Finally some action at the website of NC-8 congressional candidate Tim Dunn. And for all of the Larry Kissell, who is running against Dunn in the primaries, supporters we have out there, this is not an endorsement of Dunn. Kissell's website is here.
Also, Tim Dunn does not put any reference to being a Democrat on his website. Larry Kissell has a picture of a big donkey on his but never uses the word Democrat. 1/2 point for Kissell.
The fiasco is over. Evelyn Hill, who has been the target of many ethical complaints while on the bench, has resigned in exchange for having the last complaint dropped (AP's take here). Lance posted earlier on all of the (ethical complaints filed against Evelyn Hill), which are much more entertaining than the article on resignation, so I will just resurrect his post below (If you want the original links, you will have to click the link to the original article above):
You may have noticed that Wake County Superior Court Judge Evelyn W. Hill is in trouble with the NC Judicial Standards Commission again ("Wake County judge faces third complaint before ethics board"). This is the Judge who inspired the now-defunct website www.eradicate-evelynhill.com. I thought I'd take a quick study break to compile Judge Hill's Greatest Hits. The emphasis is all mine.
First it was Forsyth, now it is Vance. Two county election boards have turned down Diebold. Vance's concerns seem to be more with the lawsuits filed against the company for securities fraud and other litigation. From the Daily Dispatch (link):
Vance County's Board of Elections unanimously recommended the purchase Thursday of an optical-scan voting system from Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb.
That was partly because North Carolina elections officials eventually narrowed down the possible choices to four systems from two companies: ES&S and Diebold Election Systems of North Canton, Ohio. Each company offers an optical-scan and a direct-recording-electronic system that is certified by the state Board of Elections. (A third potential vendor, Sequoia, was denied permission this week to sell equipment in North Carolina, The News & Observer reported Thursday.)
I was sad all today. First, I was finishing up a 24-hour take home exam for lawschool (imagine actually trying to sleep during an exam), and then I woke to news from Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr that the proposed Triangle Rail Line is dead. The Triangle Rail Line is a proposed rail track between downtown Raleigh and downtown Durham, running through the Research Triangle Park. The track is desperately needed in one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas without a light rail or subway, and relatedly an area with large congestion problems. In fact property prices in South Glenwood, where one of the stops will be, are going much faster than the rest of the city. The plan for funding the line was for the federal government to pick up a substantial portion of the tab (as they do with most rail projects). Dole had supported the project and federal funding of it in the past, but now appears to be saying that the project is dead since it has not qualified for Federal funds. From News 14 Carolina yesterday:
Meanwhile, Senators Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr have issued a joint statement about the issue. Part of that statement reads, “We recognize that any transit project built with federal tax dollars must be thoroughly examined and rigorously reviewed to ensure established federal standards and goals are met. The rail project is likely not an option for the region. We therefore believe it is time for TTA to explore other possibilities."
I was bummed all day, and just because I forgot to not trust Dole or Burr. I had to wait until the end of the day to find out the truth.
Apparently, Diebold can muscle through the State Board of Elections despite not following North Carolina law, but Forsyth County is able to stand up to them. Citing citizen concern over the accuracy of touch-screen voting, the Board chose an optical scan machine instead, which has a paper trail, less vulnerable to being hacked, and costs half as much incidently. The company anticipating the contract, Diebold. From the Winston-Salem Journal:
The Forsyth County Board of Elections decided yesterday to recommend that county commissioners buy voting machines that scan paper ballots instead of buying touch-screen machines that record votes electronically.
The board did recommend buying some electronic touch-screen machines but only for use at handicapped-accessible voting stations.
Half of North Carolina families with children don’t earn sufficient income to pay for basic expenses, according to a new report by the Raleigh-based NC Justice Center.
“Failing Jobs, Falling Wages: The 2005 North Carolina Living Income Standard,” authored by John Quinterno and Elizabeth Jordan and released on Dec. 8, found that a majority of North Carolina children, blacks, Hispanics and women — practically every demographic except white males — live in households where income falls short of the cost of living.
“What we’re finding is that families are carrying a heavier burden because childcare and housing costs are increasing,” Legislative Director Sorien Schmidt said. “Median incomes are falling and more families are in poverty.”
Duke, like most universities, openned its doors to Katrina refugees early this year. Now it is telling them: "Do not let the door hit you on the way out." From the Duke Chronicle:
Twelve freshmen who matriculated at Duke after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina cannot apply to transfer to the University next semester, members of the administration confirmed Thursday.
The reason for this, these students did not fit under the current admission policy that does not allow freshmen to tranfer to Duke. And the administration would not change this policy for people that have had their lives destroyed by this national natural disaster:
Administrators said a revised policy would raise certain institutional concerns and would be unfair to other transfer students, among other complications and difficulties.
And this announcement came the same day that many of these students learned that there would barely be a university to return to:
The University’s confirmation was released on the same day that Tulane University announced that it will lay off 230 faculty members. Many of of the displaced freshmen—some of whom are from Tulane—said their home colleges will probably look very different than the schools to which they applied last fall.
Shame on Duke. Turning their backs on those that have lost everything. I have never been happier in my decision to attend UNC over Duke than this moment.
This has been all over, so I will only post a brief quote from the Winston-Salem Journal:
According to the Report to the Secretary of the Senate, an expense report issued twice a year that details expenses by Senate offices, Dole made one trip to North Carolina during a six-month period, and Burr traveled home nearly every weekend.
Since Elizabeth Dole's strongest feature thus far as Senator has been ineptitude, maybe we should encourage her to stay away.
"We've had a large undermining of our traditional values in this country. And I think that was a repercussion of the hippies in the '60s and their 'anything goes' attitude," says Patrick McHenry, a North Carolina Republican who, at age 30, is the youngest member of Congress. "Our generation has a realistic approach. We're not sort of pie-in-the-sky people."
Nothing like pulling shit out of your ass for an AP story. And how crazy is it that someone is trying to "go back" to a time that he was not even alive for.
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