Mark Binker

The US House passed a bill yesterday opening the door a crack for the FDA to get involved in regulating cigarettes. At issue are additives in cigarettes that are designed to make smoking more appealing to young people. Binker pulls out this amazing section of the bill, and does us the favor of translating it, too.

In the interest of fair and balanced, I give you the latest from Mark Binker, who runs neck-and-neck with Laura Leslie for best Capital news reporting.

A nice round-up and report on the 50 year anniversary of school integration. My take: things haven't exactly worked out as planned.

More coverage of the anti-planning zealots than they deserve.

A good report on the Imperial NC Senate's effort to keep local governments from managing their own affairs.

And finally, a great example of what happens when a journalist dares to report on the shady dealings of the Puppetshow. They swarm like mosquitoes on a baby's butt.

The past couple of days around here have made it tricky to focus on some of the less glamorous aspects of governance, but you'll be glad to know that others haven't let up. In fact, Mark Binker's Capital Beat blog has one of his strongest stories in months. It's a good analysis that lays out some of the financial challenges the legislature may find itself facing this summer. In particular, Binker points to two paragraphs in the state's current economic projections that we all should be keeping in mind.

Clearly, a protracted and significant slowdown or recession will dampen expectations for revenue growth in FY 2008-09 and may mean that the tentative 4.6% growth rate will need to be lowered. Continued monitoring of both the credit crisis and the impact of rising food and gasoline prices on consumer spending and job growth is crucial.

Mark Binker of the Greensboro News-Record has two reports today on the US Senate Democratic primary. Both are worth reading: the dead-tree version and the blog extras.

The trigger for his stories was a blogpost by David Allen about Kay Hagan's support for the wholly unnecessary FISA legislation proposed by the Bush Administration.

I was just reading this on Binker's blog.

The House and Senate apportioned funding for the High Point (Furniture) Market differently. The House budget would have given $1 million to the Department of Commerce to promote the marketing of the state's furniture industry. The Senate budget would have given that money directly to the International Home Furnishing Market Authority, a High Point nonprofit that runs the annual trade show.
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In this particular case, Owens spoke up to say, "The furniture market out in Las Vegas is starting to clean North Carolina's clock." The High Point Market needed the help directly.

This is a follow-up to the extensive coverage you've read about the North Carolina Press Association's decision to deny press credentials to Kirk Ross, who is an independent journalist and blogger. Kirk posts some of his stories here at BlueNC under the name "kmr."

My specific request is that you write to your state senator or representative to request that Kirk's credentials be granted. You should also write to the North Carolina Press Association. Use this address: brian at ncpress.com

Here's the letter I'm sending to Joe Hackney.

Dear Joe,

I know you have lots on your plate these days, but I hope you'll take a minute to consider my request.

There have probably been more egregious instances of arrogance by the news media in North Carolina, but I am not aware of one that is more regrettable than the recent decision by the North Carolina Press Association to deny press credentials to freelance journalist Kirk Ross.