Headlines for week ending: Sunday, March 14 2010

(3.12.10) Judge gets 2nd reprimand in cases involving family member
CHARLOTTE — For the second time in a year, Mecklenburg District Judge Timothy Smith has been formally reprimanded for inappropriate behavior during court cases involving his family. On Thursday, Smith was reprimanded by the N.C. Judicial Standards Commission for outbursts directed at prosecutors who were trying cases against his wife, a public defender. Smith was a spectator - and not the presiding judge - in the trials. The prosecutors each won their case against his wife, Jacquelyn Smith.

(3.12.10) Graham pays $3,950 campaign fine
RALEIGH — State Sen. Malcolm Graham, a Charlotte Democrat, paid a $3,950 fine last month imposed by the State Board of Elections for accepting campaign contributions from businesses. Graham sent a letter to the board on Feb. 22, saying his campaign had accepted 13 checks from businesses between 2003 and 2006. North Carolina law prohibits business contributions. The payment, though, does not end the board’s examination of Graham’s campaign records.

(3.12.10) Charlotte home sales, prices inch up again
CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte-area housing market eked out another sales gain in February, despite a dreary economy and nasty weather, and there are signs the general upward trend could continue. However, a leading indicator from a Charlotte research firm points to continued weakness for new home construction. The number of houses, townhouses and condos sold last month rose 3.6 percent from a year ago during the deepest part of the slump.

(3.11.10) Fewer ABC boards proposed
RALEIGH — The state’s top liquor regulator on Wednesday proposed shrinking the number of local ABC boards in the state through mergers and putting them under the thumb of county governments. Local elected officials would have to answer for how well their liquor stores operate. Jon Williams, chairman of the state ABC Commission, also recommended allowing private retailers to sell liquor in areas where there is not enough business to support a profitable ABC store.

(3.11.10) Gorman: No plans to close schools
CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Superintendent Peter Gorman says there won’t be any school closings in a plan he’ll present Tuesday to cut up to $65 million from the district’s 2010-11 budget. Gorman said he'll offer a “full and complete” list of possible cuts, although his formal proposal won’t come out until April 13. Closing or consolidating schools had been discussed as a worst-case option in an earlier budget session, but Gorman said Wednesday he doesn’t think that will be needed.

(3.11.10) Siemens plans big Charlotte expansion
CHARLOTTE — Siemens Energy will expand its Charlotte manufacturing plant for turbines and generators and move part of its Canadian operations to the Queen City, an investment that will bring as many as 650 jobs to the region, according to three sources familiar with the negotiations. The $130 million Siemens expansion bolsters Charlotte's quest to become an “energy hub” by bringing various manufacturers and engineering divisions to complement the Duke Energy headquarters.

(3.10.10) Charlotte airport plans to lengthen Concourse E
CHARLOTTE — Charlotte/Douglas International Airport plans to begin design work next month on a 120-foot extension of Concourse E, giving US Airways Express access to four new gates. After that $3 million project is finished in early 2011, the airport plans to build two new international gates at the end of the concourse. The international gates would be an addition to the concourse, which is used primarily as a home for regional jets.

(3.09.10) Charlotte smog-cutting status reviewed
CHARLOTTE — Charlotte will be able to show the federal government that its transportation plans will help lower pollution-causing emissions, the Charlotte Department of Transportation said Monday night. Charlotte has been in jeopardy of losing federal highway dollars because of its ground-level ozone - or smog - a pollutant that irritates the lungs and can cause serious health problems in children and the elderly.

(3.09.10) Charlotte’s uptown vision is delayed as condo sales sag
CHARLOTTE — Plans were increasingly grand. Luxury condos on top of boutique hotels. Penthouses with elevators for owners’ cars. Predictions that more than 17,000 residents would live uptown today, about double the number at the start of the decade. Developers announced at least 20 condo high-rises for the center city during the mid-2000s, earning Charlotte a national reputation as a darling among downtown economic developers. Then the recession hit and, as with much of America, uptown’s future swiftly changed.

(3.08.10) North Carolina has complex history with liquor
WILMINGTON — How did North Carolina – a state where private enterprise is almost a religious faith – end up with a monopoly of state-run liquor stores? The state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control system turns 73 years old this year. It emerged from strong and contradictory streams of public opinion that go far back in Tar Heel history: Some people want to drink. Others don’t want anyone to drink.

(3.08.10) Bargains could signal tax woes
CHARLOTTE — The fire-sale deal on IBM’s former Charlotte home this week could be a grim sign for tax revenues in cash-strapped Mecklenburg County. The $42 million selling price for the big University City property is about one-third of the site’s property tax value, according to county records. An equivalent markdown of the property tax bill would cost the city and county $1.1 million. It’s too soon to tell whether the price ultimately lowers the tax value of Meridian Corporate Center.

(3.08.10) Grand jury asked for records of DSS charity
CHARLOTTE — A federal grand jury last fall requested more than three years of financial documents from a now-defunct charity program run by the Mecklenburg Department of Social Services, according to a newly released copy of the subpoena. The August request came as authorities were conducting a criminal investigation into a “suspected felony,” the subpoena states.

(3.08.10) Group questions benefits of anti-smog law
CHARLOTTE — The $2.9 billion N.C. utilities will spend to obey a landmark anti-smog law has sent power-plant emissions plummeting. But where’s the proof, a conservative think tank in Raleigh asked Friday, that the money has also cleaned our air? The John Locke Foundation asserted that state officials have oversold the benefits of the 2002 Clean Smokestacks Act. Smog levels show no change after the act took effect, it said, and North Carolina’s air looks no better than in four neighboring states.

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