Be prepared at the polls: Voting changes are coming in 2016
The days of simply walking into a polling place and casting a ballot are over.
Raleigh comes to Sylva in support of historic tax credit bill
If traffic seemed a bit slow through downtown Sylva on Friday (May 22), it probably had something to do with Gov. Pat McCrory’s afternoon stroll along Main Street that day.
Western could get largest share of proposed state infrastructure bond
Of all the constructions on Western Carolina University’s campus, the distinctly non-glamorous Natural Sciences Building might have seemed like an odd place to host a visit from Gov. Pat McCrory. In the classroom where McCrory sat with a panel of university representatives and state administrators, a tile hung loosely from the ceiling and the hum of the HVAC system reverberated through the concrete walls, which weren’t quite expansive enough to comfortably contain the assembly of officials and media representatives gathered there.
Sales tax shuffle
What the bill says: The method of doling out sales tax to towns and counties would be changed to give more to rural counties and less to towns and cities than under the current formula.
Statewide issues
Hunting on Sundays
What the bill says: The Sunday hunting ban would be lifted on private land. (House bill 640)
Local Issues
Lake Junaluska annexation
What the bill says: Lake Junaluska would become part of the town of Waynesville pending approval by voters of both Lake Junaluska and the town.
Legislation crosses over, has chance to become law
State lawmakers unleashed a torrent of proposed bills in the halls of the General Assembly this year — more than 1,650 bills in all, from possum drops and bobcat mascots to abortion restrictions and coal ash rules.
SEE ALSO:
• Local issues
• Statewide issues
• Sales tax shuffle
Most of the bills are doomed from the start, with fewer than 100 likely to make it to the finish line. To help winnow the list and weed out the losers, a bill must prove its merit by making cross-over — the bill has to pass the Senate or the House and “cross-over” to the other chamber by the end of April to stay alive, with a few exceptions for certain types of bills.
Fracking regulators served with lawsuit
A section of legislation giving the Mining and Energy Commission the authority to decide which local ordinances are OK and which are not when it comes to fracking could be struck down, if a state court sides with a lawsuit recently filed by Clean Water for North Carolina.
Soaking in the sun: Solar energy movement comes to WNC
Solar power is on the rise across the U.S., and a campaign recently launched in Western North Carolina is urging mountain folk to join the trend.
“You can only do what you can afford to do, and now that it’s affordable, people are taking advantage of it and getting involved,” said Avram Friedman, executive director of The Canary Coalition, one of the two groups collaborating on the Solarize WNC campaign. “I think we’ve sort of reached that critical mass when things are turning around.”
Pseudo police force would lead to bigger problems
Nothing would reflect better on this country than to have a rational, reasoned debate on gun violence and what steps could be taken to curb it while still adhering to the Second Amendment. One look at the statistics shows how badly this needs to take place.
But we aren’t getting close. In face, a recent law introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly would be a step in the wrong direction.
