The Meck Deck
Comment and analysis on all things Charlotte
Thursday, May, 23 2013
Posted May 23rd, 2013 at 9:36 AM by Michael Lowrey
ACCC Commissioner John Swofford did offer up not exactly a ringing endorsement for keeping the ACC men’s basketball tournament in North Carolina earlier this week. As reported by the Greensboro News & Record: “There is interest in [New York City] being part of the rotation,” Swofford said Monday. “But until we really have a clear [...]
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Posted May 21st, 2013 at 10:02 AM by Michael Lowrey
So reports the Charlotte Observer. Currently still on the fence are David Howard, Dan Clodfelter, and Becky Carney. Interesting to see if Cannon’s announcement — and make no mistake, Cannon is the instant frontrunner — is enough to discourage any of them from getting into the race.
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Posted May 18th, 2013 at 10:46 PM by Michael Lowrey
The Charlotte Observer, among other news outlets, is reporting that the Charlotte Bobcats will be renamed the Charlotte Hornets. The date for the change is uncertain, but almost certainly not before the 2014-2015 season at the earliest. Also undecided (or at least unannounced) are what the new Hornets colors will be. As positive as a [...]
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Posted May 16th, 2013 at 6:01 PM by Michael Lowrey
A quick update on the route award actions before the U.S. Department of Transportation that effect US Airways and Charlotte: • DCA route award. A set of slots at Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) that US Airways was hoping to obtain were instead awarded to Southwest Airlines for Houston Hobby service. Us Airways said that [...]
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Posted at 1:11 PM by Michael Lowrey
This will do absolutely nothing to dispel the usual stereotypes about NASCAR: “NASCAR driver arrested, charged with stealing competitor’s hauler”
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Charlotte's Greatest Hits
As jailed former state House Speaker Jim Black mounts a campaign for early release, critics contend that the state justice system did favors for Black regarding the settlement of his $1 million fine.
Wake County officials say imprisoned former House Speaker Jim Black satisfied a $1 million fine by surrendering some Mecklenburg County real estate, but questions remain about the real market value of the property.
Imprisoned former House Speaker Jim Black used undeveloped land with a tax value of less than $150,000 to pay off an outstanding $500,000 state fine.
Colleen Calvani writes that the Charlotte Area Transit system will scale back some routes in an attempt to counter three major decreases in funding.
Jeff Taylor argues that Pat McCrory failed to carry Mecklenburg County because he failed to move its conservatives.
Jeff Taylor says there may be another factor to blame for CMUD’s recent series of water leaks.
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Research
Cronyism is an umbrella term covering a host of government activities by which an industry or even a single firm or speculator is given favors and support that they could not attain in market competition. This report explains what opens government to cronyism, gives a brief rundown of recent examples of cronyism in North Carolina, and offers several possible reforms.
County and municipal governments provide many key services while taking in billions of dollars in revenue, but finding comparative data is hard. That's why this report provides information of how much local government costs in every city and county in North Carolina.
This report examines 52 contracts signed by the Raleigh Convention Center for the period of July–December 2011 and is a follow-up to the September 2008 John Locke Foundation report “The New Raleigh Convention Center: A taxpayer-funded money pit.”
County governments all over North Carolina are saving money by privatizing services. In an effort to assist in the exchange of information about these activities, the John Locke Foundation conducted a survey of all 100 counties asking county managers to tell us about governmental activities that they currently supply privately. We also asked them if they had problems in the past with a privatized activity that had caused them to return the activity to government provision.
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