Showing posts tagged “Bev Perdue”
Joe Schwartz ·
4 Feb 2010, 1:06 PM ·
2 Comments
Gov. Bev Perdue was beaming when she signed the state’s ban on smoking in bars and restaurants into law in March, saying they’d tackled the “big enchilada” after restricting smoking on college campuses and in the legislature.
“This is really in no exaggeration of the word an absolutely historic day for this great state that was built initially on the backbone of tobacco,” Perdue said among a group of health advocates and lawmakers.
“My hat is off to the General Assembly. I have never been as proud of a body in my entire life.”
Her tone also was congratulatory today as she celebrated a $6.7 million expansion of a tobacco manufacturing company in Rockingham County that will create 35 jobs.
“North Carolina is a great location for international companies looking to expand,” she said in a press release. “Our top business climate and our tremendous workforce continues to be very attractive to growing companies.”
That’s the message. Welcome, thanks for your tax money and your jobs. Don’t even think about bringing your products to lunch with you, though.
Kentucky-based Commonwealth Brands Inc. already owns a tobacco plant in Reidsville where 224 people work, and this addition will allow them to manufacture a new line of cigarette tubes.
North Carolina, business, economy, politics Bev Perdue, Commonwealth Brands, job creation, Reidsville, Rockingham County, smoking ban, tobacco
Samiha Khanna ·
6 Jan 2010, 5:11 PM ·
1 Comment
An update to our story published this morning on Erick Daniels, a Durham man who served seven years in prison on a wrongful conviction:
According to a settlement demand Daniels and his mother filed with the City of Durham, the family is seeking $25 million for a flawed and incomplete investigation that caused Daniels to be convicted of armed robbery in 2001 at the age of 15. Daniels was tried and convicted as an adult and released in 2008 after a Durham superior court judge dismissed the charges.
An attorney submitted the settlement request to City Attorney Patrick Baker, and a city spokeswoman confirmed this week that Baker, City Manager Tom Bonfield and others will hold a closed session with City Council to discuss the matter. The issue could be resolved as early as Friday.
In addition, Daniels is seeking an official pardon from Gov. Bev Perdue to wipe his record clear and make him eligible for money from the state—up to $50,000 per year he was wrongfully imprisoned.
Since his 2008 release, Daniels has retreated from interviews, he said, because talking about prison is like living through it all over again. In an interview Wednesday, Daniels said that despite his name being cleared in 2008, he still lives with a stigma. He believes many out there still think he’s guilty, including members of the police department.
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Durham, Durham County, North Carolina, national, news, politics actual innocence, Bev Perdue, City of Durham, Durham City Council, Durham Police, Durham politics, Erick Daniels, innocence, legal pardon, negligence, Patrick Baker, Tom Bonfield, wrongful conviction
Bob Geary ·
21 Sep 2009, 4:49 PM ·
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Durham County Superior Court Judge A. Leon Stanback is retiring, and Gov. Bev Perdue is giving his post to Jim Hardin, already serving as a “special” Superior Court judge. Hardin will always be remembered as the district attorney in the Michael Peterson murder case. (And as the one who’d left office by the time the Duke lacrosse case came along.)
From Perdue’s press office:
Gov. Bev Perdue today appointed Special Superior Court Judge James (Jim) E. Hardin Jr. as a Resident Superior Court Judge for the 14B Judicial District covering Durham County. Hardin will fill the unexpired term created by the resignation of Judge A. Leon Stanback on Sept. 1, 2009 after serving 20 years on the bench.
“Jim Hardin’s nearly two decades as a prosecutor and two terms as a Special Superior Court Judge has prepared him to accept the responsibilities of a Resident Superior Court Judge,” Perdue said. “I am confident that he will serve the citizens of Durham County well.”
Hardin has worked in various capacities in the Office of the District Attorney for the 14th Prosecutorial District for almost 20 years, including 11 years as District Attorney. He currently serves in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, as Commander of the 12th Legal Support Organization of the United States Army Reserve, holding the rank of colonel. He is active in numerous civic organizations in his community.
Hardin received his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1979 and his law degree from Mercer University in 1983.
