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More than 40 protesters march along U.S. 64 after a sign about Sen. Barack Obama went up at Land of the Sky Realty. People lined up along Four Seasons Boulevard around noon to protest the sign that associated presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama with terrorist Osama bin Laden. They held signs saying “Shame,” “Lipstick Can’t Smear the Facts,” “Forget Your Golden Rule ‘Land of Sky’?” and “‘Barack’ is Hawaiian for ‘Bubbah.’” Obama was born in Hawaii. One man called Edney to let him know he’d be there at 7 a.m. to protest. Edney said he told him to feel free...

[edit] Opposition to increased oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac In 2003 Watt vehemently opposed efforts by the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans to increase regulatory oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac[5]. "I don't see much other than a shell game going on here, moving something from one agency to another and in the process weakening the bargaining power of poorer families and their ability to get affordable housing", Mr. Watt said.[6]

The intelligent question thrown out among strategists for both campaigns is, can John McCain really win Pennsylvania? Really win it, not pretend to go for it, as Republicans did in 2004, all the while closing the deal in Ohio when no one was looking. The last Republican presidential candidate to win Pennsylvania was George H.W. Bush, in 1988 -- a win preceded by two Reagans but followed by two Clintons, a Gore and a Kerry. The Kerry win was narrower than the others, however.

Johnston's sheriff says Hispanics spread crime and dodge taxes. Yet he respects their hard work and expresses pity for their plight SMITHFIELD - Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell's territory is one of country stores and fading tobacco barns; but increasingly his work -- and his words -- reach far beyond his rural county. Advocates and politicians across the state have come to know him as the lawman with the deep country twang who makes incendiary comments about "drunk Mexicans." "Look at that," he says, pointing to tiendas that have cropped up amid the barbecue joints. "You can't even read the...

For the third time in five months, the Charlotte Observer, amid a slumping economy and changing media landscape, is cutting jobs through voluntary buyouts – and layoffs, if necessary. Publisher Ann Caulkins said the Carolinas' largest newspaper aims to eliminate more than 9 percent of its workforce, roughly 75 positions, with a nearly companywide buyout offer. The reductions are to be completed Oct. 3. “The economy is really, really tough,” Caulkins told the newsroom this morning. In June, the paper announced plans to eliminate 123 positions, about 11 percent of its workforce, as part of sweeping cuts across its parent...

LIBERTARIANS BACK ON BALLOT RALEIGH (May 22) -- The Libertarian Party is back on the ballot in North Carolina. The State Board of Elections formally certified the party today. North Carolina voters who so choose can now register Libertarian. "This was our eighth ballot access drive. Without a doubt, it was the most nerve-racking and exhausting one we've conducted," said Barbara Howe, state chair. "We are now back on the ballot, but we are out of funds, so we have no money to support candidates." Nevertheless, the Libertarians will field a slate of candidates in November, she said. At their...

A young man is being held in the Rowan County Correctional Facility accused in the mob-style beating of a 47-year-old who was simply taking an evening stroll in his neighborhood. Matthew Dwyer's eyes are blackened, his forehead stitched up and his arms scraped up. He said he was beaten by nine black teenagers. Salisbury police said it was a racially motivated and gang-motivated crime. Dwyer is white. Dwyer said it all started when one of his assailants said he wasn't allowed on the street, and then Dwyer was hit in the back of the head with a gun. "And that's...

Mary Katharine Ham Presents: Real Heroes of Liberalism (With apologies to Bud Light) Today, we salute you, Mr. Quit the Only Job He Ever Had Rather Than Honor Jesse Helms Guy. (Mr. Quit the Only Job He Ever Had Rather Than Honor Jesse Helms Guy!) You've shown us the truest example of petulant, ineffectual grandstanding by disobeying a gubernatorial order to fly flags at half mast in honor of the late North Carolina senator. (Speaking truth to power!) Not content to voice your disdain for Helms' so-called "doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice" in the traditional ways, you operated with...

UNC chief says Mary Easley's raise under review Link only

Mary Easley's 88 percent pay raise questionedWednesday, July 02, 2008 | 6:41 PM By Ed Crump Wife of N.C. Governor Mike Easley.RALEIGH (WTVD) -- There is more controversy surrounding First Lady Mary Easley in the wake of expensive taxpayer funded trips abroad by both the first lady and Governor Mike Easley. Eyewitness News has learned that Mary Easley got an 88 percent raise at her job at N.C. State University. Until this week, Mary Easley got paid $90,000 a year to recruit speakers to come to campus. Now her job duties have expanded to include directing a public safety program...

