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Sunday Roundup: Sky Blue edition
posted at 2009-04-05 13:45 | Last modified 2009-04-05 13:45
Congrats to the Tar Heels for their convincing romp over Villanova last night. One more to go, guys - good luck!
In ink
At Dome, Mark Johnson reports the Senate budget is expected out this week, with lower tax hikes than the governor’s budget, and with the option of agency furloughs, both of which ought to make the House a little happier than Perdue's plan did.
Charlotte’s Jim Morrill says Rep. Becky Carney is on the mend and hoping to be back soon.
Lots of reaction pieces on the House smoking ban passed Thursday. W-SJ’s James Romoser talks to a restaurant owner who says the amended bill is unfair. But Greensboro’s Donald Patterson says the leaf's biggest problem may be economics, not legislation: call volumes at the state’s stop-smoking help line shot through the roof last week after a big federal tobacco tax hike took effect.
The state’s budget crunch is putting the squeeze on conservation groups’ land purchases. The N&O's Wade Rawlins has the details.
Asheville's Jordan Schrader wraps up State Schools Chief June Atkinson’s lawsuit against Gov. Perdue.
Kudos
The N&O’s Mike Biesecker continues his excellent watchdog work on state prisons and mental hospitals.
Today’s frontpager highlights the case of an inmate beaten so severely by state prison guards that he was left quadriplegic. The SBI is investigating. And Biesecker reports the prison in question, Alexander, has a horrific reputation.
Friday, Biesecker reported on a disabled patient at O’Berry in Goldsboro who strangled to death on a wheelchair strap after she was left unattended. The story reveals a shocking level of dysfunction in state protocols for investigating deaths in its own institutions. Nice work!
Good reads
At the VA-Pilot, Catherine Kozak reports on a new contender for the site of the Lost Colony.
The N&O’s Jack Hagel and Matt Ehlers had a great story about half-finished “planned communities” left in limbo by the housing market crash.
Over at Talk Politics, UNC Professor Leroy Towns gives the N&O credit for reporting on The Inquirer's story about John Edwards' grand jury.
And of course, Go Heels!
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