Durham, news Bev Perdue, Jim Hardin
Matt Saldaña ·
11 Aug 2009, 5:19 PM ·
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Today, Gov. Beverly Perdue signed into law the Racial Justice Act, saying the bill’s passage “ensures that when North Carolina hands down our state’s harshest punishment to our most heinous criminals – the decision is based on the facts and the law, not racial prejudice.”
Perdue’s signature, which follows a dramatic 25-18 N.C. Senate vote, makes North Carolina only the second U.S. state to pass legislation that allows capital defendants to present evidence–including statistical data–arguing that race was an underlying factor in the decision to seek, or impose, the death penalty at the time of their trial. Previously, defendants could only make a claim of racial discrimination based on explicit evidence of racism in the courtroom.
The law gives current death-row inmates one year to file a claim, and allows all other capital defendants to present such a claim during pre-trial hearings, or following the sentencing phase. If a judge is satisfied that the defendant has proven race was an underlying factor, despite counter-evidence presented by the prosecution, he or she can reduce the sentence or the charge to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Press releases from the Governor’s office, Amnesty International, and the N.C. NAACP, after the jump: Continue reading »
North Carolina Bev Perdue, Earline Parmon, Floyd McKissick, Larry Womble, NAACP, NC General Assembly, Paul Luebke, Pricey Harrison, racial justice act
Bob Geary ·
28 Apr 2009, 12:42 PM ·
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Gov. Bev Perdue announced today that the state will be giving “job development investment grants” — big cash subsidies, in other words — to a company that markets advanced boiling water nuclear reactors and the engineering know-how to make them work. The company, part of a Toshiba Corporation subsidiary, is setting up shop in Charlotte, not coincidentally the home of Duke Energy, which is thinking real strongly about building two more nuclear plants in the Carolinas. Not far from Charlotte is the Shearon Harris nuclear plant in Wake County, where Progress Energy may also try to add one or two reactors to the one already there.
The U.S. hasn’t licensed a new nuclear reactor in many years. But Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corp., Perdue noted with satisfaction, is already leading the charge, as it were, for two new nukes in Texas:
The company is the prime contractor for the construction of two nuclear reactors planned for Texas, near Houston. These facilities, subject to a license application pending before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, have the potential to be among the first new reactors built in the nation in more than 30 years.
And forget Texas when it comes to bidness-friendly states, Perdue says:
“North Carolina is a world leader in providing the knowledge-based workforce, design and research support vital to the development of the energy sector,” Gov. Perdue said. “Our state’s business-friendly policies and unparalleled quality of life continue to attract top global companies and high-paying jobs.”
So when it comes to nukes, Charlotte’s the place to be, she quotes the Toshiba CEO as saying:
“Charlotte is becoming the place to be in the U.S. for nuclear engineers,” said Fuyuki Saito, president and chief executive officer of Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corp. “The quality of the workforce, quality of life and strong support we have received from state and local officials make Charlotte a perfect fit for our new center.”
The full statement from the Governor’s Office is below:
Continue reading »
North Carolina, business, economy, environment Bev Perdue, nuclear power
Bob Geary ·
19 Mar 2009, 10:34 AM ·
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New Mexico is the 15th state to renounce capital punishment, and the third in the last two years, following New York and New Jersey in 2007. Gov. Bill Richardson signed the legislation yesterday repealing New Mexico’s death penalty statute. He’s always supported the idea of the death penalty, Richardson said. But supporting it in practice became impossible for him:
Regardless of my personal opinion about the death penalty, I do not have confidence in the criminal justice system as it currently operates to be the final arbiter when it comes to who lives and who dies for their crime. If the State is going to undertake this awesome responsibility, the system to impose this ultimate penalty must be perfect and can never be wrong.
But the reality is the system is not perfect - far from it. The system is inherently defective. DNA testing has proven that. Innocent people have been put on death row all across the country.