MORGANTON, N.C. -- A 67-year-old Burke County man is accused of molesting a 5-year-old girl. Russell Junior Hartman was arrested Tuesday and charged with two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. Hartman is a trustee at First Advent Christian Church in Morganton. Deputies said he was also very active in the church’s youth group. Deputies said the girl he is accused of molesting was not a church member. The victim told officers Hartman molested her several times. Hartman was brought in for questioning Tuesday and was then charged afterward. He was put in jail under a $40,000 bond....

DURHAM, N.C., July 1 (UPI) -- A Durham, N.C., Democratic official and her husband face criminal charges in connection with alleged satanic rituals. Joy Johnson, 30, a third vice-chairwoman of the Durham County Democratic Party and vice chairwoman of the Young Democrats, was charged Friday with two counts of aiding and abetting. Her husband, Joseph Scott Craig, 25, was charged with second-degree rape, second-degree kidnapping and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for incidents in January and May, the Raleigh News & Observer reported Tuesday. Mark McCullough, an assistant district attorney ...acknowledged that "part of the allegations are...

A High Point pastor faces misdemeanor charges after being accused of soliciting sex online. Randleman police said they arrested Otis Durham outside the Wal-Mart here at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Durham, 55, is pastor of the Sandy Ridge United Methodist Church in High Point. He was charged with solicitation of prostitution and solicitation of crimes against nature and is free on a $1,000 bond. Det. R.K. Hardy said today that a Randleman woman contacted police Friday after getting an unwanted sexual solicitation online. Hardy said he posed online as the woman and arranged for a time and place to meet the...

UPDATE: Deadly Snake Still Missing In Onslow County Save Email Print Deadly Snakes On The Loose Deadly Snakes Still Missing There has been no progress toward catching the deadly snake that's on the loose in Onslow County. A resident on Mill Farms Road, that's off Piney Green Road, saw a Monocled Cobra under her back deck earlier this week. Officials said they believed the snake was released by a group trying to raise awareness in making it illegal for people to own exotic animals. But the public relations director for the Animal Protection Institute says her organization had nothing to...

Fayetteville, N.C. — Wildlife agents are scouring the woods near Cedar Creek after a man says he spotted what looks like a king cobra there last week. Vernon Byrd was on an all-terrain vehicle in a field off Johnson Road last Tuesday when he said an 8-foot-long snake reared up beside him – and the serpent's head was about shoulder high to him. "I caught something out of my eye, and this snake comes up beside me and looked at me," Byrd said. "I've seen every kind of snake in this part of the country, but I've never seen a...

Public colleges in North Carolina should not admit illegal immigrants as students, the state Attorney General's Office advised in a letter released Wednesday. If followed, the advice would reverse policies at the state's 58 community colleges and at the 16 four-year institutions in the University of North Carolina system, which allow illegal immigrants to attend. It also damages a movement to grant in-state tuition to illegal immigrant teenagers who have attended North Carolina high schools. "It really closes the door of opportunity for a lot of kids," said Andrea Bazan, president of the Triangle Community Foundation, a philanthropic organization, and...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue has won the Democratic nomination for governor, and will face Charlotte Mayor and GOP nominee Pat McCrory in November. Perdue had 55 percent of the vote with a little over half of precincts reporting Tuesday night. She beat State Treasurer Richard Moore, who had 41 percent in unofficial returns. McCrory collected 47 percent of the vote against state Sen. Fred Smith, who conceded the race to McCrory shortly before 10 p.m. Smith had 37 percent of the vote.

Those tables in between my position and the rally you saw on TV are about a quarter full of milling, bored, tired reporters. The rally took up maybe a quarter of the floor space in the arena. Part of running a decent campaign is knowing how big a crowd you might have and planning accordingly so as not to embarrass yourselves with a woefully understuffed venue. I realize it's standard practice to rope off an area of a venue for crowd-wrangling and appearances, but this is a little drastic. McCain's event at the Wait Chapel at Wake Forest today was...

U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan easily humbled four Democratic primary opponents Tuesday but didn’t savor the victory. She immediately turned her attention to the more daunting challenge she faces in November. Hagan, a state senator from Greensboro, used her victory speech to critique incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, a national political figure with strong name recognition and a multimillion-dollar campaign fund. “Tonight was another symbol that Washington is broken and that North Carolina families are ready for a change,” Hagan said shortly after she won the race Tuesday night. Hagan has said she needs about 10 million to unseat Dole...

