news-record.com

A few of pressing journalistic matters (one a story for the print edition, two others goose chases of the wild sort) have kept me away from regular blogging. But let’s see if I can catch up on the news from around these parts:

EASLEY MONEY

The swirl of skunky-looking stuff surrounding former Gov. Mike Easley’s land deals and other, um, potential extravagances while in office has earned him and his associates an invite to appear before the State Board of Elections the week of Oct. 26. If recent history (I’m looking at you Jim Black and Thomas Wright) is any indication, it will be an absolute festival of blights.

The board will "receive the report of its staff about its investigation and to further investigate allegations of possible violations of election laws, including but not limited to, allegations of illegal contributions and inaccurate reporting in campaign finance reports by the Mike Easley Committee and the North Carolina Democratic Party."

MAD MONEY

The state’s former chief investment officer, Patricia Gerrick, was fired from her job by Treasurer Janet Cowell. Cowell won’t say why she fired her top money manager. But in short order after releasing documents that show Gerrick was fired, Cowell released a policy “governing travel reimbursements for employees who visit companies through which North Carolina's public pension funds invest money,” leaving us scruffy media types and those playing the home game to draw a whole heaping load of our own conclusions.

LUNCH MONEY

Employees at the DMV took “$21,800 in freebies, such as pricey dinners, a hockey ticket and a spa visit” from Verizon as the company angled to land a $51.5 million no-bid contract to support the state’s new vehicle inspection system.

Soon after that revelation, Gov. Bev Perdue issues and executive order banning all employees under her control from taking gifts on any sort from people doing business with the state.

Republican Sen. Phil Berger issued his own release saying that Perdue didn’t go far enough but stopping just short of calling for keelhauling of errant employees.

BEER (OR CHELADA) MONEY

Former Rep. Cary Allred may have pled guilty to a speeding charge that was part of a bizarre tangle of events that eventually saw him leave office. But the former lawmaker tells his hometown paper he’s not planning to plead guilty to another careless and reckless driving charge leveled by police after he left office.

What may be the best few lines from the story:

Driving 37 mph over the speed limit was justified because he was trying to get to the House in time to cast a vote on behalf of his constituents, Allred said. Police and emergency workers “break the speed limit for the public good,” he said. “What I was trying to do was for the public good.”

CAMPAIGN MONEY

Our friends at Dome report: “The new head of the state agency charged with busting illegal video poker took a $500 campaign contribution from a man who has backed legalizing the gambling games. John Ledford was sworn in as director of state Alcohol Law Enforcement Wednesday in Madison County, where he has severed as sheriff the last 10 years. In raising funds for his most recent reelection campaign in 2006, Ledford accepted a $500 contribution from Howard Cole of Weaverville, owner of Cole Vending Co. Cole has been a leader in the video poker industry's political efforts to win legalization and has been a frequent contributor to the campaigns of Democrats such as former House Speaker Jim Black and former Gov. Mike Easley, as well as committees seeking to elect Republican candidates.”
 

NOT QUITE ON THE MONEY

In a blog post a couple weeks back, I mentioned a Civitas Study that claimed to show federal stimulus spending would actually cost the state money and reported Gov. Bev Perdue’s reaction. At the time, I couldn’t quite put my finger on what bothered me about the white paper. Andrew Brod, director of UNCG’s Director, Center for Business & Economic Research, helps me out in this column: "After making a few more questionable assumptions and misapplying an overly simple statistical model, the Laffer study eventually pops out its prediction of nearly 70,000 lost jobs. All in all, it’s a pretty dubious piece of work."