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Weekend Roundup
posted at 2007-09-02 20:57 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
AP goes green
The AP had two good pieces this weekend on the greening of NC. Margaret Lillard reported Saturday that Governor Mike Easley signed SB1492, a measure imposing tougher restrictions on landfills and a $2 per ton tipping fee to help pay for the cleanup of orphan landfills around the state.
And Gary Robertson had this report on the state’s newest employees - fifty thousand red wiggler worms. They’re the tenants of a brand-new compost bin behind the legislature, where they’ll “recycle” 25% of the food waste coming out of the cafeteria.
Robertson says Senate Pro Tem Marc Basnight pushed for the worm bin. I think it’s pretty cool, but you should’ve heard the grossed-out reactions from the legislative assistants who came down to see the new setup. (Actually, you might have heard it if you were anywhere in the neighborhood.)
Ain’t misbehavin’?
Former state lawmaker and Cabarrus County Commissioner Coy Privette reiterated Friday he isn’t going anywhere, no matter what state GOP chair Linda Daves says. The Char-O’s Gail Smith-Arrants had this story on Privette’s reaction.
State Auditor Les Merritt is being accused (again) of politically motivated misbehavior – this time by a former employee, Beth Wood, who’s angling for Merritt’s job. Greensboro’s Mark Binker has the whole story here.
And Jones St. lobbyist Stacy Hahn Flannery got 60 days in jail Friday for embezzling more than $200,000 from the NC Health Care Facilities Association. The N&O’s Thomasi McDonald reports the judge gave Flannery a lighter sentence because Flannery paid the money back.
Labor Day, indeed
Governor Mike Easley might be nursing writer’s cramp this weekend. NCGA Billmeister Gerry Cohen says Easley signed all 34 bills still on his desk by 11pm Friday night, well ahead of his Saturday midnight deadline. All told, Easley signed 207 bills over the past thirty days, and vetoed one.
In case you’re curious, the total legislation enacted this year was 552 bills (not counting resolutions), up about 19% from 2005. Cohen says bill drafting and other staff saw a much bigger jump in their workload – 28%. But blank bill filings were down by 82%.
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