The city has hired a high-profile lobbyist to fight a proposed law that would restrict municipal broadband networks like Fibrant.
Unsatisfied with the latest draft of the legislation, which they say will harm the city, Salisbury City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night to hire the city’s first lobbyist, Tom Fetzer of Fetzer Strategic Partners in […]
RALEIGH — At some point, legislators — Republicans and Democrats — might want to wake up to the fact that an ongoing battle over high-speed Internet has nothing to do with party, political ideology, or being pro- or anti-business.
It has everything to do with the urban-rural divide in North Carolina.
Any legislator from a rural community […]
A measure that outlaws synthetic stimulants and drugs gaining popularity among young people is on its way to Gov. Beverly Perdue’s desk. The Senate on Tuesday approved House changes to a bill to add mephedrone and what’s called MDPV to the list of banned stimulants in the state’s controlled substance laws. It also would outlaw […]
CONCORD, N .C. — One town in the Charlotte area that’s already in a budget crunch is taking action to keep the state from transferring responsibility for patching potholes and paying for other road maintenance — an idea that would put additional pressure on the town to raise taxes.
Concord officials drafted a resolution telling their […]
A bill making it legal for someone with a concealed carry permit to take firearms into parks and restaurants made it out of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, but not before being amended to allow waiters and waitresses to ask anyone who orders a drink if they have a gun. Current concealed carry law […]
Mayor Susan Kluttz said she hasn’t decided if she will stop fighting a proposed law that would restrict the ability of cities to get into the broadband business.
House Bill 129, or “Level Playing Field/Local Government Competition,” is being rewritten to exempt Salisbury and a handful of other North Carolina cities that already run municipal broadband […]
So… yesterday the state House Republicans could not muster the votes to override Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of H2, the bill that seeks to exempt North Carolinians from the federal health care law. The vote was 68-51, four short of the three-fifths majority the House needs for a veto override.(Details in today’s e-edition.)
Done deal, right.
Nope.
Along […]
North Carolina’s ferry system isn’t merely a tourist attraction that transports carefree visitors to the Outer Banks or between Southport and Fort Fisher. It is an extension of the state’s highway system, as essential to some residents as good roads. The Honorables need to consider that point as they ponder changing the fare structure.
They should […]
The Census Bureau tells us that the Cape Fear region grew like crazy over the past decade. But you already knew that. The housing bust may have slowed growth after 2008, but our three counties reported a population boom, increasing their number of residents by 25 percent to nearly 50 percent in that 10-year stretch. […]
In a way, it’s the perfect tea party issue. Trying to put annexations by cities to a vote of communities affected would likely stop annexation in its tracks. For one thing, it’s easier to muster opponents than it is proponents. And on its face, annexation and the fees and higher taxes that come with it […]
