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Surveys and Segways
posted at 2007-03-07 21:55 | Last modified 2007-11-14 10:38
The halls of the legislature were crawling with critters today for Grassroots Science Consortium Day, when hands-on science museums bring their wares to Jones St. to appeal for more funding.
The handsome character at right is Dudley,
perennial lobbyist for the Carolina
Raptor Center.
Legislative staffers politely but firmly refused to get too friendly with a corn snake from the NC Museum of Natural History.
And Wilmington Star-News political reporter Mark Schreiner even tried out a Segway. No one was injured.
There were robots serving Moon Pies. There were telescopes and chemistry tricks, golden eagles and blue-tongued skinks. It's always one of the most entertaining days of the legislative session, and this year was no exception.
But enough with the fun stuff, right?
By the numbers
Public Policy Polling released its latest data today on NC voters’ take on the 08 presidential and gubernatorial contenders. On the Dem side, Edwards is still in the lead, but Obama’s now ahead of Clinton, especially in the state’s metro areas. For the GOP, it’s still Giuliani all the way.
For Governor, Republicans still favor Bill “Gas Tax” Graham, while Lt. Governor Bev Perdue continues to lead the Dem contenders. However, state treasurer Richard Moore did pull a little closer to Perdue over the last month, proving once again that there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
For more details, check out the full report here. (Note - PPP issued a correction later in the day - Edwards' 34% figure on the front page was a mistake - he's actually at 29%.)
Doctor in the house?
Is killing someone a medical procedure? The state says no. In its latest fight with
the NC Medical Board, the state’s taking issue with the board’s prohibition on
doctors’ involvement in executions...in part by arguing that executing someone isn't a medical procedure, so the Board has no authority to discipline doctors for taking part in it. WUNC's Rusty Jacobs has the story.
No swans allowed
More bad news for NC bird lovers. According to the N&O’s Wade Rawlins, the Navy says it’ll use poison and guns to kill birds that could endanger planes and pilots at its proposed Washington County OLF site, next door to the Pocosin Wildlife Refuge. The Navy defends the practice by pointing out that many airports use those tactics to keep planes safe. But then again, how many civilian developers would build an airport 5 miles from a migratory bird sanctuary?
Do you feel lucky?
The Joint Select Committee on Economic Development Incentives
heard today from Caldwell
County leaders on the
Google incentive package, estimated by the company itself as worth around 281
million. Did the taxpayers get taken for
a ride? Well, not according to county
leaders, who rattled off a list of new investments in the Lenoir area since the
Google announcement. On the other hand,
it’s hard to say how many of those investments will actually come through,
since speculators probably account for quite a few of them.
Comments? Drop me a line.
