Jack Betts
Jack Betts Hinting at Racism
Submitted by Betsy Muse on Thu, 12/13/2007 - 3:07pm.I'm typically a Jack Betts fan. Yesterday's blog post, however, has left me extremely disappointed. Betts hints at racism in how Democratic leadership has treated Thomas Wright and then waits to the end of the post to back away. From Bett's blog:
House Speaker Joe Hackney’s announcement Tuesday afternoon that the Legislative Ethics Committee and the House will move swiftly to consider expelling Rep. Thomas Wright, D-New Hanover, made some folks wonder: Why would the House move against Wright when it never took action against former Speaker Jim Black, now serving time in federal prison?
Notice Betts attributes this to "some folks", without getting too specific. Also notice that Betts posts his charge in the form of a question.
Thanks, Kay
Submitted by James on Sun, 11/04/2007 - 10:42pm.
The way things are going around here lately, I'd be surprised if any politician wanted to sort through our messy house, especially those running for the United States Senate. Some of us are downright despondent, others are yelling at the tops of their virtual lungs, and still others are tempted to chuck it all and go fishing. (I'd be in that third category if I liked fishing.)
In light of all that, I was very pleased to get this note from Kay Hagan in response to my invitation for her to come blog with us.
First of all, let me apologize for the lateness in getting back to you. As you can imagine,the last ten days have been incredibly busy!I would like to have the opportunity to speak directly to your readers, but it's going to be tough to find the time to sit down for a web chat in the short term. That is absolutely something we can revisit down the road, so lets stay in touch. The voice of your blog and its readers is an enthusiastic part of ALL of our efforts to take back this seat from Senator Dole.
Again, please accept by apology for the lateness of this response.
Kay
I can't imagine what life looks like for Kay Hagan or Jim Neal right now, but I don't envy either of them. They've both taken on an enormous amount of very hard work in a zero-sum game, and the clock is tick-tick-ticking away. (Jack Betts at the Charlotte Observer had a his own take on the race this morning.)
So thanks, Senator Hagan. We'll look forward to your visit whenever you're ready.
Last one standing
Submitted by James on Sun, 10/07/2007 - 10:16am.
When it comes to insight about North Carolina politics, few journalists and pundits can top Jack Betts of the Charlotte Observer. His column today about the governor's race is mostly right, and where it's wrong, he has me to correct the record.
:)
Jack Betts Misses The Point
Submitted by James on Sun, 04/15/2007 - 12:30pm.After years of writing some of the best coverage in the state on the Navy's Outlying Landing Field, Jack Betts at the Charlotte Observer takes a wrong turn this morning in his Sunday column.
RALEIGH -- If the Navy really wants an outlying landing field, it ought to call North Carolina's hand -- right now. For a long time the state and many of its environmental groups have been saying they don't want the OLF near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, but they'd support an alternative site.
Jack Betts weighs in on OLF
Submitted by James on Mon, 01/22/2007 - 10:24am.If you spend any time at all looking at the US Navy's proposal to train jet pilots adjacent to the National Wildlife Refuge near Edenton, you can't help but get angry. There are so many things wrong with this idea, as I've written here and here. But one of the most alarming problems is the potential devastation of hundreds of family farms.
Jack Betts of the Charlotte Observer recently wrote an inspiring column on that issue. I'm posting the entire piece here, with his permission.
Navy gets a fight over amber waves of grain
Families don't want an outlying landing field in rural N.C. farmlandJACK BETTS
PLYMOUTH - A cold, hard January rain hammered on the sheet-metal roof of Myra and Jerry Beasley's barn on their wide, flat farm on the Washington-Beaufort county line Thursday night.
It was the sort of nasty night that ought to have kept folks home by the wood stove, but these are tough people. Over the past five years they've fought the Navy to a standstill in a legal battle to halt the creation of a practice landing field in the middle of some of the best farmland in northeastern North Carolina.
The Navy wants to build the field so F/A-18 SuperHornet jet pilots can practice day and nighttime aircraft carrier landings.
But the farm families of the rural enclave don't want to lose the land, some of it in their families for generations. And they worry the jets will collide with some of the hundreds of thousands of large migratory waterfowl that live in a nearby wildlife refuge and feed in the farm fields half of each year.