7:35PM - According to the exits, white Democrats (42% of the electorate today) went for Clinton 62 to 35 and white Independents (16% of electorate) 53 to 40. As expected, Obama cleaned up among black Democrats (31% of the electorate), beating Clinton by a 92 to 6 margin. - TOM BEVAN 7:30PM - All nets project Obama to win NC - TOM BEVAN 7:28PM - Fun fact (according to CNN exits): 26% of those who said Clinton was not honest or trustworthy still voted for her. It makes you wonder what they thought of Obama. - KYLE TRYGSTAD

No story yet.

For all the speculation surrounding John Edwards’ conspicuous silence on the eve of his home state’s primary, one important fact has been overlooked: According to North Carolina’s political class, the former Democratic presidential contender has virtually no clout at all in his home state. (snip) “The guy is truly an exceptional story, but for someone who is so well-known nationally, he has very little standing in the party in this state,” says John Davis, president of the North Carolina Forum for Research and Economic Education (NCFREE), a business-backed organization that conducts political research. “You simply do not hear his name...

Democrats battle over dinner in N.C.By Rob Christensen McClatchy Newspapers RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner usually has the air of ritual. On Friday night, it reflected the aggression of the hardest-fought presidential primary race in decades. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke late Friday at Dorton Arena before a crowd of 5,000 party activists who were charged up and chanting. Obama tried to hold his diminishing lead in North Carolina while Clinton mounted a late push to make the state "a game-changer." **SNIP** Clinton chose not to attack Obama. Instead, she...

One above-board factor the campaign can claim credit for is turning Bill Clinton loose to do his Bubba routine among small towns of displaced blue-collar workers. The former president remains popular with the NASCAR crowd and he never fails to skewer the Bush administration, noting, for example, that he left office with a federal budget surplus. Much less important—indeed, bordering on the insignificant, despite the spin given it by consultants with the ear of gullible reporters—is Clinton's endorsement by North Carolina Governor Mike Easley. On paper Easley is a four-time statewide winner, including two wins as attorney general before his...

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"RALEIGH, N.C. - Gov. Mike Easley will endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, The Associated Press has learned." "Easley was expected to announce the endorsement Tuesday morning in Raleigh, the state capital, one week before North Carolina's primary on May 6, according to persons close to the governor and to Clinton. The individuals spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal announcement had not yet been made. Easley is a Democratic superdelegate who has served two terms as governor. His decision comes despite several recent polls showing Clinton trailing rival Barack Obama ahead of the state's May 6 primary."

Did you know that John McCain lambasted the North Carolina GOP’s anti-Obama/Jeremiah Wright ad without having seen it?Yes, this noxious little tidbit was tucked into an AP story three days ago when the controversy broke and has been little remarked upon since. When I mentioned this fact at the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference dinner last night, much of the audience gasped. Obviously, the word hasn’t gotten out there enough: The ad opens with a photo of Obama and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright together and a clip of Wright, whose incendiary comments about race have bedeviled Obama.“He’s just too extreme for...

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - North Carolina's Republican Party on Thursday withdrew an advertisement critical of Democrat Barack Obama's links to a controversial preacher, Republican John McCain's campaign said. McCain senior adviser Charlie Black said he had been informed by the Republican National Committee's representative in North Carolina, that the state party had agreed to withdraw the ad. McCain, the Republicans' presumptive presidential nominee, had appealed to the state party to withdraw the ad, saying he wanted to run a respectful campaign. Obama has come under fire for attending a Chicago church for two decades where the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was...

Question for locals in NC: Where might I find a good list of local conservative politicains to vote for in the primary 16 May ? I know there are several Republican primary duels and we want to choose the most conservative. Thanks ! mzimmpa

OC Order: Don't Vote Early in NCApril 17, 2008 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT There's a directive from headquarters for those of you in North Carolina. Early voting in North Carolina for the primary there on May 6th starts today. Early voting, North Carolina, starts today. I am asking, I am commanding all Operation Chaos operatives in North Carolina, do not vote early. This primary is too volatile. There's too much effervescence going on here. This campaign could change on a dime. You vote now instead of on Election Day on the 6th, your vote might not count. Hold your fire. You got...

I recieved this email from the Sue Myrick campaign last week. She's my rep and I vote for her everytime..... Dear (my name), If our economy isn’t in recession, it sure feels like it. The subprime market failed because, in an effort to make even more money, lenders gave loans to people who clearly couldn’t afford them. Subprime homebuyers are also to blame because they signed for larger houses than they could really afford. A booming housing market and insatiable spending can no longer mask our troubles. America is a slave to foreign oil. America out produced every country in...

