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.
From the National Law Journal, Volume 26, Number 13, 2003:
North Carolina's Judicial Standards Commission filed a complaint against Judge Evelyn Hill, alleging that she engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, bringing the judicial office into disrepute, in violation of canons 2A and 3A(3) of the state Code of Judicial Conduct. It recommended that Hill be censured for her conduct, which reportedly included ex parte communication with the litigant, questioning the Duke lawyer's competency and reaching for the deputy's groin while allegedly saying, "its been a while since I shoved a male's balls through his nose holes."
On Thursday, NC will begin enforcing new restrictions on all-terrain vehicles, banning kids under 8 from driving and limiting older kids to smaller models. Predictably, some Republicans are all upset because they see this as government interference with parenting. On the other hand,
The legislation -- which also includes regulations for all ATV users -- came after dozens of North Carolina children died on ATVs in recent decades. Eleven were killed last year alone.
Intoxination asks: "We constantly hear that our troops favor the Republican position of staying the course in Iraq. If that is the case then why is it most Iraq vets running for Congress in '06 are running as Democrats?" Anglico has a pretty good answer. More from Intoxination:
Just take a look at these numbers from
Mother Jones:
Why? Because some of Michigan's citizens pay better.
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff really makes things happen for his clients. Unfortunately, it looks like he does that through bribery and influence peddling. Jack knows that there are members of Congress who don't see why their positions of power and prestige shouldn't be used to line their own pockets. Jack understands that these members of Congress are easily bought and can be put to work for any group that can raise the cash. And Jack knows that he can rely on Charles Taylor, of North Carolina's 11th Congressional District.
Check out his website, which is far more blunt about difficult issues than a serious candidate's web site ought to be (as in "If you are against abortions - don't have one"). You'll also find spots left open on this page for "SOME VETERANS SITE" and "ANOTHER VETERANS SITE." Still haven't found the right veterans, Mr. Morgan? (See also "SOME ABORTION LINK" here.)
Thanks to RealValues for the heads-up. I agree with RV that this guy doesn't seem to be running a serious campaign, but I'm sure it will be an interesting one. Stay tuned.
Man, I must have been totally asleep at the switch last Friday, because I missed the announcement that Larry Kissell of Biscoe will be running for Robin Hayes's seat in Congress. Maybe I missed it because I have no idea who Larry Kissell is. In fact, I'm surprised to learn that there's a Biscoe, NC (population 1,700). But not only do I now know who Kissell is, I think I may kind of like him.
A former textile mill manager who started teaching high school social studies when his mill moved to Mexico (free trade much?), Kissell is making his first forray into politics a big one, but in a small town way. At his campaign debut, there were speeches by Kissell's former high school principal and some of Kissell's present students, and there was a goat named CAFTA (the very first campaign contribution). How can you not like this guy?
RealValues points out a Winston-Salem piece about Democratic chances of picking up some US House seats next fall. Here's what NCDP Chair Jerry Meek had to say aobut NC-5: "One thing voters don't want right now are elected officials who will toe the party line in Washington. That's what Virginia Foxx does." That's true, but there are many months before November 2006 in which that can change; with Foxx—as with Taylor and Hayes—the pressure must stay on.
More from the piece [emphasis mine]:
Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., is the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It's his job to recruit candidates nationwide to run against Republican incumbents. He said he has talked with two prospective candidates to run against Foxx - including Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines.
I've posted several times now on Sue Myrick's grandstanding scheme to bullyNorthCarolina, and pending further developments I should just let it go. But events conspire! Three NC State legislators and a high level staffer spoke to one of my classes today, and I got a chance to ask them about the situation.
Deborah Ross and Grier Martin, both Democratic members of the NC House representing parts of Wake County, sat on a panel with Republican Senator Richard Stevens (representing Cary) and Norma Mills, Chief of Staff for NC Senate President Pro Temp. Marc Basnight (D, Dare County). I asked them for their thoughts about the proposed legislation announced by Myrick, Foxx, Taylor, McHenry, and Jones that threatens to strip NC's federal highway dollars if the state doesn't change its driver's license policy. Nobody had good things to say.
Reps. Sue Myrick and Patrick McHenry made a few alarming statements last week during their news conference to promote legislation to fight illegal immigration in North Carolina.
I was just browsing NC Policy Watch's website and came across this study by the NC Budget & Tax Center (PDF). I'll post a few facts and figures below the fold, but the quick summary is that North Carolinians aren't getting any richer while the world around us gets more expensive.
Half of all NC full time workers in 2000 made less than $24,246. Half of all NC full time workers in 2004 made less than... $24,246.
What would you do with $2,800? Don't think too hard, because chances are you don't have it to spare. The median household income fell $2,806 between 2000 and 2004. That's a drop from 91.4% of the national average to 88.5%. I guess our $2,800 is off in some other state.
The percentage of North Carolinians living in poverty rose from 13.2 to 15.1 between 2000 and 2004. 15.1% is about one in every seven people. With about 8 million people living in the state, 15.1% is about 1.2 million people. By comparison, the entire combined population of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point is about 1.3 million people.
14.9% of families with children under the age of five years lived in poverty in 2000. In 2004 it was 21.2%. One of every five children under the age of 18 lives in poverty.
14.1% of North Carolinians had no health insurance in 2000. By 2004, another 2.4% joined that group.
The average man in North Carolina earns less than his counterparts in each of the other southeastern states; the average woman fares better than only those in West Virginia and South Carolina.
There is also data suggesting that Raleigh is doing unusually well, with a median household income near $50,000. On the whole, however, North Carolinians are worse off than they were in 2000, and "the data suggest that recent trends are not temporary ones caused by the last recession." What does all this mean? I'm no economist, but it seems to me that in times like these, we desperately need a government that is tuned in to the concerns of the working class. The rich, I'm sure, will take care of themselves.
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