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Monday: Catching Up
posted at 2007-08-06 23:11 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
There's nothing like a few days out of town to make you realize how much actually goes on around here. I'm still doing my homework on last week's action before my roundup segment on Tuesday's State of Things. If you miss it (noon and 9 on WUNC), I'll put up a link to it here.
Wild day at Wildlife
News broke this afternoon that NC Wildlife Resources Commission director Richard Hamilton had abruptly resigned after a special commission meeting. The NCWRC release didn't explain why, but the N&O reports tonight that the agency's legislative liaison Joan Troy thinks she had something to do with it. More on this one if/when we get it.
Yet another hat
Looks like Richard Moore's tenure has made the Treasurer's office a hot property, politically speaking. Raleigh lawyer Michael Weisel announced today he's running for the Dem nomination for the seat, joining fellow candidates State Sen. Janet Cowell, 2006 House candidate Chris Mintz, Charlotte lawyer Carranza Pryor, and Buncombe Commissioner David Young. Weisel has more experience than his competition - he ran and lost a race for the same post back in 1996. Weisel's also been legal counsel for the NC Dems, and represented former Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Richard Morgan.
Darn that media consolidation
John Edwards may be kicking himself after a jab at conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch came back to haunt him. Last Friday on CNN, Edwards spoke out against Murdoch's pending acquisition of the Dow Jones and its flagship publication, the Wall Street Journal, calling on other Dem candidates (namely Hillary Rodham Clinton) not to accept money from execs at Murdoch's News Corp.
It didn't take long for someone to point out to Edwards that he himself had made $800,000 from his book deal with HarperCollins, which is owned by - wait for it - Murdoch. As mad as Edwards may be at Murdoch, he's even madder at the folks who say he should give Murdoch's money back. (No, he won't.) The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz has the whole story.
Piling onto News Corp, part 2
Looks like NC Attorney General Roy Cooper is starting his own rumble with News Corp subsidiary MySpace. The AP's Gary Robertson reports Cooper isn't giving up on his quest to require verified parental permission for kids who want to use MySpace and other social networking sites, most of which oppose the idea. Cooper's proposal made it through the Senate, but stalled out in the House, where it's still alive for next year's session.
Wright on?
The session may be over, but Rep Thomas Wright (D-New Hanover) may find himself visiting Raleigh again soon anyway. Wilmington's Mark Schreiner says the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee isn't done yet with its investigation into Wright's alleged self-dealing. The good news is that when they get back to work on their probe, we'll know more about it under new ethics legislation opening the proceedings to the public.
Under the final version of the bill, the section opening the Committee would take effect as soon as it's signed into law by Governor Mike Easley. Stay tuned for that one - it ought to be interesting.
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