happens, complete with photos, videos, webcasts, etc.
Virginian-Pilot reporter Patrick Wilson and a handful of V-P readers will be tweeting their way through the ceremonies. Follow them here.
WTVD's Ross Weidner has been twittering all weekend – you can follow his feed here, or for registered Twitterati, here.
If you or someone else you know will be twittering from DC, let me know and I’ll post it here.
In non-inaugural news
Sen. Majority Leader Tony Rand says lawmakers may not be able to hold education harmless as they look for cuts in next year’s budget. That won’t play well at the Mansion – Perdue has said she’s determined to protect education funding. Fay-O’s Andrew Barksdale has the details.
Speaking of money problems, the State Health Plan is coming up about $300M short for the year. The N&O’s Dan Kane explains how it got that way.
The AP’s Gary Robertson has a really nice profile piece on new Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton.
NC colleges and universities are asking for tuition increases to offset rising costs, but W-SJ’s James Romoser reports the increase requests are a little smaller this time than in past recessions.
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