In San Francisco last week, Senator Barack Obama, Democrat candidate for President, made a certain statement about people who live in small towns in Pennsylvania. He is about to undergo a primary in that state against Senator Hillary Clinton, the other remaining Democrat candidate for President. Why should a comment made by a candidate in San Francisco about people who live in Pennsylvania be of the slightest interest to the people who live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina? Simple. Almost half of the people here, in the 11th Congressional District of North Carolina, also live in...

Like it did in Texas and Ohio, the Clinton campaign for president has drawn a line in the sand, down the middle of the Tar Heel state. Bill Clinton said Friday in Charlotte that his wife's presidential bid hinges in many ways on whether the New York senator wins North Carolina's Democratic primary. Speaking to about 4,000 at a rally at UNC Charlotte, the former president said Hillary Clinton would likely have to win the state's May 6 primary to have any chance at winning the overall popular vote and ultimately overtaking Sen. Barack Obama as the party's nominee.

RALEIGH, N.C. - A probation officer assigned to a teenager charged with killing the University of North Carolina's student body president was handling 127 cases without benefit of training, state corrections officials said Wednesday. A state investigation into the case also found that Laurence Lovette never met with probation officer Chalita Thomas, while the other defendant in the killing, Demario Atwater, had his probation cases handled by 10 different officers.

Courtesy of FR's own Thunder Pig, great video of Saturday's debate in Franklin, North Carolina. Following the debate, FR'd own John Armor took over half the votes in the straw poll: 1. 32 John Armor 2. 19 Carl Mumpower 3. 11 Spence Campbell Part I - Opening statements Part II - One word to describe the North Carolina Mental Health System and what can be done to fix it Part III - Unfunded state mandates; The sanctity of human life Part IV - Iraq, FISA and national security Part V - Homeland Security, hometown security, and illegal immigration Part VI...

NEWS RELEASE Heath Shuler Shows Why He Doesn't Belong in Congress BlueRidgeNow, the website of the Hendersonville Times-News, reported on March 26 on an appearance by Rep. Heath Shuler at a Rotary Club meeting in that city, but missed the deeper story that was present. According to the story, Heath Shuler blamed Senator John McCain, a Republican who is not serving in the House, as "blocking" Shuler's SAVE Act which would impose tighter controls on illegal immigration from getting a vote in the House. The Times-News had noted in an editorial on 20 March that "48 Democrats had co-sponsored the...

Still Time to Change Party Affiliation for the NC PrimariesTuesday, Mar 04, 2008 - 07:48 AM Updated: 10:08 AM The May 6 presidential primaries in North Carolina are quickly approaching, but there’s still time to change your party affiliation. Voters have until 5 p.m. April 11 to switch parties in time for this year’s primaries. Voters can do that on a voter registration application, which can be found at the board of elections office in each county, or at the library. Voters can also print a registration application from the State Board of Elections web site, www.sboe.state.nc.us. April 11 is...

Company's plan for Iran trade brings guilty plea Mar. 18, 2008 Allied Telesis Labs, a telecommunications research company with offices on NC State's Centennial Campus, entered a guilty plea today to conspiring to trade illegally with Iran. According to a federal court press release, the company conspired to land and carry out a $95 million contract to rebuild telecommunications systems in Iranian cities including Teheran. The guilty plea followed a written plea agreement and required the defendant to pay a fine of $500,000. The plea came in federal court in Raleigh to charges of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency...

John Edwards helped save Bill Clinton a decade ago. Could he do the same for Hillary Clinton this year? After his election to the Senate in 1998, Edwards went to Washington with zero experience in public office. He had barely voted, let alone served in office. He had spent most of his adult life in courtrooms. So he walks into the Senate, and the first order of business is … a trial! Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial. Edwards immediately distinguished himself with a dispassionate and masterful summary of the facts, concluding that Clinton’s actions did not justify removal from office. Arguably,...

ASHEVILLE — The people of Zacchaeus House will have to find another place to worship after Easter. The small “house-church” was cited by the city for having a church in a residence, and its two ministers, the Rev. Amy Cantrell and the Rev. Chrystal Cook, were told they would have to bring the house up to code as a public gathering place or close. “What was ironic to me was that we got the citation on Martin Luther King Day,” Cantrell said. Cantrell and Cook live in the house and offer their two spare bedrooms to people who need shelter....

