Easley

Yesterday Mike Easley endorsed Hillary Clinton. No surprise there, since like her, he is a "right of center" Democrat. What did stand out was in the course of his endorsement he decides to praise her while using a gay slur.

...nothing I love more than a strong powerful woman." Easley concluded his remarks saying Clinton -- "makes Rocky Balboa look like a pansy".

Comments closed temporarily by James at 12:19 AM on April 30. Open again at 1:00

(CNN) – North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley will endorse Hillary Clinton's White House bid, two sources close to the campaign tell CNN.

James says he's not ranting anymore, so I'll pick up the slack.

The News & Observer has been reporting about the Easley administration's e-mail policies for several weeks now. Some of the ineptitude in his handling of the situation has even spilled over here. I've withheld judgment until I've seen something more credible than the complaints of a woman who was just fired.

Unfortunately, I got what I needed to decide on the matter on Saturday:

Diana Kees, public information officer at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, recorded this note: “emails - more & more public records requests (blogs?) be careful w/emails; delete emails to and from gov office every day."

--The News & Observer, 3.29.08

Thanks to that little memo, I now have a message for Mr. Mike Easley: Any e-mail sent to and from the governor's office counts as a record that at least one member of the public – namely me – is interested in.

More after the jump.

State policy for retention of e-mail is being led by Franklin Freeman, Easley's senior assistant for government affairs, who doesn't know "how to cut a computer on."

A public hearing on the issue of e-mail retention was scheduled for April 3 at 9:30 a.m. in the Administration Building on Jones Street in Raleigh. Franklin Freeman, Easley's senior assistant for government affairs and hand-picked chairman of the committee, said that people who want to speak at the public hearing should not try to send him e-mail.

"I don't even know how to cut a computer on," Freeman said. "I do not communicate by e-mail. I'm still one of the old-fashioned folks who communicate by telephone or face to face."

- N&O: Committee hears of millions of e-mails trashed

--bumped, because Democrats should be ashamed. Heckuva job, Franky!. Robert P.

GOV. EASLEY ANNOUNCES LEGISLATIVE PLAN TO MODERNIZE WATER SYSTEMS, MANDATE CONSERVATION AND UPGRADE EMERGENCY RESPONSE

Unveils SaveWaterNC.org Website to Raise Public Awareness on Drought

RALEIGH – Gov. Mike Easley today announced a three-part legislative package to modernize North Carolina’s public water systems, mandate water conservation and efficiency, and upgrade the response to water emergencies. The governor also unveiled a new website, SaveWaterNC.org, aimed at continued water conservation.

Friends, you may recall our recent discussion about the subprime lending scandal threatening the working families of this nation, and how the damage has really taken an insidious toll in the core of North Carolina's 8th District.

Let me tell you about one of the neighborhoods in Cabarrus County where I happened to knock on doors meeting voters, as I did all over the District, Southern Chase. Southern Chase is a nice middle class neighborhood populated with starter and medium sized homes full of families, kids, hopes and dreams. Even though it was last year I walked the neighborhood, the optimistic names of the streets stick with me even today - Winner's Circle, Champion, Parade...

Folks, the Charlotte Observer recently reported that one in five, yes, 20 percent of the folks I met that day have now lost their homes.

The State has confirmed a questionable appointment to the NC Utilities Commission. After numerous letters were sent to Governor Easley, Edward Finley's nomination to the post by the Governor, as well as the reappointment of commission member Samuel "Jimmy" Ervin IV to another eight-year term has been confirmed.

The article cites that a letter sent to Easley by 17 environmental groups said Finley's employment and legal practice exhibited an "extreme one-sidedness" through his work on behalf of utility companies. Does the Governor or his "trusted" advisors ever listen to the public?

Thank you Governor Easley! Does anyone else think this budget is awesome? Could it have happened if the GOP was in control? NO!

Let's not let the media push this to the back burner behind the Jim Black stuff.

Specific recommendations in Easley’s budget include the following:

# Increase North Carolina’s Commitment to Education – An additional $839 million for education above the 2006-07 levels, including salaries and benefits. The budget fully funds enrollment increases in the public schools, community colleges and universities. The budget expands More at Four with 10,000 additional slots.

# Continue High School Reform – $7.5 million to ensure operation of 55 Learn and Earn schools in 2007-08 to improve graduation rates, student performance and competitiveness; $12 million to expand broadband high-speed Internet access in schools and establish Learn and Earn Online to make 20,000 community college and university course offerings available to high school students statewide in 2007-08 and 40,000 in 2008-09; $7.3 million to improve and expand distance learning for community colleges; $4.2 million to improve distance learning for universities; $2 million to continue the high school turnaround initiative and assistance teams.

(X-Post here)

This afternoon the State of North Carolina set two execution dates. Archie Billings is scheduled to be executed March 2 and Al Holman, March 9, 2007.

Readers recall that just a week ago Gov. Easley and AG Roy Cooper's office represented to the press, fellow members of the Council of State, and the People of North Carolina that no executions would take place until the issues of lethal injection protocol, and the role of doctors in executions are resolved.

These are the words of our Governor made just last week following the Council of State's approval of an execution protocol:

Easley said it's unlikely the state will carry out any executions for some time.

I may have promised I'd never write another lottery post, but the recent news about the shortfall in gambling revenues cannot go unnoticed. North Carolina is facing a potential $200 million problem around funding education because not enough good people in our state have been seduced by the siren song of easy money.

Even as players lined up across North Carolina last week to drop their dollars on chances at a big Powerball jackpot, officials acknowledged the new state lottery has a $200 million problem. Overall sales for the games' first fiscal year are expected to miss the goal by at least that much, adding significant financial pressure to education programs that the lottery was created in 2005 to support.