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Monday: Round-Up
posted at 2007-05-14 23:10 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
The State Elections Board begins hearings tomorrow into alleged campaign finance improprieties by two House members: New Hanover Dem Thomas Wright, and Cumberland Dem Mary McAllister.
Wright's accused of failing to report $119,000 in campaign donations - you can refresh your memory here.
McAllister's accused of using campaign funds to over-repay herself for personal loans to her campaign account. More on that here -- though when the hearing's over, there may be more to the story.
Stay tuned for updates tomorrow on the State of Things and in the newscasts.
Turns out Elections Board Director Gary Bartlett is up to his ankles in more than public corruption charges. The AP reports tonight that the SBOE offices in Raleigh were flooded by heavy weekend rains. For now, at least, it sounds as though carpet and furnishings bore the brunt of the damage. But it's left Bartlett scrambling for an alternate venue in case the Wright/McAllister hearings stretch into Thursday and Friday.
Mike Easley, media darling
The Gov's been busy lately. After he appeared in DC last week for an award for his educational initiatives, CSPAN invited him to talk about the drop-out rate on its Saturday morning call-in show, Washington Journal. I got a heads-up about it Friday afternoon, so I tuned in to watch.
(For starters, I have to say that appearing on Washington Journal ain't for wusses. You have to have a little chutzpah to agree to take calls on a national show, especially CSPAN, which has a loyal following of cranks with axes to grind and itchy dialing fingers to match.)
I thought Easley's performance was a bit stiff at first. He always does better when he's talking to a human, but in this case, he was in Raleigh, talking to a camera, and it showed - at the beginning, at least.
Things got better when the calls started coming in The first couple were from folks who wanted to pillory him on immigration issues, and (in my opinion at least) he handled them quite well. He faltered a little on a question about minority drop-out initiatives, but came roaring back to life when he got the chance to talk about Learn and Earn and pre-K. All in all, pretty good.
Today, he joined Sen. Patrick Leahy to talk about the war's effects on National Guard readiness in the states. Greensboro's Mark Binker has a nice synopsis with audio here.
So, sorry, but I just have to go there: What's the guy running for? Relevance for his last two years as Gov.? Or a national office? You tell me.
Other good stuff this weekend:
Charlotte's David Ingram reports - spoiler alert! - prosecutors in Jim Black's corruption case say Judge James Dever should stay.
A live-in campaign aide to GOP Congressman Patrick McHenry was indicted for election fraud.
The N&O's Lynn Bonner had this nice piece on the cellular tower dispute quietly raging on Jones St.
And Charlotte's Jack Betts looks at the legislative clout wielded by NC's fairer sex.
The big picture
On the eve of the second GOP presidential debate Tuesday in SC, Newt Gingrich coyly hints he might consider a bid.
Meantime, a day after Elizabeth Edwards spoke at Meredith College's commencement in Raleigh, John Edwards calls for "College for Everyone."
Comments? Drop me a line.