Chapel Hill Police identified the victim of a shooting Tuesday on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus as 22-year-old senior Eve Carson, the student body president, the Winston-Salem Journal reports. Police responded to a report of gunshots in the area early Tuesday morning and found Carson's body lying in the intersection of Hillcrest Dr. and Hillcrest Circle. This is the second murder of a female college student on a southern campus in as many days. Lauren Burk was shot near Auburn University campus on Tuesday night. Both Carson and Burk are Georgia natives, from towns about one...

Peeping Tom Arrested After Hiding Under North Carolina Man's Bed GREENSBORO, N.C. — A peeping Tom was caught with his pants down — literally — under a North Carolina man's bed because he was trying to get a glimpse of the man's naked girlfriend, according to MyFOXWGHP.com. Police arrested 20-year-old Donei Zabedra-Ilario ....

Jacksonville, North Carolina, January 26, 2008— The NC Gathering of Eagles sponsored an Operation to demonstrate support for and celebrate the American Military. Hundreds of people came to Jacksonville, from all over North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina and West Virginia.They spread out along Highway 17 waving American and Marine flags and holding signs proclaiming respect, admiration and gratitude to the men and women of the United States Military. GOE National Director, Larry Bailey reports: In response to the pitiful gathering of Westboro Baptist Church miscreants near Camp Lejeune, NC, on 1/26/08, the North Carolina chapter of Gathering of Eagles organized...

...This is John Edwrads on Monday at a rally in Newton, Iowa. "If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve are going to walk, get up out of that wheel chair and walk again." In my 25 years in Washington, I have never seen a more loathsome display of demagoguery. Hope is good, false hope is bad. Deliberately, for personal gain, raising false hope in the catastrophically afflicted is despicable.

Raleigh — A state audit has found that hundreds of people have used bogus Social Security numbers to obtain food stamps. From July 2002 to last April, 1,906 people were receiving food stamps from the state Department of Social Services based on invalid Social Security numbers, the audit report stated. Another 1,237 food stamp recipients were using the Social Security numbers of dead people, according to the audit. DSS security measures had previously disqualified 5,840 people from the food stamp program after determining they were using phony Social Security numbers, according to the audit. The error rate was much less...

In the rough-and-tumble of immigration politics, Martin Lancaster, president of North Carolina's community colleges system, could have tucked his principles into his pocket and retired as planned next spring. Fortunately for the state and for common sense, Lancaster this week issued a thoughtful argument for letting illegal immigrants attend the state's community colleges. In the heated atmosphere of the gubernatorial campaign now taking shape, it was the sound of cool wisdom. All of the major candidates for governor have denounced a policy that says immigrants in the country illegally have a right to be accepted by the colleges. State Attorney...

A candidate for North Carolina governor wants Attorney General Roy Cooper to weigh in on a new policy that requires community colleges to admit eligible illegal immigrants. A policy issued last month removed the discretion community colleges had in accepting undocumented applicants. State Sen. Fred Smith told Cooper on Monday that the policy appears to contradict federal and state laws related to illegal immigrants and established community college system rules. Smith also says any changes need to be approved by the state Legislature. The five leading major-party candidates for governor, including Smith, are opposed to the change. Democratic Gov. Mike...

Sorry for long title and caps. I am typing thru tears. My mom is dying of pancreatic cancer. She raised my son and I got thru to Red Cross & Hospice and they approved it. Military is denying it saying she is not loco parentis. On top of that nobody knows how to do the paper work. My son is her baby (30 Year Old Marine) and she is all she wants. Seems to be holding on for him. She just took a drastic turn for the worst yesterday. I need a congressman/senator anyone who I can call and try...

For the Rev. Canon Filmore Strunk, 55, it was a painful but strangely exhilarating moment in his life and ministry. For 19 years he had been a priest in the Episcopal Church. It had been his life's work and ambition - to bring the unchanging gospel of Jesus Christ to the folks at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Waxhaw, a growing and thriving suburb on the outskirts of Charlotte, North Carolina. On November 1 all that changed. The abandonment of the historic Christian faith, the sexuality mess and the Episcopal Church's embracing of Gnosticism finally proved too much for the...

Did Dems avoid gay candidate? Concern about voter reaction may have led to apparent snub (The party of "tolerance") MARK JOHNSON mjohnson@charlotteobserver.com Former Wall Street investor Jim Neal of Chapel Hill announced he was running for the U.S. Senate. N.C. Sen. Kay Hagan of Greensboro declared a week later that she was not running for the U.S. Senate. Both are Democrats. Guess which one received a phone call from U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who heads the Democratic Party's efforts to recruit Senate candidates? Schumer and the national Democrats, who boast of their party's inclusiveness, effectively ignored Neal, who is openly...