North Carolina hasn’t had an execution since August, 2006 because of a dispute between the state Medical Board and the Department of Correction over the law requiring a doctor to be “present” when the prisoner is put to death. That dispute was heard by the N.C. Supreme Court in November, and a decision in the case could either re-start executions or toss the issue to the General Assembly. Either way, the question of whether North Carolina should remain in the death-penalty business will be front and center for legislators and Gov. Bev Perdue, who — like Richardson — has been pro-capital punishment throughout her political career.
Perhaps Perdue will read Richardson’s statement as he signed New Mexico’s repeal yesterday. It’s reproduced below the fold. (h/t to Gerda Stein of the Center for Death Litigation in Durham, who circulated it this morning.)
First, some national statistics from the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. New Mexico makes 15 states that do not practice capital punishment, versus 35 that do. However, the vast majority of executions — 955 out of the 1,156 total in the U.S. since 1976 — have taken place in just 10 states, all in the South. Last year, there were 37 executions in America; 18 of them were in Texas alone. Since 1973, at least 120 people on a Death Row somewhere in the U.S. have been exonerated and set free. That’s what Richardson feared:
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North Carolina, politics Bev Perdue, Center for Death Penalty Litigation, death penalty
Bob Geary ·
12 Mar 2009, 6:15 PM ·
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… here’s your chance.
March 31, at NC A & T University in Greensboro. It’s a White House Regional Forum on Health Reform.
Like “American Idol,” but for policy geeks.
And if you’ve got the best idea, it’s possible you could a prize.
See, the Obama Administration wants to hear how you would handle do it — apparently they’ve misplaced their copy of John Edwards’ health-care plan since he fell from grace. (Along with the glowing reviews.)
So they’re going around the country listening to all sides in the health-care debate, sort of the way the Clintons did it back in ‘93. But not so much, because that was all buttoned-up, and this time it’ll be right there on the intertubes.
Gov. Bev Perdue is fronting the Greensboro event. Some details from her press office below, including how to sign up. Continue reading »
North Carolina, economy, national, politics Barack Obama, Bev Perdue, health care reform, John Edwards, Paul Krugman
Bob Geary ·
9 Mar 2009, 7:20 PM ·
1 Comment
The two points Gov. Bev Perdue made in her first “State of the State” address tonight:
1) “Everything is on the table” when it comes to balancing next year’s budget.
2) Everything except school funding, which she wants increased.
Perdue said her 2009-10 budget plan, which she’ll present to the General Assembly in a week or so, will add to per-pupil spending in the public schools.
Other than that single pledge, she did not stake herself out on specific programs or on taxes.
Those arguing — as progressive groups are — that the state cannot simply cut, cut, cut its way out of the $3-4 billion shortfall looming in the ‘10 fiscal year, and should instead balance program cuts with higher taxes, did not hear any such thing from the governor.
On the other hand, Perdue didn’t offer any “no new taxes” promises either. Despite tough times, she said, legislators need to lay off such “talk-show political posturing” and consider every option:
We must do what ever it takes, our own, here in North Carolina, to create jobs, help displaced workers get new jobs, and keep families in their homes. We cannot let our citizens’ dreams for a better future die.
The full text of her prepared speech is online and below.
Continue reading »
North Carolina, politics Bev Perdue
Bob Geary ·
2 Feb 2009, 5:38 PM ·
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Long was a progressive thinker and battler. And a regular guy — not a bit of self-importance from what I saw. The N&O has an early story on his death. Gov. Perdue ordered state flags flown at half-staff.
North Carolina, news Bev Perdue, Jim Long
Bob Geary ·
23 Jan 2009, 1:49 PM ·
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From the Governor’s office, on the death of former Gov. Bob Scott this morning:
“North Carolina has lost one of our greatest governors today, and many of us have lost a friend,” said Governor Perdue. “Governor Scott devoted his life to public service – from leading our state as our chief executive, to serving as president of North Carolina’s community college system – he always believed that North Carolina could be a better place, with wider doors of opportunity for all our people, and he worked to make it so. Governor Scott will be missed, but his vision for North Carolina will live on.”
Perdue ordered all North Carolina state flags flown at half-staff through sunset Tuesday in honor of Scott’s memory.
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North Carolina Bev Perdue, Bob Scott
